If you’re deep into seed catalogs right now, circling varieties and imagining this year’s garden, this is a moment worth pausing. Before choosing what to grow, it’s worth thinking about how your garden is fed.⁠ ⁠ Eliot Coleman’s latest book, The Self-Fed Farm and Garden, is a timely read for anyone planning an organic garden from the ground up. It explores compost, green manures, and the long-term wisdom of creating a system that supplies its own fertility.⁠ ⁠ In our September/October issue, we spoke with Coleman about the book and its core ideas. One point he’s especially clear about is avoiding purchased compost or manure. “The gardener has no guarantee that they won’t be bringing pollutants into their garden soil,” he explains. A self-fed system, by contrast, reduces the risk of contamination—a growing concern as PFAS and other persistent chemicals become more widespread in soil and water.⁠ ⁠ The book builds on ideas many gardeners will recognize from The New Organic Grower and Four...