# @ahs_gardening on Instagram

- **Type:** Image
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/DTnx-nrEjYx
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/55035689-ahs-gardening-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/postThumbnails/1df02f255c.jpg
- **Posted:** 2026-01-17T18:18:20.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** American Horticultural Society | American Gardener Magazine (@ahs_gardening) — https://gondola.cc/ahs_gardening

## Caption

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.⁠
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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.⁠
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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.⁠
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The book builds on ideas many gardeners will recognize from The New Organic Grower and Four-Season Harvest, while going deeper into topics like Healthy Plant Theory, green manures, and what Coleman calls “intelligent tillage.”⁠
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As you decide which seeds to grow this season, Coleman’s work offers a useful reminder. The success of those plants starts long before sowing—with the soil, the systems, and the choices that support them year after year.⁠
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Read the full interview in our September/October issue at ahsgardening.org 🌱⁠
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Not a member yet? You can join us at ahsgardening.org/join. ⁠
Photographer: L + R Barbara Damrosch ⁠
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#ahsgardening #americangardener #gardentips #sustainablegardening #organicgarden #theselffedfarmandgarden #eliotcoleman #farm #organic #healthyplanttheory #americanhorticulturalsociety #books #gardenbooks

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## Tags

farm, americanhorticulturalsociety, books, healthyplanttheory, americangardener, gardenbooks, gardentips, theselffedfarmandgarden, organicgarden, organic, ahsgardening, eliotcoleman, sustainablegardening

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