This way of farming not only works, Coleman says, but results in produce that is exceptional for its level of quality. He points to a bed thick with turnip greens. Then he pulls a turnip from the loose soil and passes it to me for a taste. It's crisp, sweet, and earthy. I have to remind myself that it is, indeed, a turnip.
Plants are determined to grow.
Actually, there's a bit more to it than that. The couple start cold-hardy crops in outdoor beds in the autumn, pull the movable greenhouses over them in late fall, add a second layer of protection by covering the crops with plastic row covers, and harvest regularly to keep the crops small. Coleman was raised in New Jersey, Damrosch in Manhattan. She grew up in a gardening family and eventually moved to Connecticut with the idea of farming but started a landscape design business instead. He had no gardening experience and ended up a teacher of literature.