Gardeners and those who are interested in selling at farmers’ markets will find a treasure trove of information at the Horticulture Industries Show in Tulsa on Jan. 4 and 5. The Kerr Center, Oklahoma State University, the Arkansas State Horticulture Society and other organizations sponsor the show so costs are kept well below a usual two-day conference.

This year’s show, “Celebrating Horticulture Four Seasons of Success,” will offer several topics: growing fruit, Christmas tree farming, growing and selling herbs, public gardens and master gardeners, farmers’ markets, vegetables and sustainable agriculture.

Many of the classes are repeated on both days so you will be able to attend most of the sessions of interest.

Keynote speaker, Eliot Coleman, is a big draw at this year’s show because he is so well known. Coleman designs garden tools for Johnny’s Selected Seeds. His books include, “The New Organic Grower,” “The Winter Harvest Manual” and “Four Season Harvest.” In addition to keynote addresses on both days, Coleman is giving two workshops on Jan. 5.

Coleman has been an organic grower for 40 years, raising vegetables in the field and in greenhouses, cold frames and unheated tunnel greenhouses. In fact, he and his wife, Barbara Damrosch, sell fresh salad greens and vegetables from October through May in Maine using minimally heated greenhouses.

One of Coleman’s passions is the importance of small scale organic growing. Coleman’s wife, Barbara Damrosch, was his co-host of the television series, “Gardening Naturally,” and now Damrosch’s gardening advice appears in her weekly column in the Washington Post.

“Four-Season Harvest” is the book a person needs to have if they want fresh homegrown vegetables all year for their own healthy meals or for selling to restaurants and at markets.

Most vegetable gardeners grow from May to October, then can freeze for the winter. Coleman and Damrosch grow spinach, scallions, arugula, radicchio, miner's lettuce, radish, Swiss chard, corn salad, tatsoi and other cool season vegetables in season-extending structures such as cold frames.

Coleman suggests starting a four-season garden on an area the size of a tablecloth. Selecting the right seed variety, building healthy soil and working with nature are the keys to success Coleman presents in optimistic detail.

Living soil, built of compost is the foundation of Coleman’s healthy plants. Straw is at the base the foundation of the compost pile and the compost-holding structure can actually be built of straw bales placed under deciduous trees.

Legumes, such as peas are planted for eating and for their ability to improve soil fertility. Coleman suggests planting legume seeds under beans, eggplant, corn and other crops so that the peas create green manure while they cool the soil and prevent weeds. They can also be planted in any bed you want to improve for the future.

The chapters on planting and cultivating have sketches of possible methods: structures, rows, beds, cold frame and low tunnel construction, temporary A-frame, and the use of garden-improving tools (including ducks).

One of the cold frame potting soil recipes will serve to illustrate Coleman’s practical approach: three buckets sifted peat moss, two cups organic fertilizer blend (made of green sand, phosphate rock and cottonseeds meal), one bucket perlite and three buckets compost. The bucket is eight quarts.

Greenhouse construction, seed selection and growing, planting charts, natural pest control in a balanced garden and charts of planting dates round out the text.

“Four Season Harvest” published 1992 and 1999 by Chelsea Green Publishing Co., www.chelseagreen.com and (800) 639-4099. The publisher’s green-theme blog is at flaminggrasshopper.com.