Organic Farming Magazine For Vegetable & Flower Farmers
http://www.growingformarket.com
Free magazine articles written by the leaders in organic farming. Learn how to grow vegetables & flowers organically with Growing For Market Magazine. Since 1992! Subscribe Today!Making natural liquid fish fertilizer from a fishing byproduct with Ann Molloy of Neptune’s Harvest
http://www.growingformarket.com/articles/making-natural-liquid-fish-fertilizer-from-fishing
<p>Fish fertilizer is one of the oldest natural fertilizers out there. On this week’s podcast, hear how it’s made, and what sets hydrolyzed fish fertilizer apart from fish emulsion. Ann Molloy of Neptune’s Harvest in Gloucester, Massachusetts, tells us how her dad realized waste from the fishing industry that was being thrown away could be made into natural fertilizer.</p>2024-03-19T05:00:00-00:00How rootstocks increase yield and disease resistance in grafted tomatoes with breeder Martijn van Stee of Enza Zaden
http://www.growingformarket.com/articles/how-rootstocks-increase-yield-and-disease-resistance
<p>Grafting tomatoes onto vigorous, disease-resistant rootstocks is one of the biggest advancements in tomato production ever. We’ve been getting lots of questions about grafting and rootstocks lately, so we leapt at the opportunity to get some answers straight from the horse’s mouth, so to speak, by interviewing Martijn van Stee of Enza Zaden seeds about what makes tomato rootstocks so vigorous and disease resistant. Martijn has worked on breeding rootstocks for years, and we really enjoyed this conversation from the Netherlands, where Enza is based (zaden means “seeds” in Dutch).</p>2024-03-12T05:00:00-00:00Growing a bioregionally adapted seed system with Don Tipping of Siskiyou Seeds in Oregon
http://www.growingformarket.com/articles/growing-bioregionally-adapted-seed-system-don-tipping
<p data-pm-slice="1 1 []">Don Tipping stewards over 700 open-pollinated varieties of seeds at Siskiyou Seeds in Oregon, and we discuss the importance of having a bioregionally adapted seed system, and how farmers can get involved in their regional seed system in this week’s podcast. We also talk about Don’s North Star vs. his mission, and how farmers can clarify their goals by understanding the difference between the two.</p>2024-03-05T05:00:00-00:00Sharing tools and equipment
http://www.growingformarket.com/articles/sharing-tools-and-equipment
<p><span class="s1">A group of North Carolina farmers created a co-op to share equipment and tools. They exchange them in a way that feels fair to everyone, and they manage the business of the cooperative without making too many demands on busy farmers. They’ve been at it for more than a decade, so the name, Tool Legit, is fitting.</span></p>2024-03-01T15:51:00-00:00Selecting the right seeder
http://www.growingformarket.com/articles/selecting-the-right-seeder
<p><span class="s1">An email from a reader got me thinking about seed drills, those tools we dump seed into, and then push or pull down a bed to set the seed into the ground at just the right spacing and just the right depth, all in a straight line. A lot of folks probably just call drills “seeders” these days and I’ve had the opportunity to use quite a few different ones over the years so I thought a little overview of some of the basic features might be helpful for folks starting out or thinking about buying a new seeder.</span></p>2024-03-01T12:57:00-00:00Lessons from a first-year no-till market garden
http://www.growingformarket.com/articles/lessons-from-firstyear-notill-market-garden
<p>If you’re like me, you’ve probably seen endless footage and photos of pristine looking market gardens where all the plants look amazing and there is nothing to do but plant and harvest. A good market garden can get to a point in which pest and disease pressure and fertility issues become virtual non-factors, but that is not the story in a first-year no-till garden</p>2024-03-01T12:45:00-00:00Online farmers market
http://www.growingformarket.com/articles/online-farmers-market
<h4>A small-scale, community-based farm store</h4>
<p class="p3">We can’t all live near Manhattan, Boston, Montreal, San Francisco, Ann Arbor, Madison, or any number of other awesome markets for organic produce. In my experience as a farm manager on farms in the Hudson Valley, Finger Lakes, and Sacramento Valley, you can sell it all, all the time, in those markets. Not so in the myriad small markets many of us find ourselves in.</p>2024-03-01T12:31:00-00:00Squeeze crops
http://www.growingformarket.com/articles/squeeze-crops
<h4>A practical approach to intercropping </h4>
<p><br>When we started A Way of Life Farm in 2009, intercropping and companion planting (the practice of growing two or more crops in the same space at the same time) were a part of how we wanted to farm. Yet, after some trial and error, we abandoned it, writing it off as “not practical on a farming scale.” However, we revisited it a few years later as we were looking for ways to maximize space in our new high tunnel. Now, it has become a very important part of how we continue to grow more and more food on the same (or even less) area over the last few years. </p>2024-03-01T11:40:00-00:00Eleven things we did to make our farm profitable (finally)
http://www.growingformarket.com/articles/eleven-things-we-did-make-our-farm-profitable-finally
<p>Like most small businesses, our farm took several years to make a profit. After starting farming as a side hobby in 2019, we gradually grew our business until I quit my job at the end of 2022 to farm full-time alongside my husband (see my article “Making the leap to farming full-time from the September 2023 GFM, and my interview on the GFM Podcast, for more on that). With this huge change the pressure was on. If we were going to keep on farming, the business finally needed to become profitable. I’m excited to share that we pulled it off. Here are 11 things we did that helped us go from profit-less to profitable.</p>2024-03-01T10:39:00-00:00Making flowers accessible with a CSA, home delivery and more with Tracy Yang of JARN Co. Flowers in Washington State
http://www.growingformarket.com/articles/making-flowers-accessible-csa-home-delivery-and-more
<p>Though she comes from a flower growing family, Tracy Yang of JARN Co. Flowers wasn’t always planning on following in the family business. Now, Tracy and her family farm four acres of flowers in Monroe, Washington, located about 45 minutes northeast of Seattle. Hear about how she decided to grow flowers for a living and the process of establishing her own farm, which involved clearing raw land and a lot of blackberries.</p>2024-02-27T05:00:00-00:00Breeding local food systems that are more resilient to climate change with Chris Smith of The Utopian Seed Project
http://www.growingformarket.com/articles/breeding-local-food-systems-that-are-more-resilient
<p data-pm-slice="1 1 []">Ultracrosses and tropical perennials grown as annuals are just two of the many innovative breeding strategies being used by Chris Smith and the Utopian Seed Project to help make local food systems more resilient in the face of climate change. Based in western North Carolina, they are pioneering unusual breeding strategies that can be used by farmers and breeders anywhere to help develop varieties that can adapt to our changing climate.</p>2024-02-20T05:00:00-00:00A lifetime of organic farming and activism with Jim Gerritsen of Wood Prairie Farm in Maine
http://www.growingformarket.com/articles/lifetime-organic-farming-and-activism-jim-gerritsen
<p>Jim Gerritsen of Wood Prairie farm is a legend not only for his over four decades of organic farming, but for his activism. As the founder and president of The Organic Seed Growers and Trade Association (OSGATA), a national non-profit membership organization committed to protecting, promoting, and developing the organic seed trade and its growers, he was part of the group that sued Monsanto in 2011 challenging the validity of Monsanto's transgenic/GMO patents and seeking court protection for innocent family farmers who may become contaminated by Monsanto seed.</p>2024-02-13T05:00:00-00:00Growing a profitable flower business with Lisa Mason Ziegler of the Gardener’s Workshop
http://www.growingformarket.com/articles/growing-profitable-flower-business-lisa-mason-ziegler
<p data-pm-slice="1 1 []">On this week’s podcast, we draw on Lisa’s years of flower farming experience to talk not just about growing flowers, but the business and practical tips needed to grow a profitable flower business. Lisa’s new book, The Cut Flower Handbook, is full of information on the growing side, and in our interview we talk about how to put it all together to sustain the passion with a profitable business. We discuss workhorse flower crops, when to harvest, how to ensure the best vase life, and the practical tips that will build a cut flower business and keep it going.</p>2024-02-06T05:00:00-00:00Accessing underserved customers
http://www.growingformarket.com/articles/accessing-underserved-customers
<p><span class="s1">As farmers, our customer base is limited to the number of people within our sales range who can afford what we grow. To increase our customer base, we are used to thinking about tempting more people to put what we grow at the top of their weekly grocery list, or figuring out how to expand the geographic sales boundaries toward larger population centers. Here, we’ll think through increasing sales by reaching customers with minimal food budgets. (See the related article “Serving the underserved” in the August 2018 GFM.)</span></p>2024-01-31T12:20:00-00:00Ten questions to ask yourself before joining a farmers market
http://www.growingformarket.com/articles/ten-questions-ask-yourself-before-joining-farmers
<p class="p3">The farmers market is a likely destination for many new farmers and gardeners who are ready to try selling their vegetables and flowers. And it is a logical one — relationships need to be formed, experience needs to be gathered, lessons need to be learned, and reputations need to be forged as you begin to establish your operation. And a farmers market is an excellent place for this.</p>
<p class="p3">Wholesale contracts, restaurant and grocery store connections, CSA shares, these all tend to come later with a few seasons under your belt. Plus, direct-to-consumer sales are famously where the best money is to be found.</p>2024-01-31T10:48:00-00:00Cash flow budgeting for farmers
http://www.growingformarket.com/articles/cash-flow-budgeting-farmers
<p><span class="s1">Just before you picked up this issue of Growing for Market, you likely were at your desk or computer planning out the growing season: What you will plant and where, and what supplies you’ll need to prepare for the growing season. Maybe you just charged a bunch of purchases to your credit card or scheduled payments from your bank.</span></p>2024-01-30T12:06:00-00:00Getting a handle on glove selections for winter work
http://www.growingformarket.com/articles/getting-handle-glove-selections-winter-work
<p><span class="s1">Scrolling back through all of the photos tagged #toolsforgrowingformarket on Instagram I found a post of some long gauntlet gloves hanging in a packing shed that was posted by Kat Johnson when she was manager of @fieldsedgefarm back in 2020 (I also wrote up Kat’s pocket magnet knife holder in this column a few years ago). </span></p>
<p><span class="s1">As I spent most of the day yesterday washing mud off of veggies in an open shed, taking extra care not to get water into my gloves, this was yet another reminder to me that I need to order a couple pairs of these gloves for me and my crew. </span></p>2024-01-30T11:54:00-00:00Managing gray mold in cut flowers
http://www.growingformarket.com/articles/managing-gray-mold-cut-flowers
<p class="p3"><span class="s1">Last year on our farm, Moonshot Farm in East Windsor, New Jersey, we experienced a devastating year for a relatively common cut flower disease, botrytis (aka gray mold). The disease first appeared on ranunculus and freesia in our winter greenhouses, and later a different strain took hold of our lily crop. All told, we lost over $15,000 in product due to botrytis in 2023 and learned a lot of tough lessons along the way.</span></p>2024-01-30T11:46:00-00:00Crops, advantages and timing for caterpillar tunnels vs greenhouses
http://www.growingformarket.com/articles/crops-advantages-and-timing-caterpillar-tunnels-vs
<p>It’s January 2022. We’ve just returned from our annual winter vacation. No one has set foot on Ferme des Quatre-Temps farm for three consecutive weeks. The first thing we see when we arrive at the site is the row of ten caterpillar tunnels.</p>
<p>I’m expecting to see empty tunnels with their polyethylene neatly rolled up on top of the hoops. What I see instead: three tunnels collapsed under the weight of snow and the action of high winds during a winter storm. Several of the other tunnels have accumulated water in their plastic and are threatening to give way.</p>2024-01-30T11:34:00-00:00Advanced greenhouse control and automation with Guillaume Lambert of Orisha
http://www.growingformarket.com/articles/advanced-greenhouse-control-and-automation-guillaume
<p>We go deep on greenhouse control and automation in this second conversation with Guillaume Lambert. The first time we talked it took us a whole episode to cover the basics, but season extension is so important to market farmers, we decided to have him back to make sure and get to advanced greenhouse growing. We discuss how to use automation to control pests and diseases, how to use automation to conserve heat and save money, and how to use climate control for vegetative/generative steering of vining/fruiting crops like tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers and eggplant.</p>2024-01-30T05:00:00-00:00Vegetable and flower farming on cooperatively owned land in Surrey, British Columbia, Canada, with Angela and Paul Neufeld of Kingfisher Farm Market
http://www.growingformarket.com/articles/vegetable-and-flower-farming-cooperatively-owned-land
<p data-pm-slice="1 1 []">Angela and Paul Neufeld have been farming vegetables and flowers in Surrey, British Columbia, Canada, for 18 years. As Kingfisher Farm Market, they have been committed to regenerative, sustainable farming practices from the beginning. They’ve been slowly building up their farm business on land they share with other families. In a recent newsletter, Angela shared that in 2014 they made $977.50. Fast forward to 2023 and they made their main livelihood off the farm.</p>2024-01-23T05:00:00-00:00Why and how to automate your greenhouse for peace of mind and better production with Guillaume Lambert of Orisha
http://www.growingformarket.com/articles/why-and-how-automate-your-greenhouse-peace-mind-and
<p data-pm-slice="1 1 []">Guillaume Lambert is one of the founders of Orisha, a company that is democratizing greenhouse systems control through software that growers can manage from a smartphone or computer. By bringing the cost down and increasing the precision, Orisha is making high-level greenhouse control accessible to smaller growers. In this interview, we discuss how systems including temperature, irrigation, fans, roll-up sides and more can be automated.</p>
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<p> </p>2024-01-16T05:00:00-00:00Establishing a farm growing 40 different vegetable crops on 30 acres with Cole Mazariegos-Anastassiou of Brisa Ranch in California
http://www.growingformarket.com/articles/establishing-farm-growing-40-different-vegetable-crops
<p data-pm-slice="1 1 []">Today we hear from Cole Mazariegos-Anastassiou, who is a co-owner-operator of Brisa Ranch along with his wife Veronica and their friend Cristóbal Cruz Hernández. They started Brisa Ranch in 2018 and now grow about 40 different organic crops on 30 acres in Pescadero, California, which is 45 miles from the Bay Area. The sell 90% of their produce directly to businesses and institutions throughout Northern California. They were named California New Farmers of the Year by CAFF (the Community Alliance with Family Farmers) in 2021.<strong><a href="/?utm_source=simplecast_shownotes&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=podcast_traffic_shownotes" class="ProsemirrorEditor-link"></a></strong></p>
<p> </p>2024-01-09T05:00:00-00:00The paperpot transplanter: Evolution of a tool with a human face
http://www.growingformarket.com/articles/the-paperpot-transplanter-evolution-tool-human-face
<p><span class="s1">Many similar tools have been patented through the US Patent and Trademark Office.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Below are two examples of US-designed small farm transplanters, from patents filed in 1916 and 1937, respectively. They provide proof that human-scale tools—machines designed for real people to use—have existed in this country for decades, though in the shadows of gigantic-scale agriculture. Following these two is an example of a more recent Japanese invention of a transplanting machine.</span></p>2024-01-02T12:02:00-00:00Paperpot transplanter: farmers share advantages and limitations
http://www.growingformarket.com/articles/paperpot-transplanter-farmers-share-advantages-and
<p><span class="s1">This last season I have been learning the transplant tool, finding its advantages and limitations. For this article I interviewed several other farmers as well as folks at Paperpot Co. and Small Farm Works. I hope it will help distill some of the lessons I learned from my own first year and what I learned from my fellow farmers. Hopefully this information can help folks decide whether to give this system a try or perhaps work around some challenges.</span></p>2024-01-02T11:43:00-00:00