June 1, 2001

Display is an important part of selling at farmers’ markets. The best displays are those that do three things: catch the customer’s eye from a distance and pull him or her to your stand; make your produce look fresh and beautiful; help the customer understand what’s for sale, how much it costs, and how to […]

Indicators for flameweeding Flameweeding carrots for pre-emergence weed control is made easier if you sow a few beets at the end of the row. Beets germinate just a little faster than carrots, and will tell you when to flame. At most temperatures beets come up the day before carrots (see New Seed Starter’s Handbook, or

From the University of Connecticut Under favorable growing conditions, cole crops can withstand substantial defoliation from cabbage “worms” as long as the harvestable portion of the plant is not damaged. To maintain quality for most markets, however, high caterpillar populations must be controlled once the harvestable portion of the plant is present. To assess populations,

The new farmer called his county agent to ask what to do about the bindweed he had discovered in a field. Without a moment’s hesitation, the county agent replied, “Sell the farm and move.” That’s the kind of tale that field bindweed inspires. Convolvulus arvensis, also known as creeping jenny and perennial morning glory, is

Every year, in late spring, when the soil has sufficient moisture and warms up to just the right temperature, pigweed season begins on my farm. They start as almost invisible, innocuous-looking red seedlings, but if left alone for a week or two, they form a dense mat of vegetation. Of course, the whole farm isn’t

Now that you know how to cool your greenhouse this summer, what are you going to fill it with? Here are 10 ideas for making that greenhouse produce more income for you: 1. Start more transplants. New growers often assume that you plant in spring and harvest the rest of the summer. Not so. Succession

The greenhouse is probably one of the most expensive pieces of equipment on a farm, but once summer arrives, many growers give up on using it because of the heat. As temperatures outdoors rise into the upper 80s and 90s, the greenhouse can easily get too hot for plants to survive, let alone thrive. But

Solidago, formerly known as goldenrod, is finally achieving the acclaim it deserves as a tough perennial that blooms in mid- to late-summer when the garden is beginning to wane. But there are many Solidagos, and not all will do well in a garden situation, according to an evaluation by the Chicago Botanic Garden. “Many of

A friend of Frank’s used to say, “This would be a great business if it weren’t for the customers.” We thought about him the other day while running the farm stand. “Do y’all have any vegetables?” a woman asked us. She was standing right in front of a wonderful spring display of spinach, onions, herbs,