October 1, 2001

Five growers who rent land from the New England Small Farm Institute in Belchertown, Massachusetts, are winding up their third season of marketing together. After several efforts at cooperative marketing that weren’t satisfactory, they think they have found a winning strategy. The five are selling their produce cooperatively at farmers’ markets, after giving up on […]

By Louise Swartzwalder It is 5:30 a.m. on a Friday in Lakeville, Ohio. I have my truck loaded with tomatoes, fingerling potatoes, peppers, a host of other vegetables and cut flowers. I am off to a market in Olmsted Falls, a suburb of Cleveland, an hour and a half drive from my farm. Saturday, at

Small and part-time farmers may be able to earn supplemental income by selling live herb plants in spring either directly to home gardeners at retail prices or to local garden centers at wholesale prices. It is difficult for a small-scale greenhouse operation to earn income with traditional bedding plants such as marigolds, petunias, impatiens, tomatoes

Two new research projects, one in Maryland and one in Minnesota, emphasize the importance of local food production. Both point out how far most Americans are from the source of their food, and how much opportunity exists for local producers. Transport distances A report by Matthew Hora and Jody Tick of the Capital Area Food

Intermittent frosts during the fall can put you out of business long before they need to. A variety of row covers are available that can protect your crops from light frosts and even keep cold-hardy crops growing well into winter. But there are so many weights and types of row cover that choosing one to