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Among the many challenges of running a successful CSA farm is managing the work of creating and maintain your list of CSA members. I’m not that old, but I still remember a time when farms didn’t have websites and we pretty much had our CSA members sign up by filling out paper forms. Those forms […]

This final article in a series of three about a native plant nursery business focuses on equipment, labor, pricing, opportunities, and restoration projects. As with the January and February 2023 GFM articles, it centers on my neighbors, mentors, and dear friends Sandy Roth and Dick Kenton who started Plant Works in 1996 in rural La

Potting mix, called “potting soil” in the United States and “potting compost” in the United Kingdom, often contains no soil, no compost, and is not even always used in pots. Instead, the material farmers mix themselves or buy in bulk every winter is actually a sterile, soil-less mix of organic and inorganic materials meant to

There’s nothing worse than doing all the work of buying seeds, sprouting them in the propagation house in expensive potting soil, planting in precious compost rich beds, harvesting into freshly scrubbed buckets, arranging and going to market — and then coming home with unsold bunches. Drying flowers is a great way to preserve all that

When we started our farm in 2018, we built a small, unheated greenhouse with plans for something larger the following season, but those plans were derailed by more pressing farm projects, building a website, and, well, farming. We managed somewhat successfully with our cheaply built greenhouse using PVC and greenhouse plastic. Looking back, I can’t

Part I: Overview, Land, and Markets The market farm I manage has been, like all farms, significantly shaped by programs in the Farm Bill. Some impacts are easy to trace. Our high tunnel, where tomatoes yield three times better than our field tomatoes, and our 8-foot fence, which presents a thin line between lush lettuce

This second of three articles featuring a native plant nursery business focuses on propagation and growing techniques. My neighbors, mentors, and dear friends, Sandy Roth and Dick Kenton, started Plant Works native plant nursery in 1996 in rural La Grande, Oregon. We hope these articles encourage others to grow native plants and work in restoration.

I worked on a farm a couple of decades ago where we had two small greenhouses for propagation. One was heated with a typical greenhouse heater run on propane, the kind that hangs from the bows and blows hot air through the house to bring the temperature up. The other was unheated. We used the

Oregon flower growers find a permaculture marketing niche Walking into Pollinate Flowers’ backyard growing space feels like entering a storybook cottage garden. A long arbor draped with greenery leads the visitor down a shaded path to a deer-fenced permaculture production area. Inside the gate, the gardens overflow with abundance. On either side of the central

The first of 3 articles on the business, growing techniques and opportunities My neighbors, mentors, and dear friends, Sandy Roth and Dick Kenton, started Plant Works native plant nursery in 1996 in La Grande, Oregon. I will share their story, extensive experience, and spirit for growing and restoration. We hope these articles encourage others to