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Darkness was descending on the carrot patch, but we could not stop. It was the magic moment for flame weeding. Tomorrow morning would be too late. That afternoon our hands-and-knees investigation had verified that the carrot plants were just about to break the soil surface in our quarter-acre of fall carrots. The wind had died […]

Flowers can lift anyone’s spirits, but they have an especially beneficial effect on elderly people, according to a study at Rutgers University. The results shed new light on how nature’s support systems help seniors cope with the challenges of aging. •Flowers decrease depression. Study participants showed a significant increase in happiness and positive moods when

The dilemma as to whether a flower grower wants to jump into the wedding trade is a tough one. If you sell flowers at a local farmers’ market, sooner or later someone will approach you with the desire for you to do their wedding flowers. Having done approximately 180 weddings in the dozen or so

On a good traffic day, our farm in Lehigh County is only a one-hour drive from Center City Philadelphia. But from the stunned looks on the children’s faces as the big yellow school bus pulled up in our driveway recently you might think we live on the moon. “It’s SO quiet here!” says one wide-eyed

Protecting high value food crops from the weather is an ancient science, art, and practice. As far back as the beginning of the first century, the Romans were tinkering with environmental modification. And so it has been down through centuries that just about every imaginable technique and device has been used to shelter crops from

Modern farmers’ markets grew as almost a bi-coastal phenomenon. In part this was driven by maritime influenced growing seasons and in part by the population centers on both coasts. The next 10 years promises a more even distribution of markets around the country, driven by consumers, cities, economic development groups, and the lower farm gate

In our four years of growing cut flowers, we have realized that making bouquets is the most profitable and satisfying way for us to market them. Virtually all of our flowers now are made into bouquets and sold at farmers’ market. In order to have an adequate number of flowers to make bouquets all season

Jim and Megan Gerritsen of Wood Prairie Farm in Bridgewater, Maine, grow l6 varieties of organic potatoes, which they sell mail-order for both seed and for tablestock. Many of their varieties are unusual ones, including several heirloom varieties. The Gerritsens have chosen their varieties with care. “We’ve grown over a hundred varieties,” Jim Gerritsen pointed

Many popular crops of the present time once were weeds. Even grains, today’s most commercialized crop, are domesticated from formerly wild grasses. Weeds were used for human consumption since historical records can be traced. Many parts of the plants; leaves, seeds, roots, stems, were used as food or medicine, making the diversity of ancient diets