Archive

Post your favorite farm-made tool on social media using #toolsforgrowingformarket or email it to us at admin@growingformarket.com. If Josh picks your tool, you win a $50 tool gift certificate and a Full Access sub to GFM! Hand carts are a great tool on the farm, saving time moving all sorts of things, and saving wear […]

Community building CSA balances fair prices and fair wages  Pluk! was conceived one summer evening in 2017 by a couple of wannabe farmers. They were fresh out of agriculture school in the polder (low lying land reclaimed from the sea) and living in the heart of Amsterdam. That night, over a bottle of organic wine,

Last winter, we had an outbreak of downy mildew on stock (Matthiola incana) in our greenhouses. We had a loss of 52 flats, 128-cells double seeded, which was about 13,000 plants. At around $1/stem, that’s a lot of plants and potential money in the trash, and according to our accountant, not something we could write

Last month I wrote about how we sell flowers at farmers markets and through a CSA. This next article focuses on selling to florists, brides and weddings. The market streams covered in this article require, to me, a more seasoned skill set to do well. This does not mean you cannot start by selling to

Point-of-Sale (POS) software is readily available for use on smart phones and tablets. The technology allows farms to easily check-out customers while gathering important data for production and marketing decisions. POS applications, such as Square, allow the farm to quickly and easily capture data about each customer transaction including item name, weight and/or quantity, price

This is the fourth of four quarterly articles on the many types of alliums that can provide some onion-family flavor all year-round. Alliums are a staple ingredient in so many cuisines that farmers who can grow or store them all year long will always have a market for them. The spring season can include alliums

Our farm is a mystery — one farm, but also three farms — like a holy farming trinity. I jest, but what I mean is this: on the land we lease, three different farming operations have shared the land and infrastructure to suit their needs. Together we are able to afford the significant rent while

With more farmers aiming to produce local food year-round, storage of vegetables for sale over the winter is an important way to extend the season when it’s too cold to grow in the field. Understanding the needs of different crops can help reduce your electricity bill and your carbon footprint, and maximize the amount of produce

Kristen Efurd Osgood and her partner Joe Balooshi established Beyond Description Farm last year on 30 acres in Arkansas’ Ouachita Mountains region.  With extensive backgrounds in sustainability, farming and permaculture, they are trialing crops to see what will thrive in their temperate climate, now hit with hotter summers, extreme temperature swings, and excessive rains. When