January is the best month to choose crops, order seeds, and plan your seed-starting and planting schedules. Spring is still months away, but you can start planting earlier than ever before with the new season extension products available from Johnny’s. And by doing your planning this early, you can be sure you won’t miss any important windows for valuable early crops.

The place where you store tools and supplies is probably the least glamorous part of your farm, but getting it organized can save time and money during the busy season.

Going for a tool and finding it missing is both frustrating and time wasting. If you have more than one person working on your farm, you need a clearly designated place for tools and a rule that every tool gets put away when its work is done.

Winter’s slower pace allows time for chores that just couldn’t be done during the frenzy of the growing season We’ll cover three projects that will help recharge your batteries and make your farm more efficient next year.

The season is drawing to a close, but there’s still work to be done. You can plant certain vegetable and flower seeds now to overwinter for an extra-early harvest next year. Garlic needs to be planted in fall. And you can extend the season of your current crops by being ready for the changing weather ahead.

In the southern half of the United States, fall is the best time to plant hardy annuals that will bloom next spring. Some of the best hardy annuals used as cut flowers include  agrostemma, bachelor buttons, bupleurum, larkspur, and nigella. Any other flowers that normally self-seed in your garden are also good candidates for fall seeding. Some will germinate in fall, grow into small plants, and then go dormant. Others won’t germinate this year, but will sit in the soil until the chilling requirement is fulfilled and the weather warms. Larkspur is a good example of a cut flower that is much stronger and taller when direct seeded in fall.

With an unheated hoophouse or Quick Hoops™ covered with greenhouse poly, you can have fresh produce to sell until Thanksgiving and beyond.

The best cover crops for planting now are those that grow quickly in cool weather. Some will winter over and start growing again next spring. Others will be killed by cold weather but will have enough root and top growth to hold the soil in place during the winter. These two types require different management next year, so it's important to figure out how the cover crop fits into your spring planting schedule. Here are some of the considerations for cover crops to plant now.

Don’t forget to stock up for your own table. You’ll find all the details in the book How to Store Your Garden Produce. If frost threatens suddenly, go through your fields and glean whatever odds and ends you can find. Almost everything can be frozen and used in soup later.

Although 88% of U.S. farmers markets are open less than six months a year, there is a definite trend toward stretching the market season in fall or holding special holiday markets. In addition, many communities have craft markets where farmers can sell value-added products. Many growers create a line of value-added products that they can sell after the main produce season is over. If you haven’t specifically grown crops with value-added products in mind, this is a good time to survey your markets for potential niches. You might also find that you already have the materials for products you can sell this fall, as a way of testing the water. Here are a few ideas.

Cut flowers are prone to wilting in summer, especially when they're on display at a farmers market or farm stand on a hot day. And nobody wants to buy a bunch of wilted flowers. To prevent premature wilting, follow good harvest and post-harvest procedures. Here are the basics.

Pathogenic bacteria thrive in warm temperatures, so pay particular attention to food safety when harvesting, washing, packing, and storing produce in the summer. The guiding principle in food safety should be to prevent pathogens from getting onto your produce in the first place. A set of standards known as Good Agricultural Practices (GAPs) is designed to do just that.

In hot climates around the world, vegetables and cut flowers are grown under shade cloth to reduce heat and light intensity, resulting in better quality and higher yields.

There’s both art and science to displaying produce at a market. A beautiful display catches the eye of customers and brings them to your stand. Then the science of selling takes over and makes it easy for customers to purchase your products. Here are some of the rules of farmers market display that will help you sell more:

Branding is not limited to big companies with a lot of money to spend on advertising;  even the smallest business has a brand that can be managed to increase profits. Although farmers don’t usually think of themselves as having a brand, many of the concepts used in brand management in other sectors can be applied to agricultural businesses. Here are some ways to think about developing and managing your brand: