Having spent several years now pouring over real estate listings in search of my own forever farm, I have become painfully aware of the cost of farmland. Farmland prices are rising, and good land for farming is becoming increasingly scarce. This has serious implications for the future of the nation’s farm economy and farm system, but also for America’s agricultural… Read more »
It’s mid-August already, but there’s still time to sow a number of different vegetables for a winter harvest. If you’re growing your own food for your family or for market, you’ll want to take advantage of the remaining season and get these crops in the ground right away. If you haven’t tried it yet, seize the opportunity and overwinter a… Read more »
The trees and plants in the surroundings are living things that need to be taken care of. The trees and plants provide a lot of benefits not only to mother earth but also to us, human beings. Trees add life as well as color to the environment. For some, trees can be a great addition to enhance your garden and… Read more »
For farmers and homesteaders, it just makes sense to promote the myriad of native bees on your farm. By encouraging native bees you’re effectively promoting the overall health of the ecosystem that you are responsible for as a farmer─since bees are a keystone species and their health and well-being directly impacts plants and animals all the way up the food chain. … Read more »
If you’re as serious as I am about growing your own food you might be considering extending your season with a fall garden. Maybe you’ve never heard of fall gardening or season extension; maybe you think the whole idea is absurd? Here in Maine, many old-school gardeners don’t plant til Memorial Day; they spend their summers in a flurry of… Read more »
Farmers and gardeners are discovering the benefits of using agribon in the garden. Also known as “row-cover”, this lightweight fabric is the key to extending your growing season and protecting crops from insects. I’ve used it in the past on brassicas to deter the cabbage loopers and had great success. This year I am using row cover on my cucurbit-family… Read more »
This past Saturday I installed packaged bees into the existing equipment of my recently deceased hives in the Runamuk apiary. In my 7 years of beekeeping, this was a first for me; I’ve always bought locally raised nucleus colonies with hardy overwintered Queens. With so much comb and honey and pollen stores available following winter losses, and the promise of… Read more »
Buying and eating real food is a challenge for low-income families like mine; for people who struggle to make ends meet, food isn’t always a priority. Yet I get this sick sense of satisfaction whenever I am able to put before my family a meal made up of real and local foods. Food is just one of the many ways… Read more »
Following the long winter, as my stores of vegetables dwindle and I am once again reduced to buying Olivia’s spinach at the grocery store, cringing over the kale and lettuce there which never compares to the quality of my own home-grown produce─I am all too eager to get seeds in the ground to grow my own vegetables as fast as… Read more »
When I began keeping bees, I managed my hives in the mainstream fashion. I fed them sugar-syrup, I painted my boxes, and I used foundation in my frames. As I’ve learned more about bees and how to take care of them, some of my methods have changed. I’m much more reluctant to feed my bees sugar, I stopped painting my… Read more »