Year: 2011
Can you name fifteen uses for cover crops? Thomas Bjorkman, an associate professor of horticulture at Cornell University, can. And he’s using this list of “management goals”—including weed reduction, erosion prevention, soil aggregate stability, increased organic matter, and disease and pest suppression—to diagnose which cover crops will most benefit farmers’ productivity levels. Thomas’s online decision…
The climate of the Northeast is favorable for growing lush vegetation, but sometimes too many of the wrong plants grow in the wrong place. Ignoring the situation will often lead to greater costs and problems further down the road. Goats are an increasingly popular option for managing vegetation in other regions of the United States,…
Since 2003, the Seeds to Success program has been training New Jersey youth in new job skills, bringing business to farmers, and increasing community access to healthy food. In 2003, Rutgers Cooperative Extension (RCE) of Gloucester County launched Seeds to Success, a youth farmstand project. Now in its 8th year, Seeds to Success, part of…
It is difficult to be objective when you’re in love. And I confess to have fallen in love with the Tunis sheep breed nearly twenty-five years ago. A time when few people could identify those beautiful copper red-faced, red legged, creamy wool creatures with pendulous ears in our barn who gave new meaning to good…
During the late 1940’s and early 1950’s my family, like many others, spent vacation time visiting relatives in the summer. The nation had just endured a war and money was scarce so family visits were a good match. My mother’s cousin, her husband and three daughters were part of a three-family owned dairy farm in…
While a few energetic and competent farmers manage to run CSAs by themselves or with only their families and employees, they are missing the opportunities for broader participation and support that CSA offers. Building solidarity has practical advantages and at the same time contributes to deep social transformation. To build a future for ourselves and…
The following excerpt, “The Reasons to Garden,” is the fourth of a series of essays written by Bill Duesing from the book Living on the Earth: Eclectic Essays for a Sustainable and Joyful Future. As the days get longer and the soil begins to warm — thoughts of spring and the promise of a new…
If you are calculating your farm product prices based on what others are charging, you are making assumptions that your farm probably can’t afford. We know it can be tough to get buyers to pay a price that provides a consistent profit for your farm. Yet, the whole idea of growing something and selling it…
When you’ve got an unconventional idea about farming, rural people (born and raised) are guaranteed to put it through the wringer. These are the shrewdest judges you’ll ever meet, so before you start running your mouth in front of them, you’d best be prepared. It was only after six months of experience that I brought…
It occurred on a spring morning in the mid 90s in New Jersey. I had lambing season. I drove out to my flock to the pasture I rented from the state. When I arrived I discovered a devastating scene. The flock was clearly disturbed. The field was littered with dead lambs. A couple of sheep…
