Posts by Sarah Diana Nechamen

The Long Island Food Conference is right around the corner – Saturday, April 25th at Hofstra University. The conference promises to be a great day for anyone interested in learning about growing food, eating healthy and promoting/supporting our local food movement. Not only are there wonderful educational workshops planned and a phenomenal plenary speaker in Stephen Ritz of…

Birch syrup often gets a bad rap for being difficult to produce and developing a very strong flavor, but birch can be a profitable addition to a maple operation if you can tap into the right markets! Read this Small Farms Quarterly article to find out the best processing and marketing techniques for birch syrup.

Forest mushroom cultivation has recently been growing in popularity, due to the abundance of forest resources in the northeast and the relative low-cost of startup operations. Growers interested in cultivation have sometimes found one major hurdle; insurance companies would deny or drop coverage upon learning the farm was planning on mushroom cultivation, mostly over fears of the liability incurred…

May 14th- Whether bringing new acres into production or renovating your existing fields, there is plenty to be done to provide for optimum soil fertility and to properly incorporate infrastructure like irrigation and drainage.  Hear from Ruth Blackwell about Mud Creek Farm’s existing soil health management as Cornell Cooperative Extension’s Crystal Stewart adds insight about…

We are pleased to announce a more user-friendly redesign of our Small Farms Statewide Events Calendar.  You can now click on your region of the map for local events, or browse all events currently offered across New York. As before, this calendar brings you a broad spectrum of trainings, classes, workshops, and conferences from our network of…

In the Northwestern and Central parts of the US, animal health officials have detected a new and deadly strain of bird flu among poultry flocks. The disease has not been found in the northeast yet, but animal health officials are concerned as birds continue to migrate back to the U.S. as spring approaches. Even if…

We are pleased to announce that we have hired Matthew Weiss to fill the role of Northeast Beginning Farmer Project Coordinator. Matt is an Ithaca, New York native who has returned to the Finger Lakes region after spending seven years living in Philadelphia, PA. Matt has a B.S. in Communications from Cornell University and an…

Nutrient Density Farming is a holistic approach to maximizing soil health and the quality of crops, achieved by an optimized balance of nutrients in the soil.  The Cornell Soil Health Assessment tool is a new test developed to research and attend to the balance of soils’ physical, chemical, and biological contents, determining and influencing overall…