Posts by Tara Hammonds
by Sarah Nechamen East New York is a neighborhood in Brooklyn, New York that is home to 180,000 people yet for many years only four or five grocery stores. Many supermarket companies didn’t think opening a branch in this low-income part of the city would be economically viable, and the stores that were there just…
Read Moreby Petra Page-Mann We are surrounded by brilliant innovations, some old and some new. Electricity, weaving, combustion, language: each one began as an unthinkable notion. Each had passionate people who believed it could be done who tried, failed and tried again. The dedication of countless visionaries surrounds us. Agriculture itself is such an innovation, one…
Read MoreBy Devon Kenny Five Roses Farm is not your average farming operation. Leading the charge on this charming homestead are five girls who give everything they have, and a little more, to keep the operation running smoothly. At this scenic farm in Madison County in NY, the Cranwells are dad Clyde, mom Kristi, and daughters:…
Read Moreby Miriah Reynolds Often it’s the label that sells a product the first time; it’s the product that sells it the second. Font, color, and specific words might be enough to strike the customer’s attention. Whether its cheese, soap, eggs, milk, or just handing out a business card, labeling plays an important role in small…
Read Moreby Rich B. Taber This is the third installment in a series on locating, selecting, and maintaining used tractors for the small farm. In the first installment (Fall 2014), we discussed some of the features that you would be looking for on a good used tractor for your small farm. In the second installment (Winter…
Read MoreA new book offers perspective of mushrooms as food, medicine, and healers of toxic landscapes. Meeting Tradd at a workshop or conference makes one thing clear; he is completely obsessed with mushrooms. Good thing for the rest of us, because over the last 20+ years Tradd has been experimenting, researching, and putting mushrooms to work solving…
Read Moreby John M. Thurgood Imagine a world with healthy and abundant food, thriving farmers, and clean lakes and streams. Is this an unrealistic vision? It seems with our abundant resources and knowledge, it should be possible. Why isn’t it? I think the root cause is the belief we need to control nature — to take…
Read Moreby Sam Anderson If you have raised sheep or goats on pasture for at least a couple of years, or have been to a few sheep or goat workshops, or have read very much at all about pasture-based sheep or goat farming, you probably know a bit about the problem of internal parasites, aka “worms.”…
Read Moreby Elizabeth Burrichter One of the most common questions I have been asked at market: “Is this organic?” I wonder what customers are really getting at with this question. Are they looking for produce grown without synthetic pesticides or fertilizers? Without any pesticides at all? Produce grown on a farm run by a family or…
Read Moreby Ken Mudge Forest cultivation of shiitake mushrooms has become one of the most important non- timber forest crops in the Northeast. Well-established methods of cultivation, along with strong market demand for log cultivated shiitake, have made it a fairly reliable crop for experienced as well as beginning forest farmers. Yet, Shiitake is only one…
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