In 2003, one year out of college, my partner David and I drove across the country, from Alabama to Washington State, to spend the summer interning on Full Circle Farm in Carnation, WA. Fortunately for us, Brady Hatch and Brendan McQuillen were doing the same that summer, traveling from the northeast coast.  When our internship ended in the fall, David and I returned to Alabama to start Snow’s Bend Farm. After a brief stint in Florida where Brady worked on Sweetwater Farm, the two of them made their way to her home state of Maine and started Morning Dew Farm. 2024-05-02T13:32:00-00:00 ..read more

Before I quit my job to farm full-time, I had a career in cybersecurity and risk management. At first glance, this might sound like it has nothing to do with farming. But farming might involve more risk management than almost any other profession. A large part of my previous job was creating risk registers and brainstorming worst case scenarios for large international companies, then helping them create plans to manage these risks. We’ve taken a similar approach to managing risks on our farm.  2024-05-02T13:18:00-00:00 ..read more

Florista Lina farm is a family owned company started more than 20 years ago. It is situated in Barcelos, in the northern region of Portugal. Of the l50 acres, only a bit over 4 acres are being used now for flower production. This company was started by our grandparents when they acquired land to grow vegetables and fruit such as tomatoes, peppers, potatoes and melons. At that time both of their daughters were working at a factory, but years later they decided to take over the business and change it bit by bit to flowers. They built greenhouse structures. A few years ago, the third generation t ..read more

When starting out, many farmers look at what other farmers charge and copy their pricing. It’s quite common. Others want to keep prices in line with the local supermarket. Maybe you did the same? If you’ve done a cost of production analysis or even a bigger picture profitability analysis, you may realize you will need to raise your prices if you want to be financially sustainable.  I don’t need to tell you that increasing your prices is not as simple as it sounds. Will your customers still buy from you if you raise your prices? Does raising your prices misalign with your mission of provid ..read more

I’m a bit of a reluctant tarp and insect netting user, largely because I hate handling the stuff. Back in March of 2021 Jonathan Leiss of Spring Forth Farm wrote an article on his folding method for tarps, with nice details on little tricks to really make that system work for them. I have a slightly different method I wanted to share, and we also use it for the insect netting that we have on the farm, which is different than most insect netting I’ve seen available to growers, and in my experience it’s far superior, handling a bit more like a tarp. 2024-05-02T12:22:00-00:00 ..read more

Talking yourself into sacrificing a cash crop for a cover crop is a hard thing to do on a small-scale operation where every square foot counts. When done well, cover crops can have multiple benefits like improved soil, fewer weeds, and reduced pest pressure. But there are risks with cover crops when they don’t germinate, grow, or terminate as planned. When done poorly, they can be more troublesome than they’re worth. 2024-05-02T12:42:00-00:00 ..read more

Growers have long used deposits from ancient seas as a source of micronutrients- and over 50 years ago, Dr. Maynard Murray started researching the use of minerals- naturally dried and derived from mineral-rich seawater- as a source of micronutrients. Today on the podcast we talk with Chief Mineral Officer Michael Sileck about how Sea-90 Ocean Minerals continues the work of Dr. Murray today, through their naturally-dried, unprocessed and unrefined soil amendments. 2024-04-30T05:00:00-00:00 ..read more

REKO rings gained popularity during the pandemic as a way to keep selling direct to the public when markets were shut down. One of the obstacles to more widespread adoption of the REKO system- reliance on closed Facebook groups to communicate with customers- has been eliminated by Tyler Taggart and REKO Hub. They have developed software to facilitate REKO rings without using Facebook, plus the software is free for producers to use. Instead of charging producers, a small fee is charged to customers when they place an order through REKO Hub. 2024-04-23T05:00:00-00:00 ..read more

This week we talk with Hannah Rose Weber and Nate Lada, two of the owners at Green Things Farm Collective in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Green Things is a majority women-owned farm business that has evolved out of several businesses. Nate and his wife Jill first started Green Things farm in 2011 at a local farm incubator program. Then they purchased 64 acres where the farm is now settled. In 2020, Green Things joined with Ann Arbor Seed Company and the Land Loom to expand production, share management of running a diverse farm business and develop a model of sustainable, cooperative, and responsible f ..read more

Sometimes it feels like my flower farm, Moonshot Farm in East Windsor, New Jersey, is an entomologist’s dream and a farmer’s nightmare. Surrounded on all sides by conventionally sprayed farms, our property is an oasis for all kinds of cut flower pests. We grow the majority of our highest value stems under cover — both heated and unheated greenhouses — where pest issues can be magnified. 2024-04-11T11:28:00-00:00 ..read more