July 2014

Katie Spring owns and operates Good Heart Farmstead with her husband Edge Fuentes in Worcester, VT. Prime agricultural soils are often found in flood-plain, where the land is nutrient-rich and fertile. Hillsides, in contrast, can bring a range of challenges for the farmer: nutrient-poor soil, erosion, and nutrient run-off to name a few. But as we experience more extreme weather...

Dryland farming at Agritopia A cross-country road trip reveals some remarkable things about America. Across the continent the vast differences in culture are evident in the range of clothing styles, food preferences, accents, vehicles, and dwellings; in our music, art, politics, and economic stability. But as great as our cultural differences are, they are insignificant compared to (and thoroughly shaped...

If you read last week’s article you already learned plenty about dealing with common garden pests. Now let’s get into the common garden diseases and how to prevent them. Garden diseases can be difficult to diagnose—many of them have similar symptoms. They may have different treatments that are appropriate at different times in the disease lifecycles. And of course, you...

Nearly everyone who’s gardened for a season or two has experienced that moment of shock when, upon entering the garden, one first lays eyes on a squadron of cucumber beetles happily chomping away on the squash plants. After the shock of seeing the carefully-tended plants in tatters, one moves on to the next phase of garden grief: denial. How could...

“All knowledge is rooted in wonder, and what better place to cultivate wonder than in our own gardens?” ~Sharon Lovejoy I gave birth at the end of July, bringing our baby boy into the world the same summer that we started the farm.  Some folks thought it bad timing—a baby in the middle of our first season—but we knew otherwise and...