Growing Tips

Flossing Your Way to Organic Health: Musings on the Ethics of Organically Approved Pesticides  (and why you should visit the dentist) When I first began flirting with farming, it was closely tied to my commitment to a natural and organic lifestyle.  It came about at the same time that I stopped washing my hair regularly, sprinkled nutritional yeast on my...

Backpack sprayers being discussed by John Grande, Ph.D., from the Rutgers Synder Research and Extension Farm. Most farms have at least one backpack sprayer. They are cheap to buy, easy to run and are an efficient way to get the sprays on the crop. My farm is small enough that I will probably never use a tractor-mounted spray rig but...

It wasn’t until about 150 years ago that Colorado potato beetles began to play such a dramatic role in potato production in the US. Before then, this harmless insect fed on a handful of weed species in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains. As the first pioneers brought potato production to the western territories, the potato beetle found a new...

Downy Mildew is a type of foliar plant disease that spreads under cool, wet conditions and affects many different crops.  Ornamental flowers, grapes, onions, basil, lettuce and cucumber all get Downy Mildew, a parasitic pathogen in the Peronosporaceae family.  Although they all come from the same “big, happy family”, different species of Downy Mildew attack different crops.  For example, Bremia...

I first heard the old adage of “no bare ground” while working for Gordon Tooley and Margaret Yancy at Tooley’s Trees in Truchas, New Mexico.  Gordon espouses many philosophies on life and farming.  However, the philosophy of “no bare ground” didn’t completely resonate with me in dry-land New Mexico.  Not long after I started on the Seed Production Farm at...

Growing is an act of faith and foresight. Faith because you plant these seeds, tiny embodiments of life, small parcels of potential, and you trust that with the proper conditions and care, they will grow.  Foresight because in farming and gardening, you are always thinking seasons ahead, anticipating the earth’s next rotation. We choose varieties and plan successions while the...

I didn’t know what to expect in May 2009 when I started my first day as a farm crew member.  It was on a small start-up farm in Northfield, Vermont called the Green Mountain Girls Farm.  It was their first year running a veggie CSA, I was their first employee, and as the season progressed there were many more firsts...

In my mind, I am a now junior grower.  I figure you get one freshman year, and then a bunch of sophomore years.  After 12 seasons, I am unwilling to consider myself a senior grower, but I get a little closer every day.  I remember when I first started farming I felt the need to see everything on the farm...

If yard space is your only limitation, you can still grow a vegetable and herb garden successfully on your patio, porch, or even your door stoop. With the proper container, amount of light and water, soil type, and fertilizer, you can grow a wide array of crops without even breaking ground. Choosing Your Container There are many types of containers...

I have been growing tomatoes in the greenhouse for many years now. I switched to grafted plants after my house “hit the wall.” After four successful years of growing glorious plants laden with fruit, my un-grafted plants topped out at three feet. Fortunately, I had gotten some grafted plants from a friend. Their production was off the hook, and saved...