Savvy businesspeople know that happy customers return and spend more money. Smart farmers ask loyal CSA, farmers market and restaurant customers what they liked. Smart businesspeople seek customer suggestions for the future. Engaged customers are loyal customers. Always greet your customers personal...

Visitors to farm-based food stores, cafes or restaurants tend to stay longer and spend more money according to Eric Nusbaum, Ph.D. of Wheelwright Consultants in Greenfield, MA, who led a workshop at the 2013 Harvest New England Ag Marketing Conference & Trade Show. However, growers considering addin...

The bane of phytophthora root rot is familiar to Fraser fir growers. It’s familiar to producers of non-Christmas tree woody ornamental trees and shrubs, as the soil-borne water mold can affect a variety plants including azalea, dogwood, rhododendron, and boxwood. In fact, the phytophthora genus is h...

LOVINGSTON, VA — Everyone in the commercial apple market has had to contend with the rise of China. Drumheller’s Orchard has responded the way many other small growers have — by retrenching and repositioning. For decades, Drumheller’s was one of many small Virginia producers that grew and packed app...

The long driveway leading up to Bug Hill Farm’s Farm Store, attached to the edge of the main farmhouse in Ashfield, MA is lined with huge black-eyed Susans, delphiniums, echinacea, indigenous flowers and greenhouses. At the end of the driveway is a row of cars owned by people who have come to pick r...

With winter upon us, it’s time to plan for the upcoming year. If you’re so inclined (and aren’t already doing so already) consider using the colder months to extend your growing and harvesting season — even aim for year-round production. Consumer hunger for locally grown produce doesn’t go away duri...

With the winter show season in full gear, it’s worth reviewing the advantages of attending trade shows as well provide tips to get the most out of your experience, whether as an exhibitor or attendee. The three main rationales for attending trade shows are to see new products, network with members o...

Farm-based food operations bring extra visitors and encourage those guests to stay at the farm longer. “The longer they stay, they more money they spend,” said Eric Nusbaum, Ph.D. of Wheelwright Consultants in Greenfield, MA. Commercial kitchens can be used to turn excess agricultural products into ...

In 1996, Bernie Szarek and his family started growing greenhouse plants. Each year, they put their earnings toward a new greenhouse. “We’re up to eight greenhouses now,” said Bernie’s wife Denise. “In the beginning, Bernie grew nursery stock, bedding plants and hanging baskets and sold wholesale to ...

On Oct. 25 this year, at Linvilla Orchards near Media in southeastern, PA, workers were busily picking large red, ripe strawberries. A 26 degree frost had killed nearby tomato plants the night before, but the Seascape day-neutral strawberries, protected overnight by a floating row cover supported by...

“How tough can it be to grow Christmas trees?” Eric Watne said. He has learned a lot during the past eight years as co-owner of Clark Farm in Tiverton, RI. He has also become president of the Rhode Island Christmas Tree Growers Association. Taking over a neglected Christmas tree farm was a challenge...

On bright, fall weekends through late November, Crumland Farms will host thousands of guests. Some visitors are youngsters and anxious to select the perfect pumpkin from the farm’s pumpkin patch, while others are prepared to be frightened in one of several haunted features. Crumland Farms was origin...

Tom Childs was looking for an alternative method to heat his greenhouses, and the answer came in the form of a new building, a new tractor and a very large boiler equipped with electronic controls. “I’ve always been interested in energy,” said Childs, of Twin Springs Fruit Farm in Orrtanna, PA. “Mik...

At the 2013 edition of the Penn State Extension Flower Trial Field Day much of the setting was typical for the event, but there were also a few changes. The most notable change was inspired by an alteration to the road by which everyone accesses the extension grounds. The township had straightened t...

Growing strong, the Wojnar family farm has been taking root on an abandoned piece of land in Saunderstown, RI. The farm, once over run with weeds and trees is now plowed, planted and buzzing with activity. Two brothers, Josh and Adam, and their father Mike are the backbone of this family business. T...