Despite a popular talking point, teenagers are motivated – it just might look a little different from what motivates you. A recent session from the Business, Entrepreneurship & Economic Development Team at Penn State Extension unpacked this idea: teenage workers are a crucial part of seasonal farm w...

A neighbor posted on our community page looking for a bouquet without having to drive to suburbia. She had lots of options to choose from, including a retired teacher giving away small bouquets as part of the Free Little Flower movement, a prolific gardener who invited her to come cut a bouquet and ...

For a while I’ve been thinking about national security and the importance of maintaining vibrant local food systems – especially in today’s increasingly chaotic national and international environment. I am also intrigued with the term “locavore.” Checking in with my friend Webster, I learned that th...

Stop the rot. It seems like a simple objective for those growing produce after they harvest it. It’s not always an easy problem to solve though. For example, onion bulb crops are grown on approximately 140,000 acres annually in the U.S., with a farm-gate value of $925 million. But bacterial diseases...

The Village Green Greenhouse is celebrating its 37th year of business. Mark and Annette Larareo reopened their doors for the season on Good Friday in late March, selling plants, everything related to growing plants that a customer could wish for and ice cream in their second business located at the ...

LAUREL SPRINGS, NC – Joe Freeman fell in love with the Christmas tree business when he was a teenager and worked on Guilford County retail lots for the Wagoner brothers, pioneers of North Carolina’s Christmas tree industry. “I like seeing people come out and pick out a tree, whether on a retail lot ...

With technology improving year after year, it’s important to stay with the times and use the new systems to make your business more successful. One relevant technological advancement is artificial intelligence (AI). Dale Bertrand, CEO of Fire&Spark , is very knowledgeable when it comes to using AI t...

Food safety principles in cider and novel juice processing technology One of the most popular ways to add value to fruit crops is to press them. Juices and ciders are especially lucrative for those with orchards, but maintaining the safety of those products is paramount. Randy Worobo, a professor of...

Leaders in Massachusetts worked diligently on a project in 2023 to bring farm-fresh produce to multiple Boston hospitals. Peter Allison, executive director of Farm to Institution New England (FINE) , hosted a seminar to share “The Butternut Soup Story” from the past few months. “The Butternut Soup S...

They may sound tiny and harmless, but even when flea beetles don’t kill your seedlings, they can spread diseases like bacterial wilt and fungal blight. When these pestiferous plant-eaters arrive, you need to act quickly. Talking about options for managing flea beetle in greens at the most recent Gre...

Maintaining an efficient irrigation system is a critical way to minimize your water and financial waste while increasing your profits. USDA-NRCS’s New Hampshire State Agronomist Chad Cochrane recently presented on the importance of irrigation efficiency. In his webinar, he endeavored to introduce gr...

How I love the smell, taste and texture of a ripe muskmelon. Over my career I have researched, written and lectured many times on the production of one of my favorite crops. Along with colleagues and industry folks, we developed a system of production that growers have adopted throughout the country...

ELON, NC – Andrew Long is a veteran, having served in our country’s armed forces, including overseas, from 2010 – 2014. Night patrol was a regular duty for Long and his fellow soldiers. During a full moon, the light provided by the heavens made patrolling a bit easier and gave the troops a morale bo...

Thirty Acre Farm in Bremen, Maine, is a farm-to-fermentation enterprise owned and operated by longtime friends Simon Frost and Daniel Price. Price is the organic vegetable grower. Frost is the processor, turning the plethora of produce into lacto-fermented products including sauerkrauts, kimchi, pic...

The economy has fluctuated over the years, and the green industry is very familiar with these changes. Dr. Charlie Hall, a professor in the department of horticultural sciences at Texas A&M University, recently gave his annual report on what has happened in the green industry over the past year. “On...