You may not like “trendy” fashions, cars, jewelry or hairstyles, but you will want to know what trends are coming down the pike, if for nothing more, than to prepare your own business for what customers are thinking about and buying. Marketing forecasters say three of the big trends for 2016 will be...

My husband and I have been blessed with several different couples who have befriended us despite the fact that they are the age of our parents. We have moved several times in our marriage and somehow, there always seems to be an older couple in our new location willing to reach out and spend time wi...

Your worst nightmare as a Christmas tree grower could become a dream come true for the right researcher. Don’t suffer in silence. Bend the ear of a researcher. You and a lot of other growers with similar problems, might be glad you did. A Connecticut Christmas tree grower had a “nightmare” field. Ev...

The USDA joined other global partners in celebrating 2015 as the International Year of the Soil. This initiative is meant to underscore the importance of soil as a living “ingredient” which is literally the building block of our lives. Assessing your soils now, and amending them this fall, can provi...

Growing your Farm business with Giant Pumpkins By Melody Reynolds Pumpkins of all sizes have been the indication that fall has arrived for centuries. Front steps lined with carved jack lanterns, glowing in the dark of the night, guide trick or treater’s to the door. However, pumpkins are reaching hi...

Some Farmers Market Managers have nightmares about wind gusts and Wizard-of-Oz-style flying tents injuring market patrons or vendors. The Washington State Farmers Market Association explains, “Many accidents at farmers markets involve windblown tents, canopies and umbrellas.” The organization expect...

As days grow shorter and nights grow cooler, many growers see their largest harvests of the year. Be sure to sell that bountiful harvest at its freshest. UVM Extension’s Mary Peabody, Director of the Women’s Agricultural Network and UVM Extension Specialist in Community Resources and Economic Develo...

Recently, my cousin traveled to visit me for an extended visit. As she and I walked downtown her first night here, she caught sight of a store at the end of the block. “Oh hey, I’ve seen them before,”she said.“They’re on Facebook. I didn’t know this was where their store is!” She was commenting on o...

BLACKSBURG, VA — The rapid spread of a highly destructive invasive species has prompted a Virginia Tech scientist to lead the charge in issuing a set of recommendations, including quarantine measures, designed to thwart the advance of the pest around the globe. The insect, established in Panama and ...

For the 2015 edition of the Penn State Trial Gardens, Trial Director Sinclair Adam had his land legs, unlike last year when he had just been hired and thrown into the situation while still getting his bearings. His attire, totally appropriate for the day’s 82 degree temperatures, was reminiscent of ...

GLADESBORO, VA – Danny Cassell has been farming since he was big enough to walk behind the cabbage setter. He bought his first tractor in 1976. Today he is a fulltime farmer and has been for eight years, growing mainly pumpkins and sweet corn but also collards, kale, acorn, butternut and spaghetti s...

In 1979, Martina Navratilova and Björn Borg won Wimbledon, Kramer vs. Kramer was in the movie theaters and the cost of a first-class stamp was 15 cents. In American agriculture, over 60 percent of irrigation was performed through surface or subsurface methods. “That has drastically changed,” said Dr...

Pumpkins are big business in the United States. More than 50,000 acres of them are grown annually across the nation. That’s a lot of pumpkins, which are harvested almost entirely by hand. So how do growers best market this massive crop? Besides wholesale orders for retailers, agritourism is often th...

It’s mid-May and at Our Kids’ Farm in Exeter, RI the first strawberries are ripe. This is not a freak of nature. Rather, it is the result of a carefully designed business plan that includes niche items, creative growing practices, diversified offerings and season extension. Loren and Gina Thurn were...

There are many farmers’ markets in northern New Jersey and they each have to get creative to stay busy and profitable. The market in Sparta, Sussex County, has moved twice, from the municipal building parking lot to the middle school lot and now is in the parking lot of medical offices.Emma Lavin, w...