Focusing on organic production and education, Russ Vollmer is enthusiastic about farming and it shows. He’s a 5th generation farmer at the helm of his family’s farm — Vollmer Farm. “It was in tobacco for many years,”said Vollmer, describing the 100-acre Bunn, NC farm. “Tobacco paid the bills, there ...

RUSTBURG, VA — For the first time in over two years, Bill Beni experienced something most of the rest us tend to enjoy with some greater frequency — a good night’s sleep. Beni is the Farm Manager at 7K Farms, a new apple orchard in Campbell County. He’s overseen the planting of 235-acres of tall spi...

Do what you like, like what you do and the rest will follow. That certainly works for husband and wife Mark and Annette Larareo. Enthusiasm is their middle name as they put out plants to sell in front of their business, The Village Green Greenhouse in Haydenville, MA; its been family-run for 29 year...

On an unusually hot spring afternoon, Brent Barnhart was working on a reducing the size of a corn planter so it would be more suitable for his needs. Barnhart is a young farmer who started farming in 2007, but is already seeing some of his some ambitious ideas come to fruition. He’s creating a produ...

SHEPHERDSTOWNS, WV — Brian Tanguay’s aquaponics operation is growing about as quickly as the tilapia which are the backbone of his system. Tanguay first started practicing aquaponics commercially two years ago. Within the limited space of his home, Tanguay was growing plants full-tilt, selling produ...

A lot of people are talking about permaculture, a system that relies on designing planting configurations to work more like an ecosystem. Until recently, the practice has largely been associated with the landscape industry. However, farms nationwide ranging from less than five acres in production to...

Running a business is all about managing risk. Agriculture and horticulture are both steeped in chance. Thus, your farm-based business comes with twice the amount of worry as many other vocations. Because of that, growers often lean conservatively when it comes to trying new things. We’re as skeptic...

It was a gray day as I drove into Schartner Farms in North Kingstown, RI. The blackened shell of the farm stand dominated the landscape, as did the acrid smell of creosote although it had been nearly a month since a fire destroyed the local landmark. Despite the devastation, a spirit of resilience s...

An ambitious young boy didn’t have any way of knowing what he started when he began selling vegetables at an open-air stand on his family’s Circleville, Ohio farm. But young Brent Rhoads’ venture was successful; within a few years the family constructed a small building where they offered their own ...