Strawberries, flowers, crop mazes and Christmas trees: expansion is the word at Strawberry Fields and Florist, a farm turned tourist destination in Auburn, NY. Proprietor Linda Eldred and a friend promised each other as girls that they would never marry farmers. Of course, they grew up and did just ...

Many farmers have begun to diversify their operations and use their resources in different ways to bring in more revenue. Offering lodging via Airbnb represents one additional income stream, as explained in “How to Create and Operate a Successful On-Farm Airbnb” by Matt Baumgartner of June Farms in ...

John LaSalle is in charge of making spring occur all year long inside 14,000 square feet of greenhouses at his 12-acre farm, LaSalle Florists and Greenhouses in Whately, MA, where he lives with his wife Debi LaSalle. In late March, one of the greenhouses was full of fragrant calla lilies, the result...

Self-employment and choosing an advisor Paula Ledney uses this Stephen Covey quote to emphasize the importance of setting goals when farm business owners work through retirement planning. Ledney, who serves as the education program associate and financial analyst in business, energy and community vi...

A group of Northeast growers shared tips on tomato grafting in a webinar presented by the New Hampshire Vegetable & Berry Growers Association (NHVBGA) and UNH Extension. Grafting tomatoes requires three steps: Growing healthy rootstock and scions in the pre-graft stage, grafting and post-graft plant...

Maybe you think you’re doing okay. Maybe you’re struggling to make ends meet. Maybe you’re planning for retirement. There are many different money goals, but the key to achieving them lies in the ability to accurately assess your financial health. Alex White, Ph.D., instructor in the Department of D...

Only when I transitioned from vegetable farming to flowers did I realize the challenges involved. It was a mystery how to grow the long, straight stems common in Instagram feeds. Once I learned the definition of a good cut flower, the rules were simple. The plants must thrive in your growing conditi...

Ethylene (C2H4) is nothing more than a plant hormone that controls flowering and rooting. It’s known as the “ripening hormone,” which is why some things can be picked or cut green. It can be a boon or a burden. When it’s a problem, there are ways to mitigate its deleterious effects. Dr. Michelle Jon...

Herbicide strips within rows of commercial tree fruit or small fruits orchards, and in vineyards, have become standard practice. Runoff and erosion, depletion of soil moisture, reduction in organic matter, decrease in soil microbes and problems with soil fertility can be concerns under this type of ...