How to Get Accepted Into Farmers Markets Written By: Forrest Pritchard, MOTHER EARTH NEWS Blogger It seems as though everyone has at least a passing dream of selling at a farmers’ market. From backyard tomatoes, to foraged wild morels, to grandma’s incredible pound cake recipe, the possibilities often appear endless. My own journey started in […]

How Modern Homesteaders Can Make Money in the Livestock Market Written By: Tim Young, MOTHER EARTH NEWS Blogger Did you know that, as a homesteader, you can make a great living in the stock market? No, I am not talking about the New York Stock Exchange big board. I’m talking about the big-time live(stock) market. […]

Farm Insurance Now Available for Smaller and More Diverse Operations Shared From MOTHER EARTH NEWS  Written By: Jennifer Kongs Until last year, U.S. farmers could only readily and effectively insure commodity crops, such as corn and soy. This left many small-scale, diversified and generally more sustainable farmers in a risky lurch. Enter Whole-Farm Revenue Protection (WFRP), an […]

Distributing Your CSA Crops Shared From MOTHER EARTH NEWS  Written By: Sarah Milstein Distribution Site and Managers If you’re delivering shares off-farm, you’ll need a reliable site. Members in the delivery community should be able to help find a site and sometimes will offer a garage, porch, or yard. If that is not feasible, churches and […]

What You Need to Start a CSA Group Shared From MOTHER EARTH NEWS  Written By: Sarah Milstein Growing Experience First of all, you must be an accomplished grower. CSA is not for beginners! It requires experience growing 40 or more crops in a succession that will yield seven or more different items on the same day […]

Setting Wholesale Prices for Your Vegetables Shared From MOTHER EARTH NEWS  Written By: Lynn Byczynski Setting prices for restaurants and grocery stores is a tricky business. There is no open venue where you can compare prices. Other vendors and buyers usually keep pricing information a secret. And that keeps growers off-balance because they never know if they are […]

How to Buy Farmland, Even If You Think You Can’t Shared From MOTHER EARTH NEWS  Written By: Ann Larkin Hansen For those of us who were born to farm but, alas, not born on a farm, the ache to have your own land can be so intense you feel it in your belly. I thought it […]

What Flowers to Grow for Profit Shared From MOTHER EARTH NEWS  Written By: Lynn Byczynski What Flowers to Grow for Profit Select flowers that grow well in your climate. Although you may love delphiniums, you probably won’t get much production from them if you live in a windy, hot area. And be sure to choose varieties […]

Getting Started as a Flower Farmer Shared From MOTHER EARTH NEWS  Written by:Lynn Byczynski I get up at dawn and drink a cup of coffee on the porch as the red sun inches over the hillside. Then I head down to the field, just a stone’s throw from the house, and wade into the neat rows […]