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a tremendous resource on farm law!  Worth a look. Farm Commons.org Farm Commons provides the proactive legal services sustainable farmers need to become the stable, resilient foundation of a community-based food system. Farm Commons provides business legal services to farmers, creates useful legal education resources, and educates attorneys on issues relating to community-based farmers around […]

We know you've been busy bees in the fields, but you may want to take a moment to jump on the computer and check out the changes coming to national health insurance. Answer a short list of questions and get answers and options. Starting October 1st, you can apply and buy health insurance: https://www.healthcare.gov/

[vimeo=https://vimeo.com/73504647] Open Sourcing our Food System With Farm Hack At first glance, the maker movement might seem a world apart from the analog domain of soil, plants, and food. You can’t eat an Arduino after all. At least that’s what I thought. While microcontrollers are indeed inedible, it’s exciting to see how makers are building devices […]

Are you an aspiring, new or experienced farmer?  We are looking for your input on how farm labor does (or does not) play a role in your farm plans!  Take the survey now... The UVM Extension New Farmer Project is working to develop education and training to help managers of Northeast small scale and diversified farms develop […]

A reminder: If you are interested in landownership, investment, access and equity issues please visit our sister project, Agrarian Trust, housed at the Schumacher Center for New Economics.

Hi there Greenhorns, Many of you have heard that we've launched our Farm Hack IndieGogo Campaign!  Yippee! Some of you have attended Farm Hack events in the past, or looked at the online tools. But perhaps a few of you are not yet comfortable navigating the site, Here are some intro links that Dorn made to help […]

Scientists have compiled the first soil atlas of Africa to help the general public, policymakers, land users, and scientists understand and manage the continent’s key resource. Put together by a team of experts from the European Commission, the African Union, and the U.N. Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) over the past four years, the 176-page […]

It's not everyday that we find a product so PERFECTLY in synch with  small  research projects. We've been learning about waterproofing for canvas / nautical applications, and here is a home kitchen version! Beeswrap

Marissa Codey is well known in the Hudson Valley for her balanced, grounded evaluation of farm properties ( under easement and not) and matching beginning farmers with good lease situations. Now she is working on a new program. It is called CALF. If only land transition were as easy as calving. Read about more great […]

at Fibershed. Always a good reminder. Fibershed is a non-profit organization that provides experiential education that both generates awareness, and teaches the necessary skills within our community to build and sustain a thriving bioregional textile culture that functions hand-in-hand with principles of ecological balance, local economies, and regional organic agriculture..

Lets discuss it with leading political economist Gar Alperovitz at the Schumacher Center (founder of the first community land trust in the USA) and across the street from the first CSA ! Seems a pretty likely place for some insight. Severine will be there, and we hope for  a strong young farmer turnout from the Barrington […]

The Maine Grain Alliance seeks applications to award mini-grants of $200 - $1,000 to fund need-based technical assistance (TA) that will help grain-based business owners secure economic opportunities in Maine.  A total of $2500 will be awarded in this round of grants.  For more information about the Maine Grain Alliance and its other programs, please visit mainegrainalliance.com.  The Maine Grain Alliance […]

Mystic Sheaf Trader

THE ECONOMIC PAMPHLETEER Rethinking Science: The Highest Research Priority for the Next 5 Years by John Ikerd, Posted online 8 July 2013 First paragraphs: At the risk being labeled an uneducated Luddite or a right-wing political conservative, I believe the highest research priority for the next five years should be to rethink science, in concept […]

Coming up on Friday at Stonewall Farm in Keene, NH. Small Scale Grain Fodder & Demonstration Day, Friday August 16th, 9 am-12 pm Want to witness the next chapter of our farm story take shape? On Friday August 16th, with technical assistance and support from GreenStart New Hampshire, we will be demonstrating our first-ever barley […]

Farm Hack is in an online voting competition for $2,500 so that they'll have a truck to take them to Maker Faire in NYC this fall. Let's help them do it! Here's the scoop: The truck will take a route from Cambridge, MA up to Burlington, VT hitting places in the Pioneer Valley and NH. […]

INTRODUCTION TO ROOFTOP URBAN AGRICULTURE Click here to register.  Thursday, August 29, 2013 9:00 am - 12:30 pm BLDG 92, Brooklyn Navy Yard 63 Flushing Ave. (at intersection of Carlton and Flushing) Brooklyn, NY  11205 Learn about multiple approaches to growing food on rooftops through design, installation and maintenance principles, as well as case studies […]

[vimeo=https://vimeo.com/59070443]

Red Tomato has spent 16 years learning how to leap (or at least climb over) logistics barriers for local produce. To tell our story, RT collaborated with Epipheo to create a fun animated short that represents the essence of what we do and the role of organizations like RT in the future of local, sustainable agriculture. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MKsYoxyclUg&w=560&h=315]

Up on the web! Recruiting soon for their first class of students. Watch this space. http://www.essexfarminstitute.org/

Use this kit from Agdia Biofords to test for traces of gmo contamination in your crops!! Check it out here-- available for corn, sugar beets, cotton, soybeans.

Save this bookmark for later...here is the link to the PNW Veg Group’s photo gallery of vegetable problems: http://mtvernon.wsu.edu/path_team/diseasegallery.htm

If you've been reading our blog all summer and dreaming of getting  your hands in the soil, consider applying to MOFGA's apprenticeship program. NOW is a great time to apprentice on a farm in Maine. Many of the farms participating in MOFGA’s Apprenticeship Program are looking for fun, hard-working and energetic crew members for the […]

Open call for drawings of medicinal plants! For a practical compendium for natural healing practices to be compiled in a printed and bound print publication including gardens, gardeners, healing practitioners, and a wide-range of do-it-yourself guides (beer brewing, salve-crafting, tea and oil infusion, tinctures compresses). Plant drawings will be used as a resource, so accuracy […]

A new infographic from the union of concerned scientists. Below are some excerpts, and you can check out the whole graphic here!    

Farms of the Future Will Run on Robots and Drones By Taylor Dobbs on Tue, 09 Jul 2013 On a sunny day in an otherwise rain-soaked May, Forrest Watson, dirt caked on his work boots, kneels in the middle of his uncle’s cornfield and points at one of the thousands of knee-high stalks. “This one,” […]

2013 Farm Viability Conference: September 25-27, 2013. Middlebury, Vermont. A national gathering of farm viability professionals.  Registration is open! Visit the registration page for details. The Vermont Farm Viability Program is hosting a two-day gathering in Middlebury, Vermont, for service and capital providers working to improve the viability of farms and food businesses. Our first national gathering, held in […]

Open Tech Forever is helping create the Open Source Economy: a collaborative society that shares its knowledge, skills, technologies, and resources to overcome artificial barriers and achieve abundance and prosperity for all. And they are building an OPEN SOURCE FACTORY! We have a 40 acre permaculture site 15 minutes from downtown Denver. This campaign will fund the […]

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=sVNSOkiH29o] http://www.laruchequiditoui.fr/

At Pushing the Envelope Farm in Geneva, IL.  We love seeing these projects pop up across the country!  Download their advertisement HERE

A group of farmers and food advocacy groups have come together to plan a free summer workshop series for farm interns in the Southern Willamette Valley. Come learn from experienced, knowledgeable farmers and connect with other farm interns in the area.  This is a unique opportunity to tour different farms and learn from other farmers […]

Land Trusts Across the Pond from The Agrarian Trust July 1, 2013 [vimeo http://www.vimeo.com/65132998 w=500&h=281] A trust for public land in France: Terre de Liens is a civil society organization created in 2003 to address the difficulties faced by organic and peasant farmers in securing agricultural land. Land prices are high and land market so competitive […]

The Museum of Food and Drink (MOFAD) is a 501©(3) non-profit chartered by the New York State Education Department that is in the early stages of launching a first-of-its-kind food museum in New York City. Our mission is to change the way people think about food and inspire day-to-day curiosity about what we eat and […]

The Complete Illustrated One Page Bulletproof® Diet Common dietary mistakes will sap your energy, lower your immunity, and make you cranky. Basic unsuspected foods can make you weak, soft, and fat. Replace them with Bulletproof foods that fill you up, keep you strong, and even make you smarter. The Bulletproof® Diet is the foundation for […]

Scaling Up the Beginning Farm with Innovation and Appropriate Technology July 9, 2013, 3:30 -6:00pm followed by potluck dinner Juniper Hill Farm, 82 Loukes Lane, Wadhams(Westport) NY 12993 On-farm equipment hacks and energy efficiency are effective strategies to increase output and scale up the farm, but how does the smart farmer prioritize projects and maintain […]

They've got an awesome Listserv. NMPAN is a national network of people and organizations creating and supporting appropriate-scale meat processing infrastructure for niche meat markets. Small and mid-sized plants — when available at all — can lack capacity, equipment, appropriate inspection status, and the human and financial capital to upgrade or expand. To meet this […]

Lookin' great!  Check it out during the next thunderstorm. http://www.youngfarmers.org/

The Beehive Collective has a new poster! In their words: These graphics depict many stories of resistance to Project Mesoamerica, formerly known as the PPP (Plan Puebla Panama), a massive infrastructure project that aims to pave the way for Free Trade in Mexico, Central America and Colombia. The name of this Graphics Campaign, Mesoamerica Resiste, reflects our efforts to go beyond […]

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=-D-9ZUvaZtg] from the Oakland Institute.  Ethiopia has been the focus of aggressive foreign agricultural investment, leasing out nearly 3.6 million hectares of land for commercial farm ventures from 2008-2010. This investment has corresponded with widespread human rights violations. Most egregiously, the Ethiopian government's villagization program will displace 1.5 million people by 2013--with the five administrative […]

Moss Brook Growers has an amazing resource: an online farm manual, compiling their thoughts from years farming. Check it out here! Here is a sampler from Section 6, "Recruitment and Labor": an extended discussion of how to keep an eye out for happy, healthy, and dedicated farmhands. And for farmhands, a model to aspire to! […]