Blog

That's the name of a new "show"/ podcast + zine. Running With Pitchforks is a sporadic publication highlighting disjointed bubbles of thought from farmers, food producers, and humans. The writings and images are all produced by people actively producing food – whether it be gardeners, small scale farmers, or massive food producing conglomerates. We are […]

It's called the Cyclocarder and was invented by Katherine Jolda.  Read more about it HERE

Check out this project from young beekeeper Jana Kinsman and read her note below!  She could use a kickstart. [vimeo http://vimeo.com/34675274] Hello young farmer friends, I wanted to share with you a project I've recently launched called Bike·a·Bee. It's a project that aims to bring beehives to greenspaces, community gardens and urban farms all over […]

An Entrepreneurial Solution To The Problem Of Getting Local Food To Local Tables: Trust, Convenience, And Perceived Value by Todd Essig for Forbes Last August, shortly after Hurricane Irene did its damage, I wrote about “agricultural time” and mentioned Hudson Valley Harvest, a new company developing a “local food distribution model in which local products are […]

From Iowa State University Extension & Outreach: We are pleased to present you with the 2011 Iowa Farm and Rural Life Poll Summary Report. This year’s survey was completed during January and February 2011 by 1,276 Iowa farmers. The 2011 Farm Poll survey focused on a range of issues that are important not only to […]

and their  Farm Financing resources! The Carrot Project is proud to be able to offer financing to farmers in Massachusetts, Maine, and Vermont and soon in the Greater Berkshires. Some programs also serve farm-related businesses. For more information about each program, please click on the  appropriate link.  Greater Berkshires     Maine     Massachusetts    Vermont

funny to make electricity from sun, then grow plants with artificial lights... but it is cool to have a retrofit warehouse. Here's their website: The Plant And an ABC piece about the project is here:  http://abclocal.go.com/wls/story?section=resources/lifestyle_community/green&id=8401176

Another smart idea from the New Connecticut Farmers Alliance. The first farm tour is today!  More to come. The New Connecticut Farmers Alliance announces the beginning of its winter series of monthly farm tours with a visit to Sweet Acre Farm in Mansfield on Monday November 21.  New farmers Charlotte Ross and Jonathan Janeway returned […]

Step by Step, Row by Row:  How to Start Your Own Farm Dinner Business January 14 & 15, 2012 Cure Organic Farm, Boulder, Colorado This 2-day workshop is intended for cooks, chefs, artists and artisans, farmers, food lovers and anyone who feels inspired by seasonal, locally grown foods—and mobile kitchens. Meadow Lark Farm Dinners offer […]

TODAY is BANK TRANSFER DAY. Which credit union are you transferring your money to?

Sheep Lawn Mowers, and Other Go-Getters By KEVIN ROOSE for NY Times OBERLIN, Ohio entrepreneurs In this verdant lawn-filled college town, most people keep their lawn mowers tuned up by oiling the motor and sharpening the blades. Eddie Miller keeps his in shape with salt licks and shearing scissors. Mr. Miller, 23, is the founder […]

Life on the Range is an educational project that showcases stories about the ever-changing landscape of ranching, multiple-use management, entrepreneurial spirit, family and stewardship on Idaho's rangelands. The heart-warming stories provide a rare glimpse of how our neighbors in rural Idaho work every day to improve the earth and touch people's lives in positive ways. […]

Is This the Future of Farming? By Sarah Rich, Oct 26 2011 for The Atlantic ATLANTA -- It's easy to miss the Podponics headquarters on Ponce de Leon Avenue. We breezed right by before company co-founder Dan Backhaus came out to the curb to wave us in. To look at their setup--six rust-colored, graffitied shipping […]

Edgwick Farm is a soon to be licensed microdairy and creamery that will produce farmstead goat cheese in Cornwall, New York.  They are expecting between 50 and 75 kids to be born between January and March.  These kids can provide an opportunity for young farmer to raise them for meat.  Heritage Foods USA has launched […]

  [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qnCX53JVWCY]

[vimeo=http://vimeo.com/30715971] Farmstead Meatsmith have been busy. See here.

ATTN all those seeking to brush up on their marketing and bookkeeping skills! The course for agricultural entrepreneurs is aimed at those individuals who have started or are thinking about starting an agricultural based venture that is not tied to large scale, commodity-style production. The materials are specifically designed for the individual who is searching for innovative ideas […]

Come to the first Hudson Valley Young Farmer Roundup October 1st, 2011 Germantown Farm

like this one: FarmieMarket FarmieMarket.com is an online farmers’ market that allows customers to place orders with local farms online and have local food delivered to their door.  Beginning on July 12th, consumers in Albany, Schenectady, Rensselaer and Saratoga Counties will be able to order food from small, environmentally- and socially- responsible farms in their […]

Now farmers can get even tech-savvier with the help of this website: http://www.farmigo.com/howWorks

you'd want to be involved with these folks:  Trees for the Future Since 1989, Trees for the Future has been helping communities around the world plant trees. Through seed distribution, agroforestry training, and our country programs, we have empowered rural groups to restore tree cover to their lands. Planting trees protects the environment and helps […]

an interesting concept... Creating Rural Wealth For too long, the resources and assets of rural communities – their natural resources, agricultural bounty, workers, and young people – have flowed out of rural areas. Low-wealth areas, in particular, have struggled to create wealth that stays local. Rural America needs a new way forward.

http://www.pedal-power.com/ Pedal Power Engineering (PPE) is a small engineering firm that designs and builds human-powered devices. We focus on stationary pedal-powered machines called dynapods. Our first dynapod will be available for purchase in the fall of 2011. We also build custom machines.

FiBL publications: important tools for disseminating information FiBL media place the results of FiBL research within the reach of farmers and other people with an active interest in agriculture, and disseminate these results to extension workers. Many of FiBL’s publications are available in several languages and some are distributed internationally. FiBL technical leaflets give concise […]

by contributing the the design.plot kickstarter project - brought to you by the ambitious folks at domestic-construction - who aim to reclaim an abandoned plot in Brooklyn and turn it into a space which will be open to the community for farming workshops, film screenings, art exhibitions, and pure enjoyment.

A stellar model. Farm Burger, a 100% grassfed and locally-sourced burger restaurant located in Decatur, Georgia, is set to open its second location in late summer 2011 at 3365 Piedmont Road in the Tower Walk complex in the Buckhead neighborhood of Atlanta. Farm Burger is a unique collective of farmers, chefs, butchers, and restaurateurs working […]

The Ceres Community Project works to restore locally-grown, organic whole food to its place as the foundation of health for people, communities and the planet. Our integrated approach brings teens into the kitchen to learn about growing, preparing and eating healthy foods through serving as the program’s chefs. Each year, they prepare thousands of beautiful, […]

Communities across the country are taking charge.  This one, in Oregon, has a website full of information that will be helpful to all of us. The Multnomah Food Initiative started as an innovative community partnership to develop a shared food system vision, goals, and an action plan that will promote issues of health, social justice, […]

Tool lending libraries They are popping up all over, in the city and the country Farmers already barter for and share tools and equipment all the time, here are local, grassroots institutions formalizing that custom http://www.northportlandtoollibrary.org/ http://www.rafiusa.org/NCfarmervoices/listen/

RAFI is proud to announce our new resource, NC Farmer Voices.  NC Farmer Voices is a collection of stories—in photographs, sound, and multimedia—about farmer entrepreneurs on the frontier of agricultural innovation. http://www.rafiusa.org/NCfarmervoices/ Each farmer featured is a participant in RAFI’s Tobacco Communities Reinvestment Program, which provides cost-share grants to farmers and community groups that are developing new sources of […]

Carolina Farm Credit is now accepting applications for the third class to participate in an e-learning financial and business planning course.  The Ag Biz Planner curriculum includes financial and business planning, budgeting and other money matters essential to a farm’s success. Carolina Farm Credit is offering the Farm Credit University on-line program in conjunction with […]

Big news, Greenhorns is opening up an office space in Hudson. Young Farmer support, library, publications and in-person pep talks. Look for business hours in mid August. In the meantime, check out Mess Hall.

Where are all the agricultural wiki-ists? We need to update this woefully inadequate listing of American agricultural writers http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:American_agricultural_writers Aldo Leopold Thoreau Emerson Carson holy smokes. There is a job for a graduate student if I ever saw one. A wonderful way to learn history and contribute to public understanding

Let's Be Frank - a hot dog shop featuring meats from local, pasture-based farms and ranches.  Find their carts and trailers around San Francisco and LA and Check out this video.

This season, the 1-acre Youth Farm at the High School For Public Service in Crown Heights is expanding to include over 50 varieties of specialty cut flowers, grown by farmer Molly Culver and a crew of adult “flower apprentices.” “Youth Farm Flowers” will be sold as a “CSA” (community-supported agriculture) share to local community members, […]

fire roasted catering. check out a video of some swell summer roasts - http://vimeo.com/11621973

We love these guys, and what a great idea! Let's help make it happen. Farmstead Meatsmith, an animal processing business on Vashon Island, WA is campaigning to fund a series of instructional web videos focusing on home pork butchery and cookery. Each will focus on a particular process or dish, like 'curing bacon' or 'shoulder butchery', and […]

We need to see this more and more.  If you are part of a land trust that doesn't have an explicit goal of getting young farmers, or active farmers of any age onto the conserved land.. then please pick up the telephone and start making a fuss. Young Farmers Come to Western New York Town […]

You may remember Anthill Farm from a mixer we held there last year.  Check out their new website - it's beautifully designed and a good model if you're working on one yourself. **  www.anthillfarm.com **  

tomorrow!  There will abstracts available online after the event. 2011 UMaine Sustainable Agriculture Field Day Featuring Small Scale Vegetable Production Wednesday, June 29  –  5:00 to 7:30 pm University of Maine Rogers Research Farm, Stillwater, Maine (directions below) FREE – no pre-registration required;  1 Pesticide credit and 2.5 Certified Crop Advisor (CCA) credits offered 4:45‐5:00 […]