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Fresh today from The New Farm


From big city to small farm: couple
successfully follows their dream

 Jeffrey Frank and Kristin Illick started farming four years ago as novice apprentices. Now they supply a farmer’s market and 10 restaurants with greens, heirloom tomatoes, baby veggies and herbs.

  

Beginning farmers

     
Letter from Highland Guatemala:
26 years later: How has farming changed
for one Mayan family?

Ag researcher Don Lotter returns to the Catu family after 26 years to find that much remains the same in the highland corn culture of Comelapa, Guatemala -- including, thank goodness, a reliance on local seeds instead of U.S. hybrids.		  

Guatemala
     

SPECIALTY CUT FLOWER CORNER:
For the beginning grower

PLANTING: Gotta go, gotta go...
ah, relax; there’s still time
Column 4: Overcoming her anxiety about an overly long winter, Melanie dispenses timely early-season wisdom about planting, transplanting and growing flowers. BONUS: More planting specifics for sunflowers, zinnias, ageratum, statice, celosia, gomphrena and cinnamon basil.

 

  

Cut flowers


     

Jason’s Global Organic Odyssey:
Living and learning one farm at a time

Aloe harvest: Indian farmer creates an
organic oasis in a harsh land

On top of dust and floods, chemicals were killing Vijay Sha's soil ... and production was falling. He decided it was time, for a change, to farm WITH nature. On July 1, 1996, he stopped using chemicals all together.

  

Indian oasis
     

TALKING SHOP: Wisconsin
Evaluate Your Organic Grain Marketing Opportunities

Wisconsin-based organic sales and marketing specialist Prescott Bergh recommends that when you make your sales pitch, focus on the problems you can solve. He urges grain producers to pay careful attention to their ability to provide 11 key benefits to their customers.

  

Grain marketing

     
Organic poultry production:
a fledgling industry in New Zealand

Jake and Leigh-Ann Heuvel – currently raising and processing 2600 free-range, certified organic “chooks” each week – are the only larger scale organic producers in New Zealand. Disease control is their biggest challenge ... that, and keeping up with customer demand. PLUS: New Zealand organic by the numbers.

  

New Zealand poultry

NZ Organic Stats
     

CSA NOTEBOOK: Sunflower Fields CSA, Iowa Collaborative CSA in N.E. Iowa successfully
serves an all-rural market

Ten farm families contribute to the CSA, a buyers’ club, and a cooperative that markets produce to local institutions.

Also check out our new CSA RESOURCE LIST!

  

Sunflower Fields CSA

CSA Resource List
     
News Update: Minnesota Agencies Sign Organic Memorandum of Understanding

In a unique partnership, four ag agencies agree to work together to enhance economic opportunities for Minnesota’s organic farmers		   Minnesota organic
     

ACTION ALERT
It’s the most critical vote for organic farming you’ll make for the next 5 years...

AG Census Survey’s Due April 30! The USDA is counting organic acreage for the first time. All farms with sales of $1,000 or more for 2002 need to report and make the voice of organic heard. If you received a survey, fill it out now. If not, we'll tell you how to get one.

  

Ag Census

 
 
     
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