Performer Gypsy Geoff performs at the Bay View South Shore Farmers Market.
Photo courtesy of BVSS Farmers Market
by Gail March Yerke
Competition. Even farm markets are feeling the pinch as more consumers want to know where their food comes from and communities across the country add their own markets. The USDA’s most recent National Count of Farmers Market Directory reports an increase of over 4,000 such markets nationwide in the past 10 years. (more…)
Color theory – specifically the color wheel – can be used to display fruits and vegetables in different ways.
by Courtney Llewellyn
If you sell anything, you may intuitively know the basics of marketing: branding your product, articulating why people should buy from you, having appropriate pricing, knowing your target customer and figuring out how they will find out about your farm. (more…)
by Tamara Scully
Surveys suggest that an increasing percentage of greenhouse growers are utilizing biocontrols to combat pest issues. An informal survey of New York state growers found that 40% were using insecticides alone to control fungus gnat. (more…)
by Deborah Jeanne Sergeant
Ever-changing tax codes challenge business owners, including growers. That’s why AmericanHort recently presented “Cracking the Code on Taxes that Affect Your Green Industry Business.” (more…)
Daemon Coughlin strives to offer the appropriate stock for the nursery’s Zone 4 location, and said some of the popular trees people successfully grow include hardy redbuds, maples and oaks.
Photos by Sally Colby
by Sally Colby
Although Daemon Coughlin grew up in the nursery business his parents started 40 years ago, he didn’t necessarily see that as his future. But after earning a degree in landscape design from South Dakota State University, he’s back. (more…)
Market Manager Caitlyn White works with one of the market’s longest-running vendors, Cindy Chapman. The market is open three days a week to allow vendors to bring fresh-from-the-field product harvested that morning.
Photo by Gail March Yerke
by Gail March Yerke
Whether it’s a birthday or an anniversary, the 100-year mark is a special reason to celebrate. That’s the case for the West Allis Farmers Market, the metropolitan Milwaukee area’s largest open-air farm market in continuous operation since 1919. (more…)
by Karen Van Wyk
Rick and Michelle Grosek, the owners of Bear Butte Gardens in Sturgis, SD, sprouted the business from scratch. Simple family living has grown into a certified organic vegetable and meat farm. (more…)
Soon it will be time to start planting pumpkins. Generally for the eastern U.S., the planting month is July (or between June and July for western growers). Pumpkins are members of the Cucurbitaceae family, which also includes cucumber, muskmelons, watermelons and squash. (more…)
Thanks to the excessively wet weather in many growing regions, tree fruit growers have been (and are continuing to) contend with all types of diseases which favor wet conditions. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA), regional precipitation ranks for May 2019 show that every region overall, with the exception of the Southeast, which is in a slightly below average rainfall pattern, had excessive rates of precipitation. (more…)
This month, the Southern Nursery Association (SNA) released the proceedings of their 63rd annual SNA Research Conference, and there is a lot of interesting research to sift through. Over the upcoming issues of Country Folks Grower, I’ll be recapping some of the relevant studies for our readers. (more…)
Talk about creative expression – we are living in the middle of a vast creative entrepreneurship where unique ideas drive business. When it comes to direct marketing, there seems to be no limit to where ideas can take you. Think of dinner in a box direct-shipped to the home, curbside grocery pick-ups, pizza portals and pop-up fresh food cafes. (more…)
In some regions, recent excessive flooding has been devastating: preventing planting, washing away soils, causing concerns with water and soil pollution, decimating crops, displacing livestock and claiming lives. (more…)
