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How to Beat the Weeds in a No-Till Landscape

Reducing your tillage or switching to an entirely no-till system can offer numerous environmental and economic benefits. Leaving the soil undisturbed reduces erosion and runoff, while also saving costs associated with labor and fuel required for tillage events. However, no-till also presents challenges, including increased weed pressure and nutrient stratification.If you’re practicing no-till or thinking about reducing your tillage, you may be wondering how to beat weeds in a no-till landscape.

The 7 Best Crops for Dry Farming

As heat and water scarcity increase, farmers have to adjust their strategies to ensure good production. The bottom line is important, but so is conserving non-renewable resources. Dry farming is one way to keep both in mind. The technique’s success is surprising, as it shows that crops don’t need daily watering and pampering for a good yield. There are several crops that work in a dry system, many more than we can cover here, with many tailored to your region’s conditions. Before next summer, co

Nutrient Cycling on the Farm: 5 Practices to Implement Now

 Regenerative practices on farmland are not new. They have been carried out by people across the world for centuries. One important aspect of maintaining a regenerative agricultural system is nutrient cycling. It’s a closed system that emulates natural cycles inside the bounds of a farm or pasture. Most literature about nutrient cycling is related to livestock, where keeping nutrients within the bounds of the pasture is important for maintaining its regenerative potential. However, nutrient

How to Start a Permaculture Farm

Permaculture is an agricultural system that looks to the natural environment for inspiration and guidance. There are many different ways to implement permaculture principles, from mixing flowering annuals and leafy greens in a backyard garden to working with neighbors to collect organic materials for composting.If you want to implement these practices on a larger scale, consider starting a permaculture farm. I’ll introduce some key permaculture design principles and outline a few ways you can ap

The Sweet Superfood You Should Be Growing

Sweet potatoes are great. It doesn’t come down to much more than that. Classified botanically as Ipomoea batatas, this crop has a longstanding history among people of the Americas, and that is largely due to its reliability and adaptability to changing conditions. As the climate shifts, more and more farmers find this crop is worth growing. Because this plant has been cultivated for thousands of years, there are numerous varieties with affinities for different regions. That means, as long as you

9 Disease-Resistant Vegetable Varieties You Should Be Growing

The long, warm days of summer cause veggies like tomatoes, cucumbers, and squash to jump into overdrive. They seem to grow a few inches each day and begin cranking out fruits that demand near-daily harvests.Unfortunately, summer also brings unwelcome diseases. Pruning, trellising, fertilizing, and properly watering your plants decreases the likelihood they’ll become infected, but choosing disease-resistant vegetables is another way to keep them healthy.These resistant varieties have stronger def

Success at the Farmers Market: 7 Vendor Tips

The first year I worked at the Dupont Circle Farmers Market in Washington, DC, I was enthralled by the atmosphere and the dance between customer and farmer. I’d been to many markets before as a customer, but being on the other side of the table brought this experience into a new light.Since then, I’ve worked at farmers’ markets in four different states. These experiences have taught me how to sell a large number of products and keep customers coming back for more, as well as what causes pe

5 Benefits of Growing Shorter Corn

Weather events and latent environmental stressors are making it increasingly difficult to produce good yields of corn every year. With these added pressures, scientists are working hard to develop new varieties that continue to produce despite them. One such development has been the genetic modification of corn plants to produce shorter varieties. Although they’re still in development, these smaller plants have proven highly beneficial for improving crop yields in various conditions. As trials c

Infographic | The Cost of Health “Optimization”

Do you want to live longer?If you’re like most people, your answer is probably, “Yes!”And, you probably want to live not only a longer life, but also a healthier one.If so, you don’t have to look very far to find claims about how to improve—no, “optimize”—your health.Want to reverse chronic disease? Extend that youthful glow? Live to 115… or forever? Lots of fitness influencers, authors, and podcasters will tell you how to do it.But are their ultra-specific, advanced protocols necessary—or even

Growing and Grinding Your Own Wheat: A Beginner’s Guide

When you think of lowering your grocery bill with homegrown food, wheat probably isn’t the first thing that pops into your mind. Tomatoes, lettuce, and perhaps a flock of backyard chickens often make the list, while this staple crop is often left to large-scale growers.The truth is that you can grow enough to make a few loaves of bread even if you only have a small backyard. Scaling up to a few hundred square feet can provide enough grain to supply your family with its yearly flour needs.Still,

Protecting Crops from Heat Stress: 5 Pro Strategies

Careful timing ensures crops can handle a little heat. But recently, sudden heat waves and long-lasting ones in already warm regions have become more common, with predictions saying there’s more to come. For some crops, these shifts cross the line between stress and a fraction of normal yields. This is why adapting to the climate and employing heat protection strategies is crucial for farmers today. In most cases, all this takes is a little adjustment and more awareness about when the heat will

How to Attract the 9 Beneficial Predators You Want on Your Land

Integrated pest management methods encourage attracting and hosting beneficial insect predators that keep common pests at bay. Learn how to draw them in and keep them on the farm!While spraying pesticides on your farm initially has the desired effect, it’s not the best long-term option. Instead, using integrated approaches that include cultural, mechanical, and biological controls is better, with insect predators as the primary beneficial force.Many of these predators feed voraciously on pest la

How to Dry Farm Tomatoes for Improved Taste

If you live in an arid climate without easy access to water or just want to skip the work of running drip lines, it’s worth exploring if you can dry farm tomatoes. This type of growing involves producing tomatoes with no supplemental water. Since the top layer of soil dries within a month after planting, the plants rely on water deep in the ground.Skipping watering means you don’t have to worry about spending time setting up irrigation supplies and or paying for the associated water costs. It al

5 Ways Farmers Can Protect Honeybees from Pesticides

Beekeepers have a lot to think about when it comes to the safety of their hives. Everything from climate change to proper nutrition is on the list for consistent checks and monitoring. Not all outside factors can be controlled within the farm, but that doesn’t mean nothing can be done. Pesticides originate in multiple areas. Whether they are used on the farm in pest-prone crops or from municipal sources that want to control disease-spreading insects, there are ways to mitigate the harm pesticide

Integrated Pest Management on the Farm: An Overview

The industrial standard in agriculture involves heavy use of herbicides and pesticides to meet the bottom line of production. However, over time, it is increasingly apparent that these are not the best modes of control, due to their negative effects on plant nutrition, animals, humans, and the local environment. But this doesn’t mean we should abandon pesticides altogether. Instead, we should take an approach that includes all other methods of control before pesticides are the chosen strategy. T

11 Flowers You Should Plant Along Your Vegetable Garden

Recent studies suggest planting strips of wildflowers alongside crops boosts pollination and promotes higher yields. But these aren’t the only benefits. Adding wildflowers to your farm stabilizes the ground and preserves top soil. Wildflower strips sequester carbon, too. Taller shrubs act as a hedge, keeping destructive wildlife within their bounds, rather than in your grain crops. Native plantings offer habitat to native bees, butterflies, moths, wasps, and other insects. They also support nati

Get Healthy Soil by Nurturing the Rhizosphere: 5 Pro Tips

On paper, people often say that plants need just a few things to grow well: light, water, and nutrients often top the list. But when you dive into the complexities that exist in living ecosystems, you realize that growing healthy plants involves more than just following a simple equation. One key way to improve soil health is to focus on developing a healthy rhizosphere.The soil rhizosphere is where plant roots grow. Thanks to the varied and complex interactions between plant roots, microbes, an

Highest at Meat? Surprising Truth About Beef, Chicken & Salmon! | #motivation #healthyliving

Highest at Meat? Surprising Truth About Beef, Chicken & Salmon! | #motivation #healthyliving **Think all meats are created equal ...

Could One of These Viral Farming Hacks Work on Your Land?

Whether you’re a gardener or small-scale farmer, you’ve probably been hit with advertisements, YouTube videos, and word-of-mouth stories about the next best thing to make growing plants easier. Your first instinct may be to dismiss or try out all these farming hacks, but before you sweep them all under the same rug, take a note from the professionals.Long-time gardeners Kevin and Jacques of Epic Gardening took a moment to explore some of the most popular farming hacks and determine which ones ar

9 Indispensable Tools for the Small-Scale Farmer

Small farms have a pretty big advantage. They don’t need to ascribe to industrial means of growing. That means less tilling and fewer pesticides. The ability to have a regenerative operation is much easier without agricultural pressures, and the list of required tools is shorter.While giant tractor extensions aren’t really needed on a small farm, it’s good to know which small-scale farm tools increase production and make farming even a little more convenient. Keeping a few indispensable tools ar