It is advised to write up a Agricultural Farm business plan even if you don’t want to make any changes to your farm, because a good plan can fingers out the farms weaknesses and show how you can plan and run your farm, in the beneficial way.
Agricultural Farm business plans follows a set process which is mentioned bellow:
Decide your Agricultural Farm Business Plan according to your needs:
• Do you want to raise the finance for Agricultural Farm business?
• Are you starting a Agricultural Farm business and need a business plan ?
• Want to improve the results of your Agricultural Farm business?
To see the high ups in your Agricultural Farm Business. Please visit Business Plan for a list of pre-written business plans.


The drones remain below the clouds so this also proves to be beneficial in providing clear images of the field, making the assessment of the crops and soil both easier and more precise. The cost of the single use of satellite imaging goes above $1000 whereas an agricultural drone costs way less than that. So, it is extremely cost effective to use drones for the precision agriculture.
The quality of the pictures taken from a drone is way better as they have high resolution cameras that offer better contrast. The use of drones in agriculture is already taking place and many farmers have resorted to this extremely cost effective and useful technology. There still remains scope of improvement when it comes to the use of drones in agriculture.


Wednesday, Sep. 21st, 2016
Fertilization: Why, What, When, and How
As summer comes to an end, it’s time to think about what no one really wants to deal with – fertilization. With so many options to choose from and so little knowledge of the terminology used, it can be overwhelming to say the least. Learn more about the fertilizing process below so you can understand it more when the time comes.
Why should I fertilize my lawn?
While there are a lot of reasons why you should fertilize your lawn, one that stands out that over time, many lawns will suck nutrients out of the soil. Whether through rain or irrigation, water will carry the nutrients out of your lawn. This will leave your lawn craving nutrients, which will leave you with an unhealthy lawn susceptible to disease. To find out if your soil is nutrient deficient, you can purchase a soil test kit to learn more about the soil composition. This test will also help you find out what type of fertilizer your lawn will need.
What types of fertilizer are there?
Considering how many types of fertilizer there are out there, finding the right one for you may be more difficult than you thought. Luckily, it’s more simple than you think. Almost all fertilizers are made up of three different nutrients that play important roles in maintaining healthy lawns – Nitrogen, Phosphorus, and Potassium.
- Nitrogen provides healthy leaf growth.
- Phosphorus helps your lawn develop healthy roots and stems.
- Potassium gives your lawn strength, helping it resist drought and disease.
Nitrogen is probably the most important ingredient to find in a fertilizer. You want to encourage growth, and although phosphorus and potassium are still important, your lawn needs them in smaller percentages than nitrogen. A way to increase the nitrogen is with grass clippings. They are rich in nitrogen and it will help your overall lawn health.
When should I fertilize my lawn?
There are three times that fertilization is ideal for your lawn – a light application in spring and early summer, and a heaping application in fall. You may wonder to yourself “why do we need so much fall fertilization?” Well the answer is simple. Fall fertilization means better fall and winter color, earlier spring green-up, improved fall, winter and spring root growth, and enhanced storage of energy reserves. This means your lawn will start getting spring ready in the fall.
How should you fertilize your lawn?
Leave it to the professionals. Fertilization is one of the most important things you can do for lawn, and having a lawn care professional do it for you is one of the best treats you can give it. Our TaskEasy vendors have worked for years to perfect their specific fertilization skills, and they can do it for you.


Current:Home >> Recommend
This is newly developed medium maturity dark green variety. It features vigorous growth, many branches, strong continuous fruit-setting ability. The height of the plant is about 65-75cm. The width of the plant is 60-65cm. The length of the fruit is about 28-32cm. The diameter of the fruit is about 2.0cm. The weight of single fruit is about 35g. It features smooth and bright fruit, straight and thin peel, thick flesh, neat and beautiful fruit shape, crisp and tender flesh, dark green young fruit, bright red ripe fruit, strong spicy, strong tolerance to storage and transportation, good commodity, easy for planting, wide adaptation, very strong resistance to disease, high resistance to leaf disease, resistance to dead plant, long continuous harvest time, high yield, sells well, high price. The economic benefit of it grows apparently than other same type varieties. It is suitable for being cultivated in protected field in North of China and in open field in South of China.">
Black Line Supremacy
This is TY-resistance, root-knot-nematode-resistance, heat tolerance, rain tolerance tomato variety. It features indeterminate growth, mid-early maturity, deep pink, round and oblate fruit, turn color uniform, 220-240g per fruit, high rate of fine fruit, good hardness, beautiful sepal. It is suitable for being cultivated in spring, autumn and cross-summer in North of China.">
This is hard pink-fruit tomato, featuring high round fruit, hard flesh, no green shoulder, good shape, attractive appearance, good gloss, good commodity, 240-260g per fruit, well-proportioned fruit, vigorous growth. It is suitable for spring-autumn arch shed cultivation in most regions of our country and over-summer open field cultivation.


At CIBUSèITALIA, the Federalimentare pavilion, an exhibition space has been set up by Federunacoma, the Italian Agricultural Machinery Manufacturers Federation, which is hosting Capello. Federunacoma is taking part in EXPO 2015 to promote agricultural mechanisation as a key factor of food chain sustainability. For this reason and since it is such an excellent event, Capello (…)
22-26 February 2015
From the 22nd to 26th of February 2015, we will be at the 76th edition of SIMA, the world agri-business show for suppliers to the agricultural and livestock sector due to be held in the Paris Nord Villepinte exhibition centre.
28-31 January 2015
We look forward to seeing you, from the 28th to 31st of January 2015, at the latest edition of AgromashExpo, Hungary’s agriculture and agricultural machinery show.


I believe that these terror attacks will continue until we define the problem and have a plan to remediate the problem. It is like weeds. When plants first start to sprout, it can be difficult to know what kind of plant is growing. Once you identify they type of plant, you have to decide if you want that plant growing where it is. If you don't want it to grow there, it is a weed.
You can put the plant in a different place and nurture it because you like the plant. You can destroy the plant where it is because you know you don't want it there. You can let it continue to grow and call it something "nice" and hope that it doesn't take over your garden, yard or field.
Renaming and wishing have never gotten the job done for me. That is what the USA politicians are doing. They hope that by renaming evil, it will become nice and blend in well or contribute to the garden. Just talk nicely to it and it will be nice to you.
This is the weed I am thinking about ------->
This is what the site says about this plant.
|Native To: Eurasia (Zouhar 2002) |
Date of U.S. Introduction: 1800s (Zouhar 2002)
Means of Introduction: Accidentally through contaminated seed (Zouhar 2002)
Impacts: Crowds out native species; toxic to horses (Zouhar 2002)
Scientific name: Centaurea solstitialis L.
Common names: Yellow star thistle, geeldissel, golden star thistle, St. Barnaby's thistle, yellow centaury, yellow cockspur
This is a damaging and invasive plant. This is what the USA government does regarding this plant:
Wake up and get the weed spray!


Slow Food Founder Carlo Petrini, Meghalaya CM & Manjit Gill Set Tone for Indigenous Terra Madre, Which Opens in Shillong on November 3
Manjit Gill asks chefs to join the global culinary revolution for sustainable ways of eating
I DO NOT generally open my stories with pronouncements of politicians, but Meghalaya Chief Minister Mukul Sangma made a significant point at the New Delhi curtain-raiser for the Indigenous Terra Madre opening in Shillong on Tuesday, November 3.
Governments, Sangma said at Meghalaya House on a balmy Saturday night, “must help people engaged in agriculture to remain in the communities where they belong”. Making a strong case against rural migration and the urban imbalances it causes, Sangma said the process needs to be reversed by making agriculture sustainable and more remunerative to our farmers.
Carlo Petrini, Founder-President, Slow Food International, who was present in the gathering, must have found it most heartening to hear a politician echo the sentiments of the civil society. In his speech, which had all the hallmarks of his straight-from-the-heart oratory, Petrini said “global food corporations and intensive commercial agriculture” were “destroying the planet”.
He said the Indigenous Terra Madre (ITM) represented 500 million small and marginalised agricultural producers in 170 countries, and they were in “great difficulty”, which was “absolutely unacceptable”. Making an impassioned plea to safeguard local communities and the local economy, and usher in “participatory democracy”, Petrini said: “Global financial and economic dynamics are creating pain and suffering in the world. The time has come to change the paradigm. Food is not just a commodity, it is the way of life of communities, and the source of their culture and spiritual well-being.”
Introducing the Indigenous Terra Madre, which this year will lead up to Meghalaya’s annual Mei Ram-ew food festival at the Mawphlang Sacred Grove, 25km from Shillong, Phrang Roy, President, North East Slow Food and Agrobiodiversity Society (NESFAS), said indigenous people formed 4 per cent of the world’s population, but contributed to 95 per cent of its cultural diversity; they owned 22 per cent of our planet’s land surface, but were custodians of 80 per cent of our biodiversity.
Bringing the point closer home, Roy, one of the country’s foremost champions of agrobiodiversity, gave the example of the world’s first citrus fruit species, Citrus Indica (the wild orange, or Memang Narang), which can be found today only in the Nokrekh Biodiversity Park in the West Garo Hills district of Meghalaya. The state, he said, is blessed with 67 per cent of the country’s biodiversity.
“Local food systems are an important aspect of the new and emerging design of our well-being,” Roy said, adding: “We welcome our traditional systems, but we also welcome modern science. We have to see how best they can be combined in an agro-ecological approach to development.” His sentiments were echoed by Manjit Gill, Corporate Chef, ITC Hotels, and President, Indian Federation of Culinary Associations (IFCA), who shared the perspective from the last mile of the food production system.
Gill urged fellow chefs to become ambassadors of the sustainable value chain that reduces the distance between farm and table. “We are the cusp of a global culinary revolution and a new food consciousness,” Gill said.
Chefs must join this revolution by devising “more sustainable and reliable ways of eating,” he added. Without chefs the revolution will remain unfulfilled because “cooking is the creative process that connects the toil of the farmer to the bounties of the table.”
The evening ended, as you’d expect from a celebration of indigenous agriculture, with a Meghalayan feast laid out by Daniel Syngkon, Shillong’s much-acclaimed young chef and a member of the International Terra Madre Cooks’ Alliance, and a team from ITC Hotels led by Rajdeep Kapoor and Sunil Gadihoke, ably assisted by Sabyasachi ‘Saby’ Gorai and Sujan Sarkar, who, though a guest, pitched in as a server, making Chef Gill joke that “a chef can become a maitre d’ but the reverse can’t happen.”
My favourites were the blood sausage fritters encased with crunchy deep-fried local black rice and the main course items: rice cooked with banana florets and flavoured with local fresh turmeric, local pepper, local ginger and chicken stock; chicken slow cooked with locally fermented soya beans; fresh wild ferns tossed with garlic and local spices; and the best: prime cuts of pork cooked with traditionally fermented bamboo shoots and local bird’s eye chilli.
The preparations exploded with flavours, yet they were not heavy on the system — reminding us yet again that the indigenous system of cooking has successfully over centuries extracted the best of flavours from the gifts of nature without using the crutches of butter, cream, corn starch and refined sugar. Nature knows how best to pamper our taste buds.


At Rosebud, we're as passionate about our cannabis community as we are about our profits.
We’re demonstrating a better way to produce cannabis and a better way to live.
Learn More About The Vision
Our business model is sustainable
Rosebud is innovating a blueprint for sustainable cannabis production in Canada.
Organic growing techniques that use living soil systems, heavy mulching and natural predation, while avoiding synthetic fertilizers and pesticides used in conventional agriculture.
Reducing the carbon footprint by using sun-assisted growing, renewable energy, onsite composting, soil production and geothermal climate controls.
State of the art technology that reduce energy use and operating costs, while providing ideal growing conditions.
Addressing water reduction through rain water capture, self-adjusting, automated irrigation systems, and recycling grey of water.
We are passionate about growing cannabis in a better, more sustainable way and supporting others in the cannabis community with the same values. If you have thoughts or questions, please drop us a line. We will always find the time to respond.


Exploring for Worms
An indoor-outdoor activity.
Scout out outdoor areas near the school
for worms, so that students can quickly find them during class time.
Hand lenses, pencils, clipboards, and
copies of Worm Worksheet
Ask students: Are farmers and gardeners
grateful for worms in the soil? If students raise their hands to answer
affirmatively, explain that they will find out why worms help the soil and
Researching and reading about worms, students learn how they tunnel through
the soil making it possible for air and water to penetrate and reach the
thirsty roots of plants. As worms dig, they loosen up and mix soil, which
accelerates sprouting seeds and developing roots.
Ask students: What happens to dead plants and leaves lying around the soil?
Worms as well as many small bugs, bacteria and molds eat dead plant parts.
Once worms digest dead plant parts, they excrete castings (waste) that look
like brown bits of earth. The castings are very rich in the nutrients needed
for plant growth. Worm compost, made up of worm castings, is one of the
richest compost forms. Worm compost is an excellent example of how the Decomposition
Nutrient Cycle recycles dead plant and animal parts into new plants.
Accompany class to an unpaved part of
the schoolyard ( a garden, woods, or meadow is best, but even a ball field
will do). If your school has a compost pile or compost "machine," students
will surely find worms inside the compost. Students explore for worms in
rich, moist garden soil, under leaves, rocks, logs, or any rotting plant
Students look for evidence of worm castings - lumpy soil pellets next to
Once students find worms, they closely observe their anatomy, size, texture,
and body parts.
Although it is ecologically sound to observe worms in their natural outdoor
environment, if you hear: "We want to bring the worms inside," prepare students
for Watching Worms .
For this classroom lesson, students gather worms, transfer them to containers,
add moist soil and leaves, and temporarily bring them inside.


The EU has been a global leader in developing biomanufacturing (technologies and products) to its present, highly refined, and optimised level, implemented to largest commercial scale. This now demands strategic attention, for EU’s competitiveness and for the world. This paper outlines key opportunities, stressing the need for swift action to maintain leadership and to continue contributing to a more resource efficient, emission reducing and sustainable world.
The World Bioeconomy Association is urging the European Union to take a more active role in new biotechnology and biomanufacturing, emphasising their importance for competitiveness, circularity, and a global green and fair transition. While countries like the USA, China, UK, and India have recently been pursuing significant new bio-based initiatives, the EU appears recently to be less committed to the need for speed. Similar initiatives, such as the one proposed by the Tony Blair Institution in the UK, highlight a growing global consensus on the need for action. To stay competitive in this fast-paced sector, the EU needs to develop supportive policies (incl. updated regulatory), encourage research and development, and attract investments.
It is essential to note that biotechnology is an enabling technology and through biomanufacturing it is possible to make a broad range of products to a wide variety of industrial sectors. Industrial Biotechnology covers the production of biobased chemicals, biomaterials such as bioplastics, renewable fuels including sustainable aviation fuels, food ingredients, and feed additives. The current versatile tools and rapidly developing technologies will increase biotech’s importance in a transition to a green and sustainable future.
In addition, biotechnology and biomanufacturing have the potential for an increasing impact in the food sector. However, for implementing such new ways to produce climate-friendly food, re-visiting the regulatory environment is imperative.
It is clear there is much to gain by breaking down the silos of industrial biotechnology and pharma biotechnology. Prebiotic food ingredients, health improving food supplements and medicines are a continuum of products. Building on the same microbiome-knowledge base, all parties can learn from each other and build evidence-based progress faster including safer medicines and resource-efficient, health-promoting food.
Producing microbial food in large fermentation tanks has developed into a range of fermentation products and technologies. Tank production of food means farmers can sell new products, generating income from crop residues and carbohydrate-rich side-streams. The taste and texture of fungi can be a driver for more climate friendly plant-based food, here using already food-approved fungi, there should be no unforeseen regulatory hurdles.
Further, based on the experience from biomanufacturing of industrial proteins (e.g. enzymes) and biopharma, it has now been shown (both in EU and US) that it is possible to produce animal proteins in fermentation tanks.
This new achievement can pave the way for climate-friendly technologies for producing animal-proteins without the associated methane emissions. However, upscaling and commercialization of these highly promising technologies in the EU is now facing ‘no-go’ regulatory approvals. If the EU wants to develop, upscale and commercialize this technology, regulatory approval for these types of GMO food products must be re-visited promptly. If EU regulatory does not approve, it will still be developed and promoted on other continents.
It is now possible to produce food without the use of land. For example: Producing food and feed protein with bacteria living on modified CO2, plus H and O from water (PtX); e.g. the CORC approach producing food from captured CO2, transformed into acetate, then using this acetate as substrate for growing gene-edited microbes, bacteria and/or yeasts.
Here updated regulations is a necessity. The simplest way would be to approve gene-editing of microbes in the ongoing process for approving gene-editing in plant breeding. The gene-edited organisms are identical to organisms, which could have been developed by conventional breeding.
The EU's drive to upscale and commercialize bio-based innovations necessitates active positioning and regulatory approval changes. However, it must go beyond this, taking a more active role in attracting bio-based, and biotech and biomanufacturing. Both the investment in climate and public acceptance are crucial. Currently, the EU risks losing opportunities unless it focuses on investment attractiveness and resolving regulatory obstacles.
Big data and artificial intelligence to be applied to next generation Biotech and Biomanufacturing. Bioinformatics and AI to be applied for developing products and improving understanding of food microbiome systems.
Next generation biotechnology and circular, biobased biomanufacturing, by unlocking the full potential of the biomass (residues and side-streams), now burned, down-graded or underutilized.
Take a holistic approach to integrated valorisation of biomass: Biorefinery feedstock, valorising both seaweed and side-streams of fish processing to allow year-round operation. And to biological absorption of carbon, accelerating carbon sequestration.
Calculate effects of bioeconomy on climate change mitigation: The impact of improved use of global biological resources by biotech, biomanufacturing and bio-solutions have, up to now, been neglected in global strategies for climate change mitigation. There is an urgent need to develop methods for calculating the effect of making valuable products and materials that replace hydrocarbons with carbohydrates. This must include the significant positive effects on GNP and reducing effects on CO2 and CH4 emissions. Further, making food and feed from residues can free significant land and space for biodiversity and forest.
Need for more collaboration and knowledge sharing within international RTDI: The EU’s frontier position in Biotech and Biomanufacturing can contribute significantly to a better world, through knowledge sharing and by collaboration for, among other advantages, improved food security in climate change challenged areas. With this approach concrete steps need to be taken for more international collaboration for food security, energy security, public health, and resilience.
Need for more collaboration and knowledge sharing within international RTDI: The EU’s frontier position in Biotech and Biomanufacturing can contribute significantly to a better world, through knowledge sharing and by collaboration for improved food security in climate change challenged areas. With this approach concrete steps need to be taken for more international collaboration for food security, public health, and resilience.
The EU needs to strategically embrace biotechnology and biomanufacturing, breaking down silos. Collaborative efforts and regulatory reforms are key to maintaining international competitiveness. Timely actions will determine the EU's role in shaping a sustainable, efficient, and competitive biotech and biomanufacturing future.
15 February 2024
Professor (f), PhD & Dr.Scient.
Chair, eMBA & M.Sc.
World Bioeconomy Association
The World Bioeconomy Association unites the global bioeconomy community to foster sustainable economic growth and advance the transition to a bioeconomy. Our partners and members include a diverse range of stakeholders, public organisations, business leaders, academics, government officials, NGOs, or other civil society representatives, all committed to pursuing progress in the bioeconomy.
The bioeconomy is a multisectoral concept, embraced by three visions of the bioeconomy (bioresource, biotechnology and bioecology) in the Association strategy and communication.
The Association promotes circularity of the bioeconomy, while recognising that all bioeconomy principles cannot be always circular. In the bioeconomy, resources are produced responsibly and sustainably, generating raw materials, intermediate and end products to replace materials exiting the cycle, thereby complementing the circular economy balance without reliance on a fossil-based economy.


05/29/2012 (press release: Onsharp) // Hopkins, Minnesota, United States // Tom Peterson
Spring cleaning is nearly complete for many homeowners, but don’t forget about your yard! To keep the lawn looking nice all summer long (even while traveling), weekly lawn care services can make the task more manageable. Peterson Lawn of Hopkins, Minnesota is offering “one free mow” with the purchase of a weekly mowing contract through Thursday, May 31st.
Homeowners in the greater Minneapolis area can call for a complimentary estimate from Peterson Lawn. Residents can expect their lawn to be mowed and trimmed at the same day and time each week. You don’t need your lawn mowed every week? Peterson Lawn also has bi-weekly and on-call options. Peterson Lawn can also offer irrigation system programming and aeration services during the summer months.
For those homeowners who have yet to finish spring cleanup, the team can help. The company’s spring cleanup package is an easy way to tidy up the yard after a long winter. The team mows the lawn and removes leaves from turf and landscaped areas. They’ll even take care of the yard waste.
Customers should hurry, though. Spring cleanups are only available through the end of the month, and the free mow coupon must be claimed before May 31st.
Interested customers can visit petersonlawn.com for coupon details.
About Peterson Lawn
For about a decade now, Peterson Lawn has provided lawn care services to residential and commercial properties in Minnetonka and the surrounding areas. Services include mowing, fertilization, weed spraying, bush trimming and some landscape work. Peterson Lawn understands the importance of having a yard with lush, green grass that is neatly trimmed. That is why they hire experienced lawn crews who love what they do.


JOIN US NOVEMBER 14 FOR A FIVE-COURSE POP-UP JAZZ DINNER WITH CHEF HOPE EGAN AT GIROUARD VINES! PROCEEDS BENEFIT OUR PROGRAM OF EMPOWERING AT-RISK YOUTH WITH PRACTICAL SKILLS. MAKE YOUR RESERVATION NOW BY CLICKING THIS LINK.
Welcome to Tulsa’s Table!
At the core, we are a pay-what-you-can community café, modeled in the style of One World Everybody Eats. Through food shared around the table, locally grown produce becomes accessible to all. Through our desire to assist at-risk youth as they transition into purpose-filled adulthood, our learning laboratory of garden and café provide a nurturing environment where life and job skills can be obtained. Food is a language everyone speaks. Tulsa’s Table is the place that food brings people from all walks of life together to discover nourishment, community and purpose.
Nourishment is found in good food, grown and harvested locally in our learning laboratory garden. Built from the ground up by the efforts of the youth we serve, and powered and sustained by them on an ongoing basis, the garden supplies our cafe with the produce we need to feed the guests at our table.
Sharing food around the table builds community. Everyone must eat to live . At Tulsa's Table, we believe everyone should eat well, and have enough to flourish. Access and equity are key components of any community, and our cafe ensures that all are welcome at our table, no matter their situation or place in life.
Purpose is experienced through what Wendell Berry calls "good work" - the kind of work that connects us to our place in the world, strengthens our fellowship with others, and affirms the gifts and talents of all people. Through education and experience gained in the learning laboratories of our cafe and garden, the at-risk youth we serve have the opportunity to discover their purpose as they become empowered, self-sufficient adults through the good work they participate in.
Tulsa’s Table is unique in the way it provides a model of empowerment that emphasizes nourishment, community, and purpose for all people through food. The work we do in our cafe and garden is innovative and holds the power to create significant change for those who need it most. There is room for everyone at Tulsa’s Table; come join us in this good work.
Tulsa World, 5/7/15


-- by Gwen Stewart
Practical Steps to Organic Gardening
1. Soil. The soil is kept healthy by working with Nature rather than against it. Practices include using organic fertilizers such as manure to replenish the earth and all refuse produced by the garden should be recycled back into the garden. Organic gardening uses all of the waste produced in the garden such as grass clippings, leaves, and leftovers from the kitchen to make compost that feeds the soil and keeps it full of the nutrients necessary to grow crops.
2. Avoid the use of all synthetic chemical fertilizers, herbicides, and pesticides. Eliminating the use of chemicals in the garden allows gardeners to not worry about children, pets, and wildlife coming in contact with synthetic weed killers and fertilizers on the lawn and shrubs. The food grown is pesticide-free, additive-free, and nutritious food for the table.
3. Sustainability. In his book, Gardening Organically, John Fedor defines sustainability as “the ability of a society or an ecosystem to function indefinitely without squandering the resources on which it relies.” Organic gardening does this by ensuring there is no loss of nutrients or topsoil in the garden.
4. Environmental Stewardship. Gardening organically means that the environment benefits from the reduction in contamination of the water supply and air pollution. It means that we provide a habitat for wildlife including beneficial insects and animals.
5. Wildlife-friendly Habitats. Informal areas can be created to assist wildlife in their search for habitat where they can survive the destruction of many areas; destructions that have now endangered many species.
6. Intensive planting. Plants are spaced closely together to conserve water and shield the soil from sunlight thus helping to prevent weed seeds from germinating and growing.
7. Biodiversity. Biodiversity ensures that when a change in growing conditions occurs, a single crop from a monoculture does not lead to a crop failure. The food supply does not become jeopardized when a diversity of species are planted.
8. Rotating Crops. Crop rotation assists in the control against soil-borne pests and diseases. This rotation makes a difference in the productivity of the garden as those diseases that affect the plants are kept in check by the rotation of the crops to other areas of the garden.
9. Watering and Weeding. Rainwater can be saved to water the garden. Soaker hoses, drip irrigation, and watering by hand conserve water. Mulches are invaluable in both water conservation and slowing down weed germination.
10. Saving Seeds. Save some seeds from your best plants when harvesting crops. Many old varieties are being lost at an alarming rate and preserving this biodiversity is important. Some of these saved seeds have been used to develop new strains after disaster has affected commonly cultivated varieties.
Gwen Nyhus Stewart, B.S.W., M.G., H.T., is an educator, freelance writer, garden consultant, and author of the book The Healing Garden: A Place Of Peace – Gardening For The Soil, Gardening For The Soul. She owns the website Gwen’s Healing Garden where you will find lots of free information about gardening for the soil and gardening for the soul. To find out more about the book and subscribe to her free Newsletter visit http://www.gwenshealinggarden.ca Gwen Nyhus Stewart © 2004 – 2005. All rights reserved.


October 31, 2016
Signing of CETA means expanded markets for Canadian grain
OTTAWA, October 31, 2016 – The Grain Growers of Canada (GGC) welcomes the signing of the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) with the European Union (EU) this past weekend. This agreement, seven years in the making, is the first multilateral trade deal signed by the EU and another nation.
The ratification process will put CETA up for approval in the parliaments of all included nations. Canada is not wasting any time with the announcement by Trade Minister Chrystia Freeland that the agreement will be tabled in the House of Commons today. When fully implemented, CETA will remove tariffs from 94 per cent of agriculture and agri-food products and result in increased market access worth $100 million for Canadian grains and oilseeds farmers.
“As an export-dependent industry, Canada’s grain farmers rely on barrier-free access to international markets,” said GGC President, Gary Stanford. “We applaud the tireless efforts of Minister Freeland and Chief negotiator Steve Verheul in completing the final stages of negotiations, as well as the hard work of the previous government who helped make this historic agreement a reality.”
Canadian grain growers export 70 per cent of their wheat, 75 per cent of their pulse production and 90 per cent of their canola. Top agri-food exports to Europe include canola oil, canola, soybeans and wheat. As such, the removal of tariffs on these and other Canadian agri-food exports will bring clear economic benefits to farmers across Canada by increasing current exports and creating new markets for our other high quality grains.
“Canadian and European consumers have shared values in their support for high-quality, safe, affordable food,” said Jeff Nielsen, GGC Vice President. “Opening up the borders to allow the smooth movement of products between the two markets means that everyone wins.”
The Grain Growers of Canada provides a strong national voice for over 50,000 active and successful grain, oilseed and pulse producers through its 12 provincial and regional grower groups. Our mission and mandate are to pursue a policy environment that maximizes global competitiveness and to influence federal policy on behalf of independent Canadian grain farmers and their associations.


Jennifer and Marge Kramer
Maasdam Sorghum Mills, Lynnville
Audio files: (there may be a brief pause after pushing the play button)
The Maasdam family has been producing dark, fragrant, and healthful sorghum syrup since 1926. Now in its seventh generation, the family grows sweet sorghum on the family farm in Lynnville. They also press the cane and bottle the syrup under their own and several other labels. Currently involved in the business are Jennifer Kramer, whose young sons (the seventh generation) help out a bit, and her husband, John, father-in-law and mother-in-law, Charles and Marge Kramer, along with Marge’s nephew, Craig Maasdam. They operate the cane-powered furnace, steam engine, presses, and filtration system created by Marge’s father, L.J. Maasdam.
One of the only surviving sorghum mills in Iowa, the Maasdam operation started at a time when many more Iowa farmers made syrup from home-grown cane for home use. A few other mills do exist northeast of Pella, in Kalona (Kaufmans), south of Knoxville, and perhaps in Bloomfield. Though family members made sorghum on and off for their own use prior to 1926, it was then that L.J. Maasdam, Marge’s father, officially started the business.
The busy time of year for the Maasdam sorghum mill is the fall. “The steam engine is running and alive in September,” says Marge. “It’s like a junk yard come to life.” The noise of the machinery is so loud that the family has long used steam whistles to call for the mill operator, steam operator, and cook (furnace operator).
Like most grasses, sweet sorghum is planted in the spring and harvested in the late summer and early fall, usually in September. For three to four weeks, work in the mill is nearly nonstop, and the family hires ten to twelve employees (mostly local retired people) to fill syrup jars. Everyone has a job to do, but they all know about other jobs as well, from loading and feeding in the cane, stoking the boiler, making sure that the machinery is operating smoothly, boiling, skimming, and straining the cane juice, filtering it several times, to finally bottling and sealing it for shipping. Each batch of sorghum takes about two hours and produces 60 gallons of syrup from 600 gallons of juice.
In 1970, the family started having field days for school children and their families. People come out to the farm, see where the cane is grown, how the mill works, and get to taste the syrup. They can also purchase sorghum suckers, jars of sorghum to take home, and sorghum cookbooks. Marge also gives samples and sells sorghum while a local cook demonstrates sorghum recipes at the Old Threshers Reunion in Mt. Pleasant, Iowa.
Unlike molasses (made from sugar cane and dependent on near slave labor conditions and resource-depleting growing conditions in south Florida and elsewhere), sorghum is not a by-product of cane sugar manufacturing; it is the product from sorghum cane, does not need to be refrigerated, and contains high levels of iron, calcium, and potassium as well as antioxidants. Sorghum syrup can be used instead of molasses or dark corn syrup in all recipes as well as for sugar in many others (with some allowance made for reducing liquid in other ingredients).


Bhopal. Chief Minister Shri Kamal Nath will perform the bhoomi-pujan of Narmada-Kalisindh Link Lift Irrigation Scheme at Sonkachch in Dewas district and Nagalwadi Micro Lift Irrigation Scheme in Nagalwadi village of Badwani district on February 26. Narmada Valley Development Minister Shri Surendra Singh Baghel will be specially present in the programme.
By combining both schemes, one lakh 47 thousand hectare irrigation capacity will be created. The speciality of both schemes is that the farmer will be able to irrigate through sprinkler system with full water pressure in every 2.5 hectare area.
Minister for Medical Education Dr. Vijailaxmi Sadho, Public Works Minister Shri Sajjan Singh Verma, Water Resources Minister Shri Hukum Singh Karada, Home Minister Shri Bala Bachchan, Minority and Backward Class Welfare Minister Shri Arif Aqueel, Higher Educaton Minister Shri Jitu Patwari and Agriculture Minister Shri Sachin Yadav will be present at the bhoomi-pujan progamme.
Narmada Kalisindh Link First Phase Irrigation Scheme
In the scheme, costing about Rs. 3490 crore land about 86 thousand hectares of 241 villages of Dewas, Bagli, Hatpipaliya, Sonkachh and Tonkkhurd tehsils of the district will be irrigated. About 5978 hectare of 22 villages of Avantipur Badodia, Polaykalan and Shajapur tehsil of Shajapur district and nearly 8 thousand hectare of 19 villages of Jawar tehsil of Sehore district will be irrigated. Water supply will be made from the Indira Sagar reservoir after lifting 32.4 cumex water through pipeline distribution system at 20 metre pressure up to every two hectare.
Nagalwadi Micro Lift Irrigation Scheme
This scheme costs about Rs.1173 crore. Through this scheme, irrigation facility will be provided for 20 thousand 648 hectare area of 46 villages in Rajpur and Theekri tehsil of Badwani district and 26 thousand 352 hectare area of 70 villages of Segaon and Khargone tehsil in Khargone district. Nearly 15 cumex Narmada water will be lifted in different phases from the Narmada river.


Sustainability has become the key buzzword in today's business world, with consumers increasingly concerned about the environmental and social impacts of their purchases. From where ingredients are sourced to how workers are treated, waste management and recycling, companies are expected to be responsible and give back to the regions where they operate.
For new AmCham Indonesia Premier Member, Mars, sustainability is very much a priority. Mars operates in four business segments: Wrigley (chocolate and confectionery), pet care, food and Mars Edge (nutrition). With iconic brands such as Snickers, Skittles, Royal Canin and Pedigree, Mars’ presence in Indonesia dates back to 1996, specifically in Sulawesi, the nation’s main cocoa producing region. Mars has established cocoa processing factories there, sourcing networks and research facilities, as well as training and capacity building work and marine sustainability efforts in the form of reef restoration.
AmCham Indonesia spoke with Jeffrey Haribowo, Corporate Affairs Director of Mars Indonesia, on how the company has worked towards sustainability here. Jeffrey is an experienced corporate affairs professional who has worked for several multinational companies.
AmCham Indonesia: Indonesia is one of the world’s largest producers of cocoa beans. How does Mars, integrate Indonesian cocoa beans into the global supply chain?
Jeffrey Haribowo: We ship cocoa products from our processing facilities in Sulawesi to our overseas factories. The cacao we produce in Makassar is managed in a responsible way and is sourced from over 8,000 smallholder farmers, who were trained to produce cocoa beans that fulfill our quality standards.
A sustainable cocoa sector is essential not only to maintain our production, but also to protect the wellbeing of the people who produce our cacao fruits. We make sure that our cocoa is sourced from legal farmlands, not from deforested lands, primary forests, or conservation sites. In sourcing our cocoa, we uphold high human rights standards, including farmer’s rights.
Mars has been certified by the Rainforest Alliance since 2010. We map out our farmer’s plantation area to make sure that it does not trespass into surrounding forests. We also educate our farmers and provide them an application called Cocoa Trace, which has a database on plantation locations, transaction data and even international market prices for cocoa. Everything is transparent.
Sustainability is becoming significantly more important for business at a global level. What measures has Mars taken to ensure sustainability in its operations in Indonesia?
In general, we are guided by our Sustainable in a Generation Plan, which is guided by the UN Sustainable Development Goals, and based on our five principles: quality, responsibility, mutuality, efficiency and freedom. There are three pillars to our Sustainable in Our Generation Plan: Healthy Planet, as our production depends on the natural resources we extract; Thriving People, because our consumers and our associates are our assets; and Nourishing Wellbeing, where we utilize science and innovation to help humans and pets have healthier and happier lives.
We adapt our Sustainable in a Generation Plan to the local situation. The key point is how partnerships with each stakeholder can improve the sustainability of our supply chain. As our business in Indonesia focuses on chocolate and confectionery, we implement our Cocoa for Generations plan, which has two pillars: Responsible Cocoa Today, Sustainable Cocoa Tomorrow. We aim to source our cocoa in an ethical and environmentally friendly way, and to promote the welfare of farmers that partner with us. This includes working toward increasing and diversifying farmers’ income, upholding human rights and the elimination of child labor. For example, we promote crop diversification as a means to capture more economic opportunities. This both increases the income crops farmers can sell and helps protect the cacao plants. We also make sure that the children who help their parents with fieldwork can still get the education they need.
Just as cocoa needs to be regenerated every 10 years, we also need regeneration of farmers. Mars has a Next Generation Program that assists young farmers and cultivates their interest to take part in cocoa farming. We also have the Cocoa Doctors program, which has empowered a thousand farmers to become "cocoapreneurs" and cocoa experts. This way, our farmers become specialists in their field and are capable of running their own businesses.
We are proud of what we have achieved in our 2019 Sustainable in a Generation Plan Scorecard. But at the end, what’s most important is putting farmer’s welfare above everything else. We need to collaborate with every stakeholder to do systemic change: from women empowerment, protection of women and children, to protecting the forest.
Does Mars cooperate with other stakeholders in Indonesia especially with the Indonesian government?
Our sustainability objectives involve lots of collaboration with different stakeholders: government, industry associations and the farmers themselves. We try to engage with these stakeholders in shaping and implementing policies.
Mars is a founding member of the Cocoa Sustainable Partnership, a forum where stakeholders such as the government, cacao processing companies and others collaborate to create sustainable cocoa in Indonesia. We also support government programs, such as the Rural Empowerment and Agriculture Development Scaling Up Initiative (READSI), where we work with the Ministry of Agriculture to achieve its vision of agricultural development: food security, enhanced welfare for farmers and helping to find a new generation of farmers. In Sulawesi, we work closely with the local forestry agencies, as many of our plantation areas border forests.
Internationally, we have a project with the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and World Agroforestry called Sustainable Farming in Tropical Asian Landscapes (SFITAL), a five-year project that aims to that aims to link small-scale producers to global supply chains.
Ultimately, the key to our success is having strong values. In our case, it’s to put the farmer's needs first. This is a value we share with the government and other industry players, and it guides us in our collaborative efforts.
From Mars’ standpoint, how can businesses in Indonesia also contribute to changing the trajectory on climate change?
As climate change is complex and wide-reaching, collaboration among businesses, the public sector and civil society is essential for climate change mitigation. First, there needs to be a clear strategy for collaboration. Next, you need to agree on which targets and parameters to use, whether it’s the Sustainable Development Goals, Paris Agreement or others. The industry and the government must bring their targets together.
How has the pandemic affected Mars’ business operations so far?
The world that we want tomorrow starts with how we do our business today. We consistently put forth our three sustainability pillars in doing our business, including in Indonesia. Despite the pandemic, we strive to keep our business running in responsible ways. We put our associates’ health and safety first in our factory operations and distribution, and give them the work flexibility they need to handle quarantine. We also invest in agricultural development and work safety for our cocoa farmers. In the end, we all have to adapt to this new situation as best as we can.
It’s impossible to assess the ultimate impact this will have on each of us, the global economy and our business. But, we have confidence that we can manage what comes.


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Do you want to experience some country life, like never before? Then here is Youda Farmer! Run...
Rating 9.0, Played 1524
You’ve just invaded earth, and now it’s your job to bring back some souvenirs! Fly your space...
Rating 9.0, Played 1606
Manage the day-to-day operations of a busy farm. Remember to use fertilizer to boost your yield...
Rating 8.0, Played 1052
Youda Farmer 2: Save the Village, offers you a great new farming adventure!
Rating 10.0, Played 1220


The Biggest Little Farm chronicles the eight-year quest of John and Molly Chester as they trade city living for 200 acres of barren farmland and a dream to harvest in harmony with nature.
Through dogged perseverance and embracing the opportunity provided by nature’s conflicts, the Chester’s unlock and uncover a biodiverse design for living that exists far beyond their farm, its seasons, and our wildest imagination. Featuring breath taking cinematography, captivating animals, and an urgent message to heed Mother Nature’s call, The Biggest Little Farm provides us all a vital blueprint for better living and a healthier planet.
Dir: John Chester – USA – 2018 – 91 mins – Cert: PG – in English
Before the screening we will have a delicious harvest farm foods ‘pop-up’ shop in the QFT foyer where you can purchase fresh foods to enjoy during the screening.
- Ticket price: GENERAL ADMISSION - £5.00 + £0.50 Booking fee = £5.50/CONCESSIONS - £4.00 + £0.40 Booking fee = £4.40
When & Where
- From:Oct 6, 2019,02:00 PM
- To:Oct 6, 2019,03:30 PM
Queens Film Theatre
20 University Square, BT7 1PA, belfast.


Spring is turning into summer, but garden rumors shine in their absence. The spring has been so cold that all the planting work has been delayed, but now the garden is starting to wake up again. The lady already collected the first stalks of rhubarb, and some asparagus had also emerged from her box.
The tomatoes could have already been planted in the greenhouse, but since the night temperatures were only a few degrees, we didn’t dare to do that. To prevent all the seedlings from growing too tall indoors, we spread the risk, and last weekend we planted half of the seedlings in the greenhouse, and left the other half to wait.
We were already going to plant the rest on Maundy Thursday, but the day was so rainy that we ended up doing other things at home. Maybe this weekend.
Our composts have brought a lot of joy. In addition to the fact that our large garden composters produce nice mulch from the stalks of perennials and other garden waste, our thermal composter now got a better place where it is in the sun all day.
The composter that was previously located on the shady side of the cabin was still frozen for a long time, but when I moved it next to the garden composters a few weeks ago, it also started up again, and the internal temperature of the composter is comfortably around 50 degrees. The mulch from this composter has already been spread on the berry bushes.
In addition to tomato seedlings, lettuce, stem broccoli, broad bean and summer flower seedlings grow in the greenhouse.
The broad bean became our big favorite when we got bean seedlings two years ago. The bean turned out to grow very well, yield and be delicious, so now it is one of our standard vegetables.
The biggest chore of spring is building a rabbit fence. I already bought the necessities last summer, but I didn’t get to work in time enough, and the ground became too hard.
Now I have already managed to install a quarter of the fence in a couple of days, and the work will continue as long as I have time again. I dig the fence into the ground, and also turn the bottom edge of the fence so-called in the direction of the rabbits, so that they don’t dig under it.
The porch is full of all kinds of flowers that Mrs. will plant in the yard in the next few weeks.
Oh, and a fig! It wintered inside the cabin, where we keep the temperature around 5 degrees in the winter, and to our delight it woke up in the spring. Looks like we’ll get a few figs of our own this year too!
Excited to see what kind of summer this will be like. There are a few summers that are far too hot and dry, and I wish it would be a little cooler and suitably rainy. At the moment, it looks quite promising in that regard.


10-11-15 HARVEST TIME
October 11, 2015
Today's Gospel reading (Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43) proves that the Lord has infinitely more patience than I do. He said to leave the weeds in the field with the wheat until the harvest. Now, anyone who looks at my prayer garden outside knows that me and weeds don't get along! The minute they poke their ugly little heads above the ground, I am ready to pull them out, dig them out, or spray them with weed killer. And yet, here is the Lord saying we are to leave the weeds alone, and let them grow together with the wheat. What is God trying to tell us here?
First of all, having been an avid gardener all my life (as I know some of you are as well), I have no trouble telling which plants are weeds and which are not, even when they are very small. But especially when they start to grow, it becomes more and more evident. Weeds like to take over. They have no respect for the flowers and have no remorse whatsoever for drinking up their water, blocking their sunlight, soaking up their nutrients, and invading their space. (And yes, I am also speaking in a parable, so keep that in mind). The flowers in turn, have to be strong to stand their own among the weeds. Their roots have to be deeper, they have to grow thicker stems, and they have to bloom in spite of the opposition from the weeds. If they do not, they will wither and die, and the weeds will be all that is left in the garden.
So perhaps this is one of the reasons God said to leave the weeds alone? So the flowers become stronger? It has been proven over and over throughout history that whenever Christians have been heavily persecuted, their faith and their conviction grow stronger, not weaker.
But what if there were no 'weeds' in our lives? For one thing, we would never have a chance to learn discernment. Even though, as I noted earlier, I can readily tell a weed from a flower, someone with no gardening experience could easily mistake a weed for a flower, and vice versa. They might uproot and kill a flower thinking it is a weed. Or give extra fertilizer to a weed thinking it is a flower, thus encouraging it to become even more of a threat to the real flowers. So it is with the spirit of discernment. If a Christian does not have it, they might easily be fooled by a 'weed' that looks like a 'flower'. My husband actually likes fields of dandelions when they are all blooming and looking like a field of sunshine. But I see their true nature, knowing they will quickly take over, and their yellow blooms turn to white balls of seeds that blow everywhere with the slightest breeze. Their roots go down very deep and are difficult to dig out. Pretty soon, if left to their own devices, there will be nothing left in their path, and they will multiply rapidly. But many weeds are not as easily recognized as are dandelions. Look around you. Look at the person next to you, in front of you, behind you. The person you work with. Your neighbor. Even your closest friends and family. Can you say for absolutely, positively certain whether they are wheat or weed (a true Christian or not?).
Here's something else to consider as to why the Lord said to leave the weeds in with the wheat¦ There are some weeds that are more invasive than others, and their roots intertwine with those of the flowers, making their removal difficult without damaging the flowers as well (as Jesus noted in Matthew 13:29). Interpret that as how the life of an unbeliever and your own can become dependent on each other. Perhaps your boss at work. Or your delinquent child. You can't always easily remove such people from your life without damage to your own. Therefore, our Lord told us to let them be, and at harvest time He will pull up the weeds and throw them in the fire. He doesn't say we have to encourage their bad behavior, but we are to leave them among us and share this world with them. As we heard in our Epistle reading, "Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers." (Galatians 6:10)
And I thought of one more thing... Just imagine what would happen if we, subject to our human natures, did not have any 'weeds' in our life. We would start to take the many blessings we receive from God in life for granted. Actual flowers, which are not subject to sin, might thrive and bloom all the more beautifully without the weeds; but we as human beings, would tend to become complacent, conceited, and a bit too content.
When He returns to gather the wheat into the barn, the weeds won't be gathered in with us. They will be bundled together and thrown into the fire. Then we will shine like the sun in the Kingdom of our Father forever. And God doesn't make mistakes. He won't confuse the wheat and the weeds. He won't leave any wheat behind. And He won't let any weeds escape the fire. It will indeed be a time of rejoicing for us.
Yes, harvest time is upon us. Jesus told His disciples, "I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest. (John 4:35) But He also followed that with "The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into His harvest field." We must be busy preparing the 'crop' for the Lord, for He will be here soon, and many souls are not yet ready. Many have not made that crucial decision for Christ. We are warned in the Book of Joel (3:13,14) that God will tell His angels, "Put in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe. Come, tread, for the wine press is full; the vats overflow, for their wickedness is great. Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision! For the day of the LORD is near in the valley of decision." We must spread the seed of the Word, and nurture the crop until the Lord returns, so that the harvest will be bountiful!
And I will end today's message with the very last verses of the Bible, "He who testifies to these things said, 'Yes, I am coming quickly.' Amen. Come, Lord Jesus. The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all." Amen. (Revelation 22:20,21)


Fresno, CA - In preparation to plant their winter crops, last Saturday Fresno Freedom School of Agriculture Cultural Enrichment (FS) students hosted an End of Summer Farmer's Market directly from the FS garden site, located adjacent to New Light for New Life Church of God, located at 1106 W. Woodward Avenue. The event was co-sponsored by: The Holistic Cultural & Education Wellness Center.
Fresno FS participants have logged over 200 volunteer hours building a farm from scratch throughout spring and into the summer months. The young growers worked, learned and enhanced their skill sets in agriculture during the process.
Representatives from the USDA the event which served as a showcase of the students' efforts and taught participants and guest the importance of composting.
FS was founded in 2013 by Dr. Floyd D. Harris Jr. and since its inception, has been instrumental in providing positive experiences and opportunities that have led several of its students to pursue post-secondary education and careers in the diverse field of Agriculture.


How to Protect Your Garden from Flies and Pests
It is important to note that there are several advantages of having the gardens. It is important to know that most people will nurture them to enhance the looks of the home. Having a beautiful garden is not an easy job. It takes a lot of effort to have everything in place. It is necessary to note that it will be painful when the pests have to cause harm. You will notice that these pests can cause lots of damages to the garden. You will notice that almost everyone fears that. There are ways of dealing with these pests in a way that is environment friendly. There are things that you can do to manage the bugs. The following are the things that you can practice.
First of all, you are advised to use the insect repellents. You are supposed to have in mind that there are different types of this products that can be utilized. You are also expected to understand that some of these organisms are resistant to the repellents. It is, therefore, advantageous to consult with the sellers so that you get what can cater for your needs. When you talk to these individuals; they will help you get what will suit your needs. It is important to note that there are ways of dealing with these animals the natural way. It is required that you plant lemongrass, mint, and basil in the garden so that you scare away the mosquitoes. You will realize that these plants will make the whole place smelling nice. It is essential to note that the slugs and the snails can be kept away the natural way through the use of obstacles. You can use a can that is filled with gravel as a way of achieving this.
The other thing that you can use is a pond. This idea is to help in attracting other small animals that will feast on the insects and the Bugs. These organisms will naturally terminate the other insects that are causing harm to the garden. One is required to understand that the insecticides are quite harmful to the people and the environment as well. It is due to this idea that you are advised to be careful when thinking about the use of the insecticides. Through this approach, the plants will thrive well. It is necessary to note that the only way to have the birds coming to the garden is by having a bath or a feeder for them. When this happens, the other insects and flies will be no more.


Complementary feed for dairy cows, in particular during delivery period.
Properties:Dolmix Rumen Activator is a formula based on sugars, milk products, dry molasses and live yeast. Increases the population of saccharolytic bacteria by increasing the level of rumen propionates used in the process of gluconeogenesis in the liver for glucose biosynthesis. Accelerates the multiplication of rumen microflora. Increases feed intake and improves nutrient utilization and effective fermentation processes in the rumen. Reduces the likelihood of ketosis and displacement of the abomasum.


Crops and livestock remain important industries for the livelihood of those in the St. Johns County area, and are therefore an important part of the local economy, job market and housing market.
For starters, St. Johns County leads the state of Florida in the production of potatoes and cabbage. Approximately 24,960 acres of land in St. Johns County are dedicated to potatoes, cabbage, broccoli, turfgrass, livestock, nursery stock, timber and various, small truck crops.
As stated by the University of Florida, agricultural and natural resources industries account for over $171 million in revenue for St. Johns County, and account for over 2,600 jobs.
The industry breakdowns are as follows:


Agriculture and food safety
The Universal Exposition will be held in Milan between 1 May and 31 October 2015, and will involve participants from hundreds of Countries all over the world. The Expo 2015 theme is “Feeding the planet, energy for life”, one of the central themes of sustainable development, in a global context where 870 million people are suffering from hunger and over a billion are malnourished.
Population growth, urbanization and the change of diets will enhance global food demand, which in 2050 will be 60% higher than today’s. The resulting challenge is further exacerbated by climate change and erosion of natural resources that provide the basis for food production. The contribution of energy to food production activities mainly involves meeting the energy needs of irrigation and transformation activities. The majority of farmers in the world are those with smallholdings: intensifying and increasing access to sustainable energy sources for this large group of producers would allow to pursue the Sustainable Development Goals, particularly with regard to eradicating poverty and protecting the environment.
eni is engaged in activities to support agriculture in Nigeria, Tunisia, Iraq and Congo.
eni has undertaken activities to support agricultural development with the aim of ensuring a better quality of life for local communities in the areas where it operates, facilitating access to food and promoting food security. Among the most successful cases are the projects launched in the agricultural sector in Nigeria, Tunisia, Iraq and Congo.
In Nigeria the Green River Project (GRP) is an example of an intervention aimed at developing local communities through the promotion of innovative agricultural solutions. The GRP project has been helping the communities of the Niger Delta for 27 years with a unified system for the distribution of services to boost agricultural development (the Agricultural Extension Services Delivery system - AESD) and improve the living conditions of rural populations. The project has actively promoted agricultural development and an improvement in socioeconomic conditions in the area, creating favourable relationships with the communities that host eni operations in the Niger Delta. Since 1987, the project has benefited more than 500,000 people distributed over an area of 4,000 km2.


Need a little help ensuring that your green tomato plants grow into juicy, red balls of deliciousness?
Roots: It is very beneficial to re-pot tomato starts at least once before transplanting them into their final outdoor location.
The first transplant: Once the start has two sets of leaves and the plant is 3-4 inches tall, re-plant the start just under the lowest set of leaves.
More transplants: You can transplant your tomato again (and again) once it reaches 8-10 inches in height, before you plant your tomato outside.
The final transplant: The transplanting of your tomato into it’s outdoor growing location should be done using a similar method of burying the stem above the current soil level.
Read the rest of Oaksford’s suggestions at DIY: Transplanting tomatoes (again and again).


Since Spring has officially sprung! It’s time to forget about last years long line of plant casualties and start fresh on your apartment horticultural endeavors. However, let’s not get too crazy and accidentally overcommit. Start small with easy to maintain plants or simple herbs that reside on your counter to boost your green confidence. Or if you’re already feeling really confident in your garden skills, turn your entire rooftop deck at Brick Avenue Lofts apartments in Bentonville, Arkansas into your own private urban farm!
Create a layered garden by purchasing stack planters, using plant stands, and hanging pots. This magical layered garden takes up less square footage on your balcony or in your home. It’s like stadium seating, but instead of bleachers, you have luscious plants! This works especially well on balconies and patios with unused corners.
Vertical gardens are becoming more and more popular among apartment dwellers and it’s easy to see why! At Brick Avenue Lofts, your balcony or patio will be the perfect place to start a vertical garden. These gardens are a great way to utilize well-lit areas of your apartment and balcony. While they can be on the more pricey side if you get a fancy schmancy vertical aeroponic growing systems such as this one, you can also keep it simple and get something like this! Or for a different approach, research some different types of ‘climbing plants’, and create a small structure or buy a trellis for them to climb up! We also found this cute DIY peg garden. It might be the perfect utilization of wall space.
Ok, now it’s time for you to give your horticultural career another shot! Or maybe you’re realizing enough plants have suffered and it’s time to retire…That’s fine too! We have an urban farm (and lots of other cool amenities) for that reason. Lastly, you HAVE to stop by Matkins Greenhouse in Bentonville to find your future green roommates. Good luck and be sure to share your horticultural loft endeavors by tagging us @brickavelofts.


We all have heard that we need to conserve water. Canada is home to a large percentage of the world’s fresh water, however, there is still a huge need to conserve and protect it. One way to do that is to stop lawn watering, as much as is sensible. Irrigation for farm crops is necessary in many parts of Canada but a significant amount of the water we use in urban centres is for residential use, including lawn watering.
Lawn watering accounts for about a 50 percent increase in your water bill over the summer months.
There is a better way by properly installing artificial landscape grass.
Additional benefit is that there is less or no leaching of chemicals and fertilizer into the storm water system. A properly installed artificial lawn captures the rain water in the sub base and it can evaporate naturally. Because Southern Alberta is home to one of the world’s best sport fishing rivers, keeping the Bow River as pristine as possible is a goal for all of Southern Alberta.
Less water means less money as well. Most communities charge for water usage and disposal. Even if you don’t put your household water down the drain, you are charged for it anyway. By lowering your water intake, you also lower your utility costs.
If you choose to install artificial turf, be sure that it is done properly. This provides that the area covered retains the rain water and doesn’t send streams of excess down the storm drains. They must use the proper amount of sub-base to promote retention of the water without making a swimming pool where you don’t want one.


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Pine Straw Installation
For superior lawn care solutions, contact us about our pine straw installation service.
If your lawn needs some special attention, look to us for professional lawn maintenance service.
Ditch Cleaning Services
For erosion control and proper flow, contact us about our complete and professional ditch cleaning services
Regular, scheduled gardening services to keep your outdoor space beautiful and welcoming.
Landscaping services for your grounds, lawn, garden, and more - for home and business customers.
Lawn Care Services
From fertilization to mowing and more, our team provides comprehensive lawn care services for your home or business.
Lawn Mowing Services
Stop sweating over your lawnmower every summer - our team will mow and edge all lawns, both large and small.


The only green left in the refrigerator last night was some baby arugula; not unlucky for me since it’s one of my absolute favs. Not so good for Tony, a bit too strong for him. I convinced him that I could tame the flavor of the arugula with something sweet (fresh corn and fennel) and some fat (olive oil and avocado).
While Tony was heating up the grill for a pizza experiment, I sliced the veggies and pulled the salad together. I pulled the first fennel bulb from my garden. It was still relatively small compared to those found in the grocery stores, but just the right size for feeding salad to four. Earlier this spring, I found a pot of Florence Fennel at a garden center grown for the herb garden. There must have been 50 baby plants in that one pot! I took the pot home, separated the plants and filled two 4 ft. beds with fennel plants. After cutting the stems and fronds away from the bulb, I plunked them into a flower arrangement with purple stock. Don’t you love it when all the parts of something grown in your own backyard get to be used?
This time of year, salads can take on a much different look and taste than those of early spring. I’ve often thought how unfair it was to have tomatoes and lettuces ripen at such different times of year. I’m still pulling some arugula out of my garden, and dreaming of August 15th to be able to plant lettuces again.
Great tomatoes are just around the corner, but probably not from my back yard. The squirrels and chipmunks seem to take a bite out of each ‘almost ready’ tomato we have. I am ever optimistic though and continue to plant them each year. So, I’ll continue to frequent the farmers’ markets for the perfect tomato.
Summer Fresh Salad
- 4 cups fresh baby arugula
- 1/2 cup or more very thinly sliced red bell pepper
- 1 small fennel bulb (about 2″ wide) very thinly sliced
- 1/4 cup or less thinly sliced red onion
- kernels removed from 1 ear of fresh, raw corn
- 1 avocado, cubed
- toasted walnuts or pine nuts
- 3 Tbls olive oil
- 1 tsp honey
- 1 tsp Dijon mustard
Place the arugula and the remaining vegetables in a large bowl, keeping the avocado and walnuts separate for now.
In another smaller bowl, whisk the oil, mustard and honey together. Pour over the veggies and toss. Add the avocado and nuts and toss again. Serve immediately.


Hoffman Fabrics Sun Up to Sun Down Wheat Fields Cotton Panel R4692-84-Wheat
Amber waves of grain surely describes this digital cotton fabric panel. Miles upon miles of dryland grain farming can be found in Montana and many other countries around the world. When grains ripen to golden hue in the fall it is truly beautiful.
Panel measures 26 1/4" x 43 1/2", sold by the panel.
Up to 1 million vivid colors create depth and perspective previously unavailable. Digital printing is more environmentally sustainable since it eliminates the need to clean screens and rinse out inks... That means a smaller carbon footprint.
Contents 100 percent Cotton
Approx. Width 43/44'' or 109 cm
Made in South Korea
CARE INSTRUCTIONS: Wash darks and lights separately. Machine wash cold on delicate cycle. Do not bleach. Tumble dry low or line dry. Use cool iron if necessary.
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Headquartered in Switzerland, Empa, the Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology, examines advanced materials and technologies. Dr. Thijs Defraeye, based at the institute’s Laboratory for Biomimetic Membranes and Textiles, works on cold-chain technology for postharvest applications. Seeking a means to enable produce purveyors to better manage food quality and meet food safety guidelines, Defraeye and his team of researchers developed a fruit-sensing device that accurately measures pulp temperature of fresh produce. Armed with this data, produce transporters can better monitor temperatures throughout the postharvest supply chain and identify possible problems. The researchers are hoping to work with a third party to productize their invention.
Creating the technology was challenging, given all of the considerations involved when fruit is shipped long distances. Core temperature of fruit provides a meaningful indicator of quality, so the researchers sought an accurate way to measure this area. They needed a small, low-power sensor with data logging, and found their answer in Maxim’s DS1922L iButton temperature logger.
Read Empa’s story to learn how the research team used the iButton to create technology that could potentially minimize food waste and prevent related revenue loss.


More from Jerez: A Day in the Vineyards
Monday was my first time visiting the vineyards of Jerez. In the wee hours of the morning, Jaime—my host and owner of Bodega Faustino Gonzalez, his venenciador of the bodega, Momoko, two other friends in the industry, and myself all crammed into a tiny car to head off to see his vineyards. The vineyards are only about ten minutes from the center of Jerez, down a tiny, although paved, incredibly bumpy back road. As we arrived, the sun slowly began to rise shedding light on just how beautiful the vineyards are.
In some areas, harvest is already well underway, but not at the vineyard of Faustino Gonzalez. We met with Pepe, the capataz of the vineyard, which is from what I understand a viticulturist. Pepe needed to determine if the grapes are ready to harvest. He brought an instrument that is like a laboratory to-go that tests the potential alcohol in the grapes. You just squeeze a little juice onto the instrument to get a measurement. The juice reads at about 11.5 which is just about where they want the grapes to be. This test is not exact so they still need to take clippings of the grapes to the laboratory for a more exact approximation. The vineyard is small, with only 7 hectares, and only 2 of those hectares are dedicated to making the wines of Cruz Vieja (the name of Bodega Faustino Gonzalez’s line of Sherry) which require them to be dedicated to the Palomino grape, the others are Pedro Ximenez (PX), a grape used to make sweet passito wines, and are reserved to sell to other producers.
Everything in the vineyard is done with a holistic approach and little use of any pesticides or chemicals. There is a lot of life in the vineyard, with chameleons crawling about, birds, and even signs of rabbits having been there for a grape feast. The venenciador tells me many people are using less and less chemicals in the vineyards. I’ve found that most of the vineyards seem to be practicing organic principles and sustainability, not because it is a new trend, but simply because this is how the area has operated for centuries. You won’t find many people who are certified because it is an expensive and tedious process. I had a chance to taste both PX and Palomino grapes of the vine and although on the surface they appear to be almost indistinguishable they taste very different. PX is fruity, soft and sweet with delicate skins, while Palomino is stronger, with thicker skins. You can taste the skins and the tannin in them making it a bit drier with less fruit characteristics.
After spending time at Jaime’s vineyards, we went to visit the vineyards of one of the biggest producers in Sherry, Gonzalez Byass, to see the harvest well underway there. In Jerez, the vineyards are divided into sub-regions called Pagos, these vineyards were in a warmer part, with less wind and less humidity so the grapes matured faster. But in Pago Monte Alegre, where the vineyards of Faustino Gonzalez are located, there is much more wind and humidity due to its proximity to the river so the grapes need more time to mature. In this region, it seems like everyone you talk to mentions el viento or, the wind, at some point in the day. There are two wind streams that pass through the area and change quite frequently. There is the cool, humid winds the come from the ocean called the poniente and there is the extremely hot, dry winds that come from the south called the levante. You never quite no which one you are going to get in any given day but the vineyards benefit from both, helping greatly reduced the risk of disease, which is probably why they don’t use many chemicals in the first place.
Visiting the vineyards is like a dream for me. Being able to be in the vineyards and learn even more about everything I have been learning about in books for years is incredible. Soon, I’ll begin the grueling task of harvest work. I’ll be in the vineyards, baking in the sun and getting super dirty, hopefully with a smile on my face considering I have the luck to be in one of the most beautiful places on the earth.
Stay tuned for more from the Jerez...


Here at B&C Irrigation Systems we strive to offer our customers as many options as possible to get their yard ready for all of those summer parties. One option you may not be aware of is fertigation.
Fertigation is a unique way to easily and quickly fertilize your lawn. Liquid fertilizer is contained inside a tank that is connected to your irrigation system. Once installed, your fertigation system can work in tandem with your irrigation system which will enable you to water and fertilize your lawn at the same time.
This option offers several benefits besides being very water efficient. Did you know that it also increases water absorption up to 90% versus the standard methods of fertilizing? Fertigation also greatly decreases the risk of plant disease and helps to exterminate pesky insects. Worried about chemical exposure? Don’t be. With the ease of this system, it also reduces your exposure from pesticides since it is released in smaller amounts over an extended period of time.
Have a healthy lawn that you don’t have to worry about! Call B&C Irrigation Systems today to get your lawn ready for summer!


By Collins Nsiah
Niger State plans to boost its economy via a new partnership with Iran in agricultural production. With Nigeria in recession and oil revenue plummeting, the state governor Alhaji Abubakar Sani Bello in Minna told the Iranian Ambassador to Nigeria, Morteza Zorchi that Niger state is seeking to build its future on agriculture and desires the requisite technology knowledge to achieve this.
In response, Ambassador Zorchi told his host:“Niger state can benefit from a relationship with the Province of Yazd in Iran. The province, like Niger State is rich in mineral resources and agriculture. Though a semi-arid area, the province has perfected greenhouse technology for agriculture, which can be of benefit to Niger state’’.
Meanwhile, Iran agricultural sector is one of the major contributors to the nation’s economy, it accounts for almost 13% of Republic of Iran’s GDP and 90% of raw materials used in the food industry.
In response, the Gov. Alhaji Abubakar expressed that his state is ready to liaise with the Iranian government to promote agriculture in the state. “We are willing to partner with the people and government of Iran in developing our agriculture. This will go a long way to improve our internally generated revenue”, he stated.
Moreover, Niger State which was created in 1976 harbors the popular Kainji and Shiroro Dams and has a population of almost four million people according to Wikipedia. 85 percent of the populace are farmers, which shows that this collaboration will be of great benefit to the people.


How to Get Rid of Spider Mites - The Complete Guide
Eradicate the menace of spider mites with our comprehensive guide on effective removal and prevention strategies. From identifying their presence and implementing targeted horticultural practices to utilizing natural predators and miticides, we offer a step-by-step approach to ensure a thriving, mite-free garden. Delve into insights on spider mite behavior, preferred environments, and learn how to protect your plants from these microscopic invaders. Arm yourself with knowledge and practical tips to reclaim control and maintain a vibrant, pest-free green space.


|Working on the Yale Farm gives students first-hand experience in sustainable agriculture.|
In dining halls and classrooms, project
raising awareness about relationship
between ‘people, land and food’
The grass-fed-beef burgers now on the menu in Yale’s dining halls are
not only healthier for students than the conventional patties once served there,
they are healthier for the environment too.
Every one of the burgers, which are made from cattle raised locally, prevents Yale from producing nearly a pound of carbon emissions that would otherwise be used to transport the food from a source farther afield. Campus dining halls have served a quarter-million of the grass-fed-beef burgers since 2003, thereby reducing Yale’s carbon footprint by nearly a quarter-million pounds. And the burgers are only one of many locally grown or organic additions to the campus dining halls’ menus that have been introduced since the creation of the Yale Sustainable Food Project.
The U.S. food system accounts for 17% of the nation’s energy use (second only to the country’s vehicular use), and the Sustainable Food Project is working to raise awareness of this everyday energy drain, and to change Yale’s operations so as to make the University a model of sustainability around food and agriculture.
Founded in 2001 by a group of faculty, staff and students, along with President Richard C. Levin and renowned chef Alice Waters, the Yale Sustainable Food Project is working to foster a culture that “draws meaning and pleasure from the connections among people, land and food.” It directs a sustainable dining program at Yale, manages an organic farm on campus, and runs diverse programs that support exploration and academic inquiry related to food and agriculture. Through the project’s efforts, Yale is becoming a center for academic work related to food and agriculture.
The philosophy of the project, co-directed by Josh Viertel and Melina Shannon-DiPietro, is clearly laid out on its website (www.yale.edu/sustainablefood):
“The world’s most pressing questions regarding health, culture, the environment, education and the global economy cannot be adequately addressed without considering the food we eat and the way we produce it. By creating opportunities for students to experience food, agriculture and sustainability as integral parts of their education and everyday life, the Sustainable Food Project ensures that Yale graduates have the capacity to effect meaningful change as individuals and as leaders in their communities, their homes and their life’s work.”
The following is a look at some of the project’s initiatives.
Today, sustainable food comprises 40% of the menu in Yale's dining halls.
Today, 40% of all food on the menus in Yale’s dining halls is sustainable. That translates to a sustainable entrée at every lunch and dinner, and an all-sustainable menu on Thursdays and on special occasions. The effort to introduce environmentally responsible food practices in campus dining halls began in 2003, when the Berkeley College dining hall became the most popular eatery on campus after its test kitchen began serving local, seasonal and sustainable food to Yale students on a daily basis. The pilot project earned such rave reviews that soon sustainable foods were being served in all the residential colleges. In fact, sustainable food has become very popular with students; in the fall 2007 dining survey, 77% of student respondents said that expansion of the Sustainable Food Project was very important to them.
In addition, the Sustainable Food Project played a role in developing the all-organic menu for the new Library Café in the Bass Library, worked with Yale Catering to expand their sustainable options and advises campus groups on ways to incorporate sustainable foods into their events.
The result of all these efforts: In the 2006-2007 academic year, Yale redirected $1.6 million into the regional economy by purchasing food using the guidelines developed by the Sustainable Food Project. The savings in carbon emissions from the shorter transportation requirements are also helping Yale to meet its greenhouse gas emissions reduction targets.
The Yale Farm
In 2003, the same year the Berkeley pilot program was launched, students broke ground on an acre of land in Yale’s Farnam Gardens on Edwards Street to create an entirely different type of growing space: the Yale Farm, a market garden that gives students first-hand experience in the principles and practice of sustainable agriculture.
In the summer, the farm is maintained by six full-time undergraduate interns who work the land while learning about sustainability and agriculture from local farmers and others. During the academic year, these interns pass on their knowledge while directing the student volunteers who work on the Yale Farm.
The crops grown throughout the year — including those raised in the farm’s unheated greenhouses during the winter — are given to volunteers or sold at CitySeed’s Wooster Square Farmer’s Market. The Union League, a New Haven restaurant, often features produce from the farm, and spinach from the garden has even been used in experiments in Yale chemistry professor Gary Brudvig’s laboratory.
Professors from several campus departments use the garden as part of their coursework, and teachers from New Haven schools bring their classes to the Yale Farm for lessons in ecology, science and food production. The garden has also been the site of workshops in everything from canning tomatoes to making bread. Many of these events take place around the wood-burning hearth oven, which is used each Friday to cook pizzas for volunteers.
In the fall, the Yale Farm will be constructing an open-air pavilion that will offer a shelter space for the Yale Sustainable Food Project’s educational and social activities.
As part of its mission to encourage students to think differently about food — particularly about the impact of crop production on the environment — members of the Sustainable Food Project have worked closely with Yale professors to introduce topics related to food and agriculture into their courses. In 2006-2007, there were 26 such offerings. The project also worked closely with Professor John Wargo of the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies to offer a new concentration in sustainable food and agriculture within the Environmental Studies major.
In addition to its hands-on workshops, the Sustainable Food Project this year also launched the Lazarus Speaker Series, which has brought luminaries to campus to discuss questions about health, culture, the environment, politics and the global economy. The project has also sponsored several film screenings and workshops.
Harvest pre-orientation program
Each fall, incoming freshmen learn firsthand about organic farming, while also meeting their new classmates, through the Harvest pre-orientation program. For five days, the students live on local farms — some of the same ones that supply produce to Yale’s dining halls. There, they engage in activities ranging from planting crops to constructing a chicken tractor (a portable hutch that is used to harness chicken-power to remove a garden’s weeds and bugs). Participants also have the opportunity to enjoy nearby trails and ponds.
Last year, 57 freshmen took part in the program on seven different local farms.
In the fall of 2007, the University was the site of “The Real Food Summit,” a gathering of students from 50 colleges in the Northeast designed to change the culture of food on campuses across the region and, ultimately, the nation. The event was organized by the Yale Sustainable Food Project, the Food Project in Boston and the Brown Sustainable Food Initiative, along with a group of students from the participating colleges. The summit also kicked off the Real Food Challenge, a collaborative network that will serve as a resource to students seeking to change their colleges’ food culture. At the summit, student delegates wrote and ratified the Real Food Declaration, a document calling on their university administrations to change the way their campuses think about food and agriculture.
As a model program, the Yale Sustainable Food Project is becoming a resource for numerous other initiatives. The Smithsonian Museum in Washington, D.C., asked the Yale Sustainable Food Project to design and install a model schoolyard garden on the National Mall for its annual Folklife Festival. The project’s staff members have also spoken about the project at the New Crowned Hope Festival in Vienna, Austria, and Slow Food International’s bi-annual conference in Torino, Italy.
The members of the project are also currently putting together a set of guidelines for other organizations that address the complex issues surrounding sustainable purchasing, such as whether it’s better to buy organic food from afar or conventionally grown food from local sources.
For further information about the Yale Sustainable Food Project, visit its website at www.yale.edu/sustainablefood.


| HBS Case Collection
Nestlé: Agricultural Material Sourcing Within the Concept of Creating Shared Value (CSV) (TN)
In December 2012, Hans Jöhr, Nestlé's head of corporate agriculture, was preparing to meet with the company's board of directors to discuss its vision for the future related to sustainable agriculture. Nestlé's continued success depended on its ability to access the raw agricultural ingredients essential for the operations of the world's largest agribusiness in a secure, sustainable, and ethical way. Doing so not only ensured the future wellbeing of Nestlé, but of its suppliers, partners, and customers as well. The world's changing climate, emerging health crises around hunger and obesity, and an increasingly urbanized population presented Nestlé with numerous challenges for the future. Other emerging issues such as the importance of food security, consumer demands for more nutritious food, increased collaboration between public and private entities, consolidation within the global agribusiness community, new sources of product origination, and the rise of new technologies, among many other trends, would all influence how Nestlé did business in the future.
The company had focused on the strategic issues of nutrition, water, and rural development, and had started a number of programs to begin addressing these challenges. As he sat in his office, Jöhr considered how the company was going to ensure the sustainability of its supply, and how Nestlé planned to work with the entirety of the supply chain to ensure proper stewardship of the land and water resources the chain managed, while also introducing new technologies, engaging with consumers on the role food played in their overall health, working with both small- and large-scale farmers in managing their operations in a sustainable way, and verifying that its programs were all working towards these diverse goals.
Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry;


Unbeknownst to Americans born in the 20th century, cider is a world-class low-alcohol drink which expresses the character of the land. It also allows for stylistic variation from farmer to farmer. Some cider-makers strive toward refinement and complexity, cultivating for flavor nuances (i.e. tannin and sharpness), while others produce a rough and earthy drink popular in taverns. Think of them as culinary folk artists.
As if regional and personality factors weren’t enough, ponder how individual apple varieties also offer immense diversity when sampling ciders. A counting of over 14,000 apple varieties was, at one-time, surveyed within the U.S., but (get ready for this…) within each individual fruit are seeds, which if left to grow, create entirely new types of apples genetically unique. Just imagine what that means to cider: there might be thousands of single-variety ciders to be had, but when blending those varieties together -oh, my! – the possibilities are exponential.
In short, cider was to America what wine is to France. Farms, communities, meals and food itself revolved around the drink’s presence. (And if you did not just raise an eyebrow, re-read that last sentence.) But with the coming of the 20th century, this country took a decided turn away from locally produced agriculture, to which cider was the epitome. As the cider mills shut down or switched over to sweet cider America lost thousands of cultivated cider-apple varieties. Prohibition is often blamed, but it was actually just a small factor contributing toward cider’s century-long demise. Post-Prohibition regulation, long-distance food transportation, the use of synthetics on the farm and in packaged food, the economy of scale, and cultural homogenization all continue to hamper cider’s come-back.
Starting from a different point in history, we have named our product after Aaron Burr, a founding father from the New York area. During his time a remarkable thing occurred: Not far from New York City, perfect climate and soil conditions (perfect for cider-apples) met-up with the new nation’s philosophic determination for self-sufficiency, and the result was the creation of the best cider and cider-culture the world has known. We want to recreate that drink and we want to help restore that culture. Cider is rightfully the local table wine.
© 2012 Andy Brennan/ Aaron Burr Cidery, LLC/ The Cidery