The sugar industry provides a good example. Farmers supply sugarcane to sugar mills. Sugar mills also produce ethanol and generate power. Ethanol is used by oil companies to blend with petrol to reduce fuel costs. Surplus power generated by sugar mills is sold to the grid. Due to vagaries of nature and dynamics of supply & demand, these stakeholders are affected from time to time. And, the Big Govt. steps in to help.
People (voters) have a sweet tooth & don’t like sugar prices to increase. The govt. fixes sugar price. Farmers (voters) don’t like sugar cane prices to drop. The govt. fixes sugar cane prices. The sugar mills (voters & sources of political funds) don’t like high sugar cane prices and don’t pay farmers when they face losses due to demand/supply dynamics beyond their control. The govt. offers sops to sugar mills to help clear payments to farmers. Nature suddenly becomes generous and offers a big bounty sugar cane harvest. Farmers are saddled with huge stocks. The govt. offers incentives to sugar mills to pick up excess sugar cane stocks & increase ethanol production. Sugar mills need more capex to increase ethanol capacity. Govt. assures oil companies will buy ethanol at good prices to compensate sugar mills for their efforts and investment. Oil companies start resenting higher ethanol prices when fuel prices start falling. People (voters) also want the benefit of lower fuel prices. Ethanol prices start declining. Sugar mills (voters & sources of political funds) are not happy. They stall payments to sugar cane farmers. Farmers (voters) are not happy. Back to square one. The govt. increases sugar cane prices & provides more sops to sugar mills. But govt. cannot commensurately rise price of sugar because people (voters) have a sweet tooth.
Meantime, these interventions cause other distortions. Farmers may increase or decrease land under cultivation depending on their income visibility, which is artificially propped up by the government. Higher sugarcane cultivation needs more water as sugarcane is a water-intensive crop. Other crops are impacted as land is diverted to sugarcane. Lower sugar cane cultivation may reduce supply of sugar and increase prices. Often, bad weather plays spoil sport, complicating the situation further.
Besides producing sugar & ethanol, sugar mills also export surplus power to the grid. To offset the vagaries of the sugar business and also increase power production, the govt. offers sops to sugar mills to co-generate power as additional source of revenue. Sugar mills invest more capex to expand their power generation capacity. The govt. fixes the power tariff at which power distribution companies (discoms) buy power from sugar mills. The discoms work with both hands and legs tied. They have no control over their selling & buying price of power. Discoms cannot increase price of power without incurring the displeasure of the public (voters) and politicians (masters). They run up huge debts and don’t pay the sugar mills. Sugar mills have incurred big capex on power generation and, in turn, don’t pay farmers. Govt. steps in to allay the fears of farmers (voters) & sugar mills (voters & sources of political funds). The fate of discoms & oil companies? They are government-owned and future governments can save them.
And the sweet show goes on.
Not stopping with its success in the sugar industry, the govt. also helps other farmers growing oilseeds, pulses etc. They are promised minimum support prices. The private sector is given sops to buy from farmers and make profits. The vagaries of nature and dynamics of supply & demand will affect these stakeholders (voters & sources of political funds) also. Govt. will step in to fix things & provide incentives, thereby causing other distortions leading to unintended consequences.
Of course, the govt. is at standby to step in again to fix these unintended consequences.
Perhaps the biggest show in town is the government’s antics on fuel prices. We import 80% of our crude oil requirements and have no control on international crude prices. Yet the govt. fixes domestic fuel prices and extracts huge taxes, a big source of govt. funds. Even after the much bandied about deregulation of fuel prices, the govt. indirectly influences fuel prices by changing taxes. The centre & different states succumb to public (voters) and opposition pressures in different ways, thus influencing fuel prices which has wide ramifications across the entire economic system, cutting across all industries. A prime recipe for all kinds of market distortions and unintended consequences.
An alternative is to avoid govt. intervention of all kinds and let the market behave naturally. But our egos won’t let that happen. We have to do something. We can’t sit idle.
And the show continues…


House Passes Ammonium Nitrate Bill...and Another Database
The House of Representatives passed a bill today restricting the sale of ammonium nitrate.
H.R. 1680, the “Secure Handling of Ammonium Nitrate Act of 2007”. The bill, sponsored by Congressman Thompson, creates a nationwide standard for regulating the sale of ammonium nitrate based fertilizers nationwide that could be used in terrorist acts, without unduly burdening the agricultural sector’s access to ammonium nitrate fertilizer for farming and other legitimate agricultural purposes.
I'm not impressed. It's another feel good bill. Ammonium nitrate is not a bomb. It's fertilizer. And do we really need another database?
The bill creates a national registry to monitor the purchase and sale of ammonium nitrate and matches the names of applying farmers against the terrorist screening database.
House chair Bernie Thompson says:
“As shown in Oklahoma City and incidents around the world, the threat from Ammonium Nitrate is real, and could be not ignored any longer. This is a common sense solution that strikes the right balance between ensuring access to ammonium nitrate for farmers and making it difficult for terrorists to attain.”
Couldn't be ignored any longer? OKC was in 1995, 12 1/2 years ago. I'm not aware of any repeats.
Here's a ten second music clip I found on an old album to play as you consider the legislation. Can any of you recognize the source?
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Healthy ecosystems underpin human lives and economies. Fertile soil and ample water are essential for food production and plants often provide vital medicines. Mangroves and wetlands reduce the likelihood of floods and erosion.
Today, two-thirds of Africa’s farmland is unproductive, eroded or otherwise degraded. Restoring these landscapes with fruit trees, sustainable agriculture and other practices can not only boost crop yields and incomes for farmers, it can also improve the water supply, sequester greenhouse gases, reduce extreme heat and more. For multiple reasons; children bear the brunt of the climate disorder.
Saving Our Planet is now aiding an active project, “SEEDS FOR THE FUTURE”, in Uganda. The project’s objectives include planting a million fruit trees in a million vegetable gardens while investing sustainably in children’s future in Uganda, East Africa.
The project underway, will improve the damaged soil, sequester CO2, and provide a degree of security for the village families. The on-site project is managed by the NGO “Rejoice Africa Foundation (RAFUG)” and is expected to be replicated elsewhere in similar circumstances.
Thanks to satellite imagery, Saving Our Planet are able to follow the progress and we'll be posting up-to-date photos on our web site.


Autoflowering and feminized cannabis seedsHere, each grower can get excellent feminized and autoflowering cannabis seeds, which are perfectly suitable for all growing conditions. Maybe, there is no more rational and optimal option for a beginner. The feminization allows to grow only female plants, and thanks to the autoflowering you don’t have to think about changing photoperiod. Furthermore, the speed of growth is very high. Many people start a cultivation of cannabis with the autoflowering feminized seeds. For now they are perfect for beginners, but professional growers also use them. Autoflowering feminized seeds are very popular among the "experts". Many commercial producers in countries that have legalized recreational use of marijuana grow them on their plantations. This category of GreenSilkRoadSeeds contains autoflowering cannabis seeds of the best varieties, created by professional breeders. They are ideal for any grower, from beginner to experienced.


September 27, 2008
In response to the $700 billion Wall Street bailout currently being considered by Congress, the Farm Aid Board of Directors Willie Nelson, John Mellencamp, Neil Young and Dave Matthews sent an open letter to Congressional leaders urging them to redirect funds to farm communities and working men and women, where they can be better used to address our country’s economic, environment, energy and health crises.
“The proposed $700 bailout asks taxpayers to foot the bill without giving them the opportunity to share in any gains that might result,” Willie Nelson said. “On the other hand, a $1 billion investment in family farm agriculture would enrich all of us, because we are all shareholders of the family farm. The return on investment in the family farm includes thriving local economies, nutritious food for better health, a safer and more secure food supply, a cleaner environment and more renewable energy.”
Nelson and fellow Farm Aid board members Neil Young, John Mellencamp and Dave Matthews marked Farm Aid’s 23rd year last weekend with a New England-based benefit concert that showcased the tenacity of family farmers as an example of what it takes to solve America’s most pressing challenges.
“Family farmers are the bedrock of this country. They are always looking for new answers to problems and finding creative solutions that work,” said Nelson.
Farm Aid led by example at its annual benefit concert by becoming the only music festival to serve family farm food to concertgoers, artists, crews and VIPs, demonstrating what is possible in efforts to bring more family farm food to more people.
To read the open letter to Congressional leaders sent by Farm Aid Board of Directors Willie Nelson, John Mellencamp, Neil Young and Dave Matthews, please visit www.farmaid.org/lettertocongress.
Farm Aid’s mission is to build a vibrant family farm-centered system of agriculture in America. Farm Aid artists and board members Willie Nelson, Neil Young, John Mellencamp and Dave Matthews host an annual concert to raise funds to support Farm Aid’s work with family farmers and to inspire people to choose family farm food. Since 1985, Farm Aid has raised more than $30 million to support programs that help farmers thrive, expand the reach of the Good Food Movement, take action to change the dominant system of industrial agriculture and promote food from family farms.
SOURCE Farm Aid


The olive season is upon us once more. On the Shabbat before Sukkot we had the entire family, children and grandchildren, filling every nook and corner of our house. We took the opportunity to continue an almost yearly family tradition and dragged everyone outside for an olive harvest. Lots of olives this year on many trees, but smaller than we’d like. Still, we chose a tree, surrounded it, climbed it, spread a tarp underneath it, and about 40 hands of all sizes harvested enough olives to fill about 100 liters of large jars. God bless a large family that works together. Then again, after getting the olives home, the long mundane tasks of sorting, cleaning, soaking, jarring and heaving them up to the top shelf of an outside closet were left up to Iris and me. Now we wait and hope we put the right amount of salt, peppers, lemons, garlic, dafna leaves and love into each jar.
On the week of Yom Kippur the olive harvest started also in the occupied territories of the West Bank. That week I spent Erev Yom Kippur watching, guarding and picking olives in the groves of Kafr Saalem outside of Shchem. Here the harvest is a lot more complicated and frustrating. The farmers of Saalem need to get special permission from the army each time they want to go work their own fields. For many reasons this turns out to be a long and arduous bureaucratic process. After getting permission the farmers are still fearful of going to work. The fields belonging to the families of Kafr Saalem are in the vicinity of the so-called “legal” settlement of Alon-Moreh and the “illegal” Scali Camp. Jewish settlers from both of these have harassed, attacked, assaulted, maimed and hospitalized farmers attempting to work their fields or pick their olives. Groves have been set ablaze, whole areas of trees have been hacked, butchered and destroyed. Saalem farmers dare enter their own olive groves only when accompanied by Israeli “do-gooders” who keep the settlers at a distance. For the past few years I’ve been coming to the groves of Saalem. My encounters with settlers have at worst been in the realm of name calling, from “leftist shit” to “traitor” and the such. On the day two settlers opened fire with their army rifles slightly over the heads of our group I wasn’t there. Today, on days the army allows the farmers and us to climb the hills leading to the olive groves, there is also somewhere nearby a police or army vehicle. They are there to prevent incidents between the Jewish settlers and the Israeli “leftist weirdoes”. They are not there to protect the farmers from the settlers. That’s why I continue going to the groves of Saalem, huffing and puffing my way up. The difficulty of working their own land is only one of the absurd and frustrating facts of life in Kafr Saalem. While being there we encounter the theft of land and water by the settlers of Alon-Moreh. We drive on a road forbidden to Arabs. Without army permits (each time) they can’t even cross it to get to their fields. Though they are almost a suburb of Shchem, they can only get there by a long round-about route to the Chawara Checkpoint where hours of waiting and frisking are the norm. Here, every so often someone dies or looses a baby while waiting to go thru the checkpoint in the hot sun or drenched rain. A complex situation. Some of the restrictions are to protect our country, but most are to protect the pseudo-legal and blatantly illegal Jewish settlers in the occupied territories. Sometimes I cry, but mostly I just make another trip to the olive groves of Saalem near the “pseudo-legal” Alon-More and the “illegal” Scali Camp. So be it.


Burkina Faso and Thailand. These two countries are far apart on the map. But they share a common goal: to create a dynamic infrastructure around local agriculture. For example, Burkina Faso offers training for poor women to generate income through micro-gardening. These women learn to grow food for their families and sell the surplus in the marketplace. Thailand is developing programs to repopulate rural areas. New farmers are leaving the city to start small agricultural operations.
Both examples support a new generation of farmers, an exciting and dynamic infrastructure. Women in Burkina Faso, West Africa are using gardening to build the local food system in their communities. And young adults in urban areas are going back to the land and starting farms in Thailand. Can these countries expand the network of small holder farms? How can women farmers contribute to the global food system? Why are young adults leaving urban life behind?
Help from “The Seasonal One”
Many women in rural Burkina Faso are trapped in poverty. They have few resources or skills to make any money.
But now women have found a creative way to help themselves and their communities by growing food. They are working with a nonprofit called La Saisonnière (“the seasonal one” in French) to teach them how to develop skills to make a living.
The organization promotes agriculture and organic farming to help women climb out of poverty.
La Saisonnière started informally in 2003, and created a small garden in 2006.
By 2007, the group became an association and received a land grant from the Ouagadougou City Council in Burkina Faso.
Learning to grow food and gardening are life saving skill for women in these rural communities.
Women learn a variety of skills at La Saisonnière: weaving, carpentry, gardening and sewing.
But the most important resource the organization offers is education to teach women reading and math.
Micro Gardens and Cultivation Tables
Cultivation tables (10 square feet) are used to grow food. These tables provide a clean growing process for the vegetables and use drip irrigation to consume less water. Women use them to grow many crops except okra and corn. La Saisonnière’s president Sophie Sedgho gives each woman seven boards (a 65 square foot surface) to grow plants. They grow food for the family and sell the surplus at market.
The organization helps women gain confidence, and teaches them marketing strategies to sell their crops. Women keep any proceeds they sell in the weekly market.
La Saisonnière also uses an underground cultivation method (hydroponics). First, the mayor gave the organization a manual drill but it was difficult to get the water. Next, they bought a pump but it broke down. Finally, the women bought a solar-powered water pump. They pitched in $7,200 to pay for the pump.
The women still have trouble with low yielding crops during heat waves in summer and flooding in winter. But many orders come from local customers.
La Saisonnière has a Facebook page for marketing, a good way to attract customers from other communities. Customers by directly from the group’s farm gate market and enjoy interacting with women who grow their food.
Women can now pay for their children’s education and help pay family expenses from the profits made from the food they grow.
Young Farmers Return Home
Young adults in Thailand are moving away from urban living to become self-sufficient as farmers. A network of talented farmers are reaching out to help develop the next generation of farmers.
These adults are attracted to agriculture as a way to start a new life and expand the agricultural sector for the country.
The Dare To Return (DTR) group is a grassroots organization based on collaboration, creating a new generation of farmers, and replenishing the land. As the rural population continues to age (11 million in 2017), DTR hopes to repopulate rural areas and encourage young adults to return to their hometowns.
Agriculture and new farmers can build a foundation for technology-based societies. The idea for Thailand’s “collaborative society” is to build bridges between old and new generations:
- To support the expertise of local farmers
- To give new farmers resources to become self-sufficient
- To redefine the agricultural sector
A former engineer joined the DTR network “to be happy” and find a better life. Farming is a way to focus, use technology (automatic irrigation, electrical supply systems), and grow food to export.
Another farmer has a horticulture degree. After working six days a week, daily overtime, and years of travel, he decided to turn to farming. The farmer also manages a bed and breakfast business where visitors can pick onions, rice and organic strawberries nearby.
A third farmer worked in Bangkok. She returned home to care for sick parents on the family farm. She prepared her move by learning about agriculture and saving money to return home.
She used permaculture to grow food in sandy soil. Permaculture is a reflection of natural systems: composting, drip irrigation, crop rotation or renewable energy. Groundnuts, Japanese mountain yams and onions grow well in sandy soil.
She expanded the land into two orchards for longan fruit trees. Her farming provides income for her family and helps the community start their own farming operations.
It’s exciting to learn about women and new farmers returning to rural communities around the world.
Maybe it’s a sign that rural areas can rebound and local economies can rebuild.
There is no force more powerful than a woman determined to rise.


Just had a lovely weekend in Charlottesville, VA, USA. Our main purpose was to visit friends in nearby Crozet, but we had a bit of time to wander around downtown Charlottesville. We checked out City Market, the weekly Saturday Farmer’s Market. Dozens of booths sold produce, flowers, soaps, food, jewelry and more. I particularly enjoyed all the stalks of sunflowers with their cheery faces pointing up at the sun.
Did you know the scientific name for sunflower is Helianthus? Helia for sun and anthus for flower? They are native to the Americas and some varieties grow to be 16 feet tall! In 2012, sunflower seeds were taken up into space!


Caring for your Succulent
How do I water my succulents?
You will want to use a mister or a spray bottle. The best rule of thumb is to wait until the moss or soil is dry before watering again. Depending on your climate, you will want to mist at the root once every 3-4 weeks. If you have a hanging succulent frame indoors, you will need to remove it from the wall before watering.
Where should I put my succulents?
Succulents can absolutely grow inside, but you will want to make sure they are receiving enough sunlight. They love bright, indirect sunlight, so putting them by or near a window is best.
Do succulents like a lot of water?
This is very important...do not over-water! I know some of you think you are loving your plants more when you give them more water, but it is quite the opposite for succulents. They like drier soil, so let your soil dry out before you mist it again. That's why we recommend misting to help prevent this.
Can I leave my succulent frame out in the winter?
Some succulents can tolerate frost but typically succulents hate the frost. They are mostly water based, so when put in freezing conditions, they freeze and die. If your climate lends itself to frost then it is best to bring your succulent garden inside until the frost is gone.
What If you need to replant?
When dealing with live plants, sometimes one just doesn't make it. It's okay, you're not a horrible person. It happens to the best of us. Just follow these simple steps to replace a lost one.
1. Go to your local nursery and pick up a 2" succulent of your choice.
2. Lay your vertical garden flat and in an area that can get a little messy.
3. Remove the moss that is around the lost succulent and put aside.
4. Pull out the dead succulent
5. Dig out enough soil in that area for the new succulent to fit.
6. Put the new succulent in the hole you just created and pack the soil down around it.
7. Add additional soil if needed
8. Lightly mist it to help the soil compact
9. Get a chopstick or skewer to help you weave the moss you set aside. You will want to weave and tuck the moss around the new succulent.
10. Let the vertical garden sit flat for 1 week until the new succulent gets acclimated.
11. Simply hang back up and enjoy!


NO LONGER PLAYING
countries in search of answers. Are we at a tipping point? Is it time to take back our food? The encroaching darkness of unknown health and environmental risks, seed take over, chemical toxins, and food monopoly meets with the light of a growing resistance of organic farmers, concerned citizens, and a burgeoning movement to take back what we have lost.
By the simple act of feeding ourselves, we unwittingly participate in the largest experiment ever conducted on human beings. Massive agrochemical companies like Monsanto (Agent Orange) and Dow (Napalm) are feeding us genetically-modiﬁed food, GMOs that have never been fully tested and aren’t labeled. This small handful of corporations is tightening their grip on the world’s food supply—buying, modifying, and patenting seeds to ensure total control over everything we eat. We still have time to heal the planet, feed the world, and live sustainably. But we have to start now!
As battles over the world's food supply intensify, some tough questions become ever more pressing: Who controls it? Are shortages being created and manipulated, and to what end? Exactly what is in what we are eating? Writer-director Jeremy Seifert addresses those concerns and more in GMO OMG, a ...


The 37th CIHEAM Watch Letter is out !
Kelly ROBIN et Jean-Louis RASTOIN
IPEMED is pleased to announce the publication of the 37th CIHEAM Watch Letter dedicated to “Mediterranean Agriculture and Climate Change, Impacts, Adaptations, Solutions” in which you could find an article from Jean-Louis RASTOIN, IPEMED Associate Expert & Kelly ROBIN, Project Manager at IPEMED.
The article entitled “Contribution of the microalgae sector to sustainable development in the Mediterranean region” is based on the new study published by IPEMED in July.
It is only available in French.


Essential Questions from a Global Perspective
I am so excited to see Lisa Hootman’s Farm to School project evolve and grow. What a great opportunity for our school and community to provide locally grown, healthy produce that we can all benefit from. In addition to the many benefits of fresh, whole foods, local farming is one of those hands-on activities that promotes community building and interdisciplinary learning.
I’m in the process of creating a resource page to support our community gardens; in the interim, I thought I would share the following report titled, “The top 100 questions of importance to the future of global agriculture,” that was published in The International Journal of Agricultural Sustainability (2010). This report presents essential questions from a global perspective while, at the same time, highlighting the importance of local farming.
The questions presented in this research are current, engaging and great starting points for interdisciplinary teaching and learning in all content areas.
You can access the report in full text here.
See Lisa’s presentation here.


Farmers call for council to protect land from solar projects
GUIDELINES for new solar farm projects has become a hot topic for members of the agricultural industry.
Farmers gathered at the Dalby Leagues Club recently to discuss guidelines proposed by the State Government for new solar farms to adhere to.
The main issue raised at the meeting was the impact of solar farms on farmers, particularly solar farms built near properties, or on prime agricultural land.
But Kupunn farmer Wayne Newton wants the Western Downs Regional Council to take steps to help the region's agricultural industry from solar energy projects.
Mr Newton said the council should adopt an impact assessment when considering new solar farm applications, rather than a code assessment which he said did not fully consider the impact to neighbouring areas.
"Agriculture is not opposed to solar farms, in fact farmers are probably the original solar farmers," Mr Newton said.
"Our only real issue is solar farms shouldn't be located on class A and class B agricultural land.
"In Queensland we don't have a whole lot of good farming dirt, it is a pretty scarce commodity."
Mr Newton said many farmers he talked to were concerned about high- quality land being taken up by solar farms and the impacts that would have.
One of those farmers is Chinchilla's Terry O'Leary who agreed solar farm projects should be assessed on the impact to the land.
"I don't see how a quarter of a million dollar power plant should only be code assessable. It should be impact assessable," Mr O'Leary said.
"I think it would be very naive to not anticipate some sort of devaluation of the land of the neighbouring properties."
Western Downs Mayor Paul McVeigh said following the code-assessable guidelines was the best method for new projects, and every step was taken to ensure there would not be a negative impact.


Fisaow is a farmer. He has a large field covered with grass and wants to create some pattern or design in that field by removing grasses at certain places so that it looks like a crop circle from the sky. But he is not familiar with geometric shapes. One day he noticed that when a cow eats grass in the fields, it creates different geometric shapes based on how they are tied in the field.
Now he has cows and ropes. For every cow he will use 2 points and to tie it up. That means, one end of the rope will be tied to point and the other end to . Every cow has a metal ring around its neck and the rope will go through the metal ring such a way that the cow can move freely (see the picture: there is no knot with the ring). The cows will eat grass from wherever it can go. The amount of grass each cow can eat is the area that each cow can cover.
Now Fisaow has given you the points and the length of the ropes for each of the cows. Help him to find the maximum amount of grass each cow can eat.
Input starts with an integer (), the number of cows. The next lines will have 5 space separated integers , , , , (), coordinates of the two points, and (), the length the each rope.
For each cow, print the maximum amount of grass it can eat in separate lines. Absolute errors less than will be ignored.
4 0 0 6 0 10 -4 3 8 3 20 -5 6 5 6 26 -3 -6 -3 -18 20
62.8318530718 251.3274122872 490.0884539600 251.3274122872


These are times when the prayer “Our Father” becomes most meaningful especially when we pray “Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name…Give us this day our daily bread.”
In the past, our local rice industry used to be the backbone of our country’s economy. That is how God was helping us with our daily bread. With our rice technology we were helping countries like Vietnam, Thailand, Pakistan, and Indonesia how to produce more rice for their tables. We had both the advancing technology and more than sufficient domestic production. Farmers’ sons and daughters were fed from and educated through the rice farms.
Today, ironically, even lamentably, because of unsatisfactory production of rice, lack of credit support for our small rice farmers and lack of infrastructure development, our rice farms can not support for the needs of growing population. Add to this the conversion of farms into housing subdivisions, commercial centers and golf courses, which certainly are profitable for the individual owners, but not for the needs of the greater number. Today, in response to a rice crisis, probably foreseen and expected, but government has its eyes on wrong or lesser priorities, we are forced to import close to a million metric tons of rice since 1996, and this year imported rice will be more than two million metric tons. And from where? Ironically but gratefully, from countries who may have learned the skill of rice production from us: Vietnam, Thailand, Pakistan, even United States.
Yes, we will have rice on our tables but only for those who can afford to buy with 18 pesos per kilogram. We not only will have limited rice. Our people will have also limited buying power. And who will be profiting from this arrangement? Unscrupulous traders and government officials? The question keeps coming up – whatever happened to the Php 729 million fertilizer funds?
Rice importation is a response to a rice crisis. But there must be limit to importations. It should not be the permanent arrangement. The lesser the imports the better! We encourage the improvement of local production with genuine government support at all levels of production with the end in view of restoring to agriculture and to our rice producers ad farmers the assistance that they deserve to achieve genuine food security and self-sufficiency. Some policies are needed to reverse the trend from over dependence on importation to making the rice production truly the backbone of our economy, as it is in other countries of Southeast Asia.
We will not expect miracles to solve the rice crisis. The miracle will have to be, God helping us, form our common efforts – government, farmers, rice producers and farm-owners – to produce our “daily rice.” Other countries in Asia are doing it. We can do it.
+ANGEL N. LAGDAMEO, DD
Archbishop of Jaro


Bill Bennett, minister responsible for the B.C. government's core review, is trying his darndest lately to reassure British Columbians that the government "has no plans to dismantle" the Agricultural Land Commission and that much of the speculation was simply the result of government "brainstorming." That's nice. Doesn't mean much in government-speak, but it sounds comforting. It's what comes next that should be of concern. In an interview with the Globe and Mail on Tuesday, Bennett confirmed that the Commission would, however, be subject to the government's core review.
As our population increases and fuel costs rise, how can we continue to take land out of the Agricultural Land Reserve? The demand for locally grown food is on the rise. Farmers are searching for innovative ways to grow and market their goods here in British Columbia, especially in Vancouver. If we fail to protect land in coastal communities as well as in the Interior, we will see the end of an era of agriculture.


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Colonists in New England had a hard time farming. Even though, nfl jerseys for cheap. the soil in New England was not very fertile, kids nfl apparel. 2013 nike nfl uniforms. farming was taken up to feed their families. The middle colonies were called the 'breadbasket', nfl jersey online. 2013 nfl nike jerseys. as they had the most fertile land. Farming brought prosperity to the middle colonies. They produced so much of wheat that they could even cater to the needs of the other colonies. Wheat, nfl cheap jerseys free shipping. nfl jerseys shop. barley, make your own nfl jersey. rye and corn were the major crops in the middle colonies. The southern colonies grew cash crops like tobacco, 2013 nfl jersey.


Fodder ProductionOut of 402.25 hectares (994 acres) of total geographical area, 48.96 hectares (121 acres) of land is utilised for fodder production. Adequate fodder is produced under irrigation, which makes sufficient supply of green fodder available throughout the year to all the animals at the Centre. Excess fodder is converted to hay and stored for use of farm animals as well as to meet the demands during scarcity. Hay is also supplied to other Government Institutions for use on request.
The different varieties of fodder crops grown are African Tall Maize, Rhodes, Green Panic, CO-3, Guinea Grass, Napier, Lucern, Cowpea and also Silvipasture. Acacia plantation is maintained in remaining land of the farm.
Demonstration plots consisting of various fodder varieties are maintained for the benefit of trainees to know about varieties of fodder crops and their cultivation.
Improved variety fodder seeds supplied by Government of India are supplied to the Deputy Directors of the various Districts for further distribution to the farmers.
Root slips grown at this Centre are also supplied to the farmers at subsidised rates under fodder development programme.
The non-irrigated land which is not cultivated is used for grazing dairy herd maintained at the Centre as well as to grow the fodder crops during rainy season.


A small yard doesn’t mean you have to sacrifice growing fresh vegetables. It just means you need a simple plan. Here's a plan for repeated 3x6 raised garden beds that will have you harvesting vegetables and herbs all summer.
Featured plants include tomato, cucumber, pepper, basil and more delicious vegetables, herbs and flowers.
Each of the 4 garden beds is 3x6 feet and grow best in full sun.
WHAT YOU GET The Big Vegetable Harvest, Small Space Garden Planis a 9-page pdf file. It includes: • The gardenscape painting shown above • Overhead plan view • Tips on taking care of your new garden • Detailed plant list • PLUS, a 5-page article about how to start a vegetable garden, "Homegrown"


Pinoy Agri-Kart is a project of the Department of Agriculture and the government-owned Philippine Agriculture Development and Commercial Corp., the unique concept showcases a variety of Filipino-made products from the corn and pea snacks, to dried mangoes and fish, bottled jams and fruit preserves, and even the best of Philippine wines.
The Pinoy Agri Kart is a new approach to promote export quality Philippine-made agri fishery and food products presented by entrepreneurs in a specially designed mini-jeepney concept, a popular Filipino transport icon. It is envisioned to bring Philippine food products to consumers here and abroad.
The Pinoy Agri-Kart is strongly hinged to the social goals of the country as it is considered a “social franchising opportunity. With the Pinoy Agri-Kart, OFWs will get to invest in a real business based on products they are familiar with. And they do not have to worry too much about getting a market because they will primarily be selling to their fellow Filipinos overseas.
Franchise Package: P100,000
- Use of the name
- Initial inventory
- Loan of the Agri-Kart
- Loan of the Operation Manual
- The Agri Kart shall remain the property of the Franchisor. At the end of the franchise period, the Franchisor will buy back at book value the Agri-Kart.
- The Operation Manual is only loaned to the Franchisee. It must be returned to the Franchisor at the end of the term, unless renewed.
- Employees cooperatives
- Neighborhood/village associations
- Institutions, like restaurants, transportation terminals, hospitals, convenience stores, canteens
Franchise period: 2 years
Plnoy Agri-Kart, PADCC Agribusiness Exports Showroom
G/F Office of the Secretary Building, Department of Agriculture
Elliptical Road, Diliman, Quezon City
Tel: (02) 927-0818, 928-8741 to 65
Email: [email protected]


Lawn fertilizer & Weed Control
Early Spring Application
Late Spring Application
Early Summer Application
Summer Blend Fertilizer with spot spraying for weeds.
Gypsum is typically completed in conjunction with the Early Summer Application, when conditions are optimal. Gypsum helps reduce soil compaction to ensure your lawn is receiving the air, nutrients, and water it needs to survive and thrive while boosting nutrient intake.
Late Summer Application
Fall Fertilizer to prepare your lawn for winter and help develop the root system.
We provide you with a five-step
fertilizer and weed control program.


Carving up the record books: Watch mammoth pumpkin grow from seed to super-size in amazing time-lapse By
Daily Mail Reporter
There have been warnings of a pumpkin shortage in the northeastern states of the U.S. after hundreds of patches were destroyed by Hurricane Irene.
And it could not have come at a worst time as the much-celebrated Halloween season approaches.
But one grower in Connecticut has produced a monster gourd that may just be big enough to go round the whole region.
Scroll down for video
He began growing the whopper at the end of June and recorded its transformation by setting up a camera to take photographs every 15 minutes, creating a time-lapse video.
But it still falls short of the world's largest, which tipped the scales last year at just over 1,800lbs.
Chris Stevens, from New Richmond, Wisconsin, used seaweed, cow manure and fish emulsion to grow his gargantuan specimen.


Assistant / Tuesday, November 12, 2019 / Categories: Village Trip Misfah Old Houses Village in Oman Misfah Old Houses Village in Oman Misfah Old Houses Village in Oman On our way back, September 28,2019 we visited the Misfah village, which is almost 1 ½ hour from Jebel Al Shams. https://goo.gl/maps/jGAhP6pZAH2FeWgV8 We have met the local person handling the Misfah Inn where he mentioned that that they charge 42 OMR per night which already includes the breakfast. We saw as well the big dates farm in the lower part of the Inn. We saw one farmer with his donkey carrying some crops. We saw one water source where the village people take their drinking water and this serves as their water storage as well for the farm. One person mentioned that the irrigation of the farm is coming from the spring on the upper part of the mountain. We have decided to take a look and find the water source. Along the way, we met Mr. Munir, he is from Bangladesh and is working for one Omani who owns dates farm as well. He led us the way to the water source and gave us some information of the village. We saw some mango trees and dates trees along the way as well. It took us around 20 minutes’ walk before we found the spring in the mountain. On one part of the water source, we found some fish as well. The view of the Misfah Village is rich in nature and I highly recommend to visit this area in Oman. Previous Article Jebel Al Shams – Highest Peak in Oman and nearby Villages Next Article Palangan Village Visit Print 155 Rate this article: No rating Please login or register to post comments.


Congratulations to Sarah Stuart and the Land Based Studies Team
RHS SCHOOL GARDENING AWARDS LEVEL 1 & 2
Land Based Studies staff registered with the RHS School Gardening Awards, the rewards scheme is made up of five levels that provide achievable goals, Sarah and the team have ensured that students can benefit from learning, achieving and be rewarded for their progress.
Level 1 – This level is about planning the gardening project and identifying the benefits for the Academy.
Level 2 - This level you should be beginning to grow plants and use tools safely and understand basic gardening terms.
For achieving these two levels the Land Based Studies programme has received:
- A colourful growing year calendar full of tips and activities to do in the garden
- An RHS gardening book full of tips and guides plus a voucher for 30% off Bulldog Tools
Sarah has also completed Level 3, 4 and 5 and we are waiting for approval.


How Our Diet Affects Our Carbon Footprint
The correct diet is crucial to health goals, along with the certain environmental impact we would like to have. But which is the correct diet? Today we know about paleo diets, keto diets, vegan options, and low carb diets. It becomes tricky to know which is the ”right” for a body, a culture, revolving supporting local food sources while understanding how our diet also contributes to carbon emissions and food waste. In efforts to help, we’ve create a bullet list of facts for you to keep in mind when trying to decide what to eat, and how to eat.
Hippocrates, an ancient greek figure said ”All disease begins in the gut”. He wasn’t a pioneer in ancient Greek Culinary school, but instead a founder of Medicine. The benefits of a good diet are obvious and calculated in countless books, trainer meal plans and specific diets aimed for people to counter allergy restrictions, heal quicker or gain top performance in sport.
The History of Dieting
We are what we eat, food is our nutritional livelihood. And the environment that produces food is integrated into the world all around us. There has been an evolution in dietary choice. Even before hippocrates there were hunters and gatherers. Today, we have more options available for food than ever before. In fact, at the present moment 11% of land is used towards agriculture crop production. (FAO)
We are indeed what we eat, and products of our environment. So what is the right diet?
Land Use and Crop Production
Crop production doesn’t account for meat production and farm lands raising animals for food production either. isn’t the only factor in agriculture how is this measured. what is the difference in what type of food we eat, consume and waste. Many people have compared and serial tested.
The optimal diet for people, based on ethics, religion, or human evolution theories, is questionable. But a fact for living sustainably on the earth is that different food requires a different amount of resources to grow. When we throw away different food, the amount of energy, money, water and labor is different for the two.
What types of food do we typically waste?
Although meat and dairy products take a considerable amount of land, water and energy to produce, they are one of the least discarded items. The UN has found that roots are one of the leading food products that are discarded. (FAO)
The idea is to look at the process of how much energy goes into producing different foods + the energy that’s wasted when we throw food away.
We know that we waste one third of the food that is made from the crop to the fork of our spoons, costing millions of dollars in money loss. We are not only missing out on the benefits but also paying a worthless price with our resources.
So the next time you are in considering land use and waste in different products, think about the health benefits and land benefits.
Welcome To Food Waste TechTechnologies and business solutions reducing food waste
Lower your carbon footprint by what we do everyday, eating. Find out what you can do to Join our set of webinars today to find out what we can do to lower your food waste and cut costs to business.JOIN WEBINAR


Animals and crops both require water to grow. For irrigation and different production processes, agriculture needs a lot of high-quality water in various volumes. Agriculture confirmed its position as the world’s largest user of water while simultaneously providing food for the entire population and growing a wide variety of non-food crops in an increasingly productive manner, including cotton, rubber, and industrial oils. Nearly 70% of the freshwater designated for human use is now used for irrigation. According to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which was adopted in 1948, everyone has the right to sufficient food.
However, access to the natural resources—including water—necessary for food production is severely reliant on urbanization in many developing nations. On July 28, 2010, the UN General Assembly defined access to sanitary facilities and clean water as a fundamental human right. However, it is a complicated issue to discuss the right to water in relation to the right to food. Water for food production would likely not be protected under the minimum needs in dry locations, but drinking and cooking water would.
There is sufficient water to meet our future demands globally, but this view of the world obscures vast areas of absolute water shortages, which impact billions of people, many of whom are underprivileged and destitute. Significant changes in policy and management across the entire agricultural production chain are required to make the optimal use of existing water resources in order to meet the rising demand for food and other agricultural goods. It is pretty difficult to assure water and food security at once, but if everybody does it constantly, there will be considerable changes.
Both the MDGs and food security are
The goal of MDG 1’s Target 1 C is to “halve the proportion of people who experience hunger between 1990 and 2015.” According to the MDG Report for 2011, despite considerable declines in severe poverty, the percentage of people in developing countries who were hungry in 2005–2007 remained unchanged at 16%. The MDGs are interconnected; advancement in one target encourages advancement in others. Supporting rural development and sustainable agriculture helps raise food production while lowering hunger and poverty. Attainment of the Millennium Development Goals and a decent life are both based on food and nutritional security.
How does food security work?
Food security is defined as occurring when all people, at all times, have physical, social, and economic access to sufficient, safe, and nutritious food to meet their dietary needs for a productive and healthy life. This definition was adopted at the 1996 World Food Summit.
Did you realize?
According to predictions, the world’s population will increase from 6.9 billion in 2010 to 8.3 billion in 2030 and 9.1 billion in 2050. The demand for food is expected to rise by 50% by 2030 and by 70% by 2050. Making 70% more food available on plates rather than growing 70% more food in 40 years is the primary problem facing the agriculture sector. Every year, roughly 1.33 billion tons of the food produced worldwide are lost or squandered, which means that the water required to generate it is also wasted.
Agricultural products transit through numerous hands, including farmers, transporters, store owners, food processors, shop owners, and consumers, through wide value chains. For instance, it takes around 3,500 liters of water to produce 1 kg of rice, about 15,000 liters to produce 1 kilo of beef, and about 140 liters to produce 1 cup of coffee. Over the past 30 years, this dietary change has had the biggest impact on water usage. A total of 110 million people fell into poverty and 44 million more became malnourished as a result of the spike in food costs. Inability to pay for food causes 925 million people to go without. Since people spend between 50 and 80 percent of their income on food, rising food costs pose a serious threat to food security in emerging nations.
In emerging nations, women make up 43% of the farming population. Although female farmers are thought to be just as effective as male farmers, they do not perform as well because they lack access to the same inputs, services, and useful resources, such as water. Agriculture’s use of water has altered ecosystems on a large scale and jeopardized the provision of a variety of ecosystem services. The damage done to people, ecosystems, and cleanup procedures as a result of the agriculture industry comes at a high external cost. For instance, the projected annual cost in the United States of America is $9 to $20 billion.
Agriculture contributes to climate change through its greenhouse gas emissions. Agriculture affects the planet’s water cycle and raises further questions and concerns about food supply. By 2030, South Asia and Southern Africa are expected to be the areas most at risk from food shortages brought on by climate change.
What is possible?
Investments and commitments are required for global food and nutritional security to be attained. to increase food nutrition while using less water: To ensure a greener and more sustainable food supply, novel technologies are needed. They are necessary to increase crop yields, implement effective irrigation techniques, reuse drainage water and use marginally-quality water resources, develop cleverer ways to use water and fertilizer, improve crop protection, lower post-harvest losses, and develop more sustainable livestock and marine production. to concentrate on institutional structure and individual potential. In the least developed nations (LDCs), smallholder farmers—of whom women make up the vast majority—are primarily responsible for agricultural growth. Therefore, new institutional structures are required that improve user ownership and engagement, centralize water regulation authority, and decentralize water management responsibility.
Enhancing the value chain
Efficient water and food recycling solutions can be addressed at all stages of the food supply chain, including production, post-harvest handling, processing, retail, consumption, distribution, and trade. When the reuse of treated water for other purposes is not culturally acceptable, it can help secure environmental water requirements.
Activities from the UN are raising awareness of the problem.
The annual World Water Day (WWD) is celebrated on March 22. The World Water Development Organization sought to draw attention to the topic of “Water and Food Security” in 2012. The goal was to encourage more sustainable food production and consumption habits and to increase understanding of the connection between water and food production. It aimed to inform everyone of the dire situation with regard to food and water security around the world and to motivate policymakers to take advantage of the chances to address global issues. It attempted to motivate decision-makers to start and maintain reforms and forward-thinking approaches by displaying achievements.
Reader for the UN-Water Decade Program on Advocacy and Communication on Water and Food Security (UNW-DPAC). March 2012 This reader was created by the UN-Water Decade Programme on Advocacy and Communication (UNW-DPAC) and is aimed at anyone who wants to learn more about challenges relating to food and water security. The reader includes some of the most recent and pertinent United Nations publications on the subject as well as basic reading references. When the publication is accessible online, links are given. World Water Assessment Program, UN-Water, United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) (WWAP).
March 2012 The UN World Water Development Report 4 (WWDR4) elaborates on the interactions between water and the forces of change and offers a thorough evaluation of the world’s water resources. It builds on WWDR3’s findings. The study addresses the subject of water and food security throughout, and Chapter 2 specifically discusses “Water and Agriculture.” The types of production adjustments required to satisfy demand are examined in this paper. Additionally, it evaluates how well the world’s water and land resources might be able to support these desired increases in output and productivity. Options for controlling risks and making tradeoffs without harming the resource base are addressed.
The current state of water and land resources, as well as trends, are examined in Chapter 1. In addition to providing forecasts for 2050, it evaluates the biophysical and technical elements of the resources and how they are used. In Chapter 2, institutional structures are reviewed, and the socioeconomic and environmental effects of current land and water management are evaluated. In Chapters 3 and 4, a number of significant systems are reviewed as risks to land and water are both present and emerging. The institutional reactions at local, national, and international levels are evaluated in Chapter 5, and future lessons are examined.
Finally, Chapter 6 offers policy proposals and draws conclusions. Food loss and waste on a global scale. extent, reasons for it, and ways to avoid it. United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), Swedish Institute for Food and Biotechnology (SIK). 2011 This study identifies the losses taking place along the entire food chain and evaluates their size. It then goes on to describe the causes of food losses and potential defenses against them.
Food and nutrition security make us happy and confident for the next day. But, unfortunately, a lot of people are deprived of it. For that, we need to change the situation in many countries. There should be the support of other countries, sustainable development, water availability, economic growth, and the wish of the people to change something.


It’s true. Here at Lamplighter Homestead, we have finally naturally controlled the Infamous Colorado Potato Beetle. Our ‘how to control the Colorada Potato Beetle/Bug Organically’ is so simple, it’s almost embarrassing.
First, I can’t take the credit for this miracle. We heard it from an old-timer who was saturated with wisdom. I call it the wisdom of the Ages . . . so much we can still learn . . .
So, our post on controlling the Colorado Potato Beetle/Bug ends up not being one of the popular methods that you can read about out there on the internet. Whether organic or conventional.
There are many organic methods that work for some. For us :
All we could have told you was that Neem Oil works only on some Colorado Potato Beetles
Diatomaceous Earth works on about 20% of the squishy soft critters.
Soap water . . . doesn’t work.
Now, before you tell me ‘but Amy’ . . . I know. Some of these controls and maybe others work for some of you. I can’t explain why people manage to control bugs/pests in the garden one way, and others can’t.
But I know this. Colorado Potato Bugs have been the nemesis of our gardens in Maine for decades, and if you don’t handpick, and choose not to use chemicals, it is a losing battle.
We have handpicked for years. My Mom has earned the glorious title ‘Queen Potato Bug Picker’ of the year award for many years. She has literally picked thousands upon thousands in the course of one. short. Maine. summer.
She’s 88 now. And let me tell you she is mighty glad she does not have to load up jars with soapy water and pick those nasty orange creatures anymore.
How to control Colorado Potato Bugs organically and naturally had become very important to us.
We didn’t want to use conventional chemicals, and we didn’t want to spend hours and hours picking bugs.
Okay. We still pick bugs. But very, very few.
Drumroll please . . . our control of the Colorado Potato Beetle is to wait until their first cycle has finished, then plant.
We used to plant anywhere from late April to late May, depending on the coming of Spring.
But, now we only plant July 1st and as late as July 4th.
We miss the entire pilgrimage of Colorado Potato Bugs as they march through the state, looking for a tantalizing potato patch somewhere to settle down and plant gardens (eggs) and grow big families. (really big), that eat a humongous amount of potato leaves.
We grow a lot of potatoes. In past years we have put up enough potatoes to give to shelters/pantries and feed our family until June of the next year.
We were very hesitant to try this. How much we would we lose by planting them at such a late date?
Almost none. I kid you not. We still harvest around 1000 pounds of potatoes.
We squish maybe a few hundred potato bugs.
The trick is to make sure your seed potatoes do not sprout too early. (keep them in cold storage until June).
They grow so fast, we are harvesting baby potatoes in 6-7 weeks.
The plants are happy.
We are happy.
My mom is really happy.
We still pick bugs. We still watch out for their presence, especially on our tomato plants. But they never amount to anything.
This year (2019), we had to purchase new seed potatoes. We waited as late as possible to buy them, but by the time we did, they were sprouting vigorously. That meant only one thing. We would need to plant before July.
We tried to slow down the sprouts, but June 21st they went in. Five weeks later we were picking bugs of off 2-foot plants. More than our July planting, but not like when we planted in May. Hundreds, not thousands, and as of this post, which is the end of June, they are well under control.
One more quick note, if you have early volunteer potato seedlings popping up, pull them out. It’s like a neon green flashing sign advertising “I’m here!” to the beetles.
We sold this idea to our neighbor and they have happily announced they also have conquered and defeated the Colorado Potato Beetle.
So, that’s it! I don’t know if this will work everywhere, the country is so diverse in it’s planting sectors, but it’s worth a try. It is an all-organic, completely natural, bonafide Colorado Potato Beetle/Bug control.
And besides that, it just plain works.
~ Looking for more great gardening articles from the small homestead? Check out Salt in My Coffee
for wonderfully written gardening ideas and more.


Fresh is good
Proper nutrition is one of the basic factors that determine the success of a farm. SYLCO HELLAS offers advanced solutions for the storage, processing and delivery of feedstuff starting from small farms of 10 animals and up to professional automatic compound feed production facilities with a production that surpasses 50 tons per 8h.
A feedstuff production mill is a prerequisite to fully control the quality of feedstuff. It is therefore ensured that the animals are provided with fresh feedstuff produced to cover the specific needs of each farm.
- Hammer mill or roller mill?
- Vertical, horizontal or semi-horizontal?
- Whatever your needs, we offer a solution.


Cosmetic Pesticide Ban in Nova Scotia
If you live in Nova Scotia and think you and your family already absorb enough toxins, why not tell the government you agree with a ban on cosmetic pesticides. Here are my responses to this short petition at https://www.gov.ns.ca/nse/pests/comments.asp
Do you believe that the application of pesticides for lawn maintenance is non-essential? Why or why not?:
I believe that the application of pesticides for lawn maintenance is non-essential because I have a lawn and do not use pesticides. I aerate the lawn in the spring, and manually pull weeds such as dandelions. Weeding is a daily after work routine for about 2 weeks as the dandelions first appear. For the rest of the summer and fall it takes about 20 minutes per week. Vitamin D and a bit of exercise come free with this work. Also, I have a vegetable garden and various other plants and shrubs. Aphids are a bit of a problem but easily solved with ladybugs (which you can purchase for about $25/1000 at good gardening stores).
Do you agree with the provincial ban on non-essential lawn care pesticides proposed by the Government of Nova Scotia? Why or why not?:
I agree with the provincial ban on non-essential lawn care pesticides proposed by the Government of Nova Scotia because the toxins in pesticides have unintended AND unexpected outcomes in the environment in both the short and long term. People never seem to understand that individually small applications of chemicals/poisons add up to very large amounts when everyone participates. If you ban the chemicals/poisons outright, then perhaps fewer people will apply them.
Do you have any additional comments about the proposed non-essential pesticide ban?:
The problem is that the chemical solution to lawn care is very well marketed, and natural solutions are not. Humans always fall for marketing, so perhaps out-marketing the chemical pesticide industry is also going to be required as part of a long term prevention of chemical pesticides.
Give people alternatives to chemical pesticides and they will probably try them. Find experts that practice natural lawn and garden maintenance and give them a forum to educate consumers. You can probably even align these goals with health and fitness goals at the same time.


I’ve always had a penchant for plants. Thing is, I don’t merely have a black thumb. I have a black hand or maybe even a black arm. I kill plants with a disturbing amount of frequency to the point where when I try to purchase plants, my friends try to talk me out of it for the sake of the plant. The plant sitting on my desk right now has lasted over half a year so far and I’m increasingly beginning to suspect that it’s not really a plant but rather a rubber gadget that my friends gave me to placate my gardening desires. Well, today, something even better comes along. Gardening Mama! Yes, Mama is no longer content to stay in the house and cook after conquering the NDS, Wii and iPhone consoles. She is now moving on to gardening. Gardening Mama for the NDS comes out today and you can use your DS stylus to plant, prune, pick and landscape your garden. Gamers manage their gardens through the seeding, blooming and maturing phases and then make products out of it. For example, you can grow strawberries to make jam or pumpkins to carve lanterns. Now I can finally garden, guilt-free.
See IGN’s review here.


From vineyards to orchards, the Okanagan is one of Canada’s prime agricultural areas. With dramatic landscapes and remarkable terroir, the valley is one of our most beautiful and diverse places to visit.
We are a group of 38 grape growers and winemakers united in a common vision: to grow fruit and make wines reflective of our distinct South Okanagan character, while taking care of the lands in our charge.
Our region extends from the southernmost point of Osoyoos to the tip of McIntyre Bluff, north of Oliver. Bordered by mountain ranges, rivers, and lakes, the area is majestic by nature – and naturally unique.
Make your own discovery. Uncork the sun.


Every day it feels like spring is closer.
We have sunny mornings with singing birds, and plants are starting to poke up out of the earth. We can see grass again, which means it’s also time to start gardening. Gardening has many health benefits. Gardening sparks creativity.
It provides low impact exercise outside in the fresh air. It reduces stress and increases relaxation. It’s valuable time away from a screen and a truly productive way to unwind!
If you don’t have a garden, there are lots of great ways to grow seeds in containers on your balcony or porch. You can easily grow lots of different vegetables, herbs, flowers, and even fruits indoors, as long as you are able to create the right conditions for the plant to thrive. Lettuces are an easy, low-maintenance crop for pots, and you can have fresh, tasty salad ready whenever you want it.
One way to share seeds and to explore new plants is by sharing seeds. Seed libraries empower everyone to eat locally and healthily, and they help prevent waste.
We have a seed library at our Centennial Branch in Fort Erie.
Patrons can take seeds home to plant in their gardens. The seed library operates on the honour system to maintain a well-stocked collection of pure, healthy, viable seeds for the community to use. If you take seeds, you are asked to save please seeds from the plants you grow and return them in the fall.
Beginning seed savers can start with collecting seeds from “easy” plants (bean, pea, lettuce, and tomato) in their first year to ensure consistent results.
We encourage everyone to learn basic seed-saving techniques, but even if you don’t know how to save your own seeds, please don’t hesitate to use the seed library. Instead, donate a packet or two of fresh, commercially-grown, open-pollinated seed to help keep our library stocked.
We have lots of great gardening books in our collection as well. If you’re new to gardening, or you’d just like to learn a few new tricks, I’d recommend checking out the following excellent titles:
How To Cheat At Gardening And Yard Work: Shameless Tricks For Growing Radically Simple Flowers, Veggies, Lawns, Landscaping, And More by Jeff Bredenberg
Indoor Kitchen Gardening by Elizabeth Millard
In The Garden: Thoughts On Changing Seasons by Marjorie Harris
Laura Trabucco is the Community Engagement Librarian at Fort Erie Public Library. She loves Canadian Literature, crafts, and canoe trips. You can reach her any time at firstname.lastname@example.org.


BULK BAG DISCHARGER UPS EFFICIENCY OF COCOA POWDER LINE
GRESIK, EAST JAVA, INDONESIA – From locally grown cocoa beans, Singapore-listed JB Cocoa manufactures and markets cocoa butter, cocoa powder and cocoa mass. Located 30 km from the port of Surabaya in the province of East Java, Indonesia, JB Cocoa’s facility can process 50,000 tonnes of cocoa beans annually.
The beans are cleaned, roasted and winnowed to separate the cocoa nibs, which are treated to enhance flavour and colour. The nibs are then ground into cocoa liquor, which is squeezed by a “butter press” to yield cocoa butter used in making chocolate, and crumbled cocoa “presscake” that is pulverised into cocoa powder.
Operator attaches bulk bag to Z-Clip™ strap holders of a bag lifting frame.
A portion of the presscake is shipped directly to customers in 1 tonne bulk bags, but most is processed into cocoa powder and packaged in handheld sacks.
An electric hoist and trolley on a cantilevered I-beam enable an operator to raise and position the bag using a pendant, eliminating the need for a forklift.
Rapid discharging from bulk bags dust-free
To increase efficiency of the cocoa powder line, the plant installed a installed a Flexicon BULK-OUT® BFC-C-X bulk bag discharger to handle loose cocoa presscake being put in storage before being reduced to powder and packaged for customers
The discharger is configured with an electric hoist and trolley that ride on a cantilevered I-beam, allowing bulk bags to be loaded into the frame without the need for a forklift.
To connect a bag, the operator slips the bag straps into four Z-Clip™ strap holders of a bag lifting frame, and uses a pendant to hoist the bag into the discharger frame. A Tele-Tube™ telescoping tube pneumatically raises a Spout-Lock™ clamp ring, allowing an operator to make a high-integrity sealed connection between the clean side of the bag spout and the clean side of the equipment.
With the bag spout secured, the operator pulls its drawstring, allowing presscake to discharge into the surge hopper.
Releasing the telescoping tube’s air pressure allows the clamp ring to maintain constant downward tension by gravity as the bag empties and elongates to promote material flow. Additional flow promotion is provided by Flow-Flexer™ bag activators that raise and lower opposite sides of the bag bottom to promote complete discharge through the bag spout.
A rotary valve metres presscake into a pneumatic conveying line that discharges into a storage silo.
The 226 l capacity surge hopper with top-mounted enclosure is vented to a side-mounted Bag-Vac™ dust collector that creates negative pressure within the sealed system to prevent displaced air and dust from escaping into the plant environment.
The enclosure also serves to contain spillage that might otherwise escape through seams in the bag and folds in the spout, and is equipped with a hinged access door and folding bag shelf, allowing manual dumping of under-filled sacks.
A rotary valve at the hopper outlet metres the presscake into a pneumatic conveying line that moves it to a storage silo. From there, it is mixed and milled into six different recipes of cocoa powder and packed into 25 kg bags.
Achieving plant hygiene and efficiency
Constructed of stainless steel finished to sanitary standards, the discharger is certified for operation in food-grade environments. “The use of the Flexicon bulk bag discharger provides a safe and hygienic way to unload cocoa cake from bulk bags.” said JB Cocoa’s Redi Koerniawan. “It ensures efficient unloading with little to no dust released into the processing environment.”


Climate adaptive farming and the potential of saline agriculture: The SalFar project
DOI reference: 10.1080/13673882.2020.00001065
By Angelica Kaus, Province of Groningen, The Netherlands
Due to climate change and risk of sea level rise, agriculture in coastal areas is under pressure. Soil salinisation has already led to the degradation of millions of hectares of farmland worldwide, a potential threat to food security.
Farmers in the North Sea Region also experience increasing salinisation on their land. The Interreg North Sea Region Programme funded project SalFar (Saline Farming) sets out to explore the options for farming and food production under increasingly saline conditions. This is essential to preserve natural capital and to strengthen the socio-economic development of the coastal and peripheral areas of the North Sea Region.
Test fields in the North Sea Region
The main scientific aim of SalFar is to test the salt tolerance of crops on a large scale. Sixteen open field labs across the partner regions demonstrate innovative farming on saline soil, based on natural adaptation processes in plants and crops. The work is carried out by a multidisciplinary partnership including climate experts, microbiologists, economists, soil experts, entrepreneurs and policy makers. Scientists work closely together with farmers to find practical solutions.
Test field location Texel, Netherlands, © Salt Farm Foundation
SalFar also works to generate a clear picture of salinisation in the North Sea region and how it will affect agriculture. In addition, the project raises awareness and builds the capacity of food producers through workshops and training on saline farming methods.
The project helps reframe farming by rethinking environmental and agricultural policies and water management in coastal areas and strives to strengthen the rural coastal economy of the North Sea Region by creating new business strategies and opportunities for farmers, food producers and entrepreneurs.
Initiative to measure salinity
Although salinity remains a “taboo” in farmers’ circles, with the drought of the past two summers, sea level rise and salinisation of land are becoming issues that need to be addressed. An important part of the SalFar project are the so-called “farmers’ cafés”, low-threshold meetings for farmers where information is given, and participants are encouraged to talk openly about the threats they are confronted with.
SalFar partner SPNA Agroresearch asked farmers to regularly measure the salinity of their land and provide the data to the scientists. In cooperation with the water boards, the project “Boeren meten water” (farmers measure water) started in the northern part of the Netherlands in autumn 2019. In this way, a salinisation map can be drawn up and farmers in the affected areas may get support for a transition to saline agriculture.
© Boeren Meten Water
“Salinisation is a complex issue in the North Sea Region”, says Jeroen de Waegemaeker from the Institute of Fisheries and Agricultural Research in Brussels. “The geological, hydrological and meteorological conditions vary throughout the region. Not even the salt content of the sea is generic! There is much more salt in coastal waters of Belgium and Holland than in the Øresund, the sea that separates Denmark from Sweden. And local water management and agriculture vary greatly as well. As a result, we are seeing a diverse range of salinisation processes.”
To generate a shared language and understanding of the challenge, the SalFar project has defined a framework on salinisation processes. The framework facilitates quick and easy comparison of salinisation in coastal regions.
See SalFar video for a detailed explanation this.
The framework can be seen as a basic knowledge resource for policymakers, paving the way for innovative agriculture and support to farmers in dealing with climate adaptive strategies.
Learning about saline agriculture on Texel. © Marc van Rijsselberghe / Salt Farm Foundation
Saline farming offers new business opportunities
Beyond salt tolerance of crops, SalFar also works to create new business opportunities for farmers threatened by salinisation. One part of this effort is focussed on testing varieties of conventional crops like potato, cabbage, carrot, onion, tomato, sugar beet or grains like barley, oat or wheat, which are suitable for moderate salinity.
In addition, SalFar conducts experiments with halophytes (salt-loving plants) like Salicornia, ice plant, sea aster or Cochlearia officinalis, including analysis of their nutrition value and quality of taste. These species are suitable for cultivation at high salt concentrations of up to seawater salinity and promise to open up new business opportunities for farmers and food producers.
Gastronomy experts have created new recipes including plants that are native in the Wadden Sea. Cooperation with restaurants in regional tourist areas looks promising.
Reduced pressure on freshwater resources
Salinisation of fertile farmland is usually associated with crop failure and a drop in yield. The SalFar project includes analysis of the economic impact of salinisation in general and of re-using degraded farmland by introducing salt-tolerant crops. The analysis is conducted by the University of Lincoln.
SalFar pilots have already shown that the use of fresh water can be reduced. The University of Gothenburg performed field trials with different mutagenized wheat lines using brackish water via drip irrigation. The trials showed that it is possible to cut freshwater usage and still get a good yield. Focusing on crops with a higher salt tolerance combined with brackish water irrigation is clearly a step forward towards climate adaptive agriculture.
And despite a prolonged drought, the summer of 2018 saw positive results with potatoes in test fields on the Dutch island of Texel:
Drought 2018 potato field conventional farming, © Salt Farm Foundation
Drought 2018 Irrigation with brackish water, © Salt Farm Foundation
Saline farming relevant to global food security
Capitalising on the vast potential of saline farming requires a major collaborative research effort to inform policy. Also, assessing the most promising methods of saline agriculture in different parts of the world is important. SalFar’s mid-term conference “Climate Change and Food Security” brought together more than 200 researchers, policy makers, farmers and other entrepreneurs from over 30 countries. The event was a jump start for international cooperation on saline farming to secure food production.
Participants at the conference
The event covered a broad range of themes, from revitalising saline lands to promising crops and governance. More information including streamed keynote speeches can be found here.
The SalFar team at the welcome session of the conference
SalFar addresses increasing soil salinity and related crop failures, a problem caused by global warming and sea level rise. The project develops saline farming methods and explores the business cases of innovative products made from salt-tolerant crops.
- Total budget: €6.1 million including ERDF funds of €2.7 million and Norwegian funds of €313,000.
- Partnership: 12 partners from Belgium, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, United Kingdom.
- Project duration: Five years (2017 – 2022).
To learn more, visit SalFar’s website.


Joel Salatin How to prepare for a future increasingly defined by localized food.txt
"Joel Salatin: How to prepare for a future increasingly defined by localized food & energy"
an interview of Joel Salatin, a farmer who uses sustainable practices.
"...we live in strange days when Coca Cola, Twinkies and Coco Puffs are considered safe but raw milk, compost-grown tomatoes and Aunt Matilda's pickles are considered hazardous substances."
Joel Salatin states that modern farming methods that use unnatural methods contribute to human disease. Natural methods recyle plant nutrients into the soil. The soil is enriched without manufactured ferilizers which do not contain trace nutrients and which are not sustainable.
"... everything that we see is completely and utterly dependant on an unseen world of beings in the soil that never make it to the page of a business plan or a bank statement."
"We don't think about it in the shower in the morning when we are getting ready to go to work "Let's see, how are my activities today going to impact this soil web, this miraculous, mystical, awesome, unseen world that runs all the plants, all the animals, all the water cycle, all the nutrient cycling? What are my activities today going to do to that?"
Grass fed herbivores such as beef cattle, goats, and sheep can be part of a no-till system that enriches the soil, provides human nutrition, and is sustainable and ecologically sound.
Advocates buying locally produced food which encourages use of less energy and promotes a more sustainable system of food production and distribution.
Unsustainable practices will necessarily someday create disruptions that will force changes.
"... there are warning signs abundantly strewn about the landscape for anybody who cares to look. A lot of people are, that's the good news.
"And the other good news ... is that integrated approaches and integrated understandings of how these pieces fit together are well within our grasp."
Summary by Alan Detwiler, self sufficiency advocate. Bio at http://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/alandetwiler


If necessity was the mother of invention, boredom was probably the mother of reinvention. My journey to organic farming did not take the traditional route, an example of someone drawing straight with crooked lines. I was always a farm boy and spent summers of my youth riding horses, driving tractors and swimming in rivers. At the start of 2007, i left a decent job in the nice little island of Boracay after living there for 3 years. A second home to me, I had gone there after ending a 14 year career as a travelling corporate executive – living in hotels, eating restaurant food and having a suitcase as my home. Now I was headed back home to Bacolod City after an 11 year absence. The mission was to become an organic farmer. 2007 turned out to be a horrible year for me.
It was a year of learning, a year of self examination. Hacienda Buro Buro is a lovely place and was the family farm. And this was where the organic farming was happening. So I found myself in a farm, where things moved really slow, no exciting people coming and going – not much happening. Or so it seemed to me. I was depressed. it seemed like this was a wrong turn somehow. Things slowed down, too slow most times. Spent a lot of days day dreaming. Or so i thought.This was probably when the process of reinvention began. It’s never usually much fun, it took me a full year to get the point i guess. I moved to live in the farm soon after that, and the learning process continued. The sharing of it as well. And now discovering the fun of doing it all.
A few years on, I’ve already made a number of farms in Palawan and Panay Island for clients as an organic farming consultant. Amanpulo in North Cuyo was my first project. A beautiful place and an interesting story for another day. At the moment, I’m helping build 3 other organic farms using the technology we use in our farm, I teach how farming can be done with waste material from rice straw to cow dung, creating a sustainable food supply source in remote places where land is available, supply is scarce and costly. Interestingly, most of my clients are in tropical islands where results were a challenge. Thus, the term island farming. I had unknowingly reinvented myself and created my own tailor-fitted job.
I sort of came up with the idea of island farming as a joke, putting it up as a status update on my Facebook page one day while I was in one of those islands. I love the beach and most of my work brings me to beautiful islands, I’m also a big believer in always mixing work with some play. Do what you enjoy and enjoy what you do. It became a career to my great surprise. As the world is waking up to preserving our planet, natural farming is at the forefront of the wave. And I just happened to come in at the right time, going about the mission of learning organic farming. And sharing what I know. And doing my share for a greener planet too. I am still learning as I am going but it has been one great ride.
In June 0f 2011, I moved base once more to Boracay Island to work on another farm project in Aklan. I currently also serve as a management consultant to Mandala Spa & Villas and Argonauta Boracay. The mission remains the same, to help in the reduction of the worldwide carbon footprint – one farm at a time.
Next island farm please!
Paul, I have a podcast about wormcomposting and would love to have you as a guest. You can find out more about me and my podcast at: http://gotoworms.com


Cornerstone of the event, for this edition one hundred exponents will be welcomed : food artisans, wine growers, farmers…
Walk in, do your shopping, taste, this is the your opportunity to discover passionate men and women whose products makes the proud and reputation of our territory.
The will share with you their expertise.
Honey, Olive oil, jams, nougats, fruits and vegetables, cereals, truffles, cheese… they are much more than just products, they are our identity and the fruit of love from those who feeds us. Their ambition is to offer us healthy and quality food.
Opened-air market will be opened on Saturday from 2pm to 8pm et on Sunday from 10am to 6:30pm.


Community Grant Program Winner: Iramoo Community Centre
We would like to congratulate Iramoo Community Centre on winning the Harpley 2019 Community Grants program.
Iramoo Community Centre works closely with Wyndham Vale communities to provide safe, accessible and functional spaces where community members can gather, socialise, collaborate and share knowledge. They aim to help build strong, vibrant and resilient communities by providing access to high quality programs, activities and events.
They will provide the community with a series of educational garden sessions to grow and expand their community garden. This would be through workshops and community events that the local community would be invited to participate in. This grant will also allow them to provide a facilitator for 2 hours per fortnight for a 12 month period.
The facilitator will teach the community about:
- planting and growing tips,
- when is the right time to plant the different plants and what to plant,
- companion planting what grows best with other plants and assists with their growth.
These workshops would run through school holidays so that children and parent/guardians can attend and benefit from the sessions.
Contact Iramoo Community Centre today:


At Safe Earth Pest Control, we’re here to keep your lawn happy and healthy. When you control your weeds, your lawn will be the envy of the neighborhood. Here’s the thing with weeds: once they take hold, they multiply quickly. Don’t become a slave to your weeds; trust your lawn to the experts who work hard to keep weeds away.
Safe Earth Pest Control offers weed control services for lawns for all of our valued residential and commercial customers throughout Rockwall and Rowlett. Our goal is to use trusted weed control methods that really work so we get rid of weeds that have already taken hold, and prevent weeds from sprouting up in the future.
Common Weeds in the Area:
- Grassy Weeds
- Broadleaf Weeds
Did You Know?
Different weeds respond to treatments differently. That’s why you get the best results when you trust your weed control to the local experts.
Our lawn care process is specifically designed for the area, the weeds and the temperature so your lawn receives maximum benefit.
Lawn Care Treatment Plan
We generally recommend lawn treatment every six weeks, with about 6-8 treatments a year, depending on the weather and when you get started. Our goal is to keep your lawn as healthy as possible. This means free of weeds, insects and disease! Generally, our treatment plans follow a schedule such as:
SPRING - The focus in the spring is to stop the weeds before they take hold. With lawn fertilizer, a pre-emergent treatment and weed control, your hard will be ready for summer.
SUMMER - In the summer we do spot weed control and take special care to not burn the grass. Summer is a great time to continue fertilizing treatments.
FALL - Fertilizer treatments and weed treatments are designed to prepare your lawn for the winter.
WINTER - We typically do not apply treatment or services in December or January, unless necessary for optimal health.
Call Safe Earth Pest Control Today
We treat your lawn as if it was our own! And we want your lawn to be the envy of the neighborhood.


Suzanne Nelson is one of the most respected names in the gardening and lawn care industry. For decades, she's been providing honest, thorough, and helpful reviews of the latest products and services in the industry. Her motto is simple: "I only recommend products that I would use myself." Suzanne's passion for gardening and lawn care began at a young age. Growing up, she loved spending time outdoors, tending to her family's garden. As she got older, Suzanne began to realize that not all products and services in the gardening and lawn care industry lived up to their hype. She started her blog as a way to share her honest opinions and help others make informed decisions about the products and services they use.


A report issued by the World Trade Center of New Orleans yesterday found that Louisiana’s exports have increased by 2.76 percent in 2014 compared to 2013. Agricultural products showed an increase by 14.15 percent in 2014 compared to a decrease of 20.28 percent from the previous year. Oilseeds and grains made up the largest percentage of exports of agricultural products totaling $17.7 billion. Officials stated that the increase displays Louisiana’s economic strength and consumers’ desire for American-made products.
Read full coverage from Biz Magazine here.


SINEDIN NATURAL cultivation
The union of two great types of Natural cultivation: SYNERGIC (Emilia hazelip) and BIO-DYNAMIC (Rudolf Stainer)
Our farm is located near the sea on the East Coast of Sardinia. All year round we take care of the orchard, olive grove and vegetable garden applying our knowledge of permaculture (no: fertilizer, pesticides or chemical treatments).
In 2010 I started to cultivate with the Synergistic method, in 2014 I inserted BioDynamic workings in the Synergistic benches, this to make cultivation even simpler, and this is how my SINEDINA method (Sweet Synergistic, the union of the two great Natural systems: of Emilia Hazalip and Rudolf Stainer) began. This is without neglecting the traditional method, which remains indispensable for some crops.
We cultivate because the earth satisfies the soul and creativity frees the mind.
My farm is 7000 square metres. A small residence with 10 beds has been built on the lot.
Our clients have the possibility to use their own personal kitchen to prepare their meals freely with our vegetables, which we give for free.
One kilometre away there are two beaches with fine sand and shallow water for lovers of the sea, ideal for families with children who want peace and safety.
The "bancali" are nothing more than structures to raise the land for cultivation. The soil inside is never worked.
The 1st photo shows the simplest pallet, with the canvas blocked by reeds.
In the 2nd and 3rd photos the "bancali" is made of planks, which allows higher heights and easier working.
Tel. +39 078293632 Mob. +39 3388075275


No More Pinot Envy
We were first.
A century before oenophiles were chasing their pinot dreams in the Willamette Valley, pioneer farmers were growing hops. They found a magical combination of rich soil, moderate temperatures and the perfect balance of sun and rain that made this land the hops growing capital of the world. The annual harvest was the biggest event in all of Oregon. Tens of thousands of Oregonians descended upon the small town of Independence to pick hops during the day and party at night. Willamette Valley hop growers prospered despite two World Wars, Prohibition and the Great Depression. But somewhere in the late 20th century Oregon’s hops heritage was lost. Vintners planted their vines, built their tasting rooms and laid claim to the terroir of the Willamette Valley. And to their credit, they did a better job of sharing their stories. But no more.
No More Pinot Envy. Talk Dirtoir.
In 2008, we became farmers. Rogue built a 42-acre hopyard on a wide bend of the Willamette River near Independence – the historic Hops Capital of the World. This year we’ll harvest 64,700 pounds of Alluvial, Freedom, Independent, Liberty, Rebel, Revolution, and Yaquina varieties of hops in the Wigrich Appellation. The hop cones are picked, kilned, cooled and baled right on the farm and shipped to our brewery in Newport. In the rain shadow of Mt. Hood we planted barley. Nearly 200 acres in the Tygh Valley appellation will produce more than 900,000 pounds of Risk™ winter malting barley and Dare™ spring malting barley. We built a Farmstead Malt House where we hand craft our own artisan small batch floor malts and micro malts a mere 200 steps from where the barley was grown. We know where our hops and barley come from. We know the soil, the temperature and how much rain and sun they receive. We know when and how they were planted, cared for, harvested and processed. The beer from our farms will be 1st Growth, Estate Hopped, Estate Barleyed, Estate Brewed and Estate Bottled. From now on we’ll talk about Dirtoir, not Terroir.
Beer begins in the dirt.
It starts in the soil where barley roots and hop bines draw moisture and nutrients. It begins in the Cascades and Coast Range as creeks rush over gravelly bottoms where salmon and steelhead spawn.
The right climate encourages healthy crops and clear, cold water. Barley and hops need a certain amount – and timing – of rain, sun, warm summers and cool winters to thrive. Streams need to be refreshed with rainfall and snowmelt or they become stagnant and stale.
Making that dirt and climate takes time.
Over hundreds of millions of years ago, the North American continent began its slow creep westward. The moving tectonic plate scraped sediments, underwater ridges and volcanic islands from the ocean floor. It built a huge pile of dirt that became the Coast Range. The movement spawned massive volcanic eruptions that uplifted the Cascades and smothered much of Oregon with hot, molten lava. Huge ice age floods drowned the Willamette Valley for thousands of years and deposited layers of rich, volcanic soils that are hundreds of feet thick. So when you open a bottle of Rogue you taste more than just the barley, hops and water. You taste the results of millions of years of geologic forces and history that are unique to the place where hops and barley are grown and where the water comes from.
This “Taste of Place” is what we call Terroir.
Luckily for Rogue, Oregon has everything we need to grow our own. There’s a reason why Rogue grows hops in the Willamette Valley. The rain shadow of the Coast Range, ice age volcanic soils and its position along the 45th parallel have made the valley one of the most important hops growing regions in the world for more than a century.
There’s a reason why Rogue grows barley near Tygh Valley. The rain shadow of Mt. Hood and Mt. St. Helens and loess volcanic topsoil is why this region is the most productive in Oregon for cereal grains, such as barley and wheat. And there’s a reason why Rogue gets the water to malt the barley, brew beer and distill spirits from the free flowing streams of the Coast Range and Cascades. These are some of the purest, most natural sources of water anywhere. The final element of terroir is personality. No one else can make Rogue Ales or Spirits. Not even if they had the same ingredients from the same places. Rogue’s personality is unique and you can taste it in the beer. Rogue and Oregon have the right combination of dirt, climate, water and personality. A terroir superfecta that’s impossible to duplicate.


HAPPY WORLD FOOD DAY
16/10/2017 11:12 AM
World Food Day is celebrated every year around the globe on 16 October in recognition of the date of the establishing of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations in 1945.
This day is celebrated widely by many other organisations who are concerned with food security, including the World Food Programme and the International Fund for Agricultural Development.
We must think about the food we eat and who grows it, and also where it comes from so that we can make more educated choices as voters and consumers. In recognition of World Food Day this October 16, use your voice to help small-scale farmers lift themselves out of hardship. Happy World Food Day 2017.


Pick Your Own
157 Charles Bancroft Highway Litchfield NH
Opening Sunday July 3 2016 for the season. Open 7 days a week from 7 to 2
June 29 2016 update.
The blueberries are ripening nicely. We are busy irrigating the bushes with all this dry weather.
Closed for the season
Pick by the pound.
For current conditions:
We had a great apple crop in 2015 we hope to see you again in September 2016
Welcome to Durocher Farm!!!!!
You and your family can enjoy a beautiful New England day picking your own blueberries . It's great fun for all ages, much cheaper than other activities and our delicious, healthy berries are grown right in your own community.
We have a 3.5 acre blueberry farm which is generally open from early July to about Labor Day depending on our crop. Weather depending, the blueberry farm is open every single day from 7am until 2pm. To be sure you should call our Blueberry Hotline (found at the bottom of each web page) before coming to the farm.
Our 1.5 acre raspberry farm is now permanently closed and joins the other historical operations of Durocher Farm. Change is a constant in the farming business(and in life). Hopefully you will be able to patronize other local raspberry growers.
We also have honey available for sale at the PYO stand during the hours of operation.
We very much look forward to seeing you at the farm!!!! Please no animals in the plantation for health and safety reasons.
If it rains during the picking season please make sure to call the Blueberry Hotline (found at the bottom of each page), before coming to the farm because it is possible that we will be closed during steady rain.