My first homesteading project was about the worst one I could have chosen. I was a cage-stage permaculturist—“cage-stage” meaning I had learned enough about it that I could talk the…

My exploration of the possibility of farming began as many people’s do. I had grown up in the suburbs and hadn’t ever given much thought to where my food came…

I was in the house the other day when my wife called and said that our neighbors were there and wanted to talk with me. We had gotten to know…

Last time, we discussed how Neversink farm simplified its farmers’ market efforts. In this post, we’ll look at how they simplified by viewing their CSA as a completely separate business….

In the last post, we went over some of the ways in which Conor Crickmore simplified his on-farm operations. Today we’ll see how he simplified his marketing and sales efforts….

Do you value simplicity as a virtue? Or is it something you rarely think about? In this series with Conor Crickmore of Neversink Farm, we’re going to discuss how Conor…

In this final look into Neversink Farm, we’ll discuss why Conor Crickmore broke with the market gardening convention and stopped using his BCS two-wheel tractor. The BCS as a Legitimization…

In the last post, we looked at Conor’s decision to focus on production instead of infrastructure. Today we’ll examine size—both in terms of the farm itself and individual growing beds….

So far in this series, we’ve covered how Neversink Farm was founded, including the mindset they adopted that led to success. Today we’re going to look into a few different…

Starting farming when you have no prior experience can be tough. Especially when you dive in headfirst with no fallback. But Conor Crickmore of Neversink Farm was successful, in large…

In this blog series, we’re going to talk about how Conor and Kate Crickmore of Neversink Farm got started in market gardening—particularly his process of developing systems that worked in…

We lost power in a thunderstorm last Wednesday and didn’t get it back until thisMonday. Much of my original motivation for getting into homesteading was disasterpreparedness. So it was particularly…

Now that financial goals are set, crops selected, and seeds ordered, the next step is simple: follow through with the crop plan. After that, simply keep good records and analyze…

After the initial planning for financial targets comes the field planning—crop choice, planting schedules, crop maps, and, finally, filling out seed orders for each crop.  Crop Planning Step 3: Make…

In the previous post, we examined the first of Dan Brisebois’s 11 steps for crop planning: setting goals. Today we’ll look at the second: developing a marketing plan. Crop Planning…

In the first post in this series with grower Dan Brisebois, we gave an overview of Ferme Tourne-Sol. Today we’ll examine the first of Dan’s 11 steps for effective crop…

In this blog series, we’ll be learning from farmer and Ferme Tourne-Sol co-owner Dan Brisebois about crop planning for organic vegetables. Hopefully, we’ll shed some light on how to increase…

My 10-year-old daughter came and found me in the house this morning, complaining that my 12-year-old daughter wasn’t letting her help feed and water the chickens. Not a bad problem…

Yesterday I built our first fence. I spent about 90 minutes pounding in 7/8-inch fiberglass posts and stringing it with polywire to create two paddocks along either side of our…

In the last post, we covered features of JM’s design for his market garden, including his permanent bed system and some of the equipment he uses. In this final post,…