Best Garden Drip Irrigation System

Take advantage of Google for this task. “Practice crop rotation,” you're told time and again by fellow farmers, magazine articles and extension materials. Number each plot so you can refer to it easily.

When she returned, the unintentional hands-off experience showed her what can happen without any human intervention. Many vegetables can tolerate moderate frosts and a little snow, but you may want to be prepared to cover the tender youngsters if a harsh...

Reusing greywater as a water conservation practice can be as elaborate as you want to get or as simple as catching your air conditioner water in a bucket. The toilet sewage would continue to drain into the sewer or septic system.

You might even discover that certain crops fare better in one type of vertical situation over another one. These freestanding structures are very DIY-friendly, and you can even grow your own bamboo for tremendous cost savings.

ODAFF assists program participants in the installation of up to 1 acre of plasticulture. “We feel this program has been great for small ­farmers in Oklahoma,” Anderson says. One of the main benefits of growing in plastic is that it extends the growing...

Who are we kidding? This is not a negative. Without tillage to do away with weeds, cover crops become a primary tool in the weed battle. Some varieties of cover crop can be mowed at the right stage of growth to kill the cover crop; other varieties of...

Soil tests typically check for three major nutrients—nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and potassium (K)—as well as soil pH level. I recently purchased a farm I want to rehabilitate for crop production.

My answer, in short, is “Why not?” It is technically possible that some day horses could take over for tractors. In 1920, the population of Amish was around 5,000, and is roughly 300,000 today.

Frost-seeding, the least labor-intensive method, requires no equipment other than a hand sower. He adds that by establishing winter pastures, rotating grazing and stockpiling forage, winter hay can be virtually eliminated from livestock diets, as long...

Personally, I find the challenge of digging drainage ditches to be rather enjoyable; I may have inherited this from my grandfather, as he was also fond of such projects and would create very elaborate channels and ditches for draining puddles.

Monitor how the block is being consumed and switch to a mineralized daily supplement if your animals are eating it like candy. Various suppliers sell fly predators, but because several species are available, it's important to buy those that are effective...

Monocultures, such as fields of corn and soy, are dangerous to the ecosystem. Non-edible crops can also be considered for wetland areas. Wetlands Wetlands serve a vital function in the ecosystem and wild farms need to learn how best to take full advantage...

The top producing states include California, Oregon, Michigan, Washington, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and North Carolina. If you do not go with a balled and burlapped tree, chip and compost your Christmas tree or use it as mulch.

Farmers are, in general, a pretty independent lot. As a rule, it's easier to start small and specialized and broaden as is feasible—just like farming itself. If you use it on your farm, you can probably get it at a co-op.

Especially in areas where rainfall is not plentiful, this is a significant difference. While soil is a complex system of organic matter and beneficial microbes, the Penn State Extension Service says we can think of it as a combination of solid mineral,...

It's possible to remove individual feedings by gradually unwinding the bale and forking them off, but it's hard work and often results in a lot of waste. If fully outdoors, cover stacks of square bales (large or small) with tarps, securing the tarps with...

Sketch a rough map to help you visualize the layout of your forest. A good first step is to meet with a local naturalist or forester to walk through your woods. Perhaps your woodlot supports edible or medicinal plants, such as blueberries, black cohosh,...

Weed control goats also help their owners earn extra money while providing a positive image of goats to the general public. Weeds are tasty to most goats, which are natural browsers.

Though the boundary between sprinklers and drip irrigation has blurred with advancements in micro-irrigation to include spray stakes, most irrigation systems are easy to install and modify.

Before reseeding a spent pasture, it's important to get in there and work the land. Reseeding Your Pasture An intensive rotation schedule is ideal for both soil and pig health, but space and time constraints can often beset best-laid plans.

In contrast to more common agricultural ventures, many see the rise of aquaculture as a contemporary phenomenon. Very few outside dangers exist. Facing the Challenges of Aquaculture Compared to other more traditional crops, the investment returns can...

To wrap your head around the construction of an aquaculture pond, use the diagram below to jog the pond-construction thought process. Use this visual diagram of an aquaculture pond to consider the best way to build your operation.

The fact that nature foots the feed bill should be of special interest to farmers. Here are three of common forest forages we've noticed our hogs enjoying. And while you may be more familiar with the big, fleshy fruit of an Asian species, the good news...

The goal is a dried bean, though you can harvest beans green. You can sow radishes with nearly any long-season crop as long as it doesn't impact your crop rotation too much. What I have had better results with is using just two of the three, especially...

Each of these preparations is made in a specific way that's meant to bring about its ability to both properly ferment the organic matter and to further the farm's ability to connect with the universe.

Wood chips, in particular, will decompose, especially with the addition of manure and urine. Can I easily pick manure from the footing material? The Snohomish (Wash.) Conservation District suggests: “Pick a location adjacent to the barn, manure storage...

Aesthetics are also important benefits. “By going to the silvopasture system, I've been able to generate four or five incomes per year simultaneously on each acre of land,” he says.