Best Garden Irrigation System

Incredible, copious amounts of rain left our house an island in the middle of a lake that was up to three feet deep. Then I installed mini-spinner sprinklers, or the lowest volume "wobbler" heads, on risers just tall enough (about 3 feet) to spray over...

This makes for a wonderful environment, except when it comes time for a vacation. So I'd jump from one need to another, a sort of gardener's multitasking project.LariAnn has been gardening and working with plants since her teenage years growing up in...

Bamboo canes grow long and straight and are also ideal for building trellises and scaffold-like towers to support tall, bushy plants or used as supports for container plants. Water Conservation Because plants are more densely concentrated in a smaller...

One of the main benefits of growing in plastic is that it extends the growing season on both ends, meaning growers can take their crops to market sooner and extend production later in the year.

It's not good to leave soil naked for long—this is a basic truth that you learned about soil erosion in elementary-school science. This is the most important crop you're going to plant,” Moyer says.

A soil test is the first stepping stone to figuring out a management plan for your new farm. Typically, tests require a composite sample, combining soils from several different locations in the area you want to analyze.

Well, let me introduce you to a fun tidbit I found while reading Stephen Leslie's excellent new book Horse-Powered Farming for the 21st Century (Chelsea Green, 2015): “Over 25,000 farmers do their daily farm work in the United States with horses.

“Fescue stockpiling is simple,” Bates says. “However, some producers have developed approaches, such as stockpiling and planting additional cool-season forages, that allow them to feed little or no hay in some years.” Some fescue carry endophyte...

These channels, which don't necessarily have to be large or permanent, are designed to provide an outlet for puddles of water to drain to a more appropriate—and less troublesome—location.

Exposing this detritus to the sun and wind by thinly spreading it on your fields is a practical method to reduce the fly population while simultaneously improving pasture soil. The active ingredient, cyromazine, safely passes through an animal's digestive...

Wildlife Corridors Wildlife corridors need to be maintained on wild farms. It includes such principles and farming methods as permaculture , agroforestry and, of course, sustainable agriculture.

Virginia Pine: Another popular southern Christmas tree species, its branches are compact and stout, and in nature, the trees are a nesting site for woodpeckers. Other Uses For Evergreens You also should overlook the uses for your evergreens that go beyond...

In a business sense, it is a private organization or business owned by its members. As a rule, it's easier to start small and specialized and broaden as is feasible—just like farming itself.

Building Soil Structure Clay, sandy and silty soils all benefit from no-till farming. 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,...

Make your hay harvest last with these tips for efficient hay storage. They store well when flat ends are butted end-to-end in long rows. Hay stacked on bare ground or concrete wicks moisture up through the bottom tiers, ruining the hay.

Some woodland owners actually create sanctuaries for rare plants. The possibilities are as abundant as your curiosity and interests: collecting plants and other materials to craft into beautiful objects or delicious foods or developing formal long-range...

This method of keeping weeds to a minimum, called “mitigation,” helps reduce the risk of brush fires. Consider adding a few goats to your farm for weed control--another way goats can help humans get through the day

Unfortunately, much of the water dispersed through sprinklers and hoses by enthusiastic gardeners evaporates before it ever reaches its intended source. Once the soil has settled around new plants, the drip system can maintain moisture.Irrigate turf areas...

Rotate out your pig herd and replant the pasture with cover crops that will fix the trampled soil and provide a new dose of healthy forage. Pig manure (feces and urine) contains all 13 of the nutrients required by plants , so a stand of alfalfa should...

Eating more fish has become more popular in recent decades, but aquaculture farming—or the production of fish and other crops that thrive in water—has been around for centuries: The Chinese have been using aquaculture since around 2500 BC, holding...

Tags hobby farm Then pick up the November/December 2011 issue of Hobby Farms for more complete information on starting an aquaculture operation with catfish or prawns. Use this visual diagram of an aquaculture pond to consider the best way to build your...

It's worth walking the woods to find the checkered-bark trunks on your land because pigs with access to the fallen fruit will map out the trees and visit them multiple times a day when they notice fruit falling.

Planting a drying bush bean between (or within) your corn rows can be an excellent way to feed your corn crop as it grows, shade out weeds, and make the most out of that space. Fill in the garden gaps by intercropping with a few of these easy-to-grow...

Viewing the farm as an organism involves seeing the farm become more self-sufficient in terms of fertility needs, pest control and outside inputs in general.” This is a long-term approach to farming that has a huge effect on everyday management decisions,...

Choose The Fencing While your animals are being kept in the sacrifice area, you need to pay extra close attention to their needs. Maintain The Area Sacrifice areas are designed to help keep your pastures healthy, yet they still require some attention...

“This isn't a good fit for someone who hasn't yet learned the basics of rotational grazing,” Chedzoy says. Why Silvopasture? Thinning, pruning and harvesting schedules vary based on the system itself.

He or she has to check the organic certification requirements and wade through 400 to 500 pages of organic regulations. “But there is some intriguing research out there.” Research has revealed lower pesticide residues in organic foods.