May 2007 Edition
Feature Article
"One of the satisfactions of gardening and farming is saving your own seeds. You can keep treasured heirloom varieties, hardworking performers and your favorite colors and tastes to use year after year. You can experiment with breeding and crossing difference varieties to create something entirely new. The possibilities are endless."
Feature (May 7): May's feature article is on a topic on all our minds right now: Seeds! Join Bobbi Andrzejek for this informative and resource-laden crash-course in the basics of saving your own seed. It's not too late to grow some seed crops this year! Learn how in: "Saving Seeds"
CSA Farmer
"...It's been 11 years since I've felt such trepidation, bewilderment, excitement and anticipation in preparing a product order for the upcoming season. I think selecting fruit trees, berry bushes and other perennial plants maybe just as much fun as my annual seed order."
CSA Farmer (May 14): Annual vegetables dominate most CSA offerings, but to take on a growing responsibility of feeding the community, Beth Lambert Hook is planting perennials this year - fruit trees, bramble bushes, and yes, perennial vegetables! Find out what made this year's list in: "Branching Out"
Heavy Horses
Heavy Horses takes a rest for the month of May.
Backyard Gardener
"For a professional landscape designer -- say that guy on PBS, P. Allen Smith -- choosing the site for a vegetable garden on a small property or urban lot is a carefully calculated decision...We took a different route."
Backyard Gardener (May 21): Where do we put the garden? Keith Bellinger asked that question twenty years ago, and now is asking it again. The needs of the plants are weighed against the needs of the gardener, and the limitations of space are evaluated; find out what happens in: "Dappled Light": "On The Table"
Flower Gardener
"At almost every farm market across the nation there is a long line waiting for the fresh vegetable merchant, but there is also an equally long line waiting for fresh cut flowers and bouquets...Serving this market requires both knowledge of plants and a decent amount of space."
Flower Gardener (May 21): Jeannie Pierce celebrates the glories of spring flowers with homage to the rites of May Day. Fond memories and cultural context of the May Basket, along with instructions for making your own this year, can be found in: "The Merry Month"
Market Farmer
"Sooner or later, almost every homesteader and many market farmers considers keeping or breeding hogs. They are excellent meat producers, great garden tillers and they make superb garbage disposals. They are also friendly, smart, unbelievably strong and subsequently tough to contain!"
Market Farmer (May 28): What does it take to successfully sell fresh flowers at the market? Attention to detail, a strong sense of timing, and a good eye for color. Kate Copsey gives tips on how both you and your blooms can thrive through market day in: "Fresh Cut Flowers for the Farm Market"
Cornucopia
"Mary, her husband John, and their six children operate Ridder Ranch. A regular part of their operation has always been showing cattle buyers around the ranch, so it seemed quite natural to extend the opportunity for a fee to urban and suburban visitors. "
Cornucopia (May 7): This month, Judith Korff takes a look at a Nebraska woman who went from writing about Agritourism to practicing it, when her family opened a Hereford ranch to a public hungry for a real farm experience. Read her story in: "Touring the Ridder Ranch"