What Makes New Jersey Grown New Jersey Grown?

There is perhaps no single image more synonymous with quality and integrity than the USDA organic seal. Its presence means you’re getting  a product grown without harmful chemicals, GMOs, or antibiotics. But just what does the certification process entail? What are the requirements? What makes New Jersey Grown New Jersey Grown? At its most basic…

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All About Soil Testing!

To test, or not to test—that is the question. Whether t’is nobler to suffer the slings and arrows of poor soil, or to have that soil tested, and, by amending its components, have a healthier garden. Soil tests were unavailable in Shakespeare’s day, but we in the modern age have no such excuse. Testing your…

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GMOs: A Refresher Course

If you’re like me, your knowledge of Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) is a little less-than total. You know that they’re unsafe, that they’re Monsanto’s bread and butter, that they’re harmful for the environment. But you could probably use a refresher course. Well, you’re in luck. Because today’s blog is just that. According to Wikipedia, a…

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Top Five Most Influential Women of Modern Farming

For most of its long and inglorious history, farming has been a male-dominated profession. Women may have played vital roles, but ownership and decision-making was the exclusive domain of men. According to a recent USDA report, however, that trend is rapidly changing. Over the last three decades, the number of women-operated farms nearly tripled. Currently, around…

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A Few Good Bugs

It’s high summer and your garden is struggling—again. Your tomatoes and peppers and cucumbers have succumbed to beetles, cutworms, aphids, and slugs. You refuse to use pesticides (you’re a good person and you care about the environment) and you just don’t have time to pick these pests off one by one. You’re ready to toss…

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Spring Mix, from Seed to Plate

Let me first state that Spring Mix is just that- a mix of different lettuces and greens, not a certain type of seed or name of a plant. Some of us (*ahem. Myself*) not familiar with farming and growing things may not have known this. Now that we’ve got that cleared up… I hope you’ve…

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Hydroponics V. Soil

Hydroponically-grown. Soil-grown. Ever wonder what’s the difference? Hydroponic enthusiasts swear by their technology, and soil proponents swear by theirs. But which is better? Is one healthier than the other? And what about environmental impacts? Is one ‘greener’? In hydroponics, water replaces soil as the medium by which plants derive nutrition. A hydroponic system can be…

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The Fruits of CO-OPeration

For members of the Doylestown Food Co-Op, March 22nd was a special day. That was the day of their Grand Opening, the culmination of many years hard work and planning. Their first Grand Opening had been delayed by power outages caused by the February 6th ice storm, making it that much more special. “So many…

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I’m Not a Sprout, I’m a Microgreen!

Question: Sprouts and Microgreens are: a.) Basically the same thing b.) Sort of the same thing c.) Two totally different things d.) The preferred diet of the Asiatic Water Buffalo   Answer: c.) Two totally different things Congratulations if you got it right! Sprouts and microgreens, while often referred to as one and the same,…

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How Climate Change is Changing Farming

Farming was never an easy gig, but lately it’s been downright frustrating. Record heat waves, floods, cold-spells, and droughts are cutting into yields and in some instances ruining entire crops. Analysts warn that such climate change-driven extremes could reduce grain production in G20 countries by up to 8.7 percent by 2020 if no significant action…

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