February 1st, 2020 By Doug Cook, NOFA/Mass Education Events Coordinator Humans literally evolved to follow other animals around and participate in their environmental systems. There is no wonder we have devoted a huge portion of our society to domesticating animals; we are holding on to the partnership that has historically provided sustenance. Unfortunately, we are…
Read MoreHomestead Reflections- February 2020
February 1st, 2020 By Sharon Gensler It’s a major transition time here at Wild Browse Farm and we’re feeling both excited and terrified. We have made a commitment to moving and have just finalized a “Purchase & Sale” with a couple of young farmers and their 3 children! We couldn’t be happier with the future owners, yet we find the transition to be both exhilarating and terrifying, not to mention overwhelming. Our closing date…
Read MoreJoint Committee on Environment, Natural Resources and Agriculture passes two bills restricting the use of glyphosate in Massachusetts
February 1st, 2020 By Marty Dagoberto, NOFA/Mass Policy Director H.791 eliminates the use of toxic pesticides on playgrounds and anywhere that children learn and play! H.792 takes all glyphosate-containing herbicides (including Monsanto’s Roundup) off hardware store shelves and ends consumer use of this toxic biocide! To be clear, both of these bills face an uphill battle…
Read MoreFinding Your Way in the Modern Dairy Market with Pam and Ray Robinson of Robinson Farm
February 1st, 2020 By Christy Bassett, Dairy Program Coordinator for NOFA/Mass Dairy cows have been dubbed “the heart of the homestead” throughout American history because of their high productivity and ability to provide sustenance for so many other beings on a small farm. On a diet of grass, hay and perhaps some supplemental grain, a…
Read MoreKnow, and Test, the Viability of Your Seed
February 1st, 2020 By Richard Robinson, Farmer at Hopestill Farm For the ambitious gardener, there is nothing quite as frustrating as planting seeds that never come up. You watch and wait, and wait some more, and wait some more, and…nothing. Precious weeks can slip away before you accept that you’re going to have to replant. For any crop, this is…
Read MoreWhat We Mean When We Talk About Tillage
November 2nd, 2018 By Caro Roszell, NOFA/Mass Education Director What do the terms tilling and plowing mean to you? Furrow-slices rolling away behind you like a smooth wake in calm waters; a clean seedbed, chocolate-brown soil nearly ready for the crop? Or perhaps a machine, ripping through a quiet field, soil clods flying, dust rising…
Read MoreNOFA/Mass, CT NOFA and NOFA-NY to Expand Soil Carbon Proxy Testing with SARE and Farmer Support
January 6th, 2021 By Caro Roszell, NOFA/Mass Education Director Farmers manage about 37% of the world’s land mass. As NOFA/Mass followers well know, a significant proportion of the excess carbon in the atmosphere has been lost from the world’s soils due to farming practices that are ecosystem-degenerative. Or, stated another way, the loss of life in the soils…
Read MoreCaring for Your Soil: Understanding Soil Aggregation and Compaction
March 16th, 2022 By Christine Manuck, NOFA/Mass Soil Health Projects Manager I’m frequently telling my kids, “you get what you get and you don’t get upset.” With soil, however, you get what you get and you can learn how to deliberately make it better. Soil aggregation and compaction are two key competing components of healthy,…
Read MoreA Primer on Sustainable Soil Management
July 7th, 2021 By Christine Manuck, NOFA/Mass Soil Health Projects Manager As with every living thing, what you get out of soil is related to what you put into it. Transitioning our mindset of soil from an inorganic growing medium to a diverse, living ecosystem can allow us to treat our soil as the essential…
Read MoreSoil Carbon Proxy Testing Can Help You Help Your Soil
August 12th, 2021 By Christine Manuck, NOFA/Mass Soil Health Projects Manager Soil organic matter is essential to healthy soils. Acting as a sort of “control center”, it regulates a soil’s physical, chemical, and biological properties. Every soil starts with a baseline level of organic matter based upon its climate and soil texture which can be increased or decreased depending upon how it’s treated. The baseline nature of the soil’s…
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