Courtesy of James K., Virtually Green, San Francisco CA Basic wholesale organic pricing for some major metropolitan areas in the USA can be found using the Rodale Institute organic wholesale prices online tool: https://rodaleinstitute.org/farm/organic-price-report-tool/ The USDA has quite a bit of different kinds of pricing info at: https://www.marketnews.usda.gov/portal/fv Find out...
Courtesy of James K., Virtually Green, San Francisco, CA In most states in the USA it’s illegal for a for-profit farm to utilize volunteers, or interns, to handle routine farm work tasks that would ordinarily be done by paid workers. Many small organic farms have been using farm work volunteers...
Courtesy of James K. , Virtually Green, San Francisco, CA Over the past few years I’ve done a number of consulting projects for innovative hydroponic systems startups. Hydroponic farming is a high-tech system, high startup cost, high operations and maintenance costs, high energy (even with LED) costs, high skills required, high-risk...
Courtesy of James K. ,Virtually Green, San Francisco, CA In 2007 I had a project establishing a small SPIN farm pilot project on about 4,000 sq ft of land in a suburban mobile home park. The plot of land was a ground squirrel city. There were literally burrow entrances every...
Courtesy of James K., Virtually Green, San Francisco, CA In northern China, solar passive commercial greenhouses cover over 1.8 million acres. These greenhouses typically use no supplemental lighting, and little or no heating, to produce vegetables from Fall through Spring. It’s a highly evolved and very commercially successful design, and...
Courtesy of Didacus R., Haywood, CA I remember your critique of the original Johnny’s quick greens harvester. Â This one looks better if only for the oscillating cutters and the macrame rope beaters. Still I note while they claim the operator is upright, he actually is hyper extended. Perhaps a telescoping...
Courtesy of James K., Virtually Green, San Francisco, CAÂ Over the years I’ve helped a number of neighborhood gardeners and farmers get variances to zoning or laws. Zoning laws are a mixed blessing. While they prohibit your residential neighbor from doing auto wrecking or a hog farm in her front...
