Courtesy of Roxanne C., co-founder, SPIN-Farming
Novice SPIN farmers can create their crop repertoire based on the offerings of mainstream seed companies, which offer SPIN’s classic high-value relay crops – carrots, lettuces, spinach, scallion, radish. These are the great tasting, top-selling crops that a farmer can’t go wrong with. But as they go farther down the farming path, they get better at reading their markets and start differentiating themselves by offering “the surprise factor” – trend-setting novelties that offer more taste and talking points than what the standard go-to crops deliver.
Now unusual and downright outlandish seeds sources are just a click away, thanks to the Internet. It’s not only been a boon by linking farmers in peer-to-peer learning networks like the SPIN Online Support (SOS) Group, but it also has enabled specialized growers to affordably expand and reach new markets.
These days it’s easy to serve nearby customers with far-flung exotic foods, and this has helped elevate the  “artisan farmer” to a professional status that is much higher than the common commodity farmer. Seed sources recommended in the SOS Group are listed in the suppliers area of the SPIN-Farming website. When you’re looking to diversify your crop repertoire, start there.
