LINKS

These are websites and resources I use that are farm related.  This is definitely an abbreviated list.  If there are sites that should be listed here let me know and I’ll add them.  Please also let me know if you find a link that is no longer active.  Thanks.

Farm Tools

Hida Tool sells great japanese hand tools.  I’ve used their hoes, sickles, and hand weeders and have loved them all.  There is some less expensive stuff, but the higher quality tools are a joy to work with.

Earth Tools is best known for their wide selection of two wheeled tractors and implements but they also have excellent hand tools, including some of the best rakes and hoes I’ve used.

Electric G Conversion This is a great site describing in detail how to convert a Allis Chalmers G to electric.  I’ve driven the conversions and they work great.

Market Farm Implement has a good selection of implements for small scale production.

Ferrari Tractor CIE also has an interesting selection of mostly imported implements for small scale production

Elomestari is a Finnish company that has a very interesting looking “wheel hoe” and an equally interesting looking electric lay down work cart.  If you have experience with either of these tools I’d love to hear about it - they look great.

Flame Weeders has a number of rolling, hand pushed flame weeders.  I haven’t used their products but the design looks good and it’s an improvement on the single burner I’ve wanted for a long time.

Buckeye Tractor Co. in Columbus Grove, Ohio, makes bed shapers, mulch layers and most exciting to me, water wheel transplanters and winders.  Apparently they’ve built a roller crimper for Rodale as well.  There are two Buckeye Tractors in Ohio, the other is a tractor dealer and not related.

Farm Catalogs

Johnny’s Selected Seeds in Albion, Maine, has been for years the seed company with the best customer service and highest quality selections I’ve found.  They don’t have as much organic seed as I’d like to see, but I suspect this is because the quality of a lot of organic seed has unfortunately not been as high as it should be.

Bountiful Gardens in Willits, CA, is a good source for hard to find food seeds and garden hand tools. They are connected to John Jeavons’ Ecology Action

High Mowing Seeds and Wild Garden Seed are both great sources that only carry organic seeds

Seeds from Italy has a great selection of chicories and other european specialty vegetables that can be hard to find.  I’ve had really good luck with their seeds and the packets are quite large.

Peaceful Valley Farm Supply in Grass Valley, CA, has all the miscellaneous items that can be hard to find: tools, floating row cover, irrigation supplies, organic fertilizers and pesticides, and more, including lots of good information.

Drip Works carries a good range of drip supplies as well as small sprinklers and there’s a lot of good information in the catalog. 

Organizations/Resources

PortlandCSA.org - Portland Area CSA Coalition -  information on CSA farms in the Portland, Oregon area (this used to be pacsac.org but the domain changed in July 2008).

Slow Food Portland is our local chapter of Slow Food and has good links to other food related sites, including more information on Slow Food in general.

Local Harvest is a useful source that links consumers directly to farmers all across the country.  You can search for farms, farmers markets, and other connections in your area.

Publications and Books

Recently I’ve been recommending Richard Wiswall’s excellent book The Organic Farmers Business Handbook.  It’s just what it says it is.

MOSES has published another good book on the business of farming. While Richard Wiswall's book is one vegetable farmer's (excellent) approach and has great ideas for day to day details, Fearless Farm Finances is a broader look and goes into more details on financial analysis.

I’m also happy to see that a couple of Canadian’s have written up a book on Crop Planning for Organic Vegetable Growers that covers a lot of what I teach in my crop planning workshops.

The Winter Harvest Handbook by Eliot Coleman is a great look at the evolution of systems for growing in the cold, dark months of the year.

From the Good Earth, On Good Land, and Fields of Plenty are all very inspiring books with beautiful photos and stories about farming around the world.  They are written and photographed by Michael Ableman who farms at Foxglove Farm on Salt Spring Island in BC, Canada.

Growing for Market is a great publication for market farmers, I also publish articles here regularly.

The Small Farmers Journal is a beautiful journal with lots of horse farming information, but stuff that’s useful for all kinds of small farms.

I feel I should mention a nice little collection of essays that was edited by some friends of mine and that I have an essay in - Greenhorns: 50 Dispatches from the New Farmers' Movement. The book also won a Nautilus Gold Award!

Blogs

Throwback at Trapper Creek, is a fantastic look at practical and philosophical issues around the homestead.  It’s one of my current favorites, partly because I know Nita and mostly because there is some serious substance and thought behind this one.

The Ladybug Letter is Andy Griffin’s excellent and entertaining collection of essays that grow out of Mariquita Farm in Watsonville, the heart of California vegetable production.

John Peterson also writes amazing farm essays.  They’re not in blog form but they can be found at the Angelic Organics web site.

Wanna Farm is a great blog with tips and resource suggestions for small farmers.  It’s put together by my friend Chris Jagger down at Blue Fox Farm in Southern Oregon whose blog is also pretty interesting.  Chris seems to have gotten busy with other things recently, but the folks at FarmHack seem to be picking up the slack.

Eatwell Farm, Nigel is one of the most consistent bloggers I know, cranking out great info for his CSA members and farm fans about the goings on around the farm.

Small Scale Grain and Pulse Production - with a name like that how can you loose, and it’s pretty much what it says.  It’s also looking for contributers so send me an e-mail if you would like to be an author (yes, I set this one up with Nick and Anthony).

Oak Hill Organics, Katie’s blog was probably one of the first farm blogs I ever saw and still is an excellent look at the early years of a small CSA, although this point they’re not quite as green as they were a few years back.  For stories from another, even newer farm, check out Prairie Heritage Farm’s blog.

Also, if you’re interested in keeping up with blogs and you don’t already use Feedly, or something similar, make sure to set up a free account.  It makes following many blogs really easy.

I add to this site because I like collecting this information and I’ve found similar sites incredibly helpful.  I hope this site is helpful for you, and if it is, please consider a donation to help me spend more time putting up more.  Thanks!

other places you can find me

© joshvolk.com