The Natural Farmer

Summer 2022
Animals on the Farm

Makin' Bacon!

By Mary-Howell Martens Nearly 30 years ago, we were sitting down to a May Sunday breakfast when a pickup truck drove into the driveway....

Kestrel Nest Boxes: A Source of Reverence and Beauty

By Johanna Jackson I was kneeling near rhubarb, pulling out thistles, when Gerald walked up. It was April 2020: pandemic week three. We...

Lessons from my time at a vegan animal sanctuary

By H.e. Haugenes I took an internship at a vegan animal sanctuary, thinking I could learn to raise animals in harmony with the land,...

Produce Pop-Ups for the People

By Emma Gonzalez Over the course of three seasons farming and all my years eating, I had never seen purple cauliflower. Apparently, the...

Gracie

By Ben Goldberg A ruffed grouse began showing up at the job site. I'm doing renovations to a retreat cabin up in the hilly woods of...

Tree Fodder Builds Resilience (and Carbon) on the Farm

By Steve Gabriel Our farm was first captured by the idea of tree fodder out of necessity. In 2016 our region of New York suffered a...

Getting Back to Nature

By Obiora Embry In March 2013 my life was changed for the better...I stepped onto the two acres of fallow grazing land to see in person...

You Don't Need More Hay You Need Better Management

By jason detzel Throughout most of the winter and early spring, I entertain a variety of phone calls requesting the use of some of my...

Opinion: Pay Farmers to Promote Biodiversity, Our Food and Our Future Depend on it

By Maddie Kempner, NOFA-VT Policy Director Vermont is on the cusp of becoming one of the first states in the nation to compensate farmers...

NOFA’s Efforts with Justice, Equity, and Anti-racism

TNF is committed to bringing attention to and generating an increased awareness of issues of race and inequality and how these have...

Don’t Judge a Carrot by its Cover

The story of a carrot & how our imaginations seed the world By Petra Page-Mann Don’t judge a book by its cover… …as the proverb reminds...

Interview with Anita Ashok Adalja, Not Our Farm & Ashokra Farm

by Elizabeth Gabriel TNF: Tell us a little about yourself and how you got into the work you do now Anita: I’ve been farming for 12 years,...

Golden Fertilizer for Greener Grass

By JOSEPH R. HECKMAN, Ph.D. Fertilizers are expensive and the current supply is limited. Farmers interested in sustainability are...

Remembering Samuel Kaymen

by Steve Gilman As a coda to the obituary for Samuel Kaymen, I feel so grateful that our Founder was with us for last year’s 50th...

Beginning Farmers and Land Access: A Case Study of the New Entry Incubator Program

By Kevin Cody and Olivia Richards “I probably would have started my own farm business without New Entry, but certainly not when I did....

El Futuro of Farming

By Chris Brown, Development Director at ALBA, chris@albafarmers.org Since 1950, more than a quarter-billion acres of farmland were lost...