Want to know which are the most profitable vegetable and flower crops and how to grow them? How to market them direct to your community, and tips for running a farm business? Learn all that and more by subscribing to Growing for Market Magazine. Their writers aren’t professional writers, they are farmers, like you and me. They won’t tell you how TO grow, they’ll tell you how THEY grow, so you can decide what works best for you and your farm. Growing for Market is celebrating 30 years of helping local food & flower farmers succeed with articles written by experienced growers from around North America. Growing for Market is by farmers, for farmers. Plus, subscriptions start at only $30 per year! Whether you do farmers markets, local wholesaling, a CSA, or dream of starting a farm; check them out today at GrowingForMarket.com! Request a free sample print or digital copy from the website, and…

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At the heart of sustainable ag is the belief that soil health and thriving ecosystems grow the very best food. Certified Naturally Grown is a grassroots certification program that recognizes direct-market farmers using holistic methods, and shows your customers that the products you bring to market are grown to the highest ecological standards. If you’re looking for an affordable certification option that focuses on the thriving of local farms and foodways, you’re going to want to check out CNG. Their peer-to-peer inspections create opportunities for farmers to connect, exchange knowledge and build regional support between growers.

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The Full Plate Farm Collective began in Ithaca NY nearly 20 years ago when Chaw Chang & Lucy Garrison-Clauson’ of Stick & Stone Farm and Nathaniel and Emily Thompson of Remembrance Farm came together to offer a joint veg CSA. Since, it has grown to about 700 members and is now a substantial part of their farm revenue, enough to have a full time coordinator (ie. Molly Flerlage), and brings in product from dozens of other farms and value added producers throughout the region.

Molly and I talk about her role as the CSA manager, how full plate operates at-scale to afford an awesome CSA manager, and how they have leveraged the CSA to help new farmers and address food insecurity. Stick around after the credits, because she reached back out to add some honest thoughts on how scale can provide better long-term solutions to CSA challenges than third-party CSA management platforms.