
Author Archives

An ode to the Prairie garden
Letter Five from Northern Blossom Farms: In his fifth instalment from Northern Blossom Farms, Gary Martens reflects on the value a garden brings to a farmer’s life

Rethinking the possibilities of trees
The view from Northern Blossom Farms
In this third letter from Northern Blossom Farms, Gary Martens discusses ways to keep trees on the landscape.
In my first letter I advocated integrating livestock and crops for the synergistic benefits of both components to the farming system. In the next letter, I discussed my crop rotation which includes perennials but is still based mainly on annual crops. In this letter, I want to propose the integration of trees as a beneficialUniversal rotation principles uniquely applied to each farm
The view from Northern Blossom Farms - Part 2

The view from Northern Blossom Farms
A university instructor is turning his nano farm into a living laboratory for sustainable farming systems
I spoke to a number of young farmers recently and learned that they are questioning the business decision that every farmer makes every year: Hold $2 million in assets, invest another $250,000 cash in a crop in order to get $60,000 profit. And that is if everything goes right, which it typically doesn’t. What isEmerald Green Or Muddy?
My Dad’s Crop Records –A Gold Mine For Understanding Crop Yields
With roots going back to 1925, each weekly issue of the Manitoba Co-operator contains production, marketing and policy news selected for relevance to crops and livestock producers in Manitoba.