Start Farming

High tunnel greenhouses extend the farming season

This is a gardening blog so you might think farming is not up your alley. But as gardeners, you have a lot in common with farmers. You watch the weather more closely than most people. You have an intimate relationship with insects… some friendly, some adversarial. You grow more of your own food than most folks. You know the names of beet varieties… because you grow them.


And I’ll bet that some of you have farming fantasies. You can see yourself selling stuff at the local farmers market rather than buying. You stare at tractors, longingly. The smell of manure is like perfume. As you might suspect, you are in a minority. So are farmers. Census data says that about one percent of the U.S. population identifies its occupation as farming. And that group is aging. About 40 percent are over 55. There is legitimate concern about where the next generation of farmers will come from.

What’s Penn State got to do with it? Well, as many of you know, we’ve been in the farming education business since about 1862. Many of today’s farmers were not born on farms. They followed a dream of farming and made it a reality. I can quickly name a Bucks County dairy farmer who grew up in Philadelphia, a vegetable grower who was an electrician and a commercial fruit producer who is a nurse. Each of them would tell you that Penn State has played a role in their success.

Recently, a federal grant was initiated specifically to help beginning farmers get started. Tianna Dupont, Penn State Extension Educator, is heading up the Start Farming program in Southeastern Pennsylvania. In the last two years, this program has reached more than 950 new and beginning farmers through 36 courses with names such as: ABCs of Beekeeping, Exploring the Small Farm Dream, Pasture School, Sheep Short Course, Introduction to Organic Vegetable Production and Small Scale Poultry. About half of the participants had no farm background or farming experience prior to taking the courses. These courses are ideal for working people, those between jobs, folks nearing retirement, and others who cannot devote time to full-time undergraduate course work, but still want to receive high quality education in agriculture.

For those who are ready to take on four years of study, Penn State has about 20 majors in agriculture. And they are popular! From the years 20005 to 2010, College of Ag enrollment at Penn State was up 42 percent. To see what the curriculum in agriculture looks like at Penn State see this.

It is interesting that at a time when concerns about where the next generation of farmers will come from, enthusiasm for food production is sky high….from both consumers and prospective producers. Want to start farming? See what Penn State has to offer.

Grow Your Own

It seems that interest in growing more of your own food continues to gain steam. It’s hard to say what is fueling this phenomenon. Concerns about food quality? Trying to save a buck or two? Fretting over the environment? I don’t know. There must be a survey out there somewhere that sheds light on this.

For many years, gardening has been identified as America’s leading hobby. Add to this the growing interest in food and you’ve got something special. Farmers markets are springing up everywhere. Locally grown food is automatically gourmet. Suddenly, every other person you meet wants to keep honey bees…. my introduction to beekeeping course is sold out.

The good news is that Penn State Extension is ready, willing and able to help. We’ve been teaching people how to grow food for about 100 years. Publications are a good example of this. This fall, a brand new guide to vegetable gardening, authored by Elsa Sanchez, Associate Professor of Horticulture and her co-horts at Penn State was published. Fifty eight pages of research-based, (but user-friendly) information on the vegetable crops we love. It is cleverly titled Vegetable Gardening. Hey, if you want the sizzle rather than the steak your local Land Grant University is not the place to go… but we do have the goods.

An equally good publication for fruit growers, Fruit Production for the Home Gardner is 186 pages of powerful information on strawberry, raspberry, blueberry and other fruit culture.
These two are good examples but just the tip of the iceberg. Go to the College of Ag Sciences web site and dig for more. We can teach you how to grow just about anything. Livestock, too.

Some folks learn better with a bit classroom instruction. In Bucks County, we’ve been conducting a short course called Living on A Few Acres for about 25 years. Now it is being offered throughout southeastern Pennsylvania. In this course you not only learn how to pick a ripe watermelon, you’ll find out how to tell if that hen is laying eggs, too! Call us at 215-345-3283 for registration information on the Bucks County course or this site in other counties.

Some folks have an urge to go to the next level. Start farming. That’s a big step up from gardening. But it happens all of the time. Penn State recognized this need and is now engaged in a major effort to help those who want to grow food for profit. You can check out the extensive list of course offerings and more at the Start Farming website.

Got kids? Are they between the ages of 8 and 18? If so, they can get a real fine, agricultural, hands-on experience through our 4-H youth program. Sheep, chickens, beef, turkeys, tomatoes, you name it. Ask for Bob Brown when you call our office. Hit this site for a directory of counties in Pennsylvania and their local program. I’m a bit biased, I’ll admit, but observing the impact 4-H has on kids for more than 30 years has convinced me that it is one of the best youth programs available... and about the only one that will get your kid involved in agriculture. Learn by doing… what a concept!

Want to grow your own… just a little or enough to live on? Penn State Extension is a great place to get started.