What would happen if each person bought just $5 more per week of food directly from a local farmer?

[Gormy Cuss]

9. Three things to consider: season extenders, storage, and farm products.

Last edited Sat Jan 21, 2012, 09:06 PM - Edit history (1)

Season extenders like hoop covers to insulate against frost and to keep the soil warm enough to encourage growth can add weeks or months to the fresh growing season in northern areas, thus cutting down on the season when nothing can grow.

Simple, effective, low tech storage solutions (think root cellaring but on a barn level) allow growers to sell root vegetables, cabbages and other long storage vegetables as well as some fruits like apples as "fresh" produce. Sure, they're not as fresh as straight from the field but they're at least as fresh as the ones sitting in the supermarket.

Then there are farm products, which include jams, sauces, pickles, cheeses, meat, etc.

Indoor winter markets are taking off in colder northeastern areas. The above describes some of the fresh items and products my friends are finding in such markets in New England.