Easy Farming

Easy Farming

Overview:
Cucumbers, Latin name Cucumis sativus, are a plant that grows along vines and thus are efficient in their use of space since they can be grown on a trellis. Slicing cucumbers are used raw or cooked in recipes (but mostly raw), while pickling cucumbers have a rougher, bumpy skin and are pickled in brine or in vinegar and then canned.

Planting Time:
Ideally, start cucumber seeds indoors 3 weeks before the planting date. Bottom heat of about 70 degrees F will help cucumbers thrive. You can also direct seed them in the garden no earlier than 2 weeks after the last frost. This is also when you should transplant any indoor starts. Cucumbers are very susceptible to frost damage, so don't get overeager and seed or transplant outdoors too soon.
Spacing:
Sow seeds in rows 6 to 10 inches apart. Plant seeds one inch deep. If transplanting seedlings, plant them roughly 12 inches apart.
Growing Notes:

(AP) -- White radishes are taking root on Tony Luthman's farm, the start of what he hopes will create a welcome mat for the corn he plants in the spring.
With taproots that can grow several feet deep, the carrot-shaped tillage or forage radishes bore holes into the ground, loosening the soil. The radishes capture, store and then release nutrients back into the soil, so they also can reduce the need for fertilizer in the spring.
"Some of our ground around here is kind of a tight clay," Luthman said as he displayed radishes on a bench at his western Ohio farm. "I'm hoping that's where these will come in."

Planting tillage radishes began to take hold a few years ago and appears to be growing in popularity. Researchers recently identified the radishes as a good way to prepare soil for planting, as their main roots are larger than the roots of other fall cover crops such as rye and clover.

The apricot is a small tree, 8–12 m (26–39 ft) tall, with a trunk up to 40 cm (16 in) in diameter and a dense, spreading canopy. The leaves are ovate, 5–9 cm (2.0–3.5 in) long and 4–8 cm (1.6–3.1 in) wide, with a rounded base, a pointed tip and a finely serrated margin. The flowers are 2–4.5 cm (0.8–1.8 in) in diameter, with five white to pinkish petals; they are produced singly or in pairs in early spring before the leaves. The fruit is a drupe similar to a small peach, 1.5–2.5 cm (0.6–1.0 in) diameter (larger in some modern cultivars), from yellow to orange, often tinged red on the side most exposed to the sun; its surface can be smooth (botanically described as: glabrous) or velvety with very short hairs (botanically: pubescent). The flesh is usually firm and not very juicy. Its taste can range from sweet to tart. The single seed is enclosed in a hard, stony shell, often called a "stone", with a grainy, smooth texture except for three ridges running down one side.[2][3]

The pulp and paper industry comprises companies that use wood as raw material and produce pulp, paper, board and other cellulose-based products.
The industry is dominated by North American (United States and Canada), northern European (Finland, Sweden, and North-West Russia) and East Asian countries (such as East Siberian Russia, China, Japan, and South Korea). Australasia and Brazil also have significant pulp and paper enterprises. The United States had been the world's leading producer of paper until it was overtaken by China in 2009.[1]

Introduction
Broccoli has been grown in Europe for centuries, but has only been grown in the United States since 1925. Although California is the major producing state, broccoli it is grown in nearly every state. Over the last 35 years, per person consumption of fresh broccoli has increased from 1.4 pounds in 1980 to 6.7 pounds in 2014. It is now the 11th most consumed fresh vegetable. Consumption of frozen broccoli also increased, but at a slower rate from 1.5 pounds to 2.6 pounds within the same period. (ERS, Yearbook 2014). Its popularity may be due to its health-related issues and convenience. It ranks among the top 20 foods in regards to ANDI score (Aggregate Nutrient Density Index), which measures vitamin, mineral and phytonutrient content in relation to caloric content. One cup of broccoli provides over 100% of our daily requirement for vitamins C and K and is also a good source of fiber, vitamin A, folate and potassium.
Marketing

Agriculture is the raising of domesticated animals and the planting, cultivation, and preservation of crops. Agriculture entails selective breeding of organisms with combinations of inherited characteristics that benefit humans (and not necessarily the organisms themselves), and so these practices have over time greatly influenced the course of evolution of these animals. Agriculture arose thousands of years ago in different parts of the world. The steps were similar in different places, but the types of organisms that were raised or cultivated differed. Underlying all of agriculture is human control of the environment.

From Hunting and Gathering to Intentional Intervention

Pumpkins are grown mainly in northern Victoria, with smaller plantings in the southern vegetable growing districts. Pumpkins are summer-growing annuals and will not tolerate frost.
Soils
Pumpkins may be grown on a wide range of soil types providing the soil is free-draining. They are tolerant of fairly acid conditions and liming should not be necessary unless the pH is less than 5.5.
Well-drained soils that warm rapidly in spring are ideal for the production of the quick-maturing pumpkins of the Windsor Black and Butternut types. Friable loams with an abundance of organic matter and the capacity to retain moisture are ideal.
Soil preparation
Prepare a deep, friable seedbed. Early soil preparation will allow time for cultivations to help eliminate weeds.
Planting times

Seed potato is usually the most expensive input to potato cultivation, accounting for from 30 to 50 percent of production costs. In areas of developing countries where no formal seed supply system exists, farmers have devised their own ad hocmethod for selecting seed tubers: they sell the largest potatoes for cash, eat the medium-sized ones at home, and keep the smallest as future planting material.

Potato is grown in more than 100 countries, under temperate, subtropical and tropical conditions. It is essentially a "cool weather crop", with temperature being the main limiting factor on production: tuber growth is sharply inhibited in temperatures below 10°C (50°F) and above 30°C (86°F), while optimum yields are obtained where mean daily temperatures are in the 18 to 20°C (64 to 68°F) range.

Before Agriculture
Before agriculture, people lived by hunting wild animals and gathering edible plants. When the herds were plentiful and the plants flourishing, life was good. But, when the herds migrated elsewhere, people had to follow them and often discover a whole new set of plants to supplement their diet.
Hunters eventually realized that their prey was much easier to kill if it were walled up in a box canyon. Better yet, they could capture the prey and keep it in a cave for future use. Archaeological finds show that early humans imprisoned giant ground sloth's in this way. Entrapment, however, was a temporary measure. Not thinking of the future, hungry humans gorged themselves, then, when the sloths had all been eaten, they sought out more sloths. maintaining a herd by breeding and nurturing wasn't yet practiced.

The European recycling rate for paper reached 72% in 2014 - that amounts to 2 tonnes of paper being recycled every second!
European Declaration on Paper Recycling, Monitoring Report 2014
The European paper industry is a leading recycler and, with local collecting systems improving, will increase its recycling rates even further.
In some regions, recycling rates range from 70-75%, which is likely the practical maximum recycling rate. Some paper products cannot be recovered for recycling because they are kept for long periods of time (books) or archived (records); others are destroyed or contaminated when used (e.g. tissue and hygienic paper).
5

50 percent of the red onions in Kenya are imported from Tanzania, as indicated by Food and Agriculture Organisation's (FAO) 2014 report. Kenyan Farmers have been doing their best to address the demand and close the gap, but there is still more supply to be achieved. This makes the Red Bulb Onion a very attractive commercial investment for the Kenyan market at the moment, since local production is not enough.

Major types of onions farmed in Kenya are bulb onions and spring onions. The best areas suited for farming being Karatina, Oloitoktok, Naivasha, Kieni, Emali and Mai Mahiu.

Foreword

History
Potatoes are the leading vegetable crop in the United States (not including sweet potatoes), contributing about 15 percent of farm sales receipts for vegetables. Over 50 percent of potato sales are to processors for french fries, chips, dehydrated potatoes, and other potato products; the remainder goes to the fresh market. Although potatoes are grown year round, the fall crop comprises roughly 90 percent of potato production.

Potatoes are a tuberous crop grown from the perennial plant Solanum tuberosum. Potato tubers are specialized stems of the potato plant that form just under the soil surface. Potato plants sprout from cut portions of whole potatoes (usually certified seed potatoes) commonly referred to as seed pieces or potato seed. The crop grows in various climates and soil types, is storable, and provides consumers with a relatively inexpensive source of calories. Potatoes are the fourth-most-consumed food crop in the world, after rice, wheat, and corn.

Cucumbers lend themselves well to small-scale and part-time farming operations. Multiple markets exist for growers with fewer than 5 acres, and many field operations, such as land preparation, planting, and harvesting, can be custom hired.
Contents
1. Marketing
2. Site Selection
3. Pollination
4. Pest Management
5. Harvest and Storage
6. Environmental Regulations
7. Risk Management
8. Good Agricultural Practices and Good Handling Practices
9. Sample Budget
 Sample Budget Worksheet
 Initial resource requirements
10. For More Information
 Publications
11. Authors
12. Contact Information