From the Field
The Fincabout Blog
Stories from the soil, science behind the seeds, and hard-won wisdom from farmers who've been there. Grab your coffee and dig in.
Farmers Market Booth Setup Checklist for Produce Growers
A good farmers market booth does more than look pretty. This practical guide covers the gear, layout, displays, pricing, food safety habits, and market-day review steps that help produce growers sell with less stress.
Soil Moisture Sensors for Irrigation: Choose, Place, Use
Soil moisture sensors can take the guesswork out of irrigation, but only if you choose the right type, place them well, and read them in context. Here is a practical guide for farms, gardens, orchards, and homesteads that want better water decisions without drowning in data.
Small Farm Wash-Pack Station Design: Cleaner Produce, Faster Harvests, and Better Food Safety
A good wash-pack station turns harvest chaos into a steady, clean, repeatable routine. This guide walks through location, workflow, equipment, water safety, drainage, cleanup, and practical layouts for farms of different sizes.
On-Farm Composting: Turn Manure and Crop Waste into Fertility
On-farm composting turns manure, bedding, spoiled hay, leaves, and crop waste into a steady source of organic matter. Done well, it improves soil life, reduces waste headaches, and helps you keep more fertility cycling on the farm.
Farm Drainage Basics: Fix Wet Fields and Muddy Lanes
Poor drainage quietly steals yield, damages soil structure, and turns simple chores into mud wrestling. This practical guide shows how to read water on your land, choose surface or subsurface fixes, and map drainage into your farm layout before problems grow.
Farm Road Design: Durable Access Roads and Lanes
This farm road design guide helps you plan durable access for equipment, livestock, deliveries, and emergency vehicles. Build routes around drainage, turning space, gates, surface choice, and maintenance before muddy shortcuts become permanent.
Small Farm Biosecurity Plan: Quarantine Basics
A practical biosecurity plan does not have to be fancy or expensive. With a few clear rules for quarantine, visitors, chores, wildlife, and cleaning, small farms can help reduce the chance of disease reaching their animals.
How to Build a Practical Farm Safety Plan That Works
A practical farm safety plan helps protect people, animals, equipment, and the future of the farm. This guide walks you through hazard mapping, risk ranking, equipment rules, livestock handling, chemical storage, visitor safety, and emergency steps you can put to work this week.
High Tunnel vs Greenhouse: Which Fits Your Farm?
High tunnels and greenhouses both extend the growing season, but they differ in cost, labor, permits, climate control, and crop fit. This guide gives you a practical side-by-side comparison, worksheets, and maintenance tasks to help choose the right structure for your farm.
Crop Rotation Planning: How to Build a Rotation That Improves Soil and Reduces Pest Pressure
Good crop rotation planning is less about making a perfect chart and more about giving soil, pests, and plant families enough time and variety to stay in balance. This guide walks through practical rotation models for raised beds, market gardens, and field blocks, with cover crops and recordkeeping built in.
Small Farm Cold Storage: Keep Produce Fresh After Harvest
Good cold storage turns harvest-day quality into market-day quality. This practical guide covers crop storage needs, cooler sizing, wash-pack flow, food safety, monitoring, energy planning, and budgeting for small farm cold storage.
Farm Fencing Guide: Materials, Layouts, and Livestock Tips
A practical farm fencing guide for matching fence materials and layouts to cattle, sheep, goats, pigs, horses, poultry, alpacas, and guardian animals. Plan perimeter fences, cross-fencing, gates, water access, predator protection, and a realistic budget before animals arrive.