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Community supported agriculture (CSA) is an alternative model of farming in which consumers become “members” of a farm, by contract, to receive a share of the harvest. Case study interviews were used to ascertain CSA grower perspectives, as indicated by sources of information and motivations. Like most organic growers, but unlike most conventional growers, few CSA growers have family background in agriculture. Common sources of information and strong informal communication were observed among CSA growers. Primary information sources include other growers, printed material, and conferences. Conventional sources of information used in agriculture, i.e., the cooperative extension system and formal agricultural education, appear to be underutilized and are ranked lowest in importance by CSA growers. CSA growers are motivated in their agricultural endeavors by multiple goals: marketing, education, community, and environment. Marketing was the most frequently cited primary goal, followed by education of consumers. For many CSA growers, the marketing motive is not solely monetary, but also philosophical, as a vehicle for achieving right livelihood and building an associative economy that redefines society's relationships to food and land.
Horticultural activities in Florida have been chronicled in many sources, including the technical literature and the popular press. One often-overlooked source is the visual images on postcards that were sold in Florida in the early years of the 20th century. Many such cards have images featuring scenes of landscape horticulture, olericulture and pomology. While dates of postmarks may not be accurate reflections of publication dates, deltiology, the study of postcards, can involve the analysis of pigments, rag content of card stock, and other measurable parameters to determine the age of particular images. The introduction, development, ascendancy and sometimes decline of certain horticultural crops in Florida are reflected in postcard images taken between the years 1908-1950. Representative images are shown of past and present plants that have been important in Florida horticulture.
Although composting has been practiced for thousands of years, it was not until the 20th century that controlled scientific studies were published illustrating the benefits of compost use in crop production. These studies helped to spur increased interest in composting and compost use, and gave way to the development of commercial composting facilities that supply finished compost products to horticultural producers. Increasing composting activity and compost use encouraged the formation in the late 20th century of trade organizations, such as the U.S. Composting Council and similar organizations in other countries, that support research and applications work to determine ways to improve quality control of commercial compost products.