Do you work over 12 hours per day on your farm? If you don’t and you have spare time, there are endless options to diversify and add something small to your portfolio of crops.  It may be for your own consumption, or something special you can use as gifts, or you can even earn extra income.  Recently, I came across one such crop, and frankly speaking, I paid attention only through my ignorance.  I had the perception that sponges only grow in the sea.  And I was wrong.  It’s okay not to know everything, as long as you try to learn [...]

Once again, we turn to the challenges facing farmers. We have already discussed: How to increase yield per acre?  How do I reduce waste and take quality to the next level? What choices do we make in terms of mechanization? How do I keep my costs as low as possible? How do I cope with weather extremes?  This is the last post in this series, and we will be discussing a challenge that depends on everything we have discussed in the previous 5 installments.  The last challenge Hope mentioned is; How do I stay flexible?  This is a very important question, and one many ignore.  It is [...]

Once again, we turn to the challenges facing farmers. We have already discussed: How to increase yield per acre?  How do I reduce waste and take quality to the next level? What choices do we make in terms of mechanization? How do I keep my costs as low as possible? Now we will be addressing a challenge that is out of our control.  The weather.  How do we control something uncontrollable?  Well, the short answer is; We don’t!  We cannot control the weather, but while we cannot control it, we can prepare for it.  Your preparation will be different depending on your location.  You will [...]

Historically Cacao is one of the most important cash crops in the world.  At times it was valued so much that it was used as a currency by itself. The Cacao Tree originates from the Amazone basin, which now is Brazil, and evidence shows that humans were consuming the plant over 5,000 years ago.  From there the Cacao Tree was introduced to Central America, Mexico, and Guatemala, by the Olmecs a few hundred years later, and 4,000 years ago it was being consumed by pre-Hispanic cultures in religious ceremonies.      In addition to using cacao in rituals, the Mayans used the cocoa bean, [...]