This tool aids gardeners in working with a calendar and knowing the planting dates for various crops. A large format (3’x 4’), laminated 2-month blank calendar is used (purchased from office supply store). Throughout the season, the months and dates are filled in with whiteboard marker. Laminated pieces are taped onto the calendar to show last and first frost dates, last and first dates to plant different crops, last dates to plant winter cover crops, etc.

This Bed Planning tool is used to assist farmers in knowing which crops to plant in each bed and when to plant them. Each bed marker is filled out either by staff ahead of time, or by farmers in a class session using their crop calendars and crop rotation plot maps. The bed markers are then placed in each bed at the farm. This tool was developed to increase farmer independence through simple tools, as farmers were not consulting their notebooks weekly and/or had difficulty reading their crop calendars throughout the season. You can add cover crop rotations, succession planting, and multiseason planting. Using these tools allows farmers to quickly look at the upcoming dates, prepare their beds, and plant their seeds in the right bed and at the right time. They are laminated and tape is used for writing in permanent marker (on top of tape), so that they can be recycled and used year after year.

This guide is an introduction to reporting farm income for taxes. This lesson can be used as part of the larger Financial Literacy curriculum developed by All Farmers, or it can be done independently. While this lesson was designed to be two hours long, it can be done in two one-hour sessions, or activities can be used independently to suit programmatic needs. This teaching resource was developed by All Farmers in CT River Valley, MA in partnership with the Institute for Social and Economic Development (ISED Solutions). Refugee farmer training programs across the country provided feedback on this lesson, which is now integrated throughout the guide.

This is a one-hour reflection-based, hands-on workshop where most of the farmers’ learning will take place in pairs and in-response to reflection questions. This user’s guide will help trainers to lead this reflection session and how to use the reflection worksheet and PowerPoint. Cash flow is an important but sometimesdifficult concept, and is the primary focus of this lesson. This module is the last core module of the Financial Literacy curriculum, though you may choose to add an optional session on farm financing options. This teaching resource was developed by All Farmers in CT River Valley, MA in partnership with the Institute for Social and Economic Development (ISED Solutions). Refugee farmer training programs across the country provided feedback on this lesson, which is now integrated throughout the guide.

This user’s guide will prepare trainers to teach farmers new ways of considering financial decisions. This lesson focuses specifically on maximizing profit by changing how farmers think about income and expense decisions. Farmers can also (optionally) learn about enterprise budgets. This lesson should ideally be used as part of the financial literacy curriculum. This teaching resource was developed by All Farmers in CT River Valley, MA in partnership with the Institute for Social and Economic Development (ISED Solutions). Refugee farmer training programs across the country provided feedback on this lesson, which is now integrated throughout the guide.

This user’s guide will prepare trainers to teach farmers the foundations of budgeting and record-keeping. This is the foundation module to other financial literacy modules. You will start by teaching concepts in a classroom setting, then reinforce concepts and skills throughout the season. The farm records here are set-up to match categories for Federal taxes (taught through the Farm Taxes module). This teaching resource was developed by All Farmers in CT River Valley, MA in partnership with the Institute for Social and Economic Development (ISED Solutions). Refugee farmer training programs across the country provided feedback on this lesson, which is now integrated throughout the guide.

Using this guide, farmers will learn about weeds, why it is important to manage them, and about different tools, techniques, and approaches for weed management they can use in their fields. They also review the effect of tilling on soil health. This teaching resource was developed by Global Gardens in Boise, Idaho in partnership with the Institute for Social and Economic Development (ISED Solutions). Refugee farmer training programs across the country provided feedback on this lesson, which is now integrated throughout the guide.

This guide will help you use the ‘Income and Expenses Tool’ with farmers. The tool is an Excel spreadsheet, intended to be used one-on-one with a farmer and a program staff person. This tool can be used after a farmer has completed at least one selling season, or it can be used to make an estimated budget for the upcoming year. This teaching resource was developed by Global Gardens in Boise, Idaho in partnership with the Institute for Social and Economic Development (ISED Solutions). Refugee farmer training programs across the country provided feedback on this lesson, which is now integrated throughout the guide.

Global Growers developed a series of resources related to providing technical assistance to farmers with previous experience in commercial agriculture. Our technical assistance process begins with the Wholesale Readiness Assessment Tool. After the tool is implemented, theservice provider creates an individualized education plan (IEP) together with the farmer to map learning objectives. As we began to identify individual farmers’ learning goals, we started to create one-pager information sheets on market-readiness themes. The goal of the process and approach is to be learner-centered, rather than content-driven. While content is available, it is shared based on readiness and willingness of the learner to engage based on individual objectives identified.

This workshop gives the trainer an opportunity to explain what a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) is and walks through an SOP for when to wash your hands, how to wash your hands, and what produce to wash. It also introduces some common vocabulary around the wash station so that farmers and trainers can start to use the same language. The workshop goes on to set up a common harvest and post-harvest handling SOP for greens and for roots, which then can be hung up in the wash station to remind farmers of the proper SOP to follow.