This module provides farmers with a foundational understanding of mixing cover crops and provides an overview of a cover crop mix calculator tool, which can help farmers in understanding how much to seed.

Trainers can use this teaching module to help farmers, either as a group or one-on-one, make a plan for seeding cover crops in their field, by selecting the best cover crop for their needs and determining the right amount of cover crop seeds to purchase and plant.

This guide can be used to assist trainers who want to make good farm recordkeeping practices accessible to farmers with limited English and/or low literacy skills. It covers the reasons for and benefits of keeping good records for harvest and post-harvest activities, including compliance with food safety requirements. It explains what kinds of information need to be recorded and provides recommendations for when and how to collect that information. Tools which allow farmers with low-literacy skills to keep good records of on-farm activities are provided. This teaching resource was developed by Craig Demi of the Southside Community Land Trust in Providence, RI in partnership with the Institute for Social and Economic Development (ISED Solutions). 

This guide can be used to assist trainers who want to make good farm record keeping practices accessible to farmers with limited English or low-literacy skills. It covers the reasons and benefits of keeping good records for planning and planting, including compliance with food safety requirements. It explains what kinds of information need to be recorded and provides recommendations for when and how to collect that information. Tools which allow farmers with low-literacy skills to keep good records of on-farm activities are provided. This teaching resource was developed by Craig Demi of the Southside Community Land Trust in Providence, RI in partnership with the Institute for Social and Economic Development (ISED Solutions).

This guide can be used by trainers who want to assist pre-literate and/or English-as a second language-speaking farmers with including cover crops in vegetable production and other crop rotation schedules. It leads farmers through the process of sorting through the characteristics of specific cover crops to select the best one or mix of cover crops to meet their goals. It introduces farmers to a series of questions that they can answer throughout the growing season to evaluate the performance of the cover crops they have planted. Worksheets are provided so that trainers can assist farmers with this evaluation and with recording the results. Some data is specific to the Southeast region of the United States, but links to resources where data appropriate to other regions can be accessed are provided.This teaching resource was developed by Lauren Bailey of The Nashville Food Project in Nashville, TN in partnership with the Institute for Social and Economic Development (ISED Solutions).

This guide can be used by trainers who want to assist pre-literate and/or English- as a second language-speaking farmers with including cover crops in vegetable production and other crop rotation schedules. It covers three major types of cover crops (mustards, legumes, and ‘other’), and the potential benefits and costs of cover crops. It leads farmers through the process of identifying what they want to accomplish via cover cropping, assists them with identifying opportunities within their production schedule for insertion of cover crops, and assists farmers with selecting the cover crop or mixture of cover crops which best match their needs and goals. Some data is specific to the Southeast region of the United States, but links to resources where data appropriate to other regions can be accessed are provided. This teaching resource was developed by Lauren Bailey of The Nashville Food Project in Nashville, TN in partnership with the Institute for Social and Economic Development (ISED Solutions). 

This series of six workshops covers a range of topics related to crop planning. Farmers will be introduced to the concepts of harvest windows, succession planting, and days to maturity. Multiple sessions help farmers learn how to use calendars and tables to plan their growing season. One session teaches participants how to handle orders from customers and restaurants, and plan cropping and harvest schedules accordingly. Most of the workshops are appropriate for beginning- to intermediate-level farmers.