Jaune Flamme tomato. It's a compact plant, and produces a goodly amount of nice sized plum tomatoes that are tasty fresh, sauced, canned, and dehydrated. The color is absolutely lovely too, a nice lively golden orange. High Mowing carries it- in fact, I just ordered a packet of it a couple days ago since I was out on it, and want to compare it against this years "black season" since it was so popular with the family the "orange season" and my family griped that I didn't grow it last year during my "white season" and container testing.

IMO, Top Crop is a better bush bean than Provider- or at least for me it is. Better producer and more forgiving on being late to pick sometimes. I've never grown pole beans for green beans- only done pole for drying beans. This year I'm trying out asparagus beans for fresh pole eating.

Weston products. com manual sauce maker $54.00 raw tomatoes go in juice and skins are separated in 1 step. it will take as long to setup and cleanup as it does to process a 5 gal bucket of tomatoes. ours is 5 or 6 years old with no problems. best $54 ever spent.

If you ask 50 people the best green beans you will get 48 answers. i plant contender, blue lake 274 and provider because of differing maturity dates. all are good.

Good variety for sauce - as is often discussed on the Tomato forum here, the best sauce comes from a variety of different varieties and not paste types. Their only advantage is in the cooking time required, not the flavor.

Beans - my personal favorite - for many others too based on the many discussions here about bean varieties - is Fortex (pole). But do note that it is the frequency and time of harvesting time that determines the size and shape of any variety. Any variety becomes "large and beefy" when left on the vine too long.

The "organic" and "non-GMO" labels are so mis-leading when it comes to buying seeds that they are essentially pointless and just a cost/marketing ploy. All untreated seeds are organic and only corn seed has any GMO component to it.

Dave

For fresh pole beans I like Rattlesnake- they're attractive but must be picked in a timely matter. If your looking for a thin flavorful wax bean try Rocdor- again must be picked in a timely matter otherwise they will get tough. For bush beans I usually go with Blue Lake 274.

Dave your point about GMO and organic is right on with a couple of corrections. Soybeans and cotton are available as GMO. the small amount of vegetable seeds is too small of a market to justify the expense of genetic modification. the anti Monsanto people make us believe every thing is GMO and every seed catalog I have received has a statement about GMO. It is a marketing tool they use effectively because people don't want to know the facts about GMO.

I'll have to respectfully disagree with the organic/GMO statement; and it's not only about that, it's about supporting smaller businesses that I know have quality processes. I don't trust corporate conglomerates.

thank you all for the suggestions, I will look into these varieties.

Another vote for Rattlesnake beans. When eaten young and raw they are crisp, juicy, and have a nice sweetness to them.

Organic seeds are collected from plants that were grown organically themselves. I wouldn't say that's entirely a marketing ploy.

Rodney

jnjfarm, is THIS the strainer that you were referring to? I found it via the Weston products site.

"Organic seeds are collected from plants that were grown organically themselves. I wouldn't say that's entirely a marketing ploy."

That should be the case Rodney but often isn't the case. Especially so given that the majority of vendors all buy their seeds from the same few sources and the seeds themselves contain no components of any non-organic treatments that may have been used on the plants that produced them. There is no Miracle Grow contained within the seeds for example.

"I'll have to respectfully disagree with the organic/GMO statement;"

That's fine, your choice. But your lack of trust for corporate conglomerates in no way supports the false claims often made that GMO contaminated seeds (other than those listed above - corn, soybean, cotton, and cannola) are in fact available to the home gardener or sold by any of the seed companies that do not use such misleading scare tactics to sell their seeds.

Supporting the small business vendors is great when done for correct and fair reasons rather than out of some under-informed and unsubstantiated fears.

Dave

I'd have to suspect that seeds contain as much non-organic residue as do market shelves that are used to display organic produce. You think they wash down those shelves with (organic!) soap and water before putting that organic produce out on display? Why, that organic produce probably is sold with a thin film of non-organic residue on it! Well, I suppose they could de-unorganify the shelves, and carefully cover the produce with organic compliant tarps to keep unorganic dust from settling on it, but at some point it gets a bit silly.

For tomatoes, Amish Paste is a good one.

For Pole Beans, I really like Cherokee Trail of Tears which taste similar to Provider (bush beans). I love Provider and, as Dave says, they do have to be picked when they are the right size. A more forgiving pole bean is Super Marconi, but they are large flat beans that never seem to get stringy.

Linda

" Looking to see if you all have any suggestions on a good tomato variety for sauce (san marzano?)"

There are several strains of San Marzano in circulation, I would recommend San Marzano Redorta. Large (6-8 ounces), elongated, few seeds, good flavor raw or processed for sauce. It is fairly late, though... so if that is an issue, the generic San Marzano (which is more like Roma in size & shape) ripens a little earlier.

If you would like to try a more richly flavored sauce, I have two heirloom "black" tomatoes (they really ripen to chocolate brown). Black Pepper resembles San Marzano Redorta in size & shape. Snickers has an unusual ruffled pear shape, and is one of the most productive paste tomatoes I've grown. Both are probably too strongly flavored for fresh eating, but outstanding for cooking or sauce. If you would like to try either of them, send me a PM.

"I like beans that stay a little more thin and tender."

You might want to try the "filet" style beans, which are bred for those qualities. Fortex and Emerite are two pole varieties, they are exceptionally slow to develop fiber, even when fairly large... I think you would be very happy with either of them. Both are sweet (Fortex is outstanding eaten raw), very firm, and freeze well; for canning, Emerite is one of the best.

I concur with those who have stated that seed for genetically engineered
vegetables (GMO's) is not an issue - at present. GM seed is tightly
controlled, and it is doubtful that it will ever be (knowingly) released
for use by gardeners. The only issue likely to be encountered by
gardeners would be with sweet corn, where regardless of the purity of
the purchased seed, a nearby field of GM corn might pollinate (and
contaminate) the corn in the garden.

While I would not discourage the use of organically certified seed, it is really only important if being used to grow organic crops commercially. Provided that the seed is untreated, there should be no difference in how the parent plants were grown... and if you save your own seed, the next generation will be organic. However, for those who wish to purchase organic seed, there are more companies offering it than there once were. SSE carries quite a bit of certified organic seed, as do a number of heirloom seed companies.

UPDATE: I think I have decided on the Fortex beans and Opalka tomato... and in doing more research I found the prevailing opinion on making good sauce is to mix varieties. So what would you suggest to mix with my Opalka that is also good for eating?

How many plants do you have room for? Mix as many different hearts with it and a couple of beefsteak types as you have room for. Kosovo and Amish Paste are both popular oxhearts. My personal favorite is Bull's Heart. As for Beefsteaks, the choice are essentially unlimited given the thousands of varieties available. Check out the many 'best' and 'favorite' discussions over on the Growing Tomatoes forum here.

Dave

mm, Bull's Heart looks fantastic! I had to google what oxheart is, because I didn't know :)

I find the pole beans to make more sense in my small garden of raised beds. Bush beans just take up too much real estate as I learned when I tried ‘Provider’ and ‘Blue Lake’ last year. They were good performing and tasting beans, but I’m moving them into the perennial / annual bed this year and sticking to pole beans in the vegetable beds. I’ve liked the Trionfo Violetta which is a purple pole bean. It turns green when you cook it and the purple color seems to discourage pests too.

On the GMO - issue. I really don’t understand why there is an issue. If you believe that anyone in the industry is making too big a deal out of identifying their seeds as non GMO, then does that mean that you support GMO seeds?

It may well be that the only seed that is currently being genetically modified, are corn and soybeans and cotton, but, I’m happy to identify a seed company that is aware of the dangers of GMO and are making it their business to make sure they are informed and on top of it and checking for it. I want to buy from a company that takes the purity of the seed seriously.

As far as Organic seeds - I will buy Organic seeds over non organic seeds every time I have the opportunity to. I check out the suppliers that I use and I trust them to offer me seeds from plants that have been organically grown. I have grown organically for over 30 years and I would love to see the majority of growers using organic methods and materials. The quickest way to do that, from my point of view, is to support organic growers and suppliers. FEDCO is an organic cooperative whose OG seeds are harvested from organically grown plants.

Fedco prices are fairly reasonable and people can get an additional discount by doing a group buy. Prairiemoon2, have you ever attended Maine's Common Ground Fair that's held near the end of September? It's just amazing. We could only go for one day but attended as many workshops as we could. There are some very good farmers markets in New England. Norwich VT is one of my favorites (also very near King Arthur Flour). When you see all the different varieties, I want to continue support for all the groups that make it possible. We have great supermarkets but, at least around here, choices are limited. I think health and safety are important but so is choice. Way back I remember growing sugar snaps and pea pods before they were ever sold in markets. Well, back then, there weren't any farmers markets. BTW I like buying things at farmers markets to taste test what I might grow the next year. That is how I chose the melon variety I want to try.

Defrost, no, I haven't attended, but it sounds great. Nice that it is not held during the growing season. It sounds like a good trip and educational too. I'll have to put that on my calendar. I've tried a few Farmer's Markets locally and there has been very little organic produce, so, I haven't attended a lot. I wish there were more.

If you decide to go, Unity is pretty much in the middle of nowhere. The first time we went, we stayed at a motel in Lincolnville. Go early in the day because traffic will be extremely heavy. Their volunteers do a terrific job. It was pretty crowded on a Friday. Just need to be in good shape for walking the grounds. Only organic food can be sold. You won't see any soda cans. The grounds are immaculate because everyone is recycling. No midway but a very interesting children's play area. Great gardening display areas.

" If you believe that anyone in the industry is making too big a deal out of identifying their seeds as non GMO, then does that mean that you support GMO seeds?"

No. It does not mean that in any way and would be illogical to assume otherwise.

It just means you are well-informed on the issue and refuse to buy into the scare marketing tactics those seed vendors are using to mis-lead the public, increase their market share, and charge higher prices for the exact same seed sold elsewhere.

With the exception of the crops mentioned you can buy your seeds from any seed vendor and be assured you are not getting GMO seeds since they don't exist anyway.

Dave

You're right Dave - it would not be a good idea to assume, but clearly, I asked the question, if that was the reason to find a problem with vendors who identify their seed as non GMO. You categorize it as a 'scare tactic' and I would say that is an assumption on your part. You have no idea what the motivation is for any seed company to be sure to indicate that their seed is not GMO. Or why one company's seed is higher priced than another company. And since so many seed companies now indicate Non GMO on their seed packets, then I don't see the advantage.

But, I would be interested in hearing your answer to the question - do you support GMO seeds and do you have any concerns about them?

No I do not support GMO seeds but I also have no concerns about them since I don't grow any of the few GMO modified crops except corn.

However as an organic commercial grower I have subscriptions to many of the professional publications in the industry. The motivations behind the "we don't sell GMO seeds" marketing tactic used by those who sell seeds to home gardeners is well known and well documented in the commercial side of the industry (where such tactics are not allowed).

" since so many seed companies now indicate Non GMO on their seed packets"

Actually it is a very small number of seed suppliers who do so, primarily only those who focus on so-called "organic" seeds.

Dave

I'm glad to know that you are not a supporter of GMO seeds. And that you are an organic grower. We seem to be on the same page in that regard.

A very small number of seed suppliers who address GMO?

Park Seed

Botanical Interests

FEDCO

Pinetree Seeds

Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds

Seeds of Change

High Mowing Seeds

Southern Exposure

Renee’s Garden Seeds

Peaceful Valley

Johnny’s Seeds

Abundant Life Seeds

Territorial Seeds

That's what turned up in a 10 minute internet search, of companies who do.

Dave, I don't want to fight with you about this. As a home gardener and a consumer, I do understand that at the present time, only corn, soy and cotton have been genetically modified, but I also know that if Monsanto had their way, there would be nothing but GMO seed and they would be the only company selling it. Monsanto does not value unadulterated seed. They've already done damage and are being sued for contaminating the crops of neighboring growers. I don't want to buy any seed from Monsanto. Or any of the numerous companies that they have already bought up. I want to do business with companies who feel the same way I do about it. Whose intent is to preserve unadulterated seeds.

And I want to purchase untreated, organic seeds. Seeds that are collected from plants that have been organically grown by growers whose passion is to grow organically without compromise. And how will I find those seeds if seed companies don't provide me with that information?

I hope that settles the issue for you.

I might be middle of the path. If I have the option, such as with Fedco seeds, I go for the less expensive conventional seed. I like dealing with a small company. I do not agree with Monsanto's tactics to patent seed and not allow seed saving. I understand that my local grocery store cannot possibly offer a huge variety of produce but I also appreciate the willingness of small growers to try a variety of things and sell at farmers markets. Some of what we do not see at grocery stores is varieties that don't stand up to commercial picking and shipping. They don't have a good shelf life or it's just not a popular item. I'm glad I can grow some of our own vegetables so that I have a choice in what I think is the tastiest and freshest.

The cost of developing GMO seeds is a detriment to their production. Why? Because demand does not outweigh costs.

Shopping at places which guarantee non-GMO seeds sends a signal to the economic marketplace that demand will NEVER make GMO seed production a profitable business.

If we are neglectful of these matters, then just like any 'bad' product, you can bet that it will soon be produced. Worse, under current political climates, were it not for these diligent brokers in the seed industry, there would be no labeling requirement.

Is it true that, at this time, gardeners should not be overly concerned with getting GMO seeds? Yes, Dave, et al, are correct.

Is it also true that when buyers purchase from diligent businesses advertising a non-GMO guarantee that they are sending clear signals to the marketplace? Yes. There is value to buying from such providers.

Organic seeds:

Is there a value to buying organic seed? I would say yes... and no lol. I doubt that any residue from non-organic practices will carry over in seeds. However, if anyone sees value in in making sure organic practices are followed, and that the production of seeds is beneficial to the environment, and want to spend their money to fund such future enterprises, then buying organic seeds has s a value.

Are GMO claims and organic guarantees just hype? Well, no... and yes. :-D. They do have a value, and by paying extra for such seeds, consumers do send an even more definitive message to the synthetic, or chem-agriculture community. However, any 'exorbitant' prices should be weighed against similar producers willing to state the guarantees without much higher prices.

Lastly, does producing organic seeds require more money or effort? Yes.

So, there is middle-ground between the 2 ideological camps, and certainly enough areas of agreement for us to understand one another.

Prairiemoon, I hope that's not an intentional straw man. If not, you should go back and re-read what you said that digdirt called "actually very small."

"Is it also true that when buyers purchase from diligent businesses
advertising a non-GMO guarantee that they are sending clear signals to
the marketplace? Yes. There is value to buying from such providers."

rgreen, I agree with you here as far as it goes, but I think your point only really applies to people buying seed to grow for themselves, which, of course, is a tiny percentage of what people eat, and infinitesimal if we're talking about grains and oilseeds and fiber plants and sugar, which is currently the overwhelming bulk of GMO's. When we consider those categories, the buyers of the seed (the farmers) are almost always held captive to a marketplace from which they're separated by multiple layers of processors and distributors. That incredibly apathetic and ignorant marketplace (particularly with regards to technical agricultural issues) is the real driver when it comes to GMO questions for the vast majority of crop acreage and seed companies (by which I mean the companies that are contracting with growers, not companies like Fedco that are predominantly re-selling whatever those other companies sell.)

Floyd, my exploration of the issue only involves seed companies from which the home, or (relatively) small marketplace gardener will garner seeds. Being the subject of this thread, that is a far as I am willing to explore the issue [I'm only so bored and interested lol.]

Yes, there are other considerations, especially for economies of scale, but as we agree... for the seed companies under consideration, and for the niche market to which gardeners belong, buying non-GMO and organics does send a message.

If there are 10 people wanting their backyard tomatoes to be GMO, and 10,000 not... well... let's see... 10 divided by itself, times the infinitesimal denominator...

RGreen - you make an excellent point. It is a message to the marketplace. What consumers buy shape what is offered. It has been a factor in the reason I will always try to purchase seeds from vendors who advertise their intention to never sell GMO seeds.

I wish consumers would react to many commercial practices that are unwanted in the way they are doing to GMO seeds and products. It’s called voting with your dollars.

I agree with the rest of your post too.

GMO claims and organic guarantees are communication between growers and consumers. I’m looking for them, not being manipulated by them.

Floyd - I had to look up ‘straw man’ to refresh my memory. I share my opinions straight up. Yes, the home gardener market for seeds, is small in comparison to commercial production, but, this is a forum for home gardeners and small market growers.

And I don’t agree that it only applies to people buying seed for themselves. Have you taken a look at supermarkets where you will also find proclamations that they won’t be selling GMO produced foods or at least labeling them? Grains, oilseeds, fiber plants, sugars….I'm also engaged in ferreting out products in these categories that are produced using GMOs. It doesn't begin and end with the seed I buy for the garden.

Yes, it’s a grass roots movement but it is growing. And you criticize the apathetic and ignorant marketplace, and when some growers and consumers want to attempt to educate the marketplace, and initiate change, you’re saying what? Don’t bother?

It's very hard to avoid GMOs in your day to day life. Take soy, corn and sugar beets, which are almost always from GMO seed. Almost all the gas sold in America has ethanol (from corn) in it. Most processed food contains GMOs, including Amino Acids, Aspartame, Ascorbic Acid, Sodium Ascorbate, Vitamin C, Citric Acid, Sodium Citrate, Flavorings (“natural” and “artificial”), High Fructose Corn Syrup, Hydrolyzed Vegetable Protein, Lactic Acid, Maltodextrins, Molasses, Monosodium Glutamate, Sucrose, Textured Vegetable Protein (TVP), Xanthan Gum, Vitamins, Yeast Products. Most meat and poultry sold in America comes from animals that consumed GMOs. Almost all pet foods contain corn or soy products or meat from animals fed GMO products. Tofu, soy milk and miso are made from GMO soy beans. Canola oil is made from GMO rapeseed. Most sugar comes from sugar beets that are 100% GMO.

Here are some tips on avoiding GMOs in your food: http://www.nongmoproject.org/2012/04/16/10-ways-to-spring-clean-gmos-out-of-your-home/

Ohiofem - Since I avoid processed foods for many reasons, that isn't an issue for me, except for the gasoline which I can't avoid. We make just about all of the food we eat. Make our own yogurt, our own soups, we rarely eat bread or baked goods, at Christmas we baked our own. We carefully select dairy and meats and eggs. We make our own salad dressings, we're not drinking soda, we stopped buying boxed cereals, corn is a rarity on our plates, we use honey in place of sugar, avoid all soy products, use olive oil and not canola oil, we make our dog's food from scratch and home made dog treats, etc. etc.

It's a lifestyle change that we've adopted for many reasons, not just GMOs, and it was gradual, but we're very used to it at this point and find many benefits that I can't imagine doing anything differently. It's really just a change of habits.

Thanks for the link, some good suggestions and reminders there.

Best tomato for sauce? Better Boys ! Great for eating too. After spending about a few years from 2011 to 2014 trying to find a good paste tomato for making sauce, they all either ended up too small and or tasteless so I reverted back to my old faithful better boys. And any extra excess beefsteaks I have aRound also go into the canned sauce

Lots of heirloom debate and non gmo debates. If you want true plants from both there are ways to collect and learn to collect your own seeds from your own garden :) . I guess all my marigolds, petunias, cosmos,. And delphiniums are as organic, non gmo, and heirlooms as they get. I haven't bought Any one of those flowers since 2006/2007 nor sprayed them with pesticides and have used seeds every year from all of them ever since year after year

I collect a lot of seed too, FBX. Last year, I grew Scarlet Runner Bean for the first time and we were eating the string beans I grew instead and so I didn't pick very many Scarlet Runner beans for the table. I ended up with 200 seeds that I collected from them. Very easy to do. I haven't been too good about collecting tomato seed, because I thought you have to ferment them first, but peppers, squash, herbs are easy. I'm going to get around to collecting tomato seed one of these years.

And thanks for the Better Boy suggestion, I keep saying I'm going to try that one, maybe I'll try it this year.

I tried collecting broccoli seeds this pat summer. I'm waiting to see how that pans out this sEason :)

FBX - I let some Bok Choy go to seed in the garden along with Dill and Cilantro, but I just let it do it's own thing. I hope you will post how it works out for you.

I curious to see how they do also. They were 2 "early dividend" plants but I also had Packman and Waltham 29s in the garden however the latter 2 never were given the chance to flower. I did successfully grow some leaf lettuce a couple years ago from seeds I had collected the previous season from a small row of mixed leaf lettuce varieties. . Some of it started to bolt before I could use it so I said oh well I will let it go to seed, collect them and see what happens.

Dill and cilantro have been self-seeding for me for years as well as calendula and even a Proven Winner alyssum. I had Gilfeather Turnip from VT (really a rutabaga) self seed. Bok choy is pretty good about self seeding. Also arugula. I had bok choy growing in my perennial bed from the compost I had added.

Defrost - in your vegetable beds, do you prepare in the fall for spring planting? I wonder, because IME if I prepare in the spring, that more or less cancels out the effect of self sowing. Most of the time, in my raised beds, I'm not turning over, but I do stick the pitch fork in all along the beds, and just lift a little to loosen it up. That way it doesn't disturb the surface or soil structure too much. This year, I have to dig some tree roots out of my bed though.

Prairiemoon,

It's easy to ferment tomato seeds. Please don't let fear of fermentation put you off! Here's a site that I grabbed off the net.

https://www.mastergardeners.org/pdf/import/SGM/files/Saving_Tomato_Seeds.pdf

You don't have to use half a tomato if you don't want to. I often scrape out just a few seeds and plonk them into a small glass with just a little water....

I hope this helps,

Linda

I have a little difficulty buying into the argument that the "We do not sell any GMO seeds" is truly a subliminal message to the corps that do the GMO work. Syntax or semantics? Perhaps. "Will not sell" disclaimer wouldn't mean the same thing as the "do not sell" claim they use. The latter implies that 1) the GMO seeds are available for sale which they are not, and 2) that any company that does not post that disclaimer is actually selling GMO seeds which they are not.

Dave

Thanks Labradors, I'm going to save that as a PDF on my desktop and try to save my own this year. I always mean to.

Prairiemoon, you caught me! No, I frequently do not work on the soil in the fall so yes, things can more readily self seed. I heavily mulched the garlic bed this fall after finding out that fall mulching kept the garlic patch almost weed free. I also put some effort into building a new lasagna bed and trying to clean up the mess in my high tunnel. I would make a lousy farmer. I don't get chores done when they should be. I wonder though, if you should still get some self seeing. Dill becomes a forest if I don't pull it out. But, the bok choy was in some compost so undoubtedly had been mixed and shoveled more than once.

I could have sworn I responded here… anyway….

Defrost - I think you are ahead of the game just by having a high tunnel. [g]

I always had a romantic notion about being a farmer, but, farming has to be really hard!

I love lasagna beds, I've tried it a couple of times with great results.

This coming spring, I'm going to have to dig out that bed that had the Bok Choy last year, so we'll see, but I probably won't get that much. I do get Cosmos reseeding in my front garden, despite the mulch. Maybe the seeds drop before I lay down the mulch?

Our neighbor down the road is a professional logger with all the equipment and, so he says, raises beef cattle as a hobby. He just bought another farm so has even more hayfields to tend never mind first cutting back encroaching forest and removing huge rocks. The property behind the old dairy barn is full of multiflora rose or similar bushy invasive. I'm not sure when he takes time off and know that he expects his adult son to work just as hard. Since he has about 120 head of cattle, it's a huge lot of work. The herd gets smaller with fall selling but he always has new babies arriving.

If you do facebook, I like to friend or "like" pages by local farmers market people. One (Work Song Farm, Hopkinton NH) sometimes post photos of their crops. They have the most wonderful swiss chard in winter.

We take too many iced tea breaks in summer, sitting in the shade of a maple tree that my husband planted in the 70s when we were only temporary renters at this house.

What an interesting story. Yes, I would say just caring for any property with buildings and acreage alone seems more than one or two people to keep up with, then throw in more acerage, growing of any kind, maintaining equipment and caring for stock…wow. Yes, and doesn't it always seem to work out that the kids are not as enthusiastic as the parents and resent all the hard work and can't wait to move to the big city. [g] Maybe if you have a big extended family willing to help and a lot of children, hard to think of a small family managing. Some of the nurseries near me that are successful have a lot of family on the payroll and involved in the business.

I think you have a lot more Farmer's Market's in NH then I have near me. Although I just learned of a new one that I keep trying to make the time to visit.

That's a great experience to plant a tree and be around to sit under it in the shade. :-) And interesting that you started out renting.

We do have a lot of farmers markets although an excellent one in Tilton NH during winter lost use of a retail storefront and is not active this winter. I love visiting farmers markets any time of the year. The two small ones near me don't offer very much but have great greens. I tend not to go out to a Saturday morning market so keep missing them.

Our neighbor farmer only had two children but both live on abutting properties. The son is as hardworking as his dad. NH has a Young Farmers program so it's not unusual to see a young couple starting out in vegetable farming. One of the best success stories is Apple Hill Farm in Concord NH. They bought their land just when the wholesale apple market was caving. Their story is on their website. I attended a NH Apples program Diane Souther gave and was simply amazed at how much they have accomplished and how far they sell (send apple juice to the mid-west). They must be very good business people plus they are involved with several agricultural study programs like testing out a nasty insect trap.

Sounds like a great state for those wanting to get into farming. I wish my kids were interested in going in that direction. [g]