SARE Releases Farmer-to-Farmer Manuals on Specialty Crop Production and Harvest

Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) announced the release of two new guides developed by farmers to offer step-by-step information on growing, harvesting and handling dozens of specialty crops. The Northeast Crop Production Manual covers soil preparation, planting and transplanting, pest management, and more. The Northeast Harvest Manual addresses harvest timing, best practices for picking, and post-harvest handling and storage guidelines. These guides were originally written by New York farmer Jean-Paul Courtens to provide instructions to his own crews and apprentices on how to grow and handle crops on his farm. Seeing the popularity of the manuals with his peers, he used a Northeast SARE grant in 2020 to refine and broaden the information in them by incorporating insights from 60 other growers in the Northeast and Midwest, plus vegetable specialists from Cornell Cooperative Extension. Both guides are available in online and PDF formats.