num_pages: 416
description: Both a business guide and a farming manual The Organic Medicinal Herb Farmer will teach readers how to successfully grow and market organic medicinal Western herbs.Whether youre trying to farm medicinal plants culinary herbs or at-risk native herbs exclusively or simply add herbal crops to what youre already growing successful small-scale herb farmers Jeff and Melanie Carpenter will guide you through the entire processfrom cultivation to creating value-added products.Using their Zack Woods Herb Farm in Vermont as a backdrop the Carpenters cover all the basic practical information farmers need to know to get an organic herb farm up and running including: Size and scale considerations; Layout and design of the farm and facilities; Growing and cultivation information including types of tools; Field and bed prep; Plant propagation; Weed control and pests and diseases; Harvesting as well as wild harvesting and the concept of geo-authentic botanicals; Postharvest processing; and Value-added products and marketing.The authors also provide fifty detailed plant profiles going deeper into the herbs every farmer should consider growing. In an easy-to-understand practical and comprehensive manner readers will learn how to focus on quality over quantity and keep costs down by innovating with existing equipment rather than expensive technology. Market farmers who have never before considered growing medicinal herbs will learn why its more important to produce these herbs domestically.The Organic Medicinal Herb Farmer makes a convincing case that producing organic medicinal herbs can be a viable profitable farming enterprise. The Carpenters also make the case for incorporating medicinal herbs into existing operations as it can help increase revenue in the form of value-added products not to mention improve the ecological health of farmland by encouraging biodiversity as a path toward greater soil health.
language: English
title: The Organic Medicinal Herb Farmer: The Ultimate Guide to Producing High-Quality Herbs on a Market Scale
publisher: Chelsea Green Publishing