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Sustainable Farming Links



Below are our favorite internet links and sources of information for 19th and early 20th century farming history, techniques, and skills. ("ttt"= a three-star Tumbledown Favorite)


Farming and Gardening Agencies, Associations, Networks, and Organizations


Traditional (19th Century and earlier) Farming

Living History Farms, Museums, and Internships

  • Indiana
    • The ATTRA-Internship Directory for Indiana. Ever wanted to apprentice in sustainable farming? Here's your chance. A national database of farms looking for people to learn the skills required to establish their own farms. The best education possible in farming--hands on, in the dirt.
    • Conner Prairie (located in Fishers, Indiana, just six miles north of Indianapolis on Allisonville Road [exit 5 from Interstate 69]).
    • Amish Acres farmstead (in Nappanee, Indiana)
  • Ohio
    • The Country School Farm.  Holmes County, Ohio.  Bills itself as a farm "for children who love animals and want to live on a real farm."  A rural living camp experience for ages 6-12 and 10-13.  Montessori based.

Contemporary Farming in Traditional Style

  • Diversified, Organic, and Sustainable Farming Information and Organizations

    • Exemplary Farms

      • Le Jardin Potager (Swiss). Couldn't resist listing a great subscription farm example--note that they include a reduced price for those who do some of the work themselves--from a country I would love to visit again. The area between Geneva and Lausanne (anywhere along the lake) is simply awe inspiring.
      • Organic Pastures (Dairy, raw milk)
      • Polyface, Inc. "the farm of many faces." Self-described "family owned, multi-generational, pasture-based, beyond organic, local-market farm and informational outreach." If you haven't read Joel Salatin's Books, you are missing out on a farming adventure. Note: They accept apprentices!
      • Seven Springs Farm. Note: they accept apprentices!
      • Traders Point Farm Organics, Inc. (Dairy)
      • Tullens Fruit Farm A delightful farm focused on the restoration of numerous old varieties of apple tree, e.g., Blenheim Orange and Laxtons Superb. What caught our eye was the diversification! The farm also raises Dorset Down sheep and box sales of half or a whole lamb for the freezer can be arranged! Apples and sheep, what a farming combination!

      • Farmers Markets, Garden Markets and Community Supported Agriculture and other Farm Directories and Farm Subscriptions

        • There's a great directory of pastured meat farms nation wide at Eat Wild. Just click on the appropriate state for a full list of producers and retail providers. (Directory of Indiana farms.)
        •  Local Harvest.  An awesome web site for those seeking to support local, small-scale farms where it counts, with their pocket books.  Just plug in your zip code and receive a full list of local farmers markets, CSAs and the like.  Also lists seeds and other farm and garden products for sale, with an organic gardening and farming focus.

      • Farms for Sale (Agents Specializing In)

        • Buyafarm (Midwest).
        • MOSES, Land Link-Up. A new (2009), free online resource from the Midwest Organic and Sustainable Education Service that connects those looking for farmland with those looking to rent or sell farmland.

      Farming Lifestyle and Rural Life Catalogs

      • General
        • Agri Supply.  (tt)  A group of farm stores in the Southeast that also offers a mail order catalog.  Focus is on farm supplies for the small commercial farm, but also includes hardware, hand tools, garden supplies, livestock supplies, and food processing and cooking supplies.
        • Chuck Wagon Supply Dutch ovens, Dutch oven accessories, Dutch oven cooking, or outdoor cooking generally.
        • Countryside Natural Products Natural and organic products for the garden, fruit, pasture and livestock. Soil amendments, fertilizers, and animal feeds.
        • Fertrell Organic fertilizers, livestock supplements, and natural pesticides.
        • ForFarmers.com Here's an online marketplace for buying and selling new and used farm machinery, equipment, seeds, crops, livestock and a wide range of services including job opportunities. An old fashioned livestock auction using 21st century methods...or, perhaps more accurately, an international version of the local bazaar. Let the buyer and seller beware! And have the full enjoyment of an unregulated marketplace.
        • Jeffers Livestock Supplies. Cattle, Dairy, Goat, Poultry, Rabbit, Sheep, and Swine.
        • John van der Zanden Meat processing equipment, new and used. (Warning: Mostly industrial, high capacity machinery. Few things on offer of the scale that could be used on a small farm or in small-scale processing.
        • Lehman's Non-Electric Catalog.  (ttt)  ("Founded by Jay Lehman in 1955 to serve the local Amish and others without electricity, Lehman's ships old-fashioned, high-quality merchandise all over the world.")  This catalog offers the best and most complete variety of tools for preserving late 19th and early 20th century skills and crafts that Tumbledown has seen to date.
        • NASCO Farm and Ranch Supplies. Complete line of animal health care products, supplies, equipment and agriculture science for horse, pet, cattle, livestock, ranch, farm and house.
        • Seven Springs Farm. Soil Amendments, Organic Fertilizers, Pest Management, Row Covers, Cover Crop Seed.
        • Snow Pond Farm Supply Organic soil amendments and fertilizers, tools and supplies, organic pest management, etc.
        • Thorvin Kelp. Certified Organic, animal feeds, fertilizers and soil amendments.
      • Goats and Sheep
        • Hoegger Goat Supply. Products for goat and small farm owners. I am intrigued by the inclusion of harnesses for "working goats" and the mention of a garden cultivator. Also supplies cheesemaking supplies and butter churns.
      • Greenhouses and Nursery Supplies
        • CropKing, Inc. is a company that specializes mainly in "Controlled Environment Agriculture," which means indoors with roots in "growing media" rather than soil and all of the nutrients "injected" into the system.  It is nearly the opposite of the "old way" of doing things, but it appears to be a good source of greenhouse supplies and so is listed here.
        • FarmTek: Growers Supply.   (Note: includes the new style of temporary, canopy-covered animal housing for poultry and juvenile or small farm animals.)
        • Northern Greenhouse Sales. A family owned business, making quality, Superstrong Woven Poly readily available to all Americans and Canadians at an affordable price – "to help each customer shape their poly dreams into reality." Greenhouses, barn curtains, shelters, pool covers, tarps, pond liners, buildings, poly mulching, and more.
        • Stuppy Greenhouse Manufacturing. Conservatories, botanical gardens. This is large scale, commercial, educational, research oriented, etc.
        • TEK Supply. Tension Fabric Structures, Greenhouses & Accessories, Agricultural & Building Products.
      • Horses
        • Cashmans Horse Equipment Outlet. Cashmans is a family owned business in Delaware, OH. Drive thru feed store and full scale Horse Equipment Outlet. Over 10 acres of Round Pens, Lighting, Stalls, Spreaders, Fencing, Mats, etc.
        • CMI HorseStalls.com. Horse equipment, including horse stalls, both conventional build and portable horse stalls, barn dutch doors, manure spreaders, harrows, wagons, feeders and much more.
        • Country Supply: America's Horse Supply Headquarters.  A catalog for the recreational horse enthusiast; this is not a "working horse" supply catalog.
        • I&J, Mfg.  Makers of horse drawn implements for horse farming.  Equipment for cutting hay, cultivating, and plowing.  They also make carts and 3-point attachments.
        • HorseTackNow. Horse tack supplies, especially horse bridles and reins . Not a workhorse site. Primarily tack for riding.
        • Pioneer Equipment, Inc.  Amish manufacturers of horse drawn farming equipment.  Self-described as makers of "Farm and Covered Wagons, Forecarts, Work Sleds, Walking, Sulky and Gang Plows, Harrows, Yokes, Hitch Wagons, Motorized PTO Carts, and many other farm equipment items and accessories."
      • Poultry
        • Brower Poultry, livestock and pet supply.
        • CBF Super Quail. 
        • First State Veterinary Supply.  "Online products and answers for all your poultry health needs."  Online forum at FeatherFanciers.com
        • G.Q.F. Manufacturing Company. Poultry and game bird breeding supplies. What began as the Georgia Quail Farm (GQF), selling live birds for hunting, morphed into an equipment manufacturer, and developer of such things as the Hova-Bator incubator. They cater to the small breeder. We've added an inexpensive incubator to our spring order this year. Birds are finally coming to Tumbledown Farm.
        • Ideal Poultry Breeding Farms, Inc.  Self-proclaimed "Largest supplier of backyard poultry in the U.S.A!"
        • Metzer Farms.  Source of Ducklings, Goslings, and Game Birds.
        • Moyer's Chicks. 
        • Mt. Healthy Hatcheries.  Self-proclaimed "Home of the Healthiest Chicks!" and "Your #1 source for Day Old Poultry!"
        • Murray McMurray Hatchery: (ttt) World's Rare Breed Poultry Headquarters. 
        • Myers Poultry Farm.  Self-described as "providing a product that 'meats' your needs," especially white, bronze, and rare breed turkeys.  (No web link provided: 814-539-7026 for free catalog.)
        • Pickwick, Knase Co. Inc. Poultry processing equipment.
        • Stromberg's: (ttt) Chicks and Gamebirds Unlimited.
        • WATT PoultryUSA The agri-business, large producer magazine and association. Their "Who's Who in the Egg and Poultry Industry in the U.S. and Canada provides a supplier list that can also benefit the small farmer. Get it at an ag library.
      • Rabbits
        • Bass Equipment Company.  An equipment source for commercial rabbitries and for the small farmer or breeder.
      • Tools (Hand Tools, Hardware, Safety, Scientific Tools, Fencing, Machine Tools, Tractors, Netting, Pumps, and Business and Shipping Supplies)
        • American Nettings.  This is a supplier of bird netting, netting for trellises, landscape fabric, crop and row covers, fabric pins and ground staples, and the like.
        • A. M. Leonard. (ttt) Their motto is "tools that work...and so much more."  They "serve the horticulture industry," but they'll probably stoop to serve a farmer or gardener too.  The so much more includes Climbing, rigging, crop protection, field production, fertilizers, greenhouse, pruning, securing trees and plants, spreaders, sprayers, applicators, watering, irrigation, and farm and garden clothing.
        • Ben Meadows is the company for "outdoor pros."  It started as a forestry supply company and has branched out into horticultural and agricultural supply company.  Among its product categories are outdoor clothing, landscaping tools, weather equipment, laboratory supplies, soil augurs, hand tools, etc.
        • Broken Tractor, LLC. New, used, and rebuilt tractor parts. Online parts list and an e-mail option to inquire about specific parts. Major brands, including some classics.
        • Conney Safety.  (See description for Direct Safety below.)  Safety and First Aid supplies, including respirators, gloves, and an "influenza protection" kit.
        • Construction Materials Limited. If you live in the UK, check out this contract landscaper and landscape supplies dealer. They specialize in ground cover materials for sports, but they also have a line of what they call "Organic Greenspread Compost." They promise prompt and reliable delivery service (within 48 hours) within a competitive price structure.
        • Direct Safety.  Organic Farmers and Gardeners will not need all of the protective gear listed in this master catalog, especially all the Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS).  But everybody needs first aid equipment and various gloves, and goggles and coveralls.
        • Earth Tools, BCS Walk Behind Tractors, implements and other farming tools, especially forged hand tools like rakes, spades, forks, and the like. Looks like a great, small, family-owned operation. The mission and vision are right.
        • ENCO Machine tools and industrial supplies.
        • Ferrari Tractors C.I.E. They offer the Carrarino walking tractor (also Ferrari and Goldoni) and implements, including hay balers, windrow implements, spaders, and the like.
        • Forestry Suppliers, Inc. (ttt) is an incredible catalog that first caught my eye for its arboriculture, horticulture, and landscape tools (hand pruners, grafting supplies, tree planting supplies, and the like), and then kept my attention with its science education tools and agricultural and environmental science supplies.  You'll find entomolical equipment (butterfly nets and magnifyer boxes), field guides, rain gauges weather stations, laboratory equipment (test tubes, beakers, microscopes).  One educational tool called "DNA depot" even encourages learning about and student discussion of the relative merits and dangers of genetically modified food crops.  Way to go!    
        • The GarrettWade Tool Catalog: Tools for Enthusiasts.  (ttt)  Nothing beats the feel of a quality hand tool.  Tumbledown is counting his pennies until he can purchase the hand forged felling axe and limbing axe.  But the hand drills, braces, and other specialized tools are tempting too.
        • Gempler's.  Describes itself as "America’s #1 source for hard-to-find, commercial-grade work supplies for ag, horticulture and grounds maintenance professionals."  Their catalog includes such things as tires, shop and maintenance supplies, pest management, crop and nursery production, ATV, tractor and vehicle supplies.
        • Grainger Industrial Supply. Electrical, Fasteners, Hand Tools, Hardware, Motors, Plumbing, Pneumatics & Hydraulics, Power Transmission, Pumps, Safety, Security, Test Instruments.
        • Kencove.  Farm Fence Supplies.  Self-described as "fast, friendly services and expert advice." 
        • Northern: Tool + Equipment.  Perhaps the antithesis of Lehman's.  Plenty of power tools and tending toward the mechanized solution for everything.  But, for those times when a tractor or power tool is required on the small farm, this is a supplier to check.
        • OESCO, Inc.. A supplier of Goldoni 2-wheel walk-behind tractors of the sort that I have recently learned about from reading Eliot Coleman. If, like Joel Salatin, you are afraid of horses and you do not have the money, space, etc., for a 4-wheel tractor, this may be just the thing you need. Originally (and still) a supplier of all sorts of orchard equipment.
        • Premier 1 Supplies.  Providers of electric fencing and netting, sheep and goat supplies, clippers and shearers, ear tags and expert advice for more than 27 years.
        • RAND Material Handling equipment. Conveyor Systems, Drum Handling, Storage, Packaging Supplies, Safety Products, Storage Containers, Utility Carts and Trucks, Workbenches and Stools.
        • Reliable Office supply.
        • Rubbermaid Commercial Rubbermaid site for agriculture and food service.
        • Seton Safety and identification products. Warning signs, tags, labels, tapes, pipe marking, and barcode products.
        • Smith & Hawkin High quality garden tools and equipment.

      Farming Lifestyle and Rural Life Journals, Magazines, and Newspapers

      • Acres U.S.A. North America's oldest, largest magazine covering commercial-scale organic and sustainable farming. (monthly)
      • American Small Farm Farming practices, ideas and technology suitable to family farms having less than $250,000 gross annual farm income. Small Farm focuses on operations of one acre or more, with the goal of helping farmers profit from farming.
      • Backyard Poultry.  Dedicated to more and better small-flock poultry.  This magazine is a much needed source of encouragement and advice to the owner of small flocks of chickens, guineas, turkeys, geese, ducks, pigeons, and quail.  With the fear mongering about avian flu rampant, this publication is a contrarian.  Published since 2006.  (bi-monthly)
      • The Budget.  A newspaper established in 1890 that serves the Sugarcreek, Ohio area (in its local edition) and (in its national and international edition) the Amish and Mennonite communities throughout the Americas.  The classified ads are notable for antique farming equipment, livestock, horse-drawn equipment, etc.  (Weekly)
      • Countryside & Small Stock Journal.  A rip-roaring read with a "homesteading" slant.  Eclectic and chock full of information.  However, it suffers from an inconsistency in quality (similar to the internet) because of the loose editorial hand.  Sometimes the very-opinionated-and-remarkably-uninformed public have their full say. (bi-monthly)
      • Farm World. (ttt) Everything ag that's fit to print.  Focus is Midwest and Mid-South farming states (Indiana, Illinois, Kentucky, Michigan and Tennessee).  The paid advertising is largely agribusiness and many of the articles carry the farming as business slant, but there is room for a great diversity of articles and the calendar of ag events, list of area sales and auctions (including land and equipment sales), along with the classifieds are well worth the price of admission for this weekly (except Christmas week) publication.
      • Growing for Market. A magazine for truck farmers and market gardens, devoted to growing tips and direct marketing advice. Print publication, but with accompanying web site that includes sample issues, links to suppliers, classifieds, etc.
      • Hobby Farms:  Rural Living for Pleasure and Profit.  An enjoyable read with glossy photos and ads.  The title suggests--and the many reviews of new "toys" (farm machinery) prove--that this magazine is for the "rich folk" who have chosen a country "lifestyle."  In other words, farming is not viewed as the primary (or perhaps even a strong secondary) source of livelihood.  Maybe that is why the articles are informative, but often lack sufficient depth of detail to make it possible to reproduce the photo-finish results in the "real" world.  There's just enough here to make one wish for a "real" farmer's magazine. (bi-monthly)
      • Holistic Management Quarterly. Center for Holistic Management, 1010 Tijeras NW, Albuquerque, NM 87102. Tel: 505/842-5252. Fax: 505/843-7900. E-mail: chrm@igc.apc.org. Originally devoted to the management of land containing livestock. Now extended to the holistic management of institutions, nonprofit organizations, industrial enterprises, and farms more generally. Some of the original livestock emphasis remains.
      • The Hoosier Farmer.  The voice of the large, mono-crop, agri-business community.  While committed to advocating for what it views as the only future (bigger, more consolidated, more automated) for "real" farming, it is worth reading for contrast with the way things were when farms were diversified and farming communities were strong.  (File under the warning to "know your enemy."  Quarterly)
      • Mother Earth News: The Original Guide to Living Wisely.  'nuf said.  Strong environmental consciousness paired with homesteading interests and general interest in "rural" life.  A smorgasboard of articles, with few directly related to "farming," but often serves up traditional gardening and preserving advice in contemporary guise.  (bimonthly + 2)
      • Permaculture Activist They provide information to liberate people everywhere to provide for their own & their communities' needs for food, energy, shelter, & a decent life without exploitation or pollution & from the smallest practical area of land. In other words, how to live and provide all the needs of life on .9 acres...more or less.
      • The Progressive Farmer: Farm and Country Living at its Best.   This "sister" of Southern Living is less "glossy" than the Hobby Farmer (above) and gives more evidence of interest in "real world" farming problems and issues, but also shares the penchant for modern "toys" (tractors, trucks, ag machinery)  that confirms the moniker "progressive." (monthly)
      • Small Farmer's Journal. (ttt) After years of seeing the title in print and praised by some of the most noteworthy authors (including my favorite, Wendell Berry), I finally saw a copy of this journal on the shelf of a library in Missouri while on vacation this year. I promptly lifted the contact info and send in my order. 4 issues for $37.00. It is chock full of content especially for the horse farmer (e.g., haying with horses). Each issue is divided into the following sections: Crops, Farming Systems and Approaches, Livestock, Equipment, etc. It includes reprints of famous out of print works (e.g., F.H. King's Farmers of Forty Centuries). The advertisements for hard-to-find small farming equipment and training seminars is worth the price of admission.
      • Small Farm Today How-to Magazine of Alternative and Traditional Crops and Livestock, Direct Marketing, and Rural Life.
      • Stockman Grass Farmer A grazing publication. Devoted to the art and science of making a profit from grassland agriculture. Information on high profit grassland ideas from all over the world. Emphasis is the need to structure the grassland farm or ranch so that it makes money 10 years in 10.

      Rural Culture and History of the 19th Century



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