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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)

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

    • Acres U.S.A.  A web site, book catalog, and newsletter promoting organic farming, homesteading, and the like.  May require overlooking a few references to "Gaia" and the like, but overall a great list with which to begin reading about the subject.
    • ATTRA - The National Sustainable Agriculture Information Service, funded by the USDA's Rural Business-Cooperative Service. It is an educational and research service for farmers, ranchers, Extension agents, educators, and others involved in sustainable agriculture in the United States. They have 250 titles published and available to rural market gardeners and the like. They'll also research a subject and write up a response if there is not a publication and summary readily available to answer a particular question.
    • The Ecological Farming Association.  An activist association with educational programs and publications.  Self-described as supporters of " strengthening soils, protecting air and water, encouraging diverse ecosystems and economies, ...honoring rural life  [and] producing healthful food.
    • Farm & Garden | Building Sustainable Lives.
    • I Heart Farms, stories and pictures of real people and real food.
    • The NEW FARM Web Site (was http:/www.newfarm.org) is now returning to its roots as part of the Rodale Institute web site.  The old archived organic farming articles and any new publications can be found now at the Rodale site.
    • Ohio Grazing Network, includes the "Amazing Graze" Newsletter.
    • SARE--Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education. SARE is another USDA funded "alternative approach" (= not beholden to "agribusiness") to farming. In other words, it promotes farming systems that are "profitable, environmentally sound and good for communities." In my book that means they are most likely also traditional.
    • U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Alternative Farm Systems Information Center. The section of the National Agriculture Library that provides information about sustainable and alternative agricultural systems, crops and livestock.

  • Exemplary Farms

    • 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.
    • Traders Point Farm Organics, Inc. (Dairy)

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

      •  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.

    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.
      • 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.
      • Kencove.  Farm Fence Supplies.  Self-described as "fast, friendly services and expert advice." 
      • 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.
      • 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.
      • 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.
    • Horses
      • 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.
      • 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."
    • 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.)
    • Poultry
      • CBF Super Quail. 
      • First State Veterinary Supply.  "Online products and answers for all your poultry health needs."  Online forum at FeatherFanciers.com
      • 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.)
      • Stromberg's: (ttt) Chicks and Gamebirds Unlimited.
      • First State Veterinary Supply.  "Online products and answers for all your poultry health needs."
    • Rabbits
      • Bass Equipment Company.  An equipment source for commercial rabbitries and for the small farmer or breeder.
    • Tools (Hand Tools, Safety, Scientific Tools, and Hardware)
      • 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.
      • Conney Safety.  (See description for Direct Safety below.)  Safety and First Aid supplies, including respirators, gloves, and an "influenza protection" kit.
      • 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.
      • 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.

    Farming Lifestyle and Rural Life Journals, Magazines, and Newspapers

    • 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.
    • 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)
    • 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)
    • 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.

    Rural Culture and History of the 19th Century