Welcome to the Market Farming e-mail list and discussion group FAQ Frequently Asked Questions about the Market Farming discussion group 1. What is the Market Farming discussion group? 2. Market Farming defined 3. How do I subscribe to Market Farming? 4. How do I unsubscribe from Market Farming? 5. What is appropriate to post to Market Farming? 6. How do I post to Market Farming? 7. Where can I find archives of Market Farming? 8. What are some other Market Farming resources on the World Wide Web. 1. WHAT IS Market Farming? Name of list: market-farming Posting address for list: market-farming@franklin.oit.unc.edu market-farming@franklin.oit.unc.edu is a mailing list/newsgroup/webforum for networking among farmers of small acreage whose primary marketing outlets are consumer-direct and local. We hope to see discussions on appropriate scale production methods and equipment, marketing and profitability, cropping sequences and diversification, sustainability, both of the land and of the farm family, working with extension agents, private consultants, and fellow farmers, in other words, all those things involved in making a living providing food and fiber from your small acreage. The listowners are Marcie A. Rosenzweig, Full Circle Organic Farm, fullcircle@jps.net and Lawrence F. London, Jr., Venaura Farm, lflondon@mindspring.com ******************************************************* 2. WHAT IS A MARKET FARM? For the purposes of this list, a Market Farm is a small acreage farm whose primary marketing outlets are consumer-direct and local. Generally, we find farms of 2 -20 acres having similar production, marketing, and time problems. We don't screen for acreage when you sign up, but if you're not trying to make a living from your land, or you're applying for USDA crop subsidies, or shipping veggies overseas in 747s, you probably won't find this an appropriate forum for your concerns. Most growers on this list use organic, biodynamic, or sustainable production practices. Direct marketing through local and regional farmers'markets, roadside stands, to restaurants, and through Community Supported Agriculture shares and subscriptions is the norm. ******************************************************* 2. HOW DO I SUBSCRIBE TO MARKET FARMING? Self-subscribe throuth the Web by accessing the website at http://franklin.oit.unc.edu/cgi-bin/lyris.pl?enter=market-farming. Subscribing & unsubscribing to market-farming using email instead of the Web interface: In case you do not have Web access or for any reason need to use the email interface, here are some key commands; In all cases, the default server address is: lyris@franklin.oit.unc.edu This is the email address to send commands to change the status of your account. Other addresses are shown where appropriate. Note that commands may be placed in either the subject line or in the body of the message. For some actions you have several choices of commands and you may use the one that suits your preferred mode. SUBSCRIBING: subscribe market-farming subscribe market-farming your_name join market-farming join market-farming your_name alternate address: join-market-farming@franklin.oit.unc.edu UNSUBSCRIBING: unsubscribe market-farming leave market-farming alternate address: leave-market-farming@franklin.oit.unc.edu SETTING MEMBERSHIP TO DIGEST MODE: set market-farming digest SETTING MEMBERSHIP TO INDEX MODE: set market-farming index SETTING MEMBERSHIP TO DISCUSSION MODE: set market-farming mail TEMPORARILY SUSPENDING MAIL FROM THE LIST: set market-farming nomail RESUMING MAIL FROM THE LIST: set market-farming mail set market-farming digest set market-farming index You may subscribe as an e-mail list, a digest of that list or just gain access to the usegroup which gives you access to posts from the web but doesn't deliver them to your mailbox. If you lack web access, or the e-mail commands don't seem to work, e-mail me at fullcircle@jps.net with your full name and email address, and I'll sign you up. ******************************************************* 3. HOW DO I UNSUBSCRIBE TO MARKET FARMING? At the end of every post to this list there is text at the bottom of the page with automated unsubscription info and procedure. Here is a sample from a typical post: You are currently subscribed to market-farming as: To unsubscribe send a blank email to leave-market-farming-@franklin.oit.unc.edu OR Self-unsubscribe by accessing the website at http://franklin.oit.unc.edu/cgi-bin/lyris.pl?enter=market-farming. If you lack web access, or the instructions don't work for you, e-mail me at fullcircle@jps.net with your full name and email address, and I'll unsubscribe you. PLEASE DO NOT SEND UNSUBSCRIBE MESSAGES TO THE ENTIRE LIST. ******************************************************* 4. WHAT IS APPROPRIATE TO POST TO MARKET FARMING? This is the hardest part of any FAQ. We want to respect the time and computer memory of all subscribers so everyone feels they can participate. For the few folks who will inevitably violate these guidelines, I'll e-mail you personally. If you continue to make the list unproductive for the majority, you will be unsubscribed. Here are some Netiquette suggestions to help make this discussion group more productive for all. A. Post messages about small acreage farming issues, especially those of production. There are other lists, newsgroups and webforums for deeper philosophical discussions on world trade, capitalism, socialism, sustainable vs. organic agriculture and the like. Refer to the list below for suggestions. If you feel compelled to let us know about these issues, kindly post a simple one line reference with the appropriate URL, so those who are interested can read for themselves, and those who aren't don't have megabytes of information to delete from their mailbox. Please send personal notes to individuals, not the list. Your Aunt Sally's flowered hat may make a great pullet nest box, but only your closest friends really care. Repeated violation of this guideline will get you unsubscribed. B. Please use an appropriate, clear subject heading. A lot of subscribers sort messages by thread, and it's frustrating to them to read posts that have nothing to do with the topic listed. It will also help you do an appropriate archive search if you ever need to. IMPORTANT NOTE: All posts to market-farming are permanently archived. This allows folks to search for specific information in a thread. It also means your name is archived with your post. If this is a problem for you, it's best you not use this list. C. If you're giving someone a pat on the back or just say hi, please send it as private email and copy the list only on replies of general interest. This helps keep membership from being overwhelmed by the volume of mail. D. Please use snips to cut the original post to only pertinent sections, most of us remember what we wrote so it's unnecessary to quote it all back. This is especially true if you take the digest. All of us have already seen the day's posts, if you simply reply to a digest without snipping, you will repost the entire day's traffic to the list or the individual. It only takes a couple of people doing this to overload everybody's mailbox. This is another one of those things that can get you unsubscribed in a hurry. E. A good signature which includes your name, any organization that you represent, and where you are located geographically helps place your post in context. We have subscribers from all regions of North America, and the world. Some techniques are broadly applicable, some are not. F. Respect your fellow farmers. Not all of us farm in exactly the same way, but we all love the land, respect its resources and our families. We are more alike than we are different. We have much to learn from each other. Please read over your post before you hit the send button, especially if something has gotten your goat. Flaming is rude and won't be tolerated. G. Save this FAQ for future reference. ******************************************************* 5. DO I HAVE TO SUBSCRIBE TO READ THE POSTS? You can read the posts using the Web interface as well as the News interface without being a subscriber to the list. To read using the Web interface go to: http://franklin.oit.unc.edu/cgi-bin/lyris.pl?enter=market-farming and click on the button that says "Visit market-farming without joining" To read using the News interface use the following methods: Method 1 using your news reader: - Access via Usenet news can be had by adding this news server name to your list of news servers in your news reader, or make it your default server: franklin.oit.unc.edu Connect with the franklin.oit.unc.edu news server and download the list of available newsgroups and subscribe to market-farming. Subscribing to the market-farming newsgroup does not make you a subscriber to the list. You can post to the newsgroup only if you are a list subscriber; otherwise you can read the newsgroup. Method 2 using your Web browser [+ news reader]: - go to this URL (i.e. type this URL into the dialog box in your web browser) news://franklin.oit.unc.edu (news:// is part of a URL just like ftp:// and http://) and download the list of available newsgroups and subscribe to market-farming. or go to this URL: news://franklin.oit.unc.edu/market-farming for reading (and/or posting if you're a list subscriber) ******************************************************* 5. HOW DO I POST TO MARKET FARMING? Send your messages to: market-farming@franklin.oit.unc.edu You have to be a list subscriber to post to market-farming using either the Email, Web or News interface. You can, however read all posts, including the archives, as a non-subscriber. In order to post to Market Farming, you must be subscribed to the list AND send your message from the email account that you used to subscribe to the list. In other words, if you have several e-mail accounts or aliases, you need to send e-mail from the account you used to subscribed. IMPORTANT NOTE: All posts to market-farming are permanently archived. This allows folks to go back and search for specific information in a thread. It also means your name is archived with your post. If this is a problem for you, it's best you not use this list. ******************************************************* 6. WHERE CAN I FIND ARCHIVES OF POSTINGS TO MARKET FARMING? On the world wide web at: http://franklin.oit.unc.edu/cgi-bin/lyris.pl?enter=market-farming ******************************************************* 8. WHAT ARE SOME OTHER WEBSITES OR DISCUSSION GROUPS THAT MIGHT BE OF INTEREST CSA-L was the genesis of this list. It is set up specifically to discuss issues related to Community Supported Agriculture. Links to all the web sites have found related to CSAs can be found at: http://www.prairienet.org/pcsa/CSA-L.html You can subscribe to CSA-l from that site. SANET-MG Sponsored the Sustainable Agriculture Network from the USDA, this list is international in scope. It is largely populated by academics and the discussions are frequently philosophical and/or policy oriented. However, farmers frequently lurk here and research on any given topic is available for the asking. Archives and subscription information can be found at http://www.sare.org/san/htdocs/hypermail Biodynamics NOW! (bdnow), the international biodynamic farming and gardening discussion list. You can join BD Now! at http://www.igg.com/bdnow or you can send a message to listproc@envirolink.org put 'sub bdnow YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS YOUR NAME' in the body of the message. The bd-now mailing list is run by Allan Balliett who can be reached at: igg@igg.com Lawrence London's websites and forums at MetaLab http://metalab.unc.edu/intergarden http://metalab.unc.edu/permaculture (Marcie's note - If you can't find it here, or link to it from here, it just may not exist.) We hope market-farming users would subscribe to some of the more appropriate lists here, seed-saving and soil-quality especially There's a special document with info on accessing all these lists in a file at this URL: http://metalab.unc.edu/intergarden/forumdoc.txt Lists of interest at the MetaLab Lyris server include: csa soil-quality seed-saving community-foodsystems herb market-farming permaculture permaculture-calendar The Sustainable Farming Connection Developed and maintained by Craig Cramer formerly editor of The New Farm. This site is a cornucopia of resources and topics. Sustainable techniques for farms of all sizes and crops. http://sunsite.unc.edu/farming-connection/ ATTRA - Appropriate Technology Transfer to Rural Areas One of the best appropriate scale and alternative crop sites on the web. Loaded with publications and links. This is THE site for posting apprenticeship and internship opportunities www.ATTRA.org IF YOU GARDEN FOR PLEASURE, LANDSCAPE, AND EXPERIMENTATION the following sites may be better suited to your needs http://metalab.unc.edu/intergarden InterGarden Rodale Press Gardening http://www.rodalepress.com./gardening.htm National Gardening Association www.garden.org IF YOU HOMESTEAD OR FARM PRIMARILY AS A LIFESTYLE CHOICE AND GROW FOOD primarily to feed your own family, the following site may be better suited to your needs http://www.homestead.org ******************************************************* 8. OTHER RESOURCES GROWING FOR MARKET is a monthly newsletter that has articles by and about market farmers. Good ideas and honest discussion abound. Subscriptions are $30/year. GFM, Fairplain Publications, P.O. Box 3747, Lawrence, KS 66046; Tel 800-307-8949/fax: 913.841.2559. growing4market@earthlink.net THE COMMUNITY FARM A Voice for Community Supported Agriculture Edited and produced by Jim Sluyter and Jo Meller. Quarterly publication comes out in February, May, August and November. $20 US TCM 3480 Potter Rd. Bear Lake, MI 49614 (616) 889-3216 fsfarm@mufn.org ******************************************************* 9. WHERE CAN THE MARKET FARMING MAILING LIST FAQ BE FOUND? The FAQ will be sent to you automatically to indicate that you have subscribed successfully OR you may read it (market-farming.faq) at: http://metalab.unc.edu/intergarden/documents/market-farming.faq OR have it sent to you by email by sending email to: lyris@franklin.oit.unc.edu with the message text or subject line containing: get market-farming market-farming-list.faq ******************************************************* Marcie A. Rosenzweig Full Circle Organic Farm Auburn, CA