How To Grow Your Own Roses

I am only in my first year of growing roses and I love it! This article is aimed in helping you how to start growing roses.
It is true that it requires a bit of maintenance growing roses, but at the end it is definitely worth it. You just need to look after them. If you are a beginner start growing shrub or climbing roses.
Some examples you can choose from:
Small shrubs:

• Darcey Bussell - Short bushy habit which enjoys heat.
• Charlotte - Fragrant, bushy growth.
• Sopy's Rose - Bright red and free flowering

Large shrubs:

• Golden celebration - Produce many large fragrant blooms.
• Eglantyne - Sweet scent and soft pink flowers. This is an excellent garden plant and grows easily if looked after.
• Mary Rose - Superb bushy shrub

Climbing roses:

• Aloha - Pink in colour, hardy and a short climber. It has a strong fragrance and is a hardy plant. Free flowering up to 7 or 8 ft.
• Crown Princess Margareta Climbing - A superb variety with large, neatly formed roses of a lovely apricot-orange colour. It has a strong fruity fragrance. This rose is ideal for walls, arches, rose pillars and trellis. Grows 9 -11 ft. as a climber.

Soil for Roses
Roses thrive in a loamy, well-drained garden soil with a pH of around 5.5 to 7.0. Do a soil test. Your local nursery should be able to help you with this. The ideal soil mixture normally consist of 50% organic material (rotted humus or compost) and 50% inorganic material like sand and silt.
Roses are very adaptable with some help. The best time to start planting your roses is around july or early spring, depending upon your climate. All roses require a sunny, open well-drained position. At least 6 hours of sun is needed. Protection from wind is essential for good blooms.
If you have a root specimen first soak it in water. Do not allow to dry out. Dig a hole about six inches deeper than you will plant the rose. You can add compose and bone meal before planting. Fill in the rest of the hole around the rose-bush. Stamp the soil down firmly to remove any pockets of air. Water with a slow steady stream to ensure deep penetration

Aquaponics At Home Set Up

A number of people ask me what is Aquaponics? Can we set up Aquaponics at home? What are its main benefits? Because, people are curious about, Aquaponics food cultivation. You can easily set up aquaponics in your home. It is not difficult. It is more suitable for congested places where no one can even think of farming or fish farming. It does not matter if you are living in a flat of a high rise building or you are staying in your separate home, you can have your own aquaponics system. If you have some space on your roof top, you can easily set it up there on the roof. You can place it anywhere inside your home.
First of all let us put some light on Aquapoincs. It is basically the product of both Hydroponics and Aquaculture. Hydroponicsis the latest method of farming, in this method of farming plants are not seeded in soil, or we can say no soil is used in such farming, and all required minerals and nutrients are provide directly through the roots of the plants. Under this technique of farming we can easily grow organic vegetables and fruits.
Now the Aquaculture is a type of farming technique involving fish. This method of farming is related to fish farming for consumption purposes.
Now the new farming technique of aquaponics is that the waste produced from both hydroponic and aquaculture is actually meeting each other's food requirement and resulting in the growth of both. So in simple words the waste produced by fish allows different types of vegetables and fruit to grow, and the same way the waste produced by those vegetables and fruits are used to feed the fish to grow or reproduce.
So, when you set up an aquaponics system at your home, you will get not only fresh fruits and vegetable without too much labor, but you will also be able to raise fish and other marines.
These days when fruits and vegetables and other food items are getting out of the reach of everyone such farming is the need of the hour. We must focus on such innovative way of farming. Once you set up Aquaponics system in your home, you will be able to get almost free vegetables and fruits, plus fresh fish for the rest of your life. Once the system start functioning, going to the market and buying fish, vegetables and fruits are no longer required. It would not only save you precious time but a lot of your money.
It will also give you a chance to stay connected with nature. It will be a great experience for you to raise such a well purposed farm and see it flourishing and growing in the most amazing way without your active support.

How to Obtain Agricultural Loans

If you require agricultural loans then there are certain aspects to consider before you can obtain the loan. The different aspects include:
Business Plan: As an existing farmer or a new farmer applying for agricultural loans, the first step is to prepare a detailed business plan that will throw light on the cash flow forecasts for the near future. The projection of the cash flow in your business plan will help your lender to understand how much loan you require and how much you are capable of paying back. You can pick up a copy of Business Plans for Agricultural Producers from the Texas Cooperative Extension Service for $1.25 and read through it to understand how to make a well-projected and detailed business plan for the loans.
Compare terms: There are several financial institutions that offer agricultural loans and each institution has its own rates and minimum loan amount. Before you apply for agricultural loans it is always a good idea to compare the various aspects of the loan like lending terms, minimum amount, scheduled payment period, marginal payment options and much more. You can compare the above information offered by banks, financial institutions, and Farm Credit Associations over the internet.
State Agricultural Finance programs: Most US states offer several state agricultural finance programs while some of the states offer at least one loan program. State agricultural finance or loan programs include everything from farmer loans to short-term farm land loans, disaster recovery loans, livestock loans, agri-business loans, equipment loans, seasonal loans, and much more. One of the popular state agricultural finance programs is the Aggie Bond Beginning Farmer Loan Program. This program is currently available in 17 states and helps new farmers to obtain loans at reduced rates for livestock, buying land, etc. You can find details on agricultural loans and state agricultural finance programs at the National Council of State Agricultural Finance Programs.
Commercial lenders: You can check the various offerings by commercial lenders like banks and financial institutions as well. There are several commercial lenders who specialize in different types of agricultural loans. There are approximately 2,500 farm banks all across US that offer agricultural loans at good interest rates. You can also check out with banks because they offer more farm loans than any Farm Credit System in the US.
U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) or Federal Government: Several types of agricultural loans are offered by USDA or the Federal government. You can pay them a visit if you are unable to get commercial credit or if you are unable to get the loan amount that you require for a specific agricultural requirement. There are several loan and farm land finance programs offered by the USDA Farm Service Agency

How to Make Money Farming

Wondering how to make money farming? Surprisingly, one type of farm business that's growing and doing well is the micro eco-farm that feeds the trends of locally produced, locally grown, hand-crafted, sustainable eco-produced and earth-regenerating. Though old industrial era-type farms continue to struggle, the new micro eco-farm trend, accurately predicted to flourish by the Trends Institute, is actually finding markets for this business are so high, many can't keep up with the demand.

What are micro eco-farms?

These farms operate on a fraction of an acre to small acreage. They are niche farms, and make money farming by carving out their own local or shared-interest interweaving of crops and sometimes on-farm agritourism. But don't assume if you only have a tiny backyard you can't find more acreage nearby, and for free. And don't give up on how to make money farming if you have 100s of acres and don't think micro eco-farming is for you. Read on.

How to make money farming the micro farm way if you already have a large-acreage farm.

Once you learn about micro eco-farming, you can carve out a backyard or couple of acres to start your own micro farm within your larger farm. I've seen numerous larger farms survive and thrive because of this. There are many stories about such farms at the Center for the Micro Eco-Farming Movement (see link below). One dairy farmer's wife started a roadside stand from her home garden that blossomed into an on-farm store and ended up making more than the rest of their acreage combined. Another larger farm was saved with a couple of acres of u-pick pumpkins and fun autumn agritourism activities.

How to make money farming if you have a backyard to small acreage and are just starting out

Some people with small backyards do just fine making money farming, usually as a secondary stream of income, while others solicit other people's yards as well, with a trade situation where the yard owner gets some produce for free, while the farmer can sell the rest.

Start by discovering the possibilities of what you could produce. As America grows more and more towards local food independence and an artisan renaissance, you could consider gourmet herbs and vegetables from your urban backyard, healing products made from your own herbs, gourmet mushrooms from a backyard shed, or any design-your-own "micro eco-farm" you create. Others who want to make money farming specialize in health food items like wheat grass or grow rare microgreens for restaurants or houseplants in a backyard greenhouse.

How to Value Farmland for Investors

There are many factors to consider when approaching the valuation of an asset; the relationship between supply and tangible demand, the availability and affordability of credit to enable this demand, the earnings generated by the asset and the cost of generating that income. However, as with any asset, Investors should primarily consider the price to earnings ratio of farmland to identify the cost of each unit of income.

The value of commercially viable agricultural land is driven primarily by the profitability of the land as a commercial, income generating asset. The greater the income yield generated from the sale of crops, the higher the value of the land from which that yield is derived. This factor is the absolute key for both farming landowners and investor landowners. Tenant farmers will be prepared to pay higher rents on land where a greater income can be earned and investors will be prepared to pay a higher price for land where the income generated is higher.

The profitability of farmland can be measured simply by deducting the combined cost of ownership (mortgage interest), and of production (manpower, fuel, fertilizers seed etc.), from the revenue generated by way of the sale of the crops produced. It should therefore be noted that agricultural commodity prices play a crucial role in ascertaining land values. It is the influence of agricultural commodities that have to a large extent generated the recent gains in farmland prices in the UK, particularly during 2007 and 2008 when commodities were experiencing unprecedented highs. There are of course a number of other factors at play but a pure investor should look mainly at earnings and costs for a picture of the real value, regardless of asking prices. Using this methodology also quickly identifies over-pricing where the cost of ownership and production are close to, or outweigh income.

Supply also affects farmland values, and in areas where there is a high level of availability prices are likely to be lower than in areas where availability of good land is suppressed, either through a lack of sellers or an actual lack of existing land. In any agricultural economy the highest yielding land is taken into production first as it is the most profitable. Where profitability of the land in two different areas is similar, the availability of farmland explains much of the variation in prices.

A good example of this can be witnessed in Canada where despite a large availability of land (6.5 million km2) only a small proportion is able to produce premium agricultural yields. Demand for this more profitable land will be highest and it will be the most valuable, whilst less productive land will be less valuable. This makes agriculture investment in Canada tricky for those unfamiliar with the farmland market although there are a number of good farmland investment funds with locally experienced operators.

Outside of this apparently simple relationship between farm profits (or rents), farmland availability and farmland values, one must also factor in the price of the commodities produced, which are also set by supply and demand. Therefore, to make a qualified projection of future farmland values, one must also have a clear understanding of trends in agricultural commodity prices.

Soft-commodities are cyclical in behaviour, and a greater global supply of say Soy, will drive the price down as it is freely available. There is then a clear economic disincentive for farmers to grow Soy the following year and therefore global stocks fall and the price rises again. These higher prices incentivise further investment in production and the cycle begins again. Other factors also play a part such as an abrupt shock in supply caused by drought or export bans from major producers. We witnessed a recent example of this in late 2010 when Russia halted their exports of wheat, creating a global shortfall and a short-term spike in the price.

This short-term cyclical volatility in soft-commodities makes it difficult to assess farmland values in the short term as it is mostly production levels that have an influence, but the mid to long-term fundamentals of the supply of, and demand for commodities are much more important to the farmland investor. Capital growth is reliant upon long-term agricultural commodity trends rather than short-term price volatility. It is the long-term fundamentals of food demand growth and food supply constraints which have resulted in a historical upward trend in agricultural land values.

On the most basic level, the global population continues to grow at a rate of 200,000 per day, and is due to peak at 9 billion in 2050. This tells us that long-term demand for food will remain not only strong, but at current levels of production, totally unsupportable, therefore the value of the land that produces our food must rise.

The Best Way to Grow Tomato Plants

Now is one of the best times of the year to start your tomato plants. Why, well you want to give them the best start to life and tomatoes need a long growing season to produce a good crop. I can hear you saying, it is too cold or too wet to start my tomato plants in the ground. Yes, I agree for the Northern hemisphere but you need to start your plants off in very early spring to be sure that they are good croppers. This applies in both the North and South. It is just that Spring happens at different times in the year in different parts of the world.
You need to judge when to start your tomato plants and mine go in during January. These will be potted on into larger pots and eventually put into the growing area of a greenhouse in May. This is giving me about 4 months of growing before they go into their final planting position and I would expect to start cropping my harvest sometime during July, probably towards the beginning of July. I will also be able to keep these cropping until late October and this is a growing period of nearly 10 months.
First of all you need to identify the best seed for what you want to produce and there are many different types of tomatoes to choose from. The seed type will also affect when and where to plant your seeds.
There are 2 main types of tomatoes to choose from and these are indoor or outdoor tomatoes or a type which will grow indoors or outdoors. I grow both but start these off at different times of the year. You also need to look at whether to grow small, medium or large tomatoes. Small tomatoes are often known as cherry tomatoes and bushes are often weighed down with the number of tomatoes growing on their vines. I tend to grow these outside in my high density garden and there is nothing I like better than just eating one when out gardening. The other types of tomatoes are medium and large tomatoes. The large tomatoes are often called beefsteak and are great sliced on sandwiches.
So how best to grow them? Well I start these off in flats. As I do not need many tomato plants at as time, I use a quarter size flat, (or seed tray), and I fill these with a multi purpose compost. There are specialist seed composts, soil based composts and peat free composts. We should use peat free composts and for most things I do, but for sowing seeds I find a peat based compost is best. Press the compost down a little but not too much so it becomes hard and the seedling roots will develop better in a looser soil than a harder one. Once I have done this I sow the seeds on the surface of the compost. As I only need 6 of each type for the greenhouse I sow 10 seeds in 2 rows of five in a quarter size flat. Once I have done this I cover them with a thin layer of vermiculite. This is a useful product to cover seeds with as it is lightweight but retains moisture. Finally water the flat. I do this by placing the flat in small container of water and let the compost absorb the water. You can tell it has absorbed the water as the color of the vermiculite changes.
You then need to place the flat somewhere warm. I usually use a windowsill and put the flat inside another flat with a plastic cover over it to make a mini greenhouse. I often use a heat pad underneath this just to start things off and give the seeds the ideal conditions to germinate. As soon as there is any sign of germination remove them from the heat and grow on until large enough to pot into 3 inch pots.
I find that by starting my tomato seeds now, I get a better crop earlier in the year, and just as important, a heavier crop later on.

Farmland Investment Advice

In this article we aim to lay out some sound farmland investment advice for those considering adding agricultural land to their investment portfolio. With many different areas on the table currently, from the Ukraine to Australia and the UK, and many different investment strategies from purchase & leaseback to revenue share, it is vitally important for the investor to understand the different risks involved with each strategy, and be comfortable that the investment that they choose fits neatly with their requirements.
Farmland Investment Strategies
When giving farmland investment advice to clients, it is important for me that they understand that there are a number of different strategies to take advantage of the value and income that a well placed farmland investment can add to a portfolio. Firstly, one must consider the location of the land itself, internationally speaking. My advice for clients remain consistent in this area; there are areas of opportunity all over the world from Sub-Saharan Africa, through the Americas, Australasia, and Europe, and the first piece of farmland investment advice: invest only in countries in which you have a good understanding of the legal and political framework under which you will be buying. If you speak Ukrainian, invest in the Ukraine, if you speak only English, buy only in the UK, Australia, or the Americas. This very simple rule will protect you and your assets from making serious and costly mistakes and is an excellent piece of advice to start narrowing down your farmland investment criteria.
Secondly, either gain a basic understanding of how agriculture works in your chosen country, or partner with an experienced Advisor who will earn every penny of their fee by guiding you through the process ensuring you do not invest in something with little or no value. For example, many investors are considering an investment into Australian farmland, and if this is the case it is important to understand that farms in Australia are much larger than those in Europe and average perhaps 2,000 hectares. These farms are rain-fed and yields will vary across the whole of the land, and whilst yields are much lower than in the UK for example, the land is very well priced when considered from the point of view of the investor, giving total yields of around 15%. Farms in Australia generally have croppable land in excess of 80% of land area with many properties being above 95% of total land area. Generally speaking, despite a lower yield per hectare, Australian farms actually have a higher percentage of productive land than do most farms in the UK or western Europe. Australian farmland is transacted on the basis that any non-arable land is useless and does not have a value, it is therefore not included in the sale price, This ensures that all land actually paid for is productive land.
The next piece of farmland investment advice I would normally bestow upon a new client is very simple indeed; ensure that you receive value for money, do not part with capital until you have a regulated valuation for the land that you are buying. Making sure this is in place ensures that a qualified and suitable person has already performed the required due diligence to measure the true value of the land. Do not simply buy land at a price set buy the vendor, buy land at a price set by a regulated Chartered Surveyor, keeping to this simple piece of farmland investment advice will ensure that you always receive value for money.

The final piece of farmland investment advice that I will advocate in this article is to make you aware of the various strategies to consider. The options available to the investor range from leasing the land to a commercial farmer, capturing income in the form of quarterly rent, taking income from the production of crops, or a halfway house between the two taking a revenue share plus a top-up rental payment. In my opinion most investors are considering farmland investment due to the fact that they require a low-risk, income producing asset that is likely to grow in value quicker than inflation, this being the case, I would always choose the lowest risk option, that being leasing the land to a commercial farmer for a rental payment. Whilst this does mean that the owner will not benefit from peaks in commodity prices, it also means that if prices fall, or the farmer is incompetent and fail to pay rent, then they can be evicted and a new farmer installed. Also, farming occupancy rates in the UK run close to 100% therefore it is unlikely that the investor will suffer a break in income.

So to summarise the initial farmland investment advice, buy in a familiar country, take expert advice, but at or below valuation (value for money), and buy land where it is viable to lease the land to a commercial farmer.