Farm news

Stories from the field

Seasonal guides, plain-English law explainers, and practical buying advice: the pieces we wish existed when we started mapping farms. Every one written and edited by a person.

SeasonalJuly 31, 20265 min read

U-pick farms in Florida: the month-by-month calendar

Strawberries in January, blueberries in April, mangoes in July — Florida’s picking year runs opposite the rest of the country’s, and planning around that is the whole game.

SeasonalJuly 31, 20265 min read

Plant City strawberry season: America’s winter berry patch

Virtually every strawberry America eats in winter comes from one stretch of Hillsborough County, and the season there works nothing like the June harvest the rest of the country knows.

Buying guidesJuly 31, 20265 min read

Buying Florida citrus direct from the grove, after greening

Citrus greening gutted Florida’s signature crop, and the groves still selling at the gate are the survivors — here’s when to go, what to buy, and how the shipping rules actually work.

Organic & labelsJuly 31, 20265 min read

What the Fresh From Florida label actually means

The state’s sunburst logo is an origin claim and a marketing membership, not a production standard — knowing the difference makes you a sharper shopper at the supermarket and the stand.

Buying guidesJuly 31, 20265 min read

Real farmers market or reseller? How to tell in Florida

Florida doesn’t certify grower-only markets the way California does, so telling a farmer’s table from a wholesale restock is a skill — here’s how to read the signs without being rude about it.

SeasonalJuly 31, 20265 min read

Florida mango season and the South Florida summer harvest

From May to September the Redland around Homestead turns into the country’s tropical fruit district, and knowing when mango, lychee, avocado, and dragon fruit actually ripen is most of the trick to buying them at the source.

Food & the lawJuly 31, 20265 min read

Florida cottage food law, explained in plain English

Breads, jams, and honey from a home kitchen are legal in Florida up to a quarter-million dollars a year — if every sale is direct and the right sentence is on the label.

Local guidesJuly 31, 20265 min read

Florida farm stands in hurricane season: a field guide

The Atlantic season claims half of Florida’s calendar, and the farms that feed you spend it working around the forecast — here’s what that means for hours, harvests, and checking before you drive.

Local guidesJuly 31, 20265 min read

Bay Area farmers markets: a field guide to the big five

From the Ferry Building to Alemany to Grand Lake, the Bay Area’s great markets are run by nonprofits, certified by county inspectors, and tuned to a weekly rhythm worth learning.

Food & the lawJuly 31, 20265 min read

What “certified farmers market” means in California

In California, “certified” at a farmers market is a legal status backed by county inspections and a 1977 regulation — here’s what it guarantees, and what it doesn’t.

SeasonalJuly 31, 20265 min read

Brentwood u-pick cherries: how the season actually works

Six weeks, more than 65 farms, and dozens of cherry varieties ripening in relay — inside the Bay Area’s u-pick capital, and how to time a visit that doesn’t end at a picked-out orchard.

SeasonalJuly 31, 20265 min read

Half Moon Bay pumpkin patches: an October field guide

The coastside grows a $1.4 million pumpkin crop and an $8.2 million brussels sprout crop — October in Half Moon Bay makes a lot more sense once you know both numbers.

Buying guidesJuly 31, 20265 min read

How to choose a CSA in the Bay Area

The Bay Area may be the easiest place in America to join a farm share and the hardest place to pick one — here is how the models differ, what California law actually guarantees, and what to check before you commit.

SeasonalJuly 31, 20265 min read

What’s in season in the Bay Area? Something, all year

Coastal California’s Mediterranean climate, its summer fog, and the Central Valley next door add up to the rarest thing in American food — a local produce season that never actually ends.

Organic & labelsJuly 31, 20265 min read

What does USDA organic actually mean?

The organic seal certifies a documented process — a three-year land history, an approved-substances list, an annual audit — and understanding what it doesn’t certify explains why your favorite small farm might skip it entirely.

Organic & labelsJuly 31, 20265 min read

Organic vs local food: what each label actually gets you

One is a federal certification of farming practices, the other a claim about distance with no legal definition — and the honest comparison ends closer to the farm stand than either camp likes to admit.

Organic & labelsJuly 31, 20265 min read

Certified Naturally Grown vs. organic: the labels beyond USDA

Certified Naturally Grown, Real Organic Project, and Regenerative Organic Certified each mean something specific and audited — while some of the most persuasive words on a farm sign are bound to nothing at all.

Buying guidesJuly 31, 20265 min read

Cage-free vs. free-range vs. pasture-raised eggs, decoded

Cage-free, free-range, and pasture-raised are three very different claims backed by very different amounts of verification, and knowing which is which changes how you buy eggs — especially when you can buy them from the farm.

Buying guidesJuly 31, 20265 min read

What is a CSA? Community supported agriculture, explained

The prepaid farm share, explained — where the model came from, how box and market-style shares differ, and what to ask before you commit to a season.

Organic & labelsJuly 31, 20265 min read

Is the Dirty Dozen list accurate? What it measures and misses

The Dirty Dozen ranks pesticide detections, not dietary risk — and the fairest reading of the evidence says wash your produce, eat more of it, and ask your grower the questions no list can answer.

SeasonalJuly 10, 20265 min read

What’s actually in season right now

July is the loud month of American agriculture: stone fruit, sweet corn, real tomatoes. But “in season” depends a lot on where you’re standing. Here’s the honest national picture, with extra depth for Florida and California.

Buying guidesJuly 8, 20265 min read

How to buy direct from a farm without getting burned

Buying straight from a farm is usually the best food decision you can make, and occasionally a 40-minute drive to a locked gate. A practical guide to checking before you go, reading trust signals, and telling a real farm from a reseller.

Food & the lawJuly 5, 20266 min read

Raw milk, herd shares, and the law: what to know before you buy

Raw milk is legal to sell in some states, restricted to the farm gate in others, and prohibited for direct sale in roughly fifteen. A plain-English map of the rules (federal, state, and the herd-share workaround) for people who want to decide with their eyes open.

A note on how this section works: we publish when we have something genuinely useful to say, not on a content calendar. No mass-generated filler, ever. The same honesty policy that governs our listings governs our writing.

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