Previous cool sustainable ag projects here on the farm include:

    * Cheap Heat for your Greenhouse:A home designed/built underbed radiant heating system for our 1500 sq. foot commercial greenouse. Our average heating costs over the last few years have been around $125/year - a savings of over $800/season compared to our friends with the same size greenhouse. Saving the planet from more greenhouse gasses is icing on the cake because the system pays for itself early in the second year of operation. We're working on a manual but it will not be completed until the winter of 2010 so please don't email for more information about this YET!

    * Solar electric tractors.(click on www.flyingbeet.com/electricg). We designed a solar electric tractor that's almost made us forget our big diesel in the back barn! (We're still addicted to the Front End Loader for heavy lifting sometimes...). The USDA SARE program provided a grant so we put detailed instructions on the web so you can make your own and it's received lots of national publicity. Now dozens have been built and are in use around the country with more coming every month! Who needs to farm with biodiesel when you can farm with the sun!

We've now finished 3 prototypes of a "from-scratch" commercial solar electric tractor that will be available for sale starting in 2010 - go to the "Contact Us" page if you'd like more information about our new venture!

    * Organic Strawberry propogation Surprisingly, still not old news! A technique for growing commercial quantities of organic strawberry plugs that somehow seems to be news and get a new write-up every couple years. USDA Organic Standards still allow for the use of NON-Organic strawberry plugs in organic production because (they say) it's not practical to grow commercial strawberry plugs organically! We proved 'em wrong. Now lots more people prove 'em wrong each year! (Rules haven't changed, though...)

    * The CoolBot! New (patent pending) invention that took us 5 years of development, allows small farmers/wineries/even caterers and restaraurants to run a commercial sized walk-in cooler (up to 160 sq. feet) on a home air-conditioner. Run your cooler down to 35 degrees with a $325 air conditioner from Home Depot. Better still, the gizmo lowers operating electricity costs up to 65% compared to normal walk-in cooler compressor! Hundreds sold around the US and Canada - available in the EU and NZ for 2008. Check it out at www.storeitcold.com. Thousands now sold in the US and they are now being sold in Europe, Australia, India and Brazil!!

    * The Certified Naturally Grown program was founded in 2002 by Ron and Kate Khosla just for small farmers following USDA Organic growing practices who don't wish to be a part of the USDA NOP program. The concept grew from the Hudson Valley to be a nationwide and then international movement. Over 2000 applications in the US have been processed with hundreds of currently active farmers. Ron has worked with IFOAM since 2002 on their Participatory Guarantee System Task Force (the international name for the certification concept), travelling and working on encourgaing this sort of approach to Certification on 6 continents. Tens of thousands of small farmers around the world are now certified this way and it is recommended as by the UNDP and UN-FAO.

    * Working with the United Nations! In 2006 Ron was hired by the UN-FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization) as "International Organic Certification Consultant." He designed a PGS program for India, which is now operating successfully with thousands of farmers signed up. Sri Lanka and Nepal announced they will be adopting the same program in 2010. The PGS is a model for other small farmer oriented programs around the world.

    * Hoophouse Dreams: Tested in 2004... Improved in 2005... perfected in 2006 and 2007. We'll write more soon! An undercover system of farming that small farmers can build themselves, saving money. We have thousands of feet of inexpensive home-built hoophouses growing tomatoes, peppers, eggplants and starting in 2008 CHERRIES!

    * Climate Friendly farming certification initiative based on the PGS model. More to come about this new project

Ron and Kathryn were proud to recieve national recognition for our contributions to sustainable agriculture through the Glynwood award in 2005.

       With your support, there's much more to come!