Emmett Snead has written numerous columns and a novel to preserve the rural farm lifestyle he’s experienced since his childhood growing up on Braehead Farm in Fredericksburg. His novel, Yankees in the Cornfield, can be purchased from Amazon here. Below are numerous columns Emmett wrote for The Free Lance-Star newspaper in Fredericksburg, VA, about farming methods and traditions.
Virginia Farming, of Virginia Public Media, visited Snead’s Farm in 2018 for this piece on growing sweet corn.
Ask the farmer
For years, Emmett Snead offered his farming advice in columns that appeared in The Free Lance-Star newspaper. Read adapted versions of those columns here.
Memories of Farmers Market Saturdays in Fredericksburg
by Emmett Snead My very first memory of a Fredericksburg Farmers Market was of the one located on a vacant lot across from what was A.W. Mitchell, at the corner of Wolfe and Prince Edward streets. A.W. Mitchell also stored tractors and trucks that were for sale on the...
How to grow asparagus
The two most common questions I get about growing asparagus: Why is my asparagus so skinny and poor? How do you grow asparagus? I grow asparagus by first selecting a well-drained area away from trees. Next, I take a soil sample (Get information on how and where to...
How to plan a kitchen garden
by Emmett Snead I get a lot of questions about when and how to plant a garden. I do not know all the answers, but I can make up good answers in the form of glittering generalities. This is a talent I developed in college. I have narrowed gardening down to six general...
Tall tunnels extend the harvest
Some farmers call them “tall tunnels.” Others call them “hoop houses.” The name may vary but I have been using high tunnels since the 1990s. Covered tunnels enable me to extend the growing season on the front end and the back end by four to six weeks. Tall tunnels...