Sassafras Farm

Sassafras Farm Vegetables, herbs and small fruits farm in New Marshfield, Ohio; no chemicals; year round.Owned and operated by Ed Perkins and Amy Abercrombie.

09/03/2026

Position has been filled.

09/02/2026

FARM HELP WANTED
10 - 12 HOURS A WEEK
$15 AN HOUR
TEXT ED 740 517 8046

07/28/2026

Very Berry
By Ed Perkins

Those delicious summer berries - strawberries, blueberries, blackberries and raspberries - used to be a seasonal treat. Now they are a year-round supermarket staple, thanks to the Ag giant Driscoll’s.

Driscoll’s was founded as a family farm in California in 1904. They focused on berry production, and in 1958 patented their first strain of strawberries. In 1989 they resolved to do what was not thought possible at the time, make the four berries listed above available in all seasons.

They have done this by contracting farmers around the world to grow the berries the company developed using their techniques and varieties. In the last decade global production of berries has tripled. Berries are the fastest-growing category of food production in the US. Driscoll’s ships 4 billion containers to 60 countries, all in the ventilated plastic clamshells they introduced in the 1990s. They are the second highest-earning food company in the U S. Coca-cola is the first.

Driscoll’s is no longer a farm, but a research and development company. At their large facility in California researchers develop the sweetest, juiciest , shelf-stable varieties that can be shipped around the world. Increasingly, the berries are not grown in soil but in a special growing mix with heavy use of plastic, fertilizers and pesticides. It is very high tech, but much of the picking is still done by hand. The startup cost is high but the growers get 75 to 80% of the sales revenue.

The methods that have made Driscoll’s successful follow the 21st century shift in agriculture from open source knowledge and varieties developed in our public universities to protected intellectual property of private companies. Dole was the first with pineapples in 1933 followed by Chiquita bananas in 1944. Our foods are increasingly produced and controlled by Big Ag.

Of course you can still buy those seasonal, locally grown berries at a farmers market or farm stand near you. Taste the difference.

Ed Perkins farms in Athens Co.

07/02/2026

El Nino is Coming
By Ed Perkins

NOAA has announced that a powerful El Nino is forming in the equatorial Pacific which will alter global weather patterns for the next year and a half. Warming of the waters in the center of the Pacific of 2 to 3 degrees centigrade above average is predicted. El Ninos are natural weather phenomena occurring every 3 - 7 years. At least 30 El Ninos have occurred from 1900 to 2024.

Peruvian fishermen noticed centuries ago that periodically, tropical fish showed up at their shores around Christmas, so they called it El Nino, Spanish for the Christ child. Major historic events can be linked to El Nino years. Crop failures in France in the late 1700s may have contributed to the French Revolution. A major drought in 1877 - 78 killed millions across the tropics, especially in India. The last El Nino in 2023 reduced the corn crop in central Africa by 70%.

There is some evidence that climate change increases the frequency and intensity of El Ninos but scientists are still studying the connection and there is no consensus. But the 2 to 3 degrees C increase, and the weather pattern shifts El Nino brings are on top of changes which climate change had already caused. It is already predicted that 2026 and 27 will be the warmest on record.

The emerging El Nino will add pressure to an already precarious global situation. The wars in Ukraine and Iran, and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz have caused high oil prices and fertilizer shortages, and cuts in foreign aid all make vulnerable tropical countries more vulnerable. And these are the countries that get the worst effects El Nino causes.

Droughts in Asia, Africa and Australia can be expected. Tropical forests will suffer more in prolonged dry spells. Coral bleaching in the Pacific will get worse. In the U.S. it is predicted it will be wetter along the Gulf coast and in California, drier in Hawaii, the Ohio Valley, Pacific NW and the Rocky Mountains. South America will be warmer and wetter in coastal Peru and Equador. But there is one bit of good news: the Atlantic hurricane season will be suppressed.

Ed Perkins farms in Athens County.

In addition to filling the field tank, we can fill a smaller tank on a trailer to be moved to a new garden area . We st...
06/05/2026

In addition to filling the field tank, we can fill a smaller tank on a trailer to be moved to a new garden area . We still need to dig the well deeper this summer.

05/20/2026

Lessons From the Strait
By Ed Perkins

American and Israeli’s war on Iran has prompted the Iranians to play their trump card - closing the Strait of Hormuz.
All of America’s mighty air and naval power are no match for a few Iranian missiles and drones.

Up to 30% of the world’s oil and natural gas flows thru the Strait, and almost 30% of the urea which is made from natural gas and is used to make nitrogen fertilizer, all of which has been shut off. The result is the spike in gas prices (we have seen $5 gallon gas ) and fertilizer prices and shortages. People around the world are feeling the pain with higher prices. The nations of the world have backed themselves into a corner by becoming so dependent on oil and natural gas, much of which comes from such a volatile part of the world and must pass through such a narrow waterway so close to a rogue nation. It was a disaster waiting to happen.

It does not need to be this way. The world has embarked on a decarbonization energy transition from fossil fuels to solar, wind, geo, hydro and yes even nuclear (dare we include fusion?). The transition is too slow and not without pain. But it is happening. Renewables have been growing worldwide faster than any other source of energy and in many instances the cheapest and fastest way to add energy production.

Imagine a world further along in decarbonization. All nations could be way more self-sufficient with energy from the abundant renewable sources within their borders. Why depend on expensive, unreliable energy from volatile nations? The world has seen several oil crisises. The 1973 oil embargo, Covid pandemic, Russian Ukrainian invasion, now the Iranian war. In a post-carbon future the geopolitical politics of energy would be defanged. Of course there will be other things for nations to fight about such as the rare earth minerals needed for modern electronics and batteries.

Here in the USA we have an administration trying to stop the energy transition. Rebates for electric vehicles have been eliminated, wind farms and large scale solar projects have been defunded. Ford Motor reported $4.8 billion in losses on electric vehicles in 2025. But $5 a gallon gas has driven sales up in recent months - hybrids up 37%, new EVs up 11%, used EVs up 28%. But will it continue if and when gas prices come back down?Americans seem to have very short memories.

Climate change is an important voting issue for most liberals. But it is not an important issue to most voters who have elected the climate change denier in chief twice. The price of gas is a driving issue in politics. Yes, decarbonizing the economy is necessary to address climate change. But affordability and national security are issues more voters can understand.

Ed Perkins and his wife Amy drive an EV and have a solar photovoltaic system at their Athens Co. home.

Planting onions: flats seeded February 23. Ready to plant by end of April. Varieties are Patterson - yellow storage o...
05/12/2026

Planting onions: flats seeded February 23. Ready to plant by end of April. Varieties are Patterson - yellow storage onion, Red Wing - red onion and Also Craig for sweet onions.

04/21/2026

The Lowly Dandelion
By Ed Perkins

Oh those hated dandelions in your lawn. Dig them out, spray them, get rid of them! Never has a plant been so maligned.

There are several wild dandelion species; the common one in your yard is Taraxacum officinale. The Taraxacum group first evolved some 30 million years ago in Eurasia and is native in Europe. It is possible the first dandelions arrived in the Americas on the Mayflower, as it was well known by Europeans as an herb and edible green, and is one of many useful plants the colonists would have brought with them to the new world.

Dandelions have spread throughout the temperate northern hemisphere, and grow on every continent except Antartica. They are a pioneer species that establishes on disturbed soils. They likely followed human settlement around the world. They are a tap-rooted perennial in the Composite family. Like all Composites, the flowers are individual florets in large clusters we recognize at their flowers. The yellow flowers explode into a puff ball of fluffy seeds that blow far and wide.

The nectar feeds bees and butterflies . Birds eat the seeds. The leaves are edible before the plant flowers. Wine can be made from the flowers. The dried roots can be used to make a caffeine-free coffee. And there is more.

During World War II, Japan controlled the rubber tree-growing areas that produced the natural rubber for tires. The Allies searched for a rubber substitute. Taraxacum roots produce a latex that can be extracted and processed into a natural rubber. The common dandelion in not a good latex producer, but the Russian dandelion is.

During the war Russia tried producing rubber from dandelions. Of course, now there is synthetic rubber made from oil. But a natural rubber is still needed. On average, today’s tires contain 28% synthetic rubber from oil, 28% natural rubber from rubber trees and 28% black carbon soot. The U.S. consumes some 1.78 billion pounds of natural rubber a year.

Dandelion rubber has been shown to be as good as rubber tree rubber. Continental Tire of Germany is one of the oldest and largest tire manufacturers in the world. They are making dandelion rubber and testing it in tires. There is a company in China also working on dandelion rubber.

Since dandelions can be grown in most countries, a new world-wide industry of producing dandelion rubber could develop, instead of relying on the rubber trees grown in the tropics. So dandelions have many uses. And they give color to all the green lawns.

Ed Perkins farms in Athens County.

Address

10940 Lightfritz Ridge Road
New Marshfield, OH
45766

Opening Hours

Wednesday 9am - 1pm
Saturday 9am - 12pm

Telephone

+17406643370

Website

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