Jonathan Dysinger
Jonathan Dysinger is the founder of Farmers Friend, where he leads a team that designs and manufactures high tunnels, caterpillar tunnels, and tools built specifically for small-scale market farmers. Jonathan grew up on Bountiful Blessings Farm, his family's year-round market farm in middle Tennessee, spending years working alongside his father John — planting, harvesting, building tunnels, and learning firsthand what it takes to make a small farm profitable. That on-the-ground experience now drives everything Farmers Friend builds: practical, durable equipment designed by people who've actually used it in the field.
Articles
Salanova® Lettuce Growing Guide for Year-Round Production
Salanova lettuce growing guide with step-by-step tips for seeding, transplanting, irrigation, and harvest to produce premium salad mix every week of the year.Updated
NRCS High Tunnel Grant Guide (2026): Requirements, Funding & Kits
We breakdown the NRCS high tunnel grant application process into simple, easy-to-follow steps. No extra fluff to wade through.Updated
8 Common Mistakes to Avoid When Investing In Your First High-Tunnel Greenhouse
Hoop houses can be a meaningful infrastructure investment on your farm. Learning from others' mistakes before buying a tunnel can help shorten your learning curve.Updated
Videos
Low Tunnels for Market Farmers: An Affordable Way to Protect Your Crops Year-Round
Learn how to use low tunnel hoops for frost protection, insect control, and season extension on your market farm. Two methods, pro tips, and covering options explained.Updated
How to Direct Seed on Your Market Farm: From Hand Seeding to the Jang Seeder
Learn why precision seeding matters for profitability, why Bountiful Blessings Farm chose the Jang JP3 over the JP5, and how to get the most from your direct seeding system.Updated
How to Mark Beds and Transplant Efficiently on Your Small-Scale Farm
Learn three levels of bed marking speed, the fastest transplanting technique, and a crimson clover interplanting trick that gives you weed suppression and a cover crop in one step.Updated
How to Flip a Bed Between Crops on Your Small-Scale Farm
Learn the step-by-step process for quickly turning over a bed between crops — silage tarp, broadfork vs. cultivator, raking, and when to skip steps. Practical bed-flip workflow for small-scale farmers.Updated
Crop Rotation for Market Farmers: A Practical Guide to Healthier Soil and Better Harvests
Learn a simple, effective crop rotation strategy for your small-scale market farm. Understand beneficial vs. detrimental crop families and how to rotate for healthier soil year-round.Updated
Cover Crops for Market Gardeners: A Practical Guide to Building Healthier Soil
Learn how to select, plant, and terminate cover crops on your small-scale market garden. Proven seed mixes, planting methods, and termination strategies from nearly three decades of commercial growing.Updated
How to Manage Fall Pests on Your Small-Scale Farm
Learn how to control cabbage worms, army worms, and aphids on your fall crops organically. BT and spinosad rotation, wetting agents, aphid prevention tips, and sprayer recommendations from an established, long-running farm.Updated
Best Cold-Hardy Crops for Winter Growing on Your Market Farm
Discover the best cold-hardy crops and specific varieties for winter market farming. Carrots, spinach, kale, lettuce — with planting tips from decades of hands-on experience.Updated
How to Prevent and Treat Fungal Diseases on Your Market Farm
Learn cultural practices and organic treatments for fungal diseases on your market farm. Drip irrigation, plant spacing, soil health, and organic spray options from extensive real-world farming experience.Updated
How to Grow Year-Round on Your Market Farm: Tips for Your First Winter Production
Learn how to start winter vegetable production on your market farm. Planting timing, cold-hardy crop selection, row cover protection, and ventilation tips from 22 years of year-round growing experience.Updated
How to Reach Profitability Faster on Your Market Garden
Learn how to avoid the most common mistakes that keep new market gardens from making money. Crop selection, smart investments, and practical advice from decades of trials and refinement.Updated
How to Manage Summer Heat on Your Market Farm: Tips for Farmers and Crops
Learn how to manage extreme summer heat on your market farm — work schedules, shade cloth, irrigation, and crop selection tips from decades of farming in Tennessee summers.Updated
How to Choose a High Tunnel for Your Market Garden: A Buyer's Guide
Learn what to look for when buying a high tunnel for your market garden. Steel gauge, tunnel shape, trusses, construction materials, and kit evaluation tips from years of practical, on-farm experience.Updated
How to Start Growing Your Own Transplants on a Shoestring Budget
You don't need expensive equipment to grow your own transplants. Here's the bare-minimum setup — under $50 — to get started with propagation on your market farm or homestead.Updated
How to Keep Deer and Large Pests Off Your Garden
Two proven deer fencing strategies, why to avoid permanent woven-wire fences, and how farm dogs handle smaller pests. Practical large-pest management from an experienced market garden.Updated
How to Grow Healthy Transplants on Your Market Garden: Soil Blocks, Plug Trays, and Potting Mix
Learn why soil blocks produce healthier transplants than plug trays, how to choose the right block size for each crop, and what potting mix to use — from a farm that's been propagating for decades.Updated
How to Manage Rain and Drainage on Your Small-Scale Farm
Learn how to set up drainage swales, level tunnel pads, and keep your farm operational through wet weather. Practical water management advice from a farm that survived weeks of continuous spring rain.Updated
How to Move Trays Efficiently in Your Propagation Greenhouse
Stop carrying two trays at a time. Learn why a simple rolling cart beats overhead trolleys for propagation greenhouse transport — and the design details that make it work.Updated
Why Hand Watering Is Still the Best Method for Your Propagation Greenhouse
Learn why experienced growers still hand water their propagation greenhouses, which water breaker works best, and how to set up overhead hose systems for an easier daily workflow.Updated
Which Direction Should Your Beds and Tunnels Face? (It Matters Less Than You Think)
Bed and tunnel orientation is one of the most overthought decisions in farming. Learn what actually matters — and what doesn't — when laying out your market farm.Updated
How to Manage Squash Bugs on Your Market Garden Without Chemicals
Learn how to control squash bugs organically using succession planting, row covers, and life cycle disruption. Practical management strategies from a long-running commercial farm.Updated
How Standardization Made Our Small-Scale Farm Dramatically More Efficient
Learn how standardizing bed lengths, field sizes, and supplies eliminated waste and boosted efficiency on a 27-year small-scale farm. Practical tips for designing your farm layout from the start.Updated
How to Stop Feeling Overwhelmed on Your Small-Scale Farm
Practical strategies for managing overwhelm on a new small-scale farm. Build systems, eliminate waste, standardize processes, and focus on work that actually makes money — from proven methods honed over the years.Updated
Mulching for Small-scale Farms: Organic vs. Plastic Mulches and How to Choose
Compare organic mulches, plastic mulch, and landscape fabric for your small-scale farm. Honest pros and cons from over two decades in the field, plus practical advice on when each type makes sense.Updated
How to Cultivate Weeds on Your Market Farm (Before They Become a Problem)
Learn the difference between weeding and cultivating, and how weekly cultivation with a colinear hoe or stirrup hoe keeps weeds from ever establishing on your market farm. Tools, timing, and techniques from seasoned market gardening experts.Updated
How to Deploy Landscape Fabric Quickly on Your Farm
Learn the fold-don't-roll technique that lets Bountiful Blessings Farm cover eight beds in 30 minutes. Quick-Plant Fabric deployment tips, storage tricks, and the time math that makes fabric worth it.Updated
What Is a Stale Seedbed? How to Eliminate Weeds Before You Plant
Learn the stale seedbed technique and how to use silage tarps to eliminate weeds before planting. Practical bed prep strategies for market farmers and gardeners.Updated
How to Fix Soil Compaction on Your Farm
Learn how to break up compacted clay soil, add organic matter, and prevent compaction from returning. Practical strategies from a farm that started on heavy Tennessee clay.Updated
Where to Start as a New Small-Scale Farmer: Books, Courses, and Practical Advice
Feeling overwhelmed about starting a small-scale farm? Here are the three essential books, best online courses, and practical first steps recommended by experienced commercial growers.Updated
How to Manage Fire Ants Organically on Your Market Farm
Two promising organic approaches for fire ant control on southern farms — predatory nematodes and spinosad drenches. Early results and honest assessment from an experienced grower.Updated
The Fastest Way to Plant Large Transplants on Your Market Garden
Switch from a post hole digger to a drill-powered auger for planting large spring transplants. Tool recommendations, technique tips, and why moist soil matters.Updated
Should You Have Interns on Your Small-Scale Farm? What to Know Before You Start
Before starting a farm internship program, ask yourself why. Practical advice on the right motivations, essential rules, and what to expect — from a farm that's hosted dozens of interns.Updated
How to Use a Greens Harvester: Tips for Cleaner Cuts and Better Second Harvests
Learn proper greens harvester technique, which crops work best for second cuts, and how to maintain your blade. Practical tips from the team that invented the Quick-Cut Greens Harvester.Updated
How to Plant Salanova Fast: The System Bountiful Blessings Farm Uses to Plant 540 Heads in 13 Minutes
Learn the exact system Bountiful Blessings Farm uses to plant 540 Salanova heads per bed in 13 minutes. Drill-powered dibbler, plug tray tricks, and the Quick-Plant Fabric workflow.Updated
How to Apply Soil Amendments Efficiently on Your Market Garden
Learn the most efficient way to broadcast soil amendments and cover crop seed using a chest-mounted spreader. Technique tips, powdered amendment tricks, and timing advice from an experienced grower.Updated
How to Set Up Overhead Irrigation on Your Market Garden: Wobbler vs. MegaNet Sprinklers
Learn how to choose between wobbler and Meganet sprinklers, space them for even coverage, and set up a simple overhead irrigation system on your market garden. Detailed breakdown from decades of organic growing experience.Updated
Row Cover vs. Shade Cloth vs. Insect Netting: What's the Difference?
Learn the differences between row cover, shade cloth, and insect netting for your small-scale farm. When to use each, whether they're interchangeable, and which to buy first — from extensive hands-on trials.Updated
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Do You Really Need to Heat Your High Tunnel in Winter? (Plus: Irrigation Tips for Non-Standard Bed Layouts)
Learn why most high tunnels don't need heating for winter growing, how the two-layer system works, and how to irrigate non-standard bed layouts. Practical Q&A from experienced market farmers.Updated
How to Understand Soil Testing on Your Market Farm
Learn how to approach soil testing as a market farmer — which results to trust, which books to read, and why standard soil tests don't always tell the full story. Practical advice from years of commercial crop production.Updated
Why the Qlipr Trellising System Is the Best Way to Trellis Tomatoes in a Tunnel
Learn how the Qlipr trellising system saves hours of labor on tomato trellising — no ladders, just two clips per plant. How it works, mistakes to avoid, and budget alternatives.Updated
How to Recover When a Bad Season Nearly Ends Your Market Garden
Practical advice for recovering from a devastating growing season — weatherproofing with tunnels, leveraging customer loyalty, and building resilience for your market garden.Updated
What to Do When Your Market Garden Isn't Making Money
Struggling to turn a profit on your small farm? Practical advice on building efficient systems, choosing profitable crops, and reducing wasted labor — from nearly thirty years of refinement.Updated
How to Build Soil Health in Sandy Soil and Get Weeds Under Control
Struggling with poor sandy soil and overwhelming weeds? Learn how to add organic matter, address nitrogen deficiency, knock down your weed seed bank, and prevent weeds from coming back.Updated
STUNNING Family Farm Pioneering Small-Scale Farm INNOVATION!
Discover the inspiring true story of Bountiful Blessings Farm. How one couple's leap of faith turned teaching careers into a flourishing family farm in Tennessee.Updated
