Farmer to Farmer with Chris Blanchard
183 episodes - English - Latest episode: over 5 years ago - ★★★★★ - 327 ratingsThe organic and sustainable farming movement has its roots in sharing information about production techniques, marketing, and the rewards and challenges of the farming life. Join veteran farmer, consultant, and farm educator Chris Blanchard for down-to-earth conversations with experienced farmers - and the occasional non-farmer - about everything from soil fertility and record-keeping to getting your crops to market without making yourself crazy.
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Episodes
Jim Gerritsen of Wood Prairie Family Farm Takes Us to Potato School
September 08, 2016 08:30 - 1 hour - 144 MBJim Gerritsen of Wood Prairie Family Farm in Aroostook County, Maine, is not just a potato farmer; he’s a potato artist. Wood Prairie Farm provides certified organic seed potatoes and other products to customers around the country through their mail order catalog. Certified organic since 1982, Wood Prairie Family Farm has 40 acres in production, with ten or twelve of those acres in seed potatoes each year. After an orientation to the history of Wood Prairie Farm and the potato culture of A...
Paul Underhill of Terra Firma Farm on California Farming
September 01, 2016 08:30 - 1 hour - 130 MBPaul Underhill is a partner in Terra Firma Farm, where he manages crop production on 220 acres in the southern Sacramento Valley. Terra Firma Farm raises certified organic vegetables year-round, as well as fruit and nuts, which they sell through a 1200-member CSA in Sacramento, Davis, and San Francisco, as well as through retailers, wholesalers, and restaurant accounts. Paul gives us a look into operating at scale, including the logistics of a thousand-member CSA. We also get a peek at the...
Stephanie Spock of Rolling Hills Farm on Mushrooms, Vegetables, and a Market-Style CSA
August 25, 2016 08:30 - 1 hour - 101 MBStephanie Spock raises two acres of vegetables and a whole lot of mushrooms at Rolling Hills Farm in Lambertville, New Jersey. She and her partner, John Squicciarino, gross about $165,000 with sales to a 200-member CSA, two farmers markets, and a smattering of wholesale accounts. Stephanie digs into the inner workings of Rolling Hills’ mushroom operation, including the challenges and rewards of integrating that into a vegetable farm. We discuss some barriers to achieving profitability in t...
Don Lareau of Zephyros Farm and Garden on Growing and Designing Organic Flowers in Cowboy Country for Resort Communities
August 18, 2016 08:30 - 1 hour - 115 MBDon Lareau raises about four acres of certified organic flowers at Zephyros Farm and Garden in Paonia, Colorado (in addition to an acre of vegetables, plus fruit trees and pasture). He and his wife, Daphne Yannakakis, emphasize quality flowers and exquisite design to cater to florists and farmers markets in the resort communities of Telluride and Aspen. Don digs into how Zephyros gets excellent visual quality and shelf-life without the preservatives that most flower growers use, as well as...
Daniel Allen of Allenbrooke Farms on Keeping Things Simple and Efficient with Extensive Production and a Free-Choice CSA
August 11, 2016 08:30 - 1 hour - 110 MBDaniel Allen raises fifteen acres of vegetables at Allenbrooke Farms, just outside of Nashville, Tennessee. He and his wife, Stephanie, market all of their produce to 367 families through their free-choice, market-style CSA. While many farmers are intensely focused on maximized dollars per acre, Daniel has taken a perpendicular approach, grossing just $200,000 on Allenbrooke’s fifteen acres of vegetable production – but he does that with no season extension, and just one hired hand. Dani...
Conor Crickmore of Neversink Farm on Stripping Down the Farm to Make It Easy - or as easy as possible
August 04, 2016 08:30 - 1 hour - 104 MBConor Crickmore grosses a little over $350,000 on just over one-and-a-half acres in Claryville, New York, with his wife, Kate. Marketing through farmers markets and restaurant sales, Neversink Farm has developed a reputation for meticulous, thoughtful, and simple production. Conor shares the history of Neversink Farm, including how he simplified production and marketing and increased his income at the same time. We discuss how he and Kate found the time to make decisions and improvements i...
077: Kristen Kordet of Blue Moon Community Farm on Developing Systems and Schedules that Support a Farm and a Life
July 28, 2016 08:30 - 1 hour - 102 MBKristen Kordet farms seven acres of vegetables at Blue Moon Community Farm in Stoughton, Wisconsin. Located just outside of Madison, Blue Moon Community Farm markets through hyper-local CSA, as well as a farmers market in the city. Kristen shares how she leveraged the organic certification process and the birth of her son to create systems that improved employee engagement to contribute to the farm’s success. And we discuss how her work schedule has evolved to support a sane and full life ...
076: Mark Cain of Dripping Springs Garden on Developing a Market for Local Cut Flowers and Changing Your Own Oil
July 21, 2016 08:00 - 1 hour - 123 MBMark Cain owns Dripping Springs Garden with his partner, Michael Crane. Located in northwestern Arkansas, Dripping Springs has about four acres in production, with half of that in cut flowers. Most of the flowers are sold at the Fayetteville Farmers Market, while the vegetables are sold primarily to local retailers and through a small CSA program. Mark shares the story of how Dripping Springs built the market for local, organic flowers, and how they continue to maintain a strong market pre...
075: Jack Hedin on Creating a High-Performing Farm from Chaotic Beginnings
July 14, 2016 08:30 - 1 hour - 115 MBJack Hedin owns Featherstone Farm in Rushford, Minnesota. Farming 132 acres of certified organic vegetables (out of 250 total planted acres), Featherstone Farm provides around two million dollars of produce directly to stores, restaurants, and distributors in Minnesota’s Twin Cities, to a produce warehouse in Chicago, and 900-plus summer CSA shares – in addition to seasonal add-ons. Featherstone Farm got its start twenty years ago on 5 acres in a narrow valley in the bluff country of south...
074: John Navazio Takes a Seedy Tour of Hybrids, Selection, Resistance, and Seed Quality
July 07, 2016 08:30 - 1 hour - 139 MBJohn Navazio manages the plant breeding program at Johnny’s Selected Seeds in Albion, Maine. John takes us on a seedy tour of the early days of organic and local vegetable production, and his journey into the world of variety selection, horizontal disease resistance, participatory plant breeding, and why quality seed and quality varietal maintenance matters for every farmer. We dig into the modern history of hybrids, why open-pollinated crops can be a competitive alternative, and why so...
073: Ali and Dan Haney on Making Something from Nothing with Eggs and Vegetables
June 30, 2016 08:30 - 1 hour - 114 MBAli and Dan Haney own Shenandoah Seasonal, two-and-a-half acres of vegetables and 400 laying hens in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley. Now in their fifth year of running the farm, Ali and Dan sell their produce through three farmers markets and a modest CSA program. Ali and Dan share their story, from their work as social workers in Cambodia to their struggles finding suitable land after moving back to Virginia. We dig into their salad production system, how they’ve developed an egg production...
072: Jen Campbell on Raising Two Acres of Vegetables with Tractors, and a Family
June 23, 2016 08:30 - 1 hour - 103 MBJen Campbell raises two acres of vegetables on Canada’s Prince Edward Island at Jen and Derek’s Organic Farm. She sells about $80,000 of certified organic vegetables per year primarily through a 90-member CSA, as well as to a retail store and a wholesale distributor. Jen has been farming on Prince Edward Island since 2006, and she tells the story of growing her farm from a part-time operation to a full-time income. We talk about how she made the leap to full-time farming, including the dec...
071: Nate Parks on Loss, Recovery, and Thriving on a Large-Scale Vegetable Farm
June 16, 2016 08:30 - 1 hour - 112 MBNate Parks raises twenty acres of vegetables at Silverthorn Farm in west-central Indiana, and sells his produce to restaurants, a custom-packed CSA program, and at an on-farm store. We dig into the nuts and bolts of how Silverthorn Farm works, with particular attention to how Nate has used the scale of his operation to break into the restaurant market in Indianapolis. Nate also describes the system Silverthorn Farm uses to manage his unique on-line ordering system that allows members to pi...
070: Janet Czarnecki on Giving and Taking with Customers, Employees, and Community
June 09, 2016 08:30 - 1 hour - 99.3 MBJanet Czarnecki raises five acres of vegetables, flowers, and fruit at Redwood Roots Farm on the northern California coast, just outside of Arcata. Almost all of her produce is sold through her CSA, with the remainder sold through her on-farm farmstand. Janet shares how she has developed a year-round CSA farm serving 160 shareholders in the summer with pickup on the farm, and a u-pick winter CSA program that has her customers out in the mud harvesting their own vegetables in the mild but r...
069: Allen Philo on Using Cover Crops and Calories to Put Your Soil to Work for You
June 02, 2016 08:30 - 1 hour - 104 MBAllen Philo is the specialty crops consultant for Midwestern BioAg, a biological fertilizer company in Blue Mounds, Wisconsin, where he works with fruit and vegetable growers around the country to help them develop approaches to optimizing soil conditions for plant growth. He also runs a pasture-based livestock farm north of Dodgeville, Wisconsin. Allen was one of the first guests on the Farmer to Farmer Podcast, and I’ve had request after request to bring him back. Allen digs into cover...
068: Matt Herbruck on His Two Farming Lives, a Joyful Approach to Farmers Markets, and Building the Systems that Make His Farm Work
May 26, 2016 10:21 - 1 hour - 118 MBMatt Herbruck has lived two farming lives: one in down east Maine, and another in northeast Ohio. After 21 years of farming, he currently owns and operates Birdsong Farm in Hiram Township, Ohio, with twelve acres of vegetables and cut flowers sold through four farmers markets and a small CSA. Matt shares the story of moving his farm from Maine to Ohio, and we talk about the sometimes radical differences in the two markets, climates, and soils, and how Matt managed the transition from the c...
067: Peter Seely on Passion and Finding His Way at Springdale Farm
May 19, 2016 08:30 - 1 hour - 123 MBPeter Seeley and his wife, Bernadette, began farming at Springdale Farm in 1988, at the dawn of the CSA movement in the Upper Midwest. Over 25 years, the farm has expanded to twenty acres and 800 CSA shares, plus thirteen greenhouses and five children, not far from Lake Michigan in Plymouth, Wisconsin. Peter tells the story of Springdale Farm’s founding and growth, and how he and Bernadette navigated the challenges of the new CSA market, including the reasoning behind their decisions about...
066: Shawn Jadrnicek on Creating a Strong Design Backbone for Your Farm to Encourage Farm Success
May 12, 2016 08:30 - 1 hour - 98.5 MBShawn Jadrnicek manages the Clemson Student Organic Farm at Clemson University. Six acres of produce serves a one hundred-share CSA, wholesale markets, and a farmers market, in addition to providing a home for graduate student research. Shawn is also the author of the new book, The Bio-Integrated Farm, a twenty-first century manual for enhancing farms with practical, permaculture-based design elements. Shawn shares his experience with and insights into the creating optimum farm layouts, in...
065: Jeremy Mueller on the Farmer and the Farm
May 05, 2016 08:30 - 1 hour - 125 MBJeremy Mueller and his wife, Ashli, operate Excelsior Farm, just outside of Eugene, Oregon. Together they raise produce for restaurant sales, retail grocers, and a small CSA to make a modest living on less than two acres. Jeremy and Ashli are starting their fourth year at Excelsior with the recent birth of their daughter. Jeremy shares the story of how he got started with Excelsior Farm, which is owned by the owner of Eugene’s Excelsior Restaurant. We get into how he has worked with the sca...
064: Laura Frerichs on Growing Quality Produce and a Quality Life
April 28, 2016 08:30 - 1 hour - 117 MBLaura Frerichs owns and operates Loon Organics with her husband, Adam Cullip, in Hutchinson, Minnesota. Loon Organics grosses $200,000 on 8 acres of produce and 10,000 square feet of high tunnels, providing for a CSA, local retailers, farm-to-table restaurants, and the Mill City Farmers Market in Minneapolis. Six employees keep the farm humming and beautiful. Laura and Adam started farming at their current location in 2009, after several years incubating at Gardens of Eagan in Farmington, ...
063: Rachel Armstrong and Cassie Noltnerwyss on the Legal Side of Employees and other Workers on the Farm
April 21, 2016 08:30 - 1 hour - 122 MBRachel Armstrong founded the nonprofit Farm Commons, a legal resource for sustainability-minded farmers, in 2012. And Cassie Noltnerwyss owns Crossroads Community Farm in Cross Plains, Wisconsin. And they’ve both joined me for this episode to talk about the legal side of employees and other workers on the farm. Rachel started her career working on farms and in community gardens before she transitioned into doing nonprofit and advocacy work for sustainable agriculture. She decided to go to l...
062: Brenton Johnson on Growing from a Backyard Garden to Over 150 Acres in Vegetables
April 14, 2016 08:30 - 1 hour - 109 MBBrenton Johnson started growing vegetables in his backyard in Austin, and then his front yard, and then he started selling them, and then he moved to a larger acreage, and then to an even larger acreage at his current location fifteen miles east of Austin, Texas. Johnson’s Backyard Garden is a little bit bigger now, with 150 acres of vegetables and over 100 employees – and all of this since he first started selling vegetables in 2006. Brenton shares the hows and whys of growing Johnson’s Ba...
061: Eliot Coleman on the Importance of Observation, and Making the Soil Work for Your Farm
April 07, 2016 08:00 - 1 hour - 114 MBEliot Coleman raises about an acre-and-a-half of vegetables in Harborside, Maine, with his wife, Barbara Damrosch. With over 40 years of experience in all aspects of organic farming, Eliot is widely recognized as a pioneer in the world of organic market farming, especially when it comes to producing crops year-round in the northern tier of the United States. He is the author of the bible of organic market farming, The New Organic Grower, as well as the Winter Harvest Handbook. Eliot shares ...
060: Mike Bollinger on Finding a Niche and Accessing Markets
March 30, 2016 08:30 - 1 hour - 125 MBMike Bollinger raises about three acres of outdoor vegetables and a half acre under cover just inside the city limits of the small town of Decorah, Iowa, with his wife, Katie Prochaska. River Root Farm serves grocery stores and restaurants in its local market in Decorah, as well as in surrounding small cities and Minnesota’s Twin Cities. Enterprises at River Root Farm range from microgreens and transplants to fresh herbs and four-season salad greens. Mike and Katie have worked hard to adapt...
059: Laura Masterson on Creating a Farm Future She Wants to Be a Part Of
March 24, 2016 08:30 - 1 hour - 120 MB47th Avenue Farm’s Laura Masterson started her farm on a double lot in a residential neighborhood of Portland, Oregon, twenty years ago. The farm expanded to many different plots of land, then consolidated; now, Laura farms about 20 acres of vegetables on land on two main parcels in the Portland suburbs, providing a year-round CSA to over 200 families and produce to restaurants in the Portland Metro area. Laura’s commitment to the triple bottom line is apparent as we talk about Laura’s wor...
058: Curtis Stone on Using the Pareto Principle on the Urban Micro Farm
March 17, 2016 08:30 - 1 hour - 124 MBCurtis Stone raises $100,000 of vegetable on just a third of an acre at Green City Acres in Kelowna, British Columbia. He’s also the author of The Urban Farmer, an excellent text on growing food for profit on leased and borrowed land. Curtis came out of a career as a musician and tree planter to start his urban farming venture, and he’s adapted the lessons he learned on the road and in the mountains to his farming career. Oh, and he actually shrunk his farm in order to make more money! By f...
057: Dru Rivers on the Ballet of Managing Diversity, Partnerships, and Employees at Full Belly Farm
March 10, 2016 09:30 - 1 hour - 98.1 MBDru Rivers began farming in 1983 with her partner, Paul Muller, in Northern California’s Capay Valley. Since that time, Full Belly Farm has grown to over 200 acres of vegetables, with still more acreage devoted to flowers, animals, fruits, nuts, and even grains. They’ve recently ventured into value-added products, as well. All of this is marketed to farmers markets, CSA customers, and wholesale customers in the Bay Area, Davis, and Sacramento. Full Belly Farm has also grown in the number of...
056: Emily Oakley on Setting Limits at Three Springs Farm
March 03, 2016 09:30 - 1 hour - 111 MBEmily Oakley owns and operates Three Springs Farm in Oaks, Oklahoma, with her husband, Mike Appel. Since 2003, they’ve sold their organic vegetables through a CSA and at a farmers market. They’ve chosen to keep their farm small, not just in acres but also in overall production, substituting tractors and equipment for labor on their three acres of vegetable production where they gross about $80,000 per year, with a net of well over half of that. We talk about their choice to limit their acre...
055: Jane Hawley Stevens on Scaling Up with Value Added Medicinal Herbs
February 25, 2016 09:30 - 1 hour - 100 MBJane Hawley Stevens raises certified organic medicinal herbs on her farm in North Freedom, Wisconsin, and turns them into creams, lip balms, and salves that are sold nationwide. With about five acres in production, Four Elements Herbals produces a wide variety of annual and perennial medicinals in the Baraboo Bluffs of Wisconsin. We dig into medicinal herb production and post-harvest handling, meeting FDA regulations for processing and for selling herbal products, and how Jane has grown th...
054: Erich Schultz Talks Suburban Farming in the Arizona Desert
February 18, 2016 09:30 - 1 hour - 108 MBErich Schultz owns and operates Steadfast Farm, a certified organic farm in the heart of a suburban community on the outskirts of Phoenix, Arizona. With 3 acres of vegetables, over six acres of orchard, and a passel of livestock, Steadfast Farm is the neighborhood amenity in the Agritopia development – an alternative to the golf courses and swimming pools that often anchor suburban developments. Steadfast Farm sells produce through restaurants in the neighborhood and around Phoenix, through...
053: Patrice Gros on Real No-Till Farming, Profitability, and Not Working Too Hard
February 11, 2016 09:30 - 1 hour - 112 MBPatrice Gros farms on just a half an acre of beds in northern Arkansas without ever tilling the soil. And while it sounds like gardening, he’s definitely farming, grossing $80,000 a year from the crops he grows. Founded in 2006, Foundation Farm builds on ten years of experimentation with various methods for growing organic vegetables, and markets produce through farmers markets, retail stores, and a small CSA. It’s worth noting that Patrice keeps a pretty sharp pencil, and rakes in a 70% pr...
052: Mark Boen Talks Cover Crops, CSA, and Changes on 320 Acres at Bluebird Gardens
February 04, 2016 09:30 - 1 hour - 116 MBAt Bluebird Gardens in Fergus Falls, Minnesota, Mark Boen farms 320 acres with his wife, Diane, and a crew of ten employees. Starting with six acres in 1978 selling produce at a farmstand, they grew Bluebird Gardens to over 2,000 CSA members and 80 drop sites in far northwestern Minnesota and the Fargo/Moorhead metro Mark is an enthusiastic farmer, and his zeal for the craft shows when he shares how he has transitioned the farm to include a year-on, year-off rotation of cover crops and vege...
051: John Biernbuam on Worm Compost, Transplant Production, and Experimentation on the Farm
January 28, 2016 09:30 - 1 hour - 127 MBJohn Biernbaum is a professor in the Department of Horticulture at Michigan State University. He has spent most of his career working with farmers to develop practical solutions to the challenges faced by small-scale organic farmers, with research into high tunnels, compost production, organic transplants, intensive vegetable production, and organic soil management. We dig into the economics and practicalities of worm compost, including methods for low-input, low-energy worm composting thro...
050: Dan Brisebois on Farming in a Cooperative, Seed Production, and Crop Planning
January 21, 2016 09:30 - 1 hour - 108 MBDan Brisebois was a founding member of Tourne-Sol Cooperative Farm, begun in 2004. Located just outside of Montreal, Quebec, Tourne-Sol is an employee-owned cooperative with five members, engaged in about seven acres of vegetable and vegetable seed production. Dan provides an eye-opening discussion of his experience as part of a cooperative farming venture, including their use of Holistic Management to guide decision-making with regards to both profitability and quality of life. We dig into...
049: Mark Shepard Talks Restoration Agriculture
January 14, 2016 09:30 - 1 hour - 125 MBMark Shepard’s New Forest Farm, in Viola, Wisconsin, isn’t your average farm. After twenty-one years of an intentional conversion from 106 acres of corn, beans, and overgrazed pasture to a chestnut, hazelnut, and apple mimic of the oak savannah, New Forest Farm presents an alternative to just about every way of thinking about agriculture that you’ll find out there. Mark, the author of Restoration Agriculture, is not just a nuts and fruits guy: he used the cash flow from his low-input vegetab...
048: Carol Ann Sayle of Boggy Creek Farm on Urban and Rural Farming in Texas
January 07, 2016 09:00 - 1 hour - 128 MBBoggy Creek Farm got it its start in 1991 selling produce at a farm stand in Austin, Texas – and to the original Whole Foods Market, which also there in Austin. Now with two farms – one in Gause, a little over an hour outside of Austin, and one just 2.5 miles from the state capital in the heart of Austin – my guest, Carol Ann Sayle, and her husband and farming partner, Larry Butler, sell their fresh produce and value added products – including smoke-dried tomatoes that have had my mouth wate...
047: Don Zasada and Bridget Spann on Land Trusts, Bringing CSA Members to the Farm, and Effective Communication with Employees and Apprentices
December 31, 2015 09:30 - 1 hour - 125 MBDon Zasada and Bridget Spann own and operate Caretaker Farm in western Massachusetts, where they raise vegetables for 275 CSA families. Caretaker Farm got its start in 1969 when Sam and Elizabeth Smith purchased the land. They started the CSA in 1991, and Don and Bridget came to the farm in 2004, eventually transferring ownership through a land trust and lease arrangement. We dig into Caretaker Farm’s relationship to its members, and how Don and Bridget arrange things so that members do more...
046: Leslie Cooperband on Orchestrating Goats, Cheese-making, Gelato, and QuickBooks
December 24, 2015 09:30 - 1 hour - 103 MBWhen today’s guest Leslie Cooperband, and her husband, Wes Jarrell, started Prairie Fruits Farm and Creamery in 2005, they didn’t expect the goat dairy and creamery to become the primary driver of the farm. Located just outside of Champaign-Urbana, Illinois, Prairie Fruits Farm and Creamery has over seventy milking does providing the basis for their goat cheese and gelato business, which they run in addition to a vigorous on- farm dinner enterprise. We discuss the history of the farm and its...
045: Elizabeth Henderson on International and Personal Perspectives on CSA
December 17, 2015 09:30 - 1 hour - 126 MBElizabeth Henderson was a founder of Peacework Organic CSA, one of the oldest CSAs in the United States, where she farmed for over thirty years. She is also the author of the definitive work on CSA farming, Sharing the Harvest . And she has been involved in any number of other initiatives in the food movement, from shaping the National Organic Foods Production Act, to her work with the Agricultural Justice Project. In this movement, especially in the Northeastern United States, it can be ha...
044: Sophia Kruszewski on the New Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) Produce Rule
December 10, 2015 09:30 - 1 hour - 117 MBSophia Kruszewski leads the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition’s work on food safety, and has put a ton of time and effort into the FDA’s new rules under the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA). The final version of the produce rule was just rolled out by the FDA, so we take the time to dig into who and what is covered under the rule, how the exemptions work, and the highlights of the major provisions of the rules – including some of the important victories we achieved in the propos...
043: Dru and Adam Montri on Balancing Off-Farm Jobs with a Full-Time Farm
December 03, 2015 09:30 - 1 hour - 126 MBDru and Adam Montri raise vegetables in 6 large high tunnels and on 3 acres outdoors at Ten Hens Farm in Bath, Michigan, just outside of Lansing. They also both work off farm in jobs related to farming – Dru as the Executive Director of the Michigan Farmers Market Association, and Adam as the Hoophouse Outreach Specialist at Michigan State University’s Center for Regional Farm Systems. In this wide-ranging discussion, Dru, Adam, and I talk about how they balance their off-farm jobs with a fa...
042: Zoe Bradbury on Farming with Her Family, Children, and Horses in Rural Oregon
November 26, 2015 09:30 - 1 hour - 104 MBValley Flora’s Zoe Bradbury grew up on the family homestead in southern Oregon, just a few miles from the Pacific Ocean. She left at sixteen and came back many years later to a farm where her mother and sister had started growing and selling vegetables. Many years later, Valley Flora feeds over 100 CSA members and provides produce to dozens of restaurants and stores in the 50-mile radius around their farming collective, as well as a farmstand and u-pick operation on the farm. We discuss how ...
041: Andrea Hazzard on Growing Grains on a Small Scale
November 19, 2015 09:30 - 1 hour - 115 MBAndrea Hazzard grows and mills 30 acres of ancient and heirloom grains, from black beans and red corn to emmer, spelt, einkorn, and oats. Returning to her family farm, she originally began growing vegetables, but gravitated back to grains – with a twist on what her family and her neighbors are doing. We get into the nitty gritty of growing and handling specialty grains, and the differences between planning and marketing a shelf-stable product and planning and marketing vegetables. Along the ...
040: Jess and Brian Powers on Creating a Farmer-Centric CSA, Plus a Love Story
November 12, 2015 09:30 - 1 hour - 133 MBJess and Brian Powers own and operate Working Hands Farm, with 4 acres of vegetables and a bunch of livestock just outside of Portland Oregon. In this episode, we talk about how the farm got started in 2009, the ways they’ve worked to evolve their CSA into something more sustainable for themselves and the farm, and the relationship they’ve developed and nurtured between themselves as the farm has grown. There’s a lot of great information in here about land access, working together as a coupl...
039: Paul Dietmann on Setting Your Farm Up for Financial Success
November 05, 2015 09:30 - 1 hour - 103 MBPaul Dietmann is the Emerging Markets Specialist with Badgerland Financial, a member-owned rural lending cooperative and Farm Credit System institution serving southern Wisconsin. Paul has worked with farmers and farm financial issues for over twenty-five years, first as an extension agent, then as director of the Wisconsin Farm Center and Deputy Secretary of Agriculture for Wisconsin, and most recently in his role as a lender. He has woked with hundreds of farmers, helping them assess their...
038: Ben Flanner on Farming Rooftops in Brooklyn
October 29, 2015 08:30 - 59 minutes - 81.3 MBBen Flanner raises over two acres of vegetables on two rooftop farms in New York. His Brooklyn Grange provides over 50,000 pounds of produce every year to restaurants, stores, farmers markets, and a 70-member CSA. We talk about the nuts and bolts of establishing a rooftop farming operation, the unique challenges of farming above the eleventh story, tools, distribution strategies, and how Brooklyn Grange has incorporated events hosting and outreach into its operation. The Farmer to Farmer Po...
037: Steve Tomlinson on Farming with a Restaurant
October 22, 2015 08:30 - 1 hour - 89.4 MBSteve Tomlinson manages Great Road Farm just four miles from downtown Princeton, New Jersey. Making its home on 112 acres, Great Road Farm has over seven acres in vegetable production in close partnership with Agricola restaurant in Princeton. A graduate of Brooklyn’s Pratt Institute, Steve worked for artists Christo and Jeane Claude to build an expansive installation titled “The Gates” in Central Park, and managed a warehouse before starting over working on farms after the 2008 financial c...
036: J.M. Fortier on Six-Figure Farming with the Market Gardener
October 15, 2015 08:30 - 1 hour - 123 MBJ.M. Fortier is the author of the award-winning book, The Market Gardener. At his farm in Quebec, J.M. and his wife raise 1 ½ acres of produce in permanent raised beds, grossing over $100,000 per acre. His biologically intensive farming practices have inspired readers around the world to imagine human-scale food systems, with a focus on intelligent farm design, appropriate technologies, and harnessing the power of soil biolog. We talk about how J.M. and his wife came to their farm in Quebec,...
035: Karl Hammer on Microbes, Carbon, and the Compost Connection
October 08, 2015 08:30 - 1 hour - 130 MBKarl Hammer is the founder and president of Vermont Compost Company. Vermont Compost collects food waste and manure in central Vermont, and adds it to grass, tree bark, and chickens on the farm to create a compost that serves as the basis for potting soils that have created raving fans all over the United States. Karl is a font of knowledge about all things soil, plant, and long-eared equine, and we tap into just a corner of that here with the history of Vermont Compost Company from Karl’s s...
034: Ben Hartman on the Lean Farm
October 01, 2015 08:30 - 1 hour - 126 MBClay Bottom Farm’s Ben Hartman is the author of The Lean Farm, a book on minimizing waste and increasing efficiency on the vegetable farm. He has farmed full time for the past ten years with his wife, Rachel, in Goshen, Indiana, where they’re both making a living on less than an acre of production, selling 90 percent of their produce within ten miles of the farm. Of course, we talk about applying the lean methodology on the modern market farm, including the basics of creating value, establis...