36 - Ben Collins

Our guest on the show this week is Ben Collins of Uprooted Farm. Along with the help of his partner Kait, Ben takes a craft approach to farming, growing food that they’d want to eat, with flavours that take you to times in your life like pulling a carrot out of your grandma’s garden.

Over the past four growing seasons Uprooted Farm has expanded to roughly 2/3rds of an acre, filling a niche that Ben refers to as a “market garden.” He’s certainly no stranger to the Wild Rose Taproom, with Uprooted taking part in previous farmer’s market events and selling some of the freshest produce you can find outside your own garden. Nick recalls a story of asking Ben how long it would take to set up for the farmer’s market at the Taproom and learning that the vegetables Ben would be selling hadn’t even been picked yet! As it turns out the wait between him pulling the produce from the ground and someone enjoying it can be as short as just 10 hours.

In addition to (or perhaps because of!) Ben’s work on the farm he is also a grip strength enthusiast. This makes him particularly well suited for pulling beets and thistles out of the ground, which he describes as “just like doing a v-bar deadlift with more painful spines.” Ben currently holds the Men’s Open record for the hand dynamometer, an instrument normally used by doctors to measure grip strength in their patients, as well as strongmen like Ben to put some metrics to their strength.

“It’s pretty, It takes good, what more do you want from your food?"

Following our mouthwatering interview with Ben Mama T discuss some of the world’s most pressing questions, such as why quicksand isn’t as big a threat in every day life as we were led to believe as kids, and the mystery of why men have nipples.

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Have a question for Mama T? A story from the bottom of a beer can? Send it in and we’ll read it anonymously on-air! DM us on instagram @wildrosebrewery or email it to Nick - [email protected]

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Ben Collins - Uprooted Farm: website | instagram | facebook