Stay ConnectedDaily farm and garden talk. All about growing vegetables profitably and efficiently on small farms and in gardens.
Each episode focuses on one specific topic – growing practices, how-to, farming challenges and struggles, sales and marketing, soil preparation, weed management, farm startup, market selection, and work-life balance.
Hosted and produced by Diego Footer’s Modern Grower Podcast Network.
Copyright: © Modern Grower
Today's a special episode. It's an interview that I did, but on the other side of the microphone. The episode you will hear today is a replay of an interview I did with Oliver Goshey of The Abundant Edge. The focus of it all centers around the lessons I have learned doing what I do every day. If you like what you hear in this episode and you want to hear more from Oliver, check out theabudnantedge.com where he has a variety of podcast episodes in the archive spanning topics from permaculture to one of his specialties, natural building. One of the subjects I don't ever touch because I am not very knowledgeable on the subject, but Oliver is. But that's not the case in this one, because I touch on a subject I know very well, failing. I tried to keep it real in this one, I hope you get a lot out of it, enjoy it. Listen to hundreds of more episodes in the archives at www.permaculturevoices.com/podcast Support the show at www.permaculturevoices.com/support
What's the organic inspection process really like? It's probably a big hassle, right? Let's find out straight from the source, in this episode with independent organic inspector Laura Murray Last episode with Scott Murray covered the topic of why organic and what goes into getting certified. Today's episode builds on that episode and we go a rung higher on the ladder taking on questions such as: Once the inspector shows up on your property the first time, how does that process unfold? What should you have in order when you have the inspector show up? Explain the annual inspection process? Would a property ever be inspected more than once a year? To answer these I am going straight to the source to talk to someone who deals with this every day. I'll be talking with independent organic inspector Laura Murray. Laura does organic inspections of all over the country for organic certifiers. Her inspections span all types of farms and all types of organic product production facilities. She's seem a lot over the years, and today she shares what the inspection process is really like both for the initial inspection and annual inspections. If you were thinking about getting certified by the inspection process made you a little uneasy, maybe that will change after you hear what it's really like. This show is brought to you by CoolBot. Get a discount coupon for CoolBot at www.permaculturevoices.com/farmsmallfarmsmart Looking for more? There are over 100 episodes in the archive at www.permaculturevoices.com/farmsmallfarmsmart
Will Harris III from White Oak Pastures joins me to talk about his inspirational journey of converting his one time factory farm to a beyond organic farming operation that celebrates polyculture and closes the loop on wastes. Will runs the largest USDA organic farm in Georgia farming 1200 owned acres and 2000 leased. He has over 2000 head of cattle and raises 60,000 pastured chickens. He has built two abattoirs on site - one for red meat, one for poultry. He has an organic vegetable CSA and heirloom orchard. His farm closes the loop on sustainability through rotational grazing, solar power, and the recycling of all of his various "wastes" from his animal operations. All of the wash water, bones, and other animal "wastes" end up back on the land, building the soil over time. But it wasn't always that way. Prior to 1995 White Oak Pastures raised cattle in an industrial system, a monoculture. Then Will made the decision to change what he was doing. So began the conversion over the beyond organic, mulch-species thriving farming operation that it is today. Will's story in an inspiration, and another example of what is right in modern day agriculture.
Show Notes: www.permaculturevoices.com/28
Support the show at www.permaculturevoices.com/support
Organic certification. We all know what that is, seeing that green stamp on products in the grocery store and on signs at the farmers market. But, is it worth it? Is it only for large farms? I use organic methods, do I need the stamp? What goes into getting certified? Should I get certified organic? These are all common questions that I hear being asked with the small scale farming community. They are also questions that my guest today Scott Murray gets a lot, and helps a lot with. Scott's a 40 year organic farming veteran who's been around the organic farming movement since the beginning, before it was a big thing. Today he will share his knowledge of what he's learned about the organic movement and how he views organic certification in terms of who it's right for, when it makes sense to get, and what goes into getting it. If you were thinking about getting certified, but had some reservations, this episode will address those common reservations and leave you with a clear idea of what's involved in the process. And it just might not be as expensive or cumbersome as you think it is after all. This show is brought to you by CoolBot. Get a discount coupon for CoolBot at www.permaculturevoices.com/farmsmallfarmsmart Looking for more? There are over 100 episodes in the archive at www.permaculturevoices.com/farmsmallfarmsmart
Today is Part 2 of The Anti-fragile Property Series with Rob Avis of Adaptive Habit.
If you missed Part One, go back and check that one out, Episode 222.
In that episode we looked at the idea of owning land as insurance, today takes the discussion of finding an anti-fragile property a step further, and take a look at how you should approach purchasing a property if you are worried about things like climate change, the financial system, debt, terrorism, disease, water insecurity, a fragile food system.
Any, all, or none of those issues could hit you in a significant way during your lifetime.
How do you protect against them?
One way is through property, specifically an anti-fragile property.
What's anti-fragile?
As Nassim Taleb defines it, it's simply something that gains from disorder.
Broken food system, your food forest becomes more valuable.
Energy crisis, an off grid homestead and timberstand keeps your devices running.
But the food forest, the technology and the timerstand are all things that sit on the land.
Today, we'll look at how to pick the right piece of land to make what you put on it more meaningful, or simply not even needed.
The Anti-fragile Property Series with Rob Avis of Adaptive Habitat - Part 2
DOWNLOAD the show notes at www.permaculturevoices.com/podcast and CLICK on Episode 226
Support the show at www.permaculturevoices.com/support
When you are only growing a 10 day crop, how much of an affect does light quality and temperature have on the crop? A lot. Chris is in Vancouver where he sees day lengths change from 8 hours at the winter solstice to 16 hours at the summer solstice; a large change which affects how much light crops get to grow. Less light in winter means slower or no crop growth. If you are a farmer, you get this. It makes sense, at least for field crops. But what about microgreens? Crops which spend only half of their life in the light, a life that might only be 5 to 8 days. Does seasonality really affect those crops over those 5 days? Yes, and more than you think. In this episode Chris will talk all about the change of the seasons and how it affects microgreen crop growth - specifically the effects of changing temperatures and light conditions. Two factors which can dramatically affect crop growth, yield and quality. How to Grow Better Microgreens All Year - Adapting for Changing Seasons, Temperature, and Light Conditions with microgreen grower Chris Thoreau. DOWNLOAD the show notes at www.permaculturevoices.com/farmsmallfarmsmart and CLICK on Episode 101 Support the show at www.permaculturevoices.com/support
Zach Weiss of Holzer AgroEcology discusses his experiences working on projects designed by Sepp Holzer. He also gets into Sepp's ideas and design philosophy.
This is the recording of a presentation that Zach gave at a workshop at VersaLand in October 2014.
Show Notes: www.permaculturevoices.com/b013
Support the show at www.permaculturevoices.com/support
To celebrate episode 100 I take a look back at the 100 combined episodes of The Urban Farmer and what is now Farm Small, Farm Smart focusing on the highlights, some backstory, and where the show is headed in the future.
See some of the highlights from the first 100 episodes at www.permaculturevoices.com/farmsmallfarmsmart
Support the show at www.permaculturevoices.com/support
Thanks for listening!
Richard Perkin's Ridgedale Permaculture site in Sweden, a prime example of what a permaculture farm is and could be. A site that has undergone remarkable changes in just a few years. Going from your average rural farm to the penultimate functioning permaculture farm that's right out the pages of a book. And one that would also become a book. Unlike many permaculture demonstration sites, Richard's site functions as a farm. I think it's a great example because permaculture or not, first and foremost it's a farm. A profitable stand-alone farm. Where the permaculture comes in, is they layer on permaculture over that working small farm model. They use the design tool where needed and as needed, but all while paying attention to the bottom line knowing that the farm has to pay for itself. The amazing thing about what Richard is doing, is he isn't doing it in the tropics or sub-tropics. He's doing it in Sweden at the 59th parallel with 6 months of winter and 6 months of everything else. That's the equivalent of the Northern part of the prairie provinces in Canada 700 miles above the US border. Not the easiest of locations to be doing this in, but one where he's making it work. And in true permaculture fashion the problem is the solution and the 6 months of winter allow Richard to rigorously plan out everything that he's doing on the farm. One of the things that have really allowed him to fast track development of his farm. In this episode we go in depth on how he's done so much so fast, covering a lot of topics from rotational grazing to holistic management to no dig market garden beds. If you are looking how to blend permaculture, and farming in a way that works, this is it. Learn More and Download the show notes at www.permaculturevoices.com/225
There's one event that happens in many people's lives which instantly changes their life forever. Overnight, instantly, everything is different. Your life, your approach to life, how you view life, and how you go about living life all change. It's an event that some people aren't ready for and one that others are ready for, but one where no one is ever REALLY ready. It's the birth of a child. A beautiful event that instantly makes live more worth living and richer, but one which also makes life harder and more challenging, especially for entrepreneurs. If you thought running a business or starting a farm was hard without kids, try doing it with kids, because it's exponentially harder. Curtis is a brand new parent experiencing some of those challenges first hand. Today, we'll explore what those challenges are like in terms of life and farming, and how Curtis is dealing with them as a brand new inexperienced father, while being a seasoned experienced farmer. It's never easy, and as you'll hear it's always a balancing act. But it is one Curtis, me, and most other fathers wouldn't trade for anything else in the world. Get the audiobook at www.permaculturevoices.com/audiobook Download the show notes at www.permaculturevoices.com/farmsmallfarmsmart and click on Episode 99.
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