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
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Farming, it truly is a lifestyle. And one that a lot of people seek out.
This leads people down the road of thinking about how can they start or transition into small scale farming.
And when they go down that path they inevitably run into issues. Because startup isn't always clear, or easy, and there are always unique challenges.
Today we will take take a look at one listeners plan to transition into farming and startup an urban farm of his own.
This is the story of Michael from LA, and Michael wants to be a farmer.
He has a lot of resources, constraints, and questions.
And that's what we'll be digging into today, in Season Two, Episode 19 of The Urban Farmer.
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Permaculture focuses on trees as the coming food source for the world. And- the Florida citrus industry is collapsing (again). An Evolutionary Ecologist who has bred trees for 40 years explains why YOU need to understand some genetics; why the word "hybrid" means 4 different things, or nothing at all; shows examples from his 3 tree crops; why the most expensive thing you can do is plant cheap trees; discusses how small growers can work to maintain, and improve, genetic diversity (without setting invasive species loose...), and how YOU can bring new species into the food crop mix. Support the show at permaculturevoices.com/support
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THIS EPISODE IS A REPLAY OF PREVIOUS PUBLISHED EPISODE.
Grant Schultz joins me to talk about developing a perennial polyculture in the middle of row-crop corn and soy country Iowa.
He discusses a lot of the innovation and developments taking place on his farm, including some really innovative ways of doing GPS keyline design.
We spend a lot of time talking about the business of farming. The importance of monitoring cash flows and being cash flow positive. And how Grant is using USDA funds to help pay for pieces of his system and getting moving in the right direction.
Key Takeaways:
Importance of making your operation cashflow the whole time. Expenses will pile up so start getting cashflow and a customer base early.
Consider buying rootstock and graft it over later. It is much cheaper to go that route and grafting isn't that hard.
Get plant systems going early on. It is fairly inexpensive and gets the system starting to advance.
Have a plan but evolve as you go. Having an end in mind gives you a goal and a direction to head in, but things will change along the way as you learn the intricacies of the system.
Plant the earliest maturing fruit trees downslope. That way when you are browsing them the manure runs downhill.
How do you want your system to look at maturity and what are the action items to get you there? Then the thing to do is the one with the most impact. What has the earliest yield to get you to the move to the next impact item.
Do not underestimate the importance of monitoring and planing out cashflows.
When you are farming on broad acres you have the same advantages that conventional farmers have. Crop insurance.
Consider using a nurse crop that also cash flows. Grant's example of raising oats for cover crop seed.
Consider the balance of high value versus high labor. Is the value worth the labor?
There is a huge need for more local genetic permaculture plant material.
Recognize the importance of planting dense. Buy trees in mass. It gets cheap and doesn't cost you more to plant at high density. You take advantage of genetic selection and protect yourself against losses.
Irrigate your trees if possible - think keyline, swales. Growth rates of trees that are irrigated versus those that aren't is huge when the trees have consistent water availability. Consider the economic impact of the yield with water versus no water. The work now can make you a lot more money down the line.
Take advantage of all available resources: USDA, NRCS, EQIP. When starting out pre-sell as much as you can. Build a local customer base from Day 1.
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THIS EPISODE IS A REPLAY OF PREVIOUS PUBLISHED EPISODE.
Mycologist and author Peter McCoy of RadicalMycology.com takes on the question - If I wanted to get into mushroom cultivation, what are some of the easiest species to start with?
To learn more about Peter and see all of the ASK Peter episodes visit permaculturevoices.com/peter.
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Today's episode is a replay of the presentation that Peter Allen gave at PV2 in March 2015..
The presentation is titled Savanna Gardens: Regenerating the Ultimate Human Ecosystem.
Why Savannas? Savannas were some of the most complex, diverse, and productive ecosystems in North America and provide an excellent model for permaculture – integrating woody perennial crops with grazing and browsing livestock. However, managing the complexity of these ecosystems requires approaches and skill sets that are in many ways opposed to those of conventional land management, especially agriculture.
Given the importance of savannas, this presentation will help you understand its ecology and evolution and what we can do to embrace the complexity and restore the ecosystems most capable of cooling our planet and feeding our communities.
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Homesteader Justin Rhodes of AbundantPermaculture.com takes on the question - Cutting your grocery bill, by raising your own food - what gives you the most bang for your buck?
To learn more about Justin and see all of the ASK Justin episodes visit permaculturevoices.com/justin.
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Learn more at permaculturevoices.com/theurbanfarmer Support the show at permaculturevoices.com/support This is Part 2 of that series and today we specifically focus on the pro's and cons of selling to restaurants taking into account high maintenance versus low maintenance. Given that this is Part 2 it probably makes more sense to listen to Part 1 first, Episode 17 - All Customers ARE NOT worth Selling To, An In-Depth Look at High Maintenance versus Low Maintenance Customers. But you won't be totally lost in this one if you haven't heard that episode. Learn more at permaculturevoices.com/theurbanfarmer Support the show at permaculturevoices.com/support
Farmer John Suscovich of Camps Road Farm and FarmMarketingSolutions.com answers the question - How do you time your broilers and pigs to meet your CSA demand?
To learn more about John and see all of the ASK John episodes visit permaculturevoices.com/john.
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THIS EPISODE IS A REPLAY OF PREVIOUS PUBLISHED EPISODE.
As my guest today David Pagan Butler of OrganicPools.co.uk says, "If you want really healthy water, you want it full of life; not devoid of life."
That is what today's show is about. Creating the conditions for life to happen within the water in natural swimming pools. Natural swimming pools unlike their chemical counterparts use no chemicals. The pool water is cleaned biologically by plants and organisms within the water. No smells, no chemicals, no pathogens, biology creating water so clean you can drink it.
David has developed a system of building natural pools that is both cost effective and ecologically enhancing. Natural pools that utilize natural biological processes to keep the water clean. The classic case of nature doing something equal to or better than some chemical made in a factory - clean, pathogen free drinking water, in swimmable form.
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Learn more at permaculturevoices.com/javan1 Support the show at permaculturevoices.com/support As Joseph Campbell, the originator of the follow your bliss concept stated... "if you do follow your bliss you put yourself on a kind of track that has been there all the while, waiting for you, and the life that you ought to be living is the one you are living. When you can see that, you begin to meet people who are in your field of bliss, and they open doors to you. I say, follow your bliss and don't be afraid, and doors will open where you didn't know they were going to be.' When you do learn to recognize it and when you do find it, Campbell contents that it put's your life on a different track…" The Power of Myth Should you walk into the unknown following your bliss with the hope that it will lead to open doors? In many ways yes and in many ways, no... Because your bliss gets you started on the journey, but that journey may or may not lead to livelihood and opportunity... Bliss is just one part of the journey, one tool to use along the way... Given that, should you simply follow your bliss, and is that the best advice in the world or is it the worst advice in the world? One of the many ideas that I'll explore in today's show with Javan Bernakevitch. Learn more at permaculturevoices.com/javan1 Support the show at permaculturevoices.com/support
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