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
Farmer John Suscovich of Camps Road Farm and FarmMarketingSolutions.com talks about the Three Books Every Farmer Should Own live on stage at PV3. The Three Books: The E-Myth Revisited by Michael Gerber - http://amzn.to/20QPuZk Holistic Management by Allan Savory - http://amzn.to/1Vrvg8V The Lean Farm by Ben Hartman - http://amzn.to/20QPd8W To learn more about John and see all of the ASK John episodes visit permaculturevoices.com/john
Learn more at permaculturevoices.com/128 Support the show at permaculturevoices.com/support Today I am talking to Dave Sewak about his new book Mycelial Mayhem. Dave has spent his whole life around mushrooms. It all started when he was a young boy and tagged along with his grandfather on his mushroom foraging expeditions. Dave then went on to become a mushroom forage himself and has spent nearly 2 decades cultivating mushrooms as a hobby and as a business. His book helps combine the technical knowledge with the business side of things give you a basic introduction into what the small scale mushroom business is all about. As you will here, it's not a business for everyone, but it is a business that stacks nicely onto na already existing enterprise. And like all businesses it's not always as easy or fun as it sounds on the surface. In today's show we'll will address these points and discuss some of the considerations to take into account if you want to start a mushroom business. We will also talk about integrating mushrooms into a garden setting, or a market garden setting. Could you add integrate mushrooms into that system and actually get productive results? It's an interesting concept that may prove to be a worthwhile experiment for you. Learn more at permaculturevoices.com/128 Support the show at permaculturevoices.com/support
Homesteader Justin Rhodes of AbundantPermaculture.com talks what he wish knew before becoming a homesteader. To learn more about Justin and see all of the ASK Justin episodes visit permaculturevoices.com/justin. Support the show at permaculturevoices.com/support.
Learn more at permaculturevoices.com/theurbanfarmer Support the show at permaculturevoices.com/support To set the stage... Curtis had a next door neighbor. That neighbor used to own Curtis's house, and he rented that house from them and farmed in the back yard. When his neighbor decided to sell the house, Curtis then purchased the house from his neighbor. Subsequently that same neighbor went on to move to another house in the neighborhood, and began renting out the house next door to Curtis. In the process a conversation began about Curtis farming his neighbor's backyard now that it was a rental. The conversation eventual led to an agreement, one where Curtis would take down the fence between his yard and his neighbors, and extend his farm into his neighbor's back yard. It's a process that was built on the back of respect and social capital, and facilitated by old fashioned conversation. Today we'll take an extended look at the transition of that back yard from lawn to production farm, and all of the challenges and successes that went with it.. It's currently May 11, 2016. 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 structure your pasture poultry CSA?"
To learn more about John and see all of the ASK John episodes visit permaculturevoices.com/john.
If you like the show, please support the show by making a contribution at permaculturevoices.com/ilikevoices
Learn more at permaculturevoices.com/127 Support the show at permaculturevoices.com/support Today, nearly two years after our first episode (permaculturevoices.com/63), I am picking up the conversation with Akiva. We cover a lot of subjects which we didn't cover in the previous episode including: Selling to wholesalers, selling trees online, shipping trees, and dealing with state regulations. In addition to the practical tips and techniques, you'll also get an update on how Akiva evolved as an entrepreneur... Because a lot has changed in the last few years for Akiva. In 2014 nursery sales were 50% Akiva's income, this year in 2016 Akiva expects all of his income to from his on site nursery. He no longer works away from home as a landscape. He's a full time nursery man, and business owner. It's an awesome story of a small business, that just started on the side... Business continues to grow for Akiva and it's still a business that's literally rooted in loose, nutrient rich soil. Akiva's small nursery business grows over 1000 trees on a half an acre. Thousands of trees plant tightly together in loose, friable soil. Very tight spacings that force trees to grow tall and straight in competition with their neighbors resulting in a lot of nursery stock that can be sold in the first year. How many people out there have some extra space where they could grow a few hundred trees? Trees to use in the development of your own property or to sell. If you sold each tree for $5 or $10, then we are talking about some significant money given the amount of space it takes. It is simple, but it does take time, it is hard work. We aren't talking about any sort of gimmicks here. It is about putting time, work, and care in to nurse these trees along to the point where you can sell them. One other point to take note of. When we first talked back in 2014, Akiva was growing around 1000 tree's on half an acre. Things have changed and he's now scaled up to 10,000 trees on an acre. That's a lot of trees, on not a lot of land. But Akiva's making a go of it enjoying every step of the way. Learn more at permaculturevoices.com/127 Support the show at permaculturevoices.com/support
Homesteader Justin Rhodes of AbundantPermaculture.com talks about what types of chicken breeds are good for eggs and what type of breeds are good for meat on the homestead.
To learn more about Justin and see all of the ASK Justin episodes visit permaculturevoices.com/justin.
Support the show at permaculturevoices.com/support.
Learn more at permaculturevoices.com/theurbanfarmer Support the show at permaculturevoices.com/support Most of the tomatoes that Curtis grows fall into the cherry and saladette category - the smaller tomatoes. These types of tomatoes offer several advantages - they are pretty vigorous, they have a relatively short DTM, and because chef's like them. And when much of your sales are for restaurants, you grow what they want to buy. Over the years Curtis has evolved his system for tomato culture. And he now looks at them as a bit of a bonus crop given the way that he grows them. Many home gardeners dedicate full rows to tomatoes and give the plants wide spacing's. Curtis does the opposite. He interplants his tomatoes; dedicating most of his bed space to another crop, while squeezing his tomatoes into the out 2 edges of each bed. This strategy works for several reasons. It takes advantage of more of the soil strata. The tomatoes are planted deep, so their roots occupy the deeper layers of soil. While the main greens crops in the beds have shallow root systems. So while the plants are planted in the same space competition is minimized. Another reason why the competition is minimized is that the tomatoes occupy more of the vertical space. If you time the plants strategically during the year plant growth and sun angles allow you to get more plants in the same space with no shading. Overall, inter-planting has been huge for Curtis's farm. It's what's allowed him to hundreds of pounds of greens and hundreds of pounds of tomato, in same relative space. Not a bad bonus yield in a situation where most farmers would simply leave the tomatoes out. Look around your garden at the extra space and think about that next time you plant your tomatoes. It's currently May 4, 2016. 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 long do broiler chickens live?"
To learn more about John and see all of the ASK John episodes visit permaculturevoices.com/john.
If you like the show, please support the show by making a contribution at permaculturevoices.com/ilikevoices
Resilience comes from connection and interdependence. Frank Golbeck of Golden Coast Mead will talk about how helping Mark Oberle and other mead makers get their start has helped his business grow and helped the category of mead develop, lifting all participants.
This talk was presented at PV3 in March 2016 by Frank Golbeck of Golden Coast Mead.
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Listen to all of the PV3 audio at permaculturevoices.com/pv3audio
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