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
Are we moving to an open source world?
Marcin Jakubowski thinks so.
Through his global village construction set Marcin hopes to do what Wikipedia has done for actual physical equipment - open sourcing the tools and machines that are the fundamental components of civilization.
But like the visionaries that created Encarta and Wikipedia, it takes a unique perspective to create a future that doesn't exist yet, and to make that future a reality.
This episode is an exploration into Marcin's longer term view, specifically how does he stay focused and work towards something that is a far off view of the future. How does he deal with the hard times, the struggles, and the haters? How does fund the process and how does he measure progress? These are all challenges that come with having lofty goals and a grand vision, and when you starting point is currently only one one-millionth of the total economy.
As you listen to this episode think about open source and think about where we could be in the evolution of open source. Don't forget the lesson of the encyclopedia - when everything is going great and things are at an all time high - that impossible scenario, the one that could change everything, might not only be possible, it might just be around the corner.
Learn more about Marcin at permaculturevoices.com/cd1
In this episode Curtis and I are joined by new farmer Rob Kaiser.
Rob is a few months into his farming journey. And like Curtis he didn't come from a farming background. He came from the corporate world. A few years ago Rob realized that the path that he was on, wasn't right for him anymore, and he needed to change. One part of that change was an entry into farming.
In this episode Rob will talk about his transition into farming and the plan that he has put into place to make the transition. He'll touch on how he has dealt with not knowing everything. And how he has dealt with the good times and the really bad times that are unavoidable when you start any new business venture.
One key to Rob's progress has been to surround himself with successful people to make his go a little easier by leveraging their experience. And it's worked because progress is being made and Rob is slowly making the change that he not too long ago dreamed about. The idea, the dream, has become a reality. It's happening.
For all the new farmers and aspiring farmers out there, this episode will shed some light on the early parts of the journey, showing that you are aren't alone, even though we all feel like we are at times. There are others out there trying to do what you want to do. Keep at it and and be the change. And as Rob will say in this episode, "You may not be able to change the world, but you can change yours."
More about the show at permaculturevoices.com/tuf21
Listen to past episodes at: https://www.paperpot.co/podcast
Increase farm efficiency with the Paperpot Transplanter and Other Small Farm Equipment at https://www.paperpot.co/
Follow PaperpotCo on Instagram:http://bit.ly/2B45VKQ
You need to ask yourself - Are you approaching farming as a hobby or as a livelihood?
There's no right or wrong answer.
But you need to be clear with your decision and set your expectations accordingly.
Because approaching farming as a business is dramatically different than approaching farming as a hobby.
To sum this all up be clear in your own head of the distinction between farming as a hobby, and farming as a career. No BS. Know what the answer is and make all, all, of your choices on the farm accordingly.
It is week 20 of the urban farm season - July 28, 2015.
Learn more about The Urban Farmer at permaculturevoices.com/tuf20
Listen to past episodes at: https://www.paperpot.co/podcast
Increase farm efficiency with the Paperpot Transplanter and Other Small Farm Equipment at https://www.paperpot.co/
Follow PaperpotCo on Instagram:http://bit.ly/2B45VKQ
Most of the world’s human population in now urban. Permaculture designer and teacher Larry Santoyo will examine the permaculturist’s role in city planning and it’s direct relevance to wilderness protection, resource management and cultural curation. Larry will lead the discussion and share his lessons learned on projects.
Learn more at permaculturevoices.com/b24
This romantic notion of farming - working outside, hands in the soil, sowing seeds, and then nurturing those crops to harvest. While all great, and all true, they are just a piece of the farming pie. And this is where problem's start to arise.
The romantic view pulls people into farming, on just that, a romantic view, not a realistic full picture. And one part of reality is sales and moving product.
Many people don't think about how they are actually going to sell these crops that they harvest. Maybe just assuming someone will want to buy them, everyone needs to eat, right?
A dangerous assumption. And it is no doubt one of the reasons why you hear about so many small scale farmers struggling. They invest a lot of time in the dream, but not how they can actually make that dream a successful and sustainable reality.
Today we will take a look at that idea as we discuss how to sell your farm products, so you can keep working on the farm.
This episode is detailed dig into CSA's and farmers markets. What's worked for Curtis, and what hasn't. Strategies that can help you succeed..
It is week 19 of the urban farm season - July 21, 2015.
Learn more about The Urban Farmer at permaculturevoices.com/tuf19
Listen to past episodes at: https://www.paperpot.co/podcast
Increase farm efficiency with the Paperpot Transplanter and Other Small Farm Equipment at https://www.paperpot.co/
Follow PaperpotCo on Instagram:http://bit.ly/2B45VKQ
Something so evident yet so ignored by industrial agriculture, why agriculture in the future must use plants that are naturally adapted to their environments.
In our present day world man has become so detached from nature that he imagines that he can grow wheat in parched deserts and oranges in the arctic, and while this is only a partially true statement, the fascination with gene tinkering in the laboratory with apparent obliviousness to natural forces has scientists trying to create “organisms” with super powers. The disciples of such approaches to agriculture preach of corn and rice that will withstand brutal temperatures and drought and supposedly bring humanity to food security when the thermometers pop because of climate change. Curiously, these people so intent on creating “super” plants in the laboratory, don’t seem to observe that such plants already exist in nature!
E.A.S. is such a simple concept that it is almost elementary school logic, yet for all the brilliant scholars around the world, practically no worldwide cohesive effort has been directed to amassing and trialing all the food plants suited to desertic conditions. Joseph Simcox will explain his bio-adaptive approach to creating effective agriculture in the world’s dry lands, and he will lay out a plan to produce food in them in an ecologically relevant and suitable way. His basis lies in the world’s food plant flora, hundreds if not thousands of plant species around the world have been utilized for food in the deserts by indigenous peoples for millennia, now is the time he argues, to take a closer look and put these plants in the spotlight for cultivation and selection.
This talk was presented live at PV1 in March 2014.
Learn more about Joseph Simcox at permaculturevoices.com/b023.
As a farmer and as an employer it is important to have systems in place. To know why and how you do something. This helps you understand what you do and it allows you to communicate what you do to an employee.
When you have clear, defined systems in place it takes most of the guesswork out of the equation. This allows you to produce a consistent product quickly and efficiently. And it also allows you to troubleshoot problems when they come up. Because if everyone does things the same way, and something goes wrong then you can quickly tell whether it was operator error or system error, and fix the problem.
When you have an employee that understands why you do what you do and how you do what you do, then it comes down to when you do it. Time can be tight on a farm and things can get hectic, so it pays to take a little extra time each day to schedule out the upcoming day.
This episode is all about setting up and establishing systems to make the work that is done on your farm more effective.
It is week 18 of the urban farm season - July 14, 2015.
Learn more about The Urban Farmer at permaculturevoices.com/tuf18
Listen to past episodes at: https://www.paperpot.co/podcast
Increase farm efficiency with the Paperpot Transplanter and Other Small Farm Equipment at https://www.paperpot.co/
Follow PaperpotCo on Instagram:http://bit.ly/2B45VKQ
Mycelium co-founder Matthew Abrams talks about his journey of leaving the status quo to finding meaning in his own life and the starting an alternative education business.
This talk was presented at PV2 in March 2015 by Matthew Abrams. Matthew is co-founder of mycelium.is
Listen to more at permaculturevoices.com/podcast
There are all sorts of things that Curtis does to make his efforts more efficient and more effective. Some are complex and involve a lot of time studying spreadsheets, and others are simple like minimizing you transit time.
Growing the business while working less hours. That's something that we all want. It isn't always easy or straightforward, but it is possible. it's something that comes with experience if you take the time to analyze all of your processes and see where you can make them more efficient.
Interplanting is a good example of this. Interplanting has allowed Curtis to grow more crops in the same amount of space. This maximizes the use of his land by growing more in the same space.
Curtis has also figured out how to optimize tasks on the farm that pay. Think sales related tasks like ways to harvest product quicker and more efficiently, and ways to package product in a way that satisfies customers and saves prep time.
But, there are a lot of tasks on the farm that simply don't pay. Things like weeding. And as a farmer you don't get paid to weed. Yet it has to be done.
Using Landscape fabric to prevent weeds and using tarps for stale seed bedding are two passive systems that Curtis uses to prevent weeds from germinating. There are also more active preventative measures than be done to help mitigate weed pressure. Things like pre-emergent flame weeding and no-till bed preparation. While these activities require work, they work in your advantage by using some time now, in order to save a lot of time later.
Those are the types of things that we're talking about today Streamlining Tasks and Being More Efficient. Tips for Maximizing Effort and Time on the Farm.
It is week 17 of the urban farm season - July 7, 2015.
Learn more about The Urban Farmer at permaculturevoices.com/tuf17
Listen to past episodes at: https://www.paperpot.co/podcast
Increase farm efficiency with the Paperpot Transplanter and Other Small Farm Equipment at https://www.paperpot.co/
Follow PaperpotCo on Instagram:http://bit.ly/2B45VKQ
Nowadays, people associate American native culture with three crops; Corn, Beans and Squash (the three sisters). According to Joe this is only the tip of the iceberg, Indigenous Americans (North of Mexico)used at least 3000 species of plants for food!
Joe will unveil an amazing palette of wild edibles used by the Native Peoples that hold promise for our farms, gardens and kitchens, and show how these “forgotten” foods are legitimate heirs to a new food ecosystem.
Because one of the objectives is to put practical information in the hands of practitioners, Joe will invite participants to apply to be a part of his native food revival efforts which will access and distribute rare native edible propagation stock.
This talk was presented live at PV2 in March 2015.
Learn more about Joe Simcox at permaculturevoices.com/b22
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