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
Do you feel like you are the only one who cares? The only one who sees the important work that needs to be done? If you find yourself venturing into seldom-explored areas of thought and practice, chance are good you can relate.
The truth is, however, that there are others like you, like us, eager to connect with like-minded folks and you may need to be the catalyst to make it happen. There is an art and science to cultivating a community and in this talk John will discuss his favorite strategies for fostering your own constituency.
This talk was presented at PV2 in March 2015 by John Rife.
More information on John at eastendmkt.com.
Listen to more at permaculturevoices.com/podcast
Welcome to The Urban Farmer show. It is week 6 of the urban farm season and it is April 22, 2015. The weather is beautiful in Kelowona, BC and urban farmer Curtis Stone is setting the farm up for the forth coming season.
In this episode we talk a lot about nursery, transplanting into the field, and the concept of inter-planting.
Currently on the farm transplants are going in, irrigation systems are being setup, and the end is in sight for the setup phase.
Show Notes: permaculturevoices.com/tuf6
In the last regular show episode 107 with Bill Bean I referenced an upcoming webinar.
This episode is a replay of that webinar - Building Quick, Convincing Business Plans That Deliver Confidence, Capital, Market Share & More was recorded on April 30, 2015.
In the presentation Bill introduced proven tips, tools and techniques to help you quickly organize your thoughts into a succinct storyline that explain:
- Why your initiative is needed in the market place.
- What makes your approach unique and valuable to your clients?
- How you will introduce your concept successfully and grow it for impact and profitability?
This episode is a recording of the full webinar. The presentation part of the webinar lasted about 45 minutes and was followed by 30 minutes of questions.
Show Notes: permaculturevoices.com/107
Many veggie and fruit growers are quick to write off home delivery as inefficient without considering the value it can add to their farm produce.
For small-scale farmers whose customer base is urban, a well-structured CSA with home delivery can be more profitable and efficient than selling at the farmers’ market, and more appealing than drop-off points.
In this short talk, veggie grower Jordan Marr will discuss the operation of his home-delivered CSA, and how to structure such a program to maximize the benefits to your farm.
This talk was presented at PV2 in March 2015 by Jordan Marr.
Jordan podcasts at theruminant.ca
Listen to more at permaculturevoices.com/podcast
It is week 5 of the urban farm season - April 14, 2015. The setting for this show is Kelowona, BC, Canada.
Urban Farmer Curtis Stone is going gangbusters in what he calls the setup phase on his farm - getting all of the major things done on the farm plots before the season gets underway. Things like preparing the soil, starting plants in the nursery, putting down weed control measures, and getting infrastructure in place. Part of that infrastructure involves getting your irrigation systems in order.
This we talk about setting up irrigation systems, poly low tunnels, and trying out new crops.
Show Notes: permaculturevoices.com/tuf5
Permaculture is a framework that can be integrated into any interest and passion. It helps us use and value patterns from a sophisticated long-term, systems-thinking approach to solve problems. Through it we can re-invent and re-design what it means to learn, educate, and be educated.
Putting in a swale or planting a tree alone is not going to be a long-term solution to our problems. To have a long-term impact we need a culture that understands, values, and utilizes the ethical design science principles of permaculture.
We must bring permaculture thinking mainstream and make it a thriving movement that shapes this world.
This must occur both locally and globally. To accomplish this we must get our youngest problem solvers, our children, to use the permaculture methodology to start asking and finding answers to problems. This talk was presented at PV2 in March 2015 by Jen Mendez of permiekids.com.
Listen to more at permaculturevoices.com/podcast
In business there is no such thing as new business, there is only other people's business. That's the subject of today's show.
Strategically planning your business so you can capture a share of the business. Doing that planning ahead of time, so you don't end up spending a lot of money, time and energy going in the wrong direction selling something that people don't want or can't pay for.
Most people don't do that "The problem is, most people don't spend as much time thinking about it as they should. They just try and go do something that they think is exciting, and they don't really test it as much as they should."
The goal of this show is to get you thinking. Testing your ideas and thinking them through to determine is the concept really worth the time, energy and money involved?
Let's tackle that subject today with Bill Bean.
Show Notes: permaculturevoices.com/107
It is now April 8 and we are another week into the Urban Farm season with Curtis. What's happened on the farm so far.
At this point in the season Curtis has prepared most of the growing beds on his various plots for the upcoming farm season and that includes switching a lot of his production methods over to more of no-till style. He has been spending a few hours each day on farm related activities. This season is just getting underway and this year he isn't doing it alone. He is doing it with the help of a new full-time employee. A move that Curtis hopes will allow him to work more on the business, not in the business.
This week we will be talking about his new employee and how the onboarding and training process is going. We will also talk about the financial impacts of hiring someone - when do the additional costs make sense?
In this episode we will talk a lot about pricing and how Curtis prices his products. He has found a pricing system that works and has kept his prices consistent since he started farming a few years ago.
Show Notes: permaculturevoices.com/tuf4
The United States Greatest Permaculture Challenge?
There are enormous challenges and contrasting opportunities inherent on Indian Reservations today. One one hand you have sovereign nations inside the US which are in a state more depleted than most third world nations but, on the other hand, they have opportunity to lead in a way they never have before.
Permaculture abundance in the setting of a typical reservation can be so dramatic because of the endemic scarcity. In particular, The Navajo Nation could be the most dramatic demonstration in the US of what is possible with Permaculture.. The fact that the Navajo Nation is the largest reservation in the US and also happens to be the largest brown spot on the map of the US should give anyone who really believes in Permaculture an insatiable desire to show its restorative powers.
If Geoff Lawton can turn heads with 10 acres in Jordon what could the attendees of PV2 do with 17 million acres in the middle of our country? Can Permaculture afford not to take a serious look at such projects? Come spend 5 minutes listening to a challenge that may engage you in the most restorative project our nation has ever seen.
For more information on Grant's project visit: https://www.facebook.com/PermacultureProvisionProject
This talk was presented at PV2 in March 2015 by Grant Curry.
Listen to more at permaculturevoices.com/podcast
This episode is a presentation given by Erik Ohlsen at PV2 in March 2015.
Learn real world tools for design and implementation of Permaculture based contracting businesses. Permaculture principles applied to business design. Use the ethics of permaculture as triple bottom line.
Create a marketing plan that has a social impact. Imagine being able to make a career out of your passion for Permaculture. Create a business that catches millions of gallons of water, builds soil on hundreds of acres, plants hundreds of useful trees every year, restores native habit, redesigns our cites our schools and new developments.
Join Erik Ohlsen, Principal of Permaculture Artisans and Executive Director of The Permaculture Skills Center as he shares tangibles recipes for economically, ecologically and socially just businesses.
Show Notes: permaculturevoices.com/106
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