Stay ConnectedInsights for vegetable farmers and market gardeners who earn, or want to earn, a living growing vegetables profitably.
In each episode, I talk with a beginning or experienced farmer, diving deep into their story to find out what makes their market farm successful. I focus on in-the-field farming. Soil preparation, weed management, post-harvest processing, appropriate technology, farm tools and equipment, and growing crops.
Hosted and produced by Diego Footer’s Modern Grower Podcast Network.
Copyright: © Modern Grower
Drawing from Harvard, MIT, and McKinsey research, Diego breaks down why farmers with superior produce lose to competitors with worse products.
Subscribe for more content on sustainable farming, market farming tips, and business insights!
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Listen to other podcasts on the Modern Grower Podcast Network: Carrot Cashflow Farm Small Farm Smart Farm Small Farm Smart Daily The Growing Microgreens Podcast The Urban Farmer Podcast The Rookie Farmer Podcast In Search of Soil Podcast
Check out Diego's books: Sell Everything You Grow on Amazon Ready Farmer One on Amazon
**** Modern Grower and Diego Footer participate in the Amazon Services LLC. Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.
Revenue per acre in market gardening ranges from $20,000 to $400,000. Same crops, same square footage, 20x different results. After 10 years interviewing hundreds of farmers, the difference isn't luck — it's six factors working together.
Click here to watch the full episode on our YouTube Channel.
Subscribe for more content on sustainable farming, market farming tips, and business insights!
Get market farming tools, seeds, and supplies at Modern Grower.
Follow Modern Grower: Instagram Instagram
Listen to other podcasts on the Modern Grower Podcast Network: Carrot Cashflow Farm Small Farm Smart Farm Small Farm Smart Daily The Growing Microgreens Podcast The Urban Farmer Podcast The Rookie Farmer Podcast In Search of Soil Podcast
Check out Diego's books: Sell Everything You Grow on Amazon Ready Farmer One on Amazon
**** Modern Grower and Diego Footer participate in the Amazon Services LLC. Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.
In this episode, Dr. Paul Zorner of Locus Ag Solutions sheds light on the role of weeds in maintaining soil health and in soil succession.
Subscribe for more content on sustainable farming, market farming tips, and business insights!
Get market farming tools, seeds, and supplies at Modern Grower.
Follow Modern Grower: Instagram Instagram
Listen to other podcasts on the Modern Grower Podcast Network: Carrot Cashflow Farm Small Farm Smart Farm Small Farm Smart Daily The Growing Microgreens Podcast The Urban Farmer Podcast The Rookie Farmer Podcast In Search of Soil Podcast
Check out Diego's books: Sell Everything You Grow on Amazon Ready Farmer One on Amazon
**** Modern Grower and Diego Footer participate in the Amazon Services LLC. Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.
After years of failed crops and poor germination, farmer Ray Tyler cracked the code on consistent lettuce production. Now growing 400 pounds weekly at 75% profit margins, he shares the complete system that generates $160,000 annually from lettuce alone—on less than half an acre.
Subscribe for more content on sustainable farming, market farming tips, and business insights!
Get market farming tools, seeds, and supplies at Modern Grower.
Follow Modern Grower: Instagram Instagram
Listen to other podcasts on the Modern Grower Podcast Network: Carrot Cashflow Farm Small Farm Smart Farm Small Farm Smart Daily The Growing Microgreens Podcast The Urban Farmer Podcast The Rookie Farmer Podcast In Search of Soil Podcast
Check out Diego's books: Sell Everything You Grow on Amazon Ready Farmer One on Amazon
**** Modern Grower and Diego Footer participate in the Amazon Services LLC. Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.
In this episode, Dr. Johannes Lehmann of Cornell University talks about how our knowledge of soil and humus evolved through decades of research.
Subscribe for more content on sustainable farming, market farming tips, and business insights!
Get market farming tools, seeds, and supplies at Modern Grower.
Follow Modern Grower: Instagram Instagram
Listen to other podcasts on the Modern Grower Podcast Network: Carrot Cashflow Farm Small Farm Smart Farm Small Farm Smart Daily The Growing Microgreens Podcast The Urban Farmer Podcast The Rookie Farmer Podcast In Search of Soil Podcast
Check out Diego's books: Sell Everything You Grow on Amazon Ready Farmer One on Amazon
**** Modern Grower and Diego Footer participate in the Amazon Services LLC. Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.
Ray Tyler rejected the race-to-the-bottom pricing that destroys most small farms. Instead, he discovered customers willing to pay $10/pound for premium lettuce—5x what big farms charge. With 75% profit margins and weekly harvests creating constant cash flow, Ray built a farm that supports his family plus 4 employees on just one acre.
Subscribe for more content on sustainable farming, market farming tips, and business insights!
Get market farming tools, seeds, and supplies at Modern Grower.
Follow Modern Grower: Instagram Instagram
Listen to other podcasts on the Modern Grower Podcast Network: Carrot Cashflow Farm Small Farm Smart Farm Small Farm Smart Daily The Growing Microgreens Podcast The Urban Farmer Podcast The Rookie Farmer Podcast In Search of Soil Podcast
Check out Diego's books: Sell Everything You Grow on Amazon Ready Farmer One on Amazon
**** Modern Grower and Diego Footer participate in the Amazon Services LLC. Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.
In this episode, Dr. Bruno Basso of CIBO Technologies how keeping the soil covered can help keep nitrogen in place.
Subscribe for more content on sustainable farming, market farming tips, and business insights!
Get market farming tools, seeds, and supplies at Modern Grower.
Follow Modern Grower: Instagram Instagram
Listen to other podcasts on the Modern Grower Podcast Network: Carrot Cashflow Farm Small Farm Smart Farm Small Farm Smart Daily The Growing Microgreens Podcast The Urban Farmer Podcast The Rookie Farmer Podcast In Search of Soil Podcast
Check out Diego's books: Sell Everything You Grow on Amazon Ready Farmer One on Amazon
**** Modern Grower and Diego Footer participate in the Amazon Services LLC. Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.
In this episode, Diego talks about uncomfortable financial questions any aspiring farmer MUST answer before starting their farm business.
Subscribe for more content on sustainable farming, market farming tips, and business insights!
Get market farming tools, seeds, and supplies at Modern Grower.
Follow Modern Grower: Instagram Instagram
Listen to other podcasts on the Modern Grower Podcast Network: Carrot Cashflow Farm Small Farm Smart Farm Small Farm Smart Daily The Growing Microgreens Podcast The Urban Farmer Podcast The Rookie Farmer Podcast In Search of Soil Podcast
Check out Diego's books: Sell Everything You Grow on Amazon Ready Farmer One on Amazon
**** Modern Grower and Diego Footer participate in the Amazon Services LLC. Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.
Michael Russo spent 20 years as a chef — 80-hour weeks, sometimes 100. Seven weddings in a single day. Then he looked at the executive chefs above him: seventies, still working 100-hour weeks, miserable. He walked away at 40 with no farming experience, no degree, and no business background.
First real growing season: $2,100 in his best week ($600 restaurant, $1,500 farmer's market). Even off weeks with groundhog damage, he pushed $1,000.
Click here to learn more about Chef Mikey and Chef's Harvest.
Click here to watch the full episode on our YouTube Channel.
Subscribe for more content on sustainable farming, market farming tips, and business insights!
Get market farming tools, seeds, and supplies at Modern Grower.
Follow Modern Grower: Instagram Instagram
Listen to other podcasts on the Modern Grower Podcast Network: Carrot Cashflow Farm Small Farm Smart Farm Small Farm Smart Daily The Growing Microgreens Podcast The Urban Farmer Podcast The Rookie Farmer Podcast In Search of Soil Podcast
Check out Diego's books: Sell Everything You Grow on Amazon Ready Farmer One on Amazon
**** Modern Grower and Diego Footer participate in the Amazon Services LLC. Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.
In this episode, Research Associate Professor Dr. Buz Kloot of Soil Health Labs talks about the difference between practices and principles and how one principle can have many different practices for execution.
Subscribe for more content on sustainable farming, market farming tips, and business insights!
Get market farming tools, seeds, and supplies at Modern Grower.
Follow Modern Grower: Instagram Instagram
Listen to other podcasts on the Modern Grower Podcast Network: Carrot Cashflow Farm Small Farm Smart Farm Small Farm Smart Daily The Growing Microgreens Podcast The Urban Farmer Podcast The Rookie Farmer Podcast In Search of Soil Podcast
Check out Diego's books: Sell Everything You Grow on Amazon Ready Farmer One on Amazon
**** Modern Grower and Diego Footer participate in the Amazon Services LLC. Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.
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