The Urban Farm Podcast with Greg Peterson

Latest Episodes:

468: Chris Smith on Okra Aug 06, 2019

Show notes

Fascination with an underappreciated vegetable.

His first introduction to okra did not go over well, but years later Chris Smith was given okra seeds as a gift and he felt responsible to do his best with them. This prompted him to research, learn, and experiment with many varieties and recipes. He learned a lot and he shares part of his journey becoming fascinated with this often discounted vegetable. There is a lot more to this plant than just a simple pod. Check out the recipe for pickled okra he shared with us and included on our shownotes page.

Chris is a garden writer and homesteading consultant who serves on the board of The People’s Seed. When he is not okra-ing he can sometimes be found at Sow True Seed, an Asheville-based open-pollinated seed company. The Whole Okra: A Seed to Stem Celebration by our friends at Chelsea Green Publishing, has just been released and is available!

Go to https://www.urbanfarm.org/2019/08/06/468-chris-smith/ for more information and links on this podcast, and to find our other great guests.

This contest period has expired.

468: Chris Smith on Okra

467: Bentley Christie on Worm Composting Aug 03, 2019

Show notes

Having WAY too much fun with worms!

In This Podcast: Watching his coworker through her lunch scraps into a large bin under her desk was just too exciting for Bentley Christie and soon he was on his way to becoming the Compost Guy with a popular blog and website about worm composting. He shares his excitement and admiration for the legless wonders that produce a valued garden soil amendment. Not stopping there, he explains a new method of composting that transformed his garden into a bountiful wonder.

Bentley, also known as "Compost Guy", earned an Honors Bachelor of Science in Biology with undergrad and grad studies in: plant pathology, microbiology, soil and compost science. He has been working with worms for over 20 years, is the author of the blog Red Worm Composting and is currently teaching about trench vermicomposting.

Go to https://www.urbanfarm.org/2019/08/03/467-bentley-christie/ for more information and links on this podcast, and to find our other great guests.

467: Bentley Christie on Worm Composting

466: Shannon McBride on Successful Community Collaboration Jul 30, 2019

Show notes

Bringing residents, local government, and businesses together to build an epic garden and so much more.

In This Podcast: The area Shannon McBride grew up in had experienced a tumultuous change when the Phoenix light rail was built right down the middle. Instead of getting angry, she decided to start a collaboration for the area. Building around a vision for a safe, walkable community, she started with a community garden; and through team work, donations, and community buy-in, the results are impressive. But she’s not done and there is so much more to this collaboration. 19North is not your typical community garden by any means!

Shannon grew up in the 19NORTH Community in Central Phoenix where she currently lives. In her career journey, she has held executive positions with Fortune 100 companies working in: Human Resources, Communications, Strategy Implementation and Training/Development.

Her community work began as a Pastor at Open Door Fellowship Church where she founded 19NORTH - a non-profit community development organization that is bringing together schools, churches, neighborhoods, local government, city offices and businesses to help assure that, "Every Business Thrives, Every Student Succeeds and Every Neighborhood is Safe".

Go to https://www.urbanfarm.org/2019/07/30/466-shannon-mcbride/ for more information and links on this podcast, and to find our other great guests.

466: Shannon McBride on Successful Community Collaboration

465: Bobby Wilson on Five Acres in Atlanta Jul 27, 2019

Show notes

Empowering a community through the benefits of growing food in the middle of the city.

In This Podcast: After running the Cooperative Extension Program for Urban Gardening in Atlanta, and taking leadership roles in several other community orgs, Bobby Wilson was not going to stop when he retired! Instead he invested his retirement money into a farm and is transforming it in a community resource with education and community plots along with the production agriculture. He has a huge vision for what his team can accomplish.

Bobby is the President and CEO of Metro Atlanta Urban Farm, founded to use as a teaching tool, economic empowerment zone, and as a food production site for the southwest Metropolitan Atlanta area. He promotes the benefits of urban agriculture in food deserts with a farming model that works to decrease the number of food insecure families through education on planting, cultivating, and cooking fresh produce.

Go to https://www.urbanfarm.org/2019/07/27/465-bobby-wilson/ for more information and links on this podcast, and to find our other great guests.

The contest in this episode has been closed.

465: Bobby Wilson on Five Acres in Atlanta

464: Nicole Finklestein on Urban Herb Farming Jul 23, 2019

Show notes

Tapping into the many benefits of backyard botanicals.

In This Podcast: While becoming a licensed acupuncturist and doctor, Nicole Finklestein felt the carbon footprint of the medicinals and botanicals in her practice was extensive. She drew on her family farming background to start growing herbs and flowers. She discusses holistic practices used on her farm, as well as regenerative agriculture used to rebuild the soil. She has great advice for those interested on jumping into the niche market of medicinal farming.

Nicole is a Doctor of Oriental Medicine, licensed acupuncturist, and registered herbalist who was raised as a naturalist on her family's berry farm in rural Ohio. She spent much of her childhood exploring the plant kingdom and testing botanical remedies passed down through generations of Appalachian healers. With over a decade of Western and Eastern herbal study, she founded Herban Austin - an herb farm in Central Texas where she cultivates botanicals for both medicinal and culinary use.

Go to https://www.urbanfarm.org/2019/07/23/464-nicole-finklestein/ for more information and links on this podcast, and to find our other great guests.

464: Nicole Finklestein on Urban Herb Farming

463: Carl Atwell on Entrepreneurship and Valued Relationships Jul 20, 2019

Show notes

Keeping people at the core of small business success.

In This Podcast: When an entrepreneurial opportunity came his way, Carl Atwell jumped on board with a passion. He is now president of Gempler’s and is building it again with a commitment towards his customers and employees. He shares the story of how Gempler’s was created with a focus on good values and how he connected with that. He also explains how the relationship with his customers and employees is so important to him and to his vision for the company.

Carl has spent 25 years working toward the dream of someday owning a company centered around employees and customers. In January he purchased Gempler’s, an 80-year-old farm-and-home-store that helps anyone who works outdoors.

Gempler’s is an independent farming and outdoor-work supply company with a promise to treat you like a neighbor, not a number. They provide innovative products to make the hardest outdoor jobs easier with fair pricing, and friendly service every time.

Go to https://www.urbanfarm.org/2019/07/20/463-carl-atwell/ for more information and links on this podcast, and to find our other great guests.

463: Carl Atwell on Entrepreneurship and Valued Relationships

462: Molly Watson on Harvesting Garden Snails Jul 16, 2019

Show notes

Turning garden pests into edible treats.

In This Podcast: Her 9-year-old son wanted to eat snails while in France, and once home he wanted to eat the garden snails too – so food writer Molly Watson did the research and figured out how to harvest and cook the snails they collected. Her down to earth descriptions can help any gardener who wondered if the pests had an edible purpose. She also shares a lot about her research for her upcoming book about how to decide about being vegan.

Molly is the editor-in-chief of Edible Communities, the flagship website for a network of 80+ hyper-local food magazines across the US and Canada. She is the author of Bowls! (2017) and Greens + Grains (2014), both from Chronicle Books, as well as the forthcoming Should We All Be Vegan? out this fall (2019) from Thames & Hudson. She lives in San Francisco where the winters feel colder than her native Minnesota, no matter what the local say.

Molly hates to garden! She’s tried it, she wants to like it, but she just doesn’t! She wrote about it a bit in her award-winning piece “Cooking’s Not for Everyone,” about how people shouldn’t have to cook (garden) to have high-quality, locally grown, sustainable food.

Go to https://www.urbanfarm.org/2019/07/16/462-molly-watson/ for more information and links on this podcast, and to find our other great guests.

462: Molly Watson on Harvesting Garden Snails

461: Chris Rawley on Alternative Funding for Urban Farmers Jul 13, 2019

Show notes

Investing in small agriculture businesses.

Production farming in America is not an easy business path to start on without some help or connections. Appreciating the value of farming after his travels in the US Navy, Chris Rawley realized these challenges farmers face when trying start or expand small-to-midsize farms and decided he could help. He breaks down the basic process for agriculture investing outside of traditional bank loans and the benefits for both farmers and investors. Check out his article too!

As a career naval officer, Chris has traveled the world. Over the course of visiting dozens of war-torn and poverty-stricken countries, he began to appreciate the importance of farming to every single person on earth. As a professional investor, he decided to invest in a farm, but discovered that these types of investments were inaccessible to the average person. He created Harvest Returns in 2016 to democratize investments in agriculture.

Go to https://www.urbanfarm.org/2019/07/13/461-chris-rawley/ for more information and links on this podcast, and to find our other great guests - and check out his article at www.urbanfarm.org/investinfoodsystem

461: Chris Rawley on Alternative Funding for Urban Farmers

460: Pascale Pearce on Egg Incubation for Beginners Jul 09, 2019

Show notes

Making the hatching of backyard chickens easy and fun.

In This Podcast: If you are not careful, you might find that hatching eggs can quite easily develop into a passion, just ask Pascale Pearce! She took a job that needed her to hatch eggs at least once, so she knew what she was talking about – and now she loves to help others understand the process. She shares some key points about incubating bird eggs and starting the chicks off right.

We also include a link to a great article from her with even more info!

A native of France, Pascale is a graduate of Bordeaux Business School where she earned an MBA specializing in International Trade. In 1994 in the UK, she started as Brinsea Export Manager and joined Brinsea USA in 1998 shortly after its creation where she was in charge of business development.

Brinsea® is a family run business offering bird breeding and veterinarian products. Established in 1976 by an engineer with an interest in breeding birds it quickly became a passion, which coupled with his background and enthusiasm has produced the most innovative egg incubators and brooders available.

With 25 years’ experience in the bird breeding and animal intensive care, Pascale enjoys sharing her knowledge of incubation with backyard breeders to make hatching an enjoyable experience they will want to repeat.

Go to https://www.urbanfarm.org/2019/07/09/460-pascale-pearce/ for more on this podcast, and www.urbanfarm.org/hatchingeggs for her article.

460: Pascale Pearce on Egg Incubation for Beginners

459: Jason Bradford on Rural Living as our Future Jul 06, 2019

Show notes

Expecting that ruralization is the next evolution.

In This Podcast: Studying the changes in shifting populations, Jason Bradford is predicting the trend for urban growth is going to reverse. He breaks down why our energy dependency is indicating a reversal, why technology is creating discounted problems, and more importantly why personal action toward energy literacy and resilience is critical. He talks about what to do as the approaching change draws near.

Jason has been affiliated with Post Carbon Institute since 2004, first as a Fellow and then as a Board Member. He graduated from U.C. Davis with a B.S. in biology before earning his doctorate from Washington University in St. Louis, where he also taught ecology. He’s worked for the Center for Conservation and Sustainable Development at the Missouri Botanical Garden, was a Visiting Scholar at U.C. Davis, and co-founded the Andes Biodiversity and Ecosystem Research Group.

After all that, Jason shifted from academia to learn more about and practice sustainable agriculture. completed training with Ecology Action (aka GrowBiointensive) in Willits, California, and founded Brookside School Farm.

Go to https://www.urbanfarm.org/2019/07/06/459-jason-bradford/ for more information and links on this podcast, and to find our other great guests.

459: Jason Bradford on Rural Living as our Future

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