The Urban Farm Podcast with Greg Peterson

Latest Episodes:

332: Barbara Masoner on Growing Food Locally Feb 24, 2018

Show notes

Caring about local communities and their vegetable gardens.

In This Podcast: Looking for a group to join so she could make a difference in her community, Barbara Masoner found a local group that wanted to start a garden project in the state capital. Readjusting their focus after getting turned down, they got support from the mayor and started a project that is still making a difference more than ten years later. The simple idea now has a team of 400 volunteers all working to help feed food pantries and better their community.

Barbara’s background is in environmental studies. Her first garden was a 4-H project in 5th grade. Thanks to her many gardening mentors, including her great grandfather, she has found gardening rewarding, fun and inspirational. In 2009 she was one of the founders of Grow Local Colorado (GLC).

Since then GLC has grown over 23,000 pounds of fresh produce for dozens of Denver’s communities in need. Each grow season Barbara oversees some 400 volunteers in ten garden sites, many of those volunteers are young people. Her goal is to see as many vegetable gardens in Denver as there were Victory Gardens during WWII.

Go to https://www.urbanfarm.org/2018/02/24/332-barbara-masoner/ for more information and links on this podcast, and to find our other great guests.

Bonus 11: October Seed Chat (331.5) Feb 20, 2018

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Bonus Episode 11: Seed Chat October 2017.

A chat with an expert on Seeds, Bill McDorman.

In This Bonus Podcast: This is the October 2017 episode with a Seed School Chat Class - continuing the conversation with some motivational quotes, adjusting for new weather norms, coming back from gardening disasters, and so much more.

Bill McDorman is Executive Director of Rocky Mountain Seed Alliance, Ketchum, Idaho. He got his start in the bio-regional seed movement while in college in 1979 when he helped start Garden City Seeds. In 1984, Bill started Seeds Trust/High Altitude Gardens, a mail order seed company he ran successfully until it sold in 2013.

Go to https://www.urbanfarm.org/2018/02/20/bonus-episode-11/ for show notes and links on this bonus podcast, and to find our other great guests.

331: Zach Brooks on Sustainability and Worms Feb 17, 2018

Show notes

Turning waste into gold with off-the-shelf, readily available items.

In This Podcast:

Changing lifestyles to be more sustainable was something that Zach Brooks was willing to do with complete commitment, especially when it seemed fairly easy to do. He semi-retired young enough to realize he could make a difference so he bought some property and is creating a sustainability experiment to help others see how they can implement easy changes too. One main ingredient to his project is the worm farm and worm education and he shares key tips on how beneficial they are. He wears the title of lazy gardener with comfort and wants to teach others how to be more efficient without working so hard at the process.

Zach semi-retired from Healthcare Management at age 42 when his consulting company went public. And when his first of three grandchildren were born, he went back to Arizona State University to get a second Masters Degree, in Sustainability. Frustrated that most causes of climate change were not only fixable – but fixable with “off the shelf” practices and technologies, Zach set out to prove that an off-the-grid lifestyle could be every bit as comfortable as a wasteful lifestyle and have a positive impact on the environment.

He wants to show we don’t need some new invention, we just need to use the solar and wind power we have now and nature’s method of organic composting, natural mulching, smart growing, and less silly waste. On his farm is worm composting is key with the worms turning garbage into fertilizer and serving as food for their chickens.

Go to https://www.urbanfarm.org/2018/02/17/331-zach-brooks/ for more information and links on this podcast, and to find our other great guests.

330: Ben Hartman on Growing Lean Vegetables Feb 13, 2018

Show notes

Finding efficient processes to help make farming productive.

In This Podcast: It takes a dedicated minimalist to try living without adding new items to the property, and Ben Hartman took this simplistic mindset to most areas of his early adult life. Then when he too a look at his 5-acre farm he realized he could do with less unnecessary stuff and he found it improved his productivity. The lessons he learned have helped many others become more efficient and he shares some of them here with us.

Ben is the author of The Lean Farm (winner of the prestigious Shingo Award), and The Lean Farm Guide to Growing Vegetables, both published in 2017 by our friends at Chelsea Green. In that same year he was appointed to the 2017 Grist 50, a list of emerging green leaders in the United States.

He and his wife Rachel Hershberger own and operate Clay Bottom Farm in Goshen, Indiana, where they make their living on less than one acre by growing and selling specialty produce to restaurants, at a farmers market, and through cooperative CSAs.

Go to https://www.urbanfarm.org/2018/02/13/330-ben-hartman/ for more information and links on this podcast, and to find our other great guests.

329: Ryan Agrey on Successful Indoor Gardening Feb 10, 2018

Show notes

Putting fresh, organic food within reach of the kitchen counter.

In This Podcast: When a millennial has too much time on their hands and is not feeling like they are making a difference, AND they happen to be the kind of person who like to design things, what can possibly happen? We get to hear why Ryan Agrey is a millennial like that, and how he was motivated to take a game-system-designed farm to the next level and create something that could be used by any novice gardener to bring fresh, organic food within easy reach.

Ryan is from a small town in Alberta Canada, just north of Washington. Along with his father Brad and sister Tessa, he spent the last 2 years developing a simple “plug and play” indoor garden that allows anyone to grow food at home regardless of where they live. It requires no previous knowledge of growing food, and can pay for itself in just a few months.

During this journey they developed a unique technology for hydroponics which is currently patent pending. With the use of this technology they then created an affordable and simple kit to provide you with everything you need to grow year-round, indoors from the comfort of your home.

Go to https://www.urbanfarm.org/2018/02/10/329-ryan-agrey/ for more information and links on this podcast, and to find our other great guests.

328: Tim Young on Growing a Farm Business Feb 06, 2018

Show notes

Helping small farmers build their brands and grow their business.

In This Podcast: A relaxing horseback ride with his wife helped motivate businessman Tim Young into the strange new world of farming. He didn't know much about farming, but he knew a lot about marketing so he used that knowledge to help build their farmstead into a successful one with award-winning products. Not content with being the only one to succeed, he has started a project helping other farmers learn the ways to become successful themselves, and shares some of those concepts here.

Tim is a corporate executive turned modern homesteader and founded \ Nature’s Harmony Farm in Georgia, produced award-winning farmstead cheese, grassfed beef & lamb, woodlot pork, and pasture raised chicken. This is where he, his wife Liz and their young daughter, milk their own cow, produced all the cheese, soap, medicine, meat and vegetables - They truly enjoy a simple life.

Tim’s also the founder of the Small Farm Nation Academy, an online resource devoted to helping family farmers learn skills to build their farm brands, attract more customers, and grow profitable farm businesses.

Go to https://www.urbanfarm.org/2018/02/06/328-tim-young/ for more information and links on this podcast, and to find our other great guests.

Bonus 10 : Ask Jake & Greg - September 2017 (327.5) Feb 03, 2018

Show notes

The September 2017 Q&A session with two experts on Gardening and Fruit Trees

Jake Mace the Vegan Athlete and Greg Peterson of The Urban Farm are both gardening educators offering classes, podcasts, and videos on a large variety of gardening topics. Every month they get together for a monthly gardening chat to discuss what is going on in their gardens and answer your questions. To dive in, get more information, and send us your questions visit AskJakeandGreg.com - so let's get on with the show... This is the September 2017 Q&A episode with a variety of questions addressed from prepping for fruit trees, raised garden bed soil layers, and much more.

Go to https://www.urbanfarm.org/2018/02/03/bonus-episode-10/ for show notes and links on this bonus podcast, and to find our other great guests.

327: Robert Reader on Protecting Banana Crops Jan 30, 2018

Show notes

Paying attention to the pests and diseases that affect crops.

In This Podcast: Science and the study of the biology of plants is a true calling for Robert Reeder, as he has been part of different projects at CABI for several decades; and his focus on the Plantwise Programme is something that is making a difference. He shares with us how the Programme is helping farmers in developing countries diagnose and tackle different crop issues, as well as their work to help counter the spread of soil born diseases that are affecting banana crops around the world.

Robert is a plant pathologist working with the Centre for Agriculture and Biosciences International (CABI), based in the United Kingdom. His areas of interests are in international development and the management of pests and diseases of tropical crops. Having worked for CABI for nearly 25 years, he’s gained extensive experience in diagnosing pests and diseases of a diverse range of tropical crops. As part of his work he has traveled to many countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America.

His current focus in the Plantwise Programme which aims to help farmers lose less of what they grow to plant-health problems. Plantwise operates in 34 countries and works closely with national agricultural advisory services to establish and support a sustainable network of plant clinics.

Go to https://www.urbanfarm.org/2018/01/30/327-robert-reeder/ for more information and links on this podcast, and to find our other great guests.

326: Jan McCarthy on Making Hot Spicy Jams Jan 27, 2018

Show notes

Adding some sweet and spice to life through delicious fruit jams.

In This Podcast:

A simple request to help fill a charity basket for cancer patients has turned into a small food-craft business for Jan McCarthy. Acting on the request of her son to help out a charity event, Jan made a few jars of jam. Little did she realize how popular they would become, especially once she put her own special twist of adding hot peppers to some of her recipes. She tells about some of the steps she needed to go through to make her business legit, as well as some tips to making good jams.

Jan worked in her parents’ bakery from age 12 until she was 32 when she went back to school to be a para legal which she has done for 30 years. Ready to put some of the high stress of the legal world behind her, she was willing to try something new so as a favor to her son she started making jams for community projects of the Joy Bus Diner. Now her specialty is making hot spicy jams.

Go to https://www.urbanfarm.org/2018/01/27/326-jan-mccarthy/ for more information and links on this podcast, and to find our other great guests.

325: Liz Whitehurst on Starting a New Small Farm Jan 23, 2018

Show notes

Operating a small-scale diversified farm.

In This Podcast:

Growing up in an urban community in Chicago would not normally lead a person to choose a farming lifestyle, but during her college years several things led her to the agriculture career she has now. Liz Whitehurst tells us about the nudges that pushed her this direction as well as the amazing opportunity that came her way at the right time. She also shares some useful tips that can help any new farmer who is working their own CSA program. We also hear about a heartwarming story of her five-year old customer who missed his peashoots!

Liz is the owner/operator of Owl’s Nest Farm, small-scale diversified vegetable farm 15 miles outside Washington, DC. Before starting her farm, she worked on a wide variety of farms and gardens as a grower and educator, including the Arcadia Center for Sustainable Agriculture and Angelic Organics Learning Center.

Owl’s Nest Farm grows unique, delicious, nutritious, diverse vegetables, herbs, flowers and fruit on four acres. Liz was recently featured in a Washington Post article about how young farmers are changing the food system.

Go to https://www.urbanfarm.org/2018/01/23/325-liz-whitehurst/ for more information and links on this podcast, and to find our other great guests.

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