agri-Culture

Send us Fan Mail Here at Backyard Green Films, we’re getting ready to celebrate the 400-year anniversary of the Devons coming to America with our Plymouth to Plimoth documentary.  In preparation for this event (and our film!), we spoke with Tom Begley, Deputy Director for Collections Research and Public Engagement at Plimoth Patuxet Museum.  Doesn’t the site of the Pilgrim connection seem like a w...

Send us Fan Mail Our podcast guests today are Jeri Robinson Lawrence and daughter Irina Lawrence Mathias.  This hardworking mother/daughter team has contributed a few soundbites in between Points A, B, C and X in the rush of the New York State Sheep and Wool Festival every year, but as they’re the ones that everyone needs something from at all times, a relaxed moment has been hard to come by with...

Send us Fan Mail You know how there’s always someone who not only goes the extra mile, but looks good while they do it?  And does it with a genuine smile, to top it off.  That’s Christine Hulse, from Hulse Hill Farm.  Just outside of Cooperstown on a little slice of heaven, this tireless woman has set up shop (and her farm shop).  She excels at all things she puts her mind to:  She runs a blissful...

Send us Fan Mail On today’s podcast, transport yourself to the lonely, glorious green pastures of the eastern side of Scotland.  We have a lovely conversation with Jillian McEwen of Lunan Bay Farms, and among many of our topics, we spoke of the joys of farming on the shores of the North Sea, the differences between her Cashmere and Boer goats (two of her three varieties), some out-of-the-box ideas...

Send us Fan Mail Elara and I met Phil Pass last month on our travels in Scotland at the House of Tartan in Crieff. We struck up a conversation with him and noticed that they had a Go Fund Me campaign that said Keep Scottish Bonnets Alive in Scotland. He described what it was for and so we grabbed our camera and mics and said this is too important and you need to tell us all about this. THE STORY:...

Send us Fan Mail As we continue the Tartan & Tweed tour in the United Kingdom, Elara follows up last week's interview with Barry's partner Chris Sander. Chris takes Elara on a tour of the farm and their prized rams and ewes. Chris discusses the different colors of the Leicester Longwool and his affinity for the black color.   The group is getting ready for a couple of shows in Buck C...

Send us Fan Mail We're excited to announce that we're in the midst of our Tartan and Tweed Tour 2023!  The one stop we couldn't miss along the M-1 was a visit to Leicester, home of Robert Bakewell - the man who transformed agricultural practices as we know them today. Our conversation is with Barry Evans, custodian of a flock of one of the most famous examples of Robert Bakewell&apo...

Send us Fan Mail The big UK trip is almost here, and we’re prepping for the Edinburgh Castle Tattoo with a visit to the National Western Stock Show, and the Scottish Highland Cattle show.  Those bagpipes and tartans get us every time, no matter what the event. In today’s podcast, we grabbed a moment in the cattle barns with Audra Hall of Clearwater Spring Highlands in Brighton, Colorado.  Audra wa...

Send us Fan Mail Today we have a (Elara-has-had-too-much-coffee-and-dirt) podcast interview with Andrew Conroy, B.S., M.S., PhD, who is a two-time Fulbright Scholar, professor at the University of New Hampshire, and man who can claim way too many other accomplishments to mention here.   Dr. Conroy has wrote the book on oxen (Really.  He wrote more than one, and you can follow the link below to buy...

Send us Fan Mail So first...today you'll be hearing from Anne DeRousie, a board member of the breed organization known as Red Devon USA, who also happens to be the resident history buff.  We love those. Our conversation took place on a beautiful balmy and slightly breezy day, straight from the lush green pastures of her Adventureland Farm, in the Fingerlakes region of New York State. You&apos...

Send us Fan Mail In all of the mad rushing about around the country, sometimes we forget that there are some really fantastic things close to home.  This week’s podcast celebrates that with a trip to nearby Ramona for the Family Farm Expo, put on by the folks at Roobeez.  As holds true to many of the critters you’ll find there, this event is a combination of things.  Chicken meetup and poultry swa...

Send us Fan Mail Straight from the Clairmont neighborhood Garden Walk, growing maven DeLayne Harmon will join us today on our podcast to tell us more about the how one earns the title “Master Gardener.” It’s a happy and sad one for us today, but especially in this month, reminders of growth and regrowth are ever-present. Happy May Day to the ladies of our lives – flowers, feathers, and family. Lin...

Send us Fan Mail Today we speak with Dale Cunningham, who is the patient and personal man responsible for training the equine portion of the patrol.  Second, we have Officer Emily Herbpst, who rides a mustang and is a small but mighty person who I have the feeling “don’t take no guff off a bartender.”  (Thank you, Mr. McMurtry). We got to meet them and their horses Ollie and Maverick at this year&...

Send us Fan Mail This week Rick is in England filming on our upcoming docu-series Plymouth to Plymouth.  Unfortunately I couldn't go with him, as some of you may have heard that I broke my foot and had to have surgery, but I hope to get to visit there soon. He met up with John and Bonnie Hall from the American Milking Devon Cattle Association and they set out to speak with some of the farmers...

Send us Fan Mail It’s the season!  Okay, so it could be many seasons, but the Easter holiday is upon us and everything is bursting with life, so we’ll concentrate on the cute stuff like Spring and fluffy sheep.  And the one we have today is definitely fluffy, but only if unshorn. Today we’re talking with Erin Bradt of Helder-Herdwyck Farm about the Herdwick Sheep.  This sturdy little creature has...

Send us Fan Mail In honor of Spring, lambing season and all things herding, today we’re welcoming Tayen Albrandt and Willow the Border Collie to our podcast.  It’s only fitting to return the favor, since we met them when Willow did a stint as the door greeter at the Event Center during the National Western stock dog trials.  Tayen and Willow spoke with us for a quick moment before their cattle her...

Send us Fan Mail We hail our friend, the tireless vet A humbler man we’ve never met And praise he’ll very rarely get  From cow or sheep or avocet John Ewing is the dear man’s name The Stock Show is his claim to fame (And cheetahs and some real wild game) But fields a fearsome rugby game  We leave you with this kindly man (with bison he has also ran) We now are veterinary fans The whole darn agri-C...

Send us Fan Mail Jim Matheson, Executive Director of the National Bison Association, took a few moments to speak with us during the Buffalo and the Bison loadouts (No, we’re just being goofy – both are now accepted in common speech, as you’ll hear).  We don’t know if he knows Ted Turner, but he does know his marketing stuff, and is a great representative of this wild and wooly breed of livestock. ...

Send us Fan Mail There were many exciting things at this year’s National Western Stock Show, but one of the highlights was the group meeting up on the side pens of the Event Center.  The Bison people were there in force, and the critters they came with stole the show, even if it was 25 degrees and snowing.  Especially since it was that cold, because in the frigid air the already impressive and fei...

Send us Fan Mail We’re back from the National Western Stock Show, and we thought we’d exit January with mules (no…backside-of-things jokes today, though it was tempting).  Mules are some of our favorite animals, and not just because they have names like “50 Shades of Foxy.”  The aptly-named Foxy and her owner Tabitha Holland of Signature Equine take a moment to bring 50% horse, 50% donkey and 120%...

Send us Fan Mail Today, we’re speaking with Christy, who is an old friend of mine. This podcast came into being, because last October, Christy and her son Luke met up with us in Rhinebeck for the New York State Sheep and Wool festival.  On one of the evenings when we lifted our tired feet off the floor, we had a conversation about taxes and accounting, as often happens, and it migrated into the jo...

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Send us Fan Mail Well as you might know (or maybe not), Elara does let me get out on my own every once in a while. This past Fall, my brother and I went on a cross country road trip from San Diego, CA to Rhinebeck, NY.  We were headed back to New York to film the NY Sate Sheep and Wool Festival and I thought it would be great to do a brothers road trip. My brother has not gotten to see much of the...

Send us Fan Mail The New York State Sheep & Wool Festival was just last month, and it’s Thanksgiving already.  We’ve got a podcast for you from the wild and wooly, festive and colorful event.  If you’re in a work truck or jeans ad with all of those good looking farm people tossing bales of hay around, you might get the impression that anyone who produces food or fiber in America is…well, prett...

Send us Fan Mail We’re (almost) all back from the New York State Sheep & Wool Festival, aka “Rhinebeck,” to those in the fiber universe.  It was (largely) a success, as our Livestream event went (mostly) as planned.  You can watch the workshops, shows and other snippets for yourself on our YouTube channel if you missed the lively weekend, and see the fantastic Fall colors that were on display...