Farm Small Farm Smart

How much should a market garden bed generate? After analyzing numbers from hundreds of farmers, the range is massive: $300 per bed to $1,500+ from the same bed size and season. This episode breaks down seven per-bed revenue benchmarks by crop, from the $500 baseline that keeps you alive to the $1,500+ hero crops that keep your farm profitable. Click here to watch the full episode on our YouTube Ch...

In this episode, author and educator Peter McCoy of Mycologos breaks down fungi and the carbon they hold.   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   F...

Jill Duncan generates $65,000 annually from just 1/8 acre - smaller than most suburban backyards. With no employees, no electricity on site, no wash station, and working just 40 hours per week during peak season, she's redefined what profitable farming looks like.   Subscribe for more content on sustainable farming, market farming tips, and business insights!    Get market farming tools, seeds, an...

A caterpillar tunnel costs $1,400. One harvest of lettuce at $6/lb produces 400–425 pounds — $2,400 in revenue. The tunnel pays for itself in a single harvest. From that point on, it's free infrastructure. Click here to learn more about farmer Elliot and Fair Share Farm. Click here to watch the full episode on our YouTube Channel.  Subscribe for more content on sustainable farming, market farming...

In this episode, compost specialist and owner of Living Roots Compost Tea Troy Hinke explains why compost that have sat longer are generally better quality than newer composts.    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 ot...

In this episode, Diego breaks down the exact tactics, systems, and numbers behind Megan Neubauers's pick-your-own operation over in Texas. Learn how she averages $4,700 per day with 240 customers spending $47 each - all while maintaining 65% gross margins.  Subscribe for more content on sustainable farming, market farming tips, and business insights!    Get market farming tools, seeds, and supplie...

What if one crop could pay your bills 40 to 50 weeks a year? Elliot Seldner at Fair Share Farm in North Carolina built his entire operation around lettuce as a cash flywheel — one crop that funds everything else. Click here to learn more about farmer Elliot and Fair Share Farm. Click here to watch the full episode on our YouTube Channel.  Subscribe for more content on sustainable farming, market f...

Biochar expert Kelpie Wilson of Wilson Biochar breaks down how to make good biochar: what feedstock to use and how to char them.   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...

In this episode, Diego interviews Megan Neubauer, who transformed her struggling market farm into a $151,000 you-pick operation working just 8 weeks per year by ditching farmers markets and transitioning into a seasonal you-pick farm.  Subscribe for more content on sustainable farming, market farming tips, and business insights!    Get market farming tools, seeds, and supplies at Modern Grower. Fo...

The amount you spend starting a farm has almost no correlation with how successful it becomes. Some of the worst outcomes I've seen came from people with the most money to spend. 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 Growe...

In this episode, microbiologist and co-creator of the Johnson-Su bioreactor, Dr. David Johnson, introduces the Johnson-Su Bioreactor, what it does, and who it's for.   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...

In this video, I break down how Jacki Hinchey of Blue Dog Farm created her signature "Really Fancy Salad" that commands $20/pound (double the normal price) and has become the cornerstone of her farm's success.  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:   Ins...

Can 10 beds in a backyard generate $10,000? Diego did the math using real numbers from farmers he has interviewed over the past decade. Farmer Jill Duncan makes $65,000 on ⅛ acre in Ferguson, Missouri. Broxon Berry Farm does $80,000 on ⅖ acre in Indiana. The limiting factor isn't land...it's actually market access and systems. Click here to watch the full episode on our YouTube Channel.  Subscribe...

Soil specialist and consultant Dr. Jim Hoorman of Hoorman Soil discusses a holistic way to build the soil...minus commercial fertilizers.   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 Podcas...

In this episode, Diego talks about why the low barrier to entry to farming is a trap, why physical endurance is the most underestimated factor in farming success, and practical strategies to avoid burnout.   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:   Instag...

In this episode, Diego runs seven common farm purchases through the $10,000 filter: if it can't generate or save $10,000 over its useful life, it's a luxury, not an investment. 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....

In this episode, biochar scientist and citizen scientist advocate Francesco Tortorici sheds light on what biochar is and how it can affect productivity in soils.   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...

Soil microbiologist and founder of The Soil Food Web Dr. Elaine Ingham sheds light on how cover cropping can reduce, if not completely eradicate, weed pressure on production soils.   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...

 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 Pod...

Michael and Shannon from Hillview Farms went from two people grinding 65+ hours a week across five farmers' markets to working 40–60 hours at just two markets — while increasing their revenue. The difference wasn't harder work. It was five specific systems. Check out the full episode on our YouTube Channel: https://youtu.be/tsZs3tOzh6Q   Click here to learn more about Hillview Farms.  Subscribe fo...

In this episode, Diego highlights the farming duo that built a $110,000 annual business on only 1.5 acres using strategic crop selection, innovative transplanting techniques, and relentless focus on profitability over production volume.   Subscribe for more content on sustainable farming, market farming tips, and business insights!    Get market farming tools, seeds, and supplies at Modern Grower....

Most farms chase more: more acres, more markets, more crops. Hillview Farms did the opposite. In this episode, Diego breaks down how farming couple Michael and Shannon Whamond generated over $200,000 in annual revenue farming just 2 acres of clay soil in Lincoln, California. That's over $100,000 per acre — two and a half to five times the average market garden. Click here to watch the video versio...

In this episode, Malibu Compost Founder Randy Ritchie talks about the hazards of using straight manure and their potential toxins as compost feedstock.  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...

In the sprawling suburbs of Dallas, Texas, PE teacher Michael Bell wakes at 4AM to tend his third-acre farm before heading to school. His unconventional approach brings in $1,400 monthly while working just 20 hours weekly - a remarkable farming income without debt, expensive infrastructure, or complex marketing systems.  Subscribe for more content on sustainable farming, market farming tips, and b...

In this episode, Dr. Bruno Basso of CIBO Technologies discusses the link between carbon sequestration in the soil and nitrogen loss and how the two affect crop yields.   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 podcas...