Farmerama

Leah Penniman is a farmer, author, activist and all-round inspiration who we were lucky enough to interview for this special show. Her book, ‘Farming While Black’, published by Chelsea Green Publishing, is a multi-layered journey with practical tips for beginner farmers, afro-indigenous recipes, leadership advice, the story of building a farm and serving a community. But at its heart, this is a ca...

This month, we’re full to the brim with small-scale farming heroines. We start with a super-inspiring farmer in New York State, who shares her top 3 tips for setting up a small-scale farm. We speak to female farmers on either side of the Atlantic about life and death, and what it means to raise and kill animals. And we end the show looking at the power of photography to share the stories of small-...

This month we are connected to the voices of farmers and fishers around the world at Terra Madre in Turin. There we bump into a rather well-known chef and sustainable food activist who celebrates small-scale farming. We also hear from an extraordinary young Palestinian farmer, with her story of making olive oil against all odds in conflicted lands. Back in the UK, we talk nationwide farmer-led int...

Greg Judy is an enthusiastic mob grazer based in Missouri. He talks to us about getting animals back on the land and building biodiversity in grasslands, including the importance of cow pats... all with the goal of increasing the long-term viability of your farm. We spoke to Greg at the Groundswell Show 2018.

This month we start with some thoughts from one farmer about ways of resolving the inevitable tensions of family farming over different generations. Next, we hear from a Dorset farmer, with an update on the highs and lows of her compost tea trials on arable cropland. Moving on to Herefordshire, we discover the exciting potential benefits of agroforestry for disease prevention in apple orchards. An...

In this short, we take a walk with Loredana. With her husband Roy, she runs Agriturismo Stallaini in the south east of Sicily. They prepare food for the guests all from within walking distance of the mine. Encounter lucid, vivid scents, smells, colours and be present in this ancient place. This podcast was made by Jo, with Lizzie Ostrom, and was originally published on the Life in Scents, a podcas...

Regular contributor Joel Rodker is creating a market garden from scratch and recording a diary for Farmerama as he goes. Here's is his report from June and July 2018

This month we hear all about wiggly worms and their wondrous work. We get some tips on cow pats and profitability from a Missouri-based mob grazer. Then we head over to California for thoughts on regenerative agriculture on a biodynamic vineyard, and finally we dip into the Free Range Families initiative at Jubilee Farm in Northern Ireland. Thanks to Rebel Kitchen for supporting this episode and t...

Charles Schembre is Vineyard Conservation Co-ordinator at Napa County Resource Conservation District. His work sees him leading the implementation of California’s Healthy Soils Program, a scheme which compensates farmers for increasing their soil health – with the goal of sequestering carbon and increasing water retention. Charles also helped create the first ever carbon farm plans for 4 vineyards...

Regular contributor Joel Rodker is creating a market garden from scratch and recording a diary for Farmerama as he goes. In this report he lets us know what he's been up to during the month of June. Time have been tough but he's enjoying being outside and working in the English summer sun.

Regular contributor Joel Rodker is creating a market garden from scratch and recording a diary for Farmerama as he goes. Here's is his report from May 2018

Hear from Tony Lovell in his talk at Atlas of the Futures recent Barcelona event on 'Fixing the Future'. Atlas of the Future reports, 'by giving the animals a more holistic hook, carbon-canny cattle rancher Tony Lovell, co-founder of SLM Australia Livestock Fund, has raised a whopping $100 million to help to regenerate the billions of hectares of damaged Australian grasslands – using soil manageme...

This month we begin in California, where they are paying farmers to sequester carbon, using practices proven to increase soil health. We head to the home of democracy to hear how Greek citizens are bringing seed saving back to the people. In Somerset we get some tips on starting a market garden and we end up back in the USA, this time deep in Indiana, to hear how one college is using the power of...

In this Short Pavlos Georgiadis and Olly Moore are taken on a tour or PERKA. The group PERKA was created in the beginning of 2011 by people living in Thessaloniki, Greece, whose goal was the communal and in season cultivation of vegetables, fruits, flowers and herbs in a field or an appropriate space. The GROW Observatory is an EU-wide citizen science project helping people grow food and care for...

Jonny Hanson is an environmentalist who’s involved in setting up Northern Ireland's first Community-Supported Agriculture scheme, at Jubilee Farm. We’re going to be following their progress over the coming months. Jonny reports from Jubilee Farm’s first community volunteer day and provides a perspective on farming that’s I think a first for us on Farmerama. This was originally published as part of...

In this interview Pavlos and Olly from GROW Observatory learn about the Peliti seed saving initiative in Greece. The GROW Observatory is an EU-wide citizen science project helping people grow food and care for their soils using regenerative practices. They do so through massive experiments using low cost soil moisture sensors and online courses. GROW also uses people’s observations of soils to imp...

The GROW Observatory is an EU-wide citizen science project helping people grow food and care for their soils using regenerative practices. They do so through massive experiments using low cost soil moisture sensors and online courses. GROW also uses people’s observations of soils to improve environmental monitoring by satellites. In so doing, the project helps with climate change adaptation. In th...

Hear from Pasture For Life farmer Rob Havard who was at the Future of UK Farming Conference. He tells us some clever tips on how to harvest your own seeds for planting herbal leys and how he has been experimenting with terminating herbal leys, working solely with his animals.

This month we hear from a self-confessed non-environmentalist about an ocean-based farming solution that might inadvertently be saving the environment as well as providing a simple, new and sensible option for people wanting to make a living from the sea. In Northern Ireland, we get stuck into the very important issue of mental health in farming. We get the lowdown on plants activating genes and h...

Regular contributor Joel Rodker is creating a market garden from scratch and recording a diary for Farmerama as he goes. Here he reports from inside his new polytunnel.

In this interview Pavlos Georgiadis speaks to Hannes Lorensen, after the European rural sustainability gathering at Lake Plastiras, who talks about the problems with the sustainability of modern food production, and makes the case for the urban consumer needing to do more listen to and support farmers and grow connections. The GROW Observatory is an EU-wide citizen science project helping people g...

The GROW Observatory is an EU-wide citizen science project helping people grow food and care for their soils using regenerative practices. They do so through massive experiments using low cost soil moisture sensors and online courses. GROW also uses people’s observations of soils to improve environmental monitoring by satellites. In so doing, the project helps with climate change adaptation. In th...

This month we have a political focus, but still manage to squeeze in talk of our fave topics, soil and microbes. First up, some personal stories from a ‘kitchen table talk’ on what good food means to the people in Scotland. A Jersey farmer tells us about trying out an innovative approach to growing the island’s favourite potato. We have an update on ‘Green Brexit’ and how global trade agreements a...

Regular contributor Joel Rodker is creating a market garden from scratch and recording a diary for Farmerama as he goes. Here is his latest report, recorded in March 2017.

If you live in Scotland – or even if you don’t – you might have heard that the Scottish Government will soon be introducing a “Good Food Nation Bill”. It’s set to be a wide-ranging piece of legislation, touching on health, sustainable production, food poverty, food culture, and a lot more besides. It has the potential to be radical and world-leading – or a huge missed opportunity. Katie spoke to B...