Farmerama

This is a special field report for Farmerama, we dig into Urban Food Fortnight which descends on London from 9th - 25th of September. Urban Food Fortnight is London Food Link’s celebration of the fantastic amount of food being grown, made, cooked and saved in London and the amazing stories behind it. We teamed up with London Food Link to weave together tips, tricks and ideas from some of the peopl...

From time to time we get in a story that’s deserves a bit more attention to than we are able give in our regular monthly episode. And here one of those. A field report from Farmeramra reporter Camilla Williamson at Castello di Potentino, a small-scale sustainable vineyard in Italy.

As spring draws nearer we bring you Joel Salatin talking traditional methods and modern tools, with a great example from Angus, Scotland. We begin to unpick the world of rewilding which is something that has caused much debate and upset amongst farmers, conservationists and wildlife fans alike. Next up are a collection of despatches from the Soil Association Future Growers apprenticeship and final...

We have a few stories from the Oxford Real Farming Conference to share with you this month, firstly market gardener Rebecca Laughton from the Landworkers Alliance tells us about her investigations into the productivity of small-scale producers. We get stuck into no-dig experiments with Charles Dowding, learning about soil biology and the intriguing results from his latest forking trials. And we he...

This is a special edition of Farmerama recorded with a guest host, eco-chef Doug, from Silo restaurant in Brighton. He tells us how his zero-waste philosophy has transformed what it means to serve food, and a local pig-farmer tells us what it’s like to work with a zero-waste chef. In Norfolk we learn all about the craft of managing ancient woodland sustainably and profitably, now and for many gene...

Farmerama have learnt that farming’s best economic models mimic nature’s clever ways and make many things from the same piece of land. Farmer Stephen Briggs tells us about one of these clever models. He fills us in on his agroforestry setup or ‘3D farming’, where he grows organic apples and cereals on his 150 acres in Cambridgeshire. We also hear a few thoughts from Ben Raskin, head of horticultur...

After last month’s words from farmers around the world, we are now back on British soil. We have stories from Perthshire to Devon but we start on the west coast, with Patrick Holden from the Sustainable Food Trust. Patrick tells us about how he makes the most of the by-products from his dairy farm, and what a positive effect transparent pricing could have on farmers. We hear about a great little t...

We recorded Farmerama ‘live’ from Turin, Italy this month where thousands of small-scale farmers, shepherds, fishers, chefs and people committed to more resilient food systems from over 100 hundred countries around the world have come together to celebrate and share food and farming knowledge at the Slow Food Terra Madre Salone del Gusto, it's like the UN for food systems. In Turin an eco-gastrono...

We are at a crossroads in British food and farming history, so this month we begin to probe the post-Brexit discussion. We hear a few candid kitchen-table chats with different farm families. Some hidden truths about soil testing are revealed, and we learn about practical knowledge sharing platform Agricology, bridging the gap between science and what really happens on the farm. Plus one of the pro...

It’s July and we’ve now been following the nitty gritty of the smaller-scale farming world for one whole growing year. One revolution of this world around the sun. We’ve chanced upon and dug up so many stories and met inspirational farmers and growers as the podcast has spiralled into an adventure leading us to uncover different ideas, perspectives and techniques along the way. This month we are i...

This episode we are brimming with innovations and new perspectives from all over the world. We enjoy crowd farming oranges in Valencia, WeFarm’s farmer-to-farmer knowledge sharing in Kenya and Peru and the community fuel of Food Assemblies around the country - all part of a panel discussion we chaired at the ReWork Future of Food Summit. Ben Raskin is back as he chats to Alan Schofield about an or...

Giddy goats, a no-till, mob grazing & herbal ley winning combo plus young entrepreneurial growers & food poetry

SoilCity in Glasgow, Farmhack, urban farm updates, poetic landscapes and glasshouses, plus rural entrepreneurs

The voice of small-holders, business tips for urban gardens, cellular agriculture and organics in Udaipur, India

Seeds on film, secret sauces, woodchip composts, Care Farming for health & finances, plus a few cheeky outdoor winter salads

Oxford Real Farming Conference, a positive health CSA, Field of Wheat uniting farmers & other folk, cover crops + no-till, & land songs

We are in a festive mood this month. Spirits are high with some special guests making a late appearance. New reporter Hannah Shlotter chats lettuce lawns and compost with grower Alice Holden at one of London’s best known urban farms in Dagenham. CSA Network head Robert Simpson makes a comeback with his tips on polytunnels for goats. Ben Raskin brings us up to date on the newest varieties of blight...

Female farmers speak out, dairy protests, weed tangled walled gardens, we round up the cows & natural wine making in Italy

Scottish Crofting, alternatives to certification, Irish seaweed farming and more from young farmers around the world

In the second episode of Farmerama, Nigel, Jo and Abby take a close look at Natural Agriculture after a visit to the Shumei farm near Yatesbury. They also investigate some of the ways farms are trying to get local communities more interested in growing and farming. There's a visit to a CSA farm near Swansea, a community garden in midlands, and an urban farm in Bristol.

Farmerama Radio shares great stories from the smaller scale farming movement in the UK. We are out in the field digging out what's really going on. In Episode one we went to the annual CSA gathering to learn the ins and outs of community supported agriculture, Nigel visits a Devon Water buffalo farm and Zarah Rahman investigates the historical significance of seeds.