Growers Daily

Natalie is back with dear friend and soil scientist--and national soil judging champion!-- Deirdre Griffin LaHue . Deirdre's work in Washington state has led to some incredible long-term soil health projects. They also discuss the how she transitioned from studying nutrition to soil health, the current science of biodegradable mulches, and unconventional crops in the state. Mentioned in the show.....

I don't even know where to begin. Today, I— Mimi —interview Pat Crowley of Chapul Farms in my own state of Oregon. One of my neighbors. If you've been one of the many thousands who have viewed THIS video of black soldier fly larvae production, this is THAT, but on steroids. Pat describes Chapul: "In 2019, I launched Chapel Farms as a way to continue growing the regenerative potential of insects to...

Hope you're wearing your PPE for this one! Mimi Casteel of Hope Well Wine is speaking with Miguel Altieri , one of the modern pioneers of agroecology. He has written more than 330 publications , including a book: Agroecology, the Science of Sustainable Agriculture & Biodiversity… Miguel is a hero to many of us who have practiced in the field and his bio is very extensive. In addition to being a pr...

Today, we sit down with Dan Fillius of Iowa State Extension and Alex Ball of Old City Acres to discuss the role of the university extension agent in supporting farmers, both organic and conventional. We dig deep on the multiple facets of Dan's farming experience as an organic grower and extension agent duties including working with Amish growers, helping growers identify pests/diseases, and how he...

Hey nerds, Farmer Jesse here, and we're going to break from our regularly scheduled podcasting to bring you a special bonus episode--a roundtable with three living legends: Helen Atthowe, David Blanchard, & Lou Johns. These have been three huge inspirations of my own and I wanted to get them together to discuss living pathways and how they manage them on different acreage and in different systems....

Bonjour, it's Mimi, and I'm keeping it real international for my second tour on the podcast. Today we are going to chat with Charles Lachaux from Burgundy, France. He's a sixth generation vigneron at Domaine Arnoux-Lachaux . If you're a person who drinks, appreciates, thinks about wine, you know Burgundy, as these are wines that have a long history, but in the recent past since his return they hav...

Today we've got a LIVE and very special episode, Alex sits down with the one and only Ben Hartman of Clay Bottom Farm to discuss his third and newest book, The Lean Micro Farm. They dig deep on small farming systems, the importance of proximity to the end-consumer, and the power of empowering and being surrounded by a strong team. When visiting farms like Clay Bottom, we're always reminded by the...

Today's episode is about a not-so-obvious climate adaptive farm strategy, tree syrups. I, Natalie, know this might be only tangentially related to your production system, and I have yet to be told by Jesse and the team to reign it in, but I love the idea of wild foods that can be sustainably harvested. Selfishly, I just wanted an excuse to learn more about this topic. David Moore is a researcher a...

It's three-hundred-million volts of shocking the system with... earworms. You'll see what I did there in just a second. It's Mimi and I'm really stoked to be with you, again. Today, were going to have a look into the worm world, secifically invasive jumping worms, with Dr. Lee Frelich . He's a professor of forest and landscape ecology at the University of Minnesota and is a leading researcher and...

Farm Lot 59 is an urban, year-round, no-till vegetable and flower farm located in sunny Long Beach, California. Farm Lot 59 was founded in 2010 by Sasha Kanno and a founding board of community members as a place to fight local food insecurity, teach the community about agriculture, and incubate and inspire folks to go rural and start larger farms. Using a unique combination of an on-site farm stan...

Hey nerds, Farmer Jesse, welcome back to another season (six!) of The No-Till Market Garden Podcast. Just wanted to say hello, talk about the upcoming podcast season, and give you little farm update before Alex, Natalie, and Mimi take over for the season. Pick up a copy of The Living Soil Handbook from No-Till Growers to support keeping our work FREE Let us know what you think. Take the No-Till Gr...

When I was at the US Compost Conference last winter, I met Lisa of Juneau Composts and my 'cool gal' radar went off. Her vibe shouted competent. Lisa is the real deal, collecting food scraps and making compost with very little support in the tough climate of Alaska. It was fascinating to talk to Lisa about the struggles of composting in this harsh environment and her ingenuity. I've been following...

James McSweeney, of The 131 School of Composting and author of Community-Scale Composting , and I jammed so well about what The 131 School is about—particularly the compost operators certificate program—his book, and his vision of composting in the future. James then turns the tables on me and asked me questions about Austria's model of composting. At some point, we forgot we were being recorded,...

When Austria banned organics from the waste stream in '92, Ursula was--in part--tasked with how to divert organic waste from going to the landfill. In '96, she conducted an analysis of the waste stream. Yes, she personally dawned gloves and sorted through many samples of trash. 24% of her community's waste was organics (or what she calls "Biowaste"). Once she showed that data, and could project th...

On our International Solid Waste Association study tour on decentralized bio waste recycling—or just the compost scene—in Austria, we visited 3-er Hof Farm , Farm 3, and spoke with second generation composter Verena. Her families farm is an inspiring mix of compost production, crop production, and social connection with people of all abilities and ages. Instead of an interview, I recorded the lect...

Most of you all know and love Karl Hammer from Vermont Compost ( IG VermontCompost ) already. If you're looking for a concise "how-to" guide on how Karl makes his awesome compost, and even better known potting soil, this is not that interview. Karl is known for his verbose and winding stories that mostly answer the question given, but always entertain. There is a richness in speaking with someone...

Today, I'm in Austria, joined by Dr. Martin Wellacher. Martin is uber committed to the environment, as most of us in this industry are eco-conscious, but he is next-level. He doesn't even own a car. So, he needed to plan to meet, traveling by bus and by bike just to get to us. After a tour of the Komptech facilities and a tasty locally-sourced lunch, we had a rich conversation about his 30 years i...

Robert Rynk and Matthew Cotton, who you may recognize as the authors of The Composting Handbook , just came back from a tour giving composting workshops to Australian farmers. They had an intensive nine workshops over twelve days, about 1,600 miles travelled! Although a tiring trip, for sure, they seem to be even more optimistic about the future of composting. Let's listen in to what they have to...

Steven Wisbaum, of Champlain Valley Compost Co & CV Compost , has been growing organic food and making compost for over 30 years. Today, we talk about water management on the compost farm. He provides custom composting services to farms and makes his own premium manure-based compost. In addition writing a variety of compost related articles and guides, Steven has also become the largest distributo...

Brenda Platt is the director and life-force behind the Composting for Community Initiative of the Institute for Local Self-Reliance . ILSR has a vision of thriving, diverse, equitable communities. To reach this vision, they build local power to fight corporate control. They are a national research and advocacy organization that partners with allies across the country to build an American economy d...

Michael Martinez is the founder and executive director of  LA Compost . He has chosen compost as a way to show his care for humanity and build a healthy community. His work has been incredibly impactful. LA Compost now has a diverse network of 41 community composting locations across LA county. I heard Michael speak at the US Compost Conference last Winter. He often brings people to happy tears as...

Hey Composters and compost lovers, it's Jayne Merner of Earth Care Farm ! Episode one of season two of The Composter will air Monday, August 21st, and continue with a new episode every Monday for ten weeks. We have an awesome lineup, chatting with composters behind many compost facilities like LA Compost, Vermont Compost, Champlain Valley Compost, and more. And, I'll be headed to Austria to tour c...

Paul and Sandy Arnold of Pleasant Valley Farm in upstate NY are seasoned expert winter growers. They have been involved with winter growing since they first purchased their 60-acre property 35 years ago. With three large RIMOL high-tunnels, numerous caterpillar and field tunnels, dedicated wash/pack, and climate controlled storage facilities, they have honed their year-round systems on three culti...

Joy Longfellow is a flowers trial technician on the flowers team at Johnny's research farm. I invited Joy to speak about their overwinter flower trials and the info they have gathered over the past few years. The Johnny's research farm is 200+ acres acres in size with 60+ acres in crop production that includes both field and greenhouse growing for plant breeding, seed production, trialing, and cov...

Located in the Pacific Northwest, Brian and his partner Chrystine first started as a fresh market farm is 2004, producing their first seed catalog in 2007, and then transitioned entirely to seed production in 2011. Uprising Seeds is WA fist 100% certified organic seed company, producing over 70% of the seeds they sell with the rest being sourced from a network of regional family farms. Brian is pa...