Growing For Market Podcast

In this episode of the Growing for Market podcast, host Andrew Mefferd invites guests Billy Mitchell, Chris Callahan, and Andrew Chamberlin to discuss efficient systems and organization for packing sheds. We discuss the principles of good flow in a wash/pack situation and how to optimize cold storage in post-harvest handling. The guests emphasize the significance of creating a comfortable and effi...

Strategies to create a clean wash/pack environment that guarantees good food hygiene and workflow is the topic of this week’s pod, and for the first time ever we have three guests! With three guests and such an important topic, it’s no surprise this became the first of a two-part episode, with the second part following next week. In addition to getting produce clean and safe from pathogens, a good...

Adversity is something all farmers will have to overcome at some point in their careers, and on this podcast episode we talk with Anthonie Conner of 4A Market Gardens in Torrington, Wyoming, for a dose of inspiration. Anthonie overcame alcohol addiction, then threw himself into starting his market garden during the pandemic, in addition to holding down an off-farm job as a welder. We talk about pe...

The Culinary Breeding Network helps plant breeders to develop the kind of varieties that market farmers want to grow, i.e. vegetables that taste good. While it might seem obvious that vegetables should taste good, a lot of the effort that goes into vegetable breeding focuses on traits like yield, shelf life and looks, without considering flavor. In tomorrow’s episode of the Growing for Market Podc...

Just your typical CIA to honey farmer story on this podcast! Tara Chapman of Two Hives Honey talks with host Katie Kulla  about starting and scaling a honey business, with education and agritourism as important parts of the plan. After a decade of working for The Agency, Tara quit her government job to work for a beekeeper in East Texas, and was inspired to start her own unique honey business. Two...

Farming can be very stressful, and as we’ll discuss today there are recent studies that back this up. Chronic farm-related stress can lead to or exacerbate existing mental illnesses, and mental health care is harder to find in the rural areas where many farmers live. This is a huge topic, one that the USDA and others are actively tackling through multiple arms, and in this episode, host Katie Kull...

Flower-giving holidays can generate a month’s worth of revenue in a day. In this episode, we discuss planning and planting for the flower holidays with Dave Dowling of Ball ColorLink and The Gardener’s Workshop. We talk about which crops can be grown for which holidays, planting timing, color palettes, and how to hold flowers if they are ready too early.  Dave brings years of experience from his o...

In today’s episode, we discuss an innovative farm sale method that keeps the land in farming called a ground lease transfer with Jeremy Barker Plotkin of Simple Gifts Farm in Amherst, Massachusetts. Simple Gifts Farm is currently up for sale via a ground lease transfer, and we talk about how this method works. We also discuss his experiences over 17 years at the farm, including several SARE grants...

In today’s episode, the second of two talking with Growing for Market Magazine editor and podcast co-host Andrew Mefferd, we discuss what he learned from his own farm, and the “green greenhouse” project he was preparing for before taking over GFM. We talk about mistakes made while trying to do too much as a young farmer, why he decided to take over Growing for Market from founder Lynn Byczynski, a...

In this episode, we talk with Growing for Market Magazine editor and podcast co-host Andrew Mefferd about going from working on farms in six different states, to starting a farm (twice!) before taking over GFM and running it from his farm in Maine. We talk about becoming aware of the imbalances in the current farming system, what it was like traveling around the country working on farms and starti...

January 2023 marks the 50th anniversary of Johnny's Selected Seeds, and we talk with founder Rob Johnston about the need the company was born from, developing overseas contacts in the early days when there was little variety in the US seed market, and changes and surprises in the seed industry over the years.   In Shop Talk with Neversink Farm, we chat about new tools, old tools, how they can bene...

Finding and retaining good workers is a perennial issue on farms, and both sides of the labor equation have a lot to gain from getting the relationship right. When farm owners get it right they have loyal, returning workers, and if farm workers get it right they end up having a good work experience and contributing to the farm. Luckily, Sarah Janes Ugoretz is working on the issue of how everyone c...

It's a new host special episode! We’re so excited to be welcoming Katie Kulla to the podcast as one of our co-hosts! You may remember hearing Katie on the podcast back in the winter, podcast episodes 8 and 9, discussing her series of articles about balancing farming and parenting. Well, we enjoyed talking with Katie so much, and she brings so much experience from her own farm to the podcast, that...

Hear how “The Ecological Farm” author/farmer Helen Atthowe developed a minimalist no-till, no-spray, grow-your-own fertilizer method over decades of research and application on her own farms. Helen has been applying and refining the principles of soil, plant, and whole farm ecosystem health for decades, and we’re glad she finally wrote it all down in one place! This interview is of personal intere...

In today’s episode, hear about growing cut flowers six stories above the San Francisco Bay Area with Joanna Letz of Bluma Flower Farm @blumafarm. Hear what it’s like to grow flowers in a bustling metropolis, differences between field and rooftop growing, and some of Joanna’s favorite varieties. We discuss the advantages and challenges (yes, there are weeds up there) of farming on top of a building...

In today’s episode, we talk about why root maggots may have been worse than usual this spring with the Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association’s Organic Crop Specialist Caleb Goossen. One thing that some growers have noticed this spring is a higher than usual rate of seedlings failing to emerge, or dying shortly after emergence, due to seedling-feeding maggots. We discuss how to tell wheth...

In today’s episode, we talk with mother/daughter team Dru Rivers and Hannah Muller of Full Belly Farm about growing 15 acres of certified organic flowers. Dru is one of the founders of this landmark California organic farm that has been growing since 1984, and she and Hannah manage the flowers, all of which are grown in the field. We cover strategies for keeping farm crew year-round, favorite flow...

Today we talk about what makes good compost with Robert Pavlis. Robert is a well-known speaker and educator with over 40 years of growing experience. He is the author of several books, including a whole series demystifying important growing topics, including  Soil Science for Gardeners, Microbe Science for Gardeners ,  Garden Myths  and Compost Science for Gardeners . He has a background in chemis...

Today we talk with Charley Jordan about making the move from the military into farming. Charley is the owner/operator of Jordan Farms, in Indian Mound, Tennessee. After serving nearly 30 years in the Army, flying Chinook helicopters with the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment, Charley retired in 2017 and found a new mission in agriculture and has devoted himself to helping other veterans a...

Today we have the pleasure of welcoming Jan van der Heide to the podcast. He is the Northeast Market Manager for Bejo Seeds, a Dutch vegetable seed company that has breeding stations and distribution all over the world. Jan has a depth of knowledge about brassicas, and we’ve been getting a lot of contact lately here at Growing for Market about how to avoid the many disorders that can cause broccol...

In today’s episode, hear Sara and Symbria Patterson talk about farming in Utah on Red Acre Farm and founding the Red Acre Center for Food and Agriculture. In addition to the challenges of farming at elevation, Sara and Symbria discuss how they have gotten over 15 bills passed through the Utah legislature. They highlight the relationship-building process they have used successfully with legislators...

In today’s episode, hear Lynn Byczynski talk about founding Growing for Market Magazine over 30 years ago in 1992. We’ll talk about how Lynn’s background in writing, combined with the lack of information about market farming in the early 1990s, pushed her to start Growing for Market. While researching solutions for issues on her farm in Lawrence, Kansas, she started publishing GFM as a way to conn...

In today’s episode, the second of two parts, hear Katie Kulla from Oakhill Organics in Oregon talk about how farmers who have just had a baby can smooth the transition into parenthood while keeping the farm running. This conversation is an elaboration on Katie’s article "Birth and postpartum healing for the farmer" from Growing for Market Magazine. Part 1 of the podcast (and the article) discusses...

Today we’re talking about balancing farming, pregnancy & kids on the farm with Katie Kulla, who has written 3 articles on the subject for Growing For Market Magazine & interviewed many farmers on balancing farming & parenting. She brings her own experiences parenting & farming in Yamhill County, Oregon with her husband and two homeschooled kids to the conversation. This episode focuses on preparat...

This conversation is an elaboration on Gretel's article "Demystifying the H-2A program" from Growing for Market Magazine, which is available to read for free on the website (see link in the show notes below). The H-2A "guestworker" visa is a program of the US government so farmers can hire workers from other countries to fill temporary/seasonal positions on farms when local workers aren't availabl...