The Ruminant: Audio Candy for Farmers, Gardeners and Food Lovers

This episode, contributor Scott Humphries' interview with Sean Butler of Ferme et Foret . To finance part of their farm's growth, Sean and his wife Geneviève asked friends and family to invest in their vision by selling 'bonds' that paid a small rate of return on investment. They call it 'Community Financed Farming'. Sound familiar? The couple took some inspiration from Paul Slomp of Grazing Days...

This episode: Troy Peters, an irrigation expert with the Washington State University Extension Service, talks about best practices in crop irrigation. We discuss a cool new smartphone app that helps farmers decide when and how much to irrigate, I learn techniques for deciding when it's time to water, and Troy explains how to approach irrigation of different soil types.

This episode, I speak with a couple of market gardeners about the Berta Rotary Plow, a really handy soilworking attachment for market gardeners. One of my guests, David Mazur-Goulet of The BeetBox , has a great tip for building raised beds with the plow that are nice and even.  My other guest, Scott Humphries, has shared a photo of a bed marker he rigged up for his rotary plow. You can find it at...

I own a cookbook by Ian Knauer, called The Farm: Rustic Recipes for a Year of Incredible Food. I love it, so I invited Ian to come on the show to talk about his cooking, and the family farm that inspired the book.   

This episode, I'm joined by Tamar Haspel, who writes a column for the Washington Post called  Unearthed.  Tamar recently wrote about the problem with embracing a given food philosophy too rigidly. It's a thought-provoking piece . Tamar talks about it in this episode. 

This episode: University of British Columbia grad student Jessica Dennis talks about her research on biochar and its potential as both a great soil amendment for agricultural soils and a carbon sink for climate change mitigation.

This episode: I speak with entomologist Tamara Richardson about strategies for insect pest control in the garden. We discuss the merits of crop rotation, the importance of knowing your pests' overwintering habits, and what to do with plant debris that's infested with insect pests.

This episode, a rerun from 2013, when Soil Scientist Clare Sullivan joined me to talk about managing nutrient cycles on the farm. After that, I talk about the results of my effort to attract more beneficial insects to my garden using lots of mulched annual flowers.

Youssef Darwich joins me for this episode. Youssef is the farm manager for the Grand Valley State University Sustainable Agriculture project in Michigan. He has been playing around with stale seed-bedding techniques. We talk about that, and about the challenge of finding new customers in a market that appears to be saturated.

This week, organic farmer, advocate, and activist Linda Edwards joins me to talk about the recent approval of the Arctic Apple for production and consumption in North America. The Arctic Apple is a genetically modified crop that will not brown when cut open. There are naturally occurring apples that don't brown quickly, but in this case, a gene that causes browning has been silenced using genetic...

Meg Grzeskiewicz is the owner of Rhinestone Cattle Company in NY State. A grass-fed animal producer who concentrates on breeding, Meg advocates a no-nonsense approach to breeding and managment that, over the long term, can produce a healthy, profitable, self-sufficient herd. In our conversation, we talk about the breeding and management rules she employs with her herd, and about the benefits of mo...

Friend of the show and past guest Dan Brisebois is back to share his insights about Tourne-Sol Co-Operative Farm  in Quebec. Dan was a founding member and, with his colleagues, has built a thriving farm using careful planning, great communication, and lots of hard work. Dan explains how it all started, what the farm produces, and how the farm makes decisions. He also talks about some of the benefi...

Here's a past episode that, until now, hasn't been included in this podcast feed. I've added a new intro, as well as a brand new segment at the end of the episode. In this long-form interview with gardening writer Steve Solomon, we discuss his new book, The Intelligent Gardener, which he co-wrote with Erica Reinheimer. In it, Steve argues that the key to growing healthy crops is to combine the ret...

This week I'm delighted to feature my conversation with listener Bernie Woodford of  Woodford Heiroom Farm . Bernie recently sent me a submission for the blog featuring the DIY Vacuum Seeder he built with simple parts for $20, for a savings of hundreds of dollars against the commercial version. Check out theruminant.ca for photos and a description of his project. Farmers for Liberty, a group Berni...

This episode: Australian farmer Colin Seis talks about the system of no-till pasture cropping he helped develop that allowed him to resurrect a 3000 acre farm on the edge of destruction and turn it into a thriving example of truly regenerative agriculture.  Learn more about Colin here.

This episode, Wisconsin farmer and fencing wizard Randy Cutler joins me to dish on the finer points of fencing your livestock for less stress and happier animals. We cover some of the main considerations before buildilng your fence, and finish with species-by-species considerations for electric fencing. Randy will be giving a more in-depth, live webinar in May, 2015. You'll be able to ask him ques...

All my nagging is starting to pay off! I've started to receive submissions from listeners concerning good ideas for their farm and garden that they want to share with you. This episode: why you shouldn't use a used washing machine to spin your salad greens, a cool farm book sharing service, and your host's approach to preparing succession plantings in the nursery.

This episode, Ruth Genger, a researcher with the University of Wisconsin in Madison Organic Potato Project,  joins me to talk about the finer points of getting your potato production off to a great start. Ruth explains how to ensure your potato plants "jump out of the soil" by starting with high quality seed potatoes, and employing a few other important techniques. 

Monica Spiller has devoted much of her life to promoting the health benefits of a whole grain diet, with a specific focus on whole grain wheat bread.  In 2000, she founded a non-profit organization called The Whole Grain Connection , which aims to help farmers and gardeners access, test and grow heirloom varieties of wheat. Why? In this interview, Monica explains why modern, commercial wheat varie...

Peter McCoy, mycologist and co-founder of  radicalmycology , joins me for this episode to talk about the vital importance of fungi in our natural and farmed ecosystems, why fungi literacy is so low, and how we might change that. 

A short excerpt I thought I'd upload since I had this extra clip. It's a piece of advice from Youssef Darwich, who was on the show last week. In it, he talks about planting trees, from seeds, for fun and profit.

This episode: part two of my conversation with Molly Haviland, a soil biology consultant who aims to convince you to take your soil's microorganisms more seriously. Molly argues that the complex relationships that develop between many different types of microorganisms in our soil are the key to unlocking the soil's true potential to produce healthy food. We abuse and ignore the soil biome at our p...

This episode, we hear from Youssef Darwich about cool ways to plan your farm using GIS and other tools. Then: my conversation with Molly Haviland, a soil biology consultant who aims to convince you to take your soil's microorganisms more seriously. Molly argues that the complex relationships that develop between many different types of microorganisms in our soil are the key to unlocking the soil's...

This episode: friend Chris Marquardt talks about the commercial beekeeping program he took that led to a happy career as a full-time apiarist. We also discuss big versus small beekeeping, colony collapse disorder, and what Chris loves, and hates, about his job. You will also learn what kind of bees produce milk, if you don't already know.

In this all-Quebec episode, I talk to three exceptional Québécois farmers, each with a good idea for your farm.  First: Dan Brisebois of Tournesol Farm  and a great book on crop planning  explains how to include yoru employees and apprentices in a year-end debrief that will help you improve your farm management.  Next, Philippe Choiniere of Oneka Farm talks about the vital importance of branding t...