The Urban Farm Podcast with Greg Peterson

A Farmer Friday Interview with Christy Wilhemi. In This Farmer Friday Podcast on Growing Great Berries: Christy Wilhelmi helps us appreciate the potential of berries in our gardens and urban farms. She breaks down the different varieties of berries and why to choose different types for your own climate and harvest goals.  We learn a bit about why some berries are better in containers, and som...

636: How to let your garden go to seed. In This Podcast: This is the August 2021 Seed Saving Class with Bill McDorman discussing brassicas.  Take the best seeds from this year’s garden and save them for the next. When you adapt and save seeds from plants that were hardy, and exhibited characteristics you like (disease and insect resistance for example) those seeds will work better in your gar...

A Farmer Friday Interview with Vicki Hird. In This Farmer Friday Podcast on Rebugging Your Farm and Garden: Vicki Hird reminds us that it is possible to have bugs without having a bug problem.  In fact, when it comes to bugs, the more you have in your garden the better!  Vicki provides information about the beneficial roles that bugs play and she tells how to nurture and protect them.&nb...

Turning Homesteading Skills Into a New Business Venture. In This Podcast: Anyone who has ever had chickens knows that feeding poultry is a messy business.  Erik Diedrichsen found a better way, and in the process, he found his way into a new business venture.  Erik shares his experience of growing a product from idea to market and explains what he believes it takes to be a successful inve...

A Farmer Friday Interview with Mike Biltonen. In This Farmer Friday Podcast on Soil Is Not Dirt: Though the words are often used interchangeably, soil and dirt are not the same thing.  Mike Biltonen explains that we must know the distinction before we can truly appreciate the treasure that is our soil.  Once we realize its true worth, we will want to nurture and protect this most valuabl...

Don’t Let Yard Size Determine Your Harvests. In This Podcast: Are your fruit trees an investment or an experiment?  Christy Wilhelmi talks about the steps needed to ensure that the fruit trees you plant in your yard are an investment that bears fruit.  She covers every stage of the process, including planning your harvest, planting trees in suitable soil, and pruning to keep your trees a...

A Farmer Friday Interview with Nicole Gennetta. In This Farmer Friday Podcast on Feeding Chickens: What do chickens eat?  Nicole Gennetta explains that they are omnivores and can eat just about anything, so she answers that question by providing an important list of foods to avoid.  She discusses how to safely prepare specific foods and prevent food-related problems.   Listen a...

A chat with Niki Jabbour.   In This Garden Chat: Great things come in small packages, even in gardening!  Niki Jabbour’s enthusiasm for corners, windowsills, and balconies will have you reconsidering the growing potential of your tiniest spaces.  Niki tells us what makes a good space, giving examples of some places that are often overlooked.  Learn how to decide which foods to...

A SPECIAL Farmer Friday Interview with Jeffrey Smith. In This Farmer Friday Podcast on Wrap Up of Roundup: Jeffrey Smith joins us to discuss the astonishing news that Bayer will discontinue sales of Roundup to residential consumers in the US.  Jeffrey is a passionate advocate for people and nature in the fight against Roundup and GMO’s.  He explains the significance of this announcement...

628: Brazen Brassicas. In This Podcast: This is the July 2021 Seed Saving Class with Bill McDorman discussing brassicas.  Sassy, unpretentious and unapologetic, the brassica family covers some of the easiest and trickiest plants to grow, and from which to save seeds.  Break through the mystery, the challenge, and myths and learn how to grow and save seeds from this family of diverse spec...

A Farmer Friday Interview with Zach Loeks. In This Farmer Friday Podcast on Ecosystem Mimicry and Layering: Greg welcomes back Zach Loeks to discuss how to simplify the process of ecosystem design by observing and mimicking the natural layers and patterns of existing ecosystems.  Zach details what to look for when observing.  He also explains how to create a more complete ecosystem by us...

Getting Excited About Sharing Gardening Stories. In This Podcast: Kevin is passionate about gardening and driven to find ways to help others grow plants.  We are excited to have him return, this time to give us updates about both his personal and professional gardening endeavors.   Kevin shares stories of new digs, new products and a new book.  All of his stories share the comm...

A Farmer Friday Interview with Zach Loeks. In This Farmer Friday Podcast on Old Growth: Greg talks with Zach Loeks about old growth.  Most of us think of redwood forests or the Amazon, but Zach explains how the concept of old growth also applies to food forests.  Learn what old growth is and listen as Zach paints a beautifully vivid picture of what it looks like.  He takes us on a j...

Encouraging Children to Eat More Colorful Foods. In This Podcast: Sharon Pesner was just an ordinary mom, struggling to get her children to eat healthy foods, until she bravely presented her ideas at a PTA meeting and they grew into a program called Eating the Rainbow.  Sharon shares how the program developed, the contagious excitement it generated, and the impact it had on the entire school...

In This Farmer Friday Podcast on How to Grow Potatoes: Greg dishes with Kevin Espiritu about potatoes. Bake them, mash them, or boil them in a stew…. There are many ways to eat the versatile potato and, as Kevin discovered, there are several ways to grow them as well! He gives us the steps for two common methods, and then he tells us what happened when he experimented to see if he could make the p...

Working to Protect the Land That Produces Our Food. In This Podcast: Leon Kolankiewicz defines the problem of urban sprawl, and he describes the alarming rate at which it is permanently destroying farmland and our future food security.   What is driving this sprawl, and what can we do about it? Leon is optimistic that farmland can be saved if long term trends are addressed. Hear the solu...

A Farmer Friday Interview with Laura Allen. In This Farmer Friday Podcast on How to Grow Healthy Plants with Greywater: Greg welcomes back Laura, from Greywater Action, this time to teach us some specifics about using greywater.  While the concept of greywater is fairly straightforward, there are some basic rules.  Laura tells us how to easily recognize and avoid things that should not b...

A chat with Don Titmus.   In This Garden Chat: Greg, co-host Janis Norton, and Don discuss how to apply permaculture concepts to address water issues in our landscapes.  They dive deep to reveal the natural systems that protect plants from climate extremes, and they explore ways we can replicate these systems in our landscapes.  Whether your local climate is wet or dry, hot or cold,...

A Farmer Friday Reflection by Greg Peterson. In This Farmer Friday Podcast on Margaret the Condo Gardener: Greg tells the story of Margaret, who simply walked around her neighborhood and began her transition from food consumer to observer, and finally to gardener.  She thought she was looking for a place to grow food.  What she found was a renewed relationship with nature and stronger bo...

618: Wildflowers. In This Podcast: At least ten times a year we have a live Seed Saving Class with Bill McDorman.  This is the June 2021 class discussing wildflowers.  Bill draws on his 28 years of careful observation as he shares expert tips for successful wildcrafting and planting of wildflower seeds, including mistakes to avoid.  He also clears up some common misconceptions about...

A Farmer Friday Reflection by Greg Peterson. In This Farmer Friday Podcast on Water Harvesting at the Urban Farm: Farmer Greg’s sustainable, regenerative water harvesting system has him singing in the rain, even in the desert.  Greg explains where the water comes from and where it goes, and he gives details about how he collects and distributes it.  He also gives a formula for calculatin...

Bringing New Life to Gardens. In This Podcast: Tara Nolan encourages us to grow edibles in whatever space we have and shows us how to think outside the 4 foot by 8 foot box when designing raised beds.  Those who don’t have (or want) a full vegetable garden will appreciate her ideas for adding vegetables to the existing landscape.  Tara also takes us along on her gardening journey and sha...

A Farmer Friday Interview with Laura Allen. In This Farmer Friday Podcast on Getting Started with Greywater: Greg talks with Laura Allen from Greywater Action about a great way to get more life out of our water - by sending water we have already used in our home out to our gardens instead of down the drain.  Laura reveals the easiest place in the house to get started and the best plants to wa...

Looking Outside Of The Box For Garden Growing. In This Podcast: Jenn Frymark has grown fresh produce in some very unexpected places, so she is a firm believer that everyone can grow fresh and close to home, wherever home might be.  She explains how she took this belief a step further and started Gotham Greens, using her hard-earned expertise to find out if food could be grown and distributed...

A Farmer Friday Interview with Kristina Hunter. In This Farmer Friday Podcast on Connecting with Nature: Greg is excited to speak with Kristina about the many benefits of connecting with nature, some of them unexpected! Kristina points out that we intuitively know that nature is good for us, and she recommends we include nature as a sacred part of our daily routine.  She teaches that connecti...