The Winter Growers Podcast

Charles Dowding is a pioneer of no-dig gardening in Somerset, England. He is a creator, developer, and teacher of no-dig methods for the last 40+ years. He currently has 1/3 acre under production at Home Acres which he primarily uses as a teaching site and runs a no-dig YouTube channel with instructional videos on his no-dig techniques. He's the author of 11! books, inculding How to Grow Winter Ve...

Tim Wilcox & Caroline Pam of Kitchen Garden Farm in Sunderland, MA, began their farm as a 1-acre market garden in 2006. Sixteen years later, they've expanded to 70 acres, employ 20 employees year-round, and sell 50% wholsale veg and 50% value-added products after building an on-site commercial kitchen. They also own/operate Sunderland Farm Collaborative , an online platform offering custom-order h...

Evan Chender, The Culinary Gardener , farms in Weaverville, NC. He started his farm in 2013 and has 2 acres under cultivation, using multiple caterpillar and high tunnels. Coming from a background as a chef, Even is passionate about variety selection, soil health, crop quality, and meticulous harvest/processing techniques. 95% of his sales are to restaurants. A big portion of his Winter production...

Myrtha Zierock of Agricola Foradori farms in the Italian Dolomites of northeast Italy. She is the co-owner of her families bio-dynamic wine estate where, after spending many years learning and farming abroad in the US and Canada, she moved back to her family farm and joined her two brothers and mother to apply what she had learned. She manages two different farm locations. One is at the wine estat...

Today, Clara Coleman talks with Andrew Adams of Hope Farm Organics in Newlands BC, Canada. Hope Farm Organics is at the 54th parallel, the farthest north on the series so far, experiencing less than 7.5 hours of daylight on December 21st, the shortest day of the year. It's also located in the coldest and wettest geoclimatic zone in the Prince George Forest District, with winter lows as cold as -40...

Sankofa Farms is a 12-acre farm in Cedar Grove, NC that Kamal launched through a USDA direct farm ownership loan. The farm aims to improve the perception of agriculture as a profession through it's Sankofa Farm Academy that exposes African-American youth to high-level farming techniques including bee-keeping and year-round caterpillar tunnel production. With 5 acres under cultivation, he is beginn...

Kelli and Mike of  Roots Farm , a certified-organic, diversified vegetable farm in Tiverton, RI, grow year-round on 1.5 acres using no-till, intensive farming methods and six moveable high-tunnels, each 30' x 48' in size. The use of moveable tunnels maximizes both time and space, utilizing three moves each year to optimize production, especially in the shoulder seasons. The biggest challenge of Wi...

An extra special edition of Winter Growers this week, Clara Coleman interviews farmer and father Eliot Coleman of Four Season Farm for the season two finale of the podcast... on his 83rd birthday! They talk about his 50+ seasons of farming, the little gems of insight he received along the way, family farming, and so much more. Mentioned in the show... Living the Good Life by Scott and Helen Nearin...

Cheyenne of Sundance Harvest & Alex of Old City Acres , former podcast guests and Real Farmer Care recipients, comment on the recent social media response from JM, structural racism within small-scale agriculture, and how race has impacted their farming experience.  Winter Growers is made possible by... Growing for Market Magazine , enter code "winter" at checkout to get 25% off a new subscription...

Alex Ball of Old City Acres joins host Clara Coleman to talk about creating a farm from a forest, moving farms season after season, his experience being a young black farmer, the importance of social capital, offering a flexible year-round CSA, and, of course, how he approaches winter growing in southern Michigan. Mentioned in the show... The YardMax tracked wheelbarrow ! (add to gift list) Spurt...

One of No-Till Growers favorite Kentucky farmers, Pavel Orvechkin of Pavel's Garden joins host Clara Coleman to talk about the sustainable ag roots of his Russian childhood, leaving academia to pursue farming full-time, current and potential collaborations, his progression into year-round growing in a mild winter climate, some of the pest/disease challenges he's experienced with small-scale intens...

Jess Niederer of Chickadee Creek Farm  grows 15+ acres of veg in New Jersey and joins Clara Coleman to talk about farming family land, the importance of finding local mentors, her love of tractors and ecology, selling 100% direct-to-consumer through CSA and farmers market, the power of spreadsheets, and how having twins has changed her relationship to the farm for the better. Mentioned in the show...

Katherine Niemann of Moose Meadow Farm near Snadpoint, Idaho joins host Clara Coleman to talk about her and her partner Spencer's experiences on university/research farms, how winter growing differs in Idaho from Maine, the relationship between income and hours worked over the winter, revenue streams and how wholesale microgreens cashflow their farm, and farming with a newborn. Mentioned in the sh...

Mimo and Miranda of Urban Buds in St. Louis, MO join Clara Coleman to talk about how they came to be urban flower farmers, preparing ground with compost and tarps, flower successions from greenhouse to high-tunnel to field, their favorite cold grown varieties, their famous "porch petals" program, winter challenges, and more. Winter Growers is made possible by... Growing for Market Magazine , enter...

Lydia Ryall of Cropthorne Farm on Westham Island in British Columbia, Canada joins Clara Coleman to talk about starting small and growing to 20+ acres, farming collaboratively with family members, managing fertility with cover crops, seasonal workers (like H2A), moveable high-tunnels, CSA, and reducing her own hours to make more time for family. Mentioned in the show... The 2021 Iowa State Univeri...

Danya Tietelbaum of Queen's Greens in Amherst, MA joins Clara Coleman to talk about their journey from-and-back to Winter-only growing, low-tech infrastructure + mechanization, focusing solely on greens + a complete breakdown on Winter spinach, Summer cover cropping in high-tunnels, developing a sense of community even on a mid-scale farm, and farming towards a better quality of life. Mentioned in...

Vera Fabian and Gordon Jenkins of Ten Mothers Farm in Cedar Grove, NC join host Clara Coleman to talk about bringing together their experiences from very different but amazing farms, collective land use, the challenge of shifting more production to the winter months on a small scale, and living and working in the sometimes contradictory space between the wild and the cultivated. Mentioned in the s...

David joins host Clara Coleman from North Carolina to talk: Using different tunnels for different parts of the season + farm store management + from horticulture to market gardening + more!   https://www.sunsetmarketgardens.com https://www.instagram.com/sunsetmarketgardens/ Clara: http://instagram.com/farmerclara/ Sponsors: http://johnnyseeds.com/   + www.growingformarket.com  + http://tunnelvisio...

Jade Sato joins host Clara Coleman to talk: first year winter growing in Colorado + Irrigation challenges + Asians greens + compensating helpers + more https://www.instagram.com/_minoru_farm_/?hl=en Follow Clara: www.instagram.com/farmerclara Sponsors: http://johnnyseeds.com  + www.growingformarketmagazine.com  + http://tunnelvisionhoops.com/   Support our work at www.notillgrowers.com/support  or...

Beth and host Clara Coleman talk: Seven acres and 5 Tunnels in Maine + Leasing many different plots over time + and much more.  https://dandelionspringfarm.com/contact/ https://www.instagram.com/dandelionspringfarm/ Follow Clara: http://instagram.com/farmerclara Sponsors: www.growingformarket.com http://tunnelvisionhoops.com/  and http://johnnyseeds.com Support our work at www.notillgrowers.com/su...

Howard Joins host Clara Coleman to talk :Farming Church Land + Baby Greens + Interplanting cover crops + no-till + more https://www.instagram.com/faithfullfarms/ https://faithfull-farms.square.site Follow Clara: https://www.instagram.com/farmerclara/ Sponsors: http://johnnyseeds.com/   + http://tunnelvisionhoops.com/  + http://growingformarket.com/ Support our work at www.patreon.com/notillgrowers...

Erik Schlener joins Clara Coleman from Virginia to talk: managing seasonal change-over + ginger production +  off farm income + more.  https://www.rootandmarrowfarm.com https://www.instagram.com/rootandmarrowfarm/ Follow Clara: https://www.instagram.com/farmerclara/ Sponsors: http://johnnyseeds.com/   + http://tunnelvisionhoops.com/  + http://growingformarket.com/ Support our work at www.patreon.c...

Taylor Mendell joins the show to talk: Designing a CSA around the school year + farming with a newborn + habit farming + and much more.  https://www.footprintfarmvt.com www.instagram.com/habitfarming/ www.patreon.com/habitfarming follow Clara: https://www.instagram.com/farmerclara/ sponsors: www.growingformarket.com http://tunnelvisionhoops.com/ https://www.johnnyseeds.com Support our work at noti...

Bil Thorn joins Clara from Washington to chat about: their timber-frame greenhouse + leveraging wreaths and garlands for winter income + more.  https://skyislandfarmcsa.com https://www.instagram.com/skyislandfarm/ Follow Clara: https://www.instagram.com/farmerclara Sponsors: www.growingformarket.com  http://johnnyseeds.com/ http://tunnelvisionhoops.com Support our work: www.notillgrowers.com/suppo...

Cheyenne Sundance joins Clara to talk: winter farming in Canada + being a BIPOC farmer + interplanting + ditching salanova lettuce for the winter + food justice + way more.   Follow Cheyenne: https://www.sundanceharvestfarm.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sundanceharvest/ Follow Clara: https://www.instagram.com/farmerclara/ Sponsors: https://www.johnnyseeds.com  + www.growingformarket.com...