Farm Small Farm Smart Daily

Learn more at permaculturevoices.com/theurbanfarmer Support the show at permaculturevoices.com/support Whenever you do something why are you doing it? Are you doing it because that something is pulling you towards it, is it the opposite, are you forcing yourself to do something and pushing yourself towards it. There's a big difference there. And depending on the answer to that question, it mean the difference between doing big things and setting out to do big things, but never really getting anywhere. To further explain this concept I turn to the brilliant personal development specialist Anthony Robbins... "I think you have to have something larger than yourself that you are after because [otherwise] you will let your fear dominate you. But if you have something—your children, your mom, your dad, a friend, a mission—something you want to do that really pulls you [the fear disappears]. Because push never lasts. 'Push' motivation is I'm going to make myself do that. You can do that for a while, but you are eventually going to [regress]. When you are pulled toward something larger than yourself, you'll make the sacrifices; you'll do what's necessary because it's not just about you. I really believe life supports what supports more of life." This is what we are focusing on today. It's a loose conversation based around this idea of push and pull. And finding something that meakes it easy to choose to be great. Something that you feel compelled to do, and you feel off when you aren't doing it. When you hear about someone like Curtis putting in a ton of hours working in the farm, and you think, why does he work so much, you are missing the point, because maybe that thing that you think is work isn't work after all... Learn more at permaculturevoices.com/theurbanfarmer Support the show at permaculturevoices.com/support

Learn more at permaculturevoices.com/15 Support the show at permaculturevoices.com/support THIS EPISODE IS A REPLAY OF PREVIOUS PUBLISHED EPISODE. Joel Salatin of Polyface Farm joins me to talk about his new book Fields of Farmers which focuses on the next generation of farmers.How young people can work with existing farmers to transition into farming. He talks about young people can do today to take advantage of the huge opportunity that is out there. Topics range from leasing land to forming synergistic, non-competitive enterprises on existing farms. The whole key is that you have to start. Movement creates movement. Joel touches on the cultural stereotype against farming. So many people get "forced" into a job that they hate to satisfy their parents only to do that career for a few years and realize that they hate it.All along that person only wanted to do something with their hands. So why not encourage the youth to follow those passions and pursue them with all of their skills and talents. This episode also has a very heavy entrepreneurial component. Hopefully it will motivate some people to get out there, stop thinking about farming, and actually start farming. Key Takeaways from this Episode: Invest in hydration. Get water into the landscape. You don't have to own land to farm. Look for land to lease. Look to add another enterprise onto an existing farm. Focus on mobile infrastructure. Insource carbon instead of outsource carbon. So many farmers start out bringing in fertilizer at the beginning.Start building up your soils at the beginning to lower your long term input costs. Grow what you like to eat. You may have to eat through your inventory. Be willing to do whatever it takes to make it work. That might mean putting in a lot of hours, making a lot of sacrifices, cutting expenses, and taking some odds jobs. Make use of what you have first. Don't buy anything. So many people want to run out and buy things when they first start out. Access what you have, use that, and only buy what you absolutely need. Better to become 80% self reliant that get analysis paralysis and not doing anything while trying to become 100% self reliant. Doing something is better than doing nothing. Stack multiple enterprises on a single land base whenever possible. Learn more at permaculturevoices.com/15 Support the show at permaculturevoices.com/support THIS EPISODE IS A REPLAY OF PREVIOUS PUBLISHED EPISODE.

Mycologist and author Peter McCoy of RadicalMycology.com takes on the question - What's a simple way to cultivate mushrooms? To learn more about Peter and see all of the ASK Peter episodes visit permaculturevoices.com/peter. Support the show at permaculturevoices.com/support.

Learn more at permaculturevoices.com/137 Support the show at permaculturevoices.com/support Let's say that you own 1000 acres and you want to farm. What do you do with that land? One of the first decisions that many of you would come to is the decision of do I get livestock or go with annual crops. Both common. Both viable choices for farming big land. One system is based in perennials and grazing animal's and the other is based on annuals and mechanical tillage. For many people these two systems would be seen as mutually exclusive. Annuals and perennials don't really mix, at least on first thought they don't. But what if you could do it? How do you plant annuals into a perennial grass system and how do you graze animals through an annual system? It all comes down to timing. If you seed annuals into dormant perennial grassland you take advantage of a niche in time where both species can co-exist. Then you later harvest the annual crop and grass the animals through the now non-dormant perennials. The system provides the benefit of zero tillage, rotational grazing, a constant plant cover on the soil and root mass under the soil, and minimal inputs costs. The system is called Pasture Cropping and it was developed by Colin Seis. Today's show is a presentation that Colin gave at PV2 in March 2015. It was an honor to have him present at the conference, this guy is a true pioneer and innovator, and his work needs to be heard. Learn more at permaculturevoices.com/137 Support the show at permaculturevoices.com/support

Homesteader Justin Rhodes of AbundantPermaculture.com takes on the question - Homesteader Justin Rhodes of AbundantPermaculture.com takes on the question - When you first started the vlog, what was the goal? To learn more about Justin and see all of the ASK Justin episodes visit permaculturevoices.com/justin Support the show at permaculturevoices.com/support

Learn more at permaculturevoices.com/theurbanfarmer Support the show at permaculturevoices.com/support Today is part three in our series focusing on more money, less land, where we are brainstorming ideas to make more money off of your farm without, without adding more land. Over the last few weeks we have focused on a variety of ways to sell more product and produce more product without adding more land. Today we will get into the last primary concept... Raising Prices Specifically how can you do that? What are the different ways that you can change what you are selling to justify a higher price? There's a lot of ideas in here. Some easier to implement than others. Each with has their own costs and benefits. As with the previous episodes, there's a lot in this one. Learn more at permaculturevoices.com/theurbanfarmer Support the show at permaculturevoices.com/support

Learn more at permaculturevoices.com/23 Support the show at permaculturevoices.com/support THIS EPISODE IS A REPLAY OF PREVIOUS PUBLISHED EPISODE. Michael Pollan joins me to talk about GMOs, organic food, the industrial agriculture, and his new book Cooked. Points we hit on: What will it take to ultimately get GMOs labelled in the US? And what affect will that labeling have. Rewarding farmers for embracing sustainable practices. Getting changes in agriculture from the grassroots, corporate and government level. Getting representation for eaters on the government agriculture committees which are currently dominated by lightly populated corn belt states. The importance of being able to demonstrate scientifically that we can do what we say we can do - relating to permaculture, sustainable agriculture. The importance of cooking your own food and the trickle down effects. If you are cooking your own food then you have the ability to shop from local farmers, farmers markets, and CSAs. Fast food supports industrial agriculture. 10% of the food dollar goes to the farmer. The longer the food chain the less the farmer gets. Even the packaging manufacturers make more than the farmers. By diversifying as a farmer and having more than a single crop you are able to being more of a price maker than a price taker in the commodity system. Learn more at permaculturevoices.com/23 Support the show at permaculturevoices.com/support THIS EPISODE IS A REPLAY OF PREVIOUS PUBLISHED EPISODE.

Learn more at permaculturevoices.com/121 Support the show at permaculturevoices.com/support THIS EPISODE IS A REPLAY OF PREVIOUS PUBLISHED EPISODE. Paul's central premise is that habitats have immune systems, just like people, and mushroom forming fungi are the foundation of the foodwebs of land based organisms. Our close evolutionary relationship to fungi can be the basis for novel pairings that lead to greater sustainability and immune enhancement. As w​ e are now fully engaged in the 6th Major Extinction ("6 X") on planet Earth, our biospheres are quickly changing, eroding the life support systems that have allowed humans to ascend. Unless we put into action policies and technologies that can cause a course correction in the very near future, species diversity will continue to plummet, with humans not only being the primary cause, but one of the victims. What can we do? Fungi, particularly mushrooms, offer some powerful, practical solutions, which can be put into practice now. Paul will discuss his groundbreaking research utilizing their cellular networks to create molecular bridges governing the evolution of sustainable habitats. The implications of his research are far-reaching and could spark a paradigm shift to a better future. This presentation was recorded live at PV2 in March 2015. For all of the audio presentations from PV2 visit: permaculturevoices.com/audio/

An archived interview that was conducted at PV1 in March 2014. Support the show at permaculturevoices.com/support

Learn more at permaculturevoices.com/theurbanfarmer Support the show at permaculturevoices.com/support Today is two in our series focusing on more money, less land, where we are brainstorming ideas to make more money off of your farm without, without adding more land. Last week we focused on two of the primary concepts that had a lot of ideas under them: If you aren't moving all of your current product, sell it all. Selling all of your current product, but you know there is more demand... Today we will focus on a third primary concept: Change Your Product Profile and Crops It's all about making more just by changing what you grow and when you grow it. There's a lot in here, enjoy it... Learn more at permaculturevoices.com/theurbanfarmer Support the show at permaculturevoices.com/support

Learn more at permaculturevoices.com/12 Support the show at permaculturevoices.com/support THIS EPISODE IS A REPLAY OF PREVIOUS PUBLISHED EPISODE. Doniga Markegard of Markegard Family Grass-Fed comes on the show to talk about ranching, permaculture, and the regenerative power of rotational livestock grazing.She is a real life rancher, who is out there successfully doing things the right way. On her ranch she is using cattle, sheep, and pigs to build the soil and supply the San Fransisco Bay area with high quality food.Doniga discusses why traditional ranching methods often fail and lead to degenerative cycles with the soil; and how a more holistic, permaculture approach can actually repair landscapes. She talks about how they use permaculture on their ranch to increase species diversity and to increase the water holding capacity of the soil. She touches on how to get into ranching, the advantages of small herd dairy, and the importance of leasing land. Learn more at permaculturevoices.com/12 Support the show at permaculturevoices.com/support THIS EPISODE IS A REPLAY OF PREVIOUS PUBLISHED EPISODE.

Mycologist and author Peter McCoy of RadicalMycology.com takes on the question - If I add mycorrhizal spores to my soil how do I know that the fungus is actually growing? To learn more about Peter and see all of the ASK Peter episodes visit permaculturevoices.com/peter. Support the show at permaculturevoices.com/support.

Learn more at permaculturevoices.com/136 Support the show at permaculturevoices.com/support The 8 Forms of Capital is a dynamic and living framework to guide holistic and regenerative enterprise development by mapping the complex flows and pools of all eight forms of capital, not merely the financial capital. At first glance many people assume that the 8 forms of capital is simply a way to account for or measure in a similar way to the triple bottom line. This is a common way to think about business design. However, the most powerful use of the 8 capital model is to help uncover the essence and potential of each form of capital beyond the current reductionist perspective. For instance, instead of thinking about "valuation of ecosystem services" when we ask about Living Capital, we might instead start an active enquiry into the story of a bioregion, plant, or watershed that leads us to uncover the mythological unlimited yields that Mollison reminds us exist when we use the organ of our imagination to explore the potential of an ecosystem. The framework was initially developed by Gregory Landaua and Ethan Roland and the information was coalesced in their book Regeneraitve Enterrpse. Today's show is a presentation that Gregory gave at PV3 on the 8 forms of capital, where he presented it through the lens of regenerative cacao; an industry that he has worked closely with over this years. The presentation blends the theory with the real world application. Learn more at permaculturevoices.com/136 Support the show at permaculturevoices.com/support

Homesteader Justin Rhodes of AbundantPermaculture.com takes on the question - What advice would you have for someone who wanted to start vlogging? To learn more about Justin and see all of the ASK Justin episodes visit permaculturevoices.com/justin. Support the show at permaculturevoices.com/support.

Learn more at permaculturevoices.com/theurbanfarmer Support the show at permaculturevoices.com/support Say you're a vegetable farmer and you want to make more money. How do you do that? How would you do that? If this was an episode of Family Feud one of the top answers on the board would likely be 'grow more products'. And if we took this line of question on iteration further the asking how do you grow more crops? One of the top answers would be 'get more land'. More land means more vegetables can fit in that space. A more vegetables means more to sell. Simple enough right. What if you couldn't get more land? Because it wasn't available or it was too expensive or it would change the dynamic of your farm... what would you do then? You want to make more money... but you can't add land. What are your options... you could raise prices or lower input costs, those would work, but there are a lot of other options available. That's the topic that we are taking on in this multipart series – more money with less land. Learn more at permaculturevoices.com/theurbanfarmer Support the show at permaculturevoices.com/support

Learn more at permaculturevoices.com/3 Support the show at permaculturevoices.com/support THIS EPISODE IS A REPLAY OF PREVIOUS PUBLISHED EPISODE. In this episode of the Permaculture Voices Podcast I have my friend Ben Kotnik of Suburban Food Farm on the show to talk about the recent presentation that he gave to a local permaculture group, 12 Months of Fresh Fruit. The first part of the presentation highlights some of the varieties that can be grown in Southern California to achieve the goal of a year round fruit harvest. While the varieties that we talk about are specific to SoCal, the theory behind how why the varieties were selected can be applied to any location. The second half of the presentation focuses on different techniques that can be used to grow more varieties of fruit in a given space. And these techniques can be applied anywhere in the world. In this episode you will learn about: A variety of 13 fruits that could be grown in Southern California giving you 12 months of free fruit. The trees are specific to SoCal, but the theory is applicable anywhere. Ben's favorite sweet citrus varieties. The beauty of the forgotten fruit, the white sapote. And why everyone should be growing it in SoCal. Why you should remove some of the fruit from a tree in the early years. Techniques for growing more fruit in a space. How to use dwarfing rootstocks to your advantage. -Why to prune and train your trees. Grafting several varieties onto one tree, multi-graft trees. Working with neighbors to grow more trees. Learn more at permaculturevoices.com/3 Support the show at permaculturevoices.com/support THIS EPISODE IS A REPLAY OF PREVIOUS PUBLISHED EPISODE.

Mycologist and author Peter McCoy of RadicalMycology.com takes on the question - I have access to a lot of coffee grounds. If I am approaching mushroom cultivation from a commercial standpoint, what species of mushroom do you think would grow the best if coffee grounds were the primary substrate? To learn more about Peter and see all of the ASK Peter episodes visit permaculturevoices.com/peter Support the show at permaculturevoices.com/support

"You're the average of the five people that you spend the most time with." Jim Rohn Hang around with people who support you and push you and you will end up farther ahead than by hanging around with people who hold you back and tear you down. It sounds obvious. And I think that most people listening to this would agree. But it's not always easy to do. Either by choice or by life. Sometimes we just don't put in the effort or want to deal with the pain of getting rid of the negative influences in our lives. And sometimes we can't easily get rid of the negative influences in our lives. Sometimes people in our family struggle or run into problems. Problems which require our support. So we can't abandon those people. Regardless those people will have an effect on our lives. And this idea is one of the many that I will be talking about today with Javan Bernakevitch as part of our continued look into the common, but hidden reality of us all. Learn more at permaculturevoices.com/javan3 Support the show at permaculturevoices.com/support

Homesteader Justin Rhodes of AbundantPermaculture.com takes on the question - As a homesteader, how have you decided to educate your kids - traditional schooling, alternative schooling, homeschool? And why? To learn more about Justin and see all of the ASK Justin episodes visit permaculturevoices.com/justin. Support the show at permaculturevoices.com/support.

Learn more at permaculturevoices.com/theurbanfarmer Support the show at permaculturevoices.com/support It's currently September 15, 2016 and the end of the regular farming season is near. Along with it is Curtis's tenure at the Kelowna Farmers Market. After 7 seasons at the farmers market, Curtis is moving on. It's part of a larger effort to simplify the farm and match the farm to his lifestyle. At this point in his career Curtis is trying to simplify his farm. Not grow bigger just to be bigger. Instead choosing to grow better becoming more efficient and effective. That means focusing on the market streams that work, the products that sell, and moving to plots located even closer to his homebase. Part of those changes involve dropping things like the farmers market which has done since the beginning of his career. But it's a market stream that requires getting up on Saturday for 8 months of the year and it's a market stream that isn't growing anymore. And It's one of the many changes taking place at Green City Acres, resulting in a farm that will look very different come April 2017. Today we will take a look at the many changes coming to Green City Acres, along with they why behind those changes. Learn more at permaculturevoices.com/theurbanfarmer Support the show at permaculturevoices.com/support

Learn more at permaculturevoices.com/43 Support the show at permaculturevoices.com/support THIS EPISODE IS A REPLAY OF PREVIOUS PUBLISHED EPISODE. Shannon Jones, a young farmer from River Hebert, Nova Scotia joins me to talk about what it is like to be a young farmer on her farm, Broadfork Farm. She started the farm with her partner Bryan Dyck in 2011. Both Shannon and Bryan farmed on other farms for many years before they started their own farm. The lived simply and knew what they could get by without. That made the transition to farming a lot easier. Their path of frugality is one path into farming. But like Shannon said, find what works for you and don't just copy what someone else did. At the end of the day it is very clear that Shannon loves what she does. Living her dream, working her dream job, as part of the next generation of farmers. Learn more at permaculturevoices.com/43 Support the show at permaculturevoices.com/support THIS EPISODE IS A REPLAY OF PREVIOUS PUBLISHED EPISODE.

Mycologist and author Peter McCoy of RadicalMycology.com takes on the question - How should I incorporate micro-nutrients into my mushroom substrate? To learn more about Peter and see all of the ASK Peter episodes visit permaculturevoices.com/peter. Support the show at permaculturevoices.com/support.

Learn more at permaculturevoices.com/yourstory3 Support the show at permaculturevoices.com/support "Every man has his secret sorrows which the world knows not; and often times we call a man cold when he is only sad." Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. This episode is about those secret sorrows, it's an inside look at the world of depression and suicide. Depression that affect 20 million Americans a year. And depression is like a war, you either win or die trying. Today's episode features some stories of people fighting that war. Learn more at permaculturevoices.com/yourstory3 Support the show at permaculturevoices.com/support

Homesteader Justin Rhodes of AbundantPermaculture.com takes on the question - You have kids, how do you work from home and get anything done? To learn more about Justin and see all of the ASK Justin episodes visit permaculturevoices.com/justin. Support the show at permaculturevoices.com/support.

Learn more at permaculturevoices.com/theurbanfarmer Support the show at permaculturevoices.com/support The last few episodes have focused on stuff. The tools of farming. Today we are talking about the flip side of tools, the opposite of the physical. The mental side of things, in particular hustle. The best tools and the right stuff without the business sense, hustle, and effort won't mean anything. The tools make the job easier. Just owning them doesn't mean anything. You have to do the work. And it's that hustle to do the work form preparation to production to sales that can give you the advantage over people who just have the money and the stuff. As Stephen C Hogan said. "You can't have a million-dollar dream with a minimum-wage work ethic." Because if you do, where's that going to get you. Left with an unsuccessful business and collection of expensive stuff. A lot of success isn't quantifiable with a dollar sign, instead being measured in pure blood, sweat, and hard work. And the beauty of it is that none of this costs any thing and can be applied by literally every person on the planet regardless of their particular situation. Today, we will get into the importance of the hustle, and the areas like sales and preparation, where hustle makes the difference between you and the person who isn't hustling as hard. Learn more at permaculturevoices.com/theurbanfarmer Support the show at permaculturevoices.com/support

Learn more at permaculturevoices.com/21 Support the show at permaculturevoices.com/support THIS EPISODE IS A REPLAY OF PREVIOUS PUBLISHED EPISODE. Stefan Sebkowiak of Miracle Farms joins me to talk about the what's lacking in organic systems - biodiversity. And why organic is good, but creating a polyculture is a lot better. Stefan started out his journey purchasing a conventional non-organic orchard. He worked on converting it over to organic and realized that something wasn't right, something was missing. The system was lacking the biodiversity that you see in nature. So Stefan converted over his organic orchard into a permaculture, polyculture based system. He removed a lot of apple trees and replaced them with other fruit trees and support species. He added more diversity to the system giving him more products to sell, more wildlife, and ultimate a healthier, more resilient system. A lot of commercial orchardists say that polyculture won't work. Stefan has show that on a tree by tree basis he is getting as much yield as a conventional orchard. He is out there trying to prove that you gross $1.00 per square foot in a polyculture system that value adds from multiple yields - poultry, fruit, vegetables, herbs, etc. "You can read a lot, but you need to go out and test things." Learn more at permaculturevoices.com/21 Support the show at permaculturevoices.com/support THIS EPISODE IS A REPLAY OF PREVIOUS PUBLISHED EPISODE.

Mycologist and author Peter McCoy of RadicalMycology.com takes on the question - In a perfect world, what would be your ideal recipe for a substrate mixture that is fairly universal in terms of species of mushrooms that would grow on it? To learn more about Peter and see all of the ASK Peter episodes visit permaculturevoices.com/peter. Support the show at permaculturevoices.com/support.

Learn more at permaculturevoices.com/135 Support the show at permaculturevoices.com/support Busy versus effective. Two different ways of getting stuff done. Think of busy as the pinball in a pinball machine, a lot of bouncing around randomly, getting some stuff done, but not in the most linear way. Where effective is like the bowling ball headed down the lane, a straight shot targeting a specific pin. Both lead to results, the busy route does a lot more moving per unit of work done. Usually these two routes are mutually exclusive. Busy people aren't effective, and effective people aren't busy. The danger in being a busy body, is just that, you are just busy; you are doing a lot of work, maybe the right work, maybe not, maybe in the right order, maybe not, and the cost of being busy is a loss of time. Whereas the effective person does what they need to do when they need to do it based on the time that they have available and the priority of the task at hand. This saves the effective person time, allowing them to get more done, or just have more free time. Time can be a major constraint for entrepreneurs. You can't get more of it, and we all only have 24 hours in a day, so using that time effectively is going to determine what your lifestyle looks like. Today I am talking to an entrepreneur who has made shifts in their life to make their time less busy, and more effective. It's Erik Ohslen of Permaculture Artisans. Erik's been on the show a few times in the past, and if you have heard those shows that you will know that he founded the successful landscape design and build company Permaculture Artisans. In addition to running that company, Erik also is a part of several other businesses, and he's married, and he has kids. How does he make it all work? That's the focus on today's episode. I am going to dig into Erik's new business venture, ForeSite mapping, and the strategy behind that. The second half of the episode will get into how to balance family and business? The key in all of this, is to make effective decisions, so you are less busy with your time. Learn more at permaculturevoices.com/135 Support the show at permaculturevoices.com/support

Learn more at permaculturevoices.com/theurbanfarmer Support the show at permaculturevoices.com/support Part three of our series on Small Scale Farming on the Cheap - What's the least you could spend to start a farm? Last week in Episode 23 we started going through the equipment needed, or perceived to be needed, when you start a farm along with the costs and advantages associated with that equipment. Given that this is Part 3 it probably makes more sense to listen to Part 1 and Part 2 first. Last week we left of the talk on equipment wrapping up with the tiller. We'll start today with a little bit of warmup on macro business talking before jumping back into the list discussing hand tools. Learn more at permaculturevoices.com/theurbanfarmer Support the show at permaculturevoices.com/support

Learn more at permaculturevoices.com/52 Support the show at permaculturevoices.com/support THIS EPISODE IS A REPLAY OF PREVIOUS PUBLISHED EPISODE. I welcome Frank Golbeck of Golden Coast Mead on the show today. Frank story is a great example of someone who went after their dreams in a smart and systematic way. He isn't any different than any of us. He didn't start with a huge some of money or some other advantage. But the difference between Frank and a lot of people is that took on the scary unknown, the hard part starting. Fast forward ahead a few years and the dream has become a reality. Things still aren't easy, but they are very real and Frank is enjoying every moment of it. No matter where you are at in your life, I think Frank's story is inspirational and highly copyable. Hopefully something in here will resonate with you and will inspire you to start that thing that you always wanted to do. Learn more at permaculturevoices.com/52 Support the show at permaculturevoices.com/support THIS EPISODE IS A REPLAY OF PREVIOUS PUBLISHED EPISODE.

Mycologist and author Peter McCoy of RadicalMycology.com takes on the question - If I grow mushrooms on soil contaminated with oil or heavy metals, will the mushroom be safe to eat? To learn more about Peter and see all of the ASK Peter episodes visit permaculturevoices.com/peter

Learn more at permaculturevoices.com/134 Support the show at permaculturevoices.com/support Imagine it's your first year in college and you get an offer to go be an apprentice on farm. You've never farmed before. And you've never really thought about farming before. Taking the offer means that you would need to drop out of college to commit to the apprenticeship. And so would you future wife, because you're also engaged. She isn't from a farming family or background either. So it's you two, in college for something that isn't ag related, dropping out out college to take an apprentice ship on a farm. What would you do? Most people would say tell me more. Well, this is a farm raising chickens on grass. And this farm is located in Swoope, VA and it's run by a farmer named Joel Salatin. What would you do? Would you and your wife drop out of college to accept the invitation to be apprentices or not? A lot of people would say yes. But it's 2016. What if you got this same offer in 1996 when very few people outside of the area knew who Joel Salatin was, it's 1996 when pastured poultry wasn't a thing, and it's 1996 and you are going to be the second ever apprentice on Joel's farm. It's not the same slam dunk answer that it might be for many of you as it is today. That's the exact question that my guest, John McAuley was faced with back in 1996. To quit school and farm, or not. Let's find out how that played out. Learn more at permaculturevoices.com/134 Support the show at permaculturevoices.com/support

Homesteader Justin Rhodes of AbundantPermaculture.com talks about creating Permaculture Chickens live on stage at PV3. To learn more about Justin and see all of the ASK Justin episodes visit permaculturevoices.com/justin. Support the show at permaculturevoices.com/support.

Learn more at permaculturevoices.com/theurbanfarmer Support the show at permaculturevoices.com/support Part two of our series on Small Scale Farming on the Cheap - What's the least you could spend to start a farm?. Last week in episode 22 we covered the base principles costs and equipment associated with farm startup. We established the point that tools are simply one leg on the stool of success. The tools should never hold you back. It's never going to be just the tools that make you successful. Yet, good tools can make job easier. That show focused on the concepts and the ideas behind the why. Today's show focuses on the what. What do you actually need and how much does it costs. This episode is the first of a few digging into that question. Learn more at permaculturevoices.com/theurbanfarmer Support the show at permaculturevoices.com/support

"These side issues, the longer they go on and we don't face reality, the more people that are going to die, and the more trillions of dollars it is going to cost, so time is not on our side. We need to act. Most people want to act. Institutions are holding us up. Only ordinary people can lead and act. And it is time to move." Allan Savory This interview was conducted with Allan Savory several years ago at PV1. For more from Allan listen to Rhodesia to Long Beach. 50 Years of Struggle, Persistence and Success with Allan Savory (PVP055)

Joel Salatin's talk on Stacking Fiefdoms from PV1. "The whole idea is to create customized fiefdoms so that people are autonomous and have the authority to run their own fiefdom within your own umbrella, and you can't believe how many things you can get done that way." Learn more at permaculturevoices.com/89 Support the show at permaculturevoices.com/support THIS EPISODE IS A REPLAY OF PREVIOUS PUBLISHED EPISODE.

Mycologist and author Peter McCoy of RadicalMycology.com takes on the question - I have heard people say that I should always cook mushrooms before eating them? Is that true? What are your thoughts? To learn more about Peter and see all of the ASK Peter episodes visit permaculturevoices.com/peter. Support the show at permaculturevoices.com/support.

Learn more at permaculturevoices.com/javan2 Support the show at permaculturevoices.com/support Today we will try to break down the holistic context into bites that are more digestible and present it in a way that might be easier for some people to understand. This is a tough subject to take on, and I think even Allan Savory would admit that, even stating in his book "the concept of holistic goal develop slowing winding its way through many wrong turns and dark passages. It would prove to be more difficult to articulate than any other aspect of Holistic Management and it continues to evolve to this day." Kudos to Allan Savory for coming up with this framework, it's his shoulders that we are standing on during this episode. Let's get into it and try to deconstruct the holistic context, with my co-host Javan Bernakevitch. Learn more at permaculturevoices.com/javan2 Support the show at permaculturevoices.com/support

Homesteader Justin Rhodes of AbundantPermaculture.com takes on the question - If you are processing broilers on a homestead level, what type of equipment do you think you need? To learn more about Justin and see all of the ASK Justin episodes visit permaculturevoices.com/justin. Support the show at permaculturevoices.com/support.

Learn more at permaculturevoices.com/theurbanfarmer Support the show at permaculturevoices.com/support Farming... is it expensive to start, or not? A lot of people want to get into farming, but they stall out when it comes to the money side of things. The common cause of that stall out is land. Land is expensive to purchase. So most people immediately dismiss the idea of farming because they can't afford land. But people like Greg Judy, Joel Salatin, and us on this show, have shown that you don't need to own land to farm. There's a lot of land available to farm. Land you don't need to own, and land that you can gain access to through options like leasing.. If you can lease land either for free or inexpensively and if you are in a market where you can move product, then the potential upside to small scale farming is pretty attractive given the low start up costs and low infrastructure requirements? How low? Very low compared to other businesses. In his book Curtis gives an initial start-up estimate for a 1/4 acre farm at $7k to $17k. Curtis started his farm with just $7k. That's $7k that buys equipment and infrastructure which is portable and resellable. In good markets, the risk reward of small scale farming is usually favorable because small scale market farming startup costs are very low compared to many business out there. Yet, despite the minimal start up costs, the costs are still prohibitive, or at least perceived to be prohibitive by some people. Given that we'll dig into the farm start up numbers and see where costs can be cut and what costs are just unavoidable. And we'll also bring in some rationale to these numbers discussing why certain items are worth the cost, and why others aren't. Today we'll begin a multi-part series discussing the minimum that you could spend to start a farm, and we will begin with the base principles, what are the things that you need to think about before you spend any money, that's coming up on Season Two Episode 22 of The Urban Farmer. Learn more at permaculturevoices.com/theurbanfarmer Support the show at permaculturevoices.com/support

There are some wonderful examples of communities of practice growing around farmer-to-farmer extension of permaculture design principles in poorly served regions. How can the global permaculture community organize around the idea of putting permaculture at the heart of rural development, displacing the business-as-usual development programs that promote unsustainable farming systems, by making better use of resources that already exist – resources like the world-wide network of permaculture training centers, and the ubiquitous cell phone? Learn more at permaculturevoices.com/a5

Learn more at permaculturevoices.com/cd5. Support the show at permaculturevoices.com/support THIS EPISODE IS A REPLAY OF PREVIOUS PUBLISHED EPISODE. Today's show is about time. Specifically how precious our tiem is, and how we ought not to waste it. I wish I'd had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me. This is one of the most common regrets that people have at the end of their lives. When people realize that their life is almost over and look back clearly on it, it is easy to see how many dreams have gone unfulfilled. Most people don't honor even a half of their dreams and die knowing that it is due to choices they had made, or not made. How many people listening to this have unfilled dreams? How many people are really living their lives the way they want? How many people are listening to this as they drive drive to or from a job that they really don't like and in a perfect world wouldn't be doing? A type of job that they only go to pay the bills because they have kids, a mortgage, etc, etc.. A lot of people live that life. And that's a life of fear disguised as practicality. It's a sad way to live, because life is too short. Learn more at permaculturevoices.com/cd5 Support the show at permaculturevoices.com/support THIS EPISODE IS A REPLAY OF PREVIOUS PUBLISHED EPISODE.

Mycologist and author Peter McCoy of RadicalMycology.com takes on the question - I'm new to mushroom foraging, what are some of the unwritten rules of the game? To learn more about Peter and see all of the ASK Peter episodes visit permaculturevoices.com/peter. Support the show at permaculturevoices.com/support.

Learn more at permaculturevoices.com/133 Support the show at permaculturevoices.com/support If your listening to this show then you probably have a garden or have had one at one point and time. And for most of you gardeners summer is your primary gardening time. And for most of North America that's a good time to garden because it's relatively easy. Plants like to grow because day lengths are long and temperatures are warm.. at least for most of North America. But what if you live in a part of North America, that doesn't fall under under the previously mentioned "most" category... That's where my guest today, Market Gardener Brian Kowalski finds himself living in Newfoundland... Summer as he describes it is something like this... "May is still cold here, ground is just unfreezing, June is cool, average temp is around 4-5 Celsius (40F), but usually sunny with warm days (10-14C, 57F) but May and June night time temps are generally below 4C. July or August will be normal summer weather, 20-30 C, 85F with nights 12-15, 57F, but one them is usually pretty crappy grey foggy and damp with temperatures cool to warm. ...Septembers have usually been ok but there's a noticeable slow down of growth of course as the nights cool and the days shorten. So to answer your question, July or August. Lots of cold frames and row cover." Living in Newfound weather is one challenge for Brian. He describes the climate as like farming in the shoulder season all summer, windy generally with occasional hurricane, cloudy. Despite the challenges Brian has made a go of it and is a profitable market gardener. What he is doing is working. Given that, the goal for this to take a look at how Brian is dealing with harsh conditions to help those of you who might not have such harsh conditions. Another use of this information is to take some of the techniques that Brian has to apply in the summer and apply them to the colder parts of your season, be in the spring or fall shoulder seasons, or the winters... Listen to the ideas and techniques that he is using and think about how you can apply them to your situation even if your season and his don't match up. And when it's cold and rainy in October, just be thankful that it isn't June, and you aren't trying to garden in the summer in Newfoundland. Learn more at permaculturevoices.com/133 Support the show at permaculturevoices.com/support

Homesteader Justin Rhodes of AbundantPermaculture.com takes on the question - What are the areas on the homestead where it pays to pay up and not go cheap? To learn more about Justin and see all of the ASK Justin episodes visit permaculturevoices.com/justin. Support the show at permaculturevoices.com/support.

Homesteader Justin Rhodes of AbundantPermaculture.com takes on the question - What are the areas on the homestead where it pays to pay up and not go cheap? To learn more about Justin and see all of the ASK Justin episodes visit permaculturevoices.com/justin. Support the show at permaculturevoices.com/support.

Learn more at permaculturevoices.com/theurbanfarmer Support the show at permaculturevoices.com/support "At too many companies, and in too many hapless careers, the number one imperative is to avoid failure and embarrassment associated therewith at all costs. My take, failure, supported by wildly imaginative hypotheses and incredibly hard work, is something that companies and individuals must embrace. Frankly at all costs. Unless you're stretching... wildly, you're not going to reach that brass ring called hyper success amidst a brawl with no rules." Tom Peters The market and nature of small scale farming is too dynamic. To succeed you have to be dynamic as well. That will mean trying things that don't work, and trying things not knowing if they will work. You're going to have to make assumptions and best guesses. You're going to have to adapt. And that's what today's episode is all about... adapting and switching it up on the fly... Learn more at permaculturevoices.com/theurbanfarmer Support the show at permaculturevoices.com/support

Are you thinking of quitting your day job? Taking that big leap & embracing a permaculture business as your way forward? Matt Powers did just that shortly after PV2, & it hasn't been a predictable path either. Hear about starting up, failing upward, branching out, creating niches, generating value through meaning, & fighting to maintain a family in the startup phases of a new business. Learn more at permaculturevoices.com/a5

Learn more at permaculturevoices.com/91 Support the show at permaculturevoices.com/support THIS EPISODE IS A REPLAY OF PREVIOUS PUBLISHED EPISODE. This show is a conversation that I had with Mark Shepard about the process of starting up his farm, New Forest Farm, in Viola, Wisconsin. How did he start? What was the process like - both on the land and off? What were the real life financial struggles and challenges that he went through and faced? Hint... It wasn't easy. Learn more at permaculturevoices.com/71 Support the show at permaculturevoices.com/support THIS EPISODE IS A REPLAY OF PREVIOUS PUBLISHED EPISODE.

Mycologist and author Peter McCoy of RadicalMycology.com takes on the question - What are your thoughts on training mycelium to break down biodegradable and compostable plastics? To learn more about Peter and see all of the ASK Peter episodes visit permaculturevoices.com/peter. Support the show at permaculturevoices.com/support.