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

Today's guest: Stephen Le, author of 100 Million Years of Food. Stephen is an anthropologist who argues that if we want to understand the role of diet in influencing our health, we need to ease off of our obsession with nutrutional science and focus more on the role that evolution has played in defining the relationship between what we eat and how we feel. Canadian listeners: the Canadian publisher will give away one copy of this book. Details within!

This ep: Bob Siegfried of MidAtlantic Farm Sensors on wiring up your farm for better management, plus John McCauley of Chicken People returns to recommend the best bird to start with if you're new to pasturing livestock. Interested in entering the contest mentioned in the episode? Use this link to participate. It's April 1, 2016 at time of writing; the draw will be held in a couple of weeks.

This episode, veggie grower and high tunnel ninja Adam Montri of Ten Hens Farm in Bath, Michigan, joins me to talk about the finer points of incorporating high tunnels into your market gardening. Discussed: The limitations of 12' wide caterpillar tunnels compared to high tunnels What you can expect to pay for a high tunnel, and the bells and/or whistles you should consider Ideal tunnel layout Why you should vent like crazy in the Winter and more! If you like what you hear, check out Adam's related content on Youtube by searching his name.

This episode we're back to the practical aspects of farming. I speak with: Blake Hall of Prairie Gold Meats about his Winter bale-grazing program. PhD Candidate Shuresh Ghimire of Washington State University about his research on biodegradable mulches for field crops. Market Gardener Matt Coffay of Second Spring Market Garden about the value of regular soil testing and how he dealt with some really, really poor soil he leased.

Can organic agriculture feed the world? Well, no, probably not entirely. But a recent paper in Nature: Plants suggests that as a farming system, it scores better than conventional farming systems on many key indicators of sustainability. This, say the paper's authors, suggests organic systems should be playing a larger role in world food production than it currently is. In this episode, I talk to Jonathan Wachtel, co-author of the study. We talk about sustainability metrics, current barriers to the expansion of organic systems, and why we shouldn't assume that organic farming alone can feed the world. The graphic we discuss in the episode is available at theruminant.ca. Graphic credit: John P. Reganold and Jonathan M. Wachter and Nature Plants.

This week: over-wintered crops like green garlic, some easy-peasy cut flowers to try out, and a tip for keeping pastured poultry dry and warm when it's wet and cold. Plus: TCOG co-editor Amy Kremen joins me to talk about updates to the Canadian Organic Standards. Every other episode (starting now!), The Ruminant zooms in on practical tips for the farm or garden. Guests today: Hermann Bruns of Wild Flight Farm Jessica Gale of Sweet Gale Gardens John McAuley of chickenpeople.com and Healthy Hens Farm Amy Kremen of The Canadian Organic Grower Magazine

In The Hidden Half of Nature, David R. Montgomery and Anne Biklé suggest we are in the midst of a scientific revolution of our understanding of the role that microbes play in the health of many other life forms on earth, including plants, as well as our own. I devoured this book, and for this episode, David, a geologist, and Anne, a biologist, are my guests. Also: the winner of The Salatin Semester giveaway is announced. You'll also hear a couple of ideas for replacing expensive specialty farm parts with their hardware store equivalents. The intro to this episode is kind of long. Skip ahead to, I don't know, 9 minutes to get to my conversation with Anne and David.

The Salatin Semester, a comprehensive course featuring the teachings of you-know-who, is the latest educational offering from Verge Permaculture. I review the course. After that: a conversation with Eric Barnhorst about his take on a home-made vacuum seeder, and some of his approaches to working with soil blocks. Eric submitted some photos of his vacuum seeder and his soil block trays. Check them out at theruminant.ca

This episode: submissions from listeners about the joys and travails (mainly the latter) of farming with children. Four farmers share their tips for staying sane when you add kids to an already hectic lifestyle. Eric's Farm Heather's farm and book Jason's Farm Seth's Farm Cover photo for this episode was sourced here. I cropped it a bit.

In part two of my conversation with Craig Lehoullier, author or Epic Tomatoes, we focus on tomato variety selection. Craig explains how tomato colours are classified, recommends the best heirlooms for commercial gardeners to grow in each colour category, and explains why it's worth the extra effort to seek out specific varieties from trusted sources.

I stumbled across Craig LeHoullier's book, Epic tomatoes, by accident one day when I was trolling the internet looking for episode ideas. I bought his book on a whim, and am I ever glad I did. Many years ago, Craig fell in love with growing tomatoes, and then, specifically, heirloom tomatoes, and he eventually put everything he learned about tomato history, and the art and science of growing beautiful tomatoes, down on paper. I roared through the book. And then, impressed with what I read, I asked Craig to come on the show to talk about his passion. And, it is a passion. Craig figures he has five thousand tomato varieties in his collection, and that he's personally grown out more than 2000 of them. This episode: part one of our conversation, which focuses on heirloom history, and practical considerations for starting tomatoes in the nursery and pruning them in the field. Part two, which includes a best-of varietal list for commercial growers, comes out next week.

A brief summary of this episode

I recently had a chance to speak with Rochelle Eisen, who is an expert on all things organic in Canada. Rochelle has been an organic inspector, AKA organic verification officer, for years, and she's been involved in various levels of the organic farming certification bureaucracy throughout that time. Rochelle joined me to explain how the organic bureacratic machine works. Sounds boring, I know, but I think you'll really enjoy this if you've ever wondered how organic standards are formed or changed, or how you can influence them. If you're currently an organic farmer, or think you might be in future, or like to spout off about how the system is corrupt, or how the system is too expensive or too onerous, you should give this a listen. The topic may be a little bland, but Rochelle is the hotsauce that makes it enjoyable. A note to my american listeners that Rochelle and I focus on the Canadian organic system which she tells me is quite different than yours. I still think you'll find value here though. It may just make you want to go and learn more about the American system.

Guts is a Canadian feminist magazine that recently published a piece by Natalie Childs called The Fruits of Unpaid Labour. Natalie's article is a thoughtful consideration of the reality of low- and no-pay farm apprenticeships on many small-scale farms in Canada, and the implications for both the farmers and the apprentices involved. Natalie, who completed a farm apprenticeship a few summers back and now works on a farm in Quebec, is my guest for this episode, along with Robin Johnston and Bernard Soubrey, two young farmers based in Atlantic Canada who also went through the apprenticeship system and share Natalie's concerns about underpaid farm labour on some small-scale farms. This is the last episode of 2015; I'll be back with a new episode in early January.

Jay McCaman has spent many years observing and cataloguing the weeds on his and his clients' farms, and over this time, by also observing the soil types, conditions, and nutrient levels of the countless fields he's worked with, Jay has come up with, well, sort of a grand unifying theory of weeds, and what they're telling us about our soil. Jay has written a few versions of his book on the topic, but the only one currently availble for sale is called, simply, When Weeds Talk. I spoke with Jay in November of 2015. This is our conversation

I recently read The Dorito Effect. It's one of the best I've read in the ag/food politics genre. It's about what happened when food scientists figured out how to manufacture thousands of flavours at the same time that the flavour and nutrition of real food began a steep decline. It turns out that the flavour and nutrition of food are intimately linked, and that when we figured out how to divorce the two, the consequences were, and continue to be, pretty negative. In this episode I interview the author of The Dorito Effect, Mark Shatzker. It's a good one.

This episode features submissions that came in from listeners after I asked you all what you do in Winter to make ends meet, if not farming. Your answers? Snow removal. Substitute teacher or para-teacher. Organic inspector. Animal technologist. Plus more! With thanks to Scott Humphries, who came up with the idea for this episode, I'm pretty sure.

This episode of the podcast features an interview with Arlene Throness, the coordinator of a rooftop farm operated by a Ryerson University Gardening club called Rye's Homegrown, out of Ryerson University in Toronto. The interview was recorded and edited by Ruminant Podcast collaborator Scott Humphries. You need to see photos of this farm to believe it. This is no indoor hydroponic setup or series of pots and garden boxes. It's literally a quarter acre market garden on a roof. Arlene talks about the farm's history, as well as the challenges of growing CSA crops way, way up in the sky.

A brief summary of this episode

At Blue Fruit Farm in Minnesota, Jim Riddle and Joyce Ford grow a range of perrenial tree fruit and berries of the blue and nearly-blue kind. In our conversation, Jim Riddle talks about why he and Joyce switched to perennial crops from annual market veggies, considerations for establishing a farm like his, and how he and Joyce have approached their marketing. You can find out more at bluefruitfarm.com. More info about Jim's production practices can be found in the expanded show notes for this episode at http://theruminant.ca

This episode: Part 1 of 2 of my conversation with Dan Brisebois, editor of the seed production blog Going to Seed and co-author of Crop Planning for Organic Vegetable Growers. In this part, Dan talks about the basics of vegetable seed production and suggests how to begin incorporating it into a small scale farm business. In part two, Dan discusses marketing strategies once you're ready to sell your seed.

This episode I have a really helpful conversation with WSU Veggie Extension Specialist Carol Miles about grafting tomatoes, eggplants, and other veggies. We cover definitions, the reasons for doing it, and a few techniques. Thanks to Carol for making the time, and for providing links to her very useful publications on the subject, which you'll find if you scroll down on the page the link sends you to.

This episode, I'm joined by farmer and writer Forrest Pritchard, whose September 22, 2015 column in the Huffington Post suggests that the battle to prevent the widespread use and human consumption of GMOs was lost a long time ago, and that GMO opponents' energy could be better put to focusing on the negative effects of, for example, the massive amounts of glyphosates used in conjunction with GMOs, and the scorched-earth effect they have had on our ecosystems. Pritchard's latest book is called Growing Tomorrow: Behind the Scenes with 18 Extraordinary Sustainable Farmers Who Are Changing the Way We Eat.

Go Jays!

This episode features two segments on hard-won insights from farmers. My first conversation is with Delaney Zayac of Ice Cap Organics. His intensive growing practices and short season make it hard to maintain sufficient organic matter in his soil. His new approach? Delaney bought a tractor attachment that chops and spreads straw onto his beds and/or pathways. The resulting mulch is good for weed suppression, moisture retention, and. ultimately, for adding organic matter to the soil. Conversation two is with Andrea Gunner of Rosebank Farms. Government-imposed production limits made it hard for Andrea to exploit economies of scale in her pastured poultry operation. More independant producers in her region could potentially team up to exploit economies of scale together through cooperation, so Andrea began mentoring new farmers near her farm and then cooperating with them on bulk feed purchases and slaughter.

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 Farm, who talked about his own success with this model on episode 20 of the podcast. Also: I asked for some good ideas that you implemented on your farms this past season, and, well, one of you responded. Dan Brisebois of Ferme Tourne-Sol tells us about all the labour he saved this year by mulching his garden pathways with landscape fabric, and how you can do it, too.

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 The Ruminant in the episode notes. Scott farms at Bent Plow Farm. After that, in another installment of Ruminant Do's and Don'ts, I tell you why you shouldn't use a forced air heater to heat your greenhouse in the Winter.

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 engineering. Linda explains why many organic and conventional orchardists are opposed to the Arctic Apple. We also discuss the organic industry's opposition to genetically engineered crops in general.

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 mob grazing. You can find out more about Meg's farming, speaking, writing, and consulting work at her website.

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 benefits he has enjoyed under this model, chief among them being a great work-life balance. Dan blogs about seed production here. The book he co-wrote on crop planning, a great one, is here.

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 return of organic matter to the soil with a practice called remineralization, which involves assessing the mineral content of your soil and then adding the right mix of amendments to ensure they are in proper balance (Steve's contention: few soils are). Along the way, Steve provides an excellent beginner's entry into soil science, and challenges some of the organic movement's tightly held assumptions about sustainable crop production. This is part 2 of our conversation. In this segment we focus on the assertions Steve makes in his book regarding healthy vegetables, how to achieve a nutrient-balanced soil, and why organic gardeners should be open to the idea of using certain synthetic fertilizers.

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 Bernie started, can be found on Facebook. In this episode, we talk about the Vacuum Seeder Bernie built, as well as Farmers for Liberty.

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 questions directly. Find out more here.

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 varieties kind of suck if you're interested in nutrition and taste, and why a rediscovery of older varieties of wheat could be so good for food security. Monica also provides some advice on getting started with producing wheat and other grains on your farm or in the garden. She says it's easy to do, and no space is too small. Monica also co-authored a book on this subject, with her husband Gene. It's called What's With Fiber? I was inspired to contact Monica after reading this article about her at a cool site called Lucky Peach.

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 peril, in fact. Improving the soil biome starts with reducing tillage, reducing or eliminating the addition of soil amendments, and making great compost, and then, if necessary, applying compost teas and extracts to fine tune microbe populations. I've broken our conversation into two parts, which will be released concurrently. In this one, we talk about compost extracts and teas, and their role in improving soil health.

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 true potential to produce healthy food. We abuse and ignore the soil biome at our peril, in fact. Improving the soil biome starts with reducing tillage, reducing or eliminating the addition of soil amendments, and making great compost, and then, if necessary, applying compost teas and extracts to fine tune microbe populations. I've broken our conversation into two parts, which will be released concurrently.

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 to your farm business. Finally: Jean-Martin Fortier, author of The Market Gardener, talks about how tarping your garden beds is excellent for weed control, and can dramatically reduce the need for tillage and increase your soil's microbiome. He also talks about a project so new that its website, growersandco.com, won't be up for another couple of days.