The Urban Farm Podcast with Greg Peterson

Checking for the presence of pesticide in our food.In This Podcast:A youth spent on an organic sheep farm, and early adulthood spent traveling as a journalist led Henry Rowlands to the development of Sustainable Pulse – a news source dedicated to informing on sustainable agriculture. He now leads up the Detox Project which helps increase awareness of pesticide exposure in our foods and our bodies, and is spreading the word about a testing process that can determine pesticide levels in foods or bodies.  This is information that can be used to help determine the toxicity of chemicals in use today.Henry was raised on a family-run, organic sheep farm in Wales.  This led to his deep interest in issues related to sustainable agriculture, and he worked for a time as a news agency journalist in many countries across Europe.  He eventually moved on to set up Sustainable Pulse, a global news source focusing on sustainable agriculture and food, with a readership of over 500,000 people per month from over 125 countries.  He is also an adviser on sustainable agriculture to several governments in the European Union.Beyond their news platform, Sustainable Pulse is involved in several reference projects, all of which have the aim of educating the public on the problems surrounding the overuse of pesticides.  Henry is the Project Director for their program called The Detox Project, which has set up a unique pesticide testing platform for food and our bodies across America.Go to https://www.urbanfarm.org/2018/01/09/322-henry-rowlands/ for more information and links on this podcast, and to find our other great guests.

Attuning our minds to social permaculture solutions.In This Podcast:When given the opportunity to make an abandon greenhouse become useful Adam Brock and a few friends created the GrowHaus.  He has traveled many places focusing on the invisible structures of permaculture design and has crafted a course that teaches how to see the needs and make a difference in your community. He tells us how this came about and why he was encouraged to write a book on a topic that is not well known. Adam helps explain many permaculture concepts that are important but often left undeveloped when discussing the stages of design.    Adam is a facilitator, author, and designer working at the intersection of urban agriculture, sustainable business, and social change. As co-founder of The GrowHaus, Adam helped transform an abandoned half-acre greenhouse in Colorado's most polluted zip code into an award-winning hub for urban agriculture. The GrowHaus engages thousands of low-income residents per year, grows 1500 heads of lettuce per week, and has a million-dollar annual budget.A certified permaculture designer since 2008, Adam is active in the local and national permaculture communities. In May 2017, Adam released his first book, Change Here Now: Permaculture Strategies for Personal and Community Transformation (North Atlantic Books). It is a “recipe book” of solutions for social change grounded in ecological principles.Go to https://www.urbanfarm.org/2018/01/06/321-adam-brock/ for more information and links on this podcast, and to find our other great guests.

Documenting the histories of seeds in Baker Creek Catalogs.In This Podcast: Traveling the world to get the unique seeds and document their stories – a dream job for a writer and gardener like Shannon McCabe.  She tells us a little more about how she got started working for Baker Creek Seeds and some of the perks of working for a visionary like Jere Gettle. She also shares about the upcoming Seed Expo in California in the Fall and the donation program for non-profits and school programs.Shannon is a writer who found her passion melded beautifully with farming and growing heirloom vegetables when she landed the perfect job as the farm manager and catalog writer at Baker Creek Heirloom Seed Company.  She has traveled the world as a seed explorer for Baker Creek, from cycling the tulip fields in Netherlands in search of rare bulbs, to the remote jungle markets of the Peruvian Amazon in search of rare fruit.Shannon co-writes the award winning Whole Seed Catalog, and dreamt up the Baker Creek children’s gardening book. She has enjoyed bringing the arcane heirloom vegetables of our past back to the foreground of the gardening discussion.Shannon strives to make growing heirloom varieties approachable to every gardener, from the children who read her kids books, to the large scale organic farmer reading her variety descriptions in the catalog.Go to https://www.urbanfarm.org/2018/01/02/320-shannon-mccabe/ for more information and links on this podcast, and to find our other great guests.

Translating fowl language for urban farmers.In This Podcast:After moving all the way across the country, Melissa Caughey shares why she added chickens to her family.  She tells about how, with her science and teaching background, she eventually started teaching people about chickens. Always learning, she discovered there is a fowl language that could be understood and started teaching others how to Speak Chicken. She coaches Greg through a few key calls that, once translated, will be obvious to anyone who keeps chickens.Melissa is the author of How to Speak Chicken and A Kid’s Guide to Keeping Chickens published by our friends at Storey Publishing. She is a backyard chicken keeper, beekeeper, and gardener who writes the award-winning blog Tilly’s Nest. She writes for HGTV, DIY Network, and the magazines Grit, Chickens, Community Chickens, and Country Living. She also gives presentations on chicken keeping at events across the country. She lives on Cape Cod, Massachusetts.Go to https://www.urbanfarm.org/2017/12/30/319-melissa-caughey/ for more information and links on this podcast, and to find our other great guests.

Recognizing the connections between insects and plant life.In This Podcast:Several years into running a landscaping company, a few key employees opened Jessica Walliser's eyes to the importance of avoiding pesticides. Taking the time to educate herself, she converted to a whole new mindset and is now an avid teacher about natural pest control. She tells us about the predator-prey cycle and why we need to stay out of the process as much as possible, and shares a few tips on how to help the population of beneficial bugs grow in your space. We hear descriptions of several types of insects and bugs that are part of healthy ecosystems in gardens and farms.Jessica earned her degree in Horticulturist from Penn State University and co-hosts “The Organic Gardeners”, an award-winning program on KDKA Radio in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and serves on the Editorial Advisory Board of The American Horticultural Society. She is a regular contributor to Fine Gardening, Urban Farm, and Hobby Farms magazines, and her two weekly gardening columns for the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review have been enjoyed by readers for over ten years. Jessica also blogs weekly for both SavvyGardening.com and HobbyFarms.com.She is also the author of several gardening books including the Amazon best-seller Good Bug, Bad Bug: Who’s Who, What They Do, and How to Manage Them Organically (St Lins Press), and Attracting Beneficial Bugs to the Garden: A Natural Approach to Pest Control (Timber Press), which was awarded the American Horticultural Society's 2014 Book Award.Go to https://www.urbanfarm.org/2017/12/26/318-jessica-walliser/ for more information and links on this podcast, and to find our other great guests.

Breaking down some factors in the science of studying soil.In This Podcast: It was not her first thought when she went college, but after an inspiring study abroad trip, Mary found her passion in the science of studying soil. She tells us how this life path change occurred, and how she not only found a topic she could literally dig into, but also a society that she would enjoy and now represents through her blog articles.  She also tells us more about the factors involved in the formation of soil and how to keep it healthy in our raised bed gardens.Mary is a soil scientist and Agro-ecology PhD student at Florida International University in Miami. Originally from Iowa, she received her B.S. and M.S. degrees in Environmental Science and Agronomy at Iowa State University. Her master’s research was on ants and the ways they influence prairie soil formation.Her passion for soils has taken her across the globe, from the Alaskan to, tropical rainforests –and many places in between - all in hopes to better understand soil functioning in different ecosystems. When not chipping away at her dissertation, Mary is a volunteer blogger for Soils Matter, a blog run by the Soil Science Society of America which is working to share soils information with broad audiences.Go to https://www.urbanfarm.org/2017/12/23/317-mary-tiedeman/ for more information and links on this podcast, and to find our other great guests.

Stacking beekeeping businesses with alternative energy for everyone's benefit.In This Podcast: Chiara and Travis Bolton are not just any regular beekeepers, they are also changemakers in that they have devised an innovative way to help several aspects of their local community in environmentally friendly and the area of sustainable energy.  They realized they could stack the functions of beekeeping with the land intensive areas of solar panels for mutual benefit and provide a product that was healthy, local, and in demand.  Then they decided to expand this concept to help others do the same thing and have set up a business just to help in this process.Chiara and Travis are beekeepers in Minnesota.  In their business, Bolton Bees they sell Minnesota-Hardy bees adapted to survive Minnesota's harsh northern climate and distinct location specific honey.They have been featured in National Geographic, Martha Stewart, Smithsonian Magazine, and Modern Farmer for their innovative partnerships with solar developers.  They formed a public benefit corporation called “The Solar Honey Company” and have trademarked the term. They are a mission-based company promoting the stacking of multiple benefits to farmland including clean solar energy, pollinator-friendly habitat, and local beekeeping. Go to https://www.urbanfarm.org/2017/12/19/316-chiara-and-travis-bolton/ for more information and links on this podcast, and to find our other great guests.

Embracing simplicity and starting a new life.In This Podcast: After spending some time completing an earthen building project and maintaining two mortgages and many of the standard life trappings, Leanne Phillips realized this was not the lifestyle she was looking for and decided to simplify.  She moved to a remote property off a 10-mile dirt road and started over without the infrastructure many people take for granted.  She tells how she got solar power set up, established a new well, and even planted 100 new fruit trees before those were done.  Her experiences are fortifying her classes that she teaches and her story telling helps to make it all really interesting!Leanne, creator of Wisdom ooh Zivaat, is an organic lifestyle and holistic health Educator, and an inspired advocate for creating clean, deeply nourishing foods.  She extends this into a full organic lifestyle and teaches classes in Living foods, Gardening, Essential oils and more. Wisdom ooh Zivaat is an off grid 34-acre Food forest/Full spectrum natural living demonstration that was born in January of 2017. Leanne feels that humanity is in an unnecessary place of stress and decay and that we are being called to embrace that aspect of ourselves that is simplicity and wisdom.Go to https://www.urbanfarm.org/2017/12/16/315-leanne-phillips/ for more information and links on this podcast, and to find our other great guests.

Finding amazing seeds and becoming a seed storyteller.In This Podcast: Her young life was spent on a small island near a 300-year-old farm, with a family that loved to share history through storytelling.  Then Shannon McCabe got a chance to work for Baker Creek Seeds and now she documents the stories of seeds from around the world. She explains just what an heirloom seed is, and why they are special. She also shares a couple seed stories, including one for garden berries in Peru, and another about an ancient, crooknecked watermelon from a cave in Arizona.  We cannot spoil this, you must listen for yourself!Shannon is a writer, seed explorer and horticulturist for Baker Creek Heirloom Seed Company. After earning a degree in Environmental Horticulture from the University of Rhode Island, she worked on mixed-vegetable farms and a fruit orchard before starting her own small-scale farm on historic farmland.She combined her life-long love of writing with her passion for farming when she began working as the farm manager and catalog writer for Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds.  Through co-writing the award winning Whole Seed Catalog, hosting instructional videos and dreaming up the Baker Creek children’s gardening book, she has enjoyed bringing the arcane heirloom vegetables of our past back to the foreground of the gardening discussion.Go to https://www.urbanfarm.org/2017/12/12/314-shannon-mccabe/ for more information and links on this podcast, and to find our other great guests.

Seeking natural solutions for food waste recycling.In This Podcast: It was his grandmother’s principles about not wasting food or resources in rural Georgia that influenced Dr. Jeff Tomberlin’s philosophies on his life. He found his calling in college and has dedicated much of his energies to teaching others about nature’s extremely effective recycling tool – the Black Soldier Fly. Growing and harvesting this insect is actually quite easy once you know the steps, and he wants everyone to do it at home. He tells why this insect could prove to be a solution to not just dealing with food waste, but providing a source of food for both chickens and fish, closing a loop in the food-waste cycle.Dr. Tomberlin has been working with the black soldier flies for almost 20 years. His PhD research with Dr. Craig Sheppard resulted in methods for mass-producing the black soldier fly for use in recycling food or animal waste and the subsequent use of the larvae as feed for livestock, poultry, aquaculture, and reptiles. Companies around the world use these methods to protect the environment, create jobs, and increase protein availability.Dr. Tomberlin is currently the Director of EVO Conversion Systems, which has a primary mission of building food and waste management facilities that utilize the black soldier fly.Go to https://www.urbanfarm.org/2017/12/09/313-jeff-tomberlin/ for more information and links on this podcast, and to find our other great guests.

Getting to know more about the popular culinary fungi.In This Podcast: His space was limited and he wanted to start a small food growing business, then Kevin Fitzgerald found his perfect match in growing mushrooms and selling them at the farmers market.  He talks with us today about the mycelium that is a favorite of many foodies, and has such potential to nourish while also helping the environment. He has even started selling mushroom kits that can help the home grower start off on their own mushroom adventure.After spending years in communications contracting and feeling unfulfilled Kevin decided to start farming and settled on mushrooms as something that fit his interests and could be profitable on small scale. Starting on a hobby scale he has grown from mini green house and small humidifier to full size room fully climate controlled. He grows mushrooms for both culinary and medicinal uses.Go to https://www.urbanfarm.org/2017/12/05/312-kevin-fitzgerald/ for more information and links on this podcast, and to find our other great guests.

Bringing exotic flavor to local food systems.In This Podcast: Starting off at age 18, Joshua Burman Thayer was headed in the direction of working with plants and nature. He took his time before getting his permaculture certificate, but he packed a lot of learning and hands-on experience in during that period. Now, he is sharing that training, knowledge, and passion as he builds food forests, educates his clients, and writing articles about permaculture and food forest design.  Joshua has a degree in Community Engineering from Humboldt State University. He proudly admits he has always had his hands in the Earth, especially through his extensive travels throughout the Americas working with communities around plants and food.  He worked as a WWOOF volunteer on organic farms throughout Latin America, and as a laborer on organic CSA farms in California. He gained even more experience while apprenticing and working in ecological landscape design, as well as doing native plant field research with renowned mentors.Joshua has become a lead designer and advocate for uniting ecology with aesthetic, creating beautiful, productive, natural systems that work with nature to foster bounty.Go to https://www.urbanfarm.org/2017/12/02/311-joshua-burmanthayer/ for more information and links on this podcast, and to find our other great guests.

Chatting with a Sustainable Farming giant.In This Podcast: Having three generations of regenerative and sustainable farmers to learn from, Joel Salatin was very immersed in the philosophies of farming that rejected the use of chemicals.  Their efforts over the years on the virtually barren land his father purchased in the early 60’s has resulted in a vibrant, and productive farm that Joel now runs. He shares several key lessons he learned about farming and soil generation, and throws out some gems worth quoting!Joel and his family own Polyface Farm in Virginia's Shenandoah Valley. Featured in the iconic foodie book Omnivore's Dilemma and award-winning film FOOD INC., the farm's moniker is "healing the land one bite at a time." A prolific author (12 books to date) and speaker, he promotes local food systems, freedom of food choice, and farming systems that build the commons.Go to https://www.urbanfarm.org/2017/11/28/310-joel-salatin/ for more information and links on this podcast, and to find our other great guests.

Getting ready to raise chickens from eggs with your kids.In This Podcast:Raising chickens for eggs has been a joy of Fresh Eggs Daily author Lisa Steele’s for quite some time, so it was natural for her to write a book about raising chickens from eggs too.  She tells us how she decided to write a book for kids and why it is so special.  She also shares some tips and techniques for making the transition to raising the chicks from eggs and how to introduce new chicks to your flock.Lisa is a 5th-generation chicken keeper, top-selling author and the creative mind behind the Better Homes & Gardens award-winning blog Fresh Eggs Daily® (www.fresheggsdaily.com). Lisa inspires both the newcomer as well as the seasoned chicken keeper and engages fans worldwide on her Facebook page of the same name with her easy, fun and accessible approach to raising backyard flocks naturally. She is the author of several books and has a new one for kids coming out 1st Quarter 2018 called Let’s Hatch Chicks by Voyager Press.Go to https://www.urbanfarm.org/2017/11/25/309-lisa-steele/ for more information and links on this podcast, and to find our other great guests.

Recognizing the seasonal commonalities in different areas.In This Podcast: It was the timing of it all that needed to be addressed, so author and farmer Ann Larkin Hansen realized she needed to write a book about how to recognize the right time to do things on the farm no matter where you lived. She took the time to identify the seasons in ways that would make sense in every area because it compiled the common factors that affected when to plant which type of crops. Her interest in writing and farming also helped with a few other books that she wrote and she shares a few more useful tips. Go to urbanfarm.org/annlarkinhansenAnn is a homesteader and small-scale organic farmer, as well as a farm journalist specializing in sustainable farming and forestry. After she retired from farm reporting, she authored a number of books. Her latest book The Backyard Homestead Seasonal Planner – what to do and when to do it by Storey Press is in bookstores now.  She lives with her family on a farm in northern Wisconsin.Go to https://www.urbanfarm.org/2017/11/21/308-ann-larkin-hansen/ for more information and links on this podcast, and to find our other great guests.

Tackling local food waste and hunger through team effort.In This Podcast: Retirement does not mean you no longer contribute to your community, in fact retired teacher Steve Knight has taken advantage of his free time to do the make a huge difference for local food charities, and create a new club in his area. When he realized local farms had leftover produce after the harvest, he organized volunteers to go through the fields and orchards to gather the remnants for local food pantries. His volunteers are truly making a difference on two fronts! Steve taught high school science for 40 years and then retired. He spent the past few summers teaching chemistry for Upward Bound at the University of Maine at Farmington.  But what he is excited about is after he retired, he started a volunteer organization called Central Maine Gleaners Group. In the first 3 years, Steve and 15 volunteers have gleaned over 21,000 pounds of food from 7 local farms and back yards and he then gives this food to various food pantries in his area. Go to https://www.urbanfarm.org/2017/11/18/307-steve-knight/ for more information and links on this podcast, and to find our other great guests.

Harvesting sustainable and nourishing foods found growing in the wild.In This Podcast: Taking the skills handed down for generations, Mark Lewis is very comfortable eating foods he finds in the wild. He teaches about these foods and their history to the next generation as well as to the people he meets while working at local farmers markets.  He is also starting a private farm hoping to save and expand on some of the wild plants that were once a primary source of food for local cultures.Mark is a Wildcrafter extraordinaire. Wildcraft harvesting provides ¾ of his family’s food supply on a daily basis, additionally Mark demonstrates sustainable foraging of 200 indigenous plants and 50 mushrooms at Phoenix area farmers markets, universities, schools, and regional conferences.Mark is now embarking on a new endeavor The Farm – growing 100 of the plants that he wildcrafts, introducing them and their culinary potential to area chefs, and sharing them and a library of First Nations’ language ethnobotanical materials with the native American Communities.Go to https://www.urbanfarm.org/2017/11/14/306-mark-lewis/ for more information and links on this podcast, and to find our other great guests.

Finding healing in gardening and peace in helping others grow healthy foods.In This Podcast: Uprooted as a very young child with her widowed mother from a familiar routine to a chaotic new and foreign world across an ocean, Lee Stewart eventually found healing and health through her gardening hobbies.  It made sense that she eventually focused on a career of health and wellness, and it was even more natural for her to find ways to help others start gardening at home so they can find the same healing she did.Lee, the owner of Veg Up Get Dirty was only 4 years old when she made the 2-year journey from Vietnam to the United States. She has been gardening since she came to the US, and believes in the health benefits that come from clean eating.She is a certified personal trainer, corporate wellness coach, and has over 15 years’ experience in nutrition and the health and wellness fields. She knows the importance of gardening, clean eating, and is passionate about educating others about the many health benefits of gardening. Go to https://www.urbanfarm.org/2017/11/11/305-lee-stewart/ for more information and links on this podcast, and to find our other great guests.

Recognizing the feminine nature within all and how this benefits farming.In This Podcast: Seeking out the things that felt the most important and right to her sent Karen Lanier on a journey through several states and quite a few learning adventures. Earning a degree in Environmental Documentation kept her circling around natural surroundings and she found herself with the opportunity to interview women farmers about their experiences and insights. Her reflections and awareness that are worthwhile to any farmer regardless of gender is shared in her new book The Woman Hobby Farmer.Karen is a naturalist, documentarian, teacher, artist, and gardener who explores the interconnections of nature and culture. She holds degrees in photography, foreign language, conservation studies, and documentary studies as well as a professional environmental educator certificate. She worked as a seasonal park ranger in state and national parks across the US before settling in Kentucky and her Americore volunteer experience with Seedleaf, a community gardening nonprofit. This experience helped her shift her migratory perspective on life toward putting down roots.Karen writes a regular column for Hobby Farms online magazine. She edited and co-authored the book, Wildlife in Your Garden (Lumina, 2016), and authored the book, The Woman Hobby Farmer (Fox Chapel, 2017).Go to https://www.urbanfarm.org/2017/11/07/304-karen-lanier/ for more information and links on this podcast, and to find our other great guests.

Learning about how food gets to our tables and where it comes from.In This Podcast:Serendipity was in play when Greg waived a stranger to his table during a conference and met another farming related podcaster named Rodger Wasson.  Rodger has spent the last several decades gaining experience and contacts in a variety of farming areas, from the fields to the markets, the advertising offices to policy making ones, and many versions of radio and television as well.  The theme in his life appears to be him making a difference in this community of growing food.Rodger is a graduate of Illinois State University and a food and agriculture veteran. He comes from a family with five generations of American farming in their blood. And although he was the first to leave their Central Illinois grain and livestock farm, he’s continually works for and with farmers though-out America and around the world. He has managed State, National and International Councils and Boards for agricultural industries covering over a dozen commodities.Rodger is presently building a consulting firm Idea Farming Inc., and his ‘Farm to Table Talk’ podcasts have been created for anyone interested in their individual journey within the food movement, the modern food system, and the stories behind our every bite.Go to https://www.urbanfarm.org/2017/11/04/303-rodger-wasson/ for show notes and links.

Tailoring a green build project to address food insecurity, nutrition, and other community needs.In This Podcast: Diana Cuy-Castellanos and Stephen Mackell share the story of Lincoln Hill Garden, a 5-acre community green space that was built on the site of a demolished public school. This property is serving the community with gardens, an urban farm, and a natural playground.  They share the background of how three organizations came together and listened to the community to build a project to fit the community as well as provide much needed assistance with healthy local produce.Diana holds a Ph.D in nutrition and food systems and is a registered dietitian teaching courses in community nutrition and food justice at the University of Dayton. Her research interests include community-based participatory research, food insecurity and food environments.Stephen started volunteering for Mission of Mary Cooperative as an undergraduate at the University of Dayton and joined the staff full-time as the production and operations manager after completing his bachelor's degree in economics and philosophy. He is also the founder of Compost Dayton, a company working to expand food scrap composting efforts by city of Dayton residents.Together they have been working on Lincoln Hill Garden, a sustainable, multipurpose urban agriculture and community green space within Dayton’s Twin Towers Neighborhood. This five-acre site, located among the residents it will serve, is being transformed with educational and recreational elements that increase neighborhood access to fresh, healthy foods and offers open green space for community gatherings and nature play.Go to https://www.urbanfarm.org/2017/10/31/302-lincoln-hill-garden/ for more information and links on this podcast, and to find our other great guests.

A chat with a farmer about her transition from the city girl. In This Bonus Podcast: Returning guest Scottie Jones is back to talk about her new book and making a transition back to the simple life.  She shares a bit about how the inspiration came to write the story of this adventure to start farming.  She also tells why she opened her farm up to vacationers looking for a taste of the country life, and how that has helped her farm.  And, we get an excerpt reading from her new book!Scottie lived in Arizona for a while where she worked at Arizona State University for over a decade.  Then she and her husband gave up the busy urban life by moving to Oregon, starting Leaping Lamb Farm and becoming sheep farmers. She loved this lifestyle very much and has opened her home to visiting families through her other passion of Farm Stays.  This journey and the transition to a farming lifestyle became the basis for her new book Country Grit, A Farmoir of Finding Purpose and Love through Skyhorse Publishing. It describes their first years on the farm: the mistakes, the drama, the community, and what it’s like to adopt the farming lifestyle if that’s not where you’re from.Go to https://www.urbanfarm.org/2017/10/24/bonus-8/ for more show notes and links on this bonus podcast, and to find our other great guests.

Digging into the invisible structure behind The Urban Farm.In This Podcast:  Running any successful business or project requires some good help behind the scenes.  This is true for The Urban Farm as well, and Janis Norton is one of the people who help Greg Peterson manage his dreams to change the local food system, create 10,000 seed banks in the local area, plant 100,000 fruit trees, and empower others to grow their own food.  She shares about the surprise of finding her place in this non-stem field, the rewarding role of helping her community build its resilience, and opens up about some challenges of starting her own urban farm.Janis earned her degree in Sustainability from Arizona State University. Her previous experience in working classrooms, running youth programs, and Boy Scout Council Training and Camp leadership were all community and education focused.  However, she did not realize how much she could do with the local food system until her Sustainable Food and Farms class. A class she took as a lark, since she had no interest in growing food. Soon after that class she became motivated to learn all she could about gardening and urban farming while using her organization and project management skills to help facilitate a couple of the Urban Farm’s larger events.From that point on, she has been an active part of the Urban Farm core team as the Program Manager as well as the Podcast Producer.  She is bringing her enthusiasm and cheerful attitude to her projects at the Farm especially the Urban Farm Nursery’s Fruit Tree Program and the Urban Farm Podcast, as well as partner projects like the Great American Seed-Up and the Permaculture Design Course in Phoenix.Go to https://www.urbanfarm.org/2017/10/21/300-janis-norton/for more information and links on this podcast, and to find our other great guests.

Identifying the nutrients that your body needs.In This Podcast: A pre-med organic chemistry class showed Joy Stephenson-Laws that she was not on the right path. She did not waste that pre-med education as she now fights for patients’ rights as a health care attorney. She also tells us why she started the non-profit health information company Proactive Health Labs to help people understand what is happening in their bodies with their nutrition.  An often-overlooked aspect of nutrition is the minerals in the foods and she explains why this is an important part of getting and staying healthy.In both her personal and professional life, Joy is dedicated to enhancing consumer health and positively impacting the health care industry in the United States.  She is the founding and managing partner of Stephenson, Acquisto & Colman, the health care industry’s premier litigation law firm.  She is also the founder of Proactive Health Labs (www.phlabs.org), a national non-profit health information company that provides education and tools needed to achieve optimal health. Joy just published her first book Minerals - The Forgotten Nutrient: Your Secret Weapon for Getting and Staying Healthy.  Her passion for motivating people to proactively protect their health comes from her personal experience of losing loved ones, colleagues and friends to diseases which, had they been diagnosed early enough and treated more effectively, could either have been controlled or cured. Go to https://www.urbanfarm.org/2017/10/17/299-joy-stephenson-laws/ for more information and links on this podcast, and to find our other great

Keeping backyard chickens healthy through simple steps.In This Podcast: Sometimes helping a neighbor out can truly change your life in ways you never expected. Kathy Shea-Mormino changed her path from attorney to now running a successful business sharing advice through her Facebook page and blog about raising chickens. She says keeping backyard chickens should not be over-complicated and shares her simple steps to keeping the hens happy and healthy.Known as The Chicken Chick, Kathy brings an informative style and fresh perspective on raising backyard chickens to millions of fans around the world. An attorney by profession, Kathy is the founder and one-woman creative force behind her wildly popular and award-winning Facebook page and blog, The-Chicken-Chick.com.Her practical approach and sense of humor allows her to connect, educate and share an appreciation for keeping chickens as family pets as well as for their eggs. With a following of over 700,000 Facebook fans, she has become the person folks interested in keeping chickens, go to for information, advice and fun!  She is also the author of the bestselling book The Chicken Chicks Guide to Backyard Chickens, Simple steps for healthy Happy Hens by Voyager Press.Go to https://www.urbanfarm.org/2017/10/14/298-kathy-shea-mormino/ for more information and links on this podcast, and to find our other great guests.

Enriching the community, becoming the next generation of hope.In This Podcast: We meet the well-spoken farm manager Casey Holland who explains why she cares so much about her community and providing healthy food to her customers.  She also introduces us to the National Young Farmers Coalition and tells us what they have been doing in her area.  She has gained a lot of wisdom in a short amount of time as a farmer, and her vision and drive gives us a lot of hope for the future.Casey is a native New Mexican and young farmer committed to affecting positive social change around small-scale sustainable agriculture in the Rio Grande Valley. She graduated in 2012 from the University of New Mexico with dual degrees in Psychology / Peace Studies, and Sociology. As a requirement for her minor she did an internship with the SouthWest Organizing Project's: Project Feed the Hood. There, she found her calling when she realized the importance of the way in which our food is produced in addressing many of the issues we face locally, nationally, and globally.In 2015, she started organizing with the local chapter of the National Young Farmers Coalition, which provided her numerous opportunities to speak with government officials and learn about policies that impact her community. Since then she strives to make access to nutritious, enriching food more affordable for underprivileged families and helping her community reconnect to its agricultural roots & culture.Go to https://www.urbanfarm.org/2017/10/10/297-casey-holland/ for more information and links on this podcast, and to find our other great guests.

Growing quality grapes and wines in the Grand Canyon State.In This Podcast: At a point in their lives where they were ready for something new, Peggy Fiandaca and her husband decided to take their interest in wines to the next level.  They decided to become vintners to make high quality wine and got serious about it.  Now they have a 40 acres winery and a wine tasting gallery.  She explains some of the wine growing history for the state and even some of the processes that vintners use to make wines. Like everything they do, they do it with style!After a slight detour through urban planning, Peggy found her true calling in growing and producing wines.  With her Italian family heritage and a grandfather that produced alcohols during prohibition, this path was in her ‘vines’ so-to-speak.She and her husband Curt Dunham own a vineyard in south eastern Arizona and the LDV Wine Gallery in Scottsdale, Arizona.  Here she enjoys watching someone taste wine and identify the flavor characteristics for the first time, or examine a vine closely with a new appreciation for its role in producing that wine.  Peggy has served two terms as the President of the Arizona Wine Growers Association, which represents wineries and vineyards statewide, and she cares deeply about all the vineyards in the state.Go to https://www.urbanfarm.org/2017/10/07/296-peggy-fianadaca/ for show notes and links on this podcast, and to find our other great guests.

Bringing healthy food and education to urban tables through community engagement.In This Podcast: Creating a successful community health hub is no small feat, and Emily Mickley-Doyle has been part of doing just that in her part of New Orleans using an empty grocery store building, a desire to teach others how to grow food, and some fabulous ideas. The space now has several programs including a community garden, a teaching kitchen for doctors, a farmers market, and programs for the community youth to learn gardening and cooking skills. SPROUT NOLA is amazing, inspiring, and basically EPIC!Emily earned her degree in Sociology from Loyola University New Orleans in 2008. In 2011, she cofounded SPROUT NOLA, an urban farming organization that spreads the love of growing fresh, healthy food through community engagement and outreach, partnerships with local food vendors and food justice organizations, hands-on training programs, and advocacy. SPROUT NOLA grows market gardens throughout New Orleans, publicly advocates for sustainable agriculture, and coordinates the ReFresh Community Farm and market, a teaching garden that is located at the ReFresh Project. The garden offers educational resources to community members about home gardening and facilitates an on-site community garden where neighbors can grow and harvest food for themselves.  Go to https://www.urbanfarm.org/2017/10/03/295-emily-mickley-doyle/ for more information and links on this podcast, and to find our other great guests.

Running a machinery-free farm with nature inspired principles and techniques.In This Podcast: As one of two new millennial farmers, Lyndsay Jacobs and her business partner Lauren are working their farm using their own labor rather than rely on technology. With the exception of removing some sod in the early days, they are growing and harvesting the crops on their small farm without the use of any typical industrial machines.  As they bring their vegetables to market they know they are doing the right thing by all the positive feedback they are getting from their customers!Lyndsay is a graduate of the Zenger Farm Internship Program where she learned how to address food justice issues, develop efficiency and endurance in farming methods, and best chicken husbandry practices. She earned her degree in Graphic Design & Interior Architecture from James Madison University and is using that on marketing, branding, craftsmen experience, and design expertise for farm infrastructure. She received her Permaculture Design Certificate in Portland.Lindsay and her business partner Lauren (who was our guest on episode 293) run Sprout and Blossom Farm in Vancouver, WA combining their social and environmental justice passions, with permaculture and sustainability inspired practices for animal, plant, and human systems on the farm.Go to https://www.urbanfarm.org/2017/09/30/294-lyndsay-jacobs/ for more information and links on this podcast, and to find our other great guests.

Starting a successful herb and vegetable farm business with a friend.In This Podcast: A taste of permaculture and agriculture in college was enough to help Lauren Krug go across the continent and try WWOOFing. That experience and some Americorp work gave her the connections to find an amazing new friend and like-minded future farming partner. So, when the opportunity happened to start a farm business on some property owned by a supportive couple, the two friends jumped. Now she and Lyndsay run an herb and vegetable farm and are making a difference in their community.Lauren earned her degree in Community Entrepreneurship from the University of Vermont. Shortly after graduation, she headed west to work on a small veggie farm. After two seasons on this farm, Lauren joined the team at the Clark County Food Bank where she served as their Americorps VISTA Local Produce Coordinator. There, she coordinated the Farming & Gleaning program delivering fresh, locally-grown produce to those in need.Lauren and her business partner Lindsay (who will be our guest on episode 294) run Sprout and Blossom Farm in Vancouver, WA combining their social and environmental justice passions, with permaculture and sustainability inspired practices for animal, plant, and human systems on the farm.Go to https://www.urbanfarm.org/2017/09/28/293-lauren-krug/ for show notes and links on this podcast, and to find our other great guests.

Appreciating the relationship between plant roots and the life in the soil.In This Podcast: We meet Jake Mowrer and understand what brought him to his studies on soil and the relationships between crop roots and the complex community of life in the world beneath us.  This often-invisible world is so essential to the foods that we eat, and the interaction between the subterranean portion of crops and the microbial lifeforms there are easily overlooked. We learn more about what is happening between these elements and why this is crucial to our semi-finite resource of soil.   Jake was raised on a farm in north Georgia where his family produced broiler chickens and beef cattle.  Growing up, the work was often hard, but the food was always good.  Life on the farm is a good way to gain an appreciation for the connectivity of food production in our daily lives. Jake now works with farmers in Texas as a Texas A&M faculty member in the Soil and Crop Science Department, and as an Extension Specialist with Texas A&M AgriLife Extension to communicate the importance of managing soil as a natural resource. His research has become focused on the way that crop roots behave in their soil environment to better understand the best practices for keeping soils continuously functional & productive, both for people and the ecosystems we inhabit.Go to https://www.urbanfarm.org/2017/09/26/292-jake-mowrer/ for show notes and links on this podcast, and to find our other great guests.

            Connecting with nature in gardens and farms to promote hope, joy and healing.In This Podcast:  It was after her cancer treatments and when she was feeling very low, that Jenny Peterson was encouraged to go into her outdoor space.  The hope and healing she found during her recovery was enough that she now guides and encourages others to find their wellness through gardening and connecting with the natural world.  Her experience has been a spring board to helping many others find their hope through the dark times.Jenny is an Austin, Texas-based garden designer with her own firm, J. Peterson Garden Design, as well as a writer, author and speaker. She specializes in designing, writing and speaking about gardens that enhance the quality of life, heal from the inside out, and help to create balance and wellness.She is a breast cancer survivor and the author of “The Cancer Survivor’s Garden Companion: Cultivating Hope, Healing & Joy in the Ground Beneath Your Feet” (St. Lynn’s Press 2016) and co-author of “Indoor Plant Décor: The Design Stylebook for Houseplants” (St. Lynn’s Press 2013).Go to https://www.urbanfarm.org/2017/09/23/291-jenny-peterson/ for show notes and links on this podcast, and to find our other great guests.

Telling the story that helps build business in a local market.In This Podcast: After spending some time in Major League Baseball, Chris Gruler recognized the benefit of a personal story and owning your own branding. He now works with companies big and small to help identify and promote their brands, a process that one of his projects is using to help promote the restaurants in his home town.  This essential of building a marketing strategy is valuable to local food businesses as well.Chris has been in the branding/internet game for close to 12 years, using his strengths in branding, storytelling, website development, and online strategy for growth. He has worked with Fortune 500 companies, professional athletes, and small businesses who are looking to expand or protect their brand online.He started ProtegeBranding.com in 2007 with the intent to assist companies and brands with their online presence. One such project dedicated to restaurants and local dining is ScottsdaleRestaurants.com where they create video reviews of local area restaurants to showcase the positive aspect of each restaurant!  A key piece that they highlight is how each restaurant uses locally grown produce.Chris is all about telling stories and assists his customers in telling the right one for their brand!!Go to https://www.urbanfarm.org/2017/09/21/290-chris-gruler/ for show notes and links on this podcast, and to find our other great guests.

Appreciating America's forgotten fruit.In This Podcast: Amazed upon being introduced to a delicious tropical fruit that grew in temperate areas of the Americas, Andrew Moore delved into some heavy research to learn more about it. He found that this fruit has been growing on the continent for a very long time, has a rich history with both ancient fauna and early human civilizations. He tells us some of what he learned and why it has been forgotten.Andrew grew up in Lake Wales, Florida, just south of the pawpaw’s native range. He is a writer and gardener, and now lives in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.  His first book, Pawpaw, In Search of America's Forgotten Fruit was published through Chelsea Green in 2015 as a hardback and this year in paperback.  It was also nominated for the James Beard Foundation Award.Go to https://www.urbanfarm.org/2017/09/19/289-andrew-moore/ for show notes and links on this podcast, and to find our other great guests.Andrew Moore on The Pawpaw Fruit

Bonus Episode 7: Seed Chat August 2017A chat with an expert on Seeds.In This Bonus Podcast: There is always a bounty of information available in conversations with Bill McDorman.  This is the August 2017 episode with a Seed School Chat Class covering Seed School Teacher Training, a proposed Seed Saving Principles list, disaster planning, breeding program preparation, and so much more.Bill McDorman is Executive Director of Rocky Mountain Seed Alliance, Ketchum, Idaho. He got his start in the bio-regional seed movement while in college in 1979 when he helped start Garden City Seeds. In 1984, Bill started Seeds Trust/High Altitude Gardens, a mail order seed company he ran successfully until it sold in 2013.Go to https://www.urbanfarm.org/2017/09/18/bonus-episode-7/ for show notes and links on this bonus podcast, and to find our other great guests.

Connecting a community to its farmers and local food resources.In This Podcast: The community of farmers that she lived in was rich with interesting people and stories, so Elvira Di’Brigit took the time to get to know them. She shares her story of how she started farming as well as introducing a few interesting farms from her valley. Their cooperative methods of working and providing food for their community are great examples of thinking outside the box.About 17 years ago, Elvira moved her family to Capay Valley, where her passionate interest in sustainable living took hold. While teaching she explored curricula surrounding farming, environmental preservation and nutrition - all in support of sustainable living.She is the editor of CapayValleyGrown.net and the author of Why We Farm. She also serves on the organizing committee for the Hoes Down Harvest Festival, a fund-raiser for the Ecological Farming Association.Elvira holds a BA in international relations from UC Davis, a teaching credential and a Waldorf/Steiner Teaching Certificate. She lives in Rumsey, CA with her husband and 3 children.Go to https://www.urbanfarm.org/2017/09/16/288-elvira-dibrigit/ for show notes and links on this podcast, and to find our other great guests.

Educating and empowering the upcoming generation to be part of their food system.In This Podcast: After spending some time working at a farmers market, volunteering on an educational farm, and as a middle school science teacher, Dani Replogle has found her way to law school.  Now she studies environmental law and food law and has some insight on how millennials are taking part in not just local food, but also food activism.  Her passion comes through with her story and the other information she shares, which gives hope that the next generation is paying attention to where their food comes from and how the environment is being cared for.Dani is a second-year law student at Lewis & Clark in Portland, Oregon. She fell in love with the sustainable food movement while working as an eighth-grade science teacher in Colorado and spending her Saturdays managing a stand at the Boulder Farmers Market.Dani spent the past summer working toward a sustainable food system model at Center for Food Safety, and will continue working for the public interest throughout the coming semester. When not reading textbooks, she spends her time climbing mountains, writing poetry, and playing ultimate frisbee. Go to https://www.urbanfarm.org/2017/09/14/287-dani-replogle/ show notes and links on this podcast, and to find our other great guests.

Breaking down the recipe for good, healthy soil.In This Podcast: The ingredients for healthy soil make up an essential recipe for gardeners and farmers, and is worth describing a few times until the perfect connection is made. Emily Rockey appreciates good soil so much that she earned the nickname "The Dirt Girl" and she loves helping others appreciate compost and soil. She has something important to say to those who think they have a ‘black thumb’!Emily received her degree in Plant Sciences from the University of Arizona.  In the past, she worked at Longwood Gardens in Pennsylvania, Walt Disney World's Epcot Center, and the Tucson Botanical Gardens.  She is currently the Director of Sales and Marketing for the tank's Green Stuff in Tucson, which specializes in "green" landscape debris recycling, construction debris recycling, and more. Emily brings her passion for both plants and recycling to the company’s composting operation. This is where they convert landscape debris into organic compost which is then returned to gardens and green spaces.  They offer an entire line of organic garden and landscape materials which are “Good for People, Plants, and Planet”; and are available under the name ‘Tank’s Green Stuff’. With her nickname ‘The Dirt Girl’, it is not hard to see that Emily loves talking about the importance of compost, microbes, and soil.Go to https://www.urbanfarm.org/2017/09/12/286-emily-rockey/ for more information and links on this podcast, and to find our other great guests.#UrbanFarmPodcast #goodsoil #TanksGreenStuff

An August 2017 Q&A session with two experts on Gardening and Fruit TreesJake Mace the Vegan Athlete and Greg Peterson of The Urban Farm are both gardening educators offering classes, podcasts, and videos on a large variety of gardening topics. Every month they get together for a monthly gardening chat to discuss what is going on in their gardens and answer your questions. This is the August 2017 Q&A episode with a variety of questions addressed from planning for planting, building healthy soil, and much more.Go to https://www.urbanfarm.org/2017/09/11/bonus-episode-6/ for more information and links on this bonus podcast, and to find our other great guests.

Cyfrin Barefoot on Moving from Poverty to Paleo.In This Podcast: She had a feral childhood in the ghetto of Detroit and entered the foster care system at age 7. Later, as a young mother Cyfrin Barefoot wanted good food for her own children and became an organic farmer. Then, she fought for better food options for poor families on WIC and won. And, after a significant and heartbreaking business setback she rebounded to create a health-food business offering delicious foods that even fit paleo diet preferences. Go to www.urbanfarm.org/savortooth for more information   Cyfrin's childhood was rooted in deep poverty in the Detroit ghetto. As an adult, she raised six children and found an avocation of fighting for food justice. She made her living as an organic farmer for seven years, and later founded a non-profit that established and ran a 32-acre organic farm.Spurred by memories of childhood hunger and informed by years of farming, Cyfrin’s creative instincts came together in the creation of the Free Farms project. She obtained a business degree and then created Savor Tooth Paleo, a gluten-free and paleo bakery.  Company profits will be funneled into the acquisition and development of land in impoverished neighborhoods, as well as funding ongoing food production. The fresh organic food produced on these Free Farms will be available to area residents for free.  Go to https://www.urbanfarm.org/2017/09/09/285-cyfrin-barefoot/ for more information and links on this podcast, and to find our other great guests.

Engineering a solution to a real threat affecting honey bees worldwide.In This Podcast: Having spent decades as a problem solver, Lynn Williams was not going to let a devastating influx of a tiny but effective killer mite threaten the existence of his beloved bees. He engineered a new tool for beekeepers is proving itself as a mite killer without damaging the hive, the honey or the bees.  All this and he still has another ace up his sleeve as the profits from this new product will be used to help under-privileged kids go to camp.After a long career on both the engineering and sales sides of industrial supply, Lynn started the hobby of beekeeping to increase the productivity of his family’s gardens.  A decade and a half later, and with many more hives he was frustrated to find the Varroa Destructor Mite had entered the local area. Unwilling to use pesticides, he elected to use his engineering background to find a solution.  2½ years later Lynn has an all-natural organic product that terminates the Varroa Mite without harming the bees.Go to https://www.urbanfarm.org/2017/09/07/284-lynn-williams/ for more information and links on this podcast, and to find our other great guests.

Understanding the living matrix that affects the quality of our food.In This Podcast: Having been drawn to the wonders of soil quality early on, Elizabeth Murphy has studied this living matrix in great detail.  She wants to make soil care an intuitive concept that all growers have. Today she shares some of the basics and with us including the make-up of soil, why cover crops are important and a few important DOs and DON’Ts of creating healthy soil. Elizabeth has a passion for growing food which led her to a master's degree in soil science from University of California, Davis, where she researched soil's organic matter storage and a farmer's ability to improve it. She was a faculty instructor for Oregon State University Extension's Small Farms Program, where she taught and consulted with gardeners and farmers about best management practices to build healthy soils.Since 2006, Elizabeth has owned a half-acre garden in southern Oregon, which she considers her laboratory for experimenting with sustainable soil management and gardening practices for landscapes and vegetables. She is the author of Building Soil: A Down to Earth Approach and currently, she lives in Tacoma, Washington. Go to https://www.urbanfarm.org/2017/09/05/283-elizabeth-murphy/ for more information and links on this podcast, and to find our other great guests.

            Understanding a gentle and helpful creature  essential to our food production.In This Podcast:  It was a simple and unexpected class that ignited Stephanie Elson Bruneau’s passion for beekeeping and many others are benefiting from this as well.  She takes the time to explain some of the key aspects of bees and beekeeping, as well as clear up some common misconceptions about a gentle and helpful creature of the natural world. Her story includes a couple of EPIC moments that hopefully will inspire you to seek out something for your own passion!Stephanie is a beekeeper, herbalist, and artist. She runs The Benevolent Bee, where she spends her time educating all of us about bees. At the Benevolent Bee "Teaching Apiary" Stephanie observes, learns, and teaches about bees and bee behavior to students of all ages.Stephanie also teaches classes about bees and their products at Northeastern University, The Cambridge Center for Adult and Community Education, The Morris Arboretum of the University of Pennsylvania, The Boston School of Herbal Studies, and Temple University.  She is also the author of an aptly named book titled The Benevolent Bee.Go to https://www.urbanfarm.org/2017/09/02/282-stephanie-elson-bruneau/ for more information and links on this podcast, and to find our other great guests.

Making gardening easier through a series of simple shortcuts, and changing your life through gardening.In This Podcast: Initially we thought this might be an episode that focused on gardening hacks, and Shawna Coronado has over 100 hacks to share, so we did get to hear some cool ideas. Yet there was so much more to the conversation as important mindsets to help make gardening and life in general less stressful and more enjoyable became a topic that stole the show.  Her infectious attitude is sure to help put you at ease and might help you focus on the things you love too!Shawna is an author, columnist, blogger, photographer, and spokesperson for organic gardening, green lifestyle living, and culinary preparation, as wells as and avid campaigner for social good. Her goal in authoring gardening and green lifestyle books is to promote a world initiative to encourage healthy and sustainable living. Shawna was featured as a Chicago Tribune "Remarkable Woman" and speaks internationally on building community, simple urban garden living, and green lifestyle tips for the everyday person.Go to https://www.urbanfarm.org/2017/08/31/281-shawna-coronado/ for more information and links on this podcast, and to find our other great guests.

Using native plants to creatively interact with wildlife and avoid landscaping conflicts.In This Podcast: If you are a person who really cares about all wildlife and creatures great and small then it probably bothers you a lot if an animal is killed through human carelessness.  This is the podcast for you.  Nancy Lawson writes about smart gardening choices that can reduce the problems of invasive animals and insects, thereby reducing the need to cull or harm bothersome animals.  Even if you are not particularly protective of animals, she has ideas that can help reduce problematic visits and save your garden plants and veggies.Nancy is a columnist for All Animals magazine, as well as the founder of Humane Gardener - an outreach initiative dedicated to cultivating compassion for all creatures great and small through animal-friendly, environmentally-sensitive landscaping methods.She speaks frequently to local & national audiences, and volunteers as both a master naturalist and master gardener in central Maryland.Nancy is the author of The Humane Gardener: Nurturing a Backyard Habitat for Wildlife, published by Princeton Architectural Press in April 2017 and highlighted in Oprah magazine, the Washington Post, and Library JournalGo to https://www.urbanfarm.org/2017/08/29/280-nancy-lawson/  for more information and links on this podcast, and to find our other great guests.

Helping one city understand the realities of food insecurity.In This Podcast: Finishing her master’s degree required a semester project and Cindy Tran’s had fallen through since the city food policy she was going to evaluate had not been passed yet. Realizing the city leaders either did not fully understand what food security was or how significant the issue of food insecurity was for their own citizens, she developed a new project to fix this.  Cindy spent her semester gathering all the evidence, including what city already commissioned, and helped frame it in a report that convinced them there was an issue and that it could be tackled. This helped the city take action and the resulting food system strategy is one worth emulating in many other cities.Cindy completed a Bachelor of Biomedicine degree at the University of Melbourne with a major in Pathology and matured her quantitative research skills at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute as a research student. She subsequently completed her Masters of Public Health at the University of Melbourne.  Cindy specialized in health policy & promotion, and developed a good understanding of the Australian Health Care System.  She has a strong interest in obesity and diabetes and how these are influenced by our cities and food system. Cindy produced a background report collating local evidence about the issue of food security within the City of Moreland.  This report contributed to the endorsement of the Moreland Food System Strategy in May 2017.Go to https://www.urbanfarm.org/2017/08/26/279-cindy-tran/ for more information and links on this podcast, and to find our other great guests.

Inspiring creativity in communities everywhere.In This Podcast: It was a lucky find that inspired Margret Aldrich to change her direction and motivated her to write a book about how the finding or creating that same thing has affected many others. The Little Free Library project is going worldwide and with each little one there is more community building, inspiration ignited, and enlightenment coming to pass. Learn how you can partake of this through the Little Free Library Movement!Margret is the author of The Little Free Library Book through Coffee House Press, and has published her work with The Atlantic, The Huffington Post, Experience Life, and beyond.  From Little Free Libraries to tiny houses, integrative medicine to introverted kids, digital detoxing to co-op bookstores, her writing hunts for happiness, community, and what makes humans thrive.A former editor at Utne Reader, longtime book editor, and seasoned news producer, Margret is now the programming manager at the Little Free Library nonprofit organization and is a regular contributor to Book Riot. She lives in Minneapolis, MN with her husband, two entertaining young boys, a little garden, and of course her own Little Free Library.Go to https://www.urbanfarm.org/2017/08/24/278-margret-aldrich/ for more information and links on this podcast, and to find our other great guests.

Building a business on the tiniest greens.In This Podcast: As a young adult with an unfocused passion, Joseph Martinez was looking for something that he could feel good doing.  His travels gave him little nudges in the right direction, but things did not really come clear until he decided to start a business with his brother and got some unexpected advice from a client. Just a few years later, they have a thriving business growing microgreens and he’s loving the difference he is making and the meaningfulness that exists in his life.Joseph is a co-founder of Arizona Microgreens, an urban farm in Phoenix which produces microgreens for restaurants, schools, and individuals throughout the state of Arizona. Using a DIY approach of starting small and growing incrementally, Joseph and his brother built their start-up from a 200-square-foot self-built greenhouse, to a social enterprise model operating out of a 13,000-square-foot greenhouse today.Initially focused on the fine-dining market, Arizona Microgreens is now producing microgreens for farm-to-school programs, naturopathic clinics, and a much broader range of diverse customers. Go to https://www.urbanfarm.org/2017/08/22/277-joseph-martinez/ for more information and links on this podcast, and to find our other great guests.

Bonus Episode 5: Seed Chat July 2017A chat with experts on Seeds, Bill McDorman and Julia Coffey. In This BONUS Podcast:Bill McDorman brings a friend and fellow seed enthusiast Julia Coffey to the chat to help explain about running a seed business.  Together they talk to Greg about being a seed grower, germination testing, maintaining seed projects,  running a seed business and much more in this the July 2017 episode of Seed School Chat. Julia Coffey is the president of Seeds Trust: an incredible company dedicated to encouraging customers to save seeds and reverse the loss of biodiversity not only in our backyards but around the world. She is from Denver, Colorado and when not measuring out seeds, printing packets, growing tomatoes, hunting down the most resilient and special seed varieties, she likes to take full advantage of the magnificent swath of Rocky Mountains by hiking, backpacking, climbing, and breathing fresh air. She likes to sing and is a member of the Colorado choir, an 80s a cappella group, a hip hop a cappella group, and a rock and roll/blues band. She graduated from the University of Colorado, Boulder with degrees in Linguistics and French and lived in France teaching English and learning about local food market economies vs. the global industrialized food model.She met Bill McDorman while visiting a permaculture farm in Lyons, CO. He was giving a lecture on seeds and seed diversity and it genuinely changed her life. She immediately found him after the lecture and told him she wanted to be involved in whatever way she could. She ended up attending one of Bill and Belle's first Seed School workshops and continued to apprentice with him in Cornville, Arizona. Julia helped Bill and Belle run Seeds Trust until she bought the business from him in 2011. She then returned to Denver to provide high altitude adapted seed to mountain growers.Go to https://www.urbanfarm.org/2017/08/21/bonus-episode-5/ for more information, photos and links on this podcast and to find our other great guests.

Meeting the first 'Poultry Personality' of Backyard Poultry.In This Podcast: His hobby of raising chickens developed into helping others succeed in raising their own. This led Andy Schneider into becoming the first well known "poultry personality" in the world of backyard poultry and eventually running a business that he loves.  He uses this notoriety to help correct misinformation through science and fact.Better known as The Chicken Whisperer, Andy has become the go-to guy for anything chicken related. He has helped countless people start their own backyard flocks and has assisted in changing more laws around the country to allow backyard chickens than anyone else.  He is a well-known radio personality as the host of the Backyard Poultry with The Chicken Whisperer radio show, as well as the Editor-in-Chief of Chicken Whisperer Magazine, the National Spokesperson for the USDA-APHIS Biosecurity for Birds Program, and author of The Chicken Whisperer’s Guide to Keeping Chickens.  Andy travels around the U.S. educating people through science-based, fact-based, and study-based information about the many benefits of keeping backyard chickens and how to ensure they stay healthy and free from disease. Go to https://www.urbanfarm.org/2017/08/19/276-andy-schneider/ for more information and links on this podcast, and to find our other great guests.