Farm Small Farm Smart

Today it's back to Kelowna and Green City Acres as Curtis and I take a look back at his experiences with inter-planting, planting multiple crops in the same space .

It's something that he's done for a few years now, and something that he's doing again this year with his tomatoes.

We first stated talking about this subject back in 2015 when we did an episode touching on the subject in Season One, then we hit on it again almost a year ago in Season Two.

Today we are going to take a look at what Curtis is doing now when it comes to inter-planting and how that's changed since we first started talking about it two years ago.

It's a technique that Curtis has a lot of experience with, but one that's continually evolving as he uses it more.

It's a technique that he uses, because it allows him to earn a lot more in the same space over a given year.

For are going example he made and additional $1100 last year, by inter-planting Salanova lettuce in with his tomatoes. That's an extra $1100 that most farmers wouldn't captured.

That's the benefit of inter-planting. Getting multiple yields out of the same space over the same time period.

But be aware going in, this technique isn't for everyone.

There's a lot of constraints and complications that come with inter-planting. And it's a technique that doesn't make sense if you have a lot of land.

None the less, it's a technique that can be a game changer for those of you who do feel like you have a limited amount of land.

For you all, this is just another way to get more crops and more money, without adding land.

Listen to past episodes at: https://www.paperpot.co/podcast

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Today I'm going to be talking to another small scale farming making a go of it as we go to Sebastopol, CA to talk to Caiti Hachmyer of Red H Farm. Caiti's a farmer who started out her farming career on the advocacy side of things. She was living the Bay Area advocating for farmers and looking to play her part in changing hte food system. But after a while she felt something was missing. And she felt like she needed to get on the ground and see what life was really like for some of the farmers that she was advocating for. So she picked up her California roots and moved to Minnesota to spend some time working on a production farm. It was step that would change her life forever. Giving her perspective of the on the ground side of things which helped her on the policy side, and one that would give her a nice experience ot have in her back pocket. One that she would need to draw on when she moved back to California and needed work. Caiti's gone on to continue her work on the ground and policy side of things. It's the dual nature of her work that we focus on today.

Listen to past episodes at: https://www.paperpot.co/podcast

Increase farm efficiency with the Paperpot Transplanter and Other Small Farm Equipment at https://www.paperpot.co/

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Today I'm going up to Vancouver to talk to Microgreen Farmer Chris Thoreau with the goal of focusing in on 10 base principles for growing high quality microgreens. Think 10 things that are critical to growing a good crop regardless of where you are growing them, when you are growing them or how you are growing them. These base principles help ensure that you get a successful crop that is free of disease and of high quality. It's not enough just to go through a successful process without knowing why you are doing what at different parts of the process. Because if you don't know, and a variable changes, you need to be able to know how to react and adapt. While everyone's process is likely different based on the crop that they are trying to grow, today's show it's all about what's the same, the base principles.

Listen to past episodes at: https://www.paperpot.co/podcast

Increase farm efficiency with the Paperpot Transplanter and Other Small Farm Equipment at https://www.paperpot.co/

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"Farming is as much about growing yourself as it is about growing vegetables."

One of the big lessons shared in this episode with farmer Chris Gilbert from Bettendorf, Iowa.

Listen to past episodes at: https://www.paperpot.co/podcast

Increase farm efficiency with the Paperpot Transplanter and Other Small Farm Equipment at https://www.paperpot.co/

Today farmer Taylor Rogers talks about how he started his farm and sells to restaurants - his primary market. He currently grows of 20 different crops, and it's that variety that has been one of the keys to his success. In this episode he'll also talk about some of the other things that have made him successful such as growing what chefs want, how they want it, and bringing it when you say you're going to bring it. All keys to his current success and keys he learned before he even got into farming when he saw these problems first hand working behind the scenes in the kitchen. Taylor's going to share a lot of information and insight in this one about working with chefs.

Listen to past episodes at: https://www.paperpot.co/podcast

Increase farm efficiency with the Paperpot Transplanter and Other Small Farm Equipment at https://www.paperpot.co/

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Today is another episode where Curtis and I will be widening the scope, stepping back and zooming out from the tools and techniques and his 1/3 of an acre farm, to take a look at some of the macro issues surrounding agriculture. The focus today is on employees. Curtis will take about his thoughts on hiring employees, and what he looks for in employees. We'll also get into some of the complications that having employees bring to a business owner and what other options other than hiring someone are available.

Listen to past episodes at: https://www.paperpot.co/podcast

Increase farm efficiency with the Paperpot Transplanter and Other Small Farm Equipment at https://www.paperpot.co/

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When you start your farm business, one think that you need to think about is your business structure.

Sole proprietorships and LLCs are common ways to go, but there are also other options, like co-operatives...

That's how farmer Chris Thoreau of Food Pedalers structure his business, and that's the subject of today's show...

Today I'm going up to Vancouver to talk to microgreen farmer Chris Thoreau about a topic that you don't hear discussed a lot in small scale farming circles - how he organized his business..

Chris initially started his business as a sole proprietor, but as he began to grow, both in the size of the business and the amount of people working in the business, he realized he needed to change that.

After looking at all of the options, Chris decided that he wanted to do something different, something that went more against the status quo, and something that was equitable for everyone involved - so Chris organized his business as a co-operative.

It's an interesting business structure and it's one that most people wouldn't think of when organizing their business.

If your business is growing, or if you are thinking about expanding your team, then a coop structure might make sense for you...

Today Chris will talk about why he chose that structure, the advantages and disadvantages of it, and what it takes to have a successful member-owner business.

Chris's online course Growing Your Profitable Microgreens Business http://bit.ly/learntogrowmicrogreens

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This week I'll pick up where last week left off with market gardener Ray Tyler of Rosecreek Farms.

While last week's episode was more inspiration, this week's more of the perspiration side of things as Ray talks about some of his production methods and big changes that he made turn go from grossing $35,000 in 2015 to $120,000 in 2016 on less land.

Ray's going to go talk about some of the big changes that made that huge increase in gross sales possible.

He'll also get into how he controls weeds on the farm, and how he established a market for his product early on given that he only lives in a town of 2000 people.

Today it's all about production and sales, with Ray Tyler of Rosecreek Farms in Selmer, TN.

Listen to past episodes at: https://www.paperpot.co/podcast

Increase farm efficiency with the Paperpot Transplanter and Other Small Farm Equipment at https://www.paperpot.co/

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From laid off and in debt to grossing $120,000 on one acre. Ray started out like a lot of people who get into farming, he was inspired by to get into farming by Joel Salatin's You Can farm... He started raising livestock, and then life got real... Imagine yourself as a new farmer running a full time livestock operation raising 50 pigs and a few thousand chickens a year. And then imagine running a two acre market garden on top of that... And along the way the, your 5 year old daughter gets caner... It was a moment that put Ray's farm and life on the ropes... it's the story of Ray Tyler or Rosecreek Farms.

Listen to past episodes at: https://www.paperpot.co/podcast

Increase farm efficiency with the Paperpot Transplanter and Other Small Farm Equipment at https://www.paperpot.co/

Follow PaperpotCo on Instagram: http://bit.ly/2B45VKQ

Today, we are going to start out by taking a look at interns and farms. What's good, what's bad, and what could be improved upon.

It's an issue that's really relevant and timely, because it's one that Curtis is dealing with right now, doing something that I never, ever, thought he would do, get an intern.

Let's find out why, in this episode of The Urban Farmer.

Listen to past episodes at: https://www.paperpot.co/podcast

Increase farm efficiency with the Paperpot Transplanter and Other Small Farm Equipment at https://www.paperpot.co/

Follow PaperpotCo on Instagram: http://bit.ly/2B45VKQ