Growers Daily

Soil Testing. Over the years, Natalie has gotten a lot of this kind of question: why are my results from THIS lab different from my results from THAT lab? And WHY are the recommendations DIFFERENT? For this episode, she spoke with Bruce Hoskins who runs the Soil and Plant Anaylitcal Lab at The University of Maine. It's impossible to cover everything you want or need to know about soil testing in an hour, but they lay the groundwork for what exactly happens to a soil sample when you send it into a lab for basic nutrient analysis.

Folks who support the show...

Harnois Greenhouses for controlled environment agriculture innovation, partnering with market gardeners and farmers across North America to deliver comprehensive, turnkey, commercial greenhouse solutions.

Farmhand is the all-in-one software platform and virtual assistant built by and for independent farmers. Instantly offload admin tasks, automate your CSA, update your website, and sell more to your customers. Learn more at farmhand.partners/notill

Local Line is the most comprehensive sales software built for farmers and food hubs. Increase your sales and streamline your processes with features including e-commerce, inventory management, subscriptions, website builder, online payments, point-of-sale, and more! Receive a free premium feature for one year using our coupon code, NOTILL.

... and, as always, our work is powered by the individual growers who support us every month over at patreon.com/notillgrowers. You can pick up a copy of The Living Soil Handbook if you don't have one already, as well as a No-Till Growers hat or other merch, check out our YouTube channel, and you can ask you questions or share your insights into ecological market gardening on our free growers forum at notillgrowers.community.chat

Find Farmer Jesse at these upcoming workshops & conferences...

• The Rough Draft Workshop Farm Tour Dates & Tickets

"We live in a world in which we need to share responsibility. It's easy to say it's not my child, not my community, not my world, not my problem. And then there are those who see the need and respond. And I consider those people my heros." - Mr. Rogers

Mimi Casteel is talking with one of HER heros, the amazing Sarah Keiser, from Wild Oat Hollow. She will inspire you to be someone who makes things happen, and she'll be the first to tell you she didn't to it alone, because it takes a community, which is what they'll be talking about today...

Check out the Wild Oat Hollow Farmsite & follow her on Instagram

Mentioned in the show...

Hooves & Hands, The Community Grazing Anthology

Folks who support the show...

Harnois Greenhouses for controlled environment agriculture innovation, partnering with market gardeners and farmers across North America to deliver comprehensive, turnkey, commercial greenhouse solutions.

Farmhand is the all-in-one software platform and virtual assistant built by and for independent farmers. Instantly offload admin tasks, automate your CSA, update your website, and sell more to your customers. Learn more at farmhand.partners/notill

Local Line is the most comprehensive sales software built for farmers and food hubs. Increase your sales and streamline your processes with features including e-commerce, inventory management, subscriptions, website builder, online payments, point-of-sale, and more! Receive a free premium feature for one year using our coupon code, NOTILL.

... and, as always, our work is powered by the individual growers who support us every month over at patreon.com/notillgrowers. You can pick up a copy of The Living Soil Handbook if you don't have one already, as well as a No-Till Growers hat or other merch, check out our YouTube channel, and you can ask you questions or share your insights into ecological market gardening on our free growers forum at notillgrowers.community.chat

Find Farmer Jesse at these upcoming workshops & conferences...

• The Rough Draft Workshop Farm Tour Dates & Tickets

Alex Ball sits down with fellow farmer and friend Cheyenne Sundance of Sundance Harvest, Commons, & Market in Ontario, Canada. They dig deep on managing a multi-farm cooperative land-trust project, building a team around an idea, and balancing urban/rural production.

Follow the prolific Cheyanne Sundance on Instagram

More information on Sundance Commons

Folks who support the show...

Harnois Greenhouses for controlled environment agriculture innovation, partnering with market gardeners and farmers across North America to deliver comprehensive, turnkey, commercial greenhouse solutions.

Farmhand is the all-in-one software platform and virtual assistant built by and for independent farmers. Instantly offload admin tasks, automate your CSA, update your website, and sell more to your customers. Learn more at farmhand.partners/notill

Local Line is the most comprehensive sales software built for farmers and food hubs. Increase your sales and streamline your processes with features including e-commerce, inventory management, subscriptions, website builder, online payments, point-of-sale, and more! Receive a free premium feature for one year using our coupon code, NOTILL.

... and, as always, our work is powered by the individual growers who support us every month over at patreon.com/notillgrowers. You can pick up a copy of The Living Soil Handbook if you don't have one already, as well as a No-Till Growers hat or other merch, check out our YouTube channel, and you can ask you questions or share your insights into ecological market gardening on our free growers forum at notillgrowers.community.chat

Find Farmer Jesse at these upcoming workshops & conferences...

• The Rough Draft Workshop Farm Tour Dates & Tickets

In March, part of the No-Till Growers team went to the Organic Growers School in NC and held a roundtable with Erin of Cedar Chest Farm and Lyric and Noah of Wild East Farm about scaling-up from homestead to full-fledged farm business. We get to hear the stories of how both farms started on a very small scale and smartly grew their operations, plus tips, lessons, and helpful thoughts on business startups.

Check out Organic Growers School

Follow Wild East Farm on Instagram & YouTube

Follow Cedar Chest Farm on her amazing Instagram

Folks who support the show...

Harnois Greenhouses for controlled environment agriculture innovation, partnering with market gardeners and farmers across North America to deliver comprehensive, turnkey, commercial greenhouse solutions.

Farmhand is the all-in-one software platform and virtual assistant built by and for independent farmers. Instantly offload admin tasks, automate your CSA, update your website, and sell more to your customers. Learn more at farmhand.partners/notill

Local Line is the most comprehensive sales software built for farmers and food hubs. Increase your sales and streamline your processes with features including e-commerce, inventory management, subscriptions, website builder, online payments, point-of-sale, and more! Receive a free premium feature for one year using our coupon code, NOTILL.

... and, as always, our work is powered by the individual growers who support us every month over at patreon.com/notillgrowers. You can pick up a copy of The Living Soil Handbook if you don't have one already, as well as a No-Till Growers hat or other merch, check out our YouTube channel, and you can ask you questions or share your insights into ecological market gardening on our free growers forum at notillgrowers.community.chat

Find Farmer Jesse at these upcoming workshops & conferences...

• The Rough Draft Workshop Farm Tour Dates & Tickets

Got a BONUS Farmer Jesse episode this week with Ari Memar, founder of Farmhand, a personal assistant for growers. It may not surprise you, Farmer J is not the most tech-savvy guy, so we're excited to chat with Ari about the easy-to-use program they've built at Farmhand to save admin time and get farmers farming more, plus how the tech world and gardening world--from his parents to his own life--have influenced his path.

Farmhand is the all-in-one software platform and virtual assistant built by and for independent farmers. Instantly offload admin tasks, automate your CSA, update your website, and sell more to your customers. Learn more at farmhand.partners/notill

... and, as always, our work is powered by the individual growers who support us every month over at patreon.com/notillgrowers. You can pick up a copy of The Living Soil Handbook if you don't have one already, as well as a No-Till Growers hat or other merch, check out our YouTube channel, and you can ask you questions or share your insights into ecological market gardening on our free growers forum at notillgrowers.community.chat

Find Farmer Jesse at these upcoming workshops & conferences...

• The Rough Draft Workshop Farm Tour Dates & Tickets

There is nobody who does more awesome headlines than the British. Especially the tabloids, so good. They can even manage to talk about things like compost in a way that almost brings tears of joy…

"Posh compost that's entry level." -The Times "Luxury manures, the sweet smell of success." -The Times "Twenty pounds for a tiny bag of poo? What really goes into luxury compost?" - The Guardian

Don't be put off by "luxury compost" because our guests today are quite down to earth. Today, Mimi is speaking with The Land Gardeners Bridget and Henrietta, two incredible women, who are former lawyers who came together over a shared love of soil and a hopeful vision of the future. They are known world-wide for producing some of the most extraordinary landscapes and coveted cut-flowers.

The Land Gardeners Beautiful Website, where you can take their courses and buy their stunning books & tools.

Folks who support the show...

Harnois Greenhouses for controlled environment agriculture innovation, partnering with market gardeners and farmers across North America to deliver comprehensive, turnkey, commercial greenhouse solutions.

Farmhand is the all-in-one software platform and virtual assistant built by and for independent farmers. Instantly offload admin tasks, automate your CSA, update your website, and sell more to your customers. Learn more at farmhand.partners/notill

Local Line is the most comprehensive sales software built for farmers and food hubs. Increase your sales and streamline your processes with features including e-commerce, inventory management, subscriptions, website builder, online payments, point-of-sale, and more! Receive a free premium feature for one year using our coupon code, NOTILL.

... and, as always, our work is powered by the individual growers who support us every month over at patreon.com/notillgrowers. You can pick up a copy of The Living Soil Handbook if you don't have one already, as well as a No-Till Growers hat or other merch, check out our YouTube channel, and you can ask you questions or share your insights into ecological market gardening on our free growers forum at notillgrowers.community.chat

Find Farmer Jesse at these upcoming workshops & conferences...

• The Rough Draft Workshop Farm Tour Dates & Tickets

On today's episode Alex Ball of Old City Acres sits down with Hannah Weber & Michelle Brosius (½ of the management team) from Green Things Farm Collective in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Green Things was interviewed several years ago by farmer Jesse AND farmer Jackson and since then they have radically increased the scale of their no-till production and local food distribution. We discuss how they build and manage their no till beds at scale, train & build up their workforce, distribute all of their produce, and the power of collective work.

Follow Green Things on Instagram

Check out the Green Things FarmSite

Mentioned in the show...

AirTable, their data management platform

Slack, their communications platform

Folks who support the show...

Harnois Greenhouses for controlled environment agriculture innovation, partnering with market gardeners and farmers across North America to deliver comprehensive, turnkey, commercial greenhouse solutions.

Farmhand is the all-in-one software platform and virtual assistant built by and for independent farmers. Instantly offload admin tasks, automate your CSA, update your website, and sell more to your customers. Learn more at farmhand.partners/notill

Local Line is the most comprehensive sales software built for farmers and food hubs. Increase your sales and streamline your processes with features including e-commerce, inventory management, subscriptions, website builder, online payments, point-of-sale, and more! Receive a free premium feature for one year using our coupon code, NOTILL.

... and, as always, our work is powered by the individual growers who support us every month over at patreon.com/notillgrowers. You can pick up a copy of The Living Soil Handbook if you don't have one already, as well as a No-Till Growers hat or other merch, check out our YouTube channel, and you can ask you questions or share your insights into ecological market gardening on our free growers forum at notillgrowers.community.chat

Find Farmer Jesse at these upcoming workshops & conferences...

• The Rough Draft Workshop Farm Tour Dates & Tickets
• Grow Riverside & Beyond in CA

Imagine the theme music from Masterpiece Theater… a former oil & gas accountant leaves his lucrative career and travels by bicycle to a walled garden. Mimi Casteel speaks with her friend Tim Phillips from Charlie Herring Wines in the UK. If you do nothing else, check out his website—beware the litany of web warnings!—for a darlin illustration of his farm and incredibly entertaining blog. He not only does a lot of innovative things, but also uses a lot of old school methods, and he's our people, people. Enjoy.

The Charlie Herring Winesite

Follow Tim on Instagram

Folks who support The No-Till Market Garden Podcast...

High Mowing Organic Seeds for 100% organic, Non-GMO Project Verified vegetable, flower and herb seeds trialed for optimal performance in organic growing systems.

High Country News provides unique on-the-ground reporting on the land, water, wildlife and communities of the region, with dedicated coverage of climate, environmental and Indigenous issues.

... and, as always, our work is powered by the individual growers who support us every month over at patreon.com/notillgrowers. You can pick up a copy of The Living Soil Handbook if you don't have one already, as well as a No-Till Growers hat or other merch, check out our YouTube channel, and you can ask you questions or share your insights into ecological market gardening on our free growers forum at notillgrowers.community.chat

Find Farmer Jesse at these upcoming workshops & conferences...

• The Rough Draft Workshop Farm Tour Dates & Tickets
• Grow Riverside & Beyond in CA

Farmer Jesse recently got the chance to speak with Daryl Ward of Sow Right Seeds about starting and running a small seed company. In particular, how seed businesses like Sow Right are dealing with new genetically modified varieties that are hitting the shelves. We also talk about home gardening, the business of selling seeds, and more. Full disclosure, Sow Right is not only a sponsor the No-Till Growers YouTube channel, but also the podcast, helping us keep it free for growers everywhere.

... and, as always, our work is also powered by the individual growers who support us every month over at patreon.com/notillgrowers. You can pick up a copy of The Living Soil Handbook if you don't have one already, as well as a No-Till Growers hat or other merch, check out our YouTube channel, and you can ask you questions or share your insights into ecological market gardening on our free growers forum at notillgrowers.community.chat

Farmer Jesse is back this week with Kyle Forest-Burns of Burns Blossom Farm, which he runs with his partner Mel, in Chico California. They discuss farming with a debilitating disease, nutrient management, and tips for new farmers. A very cool and wide-ranging talk that we've been waiting to have for several years. If you want to SEE the conversation, along with some pictures that illustrate what they are talking about, head over to the No-Till Growers PODCAST YouTube channel!

Folks who support The No-Till Market Garden Podcast...

Join Organic Growers School for their Spring Conference in Western North Carolina March 8-10, 2024, with 60+ workshops organized into 13 themed tracks. Plus, I (Jesse Frost) will be there leading half-day workshops.

High Mowing Organic Seeds for 100% organic, Non-GMO Project Verified vegetable, flower and herb seeds trialed for optimal performance in organic growing systems.

Since 1972 Ohio earth food has been the go to source for the highest performing and most cost effective granular and liquid fertilizers, seed starting soils, foliar sprays and disease and insect controls. Feed your soil and let your soil feed the plants. Visit ohioearthfood.com.

... and, as always, our work is powered by the individual growers who support us every month over at patreon.com/notillgrowers. You can pick up a copy of The Living Soil Handbook if you don't have one already, as well as a No-Till Growers hat or other merch, check out our YouTube channel, and you can ask you questions or share your insights into ecological market gardening on our free growers forum at notillgrowers.community.chat

Find Farmer Jesse at these upcoming workshops & conferences...

• The Rough Draft Workshop Farm Tour Dates & Tickets
• Grow Riverside & Beyond in CA