Growers Daily

Natalie here. When Jesse asked me to be a guest-host, I knew I wanted to dedicate an episodeto the subject of PFAS contamination, but I didn't think it would be a good first episode, because it's really not uplifting. It's one of those topics that makes it hard to keep sitting up straight. But, since I've been behind the ball on getting more episodes going--and Jesse tells me there's a lot of intrest in this topic--I decided to go for it. For the vast majority of growers out there, PFAS contamination on your farms isn't going to be an issue, but it is something farmers may want to be aware of when looking for land or buying inputs like compost or straw mulch, and especially when making compost with various feedstocks. To learn more about PFAS, I spoke with Caleb Goossen, the organic crop and conservation specialist at MOFGA.

And I promise there will be more uplifting epsides in the future.

Folks who make the show possible...

RIMOL Greenhouses quality greenhouses and high-tunnels.

Johnny's Selected Seeds vegetable, flower, and cover crop seeds.

BCS America for two wheel tractors + implements, on sale through the end of the year!

University of Wisconsin-Madison and their new certificate in organic agriculture.

... and, as always, our work is powered by the folks 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 (yep, back in stock and shipping now), and you can ask you questions or share your insights into ecological market gardening on our brand new forum at notillgrowers.community.chat

It's about to get real nerdy, folks. We at No-Till Growers have always wanted to bring in more of the research and science from someone who really understands it. Natalie Lounsbury, herself, is a no-till and cover crop RESEARCHER at the University of New Hampshire, a legitimate scientist, and you may remember her from the Priming for Production Podcast series on soil organic matter. Go back and listen to it if you haven't already, it's one of our favorite things on the internet. Ever. In this mini-interview, she and I get into how the Serial podcast series changed her approach, her experience/research background, and how I should probably apologize to diakon radish. Her first contribution to the series will be next Monday. You don't want to miss it, it's a heavy subject, but one we as growers could all use a little science lesson on.

As always, our work is powered by the folks 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 (yep, back in stock and shipping now), and you can ask you questions or share your insights into ecological market gardening on our brand new forum at notillgrowers.community.chat

Tell Dr. Mimi where it hurts, because I've got the cure. Be it bread or beer, it all starts with grain. Today, we get to do all of my favorite things, which is to combine bread, beer, and rock stars. Andy Cato, half of the band Groove Armada, is the co-founder of a super-rad farm project, Wildfarmed, growing no-till regenerative grains. It's taken a lot of trail and error, and we get into his systems and how he makes it all work: rotations, equipment, producer groups, etc. for facilitating the change he wants to see on the land.

In short, Andy is "an award-winning mixed arable and livestock farmer. Once a successful Grammy nominated musician, Andy gave that up after reading about the dire state of modern food production. He went on to spend over a decade trying to find a more restorative and sustainable way of growing food. Whilst farming in France, Andy was awarded the Chevalier l'Order Merit de Agricole - the equivalent of a knighthood for services to agriculture. Now back on British soil, Andy is on a mission to help other farmers adopt the Wildfarmed system."

If you've ever thought about how to grow grains on a small scale regeneratively, this one's for you. Because we've got to figure that part out. The sourdough and beer are what's keeping me going.

Follow Andy & Wildfarmed

Follow Mimi & Hope Well Wine

Folks who make the show possible...

RIMOL Greenhouses quality greenhouses and high-tunnels.

Tilth Soil amazing compost-based living potting soils and soil blends.

Johnny's Selected Seeds vegetable, flower, and cover crop seeds.

Certified Naturally Grown grassroots, peer-to-peer, holistic certification.

and You, our listeners. Help us keep our work free for everyone by supporting our work on Patreon or check out No-Till Growers and pick up a copy of The Living Soil Handbook and join the conversation at our new and improved growers forum.

Super excited to have Josh and Kelsey of Wild Prairie Flower Farm on The No-Till Market Garden Podcast! They're two super hard-working urban farmers in Columbus, OH, who grow about a quarter of an acre of cut-flowers and market them through a home-delivery CSA. Big thanks to Jesse and the No-Till Growers team for having me, Alex Ball, as a host.

~ Alex Ball, Old City Acres

Mentioned in the show...

Follow Wild Prarie on Instagram

Check out the Wild Prarie GoFundMe

Folks who make the show possible...

RIMOL Greenhouses quality greenhouses and high-tunnels.

Orisha for wireless greenhouse+ automation, get 15% off with code "No Till Grower"

BCS America for two wheel tractors + implements, on sale through the end of the year!

University of Wisconsin-Madison and their new certificate in organic agriculture.

... and You, our listeners. Help us keep our work free for everyone by supporting our work on Patreon or check out No-Till Growers and pick up a copy of The Living Soil Handbook and join the conversation at our new and improved growers forum.

Welcome BACK to yet another exciting season of The No-Till Market Garden Podcast. As mentioned at the end of last season, I--Jesse--will not be hosting this year. My role now is more of a producer for the suite of podcasts and work we publish at No-Till Growers. I'm excited to introduce the second host, Alex Ball of Old City Acres! We are big fans of Alex's work and in this mini-interview we muse on the progression and evolution of our respective farms. He's gong to bring a lot to the host seat because of his interest in the details surrounding what it takes to run a successful farm business, which is something I felt was lacking in my own approach. Alex is someone you can listen to and talk to for hours, he's a lot of fun, and we can't wait for his contribution to the podcast.

Alex's first interview will be coming out next Monday. As always, our work is powered by the folks 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, and you can ask you questions or share your insights into ecological market gardening on our brand new forum at notillgrowers.community.chat

Benina Montez, of Burroughs Family Farms, is a badass FOURTH generation farmer in the Central Valley of California. She has been farming alongside her family and made the shift to regenerative organic certification for their almonds, walnuts, and olives. They also produce pastured chickens and lamb through silvopasture.

It's really cool to hear from someone like Benina who has experienced the journey from not only something conventional to something regenerative, but also what it means to BE a fourth generation farmer and how you have to continuously move the bar to remain a relevant family farm.

Benina is super awesome, honest, and has a lot to offer people who are curious about how it can all be done regeneratively in tree systems with silvopasture.

Folks who make the show possible...

RIMOL Greenhouses quality greenhouses and high-tunnels.

Tilth Soil amazing compost-based living potting soils and soil blends.

Johnny's Selected Seeds vegetable, flower, and cover crop seeds.

Certified Naturally Grown grassroots, peer-to-peer, holistic certification.

and You, our listeners. Help us keep our work free for everyone by supporting our work on Patreon or check out No-Till Growers and pick up a copy of The Living Soil Handbook and join the conversation at our new and improved growers forum.

Welcome BACK to yet another exciting season of The No-Till Market Garden Podcast. As mentioned at the end of last season, I--Jesse--will not be hosting this year. My role now is more of a producer for the suite of podcasts we publish at No-Till Growers. It's been super fun and I've greatly enjoyed listening behind the scenes to these first interviews with our new hosts. Speaking of new hosts, we want to start introducing them to you one by one over the next few weeks, beginning with the one and only Mimi Casteel of Hope Well Vineyard.

Mimi's first interview will be coming out next Monday, officially kicking off season FIVE. As always, our work is powered by the folks who support us every month over at patreon.com/notillgrowers, you can pick up a copy of The Living Soil Handbook if you haven't already, and you can ask you questions or share your insights into ecological market gardening on our brand new forum at notillgrowers.community.chat

Welcome to The Composter! In our first episode, Jayne Merner Senecal had the pleasure of speaking with Carla Castegnero, co-founder and president of AgRecycle, Penn's largest composting operation headquartered in Pittsburg. AgRecycle was one of the pioneers in the composting industry founded in 1991. Carla has a wealth of knowledge on making high-quality compost with a wide variety of feedstocks. She's a seasoned composter and was the recipient of Rodale's Organic Pioneer Award in 2013.

You can find Jayne Merner Senecal and Earth Care Farm on Instagram

The Composter is brought to you by...

BioCycle is the leading resource on composting, organics recycling, biogas, end-product markets, policy and regulation, and community outreach and education. Sign up for the bi-monthly free newsletter here.

For 25+ years, Komptech has worked with scientists, agriculturalists, and consumers to develop a four-step process that produces healthly, contaminant-free compost while optimizing efficiency. Learn more about shred, turn, screen, seperate here and get a complimentary consultation to see if it's right for your commercial operation.

So excited to share the first episode of the latest season of The Winter Growers Podcast with y'all so it can be on your radar in the Summer as you prepare for... well... your Winter production. Clara has a great lineup ahead, growers from the South as well as the Northern US and Canada, even some international growers. Subscribe to Winter Growers wherever you're hearing this one. Here is. Clara Coleman.

Kelli and Mike of Roots Farm, a certified-organic, diversified vegetable farm in Tiverton, RI, grow year-round on 1.5 acres using no-till, intensive farming methods and six moveable high-tunnels, each 30' x 48' in size. The use of moveable tunnels maximizes both time and space, utilizing three moves each year to optimize production, especially in the shoulder seasons. The biggest challenge of Winter growing for them is the management of humidity with row-covers in an unheated protected space. Although they've been farming full-time since 2014, they did not find financial stability until 2020, and now support their family and a crew of six.

Winter Growers is made possible by...

Growing for Market Magazine, enter code "winter" at checkout to get 25% off a new subscription.

Rimol Greenhouses, for high-tunnels and greenhouses.

Johnny's Selected Seeds, check out their seriously amazing Growers Library.

Tunnel Vision Hoops, for your Winter infrastructure needs.

And you, our Patreons and supporters. You can support our creators for as little as $2/month on Patreon or Notillgrowers.com/support. Y'all are the best!

Here's our latest collaboration with Dan Brisebois of Tourne-Sol Cooperative-Farm, The Seed Growers Podcast! Subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you're listening to this podcast today.

Joelene and Adrianna of Empowered Flowers grow certified organic veg in Oregon City, OR where they sell through farmers markets and a Winter CSA. They ALSO grow a variety of seeds on seed contracts for seed companies. Adrianna and Joelene explain how they've integrated commercial seed saving into the market garden, how they got started with their first contract, and why they like contracts for selling seeds.

Follow Empowered Flowers on Instagram

Check out the Empowered Flowers website

Mentioned in the show...

Wild Garden Seeds, where they learned how to save seeds

The Winnow Wizard, the machine they use to process seeds

Follow Dan Brisebois on Instagram

Check out Dan's blog Going to Seed

See where Dan farms cooperatively at Tourne-Sol Cooperative Farm

The Seed Growers Podcast is made possible by...

The Organic Seed Alliance, a US-based nonprofit that advances ethical seed solutions to meet food and farming needs in a changing world. Join the community at organicseedcommons.org

The Bauta Family Initiative on Canadian Seed Security, producers of the Seed Heads Podcast, works in partnership with organic and agro-ecological seed producers and farmers to advance agricultural biodiversity across Canada.

and No-Till Growers. Check out some of our other podcasts and the No-Till Growers YouTube channel with over 400 videos, order a copy of The Living Soil Handbook, and sustain our mission of keeping our work free for growers everywhere by supporting it on Patreon.