Not Only Farmers

Matthew's Links:

Website: https://www.wildeverlasting.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theorganicinspector/ (Matthew)

https://www.instagram.com/beekeepingbotanist/ (Fonta)

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/wildeverlastingfarm

This week’s conversation is with Matthew Molyneaux

As long as I’ve known Matthew he’s always been busy with his hands in the soil while also helping guide organic farmers through the somewhat tedious task of organic inspections. 

I’m really glad we finally found a moment to catch up and talk about his orchards on his homestead along the Row River in Oregon and the cool work his wife Fonta is doing with beekeeping and education on bees and herbalism.

We also talk about the challenges of balancing farm/homestead life with working off farm- traveling as a full time inspector. 

Digging into the nuances of being an organic inspector, especially in the world of organic dairies, we talk about some of the stories of farmers that he’s interacted with over the years while inspecting and discuss the challenges farmers face as the looming concept of “Get big or get out” hangs overhead. 

I really enjoyed hearing some of Matthew’s philosophical takes on farming and life, and glad to hear about his self realization of needing to take up a hobby. 

Work/Life balance is real my dear farmers.

Enjoy the conversation!

Tom & Bridie's Links:

Website: http://kinsfolkfarm.com.au/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kinsfolk_farm/

Home Harvest Pocket Card Gardening Guide: http://kinsfolkfarm.com.au/home-harvest

This week’s conversation is with Bridie Cotter & Tom Gaunt of Kinsfolk Farm in the Surf Coast region of Victoria Australia

I first came across their farm via instagram and was immediately drawn to their vibrant produce and tidy fields and then saw they had made these really cool pocket card guides to growing your own produce at home.

I had to find out more about what they were up to. 

As you’ll hear today, I’m super impressed by their strong work ethic paired with focused boundary setting in the work/life balance category. They are faced with all the same challenges that other farmers face, but really seem to have a good grip on how to power through those challenges. 

They also aren’t afraid to try new methodologies in their approaches to growing great produce for their community.

Another great conversion, this time with folks half way around the world. The internet is pretty cool for connections like this.

Not Only Farmers Links

Instagram: https://instagram.com/notonlyfarmerspodcast

Twitter: https://twitter.com/notonlyfarmers

Chris Jagger's Links

Instagram: https://instagram.com/bluefoxfarm

Podcast and Video Editing by Chris Jagger and Render Bender Productions

Render Bender Productions: 

https://www.youtube.com/@RenderBenderProductions

Bryant's Links:

Website:

https://www.soildoctorconsulting.com/

Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/soil_doctor/

This week’s conversation is with Bryant Mason.

Bryant owns and operates Soil Doctor Consulting focusing on soil and crop mineral nutrition.

He also has started an orchard of 1000 peach trees on the western slope of Colorado.

Bryant and I have worked together for several years tackling my farm’s soil tests as well as the tests of my Agricultural Consulting company’s customers. 

Today we get to catch up on topics outside of our normal talk about soil tests and soil fertility problem solving. 

We chat about the future of farming, growing peaches in a small town in Colorado, the wacky nature of social media, balancing work and family life, and we actually do talk a little bit of soil science and growing insights. 

Another fun conversation with someone pushing the needle forward in agriculture. 

Hope you all enjoy!

Not Only Farmers Links

Instagram: https://instagram.com/notonlyfarmerspodcast

Twitter: https://twitter.com/notonlyfarmers

Chris Jagger's Links

Instagram: https://instagram.com/bluefoxfarm

Podcast and Video Editing by Chris Jagger and Render Bender Productions

Render Bender Productions: https://www.youtube.com/@RenderBenderProductions

Zach's Links:

https://www.zachloeks.com/

https://www.instagram.com/zachloeks/

https://www.youtube.com/@EcosystemU

https://twitter.com/LoeksZach

Zach's Books can be found here:

https://www.zachloeks.com/books

Hey Everyone Welcome back to the Not Only Farmers Podcast

Today is episode #14

This week’s conversation is with Zach Loeks

Zach really nails the Not Only Farmers namesake: he’s a farmer, an author, a designer, an educator, an artist, and as you’ll hear he’s now also a walker- a walker???

Check the episode to hear more on that. 

It was really great to catch up with Zach, we had a good time waxing poetic about agriculture and edible landscapes but honestly the entire episode has some real gems throughout. 

I’ve listened to it a few times now and pull something new out each time.  Zach has a very eloquent and practical way of describing what humans need to rekindle their relationships with their communities and their food system.

This is a good one, so settle in, get your headphones or soundsystem on lock, if you’re driving set that cruise control, and enjoy the episode. 

Not Only Farmers Links

Instagram: https://instagram.com/notonlyfarmerspodcast

Twitter: https://twitter.com/notonlyfarmers

Chris Jagger's Links

Instagram: https://instagram.com/bluefoxfarm

Podcast and Video Editing by Chris Jagger and Render Bender Productions

Render Bender Productions: https://www.youtube.com/@RenderBenderProductions

Sean and Maggie's Links:

Website: https://www.tfmarketgarden.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/terrafloramarketgarden/

Japan Agri-Trading Promo Code for Minoru Seeder: TERRAFLORA

I’m finally back with another episode!

Sorry for the delay I had a few technical snafus to take care of but that’s resolved so I’ll be in the saddle making more episodes for the foreseeable future.

This weeks conversation is with Maggie and Sean Simpson-Young from Terra Flora Farm in Norwood North Carolina.

Sean and Maggie are in their second season running their own diversified vegetable farm after working on other farms to gain their base knowledge

I really love hearing stories of beginning farmers and what new approaches they have to make it in this wild world of agriculture. 

Today we chat about how they ended up on the land where they’re farming- which has a really cool land stewardship model that I think we’ll see more of in the future, we talk about the various experiences of living in rural communities, the power of online social relationships for young farmers and then we jump into their experiences with trying to farm as efficiently as possible (and some of the cool specialized tools they use from Japan).

We also chat about the ins and outs of various types of marketing of their produce, to certify or not certify, and then dig to learn more about one of their diversified income streams- roasting their own coffee- and the impact and effect they can have on helping coffee growers in different parts of the world. 

A super fun conversation with the 3 of us farmers that had just finished our respective days in the field- that always adds to a level of fun, honesty, and even a little cynicism. 

I think you all will enjoy this one. 

Not Only Farmers Links

Instagram: https://instagram.com/notonlyfarmerspodcast

Twitter: https://twitter.com/notonlyfarmers

Chris Jagger's Links

Instagram: https://instagram.com/bluefoxfarm

Podcast and Video Editing by Chris Jagger and Render Bender Productions

Render Bender Productions: https://www.youtube.com/@RenderBenderProductions

Marc Angelo's Links:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/marcangelocoppola/?hl=en

https://www.instagram.com/valhallamovement/?hl=en

Website: https://fermesvalhallafarms.com/

Marc Angelo is a farmer, story teller, and entrepreneur.

For more than a decade he has been starting businesses, helping others with marketing and social media growth within their own businesses, all while building his farm from the ground up. 

Now as his farm is maturing into an organism able to stand on its own, he’s focusing more of his time on keeping the farm running as well as opening up opportunities for others to create their own enterprises on the farm. 

It’s a really cool community based model that I’m sure we’ll see more examples of in the coming years. 

This is another great episode of people that are Not Only Farmers, doing great things to build better communities. I think you’ll really enjoy this one. 

This Episode is Dedicated to my good friend and mentor Dr. Paul Lee:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Lee_(environmentalist)

He was the one that showed me how to unleash the Garden in my Mind. And then cultivate one on Earth.

This week Ben Saur (from Episode #3) interviews me to find out how I started farming and what I've been up to the last 20+ years.

It was super fun, and Ben did a great job!

Thanks Ben! (www.saurfarming.com)

Not Only Farmers Links

Instagram: https://instagram.com/notonlyfarmerspodcast

Twitter: https://twitter.com/notonlyfarmers

Chris Jagger's Links

Instagram: https://instagram.com/bluefoxfarm

Podcast and Video Editing by Chris Jagger and Render Bender Productions

Render Bender Productions: https://www.youtube.com/@RenderBenderProductions

Lane's Links:

Website- https://www.culinarybreedingnetwork.com/

Instagram- https://www.instagram.com/culinarybreedingnetwork/

Etsy- https://www.etsy.com/shop/CulinaryBreedingNet

This week's episode is with Lane Selman. Lane grew up on a citrus farm her Sicilian great-grandparents planted in 1919 on Florida's space coast. She studied Agronomy (BS) and Entomology (MS) at University of Florida before moving to Oregon in 2000.

Lane is a Professor of Practice at Oregon State University where she has worked with organic vegetable and grain farmers, managed collaborative research projects, and planned outreach events for over 15 years. In 2011, Lane created the Culinary Breeding Network to build communities of plant breeders, seed growers, farmers, produce buyers, chefs and other stakeholders to improve quality in vegetables and grains.

Lane’s work has been featured in Food & Wine, The Wall Street Journal, Civil Eats, Food Tank, The New York Times, Eating Well and other media outlets. She was #19 of the Saveur 100 in 2020. Lane was the recipient of the Award of Excellence for Organic Advocate by the Oregon Organic Coalition in 2016. She currently serves on the Portland-Bologna Sister City Association and Society of Organic Seed Professionals boards. Lane lives in Portland, Oregon.

Sam's Links:

Website- https://movebetterproject.com/

Youtube- https://www.youtube.com/@MoveBetterProject

Twitter- https://twitter.com/movebettersam

This week’s episode is with Sam Martin. Sam is a Doctor of Physical Therapy that wants us to 'Move Better'.

His “Move Better Project” is a great first step in doing so.

Many of us forget that proper movement and mobility in our daily lives is super important. In all of my years of farming I rarely focused on or made time for proper movement in the fields as I was working and often got stuck sitting at a desk doing paperwork or other static tasks.  

There’s the the old saying, “If you don’t move it you lose it”. As I’ve gotten older (something we all do) I realize this more and more. 

Today, Sam and I talk about basic definitions of mobility, what we can do to keep that mobility in check, and touch on some ideas for folks to start exploring their own mobility. 

This is one of those episodes that I hope is a catalyst to get people thinking about movement in their daily lives. It’s also a topic that is best explored through actual movements so I highly recommend checking out Sam’s Youtube Channel as a place to start.

You’ll be amazed what doors open for you once you start keeping your mobility in check.

Not Only Farmers Links

Instagram: https://instagram.com/notonlyfarmerspodcast

Twitter: https://twitter.com/notonlyfarmers

Chris Jagger's Links

Instagram: https://instagram.com/bluefoxfarm

Podcast and Video Editing by Chris Jagger and Render Bender Productions

Render Bender Productions: https://www.youtube.com/@RenderBenderProductions

Ainsley's Links:

Website: https://www.ainsleymoir.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ainsleymoir/

This week’s episode is with Ainsley Moir. Ainsley is a packaged food and beverage expert who helps people start, audit, and grow their value added products into thriving brands. Whether that’s direct to consumer or direct to wholesaler, Ainsley has seen it all and can help brands out. 

I worked with Ainsley when I first started our hot sauce brand and she helped me organize my thoughts around creating a roadmap for finding success. This time I reached out to Ainsley for a brainstorming session around packaged goods and how that might apply to an agricultural enterprise looking to diversify their income streams.

As I put together new episodes of the podcast I keep creating with the question “What resources can I offer to help folks in agriculture be more successful?” I think this world of value added products is often a big unknown for many folks. 

I hope this brainstorming session acts as a catalyst for others to take a deeper dive into whether a packaged good or other similar product can help their ag based enterprise become more successful. 

Ainsley and I hop around topics today talking about the current state of value added products, online vs. brick & mortar sales, the need for smaller curated distributors, brand design and growth, as well as some examples of people already dipping their toes in this world. 

As always, please message me with any ideas for future episodes as well as how we might expand on episodes like this one today. 

Let me know what you think and enjoy today’s episode.

Not Only Farmers Links

Instagram: https://instagram.com/notonlyfarmerspodcast

Twitter: https://twitter.com/notonlyfarmers

Chris Jagger's Links

Instagram: https://instagram.com/bluefoxfarm

Podcast and Video Editing by Chris Jagger and Render Bender Productions

Render Bender Productions: https://www.youtube.com/@RenderBenderProductions