Not Only Farmers

Jo’s Links:

Website: ⁠https://www.riseupartisanbread.com/⁠

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

https://www.instagram.com/inferneaux444/

Jo’s Music:  ⁠https://open.spotify.com/artist/0C5VOWs4IB4ZNdJrGGanTt⁠

⁠https://soundcloud.com/inferneaux-1/tag-team⁠

Jo and his wife Rosie started Riseup Bakery in the early 2000’s. Riseup is built on the land of their intentional community Full Bloom, which is 280 acres of forest and meadows, nestled deep in the hills of southern Oregon.

Jo and I travel all over the place during our in-depth discussion today- 

We talk about building community on and off the land, the interesting dynamics of living here in southern Oregon, what it’s like baking over 3000 loaves of bread a week, balancing work life with family life, and music as both a creative and mental health outlet.

We also chat about our collective past throwing some epic parties, and even talk about how Star Wars affects and shapes both of our lives.

Never a dull moment chatting with Jo!

This was a really fun conversation where you get a good inside look of someone who balances living within community and keeping a thriving ‘locally focused’ business going. 

I think you’ll really enjoy this talk. 

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

Kirsten and Christopher's Links

Websites: https://ferment.works/ (Kirsten and Christopher)

https://www.fermentationschool.com/ (Kirsten)

https://www.brittfest.org/ (Christopher)

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

https://www.instagram.com/thefermentationschool/

Hey Everyone, Welcome back to the NOF Podcast!

While making these podcasts and putting together lists of possible future guests- I’ve realized how many amazing people we have involved in agriculture right here where I live in southern Oregon 

Today my conversation is with 2 of those amazing southern Oregon folks- Kirsten and Christopher Shockey. 

(By the way- This was my first in-person podcast- which I hope to do more of in the future.)

Kirsten and Christopher are homesteaders, fermentation specialists, as well as world renowned authors of books on everything fermentation. 

The Shockey’s also happen to live just a few miles from me here in the valley.

I’ve known the Shockey’s for over 20 years- living along the same watershed for 18 of those. It’s really cool watching friends shift and pivot their way through the diverse challenges of making a living off the land and the Shockey’s are no strangers to this. 

Today we talk about their process of realizing they needed to write their first book, figuring out how to get that book published, and then all of the continuing challenges and insights of maintaining momentum as world traveling authors. 

We also talk details on cool trends happening in the world of fermentation, hear some great world traveling stories, get the details of Kirsten’s collectively operated Woman owned online fermentation school, and also just touch base with each other since we actually haven’t seen much of one another over the past 10 years or so. 

It was great catching up with the Shockey’s and I hope you enjoy catching up with them too.

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

My conversation today is with Steve Strasheim of Twisted River Farm in Northern Iowa.

If you’ve ever wondered what a conversation about farming was like between two midwest guys, then this is your episode.

Steve and I are friends from the wild world of Twitter but immediately we had that midwest camaraderie that seems to exist. I’ve never quite figured it out, but as soon as I see someone’s profile that says Iowa or Missouri, I immediately go to “Well obviously I probably know them or at least somebody they know” 

Sometimes that actually is the case, but when it’s not- I still generally hit it off with them pretty quickly. 

Steve and I just jump into our conversation today with very little context about who and what Steve’s up to. I really like the natural flow of these types of conversations- which I hope to do more of- but as far as context I’ll give you a brief heads up about Steve:

He farms a market garden of mixed veggies and cut flowers in a very small community in Northern Iowa. His background before this current career in farming was business management and sales. I think that combo of the two (farming and biz management) really gives a cool perspective on approaching a small business in our modern age. 

Today you’ll hear all the different approaches of marketing they use for their farm, cool relationships Steve has forged with neighbors and nearby community members- all something I guess I’d coin midwest hospitality. We also talk about  his farming learning curve via You Tube, and even get into a little history of his small 150 person town, as well as talking about small town resurgence in general. 

We really hop all over the place in this conversation but this one is genuinely good a chat between two guys that really love farming. I think I even get a little bit of my Missouri drawl back in this one. Let me know if you can hear it. Hahaha.

Hope you all enjoy!

Steve's Links

Website: https://www.twistedriverfarm.com/

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

Twitter: https://twitter.com/TRFyeomanfarmer 

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

Thanks to everyone for the continued support! Keep sharing episodes with family and friends.

This week my conversation is with Gerry Ross of Kupa'a Farms in Maui, Hawaii

Gerry is another person I originally met due to the power of the internet. But in 2018 my family and I met Gerry and his partner Janet in real life when we traveled over to the island for the first time.

I remember pulling up to his farm and immediately could sense the amount of plant life we were surrounded by.

My kids' eyes lit up as Gerry guided us around his tropical farm, handing us various fruits right off the trees to try. Many that I had never even heard of (let alone tried before). And then stopping for a break under the shade trees of his coffee planting, he chatted with us about the entire intricate workings of his whole farm system. My boys would’ve been 10 and 7 at that time, but the experience of being there on the ground of that farm has stuck with them ever since. 

Today you’ll hear Gerry and I talk about the backstory of ending up in Maui, his journey of figuring out what crops to grow, and what would actually grow there, and learn about his trifecta of exotic crops (well at least exotic for a mainlander like myself)-namely coffee, cacao, and vanilla. 

We also talk about their experience running a CSA for a very long continuous run, my favorite topic- composting everything, and i mean everything, and then round it out with a chat about the importance of good music in a farmer's life. 

Gerry is a treasure trove of wisdom and good vibes.

I think you’ll really enjoy this conversation. 

Gerry's Links

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

Website: https://www.kupaafarms.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

Today’s episode is sponsored by you- the listener- and the cost of sponsorship is listening, telling a friend, sharing an episode, following along on any of the social platforms, and maybe even writing a review.  All of these will help grow the show via word of mouth so I can keep doing the podcast for a long time. 

Each week I look forward to hearing what takeaways you all have from each of these episodes. It’s been super interesting to hear different people’s varying insights- often on similar parts of an episode, with very different perspectives. That’s one of my favorite things about making these. Even after I release an episode- I keep learning. Let’s all keep these conversations going. I really enjoy them. 

This week my conversation is with Ben Saur of Saur Farming at the base of Mt. Hood here in Oregon. 

Ben and I have never met in real life but it feels like we’ve known each other for quite a long time. We’ve been communicating via instagram for 6 or 7 years now and both are avid "likers" of each other’s posts. What a weird concept- "avid likers"…..hahaha 

What I really appreciate most about Ben is his awareness of his limits. In this episode you’ll hear about him pushing those limits but at the end of the day he seems to keep those limits in check. 

Whether that's how he and his wife run their vegetable farm, how he manages his coffee house, works his team of horses, or even plays a gig with his band. The underlying takeaway theme I see is an inner-balance check to what he wants vs. what he needs. His intentionality is very (as you’ll hear me say several times in the episode) commendable and his insights have given way to me having more questions than answers, so I’ll definitely have him on the podcast again in the future. 

Enjoy the episode!

Ben Saur’s Links

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

Website: http://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

Hey Everyone! Welcome back to the Not Only Farmers Podcast.

Today is Episode #2

Thanks for all the great feedback from Episode #1. I feel like the podcast is off to a great start. I’m starting the podcast with people/ farmers I know, and then over the coming months I’ll be branching out into other realms supporting the world of agriculture- I call it farmer adjacent. I’ll always be talking with farmers but I think it’s super important to hear from everyone making agriculture tick. 

If you have recommendations of people I should chat with, send me a message and let me know. And also if you can give us a follow and share with friends and family- I would really appreciate it. The one version of organic reach we still have available is “Word of Mouth”.  I will be using that as much as possible as we build momentum with the show. 

Today I’m chatting with Beth from Even Pull Farm.

Beth is one of those owner/operators that’s truly in the trenches of farming on the daily. Small farms kind of mandate owner/operators. This has its advantages and disadvantages. I think you’ll be able to pull out examples of both in our conversation. 

I’ve always respected how openly she wears the reality of farming and her individual business journey on her sleeve. And she generally does it with humor and humility at the forefront of her emotional meter. 

Beth knows that farming is really hard work, accepts that fact, and figures out how to roll with it regardless. This takes some serious tenacity, lots of consistency, and something all of us farmers share- a small sliver of crazy too. I say that with the utmost respect.  :)

In our conversation Beth has some really great insights on how they’ve gotten to the place they are now, how someone might go about finding land to start farming on, what styles of farming and marketing has and hasn’t worked for them, what lessons they learned during covid, the big L word known as Labor/Employees, what she does to keep herself sane on a daily basis, and much much more.

Beth Satterwhite's Links:

Even Pull Website- http://www.evenpullfarm.com/

Even Pull Instagram- https://www.instagram.com/evenpullfarm/

Not Only Farmers Links

Instagram: https://instagram.com/notonlyfarmerspodcast

Twitter: https://twitter.com/notonlyfarmers

Chris Jagger's Links

Instagram: https://instagram.com/bluefoxfarm

Hey Everyone, this is Chris Jagger from Blue Fox Farm.

Welcome to the first episode of the Not Only Farmers Podcast!

I'm starting on this journey with this idea of a podcast and I think, eventually, some sort of agricultural network. Not sure yet honestly.

Throughout the upcoming episodes, I’ll be experimenting with the style and approach of the podcast until I find my footing.

That’s the fun with creating something with very few rules, you can test and see what works and make changes where necessary.

I’m realizing it’s very similar to farming- not many rules. Adapt to your own personality and tastes. 

This week’s episode is with an old friend and Blue Fox Farm alumni, Tyler Stowers. 

Tyler has been farming for over a decade and has experienced all aspects of food and food production. 

Whether working in a high end restaurant, working in the vegetable fields, harvesting livestock, or smashing burgers on a backyard grill, Tyler has been in the trenches- repeatedly pushing his comfort zones and continuously learning what does and doesn’t work in an agricultural enterprise. 

I respect Tyler for his perseverance and grind to figure out what makes sense on his quest for agricultural knowledge. 

What I respect even more, is his ability to keep philosophical questioning and insight at the forefront of his thinking throughout the rigorous grind of farming. 

That questioning and introspectiveness makes for some great stories. And real honesty about who he is.

I always have a great time chatting with Tyler. I hope you enjoy.

Tyler Stower's Links

Instagram: https://instagram.com/tyler_grows

Not Only Farmers Links

Instagram: https://instagram.com/notonlyfarmerspodcast

Twitter: https://twitter.com/notonlyfarmers

Chris Jagger's Links

Instagram: https://instagram.com/bluefoxfarm