Talkin' Dirt

In this episode of Talkin’ Dirt, I sit down with Veronnaka Evenson, owner of Swanky Roots in Billings, Montana, to explore a style of farming I knew virtually nothing about before visiting her operation—aquaponics.

Swanky Roots is a 30,000-square-foot greenhouse producing hundreds of heads of fresh lettuce every day, year-round, without soil. Instead, the operation relies on a fascinating system of fish tanks, beneficial microbes, and circulating water to provide nutrients to the plants. It's a completely different approach to growing food, and Veronnaka knows the system inside and out.

Veronnaka shares how she and her mother turned an idea into a thriving agricultural business, the challenges of building a greenhouse in Montana, and what it takes to keep an aquaponics operation running. We get into the science behind the system, water conservation, the role of koi fish, and how Swanky Roots gets its lettuce into local grocery stores and restaurants.

We also explore some bigger questions about sustainable agriculture, organic certification, food quality, and the importance of knowing where your food comes from. Can farming without soil offer a different way to produce fresh, local food?

Whether you're familiar with aquaponics or, like me, you're learning about it for the first time, this conversation offers a fascinating look at a farm doing things a little differently.

Learn more about Swanky Roots:

Swanky Roots

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In this episode of Talkin’ Dirt, I sit down with Karissa and Fionna at KinPark Youth Urban Farm in Duncan, British Columbia. Karissa is the farm manager at KinPark, a project of the Cowichan Green Community, and Fionna is one of the local young people involved with the farm.

KinPark is about a whole lot more than growing vegetables. The farm provides opportunities for young people to gain hands on experience in agriculture, learn where their food comes from, and develop skills while contributing to something meaningful in their community. It's also a place that brings people together through local food production, education, and community involvement.

Karissa shares the vision behind KinPark, how the farm operates, and why connecting young people with agriculture is such an important part of its mission. Fionna offers her own perspective on what it's like to be involved, what she's learning, and what the experience has meant to her.

As a teacher myself, I especially appreciated this conversation. There's something incredibly valuable about giving young people opportunities to get outside, work with their hands, and develop a connection to the land and the food they eat.

Learn more:

Cowichan Green Community: https://cowichangreencommunity.org/

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In this episode of Talkin’ Dirt, I sit down with John and Katy Ehrlich at Alderlea Farm in Duncan, British Columbia. For more than 20 years, they’ve been growing vegetables on their 10-acre farm, running a CSA, and building a community around local food. Right on the property is the Alderlea Farm Cafe, where food grown on the farm makes its way directly onto the menu.

John and I get into biodynamic agriculture and some of the ideas that have shaped the way he farms. We talk about Rudolf Steiner, burying manure in cow horns, planting with lunar cycles, biodynamic preparations, soil health, pest management, and the importance John places on simply observing what’s happening on the farm.

Katy also shares the struggle they’re facing over agricultural water access in the Cowichan Valley. We talk about water licensing, restrictions on farmers, the decisions being made around water use, and the larger questions those decisions raise about local agriculture and food security.

It’s a conversation about looking at a farm as a living system, paying attention to the land, and what it takes to keep a small farm viable when some of the biggest challenges are coming from outside the farm itself.

Alderlea Farm & Cafe: alderleafarm.com

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In this episode of Talkin’ Dirt, I sit down with Flo and his dad, Speedy, from Speedy & Flo’s Sweet Corn in Hardin, Montana.

Speedy came to the United States from Mexico in the late 1970s and has spent most of his life working in agriculture. What started with a few acres of sweet corn has grown into a family operation with around 50 acres of corn, a greenhouse, vegetables, flowers, and three generations of the family involved.

We talk about Speedy’s journey from Mexico to Montana, how the sweet corn operation grew, and what it takes to plant, harvest, and sell that much corn during a short Montana growing season. Flo and Speedy explain how they stagger their planting to keep fresh corn coming throughout the summer, load up their vans, and sell directly to customers across the area, including plenty of regulars who wait for Speedy & Flo’s corn every year.

We also get into working alongside family, dealing with hail and unpredictable weather, their approach to pesticides and pests, and why they still love farming despite the long days and hard work. Speedy’s story also leads us into a conversation about immigration, agricultural labor, and how the process of coming to the United States has changed since his own experience decades ago.

Speedy & Flo’s Sweet Corn: https://www.speedyandflosweetcorn.com/

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In this episode of Talkin’ Dirt, I sit down with Aimee from Full Bushel Farm in Montana’s Bitterroot Valley. Aimee didn’t grow up farming, but after finding her way into working with plants, she discovered she had a knack for growing things and eventually decided to turn that into a farm of her own.

We talk about how Aimee got started growing flowers, what it was like building a business on rented land, and some of the challenges that came with trying to figure out flower farming as she went. We also get into the commercial flower industry, why locally grown flowers are so different from the bouquets most of us see at the grocery store, and what goes into growing and selling flowers on a small scale.

Full Bushel is about more than flowers. Aimee also raises dairy cows, chickens, ducks, turkeys and goats, and we talk about the ways she’s trying to connect all of those pieces through composting, food scraps and other waste streams that can be put back to work on the farm.

We also get into the importance of local agriculture, what Aimee sees for the future of small farms, and why a certain amount of optimism might just be necessary if you’re going to make a living planting things in the dirt.

If you enjoy the show, follow Talkin’ Dirt and leave a rating or review wherever you listen. It’s one of the easiest ways to help more people find the podcast.

Learn more about Full Bushel Farm:
https://fullbushelfarm.com

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In this episode of Talkin’ Dirt, I sit down with Jennifer and Scott Beddard, former owners of Beddard Berry Farm in Washington’s Yakima Valley.

Jennifer and Scott share the story of building their berry farm from the ground up, learning as they went, raising a family alongside the farm, and eventually making the difficult decision to close the operation.

From there, we dive into a side of agriculture most people rarely get to see: commercial pollination. Jennifer and Scott spent years working with fruit growers throughout the region, collecting blossoms, extracting and testing pollen, and helping orchardists make sure their trees actually produced a crop. We talk about the surprisingly complicated science behind pollination, why different varieties of fruit trees depend on one another, and just how much can go wrong during the short window when an orchard is in bloom.

After selling their commercial pollination business, Jennifer and Scott found another way to put all of that experience to use. They started PollenPro, where they now provide small quantities of commercial-grade fruit tree pollen specifically for backyard growers. Toward the end of the episode, we talk about how that idea came together and how home growers can use supplemental pollen to help get fruit from trees that might otherwise struggle with pollination.

Learn more about PollenPro and their pollen for backyard fruit trees here:
https://www.pollenpro.com/

We also zoom out and talk about what Jennifer and Scott have witnessed happening in agriculture around the Yakima Valley; the challenges facing smaller farms, the increasing pressure from larger operations, and what it takes to make a living in farming today.

It’s a conversation about starting a small farm, walking away from it, finding a different place within agriculture, and seeing firsthand just how complicated the system behind our food really is.

If you enjoy Talkin’ Dirt, follow the show, leave a rating or review, and share this episode with somebody who might enjoy it. Every little bit of support helps more people find these conversations.

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In this episode of Talkin’ Dirt, I sit down with Pete Temrowski of Full Heart Farm, a one-acre farm in Carnation, Washington.

Pete’s path to farming took him from growing plants as a kid in Atlanta, to working in the cannabis industry, to eventually starting a farm of his own in the Snoqualmie Valley. Today, he’s building Full Heart slowly and intentionally, growing vegetables, herbs, flowers and perennial crops while experimenting with seed saving, composting, low-till practices and ways to improve the health of his soil.

We talk about what it actually takes to start a small farm with limited resources, the importance of community among local farmers, why Pete has become so interested in saving and adapting seeds, and the realities of trying to make a living on a one-acre operation.

Pete is refreshingly realistic about what he’s building. He’d love to farm full time someday, but he also recognizes that farming may always be something he does alongside other work. For him, it’s less about getting big and more about growing good food, feeding his family and community, and getting to spend his life working with plants.

This is a great conversation about small-scale farming, soil, seeds, community, and simply doing something because you love it.

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In this episode of Talkin' Dirt, I sit down with Graham Redfern, founder of Redfern Hemp, and Joe Domino, the company's research director. Graham's path into agriculture wasn't a traditional one. After careers in construction and banking, he became convinced that industrial hemp had the potential to transform everything from building materials and textiles to wellness products and sustainable manufacturing. What followed was years of farming, research, product development, and advocacy as Redfern Hemp grew into one of Virginia's leading hemp companies.

Our conversation begins with the story of how Redfern Hemp came to be but quickly expands into the complex regulatory landscape surrounding hemp production in the United States. Virgina's laws regarding hemp are changing on August 15th of this year. Graham and Joe explain how Virginia's changing hemp laws are reshaping their business, why full-spectrum hemp products have become the center of a growing legal debate, and what it's like trying to build a company when the rules governing your industry continue to evolve. Along the way, we discuss the promise of industrial hemp, the realities of running a vertically integrated agricultural business, and the practical challenges facing farmers trying to invest in an uncertain future.

More broadly, this conversation explores a question that reaches far beyond hemp: What happens when regulation becomes one of the defining forces shaping an agricultural industry? We talk about the relationship between public policy and innovation, the growing cost of regulatory compliance, and whether changing rules unintentionally make it harder for small producers to compete. Regardless of where you land on the issues discussed, this episode offers a thoughtful look at how agriculture, entrepreneurship, and government policy intersect—and why those conversations matter for the future of farming.

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In this episode of Talkin' Dirt, I sit down with Jay Hayward, owner of Hayward Garlic in Montana's Bitterroot Valley. Jay has built one of the country's leading seed garlic businesses, but his path into farming wasn't exactly a straight one.

Jay shares how studying behavioral psychology, working in agricultural technology, and recruiting for manufacturing companies eventually led him back to the farm. We talk about what it takes to build a specialty crop business, the realities of marketing as a small farmer, garlic genetics, soil health, and what the label "organic" really means.

We also discuss hydroponics, consumer food choices, and some of the assumptions many of us have about modern agriculture. Toward the end of the conversation, Jay shares some of the research behind the book he's writing on the controversy surrounding cows and climate change and why he believes it's a conversation worth taking a closer look at.

This is a thoughtful conversation about farming, science, and questioning conventional wisdom.

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This week on Talkin' Dirt, I sit down with Steve Jones of Colossal Orchards in Selah, Washington. Steve's journey into chestnuts began almost by accident when a friend suggested they give the crop a try. More than 35 years later, that small side project has grown into one of the Pacific Northwest's largest chestnut operations.

Our conversation explores what it takes to build an orchard designed to last generations. Steve shares the challenges of establishing a crop that can take years to produce meaningful yields, the realities of marketing a niche product, and the long-term thinking required when planting trees that may outlive the person who planted them.

Along the way, we discuss the fascinating history of the American chestnut and the devastating blight that transformed forests across Appalachia. We also dive into some of the bigger forces shaping modern agriculture, including water rights in the American West, rising labor costs, agricultural consolidation, global commodity markets, and why one of the greatest strengths of American agriculture may also be one of its greatest challenges.

From chestnut orchards and pollination to drought, trade, and the future of farming, this conversation offers a thoughtful look at the complex systems that shape the food we eat and the people who produce it.

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