The Farmer's Share

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Today’s episode comes to you from Middlebury Vermont where we visit with Spencer Blackwell of Elmer Farm. He’s been growing for 30 years and built this property up from a homestead to a CSA & wholesale vegetable farming growing crops on over 7 acres. We start off with a tour checking out the wash and pack area, then hop in the truck during this rainy November day to take a look at the fields and various equipment. After that we pull up a seat in the boiler room of their greenhouse and dig deeper into Spencer's farming history to learn how he’s built the business it is today. 

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Visit the website to see photos/videos from the visit: https://thefarmersshare.com
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Today's episode comes to you from Post Mills Vermont where we visit with Tim and Janet Taylor of Crossroad Farm. They are recently retired from a 40+year farming career growing over 50 acres and 20 greenhouses of diversified vegetables. What started out as a garden turned into a business that was able to be sold and retired off from. The first half of this episode goes into their history of building things up, and the second half goes a little deeper to how they managed to keep it sustainable. 

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Visit the website to see photos/videos from the visit: https://thefarmersshare.com
Follow the show on Facebook and Instagram: @thefarmersshare
Subscribe to the YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@thefarmersshare

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Today’s episode comes to you from the editor's desk. Farmer’s are busy during peak harvest season so in this episode your host, Andy Chamberlin provides a bit of background information on himself, his career, life and reflects on how hard a career in farming is. 

This one is short, and interviews with the experts will resume again shortly in the fall. Thanks for tuning in. 

Support the Show.

Visit the website to see photos/videos from the visit: https://thefarmersshare.com
Follow the show on Facebook and Instagram: @thefarmersshare
Subscribe to the YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@thefarmersshare

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Today's episode comes to you from Ely Vermont where we visit with Jake Guest of Killdeer Farm. Like many interviews we start with a tour around the farm where we visit his perfectly rectangular fields in sandy soil where he grows carrots and cilantro and spinach. Jake shares a bit about cover cropping, cultivation, and dealing with oak leaf goosefoot. After that we get out of the 90° heat and sit around the kitchen table to learn a little bit about how he got started farming, and what he recommends for new or young farmers facing today’s farming challenges. Jake has a long history in the Vermont agricultural space, and helped craft the organic movement, and is actively involved in the real organic project, we ran out of time to really discuss all the avenues that his farming life has taken him and I'll have to revisit with him to share more of this interesting history but I hope you enjoy this episode of The Farmer's Share. 

Support the show

Visit the website to see photos/videos from the visit: https://thefarmersshare.com
Follow the show on Facebook and Instagram: @thefarmersshare
Subscribe to the YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@thefarmersshare

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Today’s episode comes to you from Shaftsbury Vermont, where we visit with Lisa McDougall of Mighty Food Farm. We start off the episode with a tour through her seven greenhouses and glance at some of the equipment that she’s using to farm over 14 acres of vegetables. We then pull up a stool in the greenhouse and have a deeper conversation about how she got started farming, And what she’s done to maintain employees and customers and run a business for over 18 years.

Support the show

Visit the website to see photos/videos from the visit: https://thefarmersshare.com
Follow the show on Facebook and Instagram: @thefarmersshare
Subscribe to the YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@thefarmersshare

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Today’s Episode comes to you from Danville Vermont where we visit with Jacob Mills of McDonald Farm Stand. We start off the show with a tour of a newly built 30x40 wash/pack space. Then continue through several high tunnels and talk about spinach, tomatoes, tulips and more. We talk about field production as well and wrap the episode with a brief tour of his sugarhouse before they started to boil for the evening. 

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Visit the website to see photos/videos from the visit: https://thefarmersshare.com
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Today’s episode comes to you from Charlotte Vermont, where we visit with Adam Hausmann and Jessica Sanford of Adam’s Berry Farm. Today’s visit is part 2. The previous episode was a farm tour and a field walk through the berry plants, high tunnels and barn. This episode shares the growing practices, farming history, and steps towards the development of this farm business. 

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Visit the website to see photos/videos from the visit: https://thefarmersshare.com
Follow the show on Facebook and Instagram: @thefarmersshare
Subscribe to the YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@thefarmersshare

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Today’s episode comes to you from Charlotte Vermont, where we visit with Adam Hausmann and Jessica Sanford of Adams Berry Farm. Our visit today will be split into two episodes, the first one, is a walking tour of his blueberry fields, and strawberry patches, and raspberry plantings. We step inside the high tunnels to look at the fruit in there, as well as the barn which houses a kitchen, farm stand, and packing equipment. This visit had a bit of snow along the tree line, so if you hear a crunch at times that's why. The next episode will highlight how they got started farming, and built their farm up over the last 20 or so years, and we get into why they chose the farming practices they did. 

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Visit the website to see photos/videos from the visit: https://thefarmersshare.com
Follow the show on Facebook and Instagram: @thefarmersshare
Subscribe to the YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@thefarmersshare

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Today’s episode comes to you from Lancaster County Pennsylvania in a town called Lititz, where we visit John and Peter Shenk of Shenk’s Berry Farm. While their farm may not ring a bell, you may have seen these guys at a trade show or recognize their side business especially if you are into strawberries as they also run the company of Hillside Cultivator.  

John and Peter take me around their farm in early February and share their experiences growing strawberries for over 40 years. With that we get into the details of: Varieties, weed control, plasticulture vs. matted row, irrigation, weather patterns, climate change and disease. The 2nd half of the conversation covers the topics of:

• No till pumpkins
• Cover crops
• Running a cultivator business on the side of a family farm
• Black raspberries
• The space between certified organic and conventional practices
• And General lessons learned and key principles of maintaining a sustainable farm business. 

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Visit the website to see photos/videos from the visit: https://thefarmersshare.com
Follow the show on Facebook and Instagram: @thefarmersshare
Subscribe to the YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@thefarmersshare

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Today’s episode comes to you from Plainfield, New Hampshire where we visit with Pooh Sprague of Edgewater Farm. This episode is a bit of a ramble as a 50 year career in farming is expected to be! That being said in this episode Pooh Shares:

• How he got started in the early 70’s
• Selling bedding plants
• Labor challenges 
• 100 acres, over 30 high tunnels, 7 H2A
• Tracking water usage
• FSMA Produce Safety Rule
• Climate Change 
• Resilience
• Soil stewardship
• Farm transition
• Knowing your market
• Not being organic
• Strawberries
• No-Till and cover crops

Support the show

Visit the website to see photos/videos from the visit: https://thefarmersshare.com
Follow the show on Facebook and Instagram: @thefarmersshare
Subscribe to the YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@thefarmersshare