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 Elizabeth Keen and her husband Al have been farming at Indian Line Farm in Great Barrington, MA for over 25 years. After taking a sabbatical in 2016, they had the realization that after 10-15 years “just running the farm” it was time that some things needed to change to make the farm more sustainable in their next phase of life. The upgrades to the farm included the purchase of a delivery van, a 30’x96’ hoop house, and replacing the 6-wire high tensile electric fence with an 8’ fence to keep the deer out. Additionally, Elizabeth decided it was time to make some improvements to the post-harvest area on the farm.  

This podcast gives a tour of the barn upgrades and the conversation is mostly led by my colleague Chris Callahan of the University of Vermont Extension. This story is also shared as a full postharvest case study on our blog. So if you want to see photos or a video from this visit make sure to visit https://go.uvm.edu/indianline.

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Today’s episode comes to you from Jericho Vermont where we visit with Mark Fasching and Christa Alexander of Jericho Settlers farm. We learn how they grew their farm from selling at their local farmers market, to producing good food year round wholesaling storage crops into Vermont's food system. They share the reasons why they stopped raising livestock and doubled down on veg, as well as reflect on what advice they’d give to themselves starting out, and how that answer would be different for new farmers in today’s age of agriculture. Mark and Christa both share the struggle of managing a business and how they’ve structured that to work together with raising their family. 

Podcast website: https://thefarmersshare.com
Jericho Settlers Farm: http://www.jerichosettlersfarm.com

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Visit the website to see photos/videos from the visit: https://thefarmersshare.com
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This farm visit starts off quickly - literally. Since most of the fields at the home farm are in cover crop this season we jumped on the side by side for a stretched out field tour. After seeing fields of storage crops including onions, potatoes and sweet corn we hop out of the truck and step into the barn where I asked Justin about how he got into farming, what fulfills him in this career and advice he’d give for those just starting out. He describes how he's structured the business to his personality, and to align with his goals of the farm. We wrap up the episode with a walk past some field equipment and get a tour of the greenhouses that are all a part of wholesaling over 30acres of vegetables. 

Podcast website: https://thefarmersshare.com

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Visit the website to see photos/videos from the visit: https://thefarmersshare.com
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In this episode we’re visiting with Jon Cohen of Deep Meadow Farm where they grow ~50acres of mixed vegetables on the Connecticut river in Ascutney Vermont. 

Our conversation starts off by the farm stand wanders towards the greenhouses before moving to the brassica field. Jon shares what he likes and dislikes about the wizard vacuum seeder and reflects on his career as a farmer.

https://deepmeadowfarm.net/

Visit the podcast website to see photos from the farm visit

https://thefarmersshare.com

Watch a highlight video from the farm on YouTube. 

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCVtj1SrchGAe875V8vDoStA

This podcast is supported by the Vermont Vegetable & Berry Growers Association.

https://vvbga.org

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Visit the website to see photos/videos from the visit: https://thefarmersshare.com
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In this episode, we wrap up the series of The Ag Engineering Podcast, reflect on its growth and introduce what the future of the podcast is going to look like.

Ag Engineering Resources:
https://go.uvm.edu/ageng
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In this episode, we visit with Sue Decker  of Blue Star Farm (http://www.bluestarfarmny.com) and get a tour of high tunnels, caterpillar tunnels and wash pack areas on her farm. 

The Ag Engineering podcast is a conversation with small scale fruit and vegetable farmers to discuss tools, tips or techniques to improve the sustainability of your farm. 

Blue Star Farm 

Website: http://www.bluestarfarmny.com/

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

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

Podcast Page: https://agengpodcast.com

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Visit the website to see photos/videos from the visit: https://thefarmersshare.com
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The Ag Engineering podcast is a conversation with small scale fruit and vegetable farmers to discuss tools, tips or techniques to improve the sustainability of your farm. In this episode, we visit with Sue Decker  of Blue Star Farm (http://www.bluestarfarmny.com) to talk about her heated greenhouse benches.

Follow Blue Star Farm 

Website: http://www.bluestarfarmny.com/

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

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

Additional Show Notes: agengpodcast.com

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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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The Ag Engineering podcast is a conversation with small scale fruit and vegetable farmers to discuss tools, tips or techniques to improve the sustainability of your farm. In this episode, we visit with Eli Hersh of Honey Field Farm who shares his experience purchasing this farm, and the challenges faced in order to get the business going. 

Visit the show notes for photos, videos or relevant links at http://agengpodcast.com

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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The Ag Engineering podcast is a conversation with small scale fruit and vegetable farmers to discuss tools, tips or techniques to improve the sustainability of your farm. In this episode, we visit with Eli Hersh of Honey Field Farm (https://honeyfieldfarmvt.com) takes us on a tour of his 12 different greenhouses for their bedding plant, and vegetable start business.

Eli shares his potting soil process, irrigation systems, differences in ventilation and heating. From growing succulents, potted plants, veggie starts and inground tomatoes there are a lot of moving parts in the spring under the tunnels. 

Visit the show notes for photos, videos or relevant links at http://agengpodcast.com

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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The Ag Engineering podcast is a conversation with small scale fruit and vegetable farmers to discuss tools, tips or techniques to improve the sustainability of your farm. In this episode, we get to know Stephen Park of Full Belly Farm in Monkton Vermont who shares his experience starting this farm. 

Visit the show notes for photos, videos or relevant links at http://agengpodcast.com

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