The Ruminant: Audio Candy for Farmers, Gardeners and Food Lovers

Krista M. Rome runs a website called Backyard Beans and Grains, and has published a great manual on selecting, growing, processing and storing various legumes and grains, with a focus on small-scale production. 

From her website: The Backyard Beans and Grains Project (BBGP) was started in 2008 as a response to the challenge of incorporating locally-grown staple foods into the diet. Whatcom County (and Western Washington in general) produces a large variety of vegetables, berries, dairy products, and to a lesser degree, fruits, fish and meat. The missing element, especially for vegetarians, those on low income, or those with dairy allergies, is a variety of storable, high-quality vegetable protein sources, i.e. dry legumes and grains.

Our research is conducted for the benefit of all regional farmers and gardeners who wish to grow dry beans and grains. We record detailed information about varieties, plant spacing, dates, labor inputs, yields, harvesting and threshing techniques, seed-saving, and storage.  

We have self-published an instruction manual, entitled "Growing Dry Beans & Grains in the Pacific Northwest", which contains information on growing, harvesting, and processing dry legumes and grains tailored specifically for Pacific Northwest growers.

In this episode, Krista takes me through the ins and outs of growing legumes and grains on a super small scale.

This epsisode features a recent presenation by Matt Gomez, founder of Soilmate, a new website that aims to connect eaters with the local farms, wineries, and farmers' markets. 

Matt gave this presentation to a group of young farmers at an event in Kelowna, BC in March of 2014. He's got an impressive pedigree as a digital marketer and passes on a lot of practical advice for making the most of your farm's website, social media accounts, and email newsletters. 

This episode: listen to a panel of farmers experienced with hosting apprentices discuss some of the most common challenges and problems that arise when offering farm apprenticeships. Panel members share their strategies for minimizing conflicts, offering a good farming education, and keeping apprentices happy and motivated from start to finish. This panel took place at the 2014 Certified Organic Association of British Columbia annual conference.

This episode features part one of my conversation with veggie grower Chris Bodnar of Close to Home Organics in Abbotsford, BC. 

In this segment, Chris tells me about his background, his partnership with another farmer when he first started out, and about the cooperatively-owned farm on which he works and lives.

Chris shares advice about negotiating and managing farm partnerships and explains how this particular cooperative was initiated, how it works, and the yearly costs of working and living there.