Thanks for joining me in this conversation with Jodi Harris Benoit of White Oak Pastures.

If you’re not already familiar with her family’s farm, be sure to visit their website and learn more about the remarkable work they are doing in sustainable, regenerative and zero waste agriculture. www.whiteoakpastures.com

Jodi and I talk about her area of expertise on the farm - hospitality. Agritourism is a growing industry and it’s a revenue stream that more and more farms are looking to add to their repertoire.

Season Two of the podcast is sponsored by Savannah Hydroponics and Organics, Chelsea Green Publishing and Morning Belle Farms! We're so grateful for our sponsors who make it possible to continue to shed light on the importance of local sustainable food systems! A big thank you also to our Community Builders: Haylards Restaurant Group, Brighter Day and the Sentient Bean for their support!

In today’s episode, I talk with Chef, restaurateur, cookbook author and now host of her own show - Katie Button. We talk about her early influences in cooking, the restaurant that she co-owns with her husband Felix in Asheville - Curate and, of course, her new show on the Magnolia network, From the Source.

I reached out to Katie after I watched the first season of her show because i was drawn to her enthusiasm and really enjoyed the attention that she brought to the people growing and producing the ingredients she loved to cook with. It’s a fun conversation with Katie whose energy is as infectious as her curiosity is compelling.

Katie Button is the JBFA-nominated co-founder and CEO of Asheville, NC’s beloved Cúrate, a collection of restaurants, online marketplace, wine club and culinary journeys designed to create exceptional and experiential access to Spanish culture. Before opening Cúrate Bar de Tapas in 2011 with husband Felix Meana, Katie honed her craft in the kitchens of some of the world’s best chefs. With over a decade of bringing the flavors and culinary traditions of Spain to guests, the Cúrate brand now includes La Bodega by Cúrate, Cúrate Trips, and Cúrate at Home and Cúrate Spanish Wine Club.

You can watch her show on the Magnolia Network or on Discovery plus.

Season Two of the podcast is sponsored by Savannah Hydroponics and Organics, Chelsea Green Publishing and Morning Belle Farms! We're so grateful for our sponsors who make it possible to continue to shed light on the importance of local sustainable food systems! A big thank you also to our Community Builders: Haylards Restaurant Group, Brighter Day and the Sentient Bean for their support!

I got brave and asked former podcast guest Chef Francisco Jimenez to play host for an episode and ask ME a few questions. Most are about Southern Soil and then we get random as usual. Join us for a fun conversation with some behind the scenes looks into Southern Soil and how it all got started along with some of what is happening now. 

We also go off-topic, of course! I always have fun talking with Cisco and I hope you'll enjoy our conversation as much as we did. 

Thanks for joining me on this final episode of season one of this podcast! I’m excited to be joined by Kira King who is also joining Southern Soil as a contributing writer this year. She has a wonderful perspective on homesteading and I think you’ll really this conversation as well as the articles and blogs she has and will be contributing this year!

Be sure to look for Kira's contributions with Southern Soil, but also check out her and her husband, Anthony's website - appropriately named the Homestead Kings - to learn more about their podcast and blog!

I want to take a quick moment to thank our Season One sponsors, Way Green, True Earth and SD Gunner Fund… your support has meant the world to me! I hope those of you listening will take a moment to visit their sites and learn more about these awesome local businesses and organizations.

If you would like to learn more about sponsoring one of our future seasons of this podcast, please contact me today at [email protected]

Hi! Thanks for joining Jenn and I for the second half of our conversation. If you missed part one, each episode can pretty much stand on its own. So, please make sure you go back and listen but you needn’t do that right now!

Jenn Colby is a livestock farmer in Vermont. Her farm is Howling Wolf Farm. She is also a fellow-podcaster who started her podcast Choosing to Farm, at about the same time I started this one.

Our conversation in this episode addresses a number of issues but we spend some time discussing the importance of balancing the true cost of food and farmers receiving a living wage for their work alongside the issue of accessibility to healthy foods for people at all income brackets. I think you’ll appreciate Jenn’s perspective and one of the inventive ways that she, as a farmer, has taken steps to address it within her own community.

If you get something out of this episode, please share it with someone that you think would also enjoy or benefit from it!

Listen to the end and you'll hear some Firefly fan talk (when you know, you KNOW); Nathan Fillion gets a mention (I wonder if he's ever been mentioned in a local food and farming podcast before...) 

We have awesome sponsors, please visit their sites and learn more about the amazing things they do and products they offer!

SD Gunner Fund is an amazing nonprofit that provides service dogs to veterans, children with special needs and first responders.

WayGreen is Southeast Georgia's local food coalition (and a group of super awesome farmers and just generally groovy people).

True Earth Co. is your source for medicine FROM the earth and medicine FOR the earth -  a truly exceptional local farm and business - a great source for high quality CBD oil and turmeric. 

This episode is part one of a two part series with Jenn Colby of Howling Wolf Farm in Vermont.

Vermont? You ask. Yes, Vermont.

I met Jenn online through a course that we are both taking from podcaster Cathy Heller, Your Turn to Podcast. I noticed a response one day on a group chat during the weekly Zoom call and this other person said something about local farmers. So, I jotted her name down and made sure to find her and connect with her, which I did!

In a group of around 400, we are - i believe - the only two who are doing podcasts around local, sustainable farming.

I thought it would be interesting for us to have a conversation and sort of compare notes on what we’ve learned through this process and what things about local food are different and which things are similar when talking about two states that are separated by more than just geography.

Jenn is herself a first generation farmer who, after retiring from her work with Extension offices is now farming full time. She recently launched her podcast, Choosing to Farm (which I highly recommend). She is not only passionate about encouraging more people to farm, but she wants ALL farmers to be able to actually earn a living doing the work they love. Wouldn't that be grand?

If you're enjoying the podcast, please SHARE!

This past weekend, I met up with Durrell Smith who is a passionate bird dog hunter and founder of an organization called Minority Outdoor Alliance.

Durrell was kind enough to take me on my very first hunt period. But specifically, we went wild quail hunting. I wanted to get a taste of that experience and I also wanted to interview Durrell for an article I’m writing.

I apologize for the quality of the audio but I thought it was important to capture this conversation in the moment. We had just finished taking two of his dogs out in search of some quail … we came up empty at that point. But we were taking a quick break before and he his fellow hunter went back at it again.

You’ll hear some wind and some of the noises from the dogs and for some reason, I sound like I’m very far away, but please stay with it!

We had a great conversation about conservation, perceptions about minorities and firearms and outdoor recreation, the value of life and the meaning of death.

Yeah, we covered a lot. I think you’ll get a lot out of it… I know I did!

You can learn more about Minority Outdoor Alliance at their website! Please check them out and follow them on social media.

Thanks so much for listening! If you like what you hear, please share it. Leave a review! If you don't like what you hear, please just go on about your day! :) 

Today’s conversation is with Kristin Russell who is well-established in the local food community of Savannah. I always enjoy speaking with Kristin because she has high ideals but takes a very practical approach to reaching them.

We had a conversation a couple months ago that was intended to be a podcast, but I sort of forgot to hit record (which I only realized as our conversation was ended), so that will forever in my mind be known as the Podcast that Never Was. Since I didn't get a podcast out of it, but I really wanted to share some of Kristin's insights and practical approaches to activism, I wrote an article instead. You can read it here!

In that conversation, Kristin and I talked a lot about her early life and how growing up on a family farm in Kansas has had a lasting impact on her life. Though her parents (half jokingly) forbade her and her sister from becoming farmers or marrying a farmer… the family farm as an institution has always remained close to Kristin’s heart and has left an indelible impression on the ethos that governs both of her food-related businesses.

You can see her passion for reducing waste and supporting local farms and farmers on display through menu and business practices of the cafe she co-founded The Sentient Bean and in the subtle shifts and changes she has brought as the relatively new owner of the long-established health food market next door - Brighter Day.

Kristin has also left her mark on the local food community in many other ways including as a founding member of the Forsyth Farmers Market and a board member of Georgia Organics.

Kristin has a great perspective on local food and I always walk away from our conversations feeling inspired to keep making slow and steady progress toward a much better food system tomorrow than we have today!

Thanks for coming along today while Chef Francisco Jimenez and I talk about getting kids in the kitchen to cook… among other random food topics! I first met Cisco when he was head chef at Halyards on St Simons Island. He now works as a private chef and culinary consultant. You can find him on Instagram.

There are some people that are always just plain fun to talk to, Chef Cisco is one of those people. So, please just come along for the ride and enjoy the laughs. It's just possible you might also learn something and get inspired to get your kids (if you have them) in the kitchen with you to cook up some fun and create some amazing family food traditions.

Thank you for joining me for this second half of my conversation with Marissa Paykos of Whippoorwill Farms in South Carolina. In this episode, we talk a little bit about the disconnect that sometimes exists between farmers and restaurants and ways that expectation and reality sometimes don’t meet up. We also talk about gardening on the farm and upcoming classes that help provide additional revenue streams and keep the business of the farm going.

If you missed it, please make sure you go back and listen to the first part of our conversation which covers some important topics like mental health and dealing with the growing pains of an expanding business. I really appreciate that Marissa is open and honest about her experience which speaks to issues that many of us deal with on a regular basis.

Stay tuned until the end of this episode and find out how many times it took me to get the intro to this episode right! Actually, I didn't even include all the ways I messed that line up!  :) 

To learn more about Marissa and her awesome farm... check out their website, whippoorwillfarmssc.com.

We are super grateful to our podcast sponsors: True Earth Co, WayGreen, Inc and SD Gunner Fund ... be sure to visit their websites and learn more about the amazing work they do!

A Big thanks also to our 2022 Advertising Partners: Brighter Day and The Sentient Bean!