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016: Mike Kwasniewski on Starting a Whole-Diet CSA

5/28/2015

3 Comments

 
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Mike Kwasniewski runs a whole-diet CSA farm, The Charm Farm, in rural West Virginia as part of a larger operation. He farms several hundred acres including beef cattle, hogs, chickens, and vegetables, with his mother and business partner, Pam. Mike reflects on the whole-diet CSA model in a relatively low income, rural environment, and how it fits into a beginning farmer’s diversified farm.

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Fertrell: A friend of nature since 1946, Fertrell has the products and knowledge to help you grow healthy, natural plants and animals, no matter your level of experience or the size of your operation.

Osborne Seed Company: Founded by seed professionals and dedicated to serving professional growers of all scales, Osborne Seed provides quality seeds, excellent customer service, and a fantastic selection.

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Mike mentioned that he was inspired by the whole farm CSA at Essex Farm in upstate New York.

Kristin Kimball, at Essex Farm, wrote a book about her experience starting her farm and CSA – The Dirty Life (You can get this as an audiobook FREE with a free trial at audibletrial.com/farmertofarmer

Mike's Favorite Tools

Mike’s favorite tool is his very large disc, for the shear amount of work that he can get done with it in a short period of time.

Mike also snuck in a mention of the CobraHead Weeder and Cultivator, which he carries to help with spot weeding as he’s walking through the fields.
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015: Amigo Cantisano on Observation and Planning in Organic Farming

5/21/2015

1 Comment

 
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Amigo Bob Cantisano is one of the most widely experienced and influential figures in California organic agriculture. Founder of Peaceful Valley Farm Supply, the Ecological Farming Conference, the first organic advisory business in the United States, and a number of farming operations around California. If you’ve never been on Amigo’s bus tour of Central Coast organic farms as part of the EcoFarm Conference, you’re missing out. In this episode, we talk about the basics of organization and planning as they relate to organic farms, the connection between paying attention and top yields, and Amigo’s recent work with another organization he founded, the Felix Gillet Institute.

Sponsors

Fertrell: A friend of nature since 1946, Fertrell has the products and knowledge to help you grow healthy, natural plants and animals, no matter your level of experience or the size of your operation.

Osborne Seed Company: Founded by seed professionals and dedicated to serving professional growers of all scales, Osborne Seed provides quality seeds, excellent customer service, and a fantastic selection.

Show Links

Felix Gillet Institute
Peaceful Valley Farm Supply
Ecological Farming Conference
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1 Comment

014: John de Graaf on Nikolai Vavilov, John Niederhauser, and More

5/14/2015

1 Comment

 
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John de Graaf is an environmental filmmaker and activist who has had a significant focus on agriculture for many years. 2015 is the 170th anniversary of the Irish potato famine, so I thought this would be a great opportunity to talk about the history of one of my personal heroes, John Niederhauser, who worked on the development of blight-resistant potatoes in Mexico, and his encounter with genetic giant Nikolai Vavilov in the 1930’s. In addition to potatoes and genetics, we get to talk a little bit about baseball, and John’s current work as executive director of Take Back Your Time, an organization challenging overwork and over-scheduling – and John’s analysis of over-work’s impact on farmers and their customers.

Sponsors

Vermont Compost: Founded by organic crop growing professionals committed to meeting the need for high-quality composts and compost-based, living soil mixes for certified organic plant production.

Fertrell: A friend of nature since 1946, Fertrell has the products and knowledge to help you grow healthy, natural plants and animals, no matter your level of experience or the size of your operation.

Show Links

  • Take Back Your Time
  • John recommended the happiness survey at happycounts.org – I think it’s a great way to measure and document your quality of life over time.
  • Deep Spring College
  • N.I. Vavilov Research Institute of Plant Industry 
  • Rockefeller Foundation 
  • John mentioned the book, And Quiet Flows the Don
  • I also highly recommend the book, The Murder of Nikolai Vavilov, which recreates the extraordinary life and tragic ends of this great scientist - it’s some truly great political, scientific, and agricultural reading.
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1 Comment

013: Bob Cannard on Natural Process Farming

5/7/2015

2 Comments

 
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Bob Cannard is one of the farmers that I think of as a first-generation visionary in the world of organic farming. For over three decades, he has been at the forefront of the local farming movement in California. Farming just north of San Francisco Bay at Green String Farm, Bob has a farming process that flies in the face of a lot of what I, at least, “know” to be true. His natural process farming system relies on sharing time, space, and resources with the weeds, insects, and other organisms that the rest of us consider problems, and using weeds, minerals, and native soil inoculants to encourage healthy plants that simply aren’t bothered by these “problem” plants and critters.

Sponsors

Vermont Compost: Founded by organic crop growing professionals committed to meeting the need for high-quality composts and compost-based, living soil mixes for certified organic plant production.

Fertrell: A friend of nature since 1946, Fertrell has the products and knowledge to help you grow healthy, natural plants and animals, no matter your level of experience or the size of your operation.

Show Links

  • Green String Farm
  • Green String Institute

Bob's Favorite Tool

  • Bob is a big fan of the Planet Junior-style wheel hoe, such as those made by Hoss Tools.
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