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068: Matt Herbruck on His Two Farming Lives, a Joyful Approach to Farmers Markets, and Building the Systems that Make His Farm Work

5/26/2016

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Farmer to Farmer Podcast | Guest | Matt Herbruck | Birdsong Farm
Matt Herbruck has lived two farming lives: one in down east Maine, and another in northeast Ohio. After 21 years of farming, he currently owns and operates Birdsong Farm in Hiram Township, Ohio, with twelve acres of vegetables and cut flowers sold through four farmers markets and a small CSA.

Matt shares the story of moving his farm from Maine to Ohio, and we talk about the sometimes radical differences in the two markets, climates, and soils, and how Matt managed the transition from the coast to the middle of the country – as well as personal transitions that coincided with the move. Matt tells the story of breaking into markets in both locations, including how he has engaged with start-up farmers markets to create a winning situation for both the market and for his farm.

We dig into Matt’s tricks for setting up a great farmers market stand and produce display, managing greens and root crops through the hot Ohio summers, juggling the expectations of family and farming, and the ephemeral nature of seemingly permanent decisions and situations.

When Matt’s employee, Dave, recommended Matt for the show, I didn’t remember that Matt and I had known each other when we were both farming on the coast of Maine. But once I made the connection, I remembered his flat-bed truck and his infectious smile. And while the flat-bed truck is history, I enjoyed hearing his smile and the joy he has retained through all of the years and all of the challenges. I hope you’ll enjoy it, too.
​

The Farmer to Farmer Podcast is generously supported by Vermont Compost Company.

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.

Growing for Market: America’s most respected source for news and ideas about the business of growing and selling vegetables, fruits, cut flowers, plants, herbs, and other food products.

Quotes from the Show

If I had to try to remember when the farmer’s market is, I wouldn’t go. You’ve got to do it every week, and you’ve got to do it at the same time every week.

There is not any money in selling anything for fifty cents. What we’re going to try to now is do something nice for these people. If you make something nice, and you’re reliable about it, it might take a few years, but they’ll support it.

We try to do farmers markets that are very busy. We show up, we pile up, and we’re sold out.

I feel like CSA is about adventure. Just because you think you don’t like radishes… well, you’re going to have to have some radishes.

When farmer’s markets got better, it saved my farm. I thought about quitting farming about four or five years in because I couldn’t make any money and I was killing myself and I had this other job that I liked and it paid pretty well. But when farmers got good, I changed my mind and I reinvested a bunch of money and I went for it.

The soil structure here is… well, we have some. And when you add that in with the fact that we have a growing season that is really long compared to what I was used to, it really added a lot of variables I could play with.

Little did I know that all you have to do with a tomato seed here is throw it in the back of your truck and you get a tomato plant. I’ve never seen anything like it.

You need to be a dad sometimes.

We are building the machine right now. About a month from now, that machine will be well oiled and then we’ll be going.

Personally, I need one season to end and another season to start. Otherwise I might go totally insane.
​

The decisions you’re making now might seem like huge deals, but you can change them, or they are probably going to change anyway. You’ve got to be resilient and you’ve got to be patient.

Show Links

​We discussed Small Farm Central’s 2015 CSA farming Annual Report, which discusses statistics for renewal rates, CSA growth, and more.

Matt uses Serenade to outcompete pathogenic fungal growth on the leaves of many of his crops.
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067: Peter Seely on Passion and Finding His Way at Springdale Farm

5/19/2016

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Farmer to Farmer Podcast | Guest | Peter Seely | Springdale Farm
Peter Seeley and his wife, Bernadette, began farming at Springdale Farm in 1988, at the dawn of the CSA movement in the Upper Midwest. Over 25 years, the farm has expanded to twenty acres and 800 CSA shares, plus thirteen greenhouses and five children, not far from Lake Michigan in Plymouth, Wisconsin.

Peter tells the story of Springdale Farm’s founding and growth, and how he and Bernadette navigated the challenges of the new CSA market, including the reasoning behind their decisions about core groups and distribution models that were different from most CSAs operating in 1988. We learn how Peter has met the challenges of farming in extremely rocky soils head on, including the strategies he’s developed for machinery and fertility to succeed in a challenging environment. And, Peter shares the farm’s strategies for managing four season production and storage, including the very low-tech way they got started.

Springdale Farm has worked hard from the start to provide an alternative to fossil fuels for powering the farm, and Peter shares what they’ve learned about outdoor wood boilers and electric tractors and carts.

​Along the way, Peter consistently shares the passion he brings to his farm and his life. And he even brings Marx, Hegel, and Plato into the conversation.
​

The Farmer to Farmer Podcast is generously supported by Vermont Compost Company.

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.

BCS America: BCS two-wheel tractors are versatile, maneuverable in tight spaces, light-weight for less compaction, and easy to maintain and repair on farm. Gear-driven and built to last for decades of dependable service on your farm or market garden.

Quotes from the Show

Farmers don’t’ sell their best land.

If we used all of the boilers that we have [to heat the greenhouses], Sheboygan County would start looking like Kansas pretty soon.

Most of the time when you buy older, smaller equipment, you’re not going to be putting out too much capital to get it to your farm. And then there’s usually a market for it again if it turns out that it’s something you’re not going to use.

The markets are kind of there for the taking it seems. We’re not looking around too much, we just get calls from institutions, co-ops, restaurants asking to get our stuff.

[On expanding:]We had the labor there… and we had the markets and we had the equipment and financially the numbers should work out. So everything was in place. If anything was missing of all those things we probably wouldn’t have made the jump.

Just to be able to plant on time and weed on time and irrigate on time and harvest on time and deliver things, just to do that well, took all of our efforts. So we weren’t sure is spending the extra time with the stirring and the applications[for biodynamics] would be that beneficial.

I am open to, and I think people should be open to, other influences that are out there that are hard to put down into numbers.

If you make it a dollars and cents thing, it loses something. The inspiration, the passion for it, dissipates if you end up thinking, is this person harvesting twenty pounds of beans per hour or fifteen, are the worth it, are you making money on it. I’ve felt less of a need to spend a lot of money or of my time on that kind of record-keeping.
​

It’s really beautiful and fun to produce good-tasting nutritious food for people.

Show Links

Springdale Farm really likes the efficiency of Garn wood boilers. 

Peter uses Carryall electric carts to move people and harvests around the farm.

Peter uses an Ortiflor stone burier to prepare the extremely rocky soil on his farm for planting.

Springdale Farm uses Member Assembler CSA Member Management Software for customer signup and management.

Peter referenced the Farmer to Farmer Podcast episode with Patrice Gros on no-till farming.

Peter told a story about one of my favorite tools, the Fisher Space Pen.

​One of Peter’s favorite tools is the Paper Pot Transplanter from Small Farm Works.
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066: Shawn Jadrnicek on Creating a Strong Design Backbone for Your Farm to Encourage Farm Success

5/12/2016

2 Comments

 
Farmer to Farmer Podcast | Guest | Shawn Jadrnicek
Shawn Jadrnicek manages the Clemson Student Organic Farm at Clemson University. Six acres of produce serves a one hundred-share CSA, wholesale markets, and a farmers market, in addition to providing a home for graduate student research.

Shawn is also the author of the new book, The Bio-Integrated Farm, a twenty-first century manual for enhancing farms with practical, permaculture-based design elements. Shawn shares his experience with and insights into the creating optimum farm layouts, including road placement and bed structure, creating drainage patterns that enhance the farm’s biological functioning, and using ponds to increase light and heat in the greenhouse. We also dig into the Clemson Student Organic Farm’s other strategies for temperature management in the greenhouse, including supplementing greenhouse heat with external compost piles.

We also explore the Clemson Student Organic Farm’s strategies for weed control and soil health, including the use of crimped cover crop no-till and additional mulch materials to create season-long weed control, and cover cropping on raised beds. And Shawn shares how he has structured the CSA to function in a campus environment, managing customer needs as well as adapting to a high-turnover, low-work-hours student labor force. Plus, we get a great tutorial on gopher control.

I learned a lot from this interview, and enjoyed the ways that Shawn talks about big ideas and practical details. I hope you enjoy it, too!

​The Farmer to Farmer Podcast is generously supported by Vermont Compost Company.

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.

FarmFan: Ever wish you could text a reminder to all of your customers? FarmFan does just that, increasing market turnout – and sales – week after week. Use this link for 25% off your six or twelve month subscription.

Quotes from the Show

It’s so important to have a good backbone and good design for your farm. Without a good design it’s hard to be profitable.
​

One of the key factors is keeping your core facilities as close as possible.
​

When you do something new, start small and learn from your mistakes.

Show Links

Shawn’s book is The Bio-Integrated Farm: A Revolutionary Permaculture-Based System Using Greenhouses, Ponds, Compost Piles, Aquaponics, Chickens, and More.
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065: Jeremy Mueller on the Farmer and the Farm

5/5/2016

0 Comments

 
Farmer to Farmer Podcast | Guest | Jeremey and Ashli Mueller | Excelsior Farm
Jeremy Mueller and his wife, Ashli, operate Excelsior Farm, just outside of Eugene, Oregon. Together they raise produce for restaurant sales, retail grocers, and a small CSA to make a modest living on less than two acres. Jeremy and Ashli are starting their fourth year at Excelsior with the recent birth of their daughter.

Jeremy shares the story of how he got started with Excelsior Farm, which is owned by the owner of Eugene’s Excelsior Restaurant. We get into how he has worked with the scale that’s available to him, using a small tractor to keep up with bed preparation and weed control. Jeremy and Ashli have a reputation for achieving excellent weed control and working efficiently, and Jeremy tells us about some of his favorite tools and adaptations for minimizing labor while maximizing production.

We also delve into the challenges of getting started in the already crowded local foods scene of Eugene, including evolving choices about markets and product configuration that have helped them to grow their business.
​

The Farmer to Farmer Podcast is generously supported by Vermont Compost Company.

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.

Growing for Market: America’s most respected source for news and ideas about the business of growing and selling vegetables, fruits, cut flowers, plants, herbs, and other food products.

Quotes from the Show

A farm has to be someone’s whole life.

[The farm’s owner] took a chance on me, and I took a chance on him.
​

When you’re getting frustrated with something, it’s the best indicator of where to start improving the process.

Show Links

When I was referred to Jeremy and Ashli, my correspondent encouraged me to check out their beautiful Instagram feed.

Jeremy mentioned Eliot Coleman’s book, The New Organic Grower. 

The first  tool Jeremy bought for his farm was the five-torch flameweeder from flameweeders.com.

We discussed process mapping, as described by Ben Hartman in The Lean Farm.
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