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129: Chris Jagger of Blue Fox Farm on Scaling Up, Scaling Down, and Where Organic and Local Farming is Going from Here

7/27/2017

9 Comments

 
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Chris Jagger is the owner and operator of Blue Fox Farm, an organic vegetable farm in the Applegate Valley of southern Oregon. He is also the owner and head consultant for Blue Fox Agricultural Services, a full-service agricultural supply and consultation company focusing on ecological solutions for the modern farmer. Both his farm and his agricultural services use living soils as a foundation to scale farming operations efficiently and profitably.

We discuss the changes Chris has seen in the organic and local marketplace and labor environment, and how Blue Fox Farm has worked to downsize in response to those changes. Chris shares how he has worked to determine what makes money with a sensible approach to crop budget analysis.
We also dig into how Blue Fox Farm is getting better crops on a smaller piece of land, the economics of scaling up and scaling down, salad mix production, and mechanization and the choices Blue Fox Farm has made around that.
​

It’s worth noting here that Chris rounds out his involvement with the agricultural community by hosting the Living Soils Symposium each March. The symposium is an interactive conference for farmers, interested in regenerative farming techniques, to exchange knowledge and gain insight in a peer-to-peer environment.

Sponsors

Vermont Compost Company: 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.


​Farmers Web
: Making it simple for farms, farm cooperatives, and local food artisans to streamline working with wholesale buyers. Lessening the administrative work that comes with each order helps producers create a more successful relationship with their buyers and can help them work with more buyers overall.

Quotes from the Show

There is a disparity now between the economy of scale that makes sense to be successful anymore, like being very small scale, and being very large scale, there's these two areas that you can find success and profitability. Then there's this dead zone in between.

Farmers are living artists as far as I'm concerned. We're making art on the fly, so we just look at these things and say how can we adapt?


I learned really quickly to just let go of having to have everything be perfect and dialed in.


I think that a lot of people are scared of mechanizing, because they feel that it takes away from the artisanship of this craft. I really feel like when you mechanize, it allows you to spend more time with the most important thing, which is the crops.


If we plant this much more, is it really going to make us that much more money?


That's the art of life, I think: Each person is an individual, so we can use that individuality to really create an awesome farm-based system that is working like no other farm would.

Show Links

Chris built his own flame weeder using Red Dragon propane burners.

We discussed the custom plates Chris has made for his Earthway Seeder.

Blue Fox Farm uses a Rainflo water wheel transplanter to set out plants.

Chris is owner and head consultant for Blue Fox Agricultural Services, a full-service agricultural supply and consultation company focusing on ecological solutions for the modern farmer.
​
The next Living Soils Symposium will be held in March, 2018.

Transcript

The transcript for this episode is brought to you byEarth Tools, offering the most complete selection of walk-behind farming equipment and high-quality garden tools in North America; and byRock Dust Local, the first company in North America specializing in local sourcing and delivery of the BEST rock dusts and biochar for organic farming. Additional funding for transcripts provided byNorth Central SARE, providing grants and education to advance innovations in Sustainable Agriculture.
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9 Comments

128: John Stoddard and Lindsay Allen of Higher Ground Farm on the Journey from Idealism to Practicality on a Rooftop Farm

7/20/2017

2 Comments

 
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John Stoddard and Lindsay Allen work together at Higher Ground Farm, a rooftop farming operation with two locations in Boston. John is the founder of the business and operator of the site at the Boston Design Center, and Lindsay runs the new site at the Boston Medical Center. Higher Ground sells to restaurants and direct to consumers, and provides produce the Boston Medical Center cafeteria, patient food service, and a preventative food pantry.

We dig into the fundamentals of rooftop farming, including options for different production systems and why Higher Ground has opted for their system. John and Lindsay provide insights into the surprising of ecology of rooftop farming – including weeds and seagulls! – and discuss soil fertility management and irrigation systems.

John and Lindsay also ruminate on how to find a roof to farm on, what it takes for an urban farm to survive, and how they’ve leveraged the rooftops to create relationships with customers and clients. And we examine the two different business models that Higher Ground uses to make their operation work – growing food for sale, as well as operating a rooftop farm for a management fee.

Sponsors

Vermont Compost Company: 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.

​CoolBot: Build your own walk-in cooler with a window air conditioner and a CoolBot controller. Save on upfront costs, monthly electricity bills, and expensive visits from refrigeration technicians. Controllers, complete cooling systems, and turnkey walk-in coolers available at StoreItCold.com. Mention the code FTF to double your CoolBot warranty at no charge. StoreItCold.com

Quotes from the Show

There's not a lot of like rule books out there for [rooftop farming] at this point.

[We] are using gardening techniques as opposed to farming techniques on a rooftop farm and then trying to make them as efficient as possible.

​I think in urban farming so much of what we have to offer is what I think of as the alternative harvest and that's the knowledge and the green space that we create on farms for people to be able to interact whether that's just visually or walking through or as a learning space as a classroom.

Show Links

John and Lindsay spoke highly of their experience with Recover Green Roofs.

​The Boston Medical Center farm uses a Weathermatic irrigation controller.

Transcript

The transcript for this episode is brought to you by Earth Tools, offering the most complete selection of walk-behind farming equipment and high-quality garden tools in North America; and by Rock Dust Local, the first company in North America specializing in local sourcing and delivery of the BEST rock dusts and biochar for organic farming. Additional funding for transcripts provided by North Central SARE, providing grants and education to advance innovations in Sustainable Agriculture.
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2 Comments

127: Brendan Grant of Sleepy G Farm Digs into Thinking Bigger, Surviving Crises, and Farming Organically in Northwest Ontario

7/12/2017

3 Comments

 
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Brendan Grant raises six acres of vegetables plus laying hens, Highland cattle, and a hundred acres of hay with his wife, Marcelle Paulin, at Sleepy G Farm, just east of Thunder Bay, Ontario, on the north shore of Lake Superior. The only certified organic farm for 500 miles around in Canada, Sleepy G’s produce is marketed through a 150-member CSA, grocery stores, a farmers market, and a small on-farm store.
​

Brendan shares his techniques for bringing new land into production, and delves into the ins and outs of tillage and mechanical weed control on raised beds. We also dig into marketing in Thunder Bay, an isolated city eight hours from other metropolitan areas with no history of market farming, as well as the impact of their isolation and extreme climate on production and input choices.

We also discuss how the farm survived a serious accident two years ago, the impact that accident had on the farm and on Brendan, and how they managed their way through the crisis. We also discuss the pieces that Brendan and Marcelle had in place that helped the farm survive.

Sponsors

Vermont Compost Company: 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.

Farmers Web
: Making it simple for farms, farm cooperatives, and local food artisans to streamline working with wholesale buyers. Lessening the administrative work that comes with each order helps producers create a more successful relationship with their buyers and can help them work with more buyers overall.

​CoolBot
: Build your own walk-in cooler with a window air conditioner and a CoolBot controller. Save on upfront
costs, monthly electricity bills, and expensive visits from refrigeration technicians. Controllers, complete cooling systems, and turnkey walk-in coolers available atStoreItCold.com. Mention the code FTF to double your CoolBot warranty at no charge. StoreItCold.com

Quotes from the Show

We decided that as leaders in this community as organic leaders, that we really ought to put our money where our mouths are and certify… I don't care what it costs, I don't care what it takes, we're going to certify because it's the right thing to do, and not just the right thing for us.

Yeah, not everything we do makes sense, Chris. It would have been a lot easier to go and get a job in town too, so we didn't do that. Actually, we did, but then we quit those jobs.

I just finally reached a threshold with old farm equipment. It's quaint, and it's nice, and it makes you feel warm and fuzzy inside to resurrect something from someone's hedgerow, but the reality is that stuff is worn out, generally speaking. It's more hassle than it's worth.


One thing the doctors and mill workers all have in common is that they eat.


We're vegetable farmers in the summer and we're poop farmers in the winter.

Show Links

Brendan told us about his extremely effective 7-strand deer (and bear and wolf!) fence. A similar version is described in this publication from Virginia Tech.

The Lesche Bed Shaper  from Market Farm Implement provides Sleep G with a low-horsepower tool to build raised beds.

Sleepy G invested in a Tuff-bilt tractor as a substitute for an antique Allis Chalmers G.


Brendan used flameweeders.com to source parts for his homemade flame weeder.


Sleepy G uses Member Assembler online CSA software  to ease the burden of CSA management.


​Brendan loves his Cadman Hose Reel  for irrigating Sleepy G’s field crops.

Transcript

The transcript for this episode is brought to you byEarth Tools, offering the most complete selection of walk-behind farming equipment and high-quality garden tools in North America; and byRock Dust Local, the first company in North America specializing in local sourcing and delivery of the BEST rock dusts and biochar for organic farming; and by Local Food Marketplace, providing an integrated, scalable solution for farms and food hubs to process customer orders – including online ordering, harvesting, packing, delivery, invoicing and payment processing. Additional funding for transcripts provided byNorth Central SARE, providing grants and education to advance innovations in Sustainable Agriculture.

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3 Comments

126: Ray Tyler of Rose Creek Farms on Farming in the South and the Journey from Failing as Farmers to Loving Life

7/6/2017

7 Comments

 
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Ray Tyler raises about an acre of salad greens at Rose Creek Farms in Selmer, Tennessee, about two hours east of Memphis and three hours west of Nashville. He farms with his wife, Ashley, and his five children, as well as employees. Produce is sold at farmers market, through a CSA, and to grocery stores in Memphis.

Ray tells the story of his farm from its start as a mixed vegetable and livestock operation in 2010 to its current focus on specialty salad greens, baby root vegetables, and tomatoes on a small scale. We discuss the never-ending vicious cycle of failures Ray encountered in the beginning years of the farm, and how the life-threatening illness of a young child resulted in Rose Creek Farm’s transition from a failing operation into a thriving, joyful, vegetable production machine.

Ray also provides insights into the challenges and opportunities of farming in the south – including a fantastic tutorial on summer lettuce production in that challenging climate. We also dig into how Ray leveraged an intensive education to make his farming transition, and the large and small practical changes that make it possible for Rose Creek Farms to gross big dollars on a small acreage.

Sponsors

Vermont Compost Company: 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.

​Farmers Web
: Making it simple for farms, farm cooperatives, and local food artisans to streamline working with wholesale buyers. Lessening the administrative work that comes with each order helps producers create a more successful relationship with their buyers and can help them work with more buyers overall.

Quotes from the Show

talking about and really trying to go and basically just asking for more help.

I felt like I had to have so much land in cultivation because I was having so much crop loss failures that I had to grow twice as much just to make up for all the losses.

Just because you're in the house on the computer emailing, you're not being with your family.

If you want to enjoy life on a farm get rid of all your weeds.


If a farmer isn't looking for his next sale it's just a matter of time before he's going to go out of business.

Show Links

Ray talked about his work with Curtis Stone, who was featured on Episode 58 of the Farmer to Farmer Podcast.

Paper pot transplanters are available from Small Farm Works.

Transcript

The transcript for this episode is brought to you by Earth Tools, offering the most complete selection of walk-behind farming equipment and high-quality garden tools in North America; and by Rock Dust Local, the first company in North America specializing in local sourcing and delivery of the BEST rock dusts and biochar for organic farming. Additional funding for transcripts provided by North Central SARE, providing grants and education to advance innovations in Sustainable Agriculture.
Download Episode
Download Transcript
7 Comments

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