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161: Elizabeth and Paul Kaiser of Singing Frogs Farm on No-Till Ecological Farming in Northern California

3/8/2018

6 Comments

 
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Elizabeth and Paul Kaiser raise a little under three acres of vegetables at Singing Frogs Farm in Sebastopol, California, where they have been farming since 2007. Their ecological farming model rests on a foundation of no-till production, but incorporates many more elements to build soil organic matter and soil biology to support an economically viable operation.

Elizabeth and Paul dig deep into the ecological and production principles that undergird their success, from soil management to transplant production and crop planning strategies. We take a look at their use of hedgerows for soil building, climate management, and insect management, including their tips for installing and maintaining these important ecological tools. And we discuss employee management within their complex, non-linear production system, as well as the economics of their production system.

Perhaps most importantly, Paul and Elizabeth emphasize the ways that observation and their responses to their observations provided the foundation for building what they consider to be an example, and not a model, of their ecological production system.

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Quotes from the Show

[Elizabeth] you think of farming and what most people think of, they think of a tractor and plow. And here we are, these, you know, little northern California farmers on less than three acres are saying, well we're doing it. We're not doing tillage.

[Paul] It’s critical as farmers and land managers to remember that photosynthesis is what makes planet earth unique and special, and we need to constantly be feeding soil biology through the act of photosynthesis.

[Paul] The only reason we brought out the numbers was because we wanted to give validity to our ecological, no-till approach to farming. We wanted to ensure that yes, we are doing all these wonderful things for the environment and the soil and our crew and all that. And, yes, it happens to also be economically viable.

[Paul] The act of physically doing all this and making mistakes constantly is great because every mistake as a learning opportunity


[Elizabeth] I do not think what we do on our farm is, in any sense, a model, or what you should do or he should do or she should do on their farm. This is what we do and what works for us.

Show Links

Paul and Elizabeth talked about the Johnson Su bioreactor composting system for producing fungally rich composts.

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 Osborne Quality Seeds, a dedicated partner for growers.  Visit osborneseed.com for high quality seed, industry-leading customer service, and fast order fulfillment. Additional funding for transcripts provided by North Central SARE, providing grants and education to advance innovations in Sustainable Agriculture.
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6 Comments
Marie Tedei link
3/11/2018 03:05:39 pm

I had to say how much I LOVE how Paul and Elizabeth plan their crops! I consider myself an "unconventional farmer" in many of the same ways. Although my beds are 100' long, consistently - my crop planning always seems to end much more freely than it begins. (initially with excel, then with tissue paper over top of graph paper hard lined field maps). If I'm lucky, I'll remember to put out row markers.

As my things become ready in the greenhouse, and as beds become ready in the field, I transplant.

Yes, there is SOME planning, specific areas that are more or less conducive for various crops. But intuitive observation and spontaneity are the spice of farm life! ;)

I also grow on a bit less than 3 acres, in a very similar climate so it was especially interesting to hear the similarities to my own operation. Kudos to you all for hooking up and bringing us a great farmer to farmer podcast episode!

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Chris Blanchard
3/12/2018 02:32:52 pm

I love this! Even though I am a huge believer in planning, I was tickled with the way Paul and Elizabeth do their cropping sequence - it's just a different sort of planning, and maybe more realistic than trying to plot out every plant in every bed.

It reminds me in some ways of Holistic Management grazing planning, which I have read about but never practiced...

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Nick Schneider
3/20/2018 08:49:44 pm

I want to thank you, Chris, for this great episode which I enjoyed so much. The thing which stuck out at me in this episode was the discussion Paul and Elizabeth provide on the fungal communities in no-till soil. I believe it pointed to the question of nutrients coming from the "soluble" zone through fertilizers (even organic) vs the "insoluble" bank provided exclusively by soil life. This is such an interesting question and one that is starting to get more attention. Can we achieve truly nutrient dense food through not adding anything? Will nutrient density become a measurable standard for farm produce? Does remineralizing damage soil life as Dr. Elaine Ingham might suggest. Thanks again for finding such great guests and asking such great questions.

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Jason Hickey
4/19/2018 10:10:47 pm

Absolutley my favorite episode so far. Thank you for having them in the show.

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teri smyth link
1/30/2019 10:23:07 pm

I'm so happy about finding your podcast. Also sad to hear it is ending. I'm excited to learn about the no till method as my mother has an acre of property that she tills every April. At some point, I'm hoping to influence her and get her to stop this process.
In the meantime, I am going to introduce some of these techniques into my home garden. Bravo!

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Kevin Sharma link
12/5/2020 12:18:12 pm

This is a great bllog

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