Jan Libbey raises three acres of vegetables with her husband, Tim Landgraf, at One Step at a Time Gardens in North Central Iowa. With sales through their CSA and the North Iowa Fresh Food Hub, the market farm makes up one of multiple streams of income that include cash rent and CRP income on their 132 acre farm.
We dig into how Jan and Tim have made One Step at a Time Gardens work in rural Iowa, with an emphasis on their marketing efforts. Jan shares the story of growing the market farm operation, and then choosing to shrink it again as the business matured. We discuss how they’ve chosen their investments on the farm so that they are mechanizing where it counts.
We take a deep dive into their carrot production and the crop rotation they follow on their hilly farm, as well as the landscape and habitat restoration efforts Tim a
We dig into how Jan and Tim have made One Step at a Time Gardens work in rural Iowa, with an emphasis on their marketing efforts. Jan shares the story of growing the market farm operation, and then choosing to shrink it again as the business matured. We discuss how they’ve chosen their investments on the farm so that they are mechanizing where it counts.
We take a deep dive into their carrot production and the crop rotation they follow on their hilly farm, as well as the landscape and habitat restoration efforts Tim a
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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.
Quotes from the Show
By 2002, six years later, we sort of said, "Something's got to give, you or the farm," and we decided that it would be the off-farm job.
Putting a break in July gave us several weeks to kind of get things back under control and get a good jump on the rest of the summer and the fall.
Putting a break in July gave us several weeks to kind of get things back under control and get a good jump on the rest of the summer and the fall.
Show Links
Jan mentioned that she and Tim have put some effort into studying Holistic Management, a decision-making framework for resource management.
We discussed the DriftWatch specialty crops registration sight where you can register your sensitive crops so that pesticide applicators can easily spot at-risk locations.
Practical Farmers of Iowa has extensive resources for dealing with pesticide spray drift.
One Step at a Time Gardens uses the Grindstone Farm barrel washer for cleaning root crops.
We discussed the DriftWatch specialty crops registration sight where you can register your sensitive crops so that pesticide applicators can easily spot at-risk locations.
Practical Farmers of Iowa has extensive resources for dealing with pesticide spray drift.
One Step at a Time Gardens uses the Grindstone Farm barrel washer for cleaning root crops.
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.
