The Urban Farm Podcast With Greg Peterson

Fascination with an underappreciated vegetable.His first introduction to okra did not go over well, but years later Chris Smith was given okra seeds as a gift and he felt responsible to do his best with them.  This prompted him to research, learn, and experiment with many varieties and recipes. He learned a lot and he shares part of his journey becoming fascinated with this often discounted vegetable. There is a lot more to this plant than just a simple pod. Check out the recipe for pickled okra he shared with us and included on our shownotes page.Chris is a garden writer and homesteading consultant who serves on the board of The People’s Seed. When he is not okra-ing he can sometimes be found at Sow True Seed, an Asheville-based open-pollinated seed company. The Whole Okra: A Seed to Stem Celebration by our friends at Chelsea Green Publishing, has just been released and is available!Go to https://www.urbanfarm.org/2019/08/06/468-chris-smith/ for more information and links on this podcast, and to fi

Having WAY too much fun with worms!In This Podcast: Watching his coworker through her lunch scraps into a large bin under her desk was just too exciting for Bentley Christie and soon he was on his way to becoming the Compost Guy with a popular blog and website about worm composting.  He shares his excitement and admiration for the legless wonders that produce a valued garden soil amendment. Not stopping there, he explains a new method of composting that transformed his garden into a bountiful wonder.Bentley, also known as "Compost Guy", earned an Honors Bachelor of Science in Biology with undergrad and grad studies in: plant pathology, microbiology, soil and compost science.  He has been working with worms for over 20 years, is the author of the blog Red Worm Composting and is currently teaching about trench vermicomposting.Go to https://www.urbanfarm.org/2019/08/03/467-bentley-christie/ for more information and links on this podcast, and to find our other great guests.467: Bentley Christie on Worm

Bringing residents, local government, and businesses together to build an epic garden and so much more.In This Podcast: The area Shannon McBride grew up in had experienced a tumultuous change when the Phoenix light rail was built right down the middle. Instead of getting angry, she decided to start a collaboration for the area. Building around a vision for a safe, walkable community, she started with a community garden; and through team work, donations, and community buy-in, the results are impressive. But she’s not done and there is so much more to this collaboration. 19North is not your typical community garden by any means!Shannon grew up in the 19NORTH Community in Central Phoenix where she currently lives. In her career journey, she has held executive positions with Fortune 100 companies working in: Human Resources, Communications, Strategy Implementation and Training/Development.Her community work began as a Pastor at Open Door Fellowship Church where she founded 19NORTH - a non-profit community de

Empowering a community through the benefits of growing food in the middle of the city. In This Podcast: After running the Cooperative Extension Program for Urban Gardening in Atlanta, and taking leadership roles in several other community orgs, Bobby Wilson was not going to stop when he retired! Instead he invested his retirement money into a farm and is transforming it in a community resource with education and community plots along with the production agriculture. He has a huge vision for what his team can accomplish.Bobby is the President and CEO of Metro Atlanta Urban Farm, founded to use as a teaching tool, economic empowerment zone, and as a food production site for the southwest Metropolitan Atlanta area.  He promotes the benefits of urban agriculture in food deserts with a farming model that works to decrease the number of food insecure families through education on planting, cultivating, and cooking fresh produce.Go to https://www.urbanfarm.org/2019/07/27/465-bobby-wilson/ for more inf

Tapping into the many benefits of backyard botanicals.In This Podcast: While becoming a licensed acupuncturist and doctor, Nicole Finklestein felt the carbon footprint of the medicinals and botanicals in her practice was extensive. She drew on her family farming background to start growing herbs and flowers. She discusses holistic practices used on her farm, as well as regenerative agriculture used to rebuild the soil. She has great advice for those interested on jumping into the niche market of medicinal farming.Nicole is a Doctor of Oriental Medicine, licensed acupuncturist, and registered herbalist who was raised as a naturalist on her family's berry farm in rural Ohio. She spent much of her childhood exploring the plant kingdom and testing botanical remedies passed down through generations of Appalachian healers. With over a decade of Western and Eastern herbal study, she founded Herban Austin - an herb farm in Central Texas where she cultivates botanicals for both medicinal and culinary use.Go to https:/

Keeping people at the core of small business success.In This Podcast: When an entrepreneurial opportunity came his way, Carl Atwell jumped on board with a passion. He is now president of Gempler’s and is building it again with a commitment towards his customers and employees. He shares the story of how Gempler’s was created with a focus on good values and how he connected with that. He also explains how the relationship with his customers and employees is so important to him and to his vision for the company.Carl has spent 25 years working toward the dream of someday owning a company centered around employees and customers.  In January he purchased Gempler’s, an 80-year-old farm-and-home-store that helps anyone who works outdoors.Gempler’s is an independent farming and outdoor-work supply company with a promise to treat you like a neighbor, not a number. They provide innovative products to make the hardest outdoor jobs easier with fair pricing, and friendly service every time.Go to https://www.urbanfarm.

Turning garden pests into edible treats.In This Podcast: Her 9-year-old son wanted to eat snails while in France, and once home he wanted to eat the garden snails too – so food writer Molly Watson did the research and figured out how to harvest and cook the snails they collected. Her down to earth descriptions can help any gardener who wondered if the pests had an edible purpose. She also shares a lot about her research for her upcoming book about how to decide about being vegan.Molly is the editor-in-chief of Edible Communities, the flagship website for a network of 80+ hyper-local food magazines across the US and Canada. She is the author of Bowls! (2017) and Greens + Grains (2014), both from Chronicle Books, as well as the forthcoming Should We All Be Vegan? out this fall (2019) from Thames & Hudson. She lives in San Francisco where the winters feel colder than her native Minnesota, no matter what the local say.Molly hates to garden! She’s tried it, she wants to like it, but she just doesn’t! She wrote

Investing in small agriculture businesses.Production farming in America is not an easy business path to start on without some help or connections.  Appreciating the value of farming after his travels in the US Navy, Chris Rawley realized these challenges farmers face when trying start or expand small-to-midsize farms and decided he could help. He breaks down the basic process for agriculture investing outside of traditional bank loans and the benefits for both farmers and investors. Check out his article too!As a career naval officer, Chris has traveled the world. Over the course of visiting dozens of war-torn and poverty-stricken countries, he began to appreciate the importance of farming to every single person on earth. As a professional investor, he decided to invest in a farm, but discovered that these types of investments were inaccessible to the average person. He created Harvest Returns in 2016 to democratize investments in agriculture.Go to https://www.urbanfarm.org/2019/07/13/461-chris-rawley/ f

Making the hatching of backyard chickens easy and fun.In This Podcast:  If you are not careful, you might find that hatching eggs can quite easily develop into a passion, just ask Pascale Pearce! She took a job that needed her to hatch eggs at least once, so she knew what she was talking about – and now she loves to help others understand the process.  She shares some key points about incubating bird eggs and starting the chicks off right.We also include a link to a great article from her with even more info!A native of France, Pascale is a graduate of Bordeaux Business School where she earned an MBA specializing in International Trade. In 1994 in the UK, she started as Brinsea Export Manager and joined Brinsea USA in 1998 shortly after its creation where she was in charge of business development.Brinsea® is a family run business offering bird breeding and veterinarian products. Established in 1976 by an engineer with an interest in breeding birds it quickly became a passion, which coupled with

Expecting that ruralization is the next evolution.In This Podcast: Studying the changes in shifting populations, Jason Bradford is predicting the trend for urban growth is going to reverse. He breaks down why our energy dependency is indicating a reversal, why technology is creating discounted problems, and more importantly why personal action toward energy literacy and resilience is critical. He talks about what to do as the approaching change draws near. Jason has been affiliated with Post Carbon Institute since 2004, first as a Fellow and then as a Board Member. He graduated from U.C. Davis with a B.S. in biology before earning his doctorate from Washington University in St. Louis, where he also taught ecology. He’s worked for the Center for Conservation and Sustainable Development at the Missouri Botanical Garden, was a Visiting Scholar at U.C. Davis, and co-founded the Andes Biodiversity and Ecosystem Research Group.After all that, Jason shifted from academia to learn more about and practice sustain

Bringing concentrated, jam-packed garden education to life.Her passion for bringing people together in educational garden summits is quite evident when you listen to Stacey Murphy tell us what she has planned this year.  She explains why she started presenting her summits and some of the exciting results she’s getting in return.  She also talks about how food dies, nutrients are lost every day and what you can do about it. Her collection of experts will be covering several topics related to growing superfoods in your garden.Stacey has helped tens of thousands of new gardeners from six continents grow vegetables and herbs in small spaces, and enjoy a green lifestyle nourished with fresh, homegrown food. With her holistic garden system, she teaches what to grow in any climate. Stacey is a garden geek, growing food since 1979, and her superpower is packing, literally, tons of vegetables and herbs into tight spaces.Featured on Martha Stewart Radio and PBS’s Growing a Greener World, Stacey believes growi

Developing a relationship between primary pollinators and growers.Realizing that his apple trees were barely producing compared to his neighbors, Dave Hunter found the answer was mason bees.  His hobby increased his harvest, and eventually his new passion developed into a brand-new industry and a new company. Now he is working hard to educate how mason bees and leaf cutter bees are a significant pollination solution. His goal is to build more native bee industries around the world. Dave is the founder and owner of Crown Bees, a native bee company in Woodinville, WA that sells bees and products online, to nurseries and farmers. His experience with mason bees extends over two decades. Dave founded the commercial mason bee industry, Orchard Bee Association, and works with researchers to ensure that what Crown Bees practices is both ethical for the bee and efficient for the farmer/gardener.  He co-authored the book The Mason Bee Revolution, and speaks to gardeners, farmers, and researchers througho

Bringing a whole system approach of design and nature to the farm.In This Podcast: Taking a permaculture course as a young adult gave Raven Venturelli the confidence and inspiration to start her own farm. However, finding land in California to develop her nature-based farming concepts was difficult so she followed her parents and moved to Arizona. She has used her holistic design methodology to build a farming business the way she wants and the quality and diversity of produce at Blue Apple Farm has developed a following at the local farmer’s market. Raven is a small farmer and activist for environmental and social justice. She has been studying Permaculture Design for ten years and manages Blue Apple Farm in Cornville, Arizona. She is on the board of the Sedona-based non-profit, Gardens for Humanity, on the Rocky Mountain Seed Alliance Teaching Team, and runs the Verde Valley Seed Library. Go to https://www.urbanfarm.org/2019/06/25/456-raven-venturelli/ for more information and links on t

Creating healing tonics from common and locally foraged plants.In This Podcast: Growing up in a plant based family and then struggling with health concerns it felt natural for Devon Young to turn to herbals remedies for wellness and relief. When she started noticing results, she focused on helping others as expanded her knowledge through studies and training. She shares some key details about how to make typical remedies and why her new book is jam packed with details on 50 North American herbs.Devon, founder of the holistic lifestyle blog Nitty Gritty Life, is a trained herbalist and is well practiced in developing and implementing herbal remedies. She has a degree in Complementary and Alternative Medicine from The American College of Healthcare Sciences, and is the author of THE BACKYARD HERBAL APOTHECARY.Go to https://www.urbanfarm.org/2019/06/22/455-devon-young/ for more information and links on this podcast, and to find our other great guests.This contest period has expired.455: Devon Young on Medicinal

Bonus Episode 28: Seed Saving Class May 2019. In This Bonus Podcast: Once again we join a conversation with Bill McDorman and Greg Peterson to learn about growing from seed, growing for seed, and why our seeds are so important in these changing times. This is the replay of the May 2019 Seed Saving Class - In this class he covers seed school, how to become a teacher, allowing plants to go to seed, and of course a few more things as well.Go to https://www.urbanfarm.org/2019/06/18/bonus28/ for more information and links on this bonus podcast, and to find our other great guests.

Finding joy and adventure in the backyard with kids and nature.In This Podcast: We welcome back Matt Smith from Smith House Design to hear more about improving family life with a garden. Matt and his wife have created a learning environment in their backyard full of fruit trees and plants. Now, their children prefer nature over screen time. He shares his secrets to gardening with kids and how to make your neighbors never want to leave your backyard. Also, get a sneak peek on Matt's farm to table project and how it will revolutionize their cooking! Matt is the creative force behind Smith House Design, an influential marketing and design agency here in Phoenix. He and his wife Candyce live in South Tempe with their five children and are building a food forest and learning space in their backyard. With such an inviting place, they frequently have much of the neighborhood stopping by.Go to https://www.urbanfarm.org/2019/06/15/454-matt-smith/ for more information and links on this podcast, and to fi

Merging two gardening systems into one.In This Podcast: What do you get when a civil engineer loves to garden but doesn’t want to spend two hours a day in the backyard? You get a LEHR garden! Meet Ed Williams, the creator of this regenerative, functioning ecosystem that utilizes aquaponics and mushroom spawn. His garden beds are low maintenance, create soil, self-water, and fertilize using earthworms, fish, and chicken droppings. Listen in to learn about the amazing backyard garden that Ed is creating at his LEHR Urban Homestead. Ed is a civil engineer by profession. In his spare time, he uses engineering principles to design functional ecosystems, which he applies to gardening. This practice led him to develop a new method of gardening he calls a LEHR Garden. He is currently building his second-generation prototype of the LEHR Garden and using it as a centerpiece for his homestead and demonstration garden in Tempe, LEHR Urban Homestead. Go to https://www.urbanfarm.org/

Making more than just juice from a popular fruit.In This Podcast: Our apple expert Kanin Routson joins us again to help us understand the process of making delicious apple cider using white wine making techniques. He explains the difference between juice, cider, and hard cider, and how the new modern ciders vary from the heritage ciders. We are introduced to Stoic Cider and we learn more about his dedication to apple tree diversity with the RAD project. Kanin has devoted his life, including two graduate degrees, to exploring and promoting apple tree diversity. His latest work has been co-founding Stoic Cider, a local hard cider company based out of Prescott, Arizona. Through the RAD Project (Restoring Apple Diversity), Stoic Cider works to find, propagate, and promote unique apple varieties and to celebrate this diversity through hard apple cider.Stoic Cider is growing and preserving local heritage apples, wild apples, and European and American cider varieties in several orchards on the family farm. They

Having good clean fun on an urban farm.In This Podcast: Awakening to the desire to grow their own fruits, vegetables, and meat, Brittney Schiff and her husband Stephen started with a few garden beds and chickens. Gradually this increased and they moved to a property that allowed them to do more.  Now they raise, chickens, ducks, rabbits and goats and their kids are learning homesteading skills too. She shares what she appreciates most about this journey.Brittney and her husband Stephen moved to a one-acre urban homestead in 2015 with a desire to rely less on the grocery store and our messed-up food system. Taking homesteading from a hobby to a lifestyle, she bakes bread, cans food, makes butter and cheese, line-dries clothes, and even has a small soap-making company. They have 28 fruit bearing trees, several raised gardens and plans to add an in-ground 2500 sq. ft. row garden in the next year.  They had no previous livestock experience, but now raise 90% of their family’s meat, egg, & dairy need

Farming with an eye on the future.In This Podcast: The home purchase was going to be a stretch, but she could not escape the pull.  After several visits, Katie Critchley took the leap and this farming community is much more than she expected.  The appeal was so strong that her extended family joined her as well. She found herself becoming more and more involved and eventually became the Farm Director at a truly integrated farming community.   A one sentence description is impossible – you must hear this podcast to understand, and you’ll be wanting to visit Agritopia very soon!Katie is the Farm Director of The Farm at Agritopia and a long time resident of the nationally recognized and award winning  “agrihood” at Agritopia.  She is a founding board member of The Johnston Family Foundation for Urban Agriculture, which is committed to promoting and preserving Urban Agriculture throughout the State of Arizona.She has also been a part of the development team at Johnston Propertie