The Urban Farm Podcast With Greg Peterson

Challenging the mono-CULTURE of farming. A passion for the soil, the earth and her community started when Leah Penniman began farming at the age of 16. Through the years she has continued to work towards ending racism and injustice in our food system, and also on land reparations for people of color. She and her family have built Soul Fire Farm where they raise culturally important food, delivering it to people in need. They give tours and help train future activists.  Leah channeled her passion into writing a book, Farming While Black. Leah is a Black Creole farmer who has been tending the soil for twenty years and organizing for an anti-racist food system for fifteen years. She currently serves as founding co-executive director of Soul Fire Farm in Grafton, New York—a people-of-color led project that works to dismantle racism in the food system.  Through Soul Fire Farm’s innovative programs such as the Black Latinx Farmers Immersion; 

Mixing up a health drink for soil organisms.In This Podcast:When Ben Klempner and his family moved from Jerusalem to the holy city of Tiberias, he researched how to make the soil healthy in order to grow his vegetables. Finding information that was beneficial wasn’t the only hurdle—he was so far away from the products he needed. He kept researching online and seemed to end up with the suggestion of Korean Natural Farming at the end of his searches.  He took it as a sign. As Ben began creating products that utilized the fermenting process he realized that perhaps creating these nutritious, sustainable soil amendments for others was what he should be doing instead of growing his own vegetables. Thus, the Galil Soil Farm was born. Ben lives in the Holy City of Tiberias with his wife and children where he owns and operates Galil Soil Farm. Believing that good soil grows good food, Ben is passionate about growing the best soil and helping others to do the same

Growing an herbal antibiotic.In This Podcast:Bill Bruneau suffered from what eventually was diagnosed as a leaky gut caused by using pharmaceutical antibiotics. Knowing that plants had medicinal powers he searched out which ones were natural antibiotics and came upon limited but intriguing information on the genus Sida. He waited for someone to write a book about this super-weed and when no one did, Bill knew he had to do it. Listen as Bill lists just a few of the many illnesses he uses Sida to treat or prevent.  In 1982, Bill and his wife started Bountiful Gardens Seeds, which is part of the small non-profit Ecology Action of the Mid-peninsula. Ecology Action is an organization that has been diligently working to save the world’s soil for the last 45 years, refining and promoting a bio-intensive farming method that actually creates soil while being very productive.  While Bill is an herbal hobbyist,&

Embarking on extreme tasks to bring attention to important issues.In This Podcast:Rob Greenfield lived a fairly normal American life until 2011 when he began reading and watching documentaries that helped him realize he was contributing to the destruction of our planet. That was enough to set him on a course of performing extreme actions in order to motivate others to change as well. Having already taken three separate bicycle rides across America doing good deeds and showing ways to make less of an impact on the planet, he’s embarking on his biggest adventure yet—going an entire year eating only what he produces or forages himself.Rob Greenfield is an adventurer, environmental activist, humanitarian, and dude making a difference. He is dedicated to leading the way to a more sustainable and just world.Rob has visited 6 continents and 40 countries, lived off-grid in a tiny house, wore a trash-suit for a month, dove in more than two thousand dumpsters, cycled across the U.S. twice on a bamboo bicycle,

Building up a better buzz on bees.In This Podcast:Walking by Lloyds of London with his wife Ashley, Lloyd Hardrick was intrigued by the beehives in the windows of the famous bank that shared his name. Curiosity led to research and research led to the career path that Lloyd and Ashley ventured on—raising bees. Making an impact on their community is the primary goal for Lloyd as he works to educate people on bees and their importance in our lives. As Lloyd says, “We all depend on bees. It’s everybody’s business to want to save the bees.”  Lloyd served in the U.S. Army for 10 years. After the army, he became a certified beekeeper and in 2015 he and his wife Ashley founded their beekeeping company. Honey Bee Goode Apiaries, is not just about bees and honey, they specialize in developing relationships with urban farmers and teaching in the local communities about the relationship between bees, flowers, and food.Honey Bee Goode Apiaries was one of the Farmer Veteran Coalition’s 2018 Fellows

Creating healthy, nutritious snacks.In This Podcast:Tanya Batche loved to bake but didn’t necessarily think of it as a career. Looking at the frightening trend of obesity and diabetes, she knew there must be a way to still enjoy, and allow others to enjoy her delicious endeavors. Tanya turned her love of baking into her life’s work, teaching us how to enjoy our treats but making them much healthier.  Now you can enjoy her Hunger Bomb cookies too. As well as making these healthy treats Tanya also helps private clients learn to become healthier too. Tanya is a Dietitian, certified in Adult Weight Management with over 25 years of experience helping patients and clients stay healthy.  She has traveled most of the country as a Corporate Dietitian overseeing senior living and wellness programs in healthcare.  She started baking as a little girl in Ohio, where she used to surprise her dad with treats (she hid) after he came from work.She decided to follow her passion by c

Preferring the taste of fresh pressed over store bought.In This Podcast:Curiosity on what to do with the fruit from the three large olive trees in his new yard led Ron Mantini on a quest to make his own olive oil. Over the course of several years, with trial and error and the power of the internet, Ron has discovered how to make an delicious olive oil. He has learned how to turn the olives on his and neighboring trees into a bright green, fresh and addictive pressed oil, a nice pairing for his homemade bread and pasta.Ron was born and raised in Lorain Ohio, 30 miles west of Cleveland on the shores of Lake Erie.  He moved to Chandler, Arizona in 2000 after graduating from the Ohio State University to work for Intel Corporation, which he still does until this day.  He is married with 4 children between the ages of 8-13.  With several olive trees at his home, Ron taught himself how to make olive oil from scratch.Go to https://www.urbanfarm.org/2018/12/18/408-ron-mantini/ for more information and l

Becoming a steward of the soil.In This Podcast: As a contour farmer facing the problem of so much soil washing away in the rain, Steve Szudera found his solution when he borrowed a no-till drill in 1981. He never looked back as he learned how completing warm and cool crop cycles and protecting the soil from damage were keys to healthy, productive crops. Steve shares with us ways to rejuvenate our soil, and even shares how he reuses old potting soil, making it healthier than before. Steve is a third-generation farmer from western North Dakota with over 35 years of no-till farming experience building and maintaining soil health. After realizing that the standard farming practices done before he took over were the cause of the wind and water erosion, and that the soil was depleted of moisture and nutrients, he converted to no-till farming.  He learned very quickly that just one simple practice of not disturbing the soil would allow it to rebuild and recover.He now tea

Managing an urban farm for families in poverty or homeless.In This Podcast: Being a single mother trying to provide nutritious options for her children in a food desert gave St. Vincent de Paul’s Urban Farm manager Nika Forte a great understanding and compassion for the people she serves. She shares with her belief that food should nourish the body, mind and spirit with her clientele as she encourages them to reconnect with where their food comes from as they are being helped by the many services of St. Vincent de Paul. Nika is the Urban Farm Manager for St. Vincent de Paul where she creates programming and community engagement events. Her job also includes managing community members who volunteer time at the Urban Farm, growing, processing and distributing freshly grown vegetables to the homeless community and needy families that they provide service for. Her role in the program is to improve food access and food security in under served communities.Go to htt

Organically recycling through vermicomposting.In This Podcast: Rhonda Sherman, an extension specialist in the Department of Horticultural Science at NC State University, shares how throwing away our food waste is a major problem in landfills, releasing methane gas which is a contributor to climate change and causing heavy metals to be released into water sources. She spends 90 percent of her work time educating people in what to do with their food waste instead, namely by composting or vermicomposting. Rhonda shares access to many of the publications she’s written which can be found on her website.Rhonda is an extension specialist in the Department of Horticultural Science at North Carolina State University, providing leadership for university outreach programs on solid waste management issues through the Cooperative Extension Service. She holds degrees in Environmental Studies and Urban/Regional Planning, and Environmental Resources Analysis with an emphasis in solid waste management

Bringing farm products to the local market.In This Podcast: Lyndsay Ludden and her husband Eric wanted to grow real food. They talked about it all the time.  This led them to take the bold step to sell their home in Phoenix and find their perfect property in Cornville, Arizona. On just over two acres of land Lyndsay and Eric built their farm from scratch, beginning with chickens and goats. Having more eggs than they could use led them to the farmer’s market. They’ve been working and adding new animals and gardens to the Hoppy Goat Farm for two years now and feel they’ve made the right choice.Lyndsay and her husband Eric started a farm several years ago to raise and grow their own food.  Originally their intent was health related however, as “super foodies” they began realizing how much better everything tastes when they grow and harvest it themselves.  They now have two large gardens, as well as goats, chickens, ducks, turkeys, pigs, and bees.  They offer many different

Training future farmers to shape the future of our food system.In This Podcast: Wondering where the bananas came from while eating them in his native United Kingdom was just the first step for Tobias Peggs, as he sought to figure out how to grow the food in his own city that previously would have spent weeks being shipped in from different climates. He was sure he could mimic the plants’ normal environments. Peggs has not only built a working modular farm in Brooklyn, New York, but runs a Next-Gen Farmer training program to help ensure that others are working toward his mission of bringing real food to all the cities of the world.Tobias is cofounder and CEO of Square Roots – an urban farming company headquartered in Brooklyn, NYC. He has a PhD in Artificial Intelligence from Cardiff University in his native United Kingdom. He is a Techstars mentor, competitive triathlete, snowboarder, and ramen hunter.Square Roots grows and sells tasty, nutritious food year-round from their Brooklyn campus of indoor, con

Bonus Episode 22: Seed Saving Class October 2018.A chat with an expert on Seeds.In This Bonus Podcast: There is always a bounty of information available in conversations with Bill McDorman. This is the October 2018 episode of a Seed Saving Class - learn about Glass Gem Corn, how to be a seed steward, and why corn diversity is so important.Join the class! Register anytime for the next event.Register Here for the Seed Saving Class with Live Q&A Bill McDorman is Executive Director of Rocky Mountain Seed Alliance, Ketchum, Idaho. He got his start in the bio-regional seed movement while in college in 1979 when he helped start Garden City Seeds. In 1984, Bill started Seeds Trust/High Altitude Gardens, a mail order seed company he ran successfully until it sold in 2013.Go to https://www.urbanfarm.org/2018/11/27/bonus-22/ for show notes and links on this bonus podcast, and to find our other great guests.

Creating a line of homemade nutritious and delicious snacks.In This Podcast: As a young mother of two, and having just left corporate America, Ciara Bennett wanted something that was going to be helpful and healthful for her young children.  An inspiration to start making high-quality snacking granola also moved her build a business around this product while allowing her to keep her own identity.  Now she makes Vintage Oats, a line of premium granola with unique & tasty flavors her kids love and so do her customers.Ciara is the founder of VintageOats, a Phoenix based, premium granola company.  Originally from Joliet Illinois she has been a resident of Arizona for over 20 years. As a proud mother of a 2 and 7-year-old she was looking for better choices to feed them and her journey was the inspiration to launch her company.She is the creative mind behind all her premium flavors of granola, which focus on healthy, non-GMO ingredients and no artificial flavors, preservatives or colors

Homesteading in the Suburbs.In This Podcast: They planted their first fruit tree on a 1/10th-acre urban home. Prompted to look for something healthier, Duane Hebert moved to property just outside of Phoenix, or as he calls it – The Edge of Nowhere. On a semi-urban farm, they focused on growing healthy food and sharing with family, friends and a few customers. With a holistic mindset focused on healthy growing in all areas of the farm, even the chickens get the healthiest diet.  And he shares what he has learned.Born and raised in Gardena, CA in the heart of South-Central Los Angeles, Duane grew up a typical urban kid. However, at 19 he was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Disease and underwent 6 months of chemotherapy to save his life. Now a 25-year cancer survivor, he strives to live a life grounded in the reality that what we eat and what we keep OUT of our body is critical to healthy living.In 2004 he and his wife Lori planted their first lemon tree on their typical 1/10th of an acre suburban lot in Nort

Being a resource for organic growers for over three decades.In This Podcast: In 1988, Eliot Coleman literally wrote the book on being an organic grower and has been an invaluable resource for organic gardeners and farmers for three decades. He only started growing food because it sounded like an adventure; and he learned how through books and making friends with farmers around the world. We learn who inspired and taught him, how he uses livestock on his farm, how he virtually moved his farm 500 miles to the south for the winter, and more.Eliot has over fifty years’ experience in all aspects of organic farming, including field vegetables, greenhouse vegetables, rotational grazing of cattle and sheep, and range poultry. He is the author of The New Organic Grower, Four-Season Harvest,The Winter Harvest Handbook and an instructional workshop DVD called Year-Round Vegetable Production with Eliot Coleman - all published through our friends at Chelsea Green.Eliot and his wife, Barbara Damrosch, o

Changing the role of chemicals in our homes.In This Podcast: It was not your typical birthday gift but a small collection of home cleaning products, and they changed Diann Peart’s direction in life.  She found a path that filled her passion and allowed her to truly make a difference. When she realized the products were chemical free, her passion for the environment and her desire to help others took over and she knew these products needed to be brought to market.  She has a special offer for listeners today.Diann has a PhD in Botany-Ecology from Arizona State University.  She lives with her husband, 4 dogs and 8 chickens at their urban farm is nestled in one of the oldest neighborhoods in Tempe, AZ, 4 blocks west of ASU. She is also Principal and Visionary at Truce LLC, a Tempe-based company that manufactures and distributes non-toxic household cleaning, pet, and personal products.Truce’s entire product line uses only 14 simple, safe and effective ingredients.  Truce products offer th

Cooking with 8 ingredients or less.In This Podcast: After several years of contradictory and confusing medical advice, Brandi Doming was worn out trying to help her husband escape the pain of gout. As a new mom and a concerned wife, she sought out the next possible answer and found information on a plant-based vegan diet. This was the first one to give her husband some relief.  She started blogging recipes and recently authored a cookbook designed to make vegan meals easy and delicious! Brandi is the creator of the popular blog The Vegan 8. She is also a mom, wife, and designer. Her blog was voted a Top 21 Vegan Blog of 2016 by the hugely popular vegan magazine, VegNews. She’s appeared regularly in Forks Over Knives magazine and was featured in the documentary Eating You Alive. She lives with her husband and daughter in Houston, Texas. Her new cookbook is The Vegan 8: 100 Simple, Delicious Recipes Made with 8 Ingredients or Less.Go to https://www.urbanfarm.org/2018/11/10/398-brandi-doming/ for more

Being bit by the urban farming bug and loving it.In This Podcast: He was starting off on a vacant property with lots of Johnson Grass, almost no money, and no way to cut it down and remove it, yet this was not going to stop Michael Bell from building his urban farm. He got creative and found a resource to not only help remove the grass but turn it into an asset and deep rich soil in one season. Relying on his creativity, he now has a half-acre farm and more customers than produce. All this and he only farms part-time!  Michael is a Physical Education teacher and father of four who in April of 2016, bought a half-acre of nonresidential zoned land a mere 6 miles from downtown Dallas.  He started clearing small 1000-foot sections using a weed eater and billboard signs.  That Fall he planted his first 30-inch bed with Sala nova and a few cherry tomatoes and became hooked.He now has 67 twenty-five-foot beds focusing on greens, carrots, beets and a couple of other veggies.  He hopes to tran

Incorporating wild ingredients into every day and special occasion fare.In This Podcast:  Her curiosity, her love of gardening, and her creativity in the kitchen, come together beautifully and for our benefit when Marie Viljoen compiled recipes for her new cookbook.  She shares how she moved from gardening in 66 square feet to foraging all over New York City.  If you are ever in her city, you will want to take a foraging walk with her!Marie is a celebrated New York City forager, gardener, cook and author who has loved edible plants since her childhood in South Africa.  She lives in Brooklyn, NY with her husband and leads acclaimed seasonal wild plant walks through NYC.In Marie’s new book Forage, Harvest, Feast, there is a groundbreaking collection of nearly 500 wild food recipes and features hundreds of color photographs as well as cultivation tips for plants easily grown at home. This cookbook is destined to become a standard reference for any cook wanting to transform wildcrafted an