The Urban Farm Podcast with Greg Peterson

Learning about Collecting The Rain and Sharing the Journey.In This Podcast: Renee Dang wanted to learn more about Rainwater Harvesting, and as she jumped into researching this topic, she used her lack of experience to ask important questions that every new water harvester wants to ask. She explains how using this unique perspective, and her strength in technical writing, she works to help others understand a water sustainability option for any property that receives rain.  Renee is an author, aspiring homesteader, and researcher who is passionate about self-sufficiency and living off the land. Her goal is to help families feel empowered with their natural resources. She loves to spend time outdoors in the North Georgia mountains with her amazing family making a mess in the kitchen. "Harvesting Rainwater for Your Homestead in 9 Days or Less" is her first book.Visit www.UrbanFarm.org/ReneeDang for the show notes and links on this episode!To get her book go here: Harvesting Rainwater for Your Homestead in 9 Days or Less: 7 Steps to Unlocking Your Family's Clean, Independent, and Off-Grid Water Source with the QuickRain BlueprintBecome an Urban Farm Patron and listen to more than 775 episodes of the Urban Farm Podcast without ads. Click HERE to learn more.*Disclosure: Some of the links in our podcast show notes and blog posts are affiliate links and if you go through them to make a purchase, we will earn a nominal commission at no cost to you. We offer links to items recommended by our podcast guests and guest writers as a service to our audience and these items are not selected because of the commission we receive from your purchases. We know the decision is yours, and whether you decide to buy something is completely up to you.

745: Native Edibles with Peggy Sue and Mike.A Rosie on the House Radio Show.Join Farmer Greg on his monthly segment on the Arizona Radio Show "Rosie on the House". This is the May 2023 show discussing Native edibles and Mesquite. Native edibles in the southwest are a fun way to experience the local desert. Greg and Romey chat with guests Peggy Sue Sorenson and Mike Clow and talk about some of the best and easiest edible finds in the local area.  They talk about how to harvest wild crops like mesquite and so much more. Hear how they collect a variety of different fruits and beans from native desert plants and what to do with the harvest afterwards! "Rosie on the House is a father and son weekly radio show on home-improvement advice that is found on several key Arizona radio stations. It is a trusted source of home-improvement advice and know-how. Rosie and Romey consider that an honor and a responsibility, a feeling that Greg shares."On the fourth Saturday of each month, Farmer Greg will talk about all aspects of gardening and urban farming in the Arizona climates… Gardening Tips * Chickens * CompostingSmart Watering Tips * FruitTrees * Seed SavingSonoran Desert Weather *Permaculture TidbitsCome join us for the next broadcast or catch up on our previous shows through our podcast episodes.  Either way you will expand your knowledge about growing food in the local desert and gain new perspectives on your food system.Visit www.urbanfarm.org/Rosie23may forthe show notes on this episode and broadcasting information!Become an Urban Farm Patron and listen to more than 775 episodes of the Urban Farm Podcast without ads. Click HERE to learn more.

Changing the world one podcast episode at a timeIn This Podcast: This is part two an extraordinary interview where Greg discusses personal permaculture beginnings with Scott Mann. In this episode we start with our signature questions and learn more about what he thinks his biggest failure is and how he overcame it, what his biggest success is, and what drives him. This conversation goes off into a great conversation and further into the meanderings of permaculture.Scott Mann is the creator and host of The Permaculture Podcast, the longest running podcast dedicated to Permaculture in the world. In more than a decade of producing this show, he has interviewed hundreds of practitioners, from authors and scientists to artists and educators, working to create abundant solutions that imagine a more beautiful planet for everyone and all life. When not sharing these messages with the world, as a way to spend time with and care for his growing family, you can find him cooking in the kitchen or playing games around the table, all while heavy metal plays somewhere in his home.Visit www.urbanfarm.org/permaculturepodcast for the show notes and links on this episode!744: Scott Mann on The Ripples of Permaculture Pt 2.www.urbanfarm.org/permaculturepodcastBecome an Urban Farm Patron and listen to more than 775 episodes of the Urban Farm Podcast without ads. Click HERE to learn more.

Changing the world one podcast episode at a timeIn This Podcast: In an extraordinary two-part interview, Greg discusses personal permaculture beginnings with Scott Mann. After finally finding a permaculture design course that fit his schedule, Scott journeyed into a world of solutions was so impactful that it changed his life direction. He weaves a story for us that is both moving and inspirational, where he eventually lands, among other things, starting a podcast focused on permaculture and interviewing some amazing people along the way.  Scott is the creator and host of The Permaculture Podcast, the longest running podcast dedicated to Permaculture in the world. In more than a decade of producing this show, he has interviewed hundreds of practitioners, from authors and scientists to artists and educators, working to create abundant solutions that imagine a more beautiful planet for everyone and all life. When not sharing these messages with the world, as a way to spend time with and care for his growing family, you can find him cooking in the kitchen or playing games around the table, all while heavy metal plays somewhere in his home.Visit www.urbanfarm.org/permaculturepodcast for the show notes and links on this episode!743: Scott Mann on The Ripples of Permaculture Pt 1.Become an Urban Farm Patron and listen to more than 775 episodes of the Urban Farm Podcast without ads. Click HERE to learn more.

Using to bamboo to help address the climate crisisIn This Podcast:David Sands shares his journey from trying to be a better steward for the planet and how that evolved into him starting a business offering bamboo wood for building lumber. We learn why this is such a renewable resource and some of its unique aspects that can help as we seek solutions for the climate crisis.David is the Founder, Director and Chief Product Officer for Bamboo Ecologic Corporation and RIZOME.  A company that is reforesting thousands of acres and producing laminated bamboo building materials.  Their mission - Sequester gigatons of carbon by developing giant bamboo into a primary global building material.  David also helped develop the first US building code standard for structural bamboo.As a side note Greg shares that he found RIZOME through an investment platform that he belongs to and has invested in the company!Visit www.urbanfarm.org/bambootimber for the show notes and links on this episode!David Sands on Bamboo in Construction.Become an Urban Farm Patron and listen to more than 775 episodes of the Urban Farm Podcast without ads. Click here to learn more.

Soil: The Easiest Way to Get Great ResultsA Garden Chat with Zach BrooksLet's talk about the science and the beauty of the soil that our food grows in. Zach Brooks joins us to share his secrets on making organic, no-till gardening the laziest and easiest way to get great results. Zach's work at Arizona Worm Farm has given him a chance to experiment with a variety of soil building methods and he shares what he has learned.  On the last Tuesday every month we host The Urban Farm Garden Chats where Greg Peterson has a relaxed conversation in a Zoom room with a special guest to cover useful gardening topics, and they answer questions from the live listening audience.  To join us for the next event, go to www.GardenChat.orgZach semi-retired from Healthcare Management at age 42 when his consulting company went public. And when his first of three grandchildren were born, he went back to Arizona State University to get a second Masters Degree, in Sustainability. Frustrated that most causes of climate change were not only fixable – but fixable with “off the shelf” practices and technologies, Zach set out to prove that an off-the-grid lifestyle could be every bit as comfortable as a wasteful lifestyle and have a positive impact on the environment. Five years ago he bought 10 acres in South Phoenix and began Arizona Worm Farm and started experimenting.

740: Companion Planting, a Seed Chat.A Chat with an Expert on Seeds.In This Podcast:This is the April 2023 class discussing seed and plant selection. Join Farmer Greg and Bill McDorman as they explore what it means to companion plant, and it depends on what you want to accomplish. From a permaculture perspective, can also be called the whole systems perspective, companion planting looks at every aspect of your ecosystem.  This brings into play guilds, pollinators, planting things that thrive together and avoiding things that don’t like each other and building ecosystems that work together. At least ten times a year we have a live Seed Saving Class. Join the class! Register anytime for the next event.Register Here for the Seed Saving Class with Live Q&ABill McDorman is the former 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.Visit www.urbanfarm.org/seeds23apr for the show notes on this episode, and access to our full podcast library!

Join Farmer Greg on his monthly segment on the Arizona Radio Show "Rosie on the House". What animals can you host on your urban farm? Let's start with Backyard chickens of course. Our friend Kari Spencer joins Greg and Romey in a discussion on which animals work in an urban setting and why. Kari is an amazing homesteader, master gardener, and author of City Farming and Vegetable Gardening Journal. "Rosie on the House is a father and son weekly radio show on home-improvement advice that is found on several key Arizona radio stations. It is a trusted source of home-improvement advice and know-how. Rosie and Romey consider that an honor and a responsibility, a feeling that Greg shares."On the fourth Saturday of each month, Farmer Greg will talk about all aspects of gardening and urban farming in the Arizona climates… Gardening Tips * Chickens * CompostingSmart Watering Tips * FruitTrees * Seed SavingSonoran Desert Weather *Permaculture TidbitsCome join us for the next broadcast or catch up on our previous shows through our podcast episodes.  Either way you will expand your knowledge about growing food in the local desert and gain new perspectives on your food system.Visit www.urbanfarm.org/Rosie23apr forthe show notes on this episode and broadcasting information!

Edmund Williams on The Phoenix Backyard Garden Program.Changing the face of food in phoenix.Ed Williams joins Greg on the podcast to bring us up to date on the project he is tackling in the heart of Phoenix to transform the world of urban agriculture with one simple way of growing food. Ed has been working hard to create a system that will make a difference in reducing food deserts at a level that the individual gardener can reach, yet can be supported by cities anywhere. He goes further and explains what democratizing the food system.Ed is a civil engineer and urban agriculture innovator. He has developed a new method of gardening called a LEHR Garden, a garden system that combines 12 different methods and practices of gardening, soil creation, and ecosystem repair into one cohesive system that is designed to meet the unique challenges of urban agriculture. Between water struggles and the decline of urban farmland, Phoenix has an urgent need to develop a resilient food system. Like in most cities a massive, largely unused, land resource in the form of large backyards is available. As one part of the solution to food insecurity and resilience, the City of Phoenix is reviving the concept of Victory Gardens. Just as everything else has changed since the 1940s, gardening and farming have changed drastically. Phoenix is testing building gardens in backyards and LEHR Innovations is one of the partners.  Ed is not just trying to figure out how to get people gardening, but KEEP them gardening, all through the power of living, regenerative soil. Visit https://www.urbanfarm.org/2023/05/05/738-edmund-williams/ for show notes and links.Edmund Williams on The Phoenix Backyard Garden Program

Worm CompostingSimplifying Vermicomposting And Making It Easy For Anyone To StartA chance encounter at a farmers market led Greg to meet Steve Churchill, the creator of the worm bag he had recently bought. In this interview, Steve explains the reason he designed a new worm composting bag and explains many of the ins and outs of vermicomposting. Steve Churchill is the owner of the Urban Worm Company, a vermicomposting-related blog, online store, and manufacturer of the Urban Worm Bag. Through the Urban Worm blog, social media, and e-mail interactions with his readers, Steve is a joyful promoter of vermicomposting as a means to turn household and commercial waste into a highly valuable soil amendment. Steve is also a retired military veteran and a pilot for Southwest Airlines.Visit https://www.urbanfarm.org/2023/05/02/737-steve-churchill/  for the show notes on this episode, and access to our full podcast library!