The Urban Farm Podcast with Greg Peterson

Digging into the reasons plants flourish.In This Podcast: We delve deeper into the relationship between plant roots and healthy soil with Jake Mowrer. He explains why the soil changes when plant roots extend through it's layers, and lessons learned from the dustbowl times regarding soil degradation. Through his simple explanations, it is easier to understand the nature of soil make-up. And, he shares simple tips on how to improve soil quality. Jake was raised on a farm in north Georgia where his family produced broiler chickens and beef cattle.  Growing up, the work was often hard, but the food was always good. Life on the farm is a good way to gain an appreciation for the connectivity of food production in our daily lives.Jake now works with farmers in Texas as a Texas A&M faculty member in the Soil and Crop Science Department, and as an Extension Specialist with Texas A&M AgriLife Extension to communicate the importance of managing soil as a natural resource.Go to https://www.urbanfarm.org/2019/08/17/471-jake-mowrer/ for more information and links on this podcast, and to find our other great guests.471: Jake Mowrer on Deep Roots in Soil

Getting serious about the microscopic life in soil.In This Podcast: Retired after years of leadership in Monsanto, David Stark was asked to mentor a young company making what was essentially compost tea. Reluctantly and with some concerns over the science, he agreed and now is excited to share what he has learned about soil science and plant health. Grateful for not turning down the request, he now can help teach about soil and plant health and explain about the various microbes in the soil and the essential roles they play.Dr. Stark is President of Holganix LLC where he leads the company’s efforts to expand its business into agriculture.  Dr. Stark spent over 25 years with Monsanto Company where he held various senior leadership roles in technology, corporate affairs and business operations. In 2015 he went to work for Holganix, sells a line of 100% natural bionutritional products for turf, ornamental and agriculture use. The product starts with a proprietary process for making and concentrating a diverse mix of over 800 species of beneficial bacteria, fungi and protozoa. The end result is the most complete mix of Organic beneficial microbes on the market.Go to https://www.urbanfarm.org/2019/08/13/470-david-stark/ for more information and links on this podcast, and to find our other great guests.470: David Stark on Soil Microbes.

Creating resilience in an urban community.In This Podcast: It was after spending some time out of the country that Francey Slater woke to the poor American relationship with food.  This motivated her towards food justice and making a difference in her community.  With a belief that healthy food is a right for everyone, she co-founded a non-profit that is creating community and school gardens, and building a stronger, resilient community as a result. Francey is the Co-Founder and Executive Director of Mill City Grows in Lowell, MA. Her experience creating garden-based educational programming spans two decades, several continents, and youth through adult learners. Mill City Grows is an organization that fosters food justice by improving physical health, economic independence and environmental sustainability in Lowell through increased access to land, locally-grown food and education.Prior to founding Mill City Grows, she was the Education Director for CitySprouts, worked as a member of the Urban Nutrition Initiative in Philadelphia, PA, helped to restore agricultural efforts in a village school in Bangalore, India; and provided education for farmers, gardeners, and youth in Hocotepec, Mexico. Go to https://www.urbanfarm.org/2019/08/10/469-francey-slater/ for more information and links on this podcast, and to find our other great guests.469: Francey Slater on Urban Ag and Food Justice.

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 find our other great guests.This contest period has expired.468: Chris Smith on Okra

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 Composting

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 development organization that is bringing together schools, churches, neighborhoods, local government, city offices and businesses to help assure that, "Every Business Thrives, Every Student Succeeds and Every Neighborhood is Safe".Go to https://www.urbanfarm.org/2019/07/30/466-shannon-mcbride/ for more information and links on this podcast, and to find our other great guests.466: Shannon McBride on Successful Community Collaboration

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 information and links on this podcast, and to find our other great guests.The contest in this episode has been closed.465: Bobby Wilson on Five Acres in Atlanta

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://www.urbanfarm.org/2019/07/23/464-nicole-finklestein/ for more information and links on this podcast, and to find our other great guests.464: Nicole Finklestein on Urban Herb Farming

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.org/2019/07/20/463-carl-atwell/ for more information and links on this podcast, and to find our other great guests.463: Carl Atwell on Entrepreneurship and Valued Relationships

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 about it a bit in her award-winning piece “Cooking’s Not for Everyone,” about how people shouldn’t have to cook (garden) to have high-quality, locally grown, sustainable food. Go to https://www.urbanfarm.org/2019/07/16/462-molly-watson/ for more information and links on this podcast, and to find our other great guests.462: Molly Watson on Harvesting Garden Snails