The Urban Farm Podcast with Greg Peterson

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 links on this podcast, and to find our other great guests.Ron Mantini on Homemade Olive Oil

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 teaches others how to rebuild and protect the natural commodity of their own soil so that they too can become stewards.Go to https://www.urbanfarm.org/2018/12/15/407-steve-szudera/ for more information and links on this podcast, and to find our other great guests.407: Steve Szudera on Nutrient Rich Soil

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 https://www.urbanfarm.org/2018/12/11/406-nika-forte/ for more information and links on this podcast, and to find our other great guests.406: Nika Forte on Farming for the Under-Served

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.Rhonda’s areas of expertise are vermicomposting, composting, recycling, and waste reduction. She gives about 40 presentations annually and has authored over 65 publications on these topics. Her new book is The Worm Farmer’s Handbook: Mid- to Large-Scale Vermicomposting for Farms, Businesses, Municipalities, Schools, and Institutions published by our friends at Chelsea Green.Go to https://www.urbanfarm.org/2018/12/08/405-rhonda-sherman/ for more information and links on this podcast, and to find our other great guests.405: Rhonda Sherman on Worm Farming

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 items from their farm including fresh eggs, cheeses, mud scrubs, soap and a special seasoning blend.  Plus you can find her at the Sedona Farmers Market on Sundays.Go to https://www.urbanfarm.org/2018/12/04/404-lyndsay-ludden/ for more information and links on this podcast, and to find our other great guests.404: Lyndsay Ludden as a Farmer at the Market

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, controlled-climate, modular farms. Their mission is to bring local, real food to people in cities, by empowering next-gen leaders in urban farming—because “the more of us working to shape the future of food, the better”.Founded in 2016 by Tobias and Kimbal Musk, Square Roots is also host to a “Next-Gen Farmer Training Program”—a year-long, hands-on training program that puts participants at the forefront of the indoor urban farming industry.Go to https://www.urbanfarm.org/2018/12/01/403-tobias-peggs/ for more information and links on this podcast, and to find our other great guests.403: Tobias Peggs on Empowering Next-Gen Leaders

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.  Primarily selling at farmers markets and other local events, she is expanding to offer her homemade premium granola products online.Go to https://www.urbanfarm.org/2018/11/24/402-ciara-bennett/ for more information and links on this podcast, and to find our other great guests.402: Ciara Bennett on Premium Homemade Granola

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 Northern Phoenix, and 5 years later they had more fruit than they could use or even give away. Then in 2010, a gift of locally-grown apples sparked an interest in seeing just what could be grown in this harsh desert environment. Fast forward 8 more years and the Heberts now run Edge of Nowhere Farm which is home to over 100 fruit trees, as well as laying hens, broiler chickens and pigs.Go to https://www.urbanfarm.org/2018/11/20/401-duane-hebert/ for more information and links on this podcast, and to find our other great guests.401: Duane Hebert on Growing a Healthy Diet

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, operate a commercial year-round market garden, and run horticultural research projects, at their farm called Four Season Farm in Harborside, Maine.Go to https://www.urbanfarm.org/2018/11/17/400-eliot-coleman/ for more information and links on this podcast, and to find our other great guests.400: Eliot Coleman on 30th Anniversary of 'The New Organic Grower'