Growers Daily

Last winter, I went to Covington, Kentucky for the Acres USA EcoAG Conference. It was my kind of nerd fest. I listened to researchers sharing their newest findings, learned from farmers, and my ultimate favorite, connecting with people about compost. It's where I first learned about James White's research from Rutgers on the rhizophagy cycle. It blew my mind hearing and seeing how plant roots are actually consuming microbes. I heard practical farming techniques from John Kemph and spent time with lots of farmers. Today, we are going to chat with one of these farmers, who I actually met in the elevator at the conference. Tyler Zimmerman is a third-generation farmer with 2 ,800 acres in North Dakota. Tyler transitioned the farm to no-till regenerative practices. He's a wealth of information about soil health and so very practical. We dive into his techniques for making vibrantly living compost and the tall task of spreading that on such big acreage. Follow Tyler's process and progress on Instagram Follow Jayne & Earht Care Farm on Instagram Support the folks who support The Composter You can learn more about Viably, formerly Komptech, and their portfolio of compost solutions at thinkviably.com. While there, request a complimentary consultative meeting to discover how Viably can help your compost operation deliver what is possible. The OSC Pack Pact is a collective action campaign that works to reduce single-use packaging in the natural products industry. Receive a discount code to shop select products from leading natural products brands that you love. Click the link in the show notes to join the Pack Pact! Compost use and selection decisions involve many factors and are not one-size-fits-all. The U .S. Composting Council's Seal of testing assurance, STA program helps you make the best decisions for your application. Learn about the three Cs of the STA program, clarity, consistency, and confidence and enroll at compostingcounsel.org

In almost every interview on The Seed Farmer, my guests and I wind up talking about tools. And one tool that podcast guests have mentioned more than any other tool is the Winnow Wizard. We use the Winnow Wizard at Torne-Sol Farm to clean seeds, so I understand the love that folks have for this machine. But I really wasn't expecting it for it to just keep coming back, interview after interview. And since it has kept coming back, I thought we should spend some time with the person who designed the seed cleaning machine, Mark Luterra. Mark currently works at Adaptive Seeds in Sweet Home, Oregon, but he started his seed journey at Wild Garden Seed, where he designed and built the first Winnow Wizard to make his seed cleaning days easier. He then went on to build another 104 machines that have been shipped all over the U.S. and Canada. He's now transferred production of the Winnow Wizard to Oppen Works in Wisconsin. In today's episode, Mark tells us what the Winnow Wizard does and how it works, and we do a deep dive into seed cleaning. And of course, the Winnow Wizard plays the key part in the seed cleaning stories, but Mark also explains how seed harvest and screening are equally important steps to get your seed clean. Mark also reveals some secrets of using a shop vac for seed cleaning. During the discussion, we go through four seed cleaning scenarios and how Mark would tackle each of them. Mark then wraps up the conversation by telling us about his next seed project aimed at small-scale seed farmers. Follow Mark on Instagram and check out his Substack Follow Dan on Instagram, get his newsletter, & follow Tourne-Sol Cooperative Farm PRE-ORDER Dan's new book, The Seed Farmer, from notillgrowers.com Folks who support The Seed Farmer Podcast The goal of the Culinary Breeding Network is to improve communication between plant breeders, seed growers, farmers, chefs, produce buyers and others to improve quality in vegetables, fruits and grains. Learn more and check out upcoming events! Are you a farmer looking for educational resources in Canada? Check out Young Agrarians! They are a farmer-to-farmer educational resource network for new and young ecological, organic, and regenerative farmers. This February, join thousands of farmers like you from across the U.S. for three days of community building and farmer-led learning at the 36th annual Marbleseed Organic Farming Conference in La Crosse, Wisconsin. Truelove Seeds is a farm-based seed company offering culturally important and open pollinated vegetable, herb, and flower seeds. Check out their podcast, Seeds & Their People, wherever you're listening to The Seed Farmer Podcast!

Andreas Ruiz runs Regenera Organico, a small-scale composting operation in Chile, nestled in a densely populated neighborhood. He shares the journey of starting his business, influenced by expert guidance and community collaboration. The conversation delves into the innovative solutions they've implemented, like waterproof compost coverings, and the unique challenges of utilizing fish waste. They also explore emerging trends in organic waste legislation, highlighting the importance of composting for sustainable waste management and the bonds within the composting community.

Ian McSweeney & Kristina Villa, co-directors of The Farmers Land Trust, are responsible for creating and supporting farmland commons, a vehicle for preserving farmland and ensuring its dedication to regenerative agriculture in perpetuity while respecting both the farmers and the communities they feed. I mean, what's better than that? If you like what you hear, are a farmer or a landholder, and want to know more, you can reach out to them at the thefarmerslandtrust.org Folks who support Collab Farm Peaceful Valley Farm & Garden Supply is your one-stop shop for cover crops, soil amendments, tools, and more. Save 20% on your first order now with code: NOTILL24. Apply for a commercial account for year-round savings and dedicated support! Visit Groworganic.com/notill Harnois Greenhouses are engineered to face any North American climate, ensuring unparalleled brightness, agronomic performance, faster return on investment and lasting durability. Harnois Greenhouses, a leader in turnkey solutions for local growers. The OSC Pack Pact is a collective action campaign that works to reduce single-use packaging in the natural products industry. Receive a discount code to shop select products from leading natural products brands that you love. Click the link in the show notes to join the Pack Pact!

Domingo Morales of Compost Power NYC was raised in New York City with little connection to nature until he was 22 years old and had a position at the Red Hook Farms through the Green City Force. That experience introduced him to farming, allowing him to see his connection to nature, and he developed compost fever. Domingo will tell you about his path into starting Compost Power NYC, which now has nine locations throughout New York City. Domingo's eye for management has led his sites to be model facilities. Domingo has a lot of experience with rats and has learned that a well-run compost operation does not have a problem with them. If you are concerned about rodents and compost, this is a great episode for you. Domingo's enthusiasm and care for his community is super contagious! Mentioned in the show... Follow Compost Power NYC on Instagram The David Prize of NYC Host Jayne's Earth Care Farm Support the folks who support The Composter You can learn more about Viably, formerly Komptech, and their portfolio of compost solutions at thinkviably.com. While there, request a complimentary consultative meeting to discover how Viably can help your compost operation deliver what is possible. The OSC Pack Pact is a collective action campaign that works to reduce single-use packaging in the natural products industry. Receive a discount code to shop select products from leading natural products brands that you love. Click the link in the show notes to join the Pack Pact! Compost use and selection decisions involve many factors and are not one-size-fits-all. The U .S. Composting Council's Seal of testing assurance, STA program helps you make the best decisions for your application. Learn about the three Cs of the STA program, clarity, consistency, and confidence and enroll at compostingcounsel.org

Kim Delaney farms with Aaron Lyons and Stephen Surgenessie at Hawthorn Farm Organic Seeds in Mount Forest, Ontario. They grow certified organic seeds on two farm sites for their online store and to distribute through Seedy Saturdays and through their wholesale seed rack program. In this episode, Kim discusses how she began her seed journey working in tall grass prairie restoration and how that blossomed into growing and selling vegetable, flower, and herb seeds. Kim also talks about how she has established and manages wild collection areas on her farm to harvest seed for wild bergamot, black-eyed Susan, milkweed, prairie grasses, and other plants. Kim explains how Hawthorn has worked with local farmers to grow seed on their farms as part of a transition town project where market growers grow the seed crop and Hawthorne would harvest and clean the seed. We discuss Kim's vision of what that could look like as a cross-country project. Kim also describes some of the seed infrastructure they've set up at Hawthorn including a seed dryer in a shipping container and a DIY air column. For this episode's technical section, Kim talks about growing and harvesting seeds from two native prairie grasses, Indian grass and blue stem grass. Follow Hawthorn Farm Organic Seeds on Instagram & check out their website Follow Dan on Instagram, get his newsletter, & follow Tourne-Sol Cooperative Farm PRE-ORDER Dan's new book, The Seed Farmer, from notillgrowers.com Mentioned in the show… The Organic Seed Grower by John Navazio The Organic Seed Alliance Real Seeds (UK) DIY seed cleaner The Winnow Wizard Folks who support The Seed Farmer Podcast The goal of the Culinary Breeding Network is to improve communication between plant breeders, seed growers, farmers, chefs, produce buyers and others to improve quality in vegetables, fruits and grains. Learn more and check out upcoming events! Are you a farmer looking for educational resources in Canada? Check out Young Agrarians! They are a farmer-to-farmer educational resource network for new and young ecological, organic, and regenerative farmers. This February, join thousands of farmers like you from across the U.S. for three days of community building and farmer-led learning at the 36th annual Marbleseed Organic Farming Conference in La Crosse, Wisconsin. Truelove Seeds is a farm-based seed company offering culturally important and open pollinated vegetable, herb, and flower seeds. Check out their podcast, Seeds & Their People, wherever you're listening to The Seed Farmer Podcast!

Wow, compost lovers, we made it to season three! Thank you. That's three years of compost love being shared and celebrated. This season is going to be awesome. It will be as wide and varied as the microbes in our piles. We'll be talking with composters of all scales, new technologies, legislation, science, and some about the second compost operation, my farm, Earth Care Farm, is opening up in the neighboring state of Connecticut. There are so many ways to make compost, diverse materials, and varied scales of operation. We need it all. Let's talk about all of it. Can you feel the momentum gaining? I can. Speaking of diverse ingredients, what an honor to kick off the first episode of season three with Katrina Spade of Recompose. Recompose specializes in human composting. Yes, we are starting this season with human composting. Such a fascinating niche in our industry. Katrina talks about the incredibly thoughtful design process Recompose uses to help connect the general public to the reverence of composting. This is a deep, caring process, fully honoring the life of the one who passed and the loved ones left behind. Human composting isn't legal in all states yet, so you'll hear how Katrina helped get that legalized in Washington in 2019. It's now legal in seven states, but so far only happening in Washington and Colorado. In my state of Rhode Island, it hasn't passed yet, but seems like it will soon. Join me in this rich conversation with Katrina Spade. Support the folks who support The Composter You can learn more about Viably, formerly Komptech, and their portfolio of compost solutions at thinkviably.com. While there, request a complimentary consultative meeting to discover how Viably can help your compost operation deliver what is possible. The OSC Pack Pact is a collective action campaign that works to reduce single-use packaging in the natural products industry. Receive a discount code to shop select products from leading natural products brands that you love. Click the link in the show notes to join the Pack Pact! Compost use and selection decisions involve many factors and are not one-size-fits-all. The U .S. Composting Council's Seal of testing assurance, STA program helps you make the best decisions for your application. Learn about the three Cs of the STA program, clarity, consistency, and confidence and enroll at compostingcounsel.org

Dan Brisebois here, seed grower at Tourne-Sol Co-operative Farm, spreadsheet crop-planning enthusiast, and also host of The Seed Farmer Podcast. Wait... The Seed Farmer Podcast? Isn't this The Seed Growers Podcast feed? Well, you are right - but let me tell you why there is going to be a name change... Mentioned in the show... The Farmer Spreadsheet Academy Order The Seed Farmer: A Complete Guide to Growing, Using, and Selling Your Own Seeds from notillgrowers.com to support the podcast Canadian growers, get it directly from the author at... https://boutique.fermetournesol.qc.ca/en/products/the-seed-farmer Stay tuned for the first episode of season two, coming August 21st, wherever you get your seedy podcasts.

Mark and Kristen Kimball of Essex Farm in Essex, New York, have farmed for over 20 years together. Mark and Kristen are known for their year-round, free-choice, whole-diet CSA model on 130 acres, with 22 acres and vegetables and access to 1,100 acres per grazing, haymaking, and sugaring, producing everything from veggies, fruit, grains, meat, dairy, eggs, and more. They balance the complexities of a year-round whole diet CSA model and their approach to winter food in the form of not only storage crops, but through the animals they raise who harvest the sun's abundance in the form of grass, forbs, and legumes, and store it as nutrient-dense, protein, and fat. They believe that this is season extension too, and complementary to fresh vegetable production. A very insightful conversation… Mentioned in the show… Kristen's books: Good Husbandry & The Dirty Life Check out the folks who make the show possible... RIMOL Greenhouses quality greenhouses and high-tunnels. Johnny's Selected Seeds vegetable, flower, and cover crop seeds. Visit the Growers Library for a wealth of growing resources. BCS America for two wheel tractors + implements. ... and, as always, our work is powered by the individual growers who support us every month over at patreon.com/notillgrowers. You can pick up a copy of The Living Soil Handbook if you don't have one already, as well as a No-Till Growers hat or other merch, check out our YouTube channel, and you can ask you questions or share your insights into ecological market gardening on our free growers forum at notillgrowers.community.chat

Farmer Sara Patterson of Red Acre Farm in Cedar City, Utah, was just 14 years old when she started her first CSA on her parents' land after they moved to Utah from LA. Now, 15 years later, she has built Red Acre Farm into a thriving one-acre certified organic farm with a year-round, full-diet CSA, farm stand, farm kitchen, AND farm stay, along with hosting farm dinners, workshops, and other community events. She also founded the Utah Farm and Food Conference, now in its eighth year, and with her mom established the Red Acre Center for Food and Agriculture, a nonprofit with a focus on farmer education and advocating for farmers at the state level. Since 2015, she and her mom have worked together to pass more than 19 bills directly related to small agriculture and artisan producers in Utah. Sara is a powerhouse of energy and drive to make small-scale farming and local food accessible to all in her community and to inspire others to do the same. Check out the folks who make the show possible... RIMOL Greenhouses quality greenhouses and high-tunnels. Johnny's Selected Seeds vegetable, flower, and cover crop seeds. Visit the Growers Library for a wealth of growing resources. BCS America for two wheel tractors + implements. ... and, as always, our work is powered by the individual growers who support us every month over at patreon.com/notillgrowers. You can pick up a copy of The Living Soil Handbook if you don't have one already, as well as a No-Till Growers hat or other merch, check out our YouTube channel, and you can ask you questions or share your insights into ecological market gardening on our free growers forum at notillgrowers.community.chat