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A behind the scenes podcast where we visit with farmers and learn what it takes to be a sustainable produce grower across the triple bottom line of people, profits and our planet.
112 Episodes
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Text me a message! Today’s Episode comes to you from Brookfield Vermont where we visit with Kyle Dodda and Betsy Simpson of 1000 Stone Farm. They’ve got many balls in the air with a wide range of crops from veggies to perennial fruit, eggs and meat, hard cider and a restaurant. They sell retail out of a farmstore, wholesale, CSA & go to a farmers market. This seems like a lot to me for a couple growing on about 5 acres, so I joined them in a conversion to figure out what motivates them an...
Text me a message! Today’s Episode comes to you from Bradford Vermont where we visit with David Pierson of Pierson Farm. After 42 years of running a mixed vegetable farm to supply a roadside farm stand, with 3 acres of strawberries being one of the big draws, he was able to retire, leasing the farm to a long time employee Dan. We start off the episode walking the farm where the crew is actively planting a new batch of strawberries, check out the farm stand and reflect on the challenges of far...
Text me a message! Today’s episode comes from Granville Vermont where we visit with John Hirsch of Clearfield Farm. With over 10 years under his belt he’s refined his farm business to be lean on labor and focused in scope as his primary crops are wholesale carrots and potatoes. He’s also excited to be getting into grain and doing more intensive rotations with cover crops. We start off the episode with a look at his new harvester, hop in the truck to check out the fields, before digging deeper...
Text me a message! Today’s episode comes to you from Worthington Massachusetts where we visit with Trip Shaw of Four Corners Farm. He’s been growing over 16 years and produces over 8 acres of mixed vegetables for his newly built farmstand. We start off the episodes in this new farm building which has a front porch, farmstand, wash/pack space, walk-in cooler, and even a commercial kitchen space where value added goods will be made to round out this farm stand with coffee, sandwiches, and other...
Text me a message! Today’s episode comes to you from Plainfield Vermont where we visit with Kagen Dewey and Elise Magnant of Blackbird Organics. They’ve been farming since 2018 and have set their roots on their own farm with high tunnels and field production. We start off the visit with a tour of the greenhouses, walk around the fields, then circle back into a tunnel to hear how they are building their farming career. Support the show Visit the website to see photos/videos from the visi...
Text me a message! Today’s episode comes to you from Newbury Vermont, where we visit with Bob Gray of 4 Corners Farm. He and his wife Kim purchased the farm in the late 1970’s after finding success selling their abundance of vegetables at a farmers market and overtime built a highly diversified farm that supports them and their children. Bob shares about the importance of cow manure, greenhouses and attention to detail, and reflects on his career as a farmer in Vermont. Support the show...
Text me a message! Today’s episode comes to you from Jericho Vermont where we visit with Spencer Hardy and Jake Kornfeld of The Farm Upstream (https://www.thefarmupstream.com). They are friends who are just setting roots on this new farm and share how they've structured their business to grow collaboratively to support multiple households. Support the show Visit the website to see photos/videos from the visit: https://thefarmersshare.com Follow the show on Facebook and Instagram: @th...
Text me a message! Today’s episode comes to you from Shaftsbury Vermont where we visit with Andrew Knafel of Clear Brook Farm. As he just farmed for the 30th season we reflect on how they grows on about 30 acres and in 11 greenhouses. He markets mixed vegetables and bedding plants mostly all sold from his retail farmstand. We start off the episode with a look inside a couple of his high tunnels, talk about a large cooler build, and then hang out in the display greenhouse during the Dec...
Text me a message! Today’s episode comes to you from Johnson Vermont where we visit with Tony and Joie Lehouillier of Foote Brook Farm. They grow sod, and 35 acres of vegetables for both wholesale markets and their on-farm store. We start off the episode seeing what’s growing in one of the greenhouses in early December, take a look in the farm stand, then talk about how they cleaned up from the flooding that buried their entire farm. With over 4’ of water in their barn they lost crops, equipm...
Text me a message! Today’s episode comes to you from Middlebury Vermont where we visit with Spencer Blackwell of Elmer Farm. He’s been growing for 30 years and built this property up from a homestead to a CSA & wholesale vegetable farming growing crops on over 7 acres. We start off with a tour checking out the wash and pack area, then hop in the truck during this rainy November day to take a look at the fields and various equipment. After that we pull up a seat in the boiler room of their...
Text me a message! Today's episode comes to you from Post Mills Vermont where we visit with Tim and Janet Taylor of Crossroad Farm. They are recently retired from a 40+year farming career growing over 50 acres and 20 greenhouses of diversified vegetables. What started out as a garden turned into a business that was able to be sold and retired off from. The first half of this episode goes into their history of building things up, and the second half goes a little deeper to how they managed to ...
Text me a message! Today's episode comes to you from Ely Vermont where we visit with Jake Guest of Killdeer Farm. Like many interviews we start with a tour around the farm where we visit his perfectly rectangular fields in sandy soil where he grows carrots and cilantro and spinach. Jake shares a bit about cover cropping, cultivation, and dealing with oak leaf goosefoot. After that we get out of the 90° heat and sit around the kitchen table to learn a little bit about how he got started farmin...
Text me a message! Today’s episode comes to you from Shaftsbury Vermont, where we visit with Lisa McDougall of Mighty Food Farm. We start off the episode with a tour through her seven greenhouses and glance at some of the equipment that she’s using to farm over 14 acres of vegetables. We then pull up a stool in the greenhouse and have a deeper conversation about how she got started farming, And what she’s done to maintain employees and customers and run a business for over 18 years. Support t...
Text me a message! Today’s Episode comes to you from Danville Vermont where we visit with Jacob Mills of McDonald Farm Stand. We start off the show with a tour of a newly built 30x40 wash/pack space. Then continue through several high tunnels and talk about spinach, tomatoes, tulips and more. We talk about field production as well and wrap the episode with a brief tour of his sugarhouse before they started to boil for the evening. Support the show Visit the website to see photos/videos ...
Text me a message! Today’s episode comes to you from Charlotte Vermont, where we visit with Adam Hausmann and Jessica Sanford of Adam’s Berry Farm. Today’s visit is part 2. The previous episode was a farm tour and a field walk through the berry plants, high tunnels and barn. This episode shares the growing practices, farming history, and steps towards the development of this farm business. Support the show Visit the website to see photos/videos from the visit: https://thefarmersshare.co...
Text me a message! Today’s episode comes to you from Charlotte Vermont, where we visit with Adam Hausmann and Jessica Sanford of Adams Berry Farm. Our visit today will be split into two episodes, the first one, is a walking tour of his blueberry fields, and strawberry patches, and raspberry plantings. We step inside the high tunnels to look at the fruit in there, as well as the barn which houses a kitchen, farm stand, and packing equipment. This visit had a bit of snow along the tree line, so...
Text me a message! Today’s episode comes to you from Lancaster County Pennsylvania in a town called Lititz, where we visit John and Peter Shenk of Shenk’s Berry Farm. While their farm may not ring a bell, you may have seen these guys at a trade show or recognize their side business especially if you are into strawberries as they also run the company of Hillside Cultivator. John and Peter take me around their farm in early February and share their experiences growing strawberries for ov...
Text me a message! Today’s episode comes to you from Plainfield, New Hampshire where we visit with Pooh Sprague of Edgewater Farm. This episode is a bit of a ramble as a 50 year career in farming is expected to be! That being said in this episode Pooh Shares: How he got started in the early 70’sSelling bedding plantsLabor challenges 100 acres, over 30 high tunnels, 7 H2ATracking water usageFSMA Produce Safety RuleClimate Change ResilienceSoil stewardshipFarm transitionKnowing your m...
Text me a message! This episode comes to you from South Royalton Vermont Where we visit with Geo Honigford of Hurricane Flats Farm. He’s grown mixed vegetables, popcorn, and hay for 26 years. He also made the decision to sell his farm just a few years ago and pursue a different career path. I thought this was unique and wanted to chat with him about this decision to sell and pivot to a new chapter in life. We start off by learning his background and experience at the top of the episode....
Text me a message! Today’s episode comes to you from Au Sable Forks New York where we visit with Becca Burke of The Meadow Farmstead. She’s managed a diversified vegetable farm and CSA for the last few years on the Vermont side of lake Champlain, but finally landed some growing space of her own over in New York. She hit the ground running and I visited with her at the tail end of the first season on this new farm. We discuss strategic investments, lessons learned from other farms to set this ...
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