Small Farm Academy Podcast

For the second interview of a short segment on Nursery production, Akiva Silver of Twisted Tree Farm joins me to talk the details of his nursery production. We get really into the details in this episode so if you're looking to get started growing out chestnuts, apples, persimmons, pawpaws, you'll love this one. Links: Twisted Tree Farm Starting a Nursery Business

Sean Dembrosky of Edible Acres joins me today to talk about his plant nursery and food forest. If you're interested in starting a food forest or plant nursery, you'll want to give this one a listen.  Edible Acres: http://www.edibleacres.org/ Edible Acres' YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/EdibleAcres 

Ivan Vincent of Ugly Barn Farm joins me today to talk about his experience building infrastructure for his mushroom operation.  If you are interested in growing mushrooms or just building general infrastructure on your farm, there is a TON of wisdom to be gleaned from Ivan.    Enjoy!

Sacha Begg of Bullygoth Farm joins me today to teach us how she has evolved her farm to specialize in growing and selling herbal blends.  If you are interested in growing and selling herbs, I highly recommend listening to this episode and paying special attention to what Sacha has learned from her customers over the years.    Enjoy!    

Nicholas Gitts and his daughter Heather Schloe join me today to tell the story of Swan Island Dahlias.  If you like dahlias, you will love this interview with them. We cover a LOT of ground in this interview. After listening you'll have a good sense of how the farm has evolved to where it is today, where it's heading, and the details of how they produce all of their flowers, tubers, and new varieties.   Enjoy!

Steven Kirk joins me today to talk about the ongoing evolution of his family's farm. They started out by launching a crowdfunding campaign to raise money to build infrastructure for their mushroom farm. When they didn't meet their funding goals, they pivoted to start hosting workshops and creating value added tinctures. This is a great lesson on how to roll with the punches and keep the momentum of building your farm.  Enjoy  

Alex Winstead joins me today to talk about Cascadia Mushrooms in Bellingham, WA. He shares his experience from starting this as a hobby in 2005 to where he his now producing 500 pounds per week of primarily Shiitake mushrooms.  Enjoy!  

Amy Fox joins me today to talk about Fox Farm & Forage LLC in North Carolina. We talk about how she started growing mushrooms in her basement as a hobby and how that has evolved into building a 4000 SF mushroom production facility on a dedicated piece of land. Impressive how things can grow! If you're looking to start a mushroom farm, you're going to love this. Support the Show on Patreon

Willie Crosby joins me today to talk about Fungi Ally in Hadley, MA. We talk about all of the details of Willie's production system of fresh oyster mushrooms for wholesale customers.  Willie gives us great, detailed information, on all aspects of his farm. If you're interested in growing mushrooms commercially, this episode should be a pre-requisite. Enjoy! Support the Show on Patreon

John Michelotti joins me today to talk about Catskill Fungi. Specifically, we talk about mushroom tinctures, mushroom walks, and the story of his farm.  Enjoy! Click here to support the show on Patreon 

Eli Talbert joins me today to talk about Urban Choice Mushroom Farm in Richmond Virginia.  If you like details on production and infrastructure, you're going to love this interview with Eli.   Click here to support the show on Patreon 

Dan Brisebois joins me today to talk about his cooperatively run Seed Company and Market Garden Tourne Sol. In the show we discuss: Why they started growing and selling seeds The different outlets they sell seeds through (Online, Seed Racks, Seedy Saturdays) The economics of seed racks How to get started as a seedsman A bit on Patent Law as it pertains to seeds     Support the Show on Patreon

Curt teaches us how he has approached choosing a piece of land for a family homestead land and the framework he has developed for choosing the enterprises that will be run by the family. Think of Curt like a mentor you get access to when you listen to this podcast. Thank him if you get the chance. Click here to support the show on the Patreon campaign

Grant Schultz, founder of New Farm Supply and Versaland joins me to talk primarily about Nursery Production. I asked Grant to be on this show because he has undertaken an incredibly ambitious project called Versaland, 145 acres of degraded land in Iowa that he has planted thousands of trees on and is establishing silvopasture systems that could be a model for transitioning the corn and soybean monocultures of the midwest. The hardest part of establishing an orchard is generating cashflow in the beginning years, especially when you are putting so much money into planting trees. Grant has solved this cash flow problem by starting his own nursery, New Farm Supply. He took the liability of purchasing thousands of trees for Versaland and judo'd into an asset by becoming a supplier of the best permaculture plants around. There is a ton to learn from Grant, so you will inevitably hear from him on the show again.    Show notes Support the show on Patreon Use code - 'SFA' for 20% off everything at New Farm Supply   

Luke Groce, of Groce Family Farm joins me today to discuss the details of pastured pork production. Luke started with a market garden and has grown to added pork to his offerings. In this episode we get into the economics of how much you can expect to earn from one pig and the associated costs with it. We touch on briefly why pastured pork is superior to dirt lot pig farming, but in all honestly, we could devote a whole show to this subject. The short of it is that you are raising better pork and paying less in feed while actually adding value to your land.    Support the show on Patreon   View the Show Notes on Small Farm Academy

Tradd Cotter, author of Organic Farming and Mycoremediation: Simple to Advanced and Experimental Techniques for Indoor and Outdoor Cultivation In this episode we discuss Mushroom Production, Tradd's business Mushroom Mountain, and much more. Enjoy! View the Show Notes on Small Farm Academy Support the show on Patreon

Steve Gabriel, author of Farming the Woods: An Integrated Permaculture Approach to Growing Food and Medicinals in Temperate Forests, joins me to talk about his experience cultivating mushrooms and medicinals for his farm, Wellspring Forest Farm. In this episode we discuss the details of shiitake production and farming the woods in general. Enjoy!   View the show notes on Small Farm Academy Support the Show on Patreon

Joe Krawczyk, founder of Field and Forest Products, joins me today to teach us how to go about starting a shiitake mushroom operation. Joe started Field and Forest Products 33 years ago and specializes in selling mushroom spawn, primarily Shiitake, to commercial and hobby mushroom growers. View the show notes on Small Farm Academy Support the Show on Patreon

Welcome to the Small Farm Academy Podcast. I've been wanting to start this podcast up again for the last couple years and am finally committing to it. This episode is an introduction of what's to come. Our goal with the Small Farm Academy is to teach the business and production skills necessary to produce artisan quality food directly to consumers.  View the show notes on Small Farm Academy Support the Show on Patreon