The No-Till Flowers Podcast

We're back with Season 4 of the No-Till Flowers Podcast!  In this solo episode, host Jennie Love talks about regenerative spraying and how to boost the health of your crops with foliar feeding.  Learn about the phyllosphere and what easy homemade inputs you can use to reduce pests and diseases with weekly foliar sprays.   Mentioned in this episode:  Join the Regenerative Flower Farmers Network if you'd like to continue the conversation on this topic. Jennies on-demand short courses for fellow farmers:  Foliage for the Win Successful Flower CSAs and Subscriptions CREW: Hiring and Managing Woodies: Playing the Long Game Simple Steps to Better Marketing Regenerative Farming Cohort Tap into the above courses and resources any time you need.  These are available on-demand through the Regenerative Flower Farmers Network.  Current RFFN members shoud follow this link to access the Short Courses at the discounted member rate.      How to make WCA, a homemade calcium foliar feed. How to make LAB, a homemade input for boosting good biology in the phyllosphere My4Sons Backpack Sprayers Quorum Sensing TED Talk on YouTube   If you enjoyed this episode, you might also want to listen to:  Episode 15:  A Little Goes a Long Way in Regenerative Farming with Tony Gatez Episode 21: The Magical BRIX Number that Stops Pests with Dr. Tom Dykstra Episode 23:  Bokashi & Worm Farming with Matt Arthur Episode 30: JADAM Basics, Making JMS and Other Natural Inputs   Sign up for our newsletter so you'll be the first to know about special events and other opportunities.   Follow @notillflowers on Instagram for more content.  HAVE IDEAS AND FEEDBACK ABOUT THE PODCAST?  Share your opinions in this brief survey.   As always, if you appreciate this podcast and all the education it provides, please take a moment out of your day to rate and write a review for it on Apple Podcasts or wherever you are listening to it.  Thanks for tuning in!  

Curious about cover crops for a flower farm?  Host Jennie Love walks listeners through a clear and concise overview of cover crops suitable for a small regenerative farm and why cover crops are such a valuable tool in the summer time for weed management.  Included is a list of favorite cover crops for a small flower farm.  Mentioned in the episode:  Cover Crop Solutions Chart from Peaceful Valley Deer Creek Seeds Kings Agriseeds Peaceful Valley  The Regenerative Flower Farmers Network (find a transcript of this episode there as well as lots of other helpful resources) If you enjoyed this show, you will also enjoy listening to these past episodes:  Episode 26: No-Till Basics: Bed PReparation Using the Deep Mulch System Episode 18: The Ins and Outs of Intercropping with Denise Richter  Episdoe 17: Exploring the Science Behind Natural Farm Inputs with Nigel Palmer Episode 15: A Little Goes A Long Way In Regenerative Flower Farming: KNF and JADAM with Tony Gaetz of Bare Mountain Farm   Sign up for our newsletter so you'll be the first to know about special events and other opportunities.   Follow @notillflowers on Instagram for more content.  HAVE IDEAS AND FEEDBACK ABOUT THE PODCAST?  Share your opinions in this brief survey.   As always, if you appreciate this podcast and all the education it provides, please take a moment out of your day to rate and write a review for it on Apple Podcasts or wherever you are listening to it.  Thanks for tuning in!  

Here's Part 2 of my chat with Margaret Parks of Evergreen Growers Supply, an Oregon-based supplier of beneficial insects and microorganisms.  If you haven't already, be sure to listen to Part 1 to get an introduction to using beneficial insects in your grow operation.   Some important links to go along with this conversation:  Evergreen Growers Supply dmvbeneficials.com Cucumber Beetle Trap Japanese Beetle Trap   JOIN ME for a FIELD DAY AT MY FARM in Philadelphia THIS SEASON.   Register for the April 14th Field Day here.     If you liked this episode, you'll want to also listen to:  Episode 21: The Magical BRIX Number That Stops Pests with Dr. Tom Dykstra Episode 25: The Power of Pusle Watering with Emma Horswill of Earthenry Farm Episode 29:  Nutrient Balancing in Living Soils with Bryant Mason, the Soil Doctor   Join the Regenerative Flower Farmers Network for more resources and Q&As with podcast guests.     HAVE IDEAS AND FEEDBACK ABOUT THE PODCAST?  Share your opinions in this brief survey.   As always, if you appreciate this podcast and all the education it provides, please take a moment out of your day to rate and write a review for it on Apple Podcasts or wherever you are listening to it. 

I'm joined in this episode by Margaret Parks of Evergreen Growers Supply, an Oregon-based supplier of beneficial insects and microorganisms.  We begin by discussing the big picture pieces of Integrated Pest Management (IPM) as they relate to small scale flower farming.  Then we dive into spider mite control with three fantastic beneficial insects.  We also touch on banker and trap crops as well as the importance and fundamentals of scouting.  Some important links to go along with this conversation:  Evergreen Growers Supply Margaret's Critter Links The mite predators Margaret mentions are:  Amblyseius / Neoseiulus fallacis  (pronounced "fuh-LASS-iss") Hypoaspis miles / Stratiolaelaps scimitis – (pronounced "stratio-LAY-laps") Phytoseiulus persimilis – (pronounced "per-SIM-ih-liss") Margaret offered a great pro tip during our conversation I thought I'd put here in the show notes so it's easy to reference.  Add site:.edu after google search terms to find university and extension publications quickly without having to weed through all the companies sell stuff.   Because Margaret had so much great info to share, I've split my conversation with her into two parts. Tune in again for Part 2 where we talk about a few more specific pests, like cucumber and Japanese bettles, as well as a natural product Evergreen Growers offers to combat gall.   If you liked this episode, you may want to also listen to:  Episode 8: Dahlia Pest Management with LeeAnn Huber of Coseytown Flowers Episode 15: A Little Goes a Long Way in Regenerative Flower Farming KNF and JADAM with Tony Gaetz of Bare Mountain Farm Episode 21: The Magical BRIX Number That Stops Pests – An Exciting Conversation with Dr. Tom Dykstra   HAVE IDEAS AND FEEDBACK ABOUT THE PODCAST?  Share your opinions in this brief survey.   As always, if you appreciate this podcast and all the education it provides, please take a moment out of your day to rate and write a review for it on Apple Podcasts or wherever you are listening to it.    Margaret Parks of Evergreen Growers Supply

Host Jennie Love walks listeners through a clear and concise discussion of what natural farming is and how to begin making natural inputs like JADAM Microbial Solution (JMS).  If you've been intimidated by the host of natural inputs talked about in Korean Natural Farming (KNF) and JADAM, this is a great introduction that will demystify the process and get you started.   Mentioned in the episode:  Registration for the CREW virtual seminar to help you find and manage a great crew for the coming season.   The JADAM book The JADAM YouTube channel The Regenerative Flower Farmers Network where you'll find the transcript for this show and several related articles to making natural inputs for your regenerative farm (you must be a member to access it) If you enjoyed this show, you will also enjoy listening to these past episodes:  Episdoe 17: Exploring the Science Behind Natural Farm Inputs with Nigel Palmer Episode 15: A Little Goes A Long Way In Regenerative Flower Farming: KNF and JADAM with Tony Gaetz of Bare Mountain Farm   Please remember to rate and review this podcast!  Many thanks! 

Guest Bryant Mason of Soil Doctor Consulting in Colorado joins host Jennie Love in a lively conversation about nutrient balancing and soil testing, including key nutrients for better flower production and stem quality.  Follow Bryant on Instagram @soil_doctor.   Bryant has developed an easy online tool to help you directly to interpret your soil tests and choose natural amendments accordingly.  Click here to learn more.   Covered in this episode are: The Different Forms of Nitrogen Calcium Phosphorous  Magnesium Soil pH Soil Paste Test and Soil Testing in General Tissue Testing Water Management Testing Natural Inputs for Nutrient Levels Resources mentioned in this episode are:  Biomin Cal-Boro (calcium boron feed) Infiltration Ring Chart for Mode of Nutrient Uptake in the Root Zone Logan  Labs Past episodes for further listening include: Episdoe 25: The Power of Pulse Watering with Emma Horswill Episode 17: Natural Inputs with Nigel Palmer Episode 15: Korean Natural Farming and JADAM in Flower Farming with Tony Gaetz of Bare Mountain Farm Episode 4: Soils Testing 101 with Ellen Polishuk    HAVE IDEAS AND FEEDBACK ABOUT THE PODCAST?  Share your opinions in this brief survey.   As always, if you appreciate this podcast and all the education it provides, please take a moment out of your day to rate and write a review for it on Apple Podcasts or wherever you are listening to it. 

It's seed starting time!  I'd venture to say this is what we growers are live for!  Watching seedlings grow in the depths of winter is the best mood lifter.  Those of you in the Southern Hemisphere are likely gearing up for your late summer sowings for cool annuals too.  So it seemed like a great time to do a deeper dive into seed sowing with my old friend and seed starting pro, Lisa Mason Zeigler from the Gardener's Workshop.  Lisa literally wrote the book, called Cool Flowers, on starting seeds for early spring crops. She's been flower farming for 25 years and runs a seed supply house.  She's also the host of the Field & Garden podcast, which you should check out if you haven't already.  In this episode,  Lisa and I talk all about seeds.  Everything from seed storage tips to creating a living soil with natural inputs to even a bit about sowing by the biodynamic calendar.   If you'd like to get my written out Regenerative Seed Starting Mix Recipe, join the Regenerative Flower Farmers Network (RFFN) to download that today.    Lots of links to share with this episode: The New Organic Grower by Eliot Coleman Seed Germination Theory and Practice by Dr. Norman Deno (free download) Biodynamic Calendar (make sure to set your specific location for accurate days) A study about the importance of the first few days of a seedling's life and how they develop Maxicrop (kelp product) WCA (calcium input) LAB (video on how to make it) A study on worm castings enhancing germination A study on worm castings improving disease resistance TED talk on how bacteria “talk” with autoinducers   Past episodes mentioned in this conversation for further listening include: Episode 21: BRIX with Dr. Tom Dykstra Episode 15: Korean Natural Farming and JADAM in Flower Farming with Tony Gaetz of Bare Mountain Farm Episode 16: Biodynamics with Erika and Ken from Teton Full Circle Farm Episode 23: Bokashi and Worm Farming with Matt Arthur   HAVE IDEAS AND FEEDBACK ABOUT THE PODCAST?  Share your opinions in this brief survey.   As always, if you appreciate this podcast and all the education it provides, please take a moment out of your day to rate and write a review for it on Apple Podcasts or wherever you are listening to it. 

Guest Laura Beth Resnick of Butterbee Farm in Maryland joins host Jennie Love again to discuss building and rebuilding a successful farm business over the past decade.  Covered in this episode are: - Finding land to farm - Pros and cons of renting versus buying farm land - Funding sources for land and infrastructure - Making infrastructure decisions - Bringing goats to a flower farm - Finding peach of mind and courage in the face of big change and wintertime Mentioned in this episode are:  The Regenerative Flower Farmers Network Jennie's upcoming virtual farming cohort where she'll coach a small group of flower farmers throgh the spring.  Laura Beth's previous episode here on No-Till Flowers. Laura Beth's online class about building a farm, including more details about funding.  A past episode on farmer burnout and mental well-being with Amelia Ihlo. The "goat moat" fig guy, Three Fold Farm in Mechanicsburg PA (they have an earth battery green house too).  Farm Service Agency (FSA) for farm loans Please take a moment to rate and review this podcast wherever you are listening.   Find No-Till Flowers on Instagram @notillflowers  

Host Jennie Love walks listeners through a clear and detailed description of how she has prepared no-till beds at her farm over the seasons.  She goes into particular detail about the "deep mulch system" that many smaller diversified farms use for no-till bed preparation.  Jennie also discusses her own journey to getting started with no-till farming back in 2018.   Water and weed concerns related to no-till beds are also disucssed in this episode.   Mentioned in this show: Registration for the 2023 No-Till Flowers Farming Cohort is now open and you can sign up here.   Andrew Mefferd's book, The Organic No-Till Farming Revolution Join the Regenerative Flower Farmers Network to read detailed articles on and see lots of photos of no-till bed preparation.   If you enjoyed this show, consider listening to these related episodes:  Breaking Down Compost with Guest Jesse Frost Improving Poor Compost with Guest Ellen Polishuk  Talking All Things No-Till Flowers with Guest Tony Gaetz from Bare Mountain Farm Pulse Watering with Emma Horswill from Earthenry Farm   Please rate and review this podcast wherever you are listening so we can grow the auidence.    

Welcome to Season 3 of the No-Till Flowers podcast!  Emma Horswill from Earthenry Farm in Tasmania joins host, Jennie Love, for a lovely chat that hits on several important regenerative farming practices.  The primary focus of this episode is irrigation, particularly an approach to it called "pulse watering".  Other topics include cover cropping, fertigation, quickly imporving poor compacted soil using regenerative methods, creating a flower farm that's very asethetically pleasing for a you-pick operation, and converting a horse farm to a flower farm.   Links mentioned in this episode are as follows:  Earthenry Farm on Instagram Dahlias in Australia: The Winkie Way (the book Emma used to originally learn about pulse watering)  The Regenerative Flower Farmers Network where members can download Emma's fact sheet on pulse watering.   Steve Solomon's "Complete Organic Fertilizer" recipe.  Daniel May's book The No-Till Organic Vegatable Farm ARC Centre for Excellence for Plant Success in Nature and Agriculture (Australian think tank for future proofing our farms)   Teeming with Bacteria by Jeff Lowenfels     Please rate and leave a review for this podcast as it helps us tailor the podcast even more to your needs and helps other listeners find it.   Follow @notillflowers on Instagram for more content and conversations.  And become a member of the Regenerative Flower Farmers Network to access additional detailed resources and live Q&A events as mentioned throughout the podcast.    

Do you view your farm as a production space? A landscape that should generate x number of stems in x square feet for x amount of dollars each season?  Many farmers do.  In this episode, host Jennie Love encourages listeners to look at their farms as whole ecosystems that serves millions of lives, not just your own goals.  Jennie is joined by author, Dr. Doug Tallamy, a professor in the University of Delaware's Department of Entomology and Wildlife Ecology.   For years, Dr. Tallamy has studied how insects interact with plants and how those interactions impact the food web, right up to us humans.  He's authored several books, including Nature's Best Hope, which is the main focus of this episode's discussion.    Farming is the single biggest land-use category on this planet!  With nearly 50% of the earth's land being used for agriculture, every single farmer HAS to be part of the solution as we face down the 6th great extinction our planet has seen. Some of the actionable steps that Doug and Jennie talk about are to: stop spraying pesticides of any kind plant native plants increase diversity of plants, particularly trees leave your weeds alone and stop manicuring your farm and let it get a little loose and wild.   If you enjoy the content you hear on this podcast, consider joining the Regenerative Flower Farmers Network (RFFN), a community of like-mind growers who put the ecosystem at the forefront of their farms.  It's less than the price of a fancy latte to join for the whole year! Members get special access to podcast guests and other exclusive content, including an article with 15 favorite tried-and-true native plants for cutting.   Please rate and review this podcast on whatever platform you are listening.  It only takes a minute and your review helps spread the word about this podcast and its important message so we can effect even more positive change for our earth and our community.  Many thanks for your help with that!

In this episode, host Jennie Love is joined by farmer Matt Arthur of BLH Farm to dive into bokashi and worm farming at a scale that can actually provide a large volume of high-quality compost and castings for a small farm.  If you've struggled with making compost on your farm or finding well-aged, herbicide-free compost locally, bokashi could be the solution you've been searching for!   An anerobic fermentation process, bokashi does not require a carbon source and takes a fraction of the time to produce finished compost that the more widely-known and used areobic compost pile does.  Listen as Matt explains why and how.  Originally farming flowers, Matt has diversified his business in recent years to include a paid food waste collection service for his local community to support his larger-scale bokashi operation. And that bokashi operation produces high-quality feedstock for his worm operation!  He sells castings and worms locally and nationwide.  Matt's inspirational system is very do-able for just about any farm and requires no large equipment.  Find Matt on Instagram @blh_farm and at his website: https://blhfarm.com/ In this show, Matt mentions 96 gallon "rollers".  Here's a link to a video showing how to convert one for bokashi as well as where to buy the components.  Matt also mentioned EM-1.  Here's a link to where to purchase it: https://tinyurl.com/musry4hh Coming up on October 28th, 2022, there will be an in-person No-Till Flowers Field Day at Jennie's regenerative flower farm in Philadelphia.  Click here to register.  If you enjoy the content you hear on this podcast, consider joining the Regenerative Flower Farmers Network (RFFN), a community of like-mind growers who put the ecosystem at the forefront of their farms.  It's just the price of a fancy latte to join for the whole year! Members get special access to podcast guests and other exclusive content.  Matt will be answering questions about bokashi and worms live on RFFN in November.  PLEASE RATE AND REVIEW THIS PODCAST WHEREVER YOU ARE LISTENING: this helps us grow our aduience!   Follow @notillflowers on Instagram for lots of content about regenerative flower farming.    

Welcome to the first in a short summer series of episodes dedicated to farmer well-being.  This is my 14th season flower farming and running a small business centered around such a stunning and stressful product.  Every season brings its own set of challenges, most entirely out of my control.   This year I broke a bone and strained a tendon in my left foot in late February that has impacted my physical and mental health immensely.  I entered the intensity of spring planting season feeling hugely ineffective and burnt out. I'm used to those feelings in August each year, but never before had I felt that way in March. Acknowledging burn-out and its source and making space for it is the first step to recovery.  So I started talking about it with close farmer friends at first and then more publicly.  As I did, I heard echoed back to me all the same feelings of exhaustion, anxiety and physical pain.  I am definitely not alone. Nor are you.  My guest in this episode, Amelia Ihlo, is also a friend, which made this would-be heavy conversation flow easily. It's proof that talking to a friend can be a huge step forward when you feel burnt out.  We both share our stories of and strategies for farmer fatigue.  Amelia, the founder of Rooted Farmers, brings a uniquely powerful tactic to the table: collective selling.  She talks about how flower collectives – or co-ops or hubs or whatever you want to call them -- have the capacity to snuff out burn-out.  Maybe you're like me and had never thought about collective selling as a defense against burn-out, but it really makes sense once you start thinking about it in that way.  On the Rooted Farmers blog, Amelia and her team have put together a couple great post on farmer burn-out and health.  Check those out here.  Two other resources are:  Young Farmers Coalition  Rural Health Information Hub Neither I nor Amelia are mental health professionals.  Rather we are two experienced flower farmers and business women having a candid conversation.  If you need support for a well-being crisis or are worried about someone else who does, please call or text 1 800 273 8255 to connect with a trained crisis counselor.  If this episode makes you feel seen and you want to join a deeper conversation on farmer well-being, consider joining the Regenerative Flower Farmers Network, or RFFN for short. Over the past year, RFFN has developed into a safe harbor away from social media where all questions and scenarios are welcome, connections are made between farmers and experts, and experiences are shared so all members contribute to growing the knowledge of the group.  Within that framework, we have a special space dedicated to discussing and supporting farmer well-being.  Please join us there!

In this episode, host Jennie Love is joined by Dr. Tom Dykstra, an entomologist with over 25 years of experience in academic and field research. Predominantly, he has studied insect olfaction (how insects smell) from the standpoint of bioelectromagnetics and has proven a new theory based on the fusion of biophysics and neurophysiology.  Dr. Dykstra has long been involved in the field of agriculture and pest control.  He brings a unique perspective to the table that flies in the face of conventional agriculture's penchant for liberally applying pesticides.  Turns out pesticides kill far more than the pests -- but we regenerative farmers already knew that, right?  Still, it's great to hear a lauded scientist explain why pesticides are the undoing of healthy plants.   In this episode, we go into more detail about BRIX and how this easy measurement can be so meaningful to pest management.  Through all his years of research with myriad crops and pests, Dr. Dykstra has found a magical BRIX number where, once that threshold has been reached, pests will not be a problem anymore!  Listen in to learn what that number is! In this episode, a few links are mention.  Here they are for easy reference:  - Previous interview with Dr. Dykstra on the Regenerative Agriculture Podcast wtih John Kempf - The refactometer model Jennie uses at her farm to take BRIX readings.  - The Wikipedia article on bioelectromagnetics for those who are curious to have a brief intro to the idea.  A SPECIAL NOTE ABOUT THE EDITING OF THIS EPISODE:  We're so grateful to Dr. Dykstra for sharing all his nerdy knowledge.  That being said, he did get super nerdy for a bit early on in this interview.  Like super duper nerdy!  We thought we'd loose a lot of you in the weeds if we started the episode with that.  So you'll be jumping into the middle of the interview when you start listening to this episode.  Keep listening alllll the way to the end to hear a lot of detail about how Dr. Dykstra has determined insects "smell".   Dr. Dykstra currently works as a consultant for Advancing Eco Ag if you'd like to pick his brain more.   This show is brought to you by the Regenerative Flower Farmers Network (RFFN).  Your membership in RFFN will go to support the making of more podcasts here on No-Till Flowers. Join RFFN today to read dozens of great articles on regenerative practices as they specifically relate to flower farming.   On RFFN, you'll find a more information about regenerative practices for pest control and a nerdy community to talk more about BRIX.     PLEASE RATE AND REVIEW this show wherever you are getting it.  It really helps us grow!  Sign up for our newsletter so you'll be the first to know about special events and opportunities.   Follow @notillflowers on Instagram for more content.  Thanks for tuning in!  

Host Jennie Love is joined again Dave Dowling of Ball Colorlink. Dave was on Season 1 of the podcast to discuss tulips in detail.  Check out that episode if you haven't already.  This time we're talking for an hour about ranunculus cultivation. Because, you know, that's probably what you're doing right now! We cover a lot of ground in this episode, from considerations when ordering corms to pre-sprouting, variety selection, growing in crates(!!), harvesting, storing, and considerations for profitability.  In this show, we mention culture sheets for ranunculus that can help give some guidance for growers trying to dial in their ranunculus program.  Here are three for your review:  https://www.unicornblooms.com/_files/ugd/73dfff_99320cb9eef54d1ba16fdd290cd9375f.pdf http://64.41.82.172/pdfs/Ranunculus-Brochure-2017.pdf https://www.green-works.nl/site/assets/files/10803/cult__info__ranunculus_butterfly_for_cut_green_works-1.pdf Also mentioned in the intro of this show is our upcoming No-Till Flowers FIELD DAY!  Join Jennie at her farm in Philadelphia on April 16th for a hands-on invigorating learning experience where you'll connect with many other flower farmers passionate about regenerative growing practices.  Below is the link to purchase your ticket.  If you can't make it to this event, stay tuned for another in July.   https://www.shoplovenfreshflowers.com/product/no-till-flowers-field-day   ---  This show is brought to you by the Regenerative Flower Farmers Network (RFFN).  Your membership in RFFN will go to support the making of more podcasts here on No-Till Flowers. Join RFFN today to read dozens of great articles on regenerative practices as they specifically relate to flower farming.   On RFFN, you'll find a more information about regeneratively growing specific flower crops like ranunculus.    PLEASE RATE AND REVIEW this show wherever you are getting it.  It really helps us grow!   Sign up for our newsletter so you'll be the first to know about special events and opportunities.   Follow @notillflowers on Instagram for more content.  Thanks for tuning in!     

Host Jennie Love sits down with Dr. Catherine Brewer of New Mexico State University.  Dr. Brewer (Catie) is a chemical and materials engineer who has devoted a good portion of her professional scientific career to studying biochar, particularly as it relates to processing agricultural waste to create a valuable farm input.  Biochar is a "fine-grained charcoal high in organic carbon and largely resistant to decomposition...produced from pyrolysis (burning) of plant and waste feedstocks" (Source IBI Website).  It's been used for centuries as a soil amendment, particularly in the Amazon and when other indigenous peoples around the world had prescribed burns to areas they wished to farm.  Biochar resists further decomposition for hundreds or even thousands of years, making it a superb vehicle for sequestering carbon in our soils.  It also provides excellent "housing" for soil microbial populations.  Perhaps most importantly for growers, biochar is a great tool for helping even out water cycles in farm soils.  Catie has great information about why that is exactly.   In this conversation, we learn how biochar can be used at a farm to "close the loop" and make better soils for future generations.  This is a long game strategy, one that will be vital to the regeneration of our earth over more lifetimes than our own.  Our flower farms can do so much more than just grow flowers and biochar is an example of that.  Mentioned in this show is the trench method for burning debris to make biochar.  Here is a video by Bare Mountain Farm about how to dig a good trench and how to manage a burn.   ---  This show is brought to you by the Regenerative Flower Farmers Network (RFFN).  Your membership in RFFN will go to support the making of more podcasts here on No-Till Flowers. Join RFFN today to read dozens of great articles on regenerative practices as they specifically relate to flower farming.   On RFFN, you'll find a more information about making biochar as well as a live video Q&A session with Catie.  PLEASE RATE AND REVIEW this show wherever you are getting it.  It really helps us grow!   Sign up for our newsletter so you'll be the first to know about special events and opportunities.   Follow @notillflowers on Instagram for more content.  Thanks for tuning in!  

Joining host Jennie Love on today's show is Denise Richter from Pistil & Stamen in New Orleans.  On her small urban flower farm, Denise has had to get very clever over the years with intercropping to maximize the number of harvestable stems.  In this conversation, we dive deep into intercropping as well as urban farming, managing super wet soils, and being a farmer florist. Intercropping is the practice of planting two or more crops at the same time or in quick succession in the same bed space so they are growing together for at least part of their life cycles. This diversifies the types of roots down in the soil and maximizes space and photosynthesis above ground. Intercropping is a key practice to regenerative farming.  It's talked about a lot in the grazing and vegetable farming communities.  But it really hasn't caught on much yet in flower farming.  Hopefully today's show will help change that! Some of the intercropping pairings mentioned in this episode include:  - sunflowers + dahlias - stock + flowering cabbage + candy tuft - calendula + snapdragons - cardoons + iris - edible peas + dormant perennials - lisianthus + radishes  - celosia + dormant ranunculus/anemones Some seed sources mentioned were Baker Creek Seeds for purple-pod peas and Johnny's Selected Seeds for cover crop peas.  Denise also mentioned Floral Genius pin cups as her favorite design mechanic.  This show is brought to you by the Regenerative Flower Farmers Network (RFFN).  Your membership in RFFN will go to support the making of more podcasts here on No-Till Flowers. Join RFFN today to read dozens of great articles on regenerative practices as they specifically relate to flower farming.   On RFFN, you'll find more conversations about intercropping.  Please rate and leave a review for this show wherever you are getting it.   Sign up for our newsletter so you'll be the first to know about special events and opportunities.   Follow @notillflowers on Instagram for more content.  Thanks for tuning in!  

Host Jennie Love sits down with former aerospace engineer turned author, Nigel Palmer, to discuss his outstanding book The Regenerative Grower's Guide to Garden Amendments.  Nigel has done a superb job of putting the science behind homebrewed natural inputs like those touted in Korean Natural Farming and JADAM practices.  Nigel tells us how we can conduct our own citizen science to be better regenerative farmers.   The process for testing your own liquid mineral amendments can be found here on Nigel's website.   Nigel's upcoming workshops can be found here.   Nigel's YouTube channel has a growing collection of informative videos on how to make your own natural regenerative inputs.   This show is brought to you by the Regenerative Flower Farmers Network (RFFN).  Your membership in RFFN will go to support the making of more podcasts here on No-Till Flowers. Join RFFN today to read dozens of great articles on regenerative practices as they specifically relate to flower farming.   On RFFN, you'll find written recipes for making several of the natural inputs Nigel and Jennie talk about during this show as well as view a listener Q&A video with Nigel.  Please rate and leave a review for this show wherever you are getting it.   Sign up for our newsletter so you'll be the first to know about special events and opportunities.   Follow @notillflowers on Instagram for more content.  Thanks for tuning in!  

No-Till Flowers is a podcast all about regenerative practices to help flower farms be more resilient and our community to thrive.  Flower farms can do so much more than just grow flowers!  Through our work on our farms, we can build habitat for other creatures of all sizes, balancing soils, water cycles and ecosystems.  If we e give back more than we take.  Come along with me as I ask lots of questions of podcast guests to help piece the puzzle together.  Weather you're brand new to flower farming or a seasoned grower, you'll learn something new with each episode.   Be sure to subscribe so you won't miss when a new episode airs.   Sign up for the newsletter for occasional updates and special offers for listeners.   And check out the Instagram feed too for lots of pictures to go along with the information you hear here.   Learn more about me, Jennie Love, and my flower farming journey over on Love 'n Fresh Flowers.  

Host Jennie Love talks with Erika Eschholz & Ken Michael from Teton Full Circle Farm in Idaho about what it means to be a biodynamic flower farm.  We get into both the practical parts of biodynamics and the woo-woo.   Erika and Ken were gracious enough to provide a long list of resources for listeners who want to learn more about biodynamics:  Books Grasp the Nettle By Peter Proctor Agriculture by Rudolf Steiner Gardening for Life by Maria Thun The Biodynamic Way by Maria Thun A Biodynamic Farm by Hugh Lovel Biodynamic Gardening by Monty Waldin Calendars The Maria Thun Biodynamic Almanac 2022 (be sure to get the edition appropriate for your area- e.g. The North America Edition) Stella Natura 2022 Biodynamic Planting Calendar Edited by Sherry Wildfeuer Organizations Biodynamic Demeter Alliance (formerly The Biodynamic Association and Demeter USA) Resources The Josephine Porter Institute for Applied Biodynamics Biodynamic Source What is Biodynamics? by Ken Michael and Erika Eschholz   This show is brought to you by the Regenerative Flower Farmers Network (RFFN).  Your membership in RFFN will go to support the making of more podcasts here on No-Till Flowers. Join RFFN today to read dozens of great articles on regenerative practices as they specifically relate to flower farming.   On RFFN, you'll find more info about biodynamic flower farming, including prompts to sow by the biodynamic calendar.    Please rate and leave a review for this show wherever you are getting it.  It helps us grow! Sign up for our newsletter so you'll be the first to know about special events and opportunities.   Follow @notillflowers on Instagram for more content. 

And we're back!  It's the premiere of Season 2 of No-Till Flowers!!   Host Jennie Love talks again with fan favorite, Tony Gaetz of Bare Mountain Farm about making and using natural farm inputs for fertility and biology a la Korean Natural Farming and JADAM practices.  The running theme is that a little goes a long way.  Tony was on Season 1 of the podcast so be sure to check out that episode if you haven't already.   Tony and his wife Denise have an outstanding YouTube channel full of videos about Korean Natural Farming, JADAM, biochar, bokashi, no-till techniques, tools, and much more.   This show is brought to you by the Regenerative Flower Farmers Network (RFFN).  Your membership in RFFN will go to support the making of more podcasts here on No-Till Flowers. Join RFFN today to read dozens of great articles on regenerative practices as they specifically relate to flower farming.   On RFFN, you'll find written recipes for making several of the natural inputs Tony and Jennie talk about during this show.  Please rate and leave a review for this show wherever you are getting it.   Sign up for our newsletter so you'll be the first to know about special events and opportunities.   Follow @notillflowers on Instagram for more content.  Thanks for tuning in!  

Surprise! Welcome to the third of No-Till Flowers spontaneous seasonal series... To build on our last No-Till Flowers Summer short about improving meh compost with Ellen Polishuk, Jennie and Optimus... I mean, Jesse Frost (a hilarious, but unfortunate recording error), author of The Living Soil Handbook and host of The No-Till Market Garden Podcast, break down the four types of compost, how small-scale farmers can make their own without heavy equipment, they get real nerdy about worm bins, and lessons learned managing no-till on clay soils. Mentioned in the show: Sign-up for the No-Till Flowers Newsletter John Kempf's Regenerative Agriculture Podcast The Food Lab Earth Podcast The Worm Farmers Handbook Uncle Jim's Worm Farm Brought to you by Jennie Love and No-Till Growers. If you like No-Till Flowers and want to see it grow, support our work and be sure to follow Love N Fresh and No-Till Flowers for more.

Surprise! Welcome to the second of No-Till Flowers spontaneous seasonal series... It may be a Summer short, but Jennie Love of Love N Fresh Flowers and Ellen Polishuk of Plant to Profit have a powerful conversation about what to do with less-than-awesome compost, modifying our approaches to soil health over time, and an important piece of advice for farm resilience in the wake of a changing climate... and ain't just to increase your organic matter! Brought to you by Jennie Love and No-Till Growers. If you like No-Till Flowers and want to see it grow, support our work and be sure to follow Love N Fresh and No-Till Flowers for more.

Surprise! Welcome to the first of No-Till Flowers spontaneous seasonal series... Jennie Love of Love N Fresh Flowers talks with Dave Dowling of Ball Colorlink about everything TULIPS! Because, you know, that's probably what you're doing right now. They cover a lot of ground, from considerations when ordering bulbs, to no-till planting, harvesting, storing, designing, profitability, favorite varieties, and resources. Sign up for the Newsletter to get the tulip resource guide No-Till Tulips Step-by-Step How-To Ednie Catalog that lists Weeks to Cool Dave's Online Course all about bulbs and more! Brought to you by Jennie Love & No-Till Growers. If you like No-Till Flowers and want to see it grow, support our work and be sure to follow Love N Fresh and No-Till Flowers for more.

Legendary flower grower Joe Schmitt joins the show to talk ornamental grains and grasses, efficient tools for reducing wear on the body, and a bunch else from his lifetime in flower farming. Links: https://www.johnnyseeds.com/tools-supplies/transplanters/paperpot-transplanter-7601.html https://www.pendragonfabrication.com/specialty-machinery/drangen-lay-down-work-cart/ https://www.nativeseeds.org/pages/sonoran-panic-grass https://territorialseed.com/products/quinoa-brightest-brilliant-rainbow?variant=12786106433635 https://www.wildgardenseed.com/index.php?cPath=39 https://www.victoryseeds.com/sorghum_white-popping.html Sponsors: www.growingformarket.com www.farmersfriend.com http://ascfg.org Follow Jennie: www.instagram.com/notillflowers www.notillgrowers.com     

Erin McMullen joins host Jennie Love to talk restoring soil, wholesale flowers, farming with kids, being a female farmer.  https://www.raindropfarms.net Lacy Phacelia: https://greencoverseed.com/product/1076/ Follow Jennie: www.instagram.com/notillflowers Sponsors: www.growingformarket.com  www.farmersfriend.com https://www.ascfg.org   Brought to you by www.Notillgrowers.com  and the supporters at www.patreon.com/notillgrowers         

Brenda and Andrew of Good Hope Blooms join host Jennie Love to talk biodynamic flower farming in through a multi-year drought, smoke from wildfires, farm store management, and more!  http://goodhopeblooms.com.au https://www.instagram.com/good_hope_blooms/   Links:  https://www.youtube.com/user/livingwebfarms Pat Coleby book: https://amzn.to/2Y8B1Px https://www.harpercollins.com/products/sand-talk-tyson-yunkaporta?variant=32280908103714   Sponsors: www.growingformarket.com www.farmersfriend.com and http://ascfg.org/   www.notillgrowers.com       

A bonus to this week's Dahlia episode––this one all about pest management!  http://coseytownflowers.com/ trap discussed: https://www.mosquitomagnet.com/store/mosquito-magnet-trap/dynatrap?area_to_protect=46 www.instagram.com/notillflowers  www.notillgrowers.com  

LeeAnn Huber joins the show to dive deep into Dahlias, everything from breeding to storage, over wintering, best varieties, fertility and more!  https://coseytownflowers.com other links: https://coseytownflowers.com/dahlia-education/ https://lovenfreshflowers.com/2020/11/08/overwintering-dahlias/ https://lovenfreshflowers.com/2014/03/24/how-to-take-dahlia-cuttings-to-build-your-stock/   Follow Jennie at www.instagram.com/notillflowers Sponsors: www.farmersfriend.com www.growingformarket.com www.ascfg.org More info at www.notillgrowers.com  

Molly and Asher join Jennie from Maine to discuss biodynamic flower production, general soil management, landscape fabric for weed suppression and more.  www.onthemountainfarm.com https://www.instagram.com/onthemountainfarm/ Follow Jennie: www.instagram.com/notillflowers Sponsors: www.farmersfriend.com + www.growingformarket.com + www.ascfg.org   Josephine Porter Institute (Asher recommended this preparation as a good place to start) Rock Dust/Pioneer Valley Bionutrient Food Association Biodynamic Association Habit Farming by Foot Print Farm

Permaculture and flower farming in windy conditions with no-till bed prep, fertility management and more. https://www.islandflowerfarm.ca  Links from the show: http://www.growgreatvegetables.com/fertilizers/a-great-organic-fertilizer-mix/ https://stoneslinger.com/?gclid=Cj0KCQiAzsz-BRCCARIsANotFgMygzKh6oZx5X0jIjK6O1ud_jTvwfnFWc0Y1k7eInhyDWxg5V19iWcaAgnkEALw_wcB https://www.brakethecycle.co.uk/?fbclid=IwAR2IAudd33wwPrl6s0t0IkLcfxvD-mnutt8yodcKioRtLyRmWi8C7mraNKw https://amzn.to/3rDzAGs   Sponsors: www.growingformarket.com  www.farmersfriend.com and https://www.ascfg.org Follow Jennie: www.instagram.com/notillflowers  www.notillgrowers.com 

Jennie is joined by Ellen Polishuk of Plant to Profit to talk soil testing, soil health, adding microbes and more. Links: https://www.planttoprofit.com Book: https://amzn.to/2KCsP74 https://www.midwesternbioag.com https://www.fertrell.com https://www.7springsfarm.com/soil-amendments/ https://www.midwesternbioag.com/products/microhume/ Follow Jennie: www.instagram.com/lovenfreshflowers or www.instagram.com/notillflowers www.notillgrowers.com    

Jennie and Laura Beth Resnick talk about no-till flowers in the tunnel, employee management and more.  Butterbee Farm: https://www.butterbeefarm.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/butterbee_farm/ No-Till Flowers: www.notillflowerspodcast.com Sponsors: www.farmersfriend.com and www.growingformarketmagazine.com and http://www.ascfg.org A www.notillgrowers.com production   

Jennie catches up with Tony Gaetz of Bare Mtn Farm in Oregon to talk no-till flowers, KNF, and more!     site http://baremtnfarm.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/baremtnfarm/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/baremtnfarm Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/butterbee_farm/ No-Till Flowers: www.notillflowerspodcast.com Sponsors: www.farmersfriend.com and www.growingformarketmagazine.com and http://www.ascfg.org A www.notillgrowers.com production 

 Jennie catches up with Mimo Davis in St. Louis and chats about reclaiming city lots, bindweed, changes markets and more!    http://urbanbudscitygrownflowers.com/ https://www.instagram.com/urbanbuds/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/butterbee_farm/ No-Till Flowers: www.notillflowerspodcast.com Sponsors: www.farmersfriend.com and www.growingformarketmagazine.com and http://www.ascfg.org A www.notillgrowers.com production