Farmer to Farmer with Chris Blanchard
Activity Overview
Episode publication activity over the past year
Episodes
Jim Gerritsen of Wood Prairie Family Farm Takes Us to Potato School
08 Sep 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Jim Gerritsen of Wood Prairie Family Farm in Aroostook County, Maine, is not just a potato farmer; he's a potato artist. Wood Prairie Farm provides ce...
Paul Underhill of Terra Firma Farm on California Farming
01 Sep 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Paul Underhill is a partner in Terra Firma Farm, where he manages crop production on 220 acres in the southern Sacramento Valley. Terra Firma Farm rai...
Stephanie Spock of Rolling Hills Farm on Mushrooms, Vegetables, and a Market-Style CSA
25 Aug 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Stephanie Spock raises two acres of vegetables and a whole lot of mushrooms at Rolling Hills Farm in Lambertville, New Jersey. She and her partner, Jo...
Don Lareau of Zephyros Farm and Garden on Growing and Designing Organic Flowers in Cowboy Country for Resort Communities
18 Aug 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Don Lareau raises about four acres of certified organic flowers at Zephyros Farm and Garden in Paonia, Colorado (in addition to an acre of vegetables,...
Daniel Allen of Allenbrooke Farms on Keeping Things Simple and Efficient with Extensive Production and a Free-Choice CSA
11 Aug 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Daniel Allen raises fifteen acres of vegetables at Allenbrooke Farms, just outside of Nashville, Tennessee. He and his wife, Stephanie, market all of ...
Conor Crickmore of Neversink Farm on Stripping Down the Farm to Make It Easy - or as easy as possible
04 Aug 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Conor Crickmore grosses a little over $350,000 on just over one-and-a-half acres in Claryville, New York, with his wife, Kate. Marketing through farme...
077: Kristen Kordet of Blue Moon Community Farm on Developing Systems and Schedules that Support a Farm and a Life
28 Jul 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Kristen Kordet farms seven acres of vegetables at Blue Moon Community Farm in Stoughton, Wisconsin. Located just outside of Madison, Blue Moon Communi...
076: Mark Cain of Dripping Springs Garden on Developing a Market for Local Cut Flowers and Changing Your Own Oil
21 Jul 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Mark Cain owns Dripping Springs Garden with his partner, Michael Crane. Located in northwestern Arkansas, Dripping Springs has about four acres in pro...
075: Jack Hedin on Creating a High-Performing Farm from Chaotic Beginnings
14 Jul 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Jack Hedin owns Featherstone Farm in Rushford, Minnesota. Farming 132 acres of certified organic vegetables (out of 250 total planted acres), Feathers...
074: John Navazio Takes a Seedy Tour of Hybrids, Selection, Resistance, and Seed Quality
07 Jul 2016
Contributed by Lukas
John Navazio manages the plant breeding program at Johnny's Selected Seeds in Albion, Maine. John takes us on a seedy tour of the early days of organ...
073: Ali and Dan Haney on Making Something from Nothing with Eggs and Vegetables
30 Jun 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Ali and Dan Haney own Shenandoah Seasonal, two-and-a-half acres of vegetables and 400 laying hens in Virginia's Shenandoah Valley. Now in their fifth ...
072: Jen Campbell on Raising Two Acres of Vegetables with Tractors, and a Family
23 Jun 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Jen Campbell raises two acres of vegetables on Canada's Prince Edward Island at Jen and Derek's Organic Farm. She sells about $80,000 of certified org...
071: Nate Parks on Loss, Recovery, and Thriving on a Large-Scale Vegetable Farm
16 Jun 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Nate Parks raises twenty acres of vegetables at Silverthorn Farm in west-central Indiana, and sells his produce to restaurants, a custom-packed CSA pr...
070: Janet Czarnecki on Giving and Taking with Customers, Employees, and Community
09 Jun 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Janet Czarnecki raises five acres of vegetables, flowers, and fruit at Redwood Roots Farm on the northern California coast, just outside of Arcata. Al...
069: Allen Philo on Using Cover Crops and Calories to Put Your Soil to Work for You
02 Jun 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Allen Philo is the specialty crops consultant for Midwestern BioAg, a biological fertilizer company in Blue Mounds, Wisconsin, where he works with fru...
068: Matt Herbruck on His Two Farming Lives, a Joyful Approach to Farmers Markets, and Building the Systems that Make His Farm Work
26 May 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Matt Herbruck has lived two farming lives: one in down east Maine, and another in northeast Ohio. After 21 years of farming, he currently owns and ope...
067: Peter Seely on Passion and Finding His Way at Springdale Farm
19 May 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Peter Seeley and his wife, Bernadette, began farming at Springdale Farm in 1988, at the dawn of the CSA movement in the Upper Midwest. Over 25 years, ...
066: Shawn Jadrnicek on Creating a Strong Design Backbone for Your Farm to Encourage Farm Success
12 May 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Shawn Jadrnicek manages the Clemson Student Organic Farm at Clemson University. Six acres of produce serves a one hundred-share CSA, wholesale markets...
065: Jeremy Mueller on the Farmer and the Farm
05 May 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Jeremy Mueller and his wife, Ashli, operate Excelsior Farm, just outside of Eugene, Oregon. Together they raise produce for restaurant sales, retail g...
064: Laura Frerichs on Growing Quality Produce and a Quality Life
28 Apr 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Laura Frerichs owns and operates Loon Organics with her husband, Adam Cullip, in Hutchinson, Minnesota. Loon Organics grosses $200,000 on 8 acres of p...
063: Rachel Armstrong and Cassie Noltnerwyss on the Legal Side of Employees and other Workers on the Farm
21 Apr 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Rachel Armstrong founded the nonprofit Farm Commons, a legal resource for sustainability-minded farmers, in 2012. And Cassie Noltnerwyss owns Crossroa...
062: Brenton Johnson on Growing from a Backyard Garden to Over 150 Acres in Vegetables
14 Apr 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Brenton Johnson started growing vegetables in his backyard in Austin, and then his front yard, and then he started selling them, and then he moved to ...
061: Eliot Coleman on the Importance of Observation, and Making the Soil Work for Your Farm
07 Apr 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Eliot Coleman raises about an acre-and-a-half of vegetables in Harborside, Maine, with his wife, Barbara Damrosch. With over 40 years of experience in...
060: Mike Bollinger on Finding a Niche and Accessing Markets
30 Mar 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Mike Bollinger raises about three acres of outdoor vegetables and a half acre under cover just inside the city limits of the small town of Decorah, Io...
059: Laura Masterson on Creating a Farm Future She Wants to Be a Part Of
24 Mar 2016
Contributed by Lukas
47th Avenue Farm’s Laura Masterson started her farm on a double lot in a residential neighborhood of Portland, Oregon, twenty years ago. The farm ex...
058: Curtis Stone on Using the Pareto Principle on the Urban Micro Farm
17 Mar 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Curtis Stone raises $100,000 of vegetable on just a third of an acre at Green City Acres in Kelowna, British Columbia. He’s also the author of The U...
057: Dru Rivers on the Ballet of Managing Diversity, Partnerships, and Employees at Full Belly Farm
10 Mar 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Dru Rivers began farming in 1983 with her partner, Paul Muller, in Northern California’s Capay Valley. Since that time, Full Belly Farm has grown to...
056: Emily Oakley on Setting Limits at Three Springs Farm
03 Mar 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Emily Oakley owns and operates Three Springs Farm in Oaks, Oklahoma, with her husband, Mike Appel. Since 2003, they’ve sold their organic vegetables...
055: Jane Hawley Stevens on Scaling Up with Value Added Medicinal Herbs
25 Feb 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Jane Hawley Stevens raises certified organic medicinal herbs on her farm in North Freedom, Wisconsin, and turns them into creams, lip balms, and salve...
054: Erich Schultz Talks Suburban Farming in the Arizona Desert
18 Feb 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Erich Schultz owns and operates Steadfast Farm, a certified organic farm in the heart of a suburban community on the outskirts of Phoenix, Arizona. Wi...
053: Patrice Gros on Real No-Till Farming, Profitability, and Not Working Too Hard
11 Feb 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Patrice Gros farms on just a half an acre of beds in northern Arkansas without ever tilling the soil. And while it sounds like gardening, he’s defin...
052: Mark Boen Talks Cover Crops, CSA, and Changes on 320 Acres at Bluebird Gardens
04 Feb 2016
Contributed by Lukas
At Bluebird Gardens in Fergus Falls, Minnesota, Mark Boen farms 320 acres with his wife, Diane, and a crew of ten employees. Starting with six acres i...
051: John Biernbuam on Worm Compost, Transplant Production, and Experimentation on the Farm
28 Jan 2016
Contributed by Lukas
John Biernbaum is a professor in the Department of Horticulture at Michigan State University. He has spent most of his career working with farmers to ...
050: Dan Brisebois on Farming in a Cooperative, Seed Production, and Crop Planning
21 Jan 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Dan Brisebois was a founding member of Tourne-Sol Cooperative Farm, begun in 2004. Located just outside of Montreal, Quebec, Tourne-Sol is an employee...
049: Mark Shepard Talks Restoration Agriculture
14 Jan 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Mark Shepard’s New Forest Farm, in Viola, Wisconsin, isn’t your average farm. After twenty-one years of an intentional conversion from 106 acres o...
048: Carol Ann Sayle of Boggy Creek Farm on Urban and Rural Farming in Texas
07 Jan 2016
Contributed by Lukas
Boggy Creek Farm got it its start in 1991 selling produce at a farm stand in Austin, Texas – and to the original Whole Foods Market, which also ther...
047: Don Zasada and Bridget Spann on Land Trusts, Bringing CSA Members to the Farm, and Effective Communication with Employees and Apprentices
31 Dec 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Don Zasada and Bridget Spann own and operate Caretaker Farm in western Massachusetts, where they raise vegetables for 275 CSA families. Caretaker Farm...
046: Leslie Cooperband on Orchestrating Goats, Cheese-making, Gelato, and QuickBooks
24 Dec 2015
Contributed by Lukas
When today’s guest Leslie Cooperband, and her husband, Wes Jarrell, started Prairie Fruits Farm and Creamery in 2005, they didn’t expect the goat ...
045: Elizabeth Henderson on International and Personal Perspectives on CSA
17 Dec 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Elizabeth Henderson was a founder of Peacework Organic CSA, one of the oldest CSAs in the United States, where she farmed for over thirty years. She i...
044: Sophia Kruszewski on the New Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) Produce Rule
10 Dec 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Sophia Kruszewski leads the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition’s work on food safety, and has put a ton of time and effort into the FDA’s ...
043: Dru and Adam Montri on Balancing Off-Farm Jobs with a Full-Time Farm
03 Dec 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Dru and Adam Montri raise vegetables in 6 large high tunnels and on 3 acres outdoors at Ten Hens Farm in Bath, Michigan, just outside of Lansing. They...
042: Zoe Bradbury on Farming with Her Family, Children, and Horses in Rural Oregon
26 Nov 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Valley Flora’s Zoe Bradbury grew up on the family homestead in southern Oregon, just a few miles from the Pacific Ocean. She left at sixteen and cam...
041: Andrea Hazzard on Growing Grains on a Small Scale
19 Nov 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Andrea Hazzard grows and mills 30 acres of ancient and heirloom grains, from black beans and red corn to emmer, spelt, einkorn, and oats. Returning to...
040: Jess and Brian Powers on Creating a Farmer-Centric CSA, Plus a Love Story
12 Nov 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Jess and Brian Powers own and operate Working Hands Farm, with 4 acres of vegetables and a bunch of livestock just outside of Portland Oregon. In this...
039: Paul Dietmann on Setting Your Farm Up for Financial Success
05 Nov 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Paul Dietmann is the Emerging Markets Specialist with Badgerland Financial, a member-owned rural lending cooperative and Farm Credit System institutio...
038: Ben Flanner on Farming Rooftops in Brooklyn
29 Oct 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Ben Flanner raises over two acres of vegetables on two rooftop farms in New York. His Brooklyn Grange provides over 50,000 pounds of produce every yea...
037: Steve Tomlinson on Farming with a Restaurant
22 Oct 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Steve Tomlinson manages Great Road Farm just four miles from downtown Princeton, New Jersey. Making its home on 112 acres, Great Road Farm has over ...
036: J.M. Fortier on Six-Figure Farming with the Market Gardener
15 Oct 2015
Contributed by Lukas
J.M. Fortier is the author of the award-winning book, The Market Gardener. At his farm in Quebec, J.M. and his wife raise 1 ½ acres of produce in per...
035: Karl Hammer on Microbes, Carbon, and the Compost Connection
08 Oct 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Karl Hammer is the founder and president of Vermont Compost Company. Vermont Compost collects food waste and manure in central Vermont, and adds it to...
034: Ben Hartman on the Lean Farm
01 Oct 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Clay Bottom Farm’s Ben Hartman is the author of The Lean Farm, a book on minimizing waste and increasing efficiency on the vegetable farm. He has fa...
033: Nigel Walker on Building an Excellent Farm
24 Sep 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Eatwell Farm, in California’s Sacramento Valley just over an hour from San Francisco, is 105 acres of deep, flat, fertile ground. There, Nigel Walke...
032: Rebecca Thistlethwaite on Making a Livestock Farm Work
17 Sep 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Rebecca Thistlethwaite, author of The New Livestock Farmer, currently lives and raises livestock near Hood River, Oregon. She and her husband ran TLC ...
031: Collin Thompson on Incubating Farmers in the Northwoods
10 Sep 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Collin Thompson manages Michigan State University’s North Farm near the village of Chatham in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. The North Farm hosts a t...
030: Tradd Cotter on Thinking Like a Mushroom
03 Sep 2015
Contributed by Lukas
For more than twenty years, Mushroom Mountain’s Tradd Cotter has been working to think like a mushroom as he worked to build a business based on his...
029: Anton Burkett on Strategically Managing Dramatic Growth
27 Aug 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Anton Burkett started Early Morning Farm in 1999 with three acres, three friends, and a rototiller. Since that time, this farm in the Finger Lake regi...
028: Adam and Mel Millsap on Four Season Urban Farming
20 Aug 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Adam and Mel Millsap own Urban Roots Farm, a four season micro farm set in the West Central neighborhood of Springfield, Missouri. We talk about their...
027: Vern Grubinger on Finding Solutions that Work on Your Farm
13 Aug 2015
Contributed by Lukas
University of Vermont Extension Professor Vern Grubinger does not fit the conventional extension agent mode. For twenty-five years, Vern has worked to...
026: Dan Kaplan on Shared Risk and Shared Loss at Brookfield Farm
06 Aug 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Dan Kaplan has managed Brookfield Farm in Amherst, Massachusetts, since 1994. Brookfield Farm was one of the first CSAs in the United States, and curr...
025: Dave Paulk on Farming as a Second Career
30 Jul 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Dave Paulk farms at Sassafras Farm on the western side of Chesapeake Bay, near Leonardtwon, Maryland. Sassafras Farm is based around its four acres of...
024: Jim Crawford on Growing New Morning Farm
23 Jul 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Jim Crawford raises thirty acres of vegetables at New Morning Farm in Hustontown, Pennsylvania. Jim started New Morning Farm in 1972, and has gained a...
023: Alex Hitt on a Full-Time Living for Three People on Four Acres for 34 Years
16 Jul 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Alex Hitt and his wife, Betsy, started Peregrine Farm in 1982 in Graham, North Carolina, near the booming “research triangle” of Chapel Hill, Durh...
022: Kat Becker on Diversity, Family, and Pizza
09 Jul 2015
Contributed by Lukas
My guest for this episode is Kat Becker, who farms with her husband, Tony Schultz, at Stoney Acres Farm. Stoney Acres is located on the edge of th...
021: Linda Chapman on Growing Flowers on a Small Acreage
02 Jul 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Linda Chapman owns Harvest Moon Flower Farm in southern Indiana. Harvest Moon is a 2 - 1/2 flower farm run by Linda and a very small crew. They market...
020: Pete Johnson Talks Large-Scale Vegetables in Vermont
25 Jun 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Pete Johnson of Pete’s Greens farms ninety acres of vegetables – with three under cover, and an additional 130 acres in hay and cover crops, in th...
019: Nick Olson on Starting a Farm as a Beginning Farmer Educator
18 Jun 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Nick Olson and his wife, Joan, own Prairie Drifter Farm in Litchfield, Minnesota – out on the edge of the prairie. They raise about six acres of veg...
018: Annie Salafsky and Susan Ujcic on Building a Farm around Personal Needs
11 Jun 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Annie Salafsky and Susan Ujcic share the story of how two women – one from suburban Chicago and one from suburban New Jersey – started and grew He...
017: Greg Garbos on Engineering Successful Farms
04 Jun 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Greg Garbos brings his training and experience in conventional engineering to his work as a small farmer and with small farmers. He is the owner and c...
016: Mike Kwasniewski on Starting a Whole Diet CSA
28 May 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Mike Kwasniewski runs a whole-diet CSA farm in rural West Virginia as part of a larger operation. He farms several hundred acres including beef cattle...
015: Amigo Cantisano on Observation and Planning in Organic Farming
21 May 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Amigo Bob Cantisano is one of the most widely experienced and influential figures in California organic agriculture. Founder of Peaceful Valley Farm S...
014: John de Graaf on Nikolai Vavilov, John Niederhauser, and More
14 May 2015
Contributed by Lukas
John de Graaf is an environmental filmmaker and activist who has had a significant focus on agriculture for many years. 2015 is the 170th anniversary ...
013: Bob Cannard on Natural Process Farming
07 May 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Bob Cannard is one of the farmers that I think of as a first-generation visionary in the world of organic farming. For over three decades, he has been...
012: Shannon Jones on Valuing Yourself to Mitigate Risk
30 Apr 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Shannon Jones, from Broadfork Farm on the New Brunswick – Nova Scotia Border, reflects on selling hope and other values with your produce, shares he...
011: Theresa Podoll on Making a Living Breeding and Growing Vegetable Seeds
23 Apr 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Theresa Podoll owns and operates Prairie Road Organic Seed in Fullerton, North Dakota, with her husband and brother-in-law. Prairie Road Organic Seed ...
010: Ellen Polishuk on Ego, Getting Adopted by a Farm, and Soil Fertility
16 Apr 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Ellen Polishuk manages one of two locations for Potomac Vegetable Farms – hers is the “west” location, in the exurbs of Washington, D.C. Potomac...
009: Paul Arnold on Farming and Family
09 Apr 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Paul Arnold and his wife, Sandy, own and operate Pleasant Valley Farm in Argyle, New York. Started in 1988, the 8 acres of vegetable production at Ple...
008: Steve Pincus on Taking the Long View with Employees, Business, and Farm Management
02 Apr 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Steve Pincus owns and operates Tipi Produce in Evansville, Wisconsin, with his wife, Beth Kazmar. Tipi Produce grows about 45 acres of certified organ...
007: Richard Wiswall on Managing for Profits and Quality of Life
26 Mar 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Richard Wiswall owns and operates Cate Farm with his wife, Sally Colman, in Plainfield, Vermont. Cate Farm has sold produce through a CSA, farmers mar...
006: Linda Halley Talks Transplant Sales and Getting Real Results from Your Employees
19 Mar 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Linda Halley, Farm Manager at Gardens of Eagan in Northfield, Minnesota, talks about the logistics and management challenges of growing transplants fo...
005: Patty Wright on Putting the Community in CSA
12 Mar 2015
Contributed by Lukas
How do we define “community” in Community Supported Agriculture? Patty Wright and her husband, Mike Racette, have owned and operated Spring Hill C...
004: John Peterson Talks Farming Time and Controlling Weeds
05 Mar 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Farmer John Peterson of Angelic Organics Farm in northern Illinois talks scale, farming time, and weed control with Chris. John is famous for his star...
003 Allen Philo on the Foundations of Fertility
24 Feb 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Midwestern Bio Ag soils consultant Allen Philo talks with Chris about his journey into organic soil fertility, from managing a monastery farm in West ...
002: Lisa Kivirist on Running a Live-ness
22 Feb 2015
Contributed by Lukas
What does it take to make a living farming? Ecopreneur Lisa Kivirist shares her experience creating a lively-ness from a diversified income stream o...
001: Liz Graznak on the First Five Years
22 Feb 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Liz Graznak of Happy Hollow Farm shares the story of her first five years raising organic vegetables in the heart of central Missouri’s conventional...