Sunny Gardener's Podcast

Our guest is Matthew J. Lohr. Gov. McDonnell appointed this fifth generation Virginia farmer to the seat of Commissioner of Agriculture. Matt Lohr’s vision for agriculture may be controversial among independent farmers and proponents of organic, low input, small family farms, but listen closely, because this is what you need to know in order to work toward what you envision. This is the second of two parts of a conversation recorded in WRIR’s studios, and is part of the Future of Farming Series. Comments are welcome! Email Sunny at WRIR dot ORG. And befriend us on facebook to be kept up to date on who will be on Lightly on the Ground Radio and when podcasts are available.

Lightly on the Ground Radio Host Sunny Gardener sat for over an hour with Matthew J. Lohr, who wears many hats. He bought his grandparents’ 250 acre farm in the Valley’ a diverse operation ranging from pumpkins and to 6000,000 broiler chickens. His off-farm job is Commissioner of the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, helmsman for VA’s largest industry, contributing $55 billion per year to the economy. His vision is clear and consistent: farms of all sizes and varieties are essential to the feeding the populace. Part 1 of 2 in the Future of Farming series. Comments are welcome! Email Sunny at WRIR dot ORG. Befriend LOTG Radio on Facebook to know who's on and when podcasts become available.

Coffee is a hot commodity, traded second only to oil. It is one of those things that will be missing from any North American ‘100 mile diet.’ Tammy Rostov, owner of a family business that has roasted coffee since 1979, talks about the worldwide and very local trade. Kate Ruby explains how the Costa Rican plantation she visited is the most sustainable and humane farm she has seen. Listen and learn why! Recorded at WRIR, Richmond Independent Radio, 97.3 lpFM and WRIR.ORG The theme music is Bonefire Dance by Rattlemouth, and the incidental music was Café by Banda Maravilha. Lightly on the Ground radio is a Sunny Gardener production for Richmond Independent Radio, broadcast on WRIR lp FM 97.3 and WRIR.ORG. I am grateful to all the volunteers at Richmond Independent Radio, and to our community of donors and underwriters who bought us all this equipment for making radio.

Ever wonder how we could replace coal and nuclear power as fuel for generating electricity? Systems Engineer Will Stewart sketches out a scientifically and economically based plan for bringing enough sustainably produced power online to replace all the outdated generating technology we are dependent on now. This is the first of a two part series on Lightly on the Ground Radio.

This episode of Lightly on the Ground Radio features a parlor conversation among several who spoke at 53rd Garden Club of Virginia Conservation Public Education Forum entitled Uranium: What Should Virginia Do? The focus is on an effort to rescind the 1982 ban on uranium mining. We discuss several discrepancies between fact and the talking points being used to promote the safety of mining uranium in a major watershed. Topics include the effect on the Commonwealth’s two major industries: agriculture and tourism; the difficulty in predicting the behavior of radioactive tailings stored in robust plastic bags for thousands of years; and the cost of reclamation and restoration which would, very probably, revert to the state and federal governments, that is to taxpayers. Olga Kolutushkina,(legislative and regulatory adviser to the Roanoke River Basin Association), Robert E. Moran, Ph.D. (geologist, geochemist and partner in Michael-Moran Assoc., LLC, in Golden, CO), and Paul Robinson, (Research Director for Southwest Research and Information Center in Albuquerque, NM) joined Sunny Gardener for a candid discussion of that forum which just ended in the parlor of the Jepson Center at University of Richmond.

Robert Burnley advises governments and industry about the environment.  He served as Director of the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality 2002-2006, during Governor Mark Warner’s term.  His expertise and understanding of energy, economics and the environment provide a firm foundation from which he speaks about the potential and pitfalls around uranium mining. Listen and judge for yourself whether or not to open the Commonwealth to this new business opportunity.

The discussion proceeds during this program, part of a series exploring the reality and potentiality of lifting the 30 year ban imposed by the General Assembly in 1982.  This matter may well come before the 2012 General Assembly and we hope to provide an accessible forum for public discussion.  The condensed amount of information in the ½ hour mp3 audio format makes this a useful teaching tool for legislators as well as for concerned citizens. Three informed and concerned citizens, documentary photographer Jesse Andrews,  7th generation farmer Byron Motley, and Andrew Lester, executive director Roanoke River Basin Association, tell the story of how uranium mining would change the land, economy, and the well being of those who live near the potential site of Virginia’s first mine.  One landowner has plans to open his acreage to uranium mining in partnership with an international company that is operating under a Virginia name. Lightly on the Ground Radio airs on WRIR lp 97.3 FM and worldwide at WRIR.ORG, noon on Wednesday and on the web at 11 on Thursday.  It is podcast and available through the Lightly on the Ground Radio facebook page.

Should we roll back the ban on uranium mining in the Commonwealth? Documentary photographer Jesse Andrews,  7th generation farmer Byron Motley, and Andrew Lester, executive director Roanoke River Basin Association, tell the story of how uranium mining would change the land, economy, and the well being of those who live near the potential site of Virginia’s first mine.  These three natives grew up in the area and know the towns, farms and businesses surrounding Chatham, Virginia.  One landowner has plans to open his acreage to uranium mining in partnership with an international company that is operating under a Virginia name. This program is part of a series exploring the reality and potentiality of lifting the 30 year ban imposed by the General Assembly in 1982.  This matter may well come before the upcoming General Assembly and we hope to provide an accessible forum for public discussion.  The condensed amount of information in the ½ hour mp3 audio format makes this a useful teaching tool for legislators as well as for concerned citizens. Lightly on the Ground Radio airs on WRIR lp 97.3 FM and worldwide at WRIR.ORG, noon on Wednesday and on the web at 11 on Thursday.  It is podcast and available through the Lightly on the Ground Radio facebook page.

Mary Rafferty, Virginia Sierra Club’s Grassroots Organizer and Host Sunny Gardener discuss the safety and reasonableness of mining uranium in Virginia as it pertains to the agriculture at the base of our food system. Mary is informed and clear about the science, economics and politics of the venture. This is groundwork for the discussion that needs to take place across the Commonwealth and nation in light of energy needs, wants and dangers. Lightly on the Ground Radio airs on WRIR lp 97.3 FM and worldwide at WRIR.ORG, noon on Wednesday and on the web at 11 on Thursday. Should you wish to learn more facts about uranium, visit the World Information Service on Energy at http://www.wise-uranium.org/index.html. For current Virginia uranium news, visit KeepTheBan.org. The company that hopes to bring uranium mining to Virginia is VirginiaUranium.com. Befriend Lightly on the Ground on Facebook for up to date guest and podcast information, and to share in the discussions.

Host Sunny Gardener and guest David Wilson converse about what drives a family to be self sufficient.  David Wilson  is an environmental engineer and suburban homesteader with 3 acres in Chesterfield that back up to a huge church garden and a utility right of way.  He, his wife and two daughters speak three languages, play music, sew, bake, cook from scratch, make bobbin lace and beer, bicycle, run long distances, fence, fish, and garden.  He and his family cleared part of their lot so they could plant a serious vegetable garden and produce much of what they eat.  For protein, they stock their freezer with the most wholesome meats they can procure, usually from people they know and, until recently, they kept a few laying hens.   David and his family are part of a community who work together to get things done, just like in the old days. Befriend Lightly on the Ground Radio on Facebook and learn who will be on and when podcasts are posted.

Lightly on the Ground Radio airs on WRIR lp 97.3 FM Richmond Independent Radio and at WRIR.ORG.   In a wide ranging, richly textured conversation with Host Sunny Gardener, attorney and livestock farmer Emily Lenschow and her partner, David Thompson of Tuckahoe Plantation Livestock discuss their humane way of raising sheep, cattle, chickens and rabbits.  Their joy and concern for their animals is contagious and their knowledge of husbandry is deep.  The discourse moves on to the pesticide bans in Canada and the US, NAFTA and working with local officials on changing laws, including municipal ordinances concerning keeping chickens.  Visit our guests at their website: http://tuckahoeplantationlivestock.com Befriend Lightly on the Ground Radio on Facebook and learn who will be on and when podcasts are posted.

“It’s all about the soil,” Will Allen says as he sets the stage for feeding the populace of the future. He maintains that the way to produce enough food is to put everything we can back to work at root level. This story is full of inspiration and information from the pioneer of urban agriculture. Growing Power is transforming hundreds of tons of waste into compost for the acres of vegetables they grow. Fish, too, found a home on the farm in Chicago, as part of a holistic green house and aquaculture system. His command of facts and his vision are evident in this half hour conversation in Richmond, Virginia where he was the guest of a prominent women’s club. When asked what keeps him coming back to the sunny south, he replies that he goes where he’s invited. www.Growingpower.org will get you to their amazing place. And visit Lightly on the Ground Radio on facebook to learn about upcoming shows.

Katherine and Bruce Johnson, owners of Dragonfly Farms in Central Virginia, are proud to produce and offer all natural grass fed Belted Galloway and Angus beef. Sunny Gardener, Host and Producer of Lightly on the Ground Radio, talks with them about how and  why they do it.  They tell a good story about how their animals are raised on pasture in a low stress humane environment.  They practice rotational grazing and sustainable common sense farming, using no hormones or steroids, nor feed any grain. They use no synthetic fertilizers or pesticides on pasture or garden. The nutritional benefits outweigh any inconvenience encountered as they bring each animal to optimal health and maturity for slaughter.  Then they drive the animal only 55 miles to a small USDA certified butcher just north of their farm. There is literature on the health benefits of pastured beef, including  Eatwild.com ,  LocalHarvest.org, americangrassfedbeef.com/grass-fed-natural-beef.asp, organicgrassfedbeefinfo.com/why-grass-fed-beef.htmlb and mayoclinic.com/health/grass-fed-beef/AN02053.  Their website is Dragonflyfarms.com. Join Lightly on the Ground’s Facebook group and find out about  this week’s guest so you can tune in to WRIR lp FM Richmond Independent Radio, 97.3 around Richmond, and WRIR.ORG around the universe.

Lightly on the Ground Radio hosts Sally Norton, a public health scientist and nutrition educator.  She sits on the Virginia Food System Council and is a member of the Virginia Association for Biological Farming.  She spends a lot of time in the diverse and productive organically grown landscape in her suburban back yard.  Hear her objective observations and scientific analysis of the effect of lawn care products on a vegetable garden.  Learn what recourse a home gardener may have when a damaging toxic herbicide drifts onto the garden.  Hosted and produced by Sunny Gardener; recorded outdoors and edited at Epic Gardens for WRIR lp FM 97.3 Richmond Independent Radio.

Beekeeper David Stover has studied why and how honeybee colonies collapse.  He will describe the challenging, often complicated practice of keeping healthy hives and how anyone can make that small effort, and enjoy knowing they have helped bring about the resulting large environmental impact.  All gardeners and anyone with a  lawn or pots on a deck can help preserve these vital, busy beings. Lightly on the Ground is recorded and broadcast to WRIR 97.3 FM Richmond Independent Radio -- Alternate Wednesdays at noon Not close to Richmond? Listen at WRIR.ORG, where Lightly on the Ground is also webcast at 11 on Thursday. http://wrir.org/

Lightly on the Ground Radio hosts Eli Green of Eli’s Greens and Lisa Massouli of Frog Bottom Farm. They are neighbors in a rural community southwest of Richmond Virginia, and are some of the provisioners of our foodshed. They work hard and drive a couple of hours to bring their vegetables, fruits and flowers to us. And that’s what we’re here to discuss today: the who what where when why and how they do this. A small boy adds delightful sounds to this friendly and informative conversation that covers a year’s cycle in garden and greenhouse, and how to make a living on a small farm. First broadcast in July 2010 live on Lightly on the Ground Radio on WRIR lp 97.3 and worldwide at WRIR. Org.

This episode of Lightly on the Ground Radio features time Sunny Gardener spent with Eliot Coleman at the Virginia Biological Farming Conference. Eliot is a pioneer in growing food year round…in Maine. His books, and those of his colleague and wife Barbara Damrosch, are widely available. Starts with a conversation about the future and past of sustainable agriculture, then eavesdrops on two tool aficionados discussing the finer points of wheel hoes, and how to improve tools and become more productive. Includes casual conversation around the trade show as he toyed with tools and talked with other growers. Not recorded in a studio, so it's very live sounding. There’s a pinch of a Stan Rogers tune sung by Priscilla Herdman, "The Field Behind the Plow" in honor of Eliot Coleman’s love for good tools. Sound Logo is "Bonefire Dance" by Rattlemouth.