csa farm

Though she comes from a flower growing family, Tracy Yang of JARN Co. Flowers wasn’t always planning on following in the family business. Now, Tracy and her family farm four acres of flowers in Monroe, Washington, located about 45 minutes northeast of Seattle. Hear about how she decided to grow flowers for a living and the process of establishing her own farm, which involved clearing raw land and a lot of blackberries.

Starting her own farm included some new strategies, like a steadily growing flower CSA and home delivery. JARN Co. Flowers sells 80% of their flowers direct-to-consumer because Tracy values the direct connection they have to their community, something I bet many of our listeners can relate to! Tracy is a first-generation Hmong-American and second-generation flower farmer. Hear how she makes it easy and enjoyable for her customers to buy from her, how she’s making flowers more accessible, and how she uses pop-up markets to build brand awareness.

Connect With Guest:

Email: hello@jarncompany.com

Website: http://www.jarncompany.com

Instagram: @jarncoflowers

Facebook: JARN Co. Flowers

Podcast Sponsors:

Huge thanks to our podcast sponsors as they make this podcast FREE to everyone with their generous support:

Rimol Greenhouse Systems designs and manufactures greenhouses that are built to be intensely rugged, reliably durable, and uniquely attractive – to meet all your growing needs. Rimol Greenhouses are guaranteed to hold up through any weather conditions, while providing exceptional value and an easy installation for vegetable growers of all sizes. Learn more about the Rimol difference and why growers love Rimol high tunnels at Rimol.com.

Bootstrap Farmer offers a complete range of growing supplies including heat mats, lighting, ground cover, frost blankets, silage tarps, irrigation, and trellising. They also make all-metal, all-inclusive greenhouse frames, constructed of steel made in the USA and fabricated in Texas. Their heavy-duty, Midwest-made propagation and microgreens trays will last for years and are available in a full spectrum of colors. For all that plus experienced support for everything they sell, check out Bootstrap Farmer.

Local Line is the all-in-one sales platform for direct-market farms and food hubs of all sizes. Increase your sales and streamline your processes with features including e-commerce, inventory management, subscriptions, online payments, and more! Get 15% off marketing services and one premium feature for a year with the code Growing4market at https://hubs.la/Q02bpWQV0

Vermont Compost Company - Since 1992, Vermont Compost Company has supplied premium living soils and compost-based amendments to thousands of successful growers all over the country. All ingredients used in Vermont Compost products are approved for certified organic production. In addition to product consistency, growers can depend on Vermont Compost as an invaluable resource for a breadth of soil and plant knowledge and the technical expertise it takes to grow organically in an ever-changing environment. Visit vermontcompost.com/gfm for details or mention this podcast when you place your order.

Our Website: www.GrowingForMarket.com

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Our Website: www.GrowingForMarket.com

Hear how Zoe Bradbury DeSurra of Valley Flora Farm balances four different farming enterprises between herself, her sister and her mom on one farm. The farm started in an unorthodox way- with a property trade- and overcame a healthy sense of skepticism about whether its rural Oregon location could support a vegetable farm at all, to become the multi-enterprise, matriarchal farm, where everything from the coolers to the draft horses run on solar power today.

Zoe shares the story of how the farm grew over the years, how the different businesses on the farm split revenue, and how she overcame self-imposed limitations to make her farm what it is today. She discusses with host Katie Kulla how she got interested in and learned to use draft horses for farm work, how they have struggled with and solved labor shortages, and how their markets have evolved over the years. Beginning and experienced farmers alike a lot to learn from the evolution of this unique farm in Southern Oregon.

Connect With Guest:

Website: www.valleyflorafarm.com

Instagram: @valley.flora

Facebook: Valley Flora Farm

Podcast Sponsors:

Huge thanks to our podcast sponsors as they make this podcast FREE to everyone with their generous support:

Certified Naturally Grown (CNG) offers peer-review certification to ecological farmers and beekeepers producing food, flowers, and fiber for their local communities. Demonstrate your commitment to sustainable growing practices with a certification that fits your farm’s scale, budget, and community values. Learn more and apply at the link!

https://www.naturallygrown.org

Organic Vegetable Production Conference - If you’re an experienced vegetable farmer, don’t miss out on the 2024 Organic Vegetable Production Conference! In its 8th year, this conference fills that “expert-level” niche you’re looking for. Farmer presenters share the nitty-gritty details of their production practices and also speak on a wide range of topics - from fertilizer injectors and pest management with beneficials, to seed saving and labor retention.With online sessions on January 25th and 26th and in-person sessions on February 2 and 3 in Madison, Wisconsin, you can plug in no matter where you are. Register today at https://tinyurl.com/26285ax5

Local Line is the all-in-one sales platform for direct-market farms and food hubs of all sizes. Increase your sales and streamline your processes with features including e-commerce, inventory management, subscriptions, online payments, and more! Get 15% off marketing services and one premium feature for a year with the code Growing4market at site.localline.ca/claim-your-offer-growing-for-market

Bootstrap Farmer offers a complete range of growing supplies including heat mats, ground cover, frost blankets, silage tarps, irrigation, and trellising. They also make all-metal, all-inclusive greenhouse kits, constructed of steel made in the USA and fabricated in Texas. Their heavy-duty, Midwest-made propagation and microgreens trays will last for years and are available in a full spectrum of colors. For all that plus experienced support for everything they sell, check out Bootstrap Farmer at bootstrapfarmer.com.

Vermont Compost Company - Each fall, Vermont Compost offers a prebuy program to incentivize ordering your spring soil before the snow flies. With Vermont Compost’s prebuy program, you can receive 15% off on orders placed, paid for, and shipped by December 21st. Listeners of the Growing for Market podcast will receive an additional 5%, bringing the total discount to 20%. Visit vermontcompost.com/gfm for more details, or mention this podcast when you place your order.

Subscribe To Our Magazine - FREE 28-Day Trial:

Our Website: www.GrowingForMarket.com

Learn how Ben Hartman cut his farm down to 1/3 of an acre from an acre without taking a pay cut on this week’s pod. Ben Hartman is well known for adapting LEAN principles from manufacturing to his farm in order to cut out waste and maximize efficiency; that is the subject of his previous two books, The Lean Farm and The Lean Farm Guide to Growing Vegetables. However, even after LEANing up his previous two farms, he found he was working too much at the expense of family, friends and community.

So he and his wife and farming partner Rachel embarked on a quest to radically LEAN up their farm, and that is the story of his new book, The Lean Micro Farm, and this podcast. Hear how, though skeptical at first, he was able to make as much income and support the family off of 1/3 of an acre instead of the one acre they were previously farming, which in itself is a big reduction from the 400 acres his family was farming when he was growing up.

In addition to the ideas underlying efficient micro-farming, this episode is packed with practical information for how to maximize efficiency on a farm of any size, including a simple plan for farm-based fertility, how to find markets for all your produce within a few miles of the farm, quick two-step bed flips, and crops to focus on to maximize income from a small area. Growing for Market Magazine subscribers always get 20% off all books, including The Lean Micro Farm, at growingformarket.com.

Buy One Of Ben Hartman's Books:

Book 1: The Lean Micro Farm (Preorder now- available late Nov 2023)

Book 2: The Lean Farm: Guide to Growing Vegetables

Book 3: The Lean Farm: How to Minimize Waste, Increase Efficiency, and Maximize Value and Profits

Connect With Guest:

Website: www.ClayBottomFarm.com

Instagram: @claybottomfarm

Podcast Sponsors:

Huge thanks to our podcast sponsors as they make this podcast FREE to everyone with their generous support:

BCS America - BCS two-wheel tractors are designed and built in Italy where small-scale farming has been a way of life for generations. Discover the beauty of BCS on your farm with PTO-driven implements for soil-working, shredding cover crops, spreading compost, mowing under fences, clearing snow, and more – all powered by a single, gear-driven machine that’s tailored to the size and scale of your operation. To learn more, view sale pricing, or locate your nearest dealer, visit BCS America. Tractors and Attachments are on sale through the end of the year. Visit bcsamerica.com to find sale pricing and your nearest dealer.

Bootstrap Farmer offers a complete range of growing supplies including heat mats, ground cover, frost blankets, silage tarps, irrigation, and trellising. They also make all-metal, all-inclusive greenhouse kits, constructed of steel made in the USA and fabricated in Texas. Their heavy-duty, Midwest-made propagation and microgreens trays will last for years and are available in a full spectrum of colors. For all that plus experienced support for everything they sell, check out Bootstrap Farmer at bootstrapfarmer.com.

Vermont Compost Company - Each fall, Vermont Compost offers a prebuy program to incentivize ordering your spring soil before the snow flies. With Vermont Compost’s prebuy program, you can receive 15% off on orders placed, paid for, and shipped by December 21st. Listeners of the Growing for Market podcast will receive an additional 5%, bringing the total discount to 20%. Visit vermontcompost.com/gfm for more details, or mention this podcast when you place your order.

Subscribe To Our Magazine -all new subscriptions include a FREE 28-Day Trial

Sometimes we can be stronger when we collaborate, and on this week’s pod hear from two growers with over 20 years of experience working together. Lyn Jacobs @la_finquita_del_buho and Polly Gottesman @pumpkinridgegardens each run their own vegetable CSA farms, and they’ve been collaborating to sell vegetable and flower seedlings, fresh cut flower bouquets, dried flowers and wreaths since 2002. This episode is packed with lots of great ideas and growing info, including how to keep your flowers distinctive at markets with other flower growers, how they manage the cooperative business arrangement between their two farms, and how to keep the personal relationship strong along with the business after more than two decades of collaborating.

Connect With Guest:

Email: lynjuve@msn.com

Email: pumpkinridgegardens@gmai.com

Website: www.finquita.com

Website: https://pumpkinridgegardens.com/

Website: https://pumpkinridgegardens.square.site/ (our farmers market website)

Instagram: @la_finquita_del_buho

Instagram: @pumpkinridgegardens

Podcast Sponsors:

Huge thanks to our podcast sponsors as they make this podcast FREE to everyone with their generous support:

Vermont Compost Company - Since 1992, Vermont Compost Company has supplied premium living soils and compost-based amendments to thousands of successful growers all over the country. All ingredients used in Vermont Compost products are approved for certified organic production. In addition to product consistency, growers can depend on Vermont Compost as an invaluable resource for a breadth of soil and plant knowledge and the technical expertise it takes to grow organically in an ever-changing environment. Why Grow Alone?

Bootstrap Farmer offers a complete range of growing supplies including heat mats, ground cover, frost blankets, silage tarps, irrigation, and trellising. They also make all-metal, all-inclusive greenhouse kits, constructed of steel made in the USA and fabricated in Texas. Their heavy-duty, Midwest-made propagation and microgreens trays will last for years and are available in a full spectrum of colors. For all that plus experienced support for everything they sell, check out Bootstrap Farmer at bootstrapfarmer.com.

Subscribe To Our Magazine - FREE 28-Day Trial:

Our Website: www.GrowingForMarket.com

Today’s episode comes to you from Hatfield Massachusetts where we visit with Harrison Bardwell of Bardwell Farm. 

We start off the episode with a tour of his greenhouses, and check out a few of his experiments this year with early peppers and overwintered onions. After that, he shares some of his background that equipped him to build up and manage a 30 acre vegetable business all while only being in his mid 20’s. 

Visit the website to see photos/videos from the visit: https://thefarmersshare.com
Follow the show on Facebook and Instagram: @thefarmersshare
Subscribe to the YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@thefarmersshare

This episode comes to you from 3 different locations in central Vermont where we meet with Henry Webb, John Hirsh and Taylor Mendell. These three young farmer friends of mine have been interviewed by me before and this visit checks in to see how their spring is going so far. I visited the first week of April and this episode shares some of what’s happening this time of year on vegetable farms. 

Visit the website to see photos/videos from the visit: https://thefarmersshare.com
Follow the show on Facebook and Instagram: @thefarmersshare
Subscribe to the YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@thefarmersshare

The Ag Engineering podcast is a conversation with small scale fruit and vegetable farmers to discuss tools, tips or techniques to improve the sustainability of your farm. In this episode, we visit with Sue Decker  of Blue Star Farm (http://www.bluestarfarmny.com) to talk about her heated greenhouse benches.

Follow Blue Star Farm 

Website: http://www.bluestarfarmny.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bluestarfarmny

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bluestarfarmny

Additional Show Notes: agengpodcast.com

Visit the website to see photos/videos from the visit: https://thefarmersshare.com
Follow the show on Facebook and Instagram: @thefarmersshare
Subscribe to the YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@thefarmersshare

Community supported agriculture is one model through which producers and consumers can be more connected. We sat down with Rick Martinez, Founder of Sweetwater Organic Farm, which is thought to be the first CSA in Florida, to talk about his experience with this food systems model. 

In this episode, hear about: 

- The history of the CSA model at Sweetwater Organic Farm 

- Challenges faced while running the CSA 

- Benefits to the community and producers 

- Tips for sustaining CSAs into the future 

Learn more about Sweetwater Organic Farm on their website: www.sweetwater-organic.org 

Join us at the upcoming Organic Food & Farming Summit April 18-19, 2024 in Tampa! Early bird savings ends February 2, 2024! SECURE YOUR SPOTS!

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