wwoof

Have you considered applying for organic certification?

On today’s episode of the Thriving Farmer Podcast, we’re hosting Chris Sermons, Founder of Bio-Way Farm, located in Ware Shoals, South Carolina. Bio-Way Farm is a Certified Organic farm with a focus on sustainable agriculture and permaculture design principles.

Their 120 acres offers a mix of cultivated fields with row crops, hardwood forests and an edible forest garden featuring many native plants. They are located 30 miles south of Greenville, SC and serve the greater Greenville area. Chris is the winner of the Carolina Farm Stewardship Association's 2016 Farmer of the Year award. 

Tune in to this info-packed episode all about how Chris and his team run a thriving Organic farming venture!

You’ll hear:

• How Chris got started in farming 1:54
• What the first years on Bio-Way Farm property were like 3:35
• What the cropping and permaculture currently looks like on the farm 8:02
• Why Chris decided to make the farm Certified Organic 16:07
• What goes into the Real Organic certification 20:24
• How Chris runs an Airbnb on the farm 31:53
• What Hipcamp is 34:39
• What the future holds for Bio-Way Farm 37:58
• Chris’s advice for beginning farmers 48:01
• Chris’s favorite farming tools 49:07

About the Guest:

Chris Sermons is a naturalist and biological farmer. In 2004, he started Bio-Way Farm in Upstate South Carolina where they grow organic produce and foster biodiversity. He’s held leadership roles with the Sierra Club, Wild South and Slow Food. The Carolina Farm Stewardship Association recognized Chris as the Farmer of the Year in 2016. His approach to managing the farm is guided by a land ethic and his background in permaculture.

Resources:

Website: https://www.biowayfarm.com/ 

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

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

The Thriving Farmer Podcast Team would like to thank our amazing sponsor!

At AgriGro, we know that, in today’s modern agriculture, our efforts can deplete life or add life.

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Our products are all-natural, easy to use, and friendly to the soil and the plant, as well as the grower. AgriGro’s® formulations deliver essential plant nutrition along with an advanced prebiotic concentrate, which significantly increases the multitude of beneficial native microbial species already residing in the production environment.

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LINKS: North Coast Food Web, Small Business Development Center, Clatsop Economic Development Resources,Oregon Community Food Network Systems,  Local Food Marketplace, Clatsop Community Action
Youtube: https://youtu.be/Y8FCp4KObnQ

Jess Tantisook is the executive director of the North Coast Food Web, a nonprofit based in Astoria, Oregon.

She grew up in Tennessee and now lives in Ilwaco, Washington. 

Her degree was in Communications, but a class she took in college on Viticulture and Enology
led her to an interest in fresh produce. 

She volunteered on a farm in Washington and eventually moved there.

The Food Web provides education and help to local farmers- those wanting to 
begin farming, need information about agriculture as well as business sense.
They recently held a class called How to Run a Profitable Farmers Market Booth.

They have opened an online shopping experience, available through their website, where local farmers bring their produce, individuals can order online and pick up their items in Astoria.

The Food Web also takes SNAP benefits so that low income individuals can receive $40 worth of produce for $20. Through Tillamook Food Routes, they piloted a home food delivery service that went all the way from Nehalem to Ilwaco.  It was free for folks that identified as low income and then it was $10 for anyone else.

They have a commercial kitchen available which they rent out to anyone.

Subscribe to the Women of the Northwest podcast for inspiring stories and adventures.
Find me on my website: jan-johnson.com

Vanessa hat ihr geordnetes Leben vollkommen auf den Kopf gestellt: Job an den Nagel gehängt, Wohnung gekündigt, Möbel und Auto verkauft, die Katzen bei Bekannten untergebracht. All das hat die Magdeburgerin getan, um in eine ungewisse Zukunft zu starten. Ohne zu wissen, wohin und wie lange die Reise gehen wird, brach sie zunächst – einem inneren Impuls folgend – nach Irland auf und schlug sich von dort an als freiwillige Helferin durch Europa.

Wie hat ihr Umfeld darauf reagiert, wie ging Vanessa mit Skeptikern um, was musste sie alles organisieren …? Während ihres Ausstiegs hat sie so viele Selbsterkenntnisse gewonnen, dass sie heute sagen kann, klarer, selbstbewusster und auch viel gelassener zu sein.

In dieser Episode durchlebst du mit der sympathischen 30erin wichtige Veränderungsmomente, erfährst aber auch praktische Infos, wie die Ausgaben für ihren Ausstieg.

Lad dir unbedingt auch die Folge Nummer 2 herunter, um zu erfahren, wie eine allererste Individualreise so eine positive (!) Lawine lostreten konnte …!

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Weitere Anregungen für deinen Ausstieg sowie amüsante Reiseerlebnisse bekommst du in meinen Büchern:

https://www.mady-host.de/meine-buecher.html

Sim and Nathan are Couchsurfers who stayed with Katie and me in Hong Kong. This was their final stop on a journey of more than a year. We had an awesome discussion about a variety of topics, ranging from traveling for free to exploding Pinto gas tanks.

Ever heard of Wwoofing? No it doesn’t involve howling at the moon! Wwoof is a means of swapping work for travel where you trade a couple of hours per day in return for accommodation and meals on an organic farm. Today’s guests have successfully wwoofed their way around the world in a variety of countries but in recent years as their desire to live a backpacking life has diminished they have switched to housesitting as a means of reducing their travel costs.

Cheryl MacDonald and Lisa Chavis spend around 8 months of the year overseas while still generating income online working in their respective areas of expertise. For the four months back home they up the rate of earnings and plan their next adventure. Their lifestyle has enabled them to see much of the globe while controlling their living costs and topping up their income during the months they are back in the US.

We spoke with Cheryl and Lisa where they shared their experiences of Wwoofing and talked about the perceived boundaries that make people stop living the type of lifestyle they now have. You can find out more about their adventures on their website http://whatboundariestravel.com

What I learned from talking to Cheryl and Lisa:

1. Wwoof provides an opportunity to swap work for travel in over 100 countries worldwide. You can choose your destination and generally only have to give up a few hours per day of your time – but it’s not luxury living and suits the backpack fraternity best. As 40 somethings however they enjoyed the experience and didn’t feel out of place with the younger travelers they encountered.
2. Earning from your old skills is always an option. Who would have thought a pharmacist could still make money while traveling? For Lisa she is able to top up her income checking medical records and doing some medical writing p roving that almost any skill or career can provide you with money while you travel.
3. Ask the right questions. These two are a glass half full couple! They ask how they can do things not complain about why they can’t and it has opened many doors for them.