The Urban Farm Podcast with Greg Peterson

It was his father’s inspiration and legacy that prompted Daniel Oladokun-Dybowski to start a community garden from scratch in a suburb of Phoenix. The work on the soil has already started after several huge donated loads of wood chips. And with the help of others in the community, he’s going to build a food forest that truly will benefit all that participate. It is not a simple task, but he’s up to the task of building a solution.

When faced with the desire of their nine-year-old daughter to have a cell phone, this family turned this challenge to a fabulous learning and skill building opportunity. Eric Broda has been helping his daughter Love build a business so she has a reason for a cell phone, and that business is vegetables! They’ve even found a couple ‘fairy-godmothers’ along the way to help. www.urbanfarm.org/love

A delightful interview with a Chris McLaughlin as she helps us understand more about flowers and what they offer to us as gardeners and more. She even shares some tips on some of her favorites to grow.

Finding good sources for seeds can be challenging especially if you are particular about their story or their genetics. This is the August 2018 episode of a Seed Saving Class - Bill McDorman discusses the process of sourcing seeds and selecting seeds that can help you feel confident in your selections, and so much more.

Rachel Petitt is part of a group that has the mission to help veterans who want to be farmers. This has translated into several grant and resource projects that are empowering veterans to build their farms. She tells about how she started and what the organization is offering veterans all across the country. 

He grew up on a farm, and as a teenager he thought he needed to do something more than just take care of the cows. Josh Krenz went to college, found his way into marketing, and was learning the business end of farming and multi-national distribution. Eventually he decided to refocus his priorities a little closer to home that also made a difference. He tells us about creating an organic fertilizer using grocery store waste and optimized with a specialized metrics system. www.urbanfarm.org/lifeforce

She and her husband bought his parents’ home and she thought it was just going to be temporary until she could get a place out in the country. Now Lynn McMahon is able to share her gratitude to her grandchildren and with us for the special connection to family and history on this homestead. Even the plants and trees help connect multiple generations together in this EPIC story of multiple generations on the same homestead. www.urbanfarm.org/groverfamilyhomestead

It was both a desire to share the gardening experience his grandfather gave him, and the lack of space in his home for anything that could produce enough food for his family that prompted Elias Martinez to start dreaming of a way to provide fresh greens to those who did not have easy access to garden space. His natural inclination to innovate solutions has helped him create a plan for an EPIC style of community garden – indoors! He shares that and more with us. www.urbanfarm.org/kubedroot

There was no one person who set Derex Zellars on a path towards being a microbiologist, but through observing his environment that he developed his enthusiasm. He shares why soil microbiology is so fascinating to him, and why the expectations we have about using fertilizers are leading us away from the truth. www.urbanfarm.org/hykreations2

When asked what makes a healthy planting soil for trees and gardens in Arizona, Emily Rockey gets excited because this is truly a passion of hers.  As her nickname implies, she loves getting her hands in the dirt and making a medium that others can rely on. She explains how she and Farmer Greg developed their soil mix, why building a healthy planting mix is different for the southwest desert, and why local mixes make a difference.  www.urbanfarm.org/tanks

Sometimes it takes a person to reach a really low point in their life before they make the choice to change the way they think. Lee Rhodey had that realization and decided it was time to be look at life differently in order to find her life’s purpose. On that journey she found Market on the Move and discovered that it brings adventure to her life with every new box. Her goal to be an example and share the mindset changing journey is documented in her I'm So Her project. www.urbanfarm.org/imsoher

Seeds are grown all over the world and we don't always know where our seeds come from when we buy. This is the June 2018 episode of a Seed Saving Class - Bill McDorman discusses seed origination, land race seeds, finding unique seed varieties, and so much more.

A necessity to become more mindful and eat the healthier foods he needed led Dale Spoonemore to the garden. It did not take long to get hooked on the homegrown flavors. Then a conversation while waiting to vote alerted him to a need to make it easier to garden. Inspired he taught himself coding to write an gardening app bringing data to easy access. His passion and drive continue to build this mobile tool, and his family are big parts of the whole project. www.urbanfarm.org/seedtospoon

After growing up believing the only healthy way to eat was “fat-free”, Hilary Boynton was not prepared for the fertility and health issues that plagued her family. Seeking the best for her children, she educated herself on “real-food”, the GAPS diet, and eventually wrote a cookbook with gut health in mind. This path led her to becoming a school lunch lady cooking and educating for gut health to the students. visit www.urbanfarm.org/thelunchlady to learn more and see her video!

He's always on the lookout for ways to have a better relationship with nature, so when Eddy Garcia noticed some beetle larvae were eating the polystyrene cup he put them in, he experimented to learn more. Using a surfboard in a science experiment, his achieved some exciting and astonishing results. All of this tied into his work to educate others about regenerative systems, and even aspiring surfers in Iowa are learning about earth systems through his projects. www.urbanfarm.org/livingearthsystems