The Thriving Farmer Podcast

How do you get people excited to eat salad? This week’s podcast dives deep into how Quinn and Theus got to where they are today in a very saturated and competitive market. Farm Punk Salads is both a prosperous pesticide-free salad-specific farm as well as a value-added salad dressing company. Their aim is to make eating salad easier and more desirable than you ever thought possible!

How would you juggle operating a philanthropic non-profit vegetable farm while running a flourishing health and wellness educational program for your local community? Specific questions require specific answers… which is exactly what our guest today, Audrey Tehan, brings to the table!  Audrey’s farm, Seed to Table, provides Sisters, Oregon with not only the freshest veggies in town, but vital education about health and nutrition to students.

What goes into creating and running a successful cattle ranch famous for its top notch quality and efficiency? No one can answer this question more comprehensively than Glenn Elzinga... and it just so happens he is our guest on this episode of the Thriving Farmer Podcast! Challis Idaho’s Glenn Elzinga is the owner and operator of Alderspring Ranch Organic Grass Fed Beef, a family ranch devoted to standing far apart from the corn fed GMO-infused standard and raising only the best grass fed beef!

What are the secrets to an engaged farming team?

 Find out on this episode of the podcast with Brian Bates! Brian has previously been on the podcast and he also participated in our Thriving Farmers Summit in December. This is the interview I did with him during the summit, which I wanted to release as a podcast episode because it’s just so good! Brian discusses seasonal part-time labor vs. year round full-time employees, the role the team plays in Bear Creek Organic Farm and more! Enjoy!

In This Episode: I talk to Karl Vahrmeyer Jr. from Greenpark Nurseries, in the Southern Ontario Niagara region. Karl and his family operate a wholesale flower production specializing in woody ornamentals. You’ll Hear: >> What the production process of woody ornamentals looks like18:25 >> What trials they are doing and how Holland plays into that 20:02 >> How Karl has grown his community network 31:10 >> How roles are divided amongst family members and company workers 33:50

In This Episode: 
I talk to Tim Clymer from Threefold Farm, in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, who specializes in unusual fruits for the Susquehanna Valley region. We talk about his orchard business as well as his climate battery greenhouses in this exciting and educational episode! You’ll Hear:
 >> About Tim’s internship and how it helped him with his own business 6:20
 >> What his climate battery greenhouses are and the details around how he built them and the economics of them 12:30

In this episode, I talk to Charles Pecka, from Morningstar Farm, outside of Nashville, TN. Charles is a tunnel farmer with specialization in Korean vegetables. He recently traveled to Korea to discover everything he could about how they create their tunnels. You'll hear: >> What he learned about tunnel farming in Korea 9:33 
>> What types of marketing strategies he uses 36:50 
>> What he feels are the biggest mistakes beginning farmers make 41:55
 >> His favorite farming tool 46:00



In this episode, I talk to Annie Toro Lopez, creator of Rolling Homestays and seed-preserving farmer out of Elizabeth, CO. Her passion for building Agritourism to benefit travelers/adventurers AND farmers prompted her to create rollinghomestays.com to build camaraderie and community. You’ll hear: >> How a trip down the coast and a deep sense of community inspired Rolling Homestays >> How Agritourism can help connect farmers to travelers and create a barter system to meet the needs of everyone involve

In this episode, I talk to Steven Cornett, from Nature’s Always Right, a regenerative urban farmer in Lemon Grove, San Diego. He’s been working diligently to scale his farm and is now moving it across the country to TN. 

In This Episode: >> How Steven uses Korean natural farming principles for organic farming >> How Steven prioritizes what he needs to do as a mostly one-man-show 
>> What systems he currently uses and plans on implementing on his new farm >> Steven’s advise to new farmers

In this episode, I talk to James Rolin of Cowboy Cricket Farms in Montana. His wife, Kathy, founded the company in 2016 and they've expanded to include 7 independent farms in their network. You'll hear: >> How they've branded their successful line of value-added products >> The food security and health benefits of eating crickets >> The fascinating growth cycle of crickets >> Building a team and how it's key to align goals in order to retain good employees for the long term

In this episode, I talk to Robyn Calvey, owner/operator of Park Ridge Organics, a certified organic vegetable farm in eastern Wisconsin. The farm has been growing since 2003 and provides a customized share experience for 370 CSA members. The farm also sells via wholesale and at a large local farmers' market. With a dedicated and skillful crew, Robyn is able to enjoy the farm life and a life outside of the farm as a mother and knitter.

In this episode, I talk to Gowan Batist of Fortunate Farm in Caspar, CA off the Mendocino Coast. She manages a compost operation using spent brewing grains from her partnership with North Coast Brewing Company and runs a market garden that includes pumpkins and flowers as well as planned grazing with sheep, cattle, and geese. Gowan spoke about her partnership with North Coast Brewing and how farming is a family affair.

In this episode, I talk to Charlie Payne of Covey Rise Farms in Ohio. He and his wife Kerissa have a 75 acre pastured livestock farm raising and direct marketing poultry, pork, lamb, eggs, and honey. We talked about how he got started on rented land, how systems and the right infrastructure are key, and the importance of hiring good employees.

We're doing something a little different this week! To celebrate our very first online conference that's happening this weekend (December 6, 7, 8th), I'm sharing clips from some of the speakers to give you a preview of what you can expect from the Thriving Farmer Summit.

In this episode, I talk to marketing coach, author, and podcaster, Charlotte Smith of 3CowMarketing.com. We covered lots of marketing topics from building your brand, to reaching the right person with your message, to using social media effectively.