The Urban Farm Podcast with Greg Peterson

Tackling local food waste and hunger through team effort.In This Podcast: Retirement does not mean you no longer contribute to your community, in fact retired teacher Steve Knight has taken advantage of his free time to do the make a huge difference for local food charities, and create a new club in his area. When he realized local farms had leftover produce after the harvest, he organized volunteers to go through the fields and orchards to gather the remnants for local food pantries. His volunteers are truly making a difference on two fronts! Steve taught high school science for 40 years and then retired. He spent the past few summers teaching chemistry for Upward Bound at the University of Maine at Farmington.  But what he is excited about is after he retired, he started a volunteer organization called Central Maine Gleaners Group. In the first 3 years, Steve and 15 volunteers have gleaned over 21,000 pounds of food from 7 local farms and back yards and he then gives this food to various food pantries in his area. Go to https://www.urbanfarm.org/2017/11/18/307-steve-knight/ for more information and links on this podcast, and to find our other great guests.

Harvesting sustainable and nourishing foods found growing in the wild.In This Podcast: Taking the skills handed down for generations, Mark Lewis is very comfortable eating foods he finds in the wild. He teaches about these foods and their history to the next generation as well as to the people he meets while working at local farmers markets.  He is also starting a private farm hoping to save and expand on some of the wild plants that were once a primary source of food for local cultures.Mark is a Wildcrafter extraordinaire. Wildcraft harvesting provides ¾ of his family’s food supply on a daily basis, additionally Mark demonstrates sustainable foraging of 200 indigenous plants and 50 mushrooms at Phoenix area farmers markets, universities, schools, and regional conferences.Mark is now embarking on a new endeavor The Farm – growing 100 of the plants that he wildcrafts, introducing them and their culinary potential to area chefs, and sharing them and a library of First Nations’ language ethnobotanical materials with the native American Communities.Go to https://www.urbanfarm.org/2017/11/14/306-mark-lewis/ for more information and links on this podcast, and to find our other great guests.

Finding healing in gardening and peace in helping others grow healthy foods.In This Podcast: Uprooted as a very young child with her widowed mother from a familiar routine to a chaotic new and foreign world across an ocean, Lee Stewart eventually found healing and health through her gardening hobbies.  It made sense that she eventually focused on a career of health and wellness, and it was even more natural for her to find ways to help others start gardening at home so they can find the same healing she did.Lee, the owner of Veg Up Get Dirty was only 4 years old when she made the 2-year journey from Vietnam to the United States. She has been gardening since she came to the US, and believes in the health benefits that come from clean eating.She is a certified personal trainer, corporate wellness coach, and has over 15 years’ experience in nutrition and the health and wellness fields. She knows the importance of gardening, clean eating, and is passionate about educating others about the many health benefits of gardening. Go to https://www.urbanfarm.org/2017/11/11/305-lee-stewart/ for more information and links on this podcast, and to find our other great guests.

Recognizing the feminine nature within all and how this benefits farming.In This Podcast: Seeking out the things that felt the most important and right to her sent Karen Lanier on a journey through several states and quite a few learning adventures. Earning a degree in Environmental Documentation kept her circling around natural surroundings and she found herself with the opportunity to interview women farmers about their experiences and insights. Her reflections and awareness that are worthwhile to any farmer regardless of gender is shared in her new book The Woman Hobby Farmer.Karen is a naturalist, documentarian, teacher, artist, and gardener who explores the interconnections of nature and culture. She holds degrees in photography, foreign language, conservation studies, and documentary studies as well as a professional environmental educator certificate. She worked as a seasonal park ranger in state and national parks across the US before settling in Kentucky and her Americore volunteer experience with Seedleaf, a community gardening nonprofit. This experience helped her shift her migratory perspective on life toward putting down roots.Karen writes a regular column for Hobby Farms online magazine. She edited and co-authored the book, Wildlife in Your Garden (Lumina, 2016), and authored the book, The Woman Hobby Farmer (Fox Chapel, 2017).Go to https://www.urbanfarm.org/2017/11/07/304-karen-lanier/ for more information and links on this podcast, and to find our other great guests.

Learning about how food gets to our tables and where it comes from.In This Podcast:Serendipity was in play when Greg waived a stranger to his table during a conference and met another farming related podcaster named Rodger Wasson.  Rodger has spent the last several decades gaining experience and contacts in a variety of farming areas, from the fields to the markets, the advertising offices to policy making ones, and many versions of radio and television as well.  The theme in his life appears to be him making a difference in this community of growing food.Rodger is a graduate of Illinois State University and a food and agriculture veteran. He comes from a family with five generations of American farming in their blood. And although he was the first to leave their Central Illinois grain and livestock farm, he’s continually works for and with farmers though-out America and around the world. He has managed State, National and International Councils and Boards for agricultural industries covering over a dozen commodities.Rodger is presently building a consulting firm Idea Farming Inc., and his ‘Farm to Table Talk’ podcasts have been created for anyone interested in their individual journey within the food movement, the modern food system, and the stories behind our every bite.Go to https://www.urbanfarm.org/2017/11/04/303-rodger-wasson/ for show notes and links.

Tailoring a green build project to address food insecurity, nutrition, and other community needs.In This Podcast: Diana Cuy-Castellanos and Stephen Mackell share the story of Lincoln Hill Garden, a 5-acre community green space that was built on the site of a demolished public school. This property is serving the community with gardens, an urban farm, and a natural playground.  They share the background of how three organizations came together and listened to the community to build a project to fit the community as well as provide much needed assistance with healthy local produce.Diana holds a Ph.D in nutrition and food systems and is a registered dietitian teaching courses in community nutrition and food justice at the University of Dayton. Her research interests include community-based participatory research, food insecurity and food environments.Stephen started volunteering for Mission of Mary Cooperative as an undergraduate at the University of Dayton and joined the staff full-time as the production and operations manager after completing his bachelor's degree in economics and philosophy. He is also the founder of Compost Dayton, a company working to expand food scrap composting efforts by city of Dayton residents.Together they have been working on Lincoln Hill Garden, a sustainable, multipurpose urban agriculture and community green space within Dayton’s Twin Towers Neighborhood. This five-acre site, located among the residents it will serve, is being transformed with educational and recreational elements that increase neighborhood access to fresh, healthy foods and offers open green space for community gatherings and nature play.Go to https://www.urbanfarm.org/2017/10/31/302-lincoln-hill-garden/ for more information and links on this podcast, and to find our other great guests.

A chat with a farmer about her transition from the city girl. In This Bonus Podcast: Returning guest Scottie Jones is back to talk about her new book and making a transition back to the simple life.  She shares a bit about how the inspiration came to write the story of this adventure to start farming.  She also tells why she opened her farm up to vacationers looking for a taste of the country life, and how that has helped her farm.  And, we get an excerpt reading from her new book!Scottie lived in Arizona for a while where she worked at Arizona State University for over a decade.  Then she and her husband gave up the busy urban life by moving to Oregon, starting Leaping Lamb Farm and becoming sheep farmers. She loved this lifestyle very much and has opened her home to visiting families through her other passion of Farm Stays.  This journey and the transition to a farming lifestyle became the basis for her new book Country Grit, A Farmoir of Finding Purpose and Love through Skyhorse Publishing. It describes their first years on the farm: the mistakes, the drama, the community, and what it’s like to adopt the farming lifestyle if that’s not where you’re from.Go to https://www.urbanfarm.org/2017/10/24/bonus-8/ for more show notes and links on this bonus podcast, and to find our other great guests.

Digging into the invisible structure behind The Urban Farm.In This Podcast:  Running any successful business or project requires some good help behind the scenes.  This is true for The Urban Farm as well, and Janis Norton is one of the people who help Greg Peterson manage his dreams to change the local food system, create 10,000 seed banks in the local area, plant 100,000 fruit trees, and empower others to grow their own food.  She shares about the surprise of finding her place in this non-stem field, the rewarding role of helping her community build its resilience, and opens up about some challenges of starting her own urban farm.Janis earned her degree in Sustainability from Arizona State University. Her previous experience in working classrooms, running youth programs, and Boy Scout Council Training and Camp leadership were all community and education focused.  However, she did not realize how much she could do with the local food system until her Sustainable Food and Farms class. A class she took as a lark, since she had no interest in growing food. Soon after that class she became motivated to learn all she could about gardening and urban farming while using her organization and project management skills to help facilitate a couple of the Urban Farm’s larger events.From that point on, she has been an active part of the Urban Farm core team as the Program Manager as well as the Podcast Producer.  She is bringing her enthusiasm and cheerful attitude to her projects at the Farm especially the Urban Farm Nursery’s Fruit Tree Program and the Urban Farm Podcast, as well as partner projects like the Great American Seed-Up and the Permaculture Design Course in Phoenix.Go to https://www.urbanfarm.org/2017/10/21/300-janis-norton/for more information and links on this podcast, and to find our other great guests.

Identifying the nutrients that your body needs.In This Podcast: A pre-med organic chemistry class showed Joy Stephenson-Laws that she was not on the right path. She did not waste that pre-med education as she now fights for patients’ rights as a health care attorney. She also tells us why she started the non-profit health information company Proactive Health Labs to help people understand what is happening in their bodies with their nutrition.  An often-overlooked aspect of nutrition is the minerals in the foods and she explains why this is an important part of getting and staying healthy.In both her personal and professional life, Joy is dedicated to enhancing consumer health and positively impacting the health care industry in the United States.  She is the founding and managing partner of Stephenson, Acquisto & Colman, the health care industry’s premier litigation law firm.  She is also the founder of Proactive Health Labs (www.phlabs.org), a national non-profit health information company that provides education and tools needed to achieve optimal health. Joy just published her first book Minerals - The Forgotten Nutrient: Your Secret Weapon for Getting and Staying Healthy.  Her passion for motivating people to proactively protect their health comes from her personal experience of losing loved ones, colleagues and friends to diseases which, had they been diagnosed early enough and treated more effectively, could either have been controlled or cured. Go to https://www.urbanfarm.org/2017/10/17/299-joy-stephenson-laws/ for more information and links on this podcast, and to find our other great

Keeping backyard chickens healthy through simple steps.In This Podcast: Sometimes helping a neighbor out can truly change your life in ways you never expected. Kathy Shea-Mormino changed her path from attorney to now running a successful business sharing advice through her Facebook page and blog about raising chickens. She says keeping backyard chickens should not be over-complicated and shares her simple steps to keeping the hens happy and healthy.Known as The Chicken Chick, Kathy brings an informative style and fresh perspective on raising backyard chickens to millions of fans around the world. An attorney by profession, Kathy is the founder and one-woman creative force behind her wildly popular and award-winning Facebook page and blog, The-Chicken-Chick.com.Her practical approach and sense of humor allows her to connect, educate and share an appreciation for keeping chickens as family pets as well as for their eggs. With a following of over 700,000 Facebook fans, she has become the person folks interested in keeping chickens, go to for information, advice and fun!  She is also the author of the bestselling book The Chicken Chicks Guide to Backyard Chickens, Simple steps for healthy Happy Hens by Voyager Press.Go to https://www.urbanfarm.org/2017/10/14/298-kathy-shea-mormino/ for more information and links on this podcast, and to find our other great guests.