The Urban Farm Podcast with Greg Peterson

Benjamin Fahrer is joining us today on the Urban Farm Podcast. Ben is the owner and operator of Top Leaf Farms and has over 18 years of organic farming experience. Prior to starting Topleaf farms a year ago, Ben worked with Josiah Cain, a well-known landscape architect known for vertical systems. Ben was called in to consult on a new project: To design and convert a living roof into a food roof.

The Snarky Gardener (AKA Don Abbott) is a gardener, blogger, author, educator, speaker, reluctant activist, and permaculture practitioner from Kent, Ohio. He became the Snarky Gardener, living in a rental property, when he had been a gardener for just a short time, but he had been snarky and sarcastic his whole life. In today's episode, Don discusses permaculture, Hugelkultur (a fascinating concept), and gardening while renting.Check out our show notes at https://www.urbanfarm.org/2016/01/09/don-abbott/

Today on the show we talk to Diane Kennedy of Finch Frolic Garden, a food forest habitat and demonstration site in San Diego County.  Diane is a former Senior Park Ranger, tour guide for the San Diego Zoo Safari Park, librarian, independent baker, and a long-time vegetarian, organic gardener, freelance writer, and activist.  Along with her daughter Miranda, she lectures, gives tours of her food forest, consults, designs and in all ways promotes permaculture. Check out our show notes at https://www.urbanfarm.org/2016/01/07/diane-kennedy/

Peter Burke is the author of Year-Round Indoor Salad Gardening. He has been teaching garden classes since 2006, when he started presenting workshops on Indoor Salad Gardening, Square Foot Gardening, Extending the Garden Season, and many more. He also started TheDailyGardener.com to support the need for specialized seeds for Indoor Salad Gardening. Peter believes that with nothing more than a cupboard and a windowsill, you can grow all the fresh salad greens you need for the winter months (or throughout the entire year) with no lights, no pumps, and no greenhouse.Check out our show notes at https://www.urbanfarm.org/2016/01/05/peter-burke/

Have any food-related resolutions for 2016? I sure do, and Haley Cloud is an amazing example for foodies everywhere. Today on The Urban Farm Podcast Haley talks about Living Raw By Grace and her experience with a raw food diet.Check out our show notes at https://www.urbanfarm.org/2016/01/02/haley-cloud/

20: Matt Gordon on Rogue Farm Corps and Cully Neighborhood GardenMatt is an urban farming rockstar in Portland, Oregon. He not only is in charge of Cully Neighborhood Farm's CSA, but also the chapter coordinator for Rogue Farm Corps, a non-profit dedicated to training the next generation of farmers through hands-on farm internships in Oregon. Check it out!Check out our show notes page at https://www.urbanfarm.org/2015/12/31/matt-gordon/

Justin is dedicated to making the world a better place and it shows in all that he does. In today's episode, Justin shares how he has reached out to 36,000 students in 30 states through Compass Green, a school garden on wheels. From three years as a monk in India to living and working on a schooner in Hawaii, to working as Co-Director of Programs in Japan for the David Lynch Foundation, he has always pursued work for the betterment of humankind and the environment. In 2009 and 2010, Justin helped found the Green Belt Team for teaching Biointensive sustainable farming in developing nations, and set up the mini-farm site for their internship on California’s Mendocino Coast.Check out our show notes at https://www.urbanfarm.org/2015/12/29/justin-cutter/

18: Bill McDorman on Playful Plant BreedingToday on The Urban Farm  Podcast we have Bill McDorman to talk about seeds and playful plant breeding! Bill McDorman is Executive Director of Rocky Mountain Seed Alliance, Ketchum, Idaho. He got his start in the bio-regional seed movement while in college in 1979 when he helped start Garden City Seeds. In 1984, Bill started Seeds Trust/High Altitude Gardens, a mail order seed company he ran successfully until it sold in 2013. He authored the book, Basic Seed Saving, in 1994. In 2010, he and his wife Belle Starr created Seed School, a nationally recognized weeklong training. He served as Executive Director of Native Seeds/SEARCH from 2011 to 2014.Bill McDorman is Executive Director of Rocky Mountain Seed Alliance, Ketchum, Idaho. He got his start in the bio-regional seed movement while in college in 1979 when he helped start Garden City Seeds. In 1984, Bill started Seeds Trust/High Altitude Gardens, a mail order seed company he ran successfully until it sold in 2013. He authored the book, Basic Seed Saving, in 1994. In 2010, he and his wife Belle Starr created Seed School, a nationally recognized weeklong training. He served as Executive Director of Native Seeds/SEARCH from 2011 to 2014. Bill is a passionate and knowledgeable presenter who inspires his audiences to learn to save their own seeds.To find more links and resources for this podcast go to   http://www.urbanfarm.org/blog/2015/12/26/bill-mcdorman/ 

David Burns and Austin Young talk about the placement of fruit trees throughout urban spaces as a means to cultivate community and food security. Fallen Fruit is a collaborative art project that began in Los Angeles in 2004 with mapping public fruit–fruit that grows on or over public property. Our projects include diverse site-specific artworks that embrace public participation. Fallen Fruit’s art works encourage the public to experience their city as a fruitful, generous place, inviting people to engage in sharing and collectively explore the meaning of community and collaboration through public participation and exhibition projects. Check out our show notes at https://www.urbanfarm.org/2015/12/24/david-burns-and-austin-young/

Today on The Urban Farm Podcast we Jim Dennis from Farm Phoenix, a featured farmer here to expand on his urban farming journey. Jim was raised on a farm that had one foot in the past and one in the future. Leaving that place, he spent a long time in cities and the corporate world, and eventually returned to his roots. Jim’s business is to help people learn the ways of gardening and adapting to a sustainable lifestyle.Check out our show notes at https://www.urbanfarm.org/2015/12/22/jim-dennis/