Creative Destruction - Honest Conversations About Farming, Business, And Life

Learn more at permaculturevoices.com/theurbanfarmer Support the show at permaculturevoices.com/support If you are a single worker farm then you only have so much time and energy to spend on the farm. If you spend a massive amount of that working with weeds then that's time take away from other farm tasks or other non-farm tasks like spending time with your spouse or kids. What are the weeds worth? For most people, they aren't worth enough to deal with when you zoom out, and take all of the factors into account, and therefore the weeds get cut, literally. That's the focus of today's show. Weed management, where we discuss various methods of preventing weeds from establishing themselves on the farm in the first place, and how to deal with them when they do. Learn more at permaculturevoices.com/theurbanfarmer Support the show at permaculturevoices.com/support

Farmer John Suscovich of Camps Road Farm and FarmMarketingSolutions.com answers the question - Why aren't you certified organic? To learn more about John and see all of the ASK John episodes visit permaculturevoices.com/john.

Learn more at permaculturevoices.com/61 Support the show at permaculturevoices.com/support THIS EPISODE IS A REPLAY OF PREVIOUS PUBLISHED EPISODE. It is through the Global Village Construction Set that Marcin and OSE have set out to change the way that we build the communities of the future. Marcin has said "I'd like to be able to show that a full modern standard of living can be created from any parcel of land using only the local resources on site in a small fraction of time." A modern standard of living created using tools built locally, within the community. Tools built to last a lifetime, being easily repairable, and ever evolving as open source. This open source model is a powerful tool to help change the future. I see this as a way where a group of farmers could come together, build a piece of this equipment themselves, be able to repair it themselves, and be able to share it amongst themselves without being dependent upon big companies like John Deere and the debt that goes with them. It is this proc

It is through the Global Village Construction Set that Marcin and OSE have set out to change the way that we build the communities of the future. Marcin has said "I'd like to be able to show that a full modern standard of living can be created from any parcel of land using only the local resources on site in a small fraction of time." A modern standard of living created using tools built locally, within the community. Tools built to last a lifetime, being easily repairable, and ever evolving as open source. This open source model is a powerful tool to help change the future. I see this as a way where a group of farmers could come together, build a piece of this equipment themselves, be able to repair it themselves, and be able to share it amongst themselves without being dependent upon big companies like John Deere and the debt that goes with them. It is this process that minimizes debts, builds strong communities and builds local resiliency, and that is a political shift. You shift the power from the big co

Mycologist and author Peter McCoy of RadicalMycology.com takes on the question - "I'm attempting your technique of decomposing cigarette butts with oysters. I have them growing on coffee grounds and I'm curious about using coffee as the substrate. I know it's probably not the best, but can I move to feeding it cigarette butts or would it be too much? And I'm also curious as to  whether or not there's more research done that suggests that the mycelium can broke down all or some of the toxins from used cigarettes butts." To learn more about Peter and see all of the ASK Peter episodes visit permaculturevoices.com/peter. Support the show at permaculturevoices.com/support.

Learn more at permaculturevoices.com/b39 Support the show at permaculturevoices.com/support Today's episode is a replay of the presentation that Peter Allen gave at PV2 in March 2015.. The presentation is titled Grazing the Savanna: Lessons from New Forest and Mastodon Valley Farms. In this talk Peter will share the lessons he learned establishing and managing multi-species rotational grazing operations in a well-established permaculture setting at Mark Shepard’s New Forest Farm, and now in a newly emerging setting, at Mastodon Valley, where he is planting tree crops, grazing a suite of animals, thinning forest, constructing an off-grid homestead, and building a broad-acre permaculture farm. Learn more at permaculturevoices.com/b39 Support the show at permaculturevoices.com/support

Homesteader Justin Rhodes of AbundantPermaculture.com takes on the question - I notice you give your chickens fermented or soaked grains each morning.  Can you give us the recipe on what grains you use?  And the process? To learn more about Justin and see all of the ASK Justin episodes visit permaculturevoices.com/justin. Support the show at permaculturevoices.com/support.

Learn more at permaculturevoices.com/theurbanfarmer Support the show at permaculturevoices.com/support Farming, it truly is a lifestyle. And one that a lot of people seek out. This leads people down the road of thinking about how can they start or transition into small scale farming. And when they go down that path they inevitably run into issues. Because startup isn't always clear, or easy, and there are always unique challenges. Today we will take take a look at one listeners plan to transition into farming and startup an urban farm of his own. This is the story of Michael from LA, and Michael wants to be a farmer. He has a lot of resources, constraints, and questions. And that's what we'll be digging into today, in Season Two, Episode 19 of The Urban Farmer. Learn more at permaculturevoices.com/theurbanfarmer Support the show at permaculturevoices.com/support

Permaculture focuses on trees as the coming food source for the world.  And- the Florida citrus industry is collapsing (again).  An Evolutionary Ecologist who has bred trees for 40 years explains why YOU need to understand some genetics; why the word "hybrid" means 4 different things, or nothing at all; shows examples from his 3 tree crops; why the most expensive thing you can do is plant cheap trees; discusses how small growers can work to maintain, and improve, genetic diversity (without setting invasive species loose...), and how YOU can bring new species into the food crop mix.   Support the show at permaculturevoices.com/support

Learn more at permaculturevoices.com/34 Support the show at permaculturevoices.com/support THIS EPISODE IS A REPLAY OF PREVIOUS PUBLISHED EPISODE. Grant Schultz joins me to talk about developing a perennial polyculture in the middle of row-crop corn and soy country Iowa. He discusses a lot of the innovation and developments taking place on his farm, including some really innovative ways of doing GPS keyline design. We spend a lot of time talking about the business of farming. The importance of monitoring cash flows and being cash flow positive. And how Grant is using USDA funds to help pay for pieces of his system and getting moving in the right direction. Key Takeaways: Importance of making your operation cashflow the whole time. Expenses will pile up so start getting cashflow and a customer base early. Consider buying rootstock and graft it over later. It is much cheaper to go that route and grafting isn't that hard. Get plant systems going early on. It is fairly inexpensive and gets the system starting to

Mycologist and author Peter McCoy of RadicalMycology.com takes on the question - If I wanted to get into mushroom cultivation, what are some of the easiest species to start with? To learn more about Peter and see all of the ASK Peter episodes visit permaculturevoices.com/peter. Support the show at permaculturevoices.com/support.

Learn more at permaculturevoices.com/b38 Support the show at permaculturevoices.com/support Today’s episode is a replay of the presentation that Peter Allen gave at PV2 in March 2015.. The presentation is titled Savanna Gardens: Regenerating the Ultimate Human Ecosystem. Why Savannas? Savannas were some of the most complex, diverse, and productive ecosystems in North America and provide an excellent model for permaculture – integrating woody perennial crops with grazing and browsing livestock. However, managing the complexity of these ecosystems requires approaches and skill sets that are in many ways opposed to those of conventional land management, especially agriculture. Given the importance of savannas, this presentation will help you understand its ecology and evolution and what we can do to embrace the complexity and restore the ecosystems most capable of cooling our planet and feeding our communities. Learn more at permaculturevoices.com/b38 Support the show at permaculturevoices.com/support

Homesteader Justin Rhodes of AbundantPermaculture.com takes on the question - Cutting your grocery bill, by raising your own food - what gives you the most bang for your buck? To learn more about Justin and see all of the ASK Justin episodes visit permaculturevoices.com/justin. Support the show at permaculturevoices.com/support.

Learn more at permaculturevoices.com/theurbanfarmer Support the show at permaculturevoices.com/support This is Part 2 of that series and today we specifically focus on the pro’s and cons of selling to restaurants taking into account high maintenance versus low maintenance. Given that this is Part 2 it probably makes more sense to listen to Part 1 first, Episode 17 - All Customers ARE NOT worth Selling To, An In-Depth Look at High Maintenance versus Low Maintenance Customers. But you won’t be totally lost in this one if you haven’t heard that episode. Learn more at permaculturevoices.com/theurbanfarmer Support the show at permaculturevoices.com/support

Farmer John Suscovich of Camps Road Farm and FarmMarketingSolutions.com answers the question - How do you time your broilers and pigs to meet your CSA demand? To learn more about John and see all of the ASK John episodes visit permaculturevoices.com/john.

Learn more at permaculturevoices.com/71 Support the show at permaculturevoices.com/support THIS EPISODE IS A REPLAY OF PREVIOUS PUBLISHED EPISODE. As my guest today David Pagan Butler of OrganicPools.co.uk says, "If you want really healthy water, you want it full of life; not devoid of life." That is what today's show is about. Creating the conditions for life to happen within the water in natural swimming pools. Natural swimming pools unlike their chemical counterparts use no chemicals. The pool water is cleaned biologically by plants and organisms within the water. No smells, no chemicals, no pathogens, biology creating water so clean you can drink it. David has developed a system of building natural pools that is both cost effective and ecologically enhancing. Natural pools that utilize natural biological processes to keep the water clean. The classic case of nature doing something equal to or better than some chemical made in a factory - clean, pathogen free drinking water, in swimmable form. Learn more a

Learn more at permaculturevoices.com/javan1 Support the show at permaculturevoices.com/support As Joseph Campbell, the originator of the follow your bliss concept stated... "if you do follow your bliss you put yourself on a kind of track that has been there all the while, waiting for you, and the life that you ought to be living is the one you are living. When you can see that, you begin to meet people who are in your field of bliss, and they open doors to you. I say, follow your bliss and don't be afraid, and doors will open where you didn't know they were going to be.'  When you do learn to recognize it and when you do find it, Campbell contents that it put’s your life on a different track…"  The Power of Myth Should you walk into the unknown following your bliss with the hope that it will lead to open doors? In many ways yes and in many ways, no... Because your bliss gets you started on the journey, but that journey may or may not lead to livelihood and opportunity... Bliss is just one part of the j

Homesteader Justin Rhodes of AbundantPermaculture.com takes on the question - I am thinking want to leave my job and start a homestead, what are my options for cash flowing it? To learn more about Justin and see all of the ASK Justin episodes visit permaculturevoices.com/justin. Support the show at permaculturevoices.com/support.

Learn more at permaculturevoices.com/theurbanfarmer Support the show at permaculturevoices.com/support “Put another way, you are more upset about losing $50 than you are happy about gaining $50,” the paper states.  In addition, bad events wear off more slowly than good ones." Hopefully know this can help you do a few things. Try to force yourself to really think about the positive things more and have more gratitude for them, bounce off of the negative situations quicker, and rid yourself of the negative relationships that produce negative emotions. That’s the focus of today’s episode as we explore the differences between high maintenance customers and low maintenance customers. Learn more at permaculturevoices.com/theurbanfarmer Support the show at permaculturevoices.com/support

Farmer John Suscovich of Camps Road Farm and FarmMarketingSolutions.com answers the question - Why are your broiler chickens naked, what happened? To learn more about John and see all of the ASK John episodes visit permaculturevoices.com/john.