Farm Small Farm Smart
Insights for vegetable farmers and market gardeners who earn, or want to earn, a living growing vegetables profitably.
In each episode, I talk with a beginning or experienced farmer, diving deep into their story to find out what makes their market farm successful. I focus on in-the-field farming. Soil preparation, weed management, post-harvest processing, appropriate technology, farm tools and equipment, and growing crops.
Hosted and produced by Diego Footer's Modern Grower Podcast Network.
- Update frequency
- every 4 days
- Average duration
- 49 minutes
- Episodes
- 478
- Years Active
- 2015 - 2025
Farming Trees Not Vegetables - Maintenance, Less Harvesting and Sales - All Less Work Than You Might Think
Today's episode is a BEST OF episode, which is a replay of a previously aired episode. Enjoy!
Stefan Sobkowiak of The Miracle Farm is encouraging more vegetable farmers to consider planting some fru…
The Farming Lifestyle - Homestead to Farm with Jesse Frost (FSFS190)
Farmer and Homesteader Jesse Frost joins me to talk about his journey into homesteading and farming. How and when did it go from homesteading to farming, and what was that like? Jesse also hosts th…
Common Microgreen Diseases and Solutions to Them (FSFS189)
Molds, fungus, viruses - oh my! Depending on your growing environment you may encounter one or perhaps even all of these diseases. And what do you do once you encounter them? If there’s a small secti…
Building a Farm Following Online and In-Person with Josh Sattin (FSFS188)
Farmer Josh Sattin from Sattin Hill Farm joins me to talk about how he built up a farm following for his new farm pretty quickly - both online and in-person with local chefs. He shares strategies fo…
Tackling Challenges on a Small Farm (FSFS187)
This week’s interview on FSFS features a season’s end reflection on a timeless topic; the challenges of farming. More specifically, the challenges unique to a small scale farm with Benny and Courtney…
20 Years of Building Organic Soil - The Real Results (FSFS186)
Nicolas Donck of Crystal Organic farm joins me to talk about how growing cover crops for the past 20 years have impacted his soil. How have trace minerals and compost teas helped with his soil and c…
Market Gardening in An Extreme Climate - Techniques for Growing with Cold Summers, Poor Soil and High Winds
Today's episode is a BEST OF episode, which is a replay of a previously aired episode. Enjoy!
Featuring Brian Kowalski of Newfoundland.
Living in Newfound weather is one challenge for Brian. He desc…
The Many Reasons Why Microgreens Might NOT Be a Fit For You (FSFS185)
Microgreen Grower Chris Thoreau and I discuss a variety of reasons why microgreens might not be a fit for you. This is a realistic look at what growing microgreens as a business is really like. From…
How to Hire the Right Person for Your Farm - Advice From a 20 Year Hiring Specialist (FSFS184)
Hiring troubles? Nervous about hiring? Then this is the episode for you. I am joined by Farmer and HR Specialist Jeremy Tolley of Red Thread Farm. Jeremy has spent the past 20 years of his career…
Designing Simple and Effective Passive Solar Greenhouses with Rob Avis
Today's episode is a BEST OF episode, which is a replay of a previously aired episode. Enjoy!
Engineer and permie Rob Avis from Verge Permaculture talks about building and designing passive solar gr…
Growing A Farm with The Resources You Have with Loblolly Flower Farm (FSFS183)
Benny & Courtney Pino of Loblolly Farm talk about the challenges they are facing growing their flower farm with the resources that they have available - labor, markets, and capital. How can they wor…
Building Soils with Min-Till, Biochar and Compost (FSFS182)
Farmer and Soil Consultant James Hutchinson joins me to talk about his method for building soils on his Tasmanian farm. He utilizes minimum tillage alongside composting, cover cropping and biochar t…
THE PODCAST AS YOU KNOW IT IS DONE - Changes Ahead - Please Listen
In this episode, I try to cover some of the upcoming changes to the podcast. I really hope you enjoy them.
Feel Better, Farm Better Live Better - A Farmer Wellness Episode with Scott Hebert (FSFS181)
Scott Hebert and I talk about how Scott has created a functional balance in life between business and non-business. He also talks about some of the changes he has made to improve his life on farm an…
Sell More Flowers - The Different Market Streams for Cut Flowers (FSFS180)
Benny and Courtney Pino from Loblolly Farm join me to talk about all of the different potential market streams for small scale cut flower growers. From selling to distributors to florists to designe…
The Farmer’s Office - The Business of Farming with Emma Hendel (FSFS179)
Emma Hendel of Fair Share Farm gives us a look at the work that happens behind the scenes to support and enable field production. She cover’s what she does in the office on a weekly basis for their …
Choosing the Right Crops (and Customers) for Your Farm with Ben Hartman (FSFS178)
Today farmer Ben Hartman of Clay Bottom Farm joins me to talk about choosing the right crops for your farm’s context. He goes through some of the most profitable small farm crops, and why you should…
Being a Parent and a Farmer (While Starting a Farm) with Justin Logeais (FSFS177)
Justin Logeais joins me to talk about transitioning from full-time employment to full-time farming - how he did it, how it paid for it, and the balance that was required. He also talks about balanci…
Top 10 Cool Season Flowers for Small Farms (FSFS176)
Benny and Courtney Pino from Loblolly Farm join me to talk about the Top 10 Cool Season Flowers for Small Farms. We talk about why you should consider these flowers, how to grow then, and how to use…
Crop Planning for Microgreens with Spreadsheets (FSFS175)
Chris Thoreau joins me to discuss crop planning for a microgreens business using spreadsheets. We discuss timing crops for orders, using spreadsheets to plan and forecast income, and how to use sprea…