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
Do New Crops Pay? - The When, How, and Why of a New Crop with Chris Thoreau (FSFS96)
If customers keep asking if you have certain crop, and you don't, should you grow it? It depends. And that's the focus of today's show: When, How, and Why to Start Producing A New Microgreen…
Growing Better by Growing Smaller - Going From Half an Acre to 500 Square Feet with Alex Bertsch of Epic by Nature Farm (FSFS95)
Conquering Analysis Paralysis By Starting a Whole Farm at Once - The Urban Farmer with Curtis Stone (FSFS94)
Growing More Crops and Making More Money in the Same Space with Interplanting f. Curtis Stone (FSFS91)
Today it's back to Kelowna and Green City Acres as Curtis and I take a look back at his experiences with inter-planting, planting multiple crops in the same space .
It's something that he's done for …
Farming For A Change with Advocate Farmer Caiti Hachmyer of Red H Farm (FSFS90)
Today I'm going to be talking to another small scale farming making a go of it as we go to Sebastopol, CA to talk to Caiti Hachmyer of Red H Farm. Caiti's a farmer who started out her farming career…
10 Base Principles For Successfully Growing High Quality Microgreens with Farmer Chris Thoreau (FSFS89)
Today I'm going up to Vancouver to talk to Microgreen Farmer Chris Thoreau with the goal of focusing in on 10 base principles for growing high quality microgreens. Think 10 things that are critical …
Growing Vegetables and Growing Yourself with farmer Chris Gilbert (FSFS88)
"Farming is as much about growing yourself as it is about growing vegetables."
One of the big lessons shared in this episode with farmer Chris Gilbert from Bettendorf, Iowa.
Listen to past episodes a…
Growing What Chefs Want with farmer Taylor Rogers of In Season Omaha (FSFS87)
Today farmer Taylor Rogers talks about how he started his farm and sells to restaurants - his primary market. He currently grows of 20 different crops, and it's that variety that has been one of the…
Considerations and Constraints with Hiring Farm Employees with Curtis Stone (FSFS86)
Today is another episode where Curtis and I will be widening the scope, stepping back and zooming out from the tools and techniques and his 1/3 of an acre farm, to take a look at some of the macro is…
Why Microgreen Grower Chris Thoreau Set Up A Co-Operative Business Structure for his Farm (FSFS85)
When you start your farm business, one think that you need to think about is your business structure.
Sole proprietorships and LLCs are common ways to go, but there are also other options, like co-op…
How Farmer Ray Tyler Tripled His Sales by Farming LESS Land and Focusing on Base Principles (FSFS84)
This week I'll pick up where last week left off with market gardener Ray Tyler of Rosecreek Farms.
While last week's episode was more inspiration, this week’s more of the perspiration side of things …
Farming Against All Odds with Ray Tyler of Rosecreek Farms (FSFS83)
From laid off and in debt to grossing $120,000 on one acre. Ray started out like a lot of people who get into farming, he was inspired by to get into farming by Joel Salatin's You Can farm... He st…
Interns - The Good and The Bad - The Urban Farmer with Curtis Stone (FSFS82)
Today, we are going to start out by taking a look at interns and farms. What's good, what's bad, and what could be improved upon.
It's an issue that's really relevant and timely, because it's one th…
From the Suburbs and Skateboards to The Country and a Broadfork - The Journey of Jean-Martin Fortier (FSFS81)
Today I will be talking with someone who likely inspired many of you to get into farming, to consider farming, or to farm better, not bigger.
I'll be talking to market gardener, Jean-Martin Fortier. …
The Niche Farm - Experiences Selling to A Diversity of Market Streams Without a Diversity of Crops (FSFS80)
When you think about what your selling, don't forget that what you are selling isn't just what's in the cooler behind your booth.
You're selling yourself, your story, and the role that you play in a …
Thinking About Growing Microgreens as a Business - The Tedious, Detail Oriented Reality of Growing Microgreens (FSFS79)
Chris has shown what's possible. And given that and the relatively low capital investment required to start a microgreens business, it's a business that attracts a lot of people.
People that likely f…
Tips and Tricks for Growing, Harvesting, and Selling Microgreens as a Business with Chris Thoreau (FSFS78)
"They weren't just buying the product, they were buying the whole package."
That's how Chris Thoreau was able to go to a farmer's market selling one crop. Just one. Sunflower shoots. He was able t…
Increasing Revenue, Dropping Crops, and Growing 14,500lbs of Vegetables on One Third of an Acre - A Year End Review – The Urban Farmer – S2W35 (FSFS74)
About one year ago Season 1, Episode 37 aired. It was us taking a look back at Curtis production for the 2015 season.
Today we will do something similar for 2016, because a lot has changed.
Let's sta…
Staying Motivated Pursuing Your Own Path – Be it Growth, a Cause, or Freedom – The Urban Farmer – S2W34 (FSFS73)
Anytime that you do something for a long time, over and over again, how do you keep it fresh? Let's be honest, any time that you do something for weeks and years, eventually that honeymoon phase wea…
How Chris Thoreau Started, Built, and Grew a Thriving Microgreens Business (FSFS77)
Today we are going to start the series, by going back to the beginning. This is the story of how urban farmer Chris Thoreau started his microgreens farm almost 10 years ago.
Chris will take on quest…