Hobby Farms Presents: Growing Good6 Sep 2023

Episode 61: Stephen Mackell has big thoughts about microgreens (and more!)

Ohio farmer Stephen Mackell talks with podcast host Lisa Munniksma about microgreens, actually sustainable (profitable!) small-scale farming and food access.

Hear about how Stephen found his passion for farming through the magic of starting seeds. Learn about the Mission of Mary Cooperative Farm in Dayton, Ohio, where Stephen started out as a volunteer farm manager and went on to build their community programs for nine years. Stephen explains how the farm came to financially sustain itself with a two-tier CSA being grown on six empty housing lots and eight homemade caterpillar tunnels and greenhouses. He also talks about other food-access programs, including an after-school program that eventually led to food production for the school salad bar and a program to help 100 neighbors start their own gardens.

Get to know Stephen's 1/2-acre Greentable Gardens in Xenia, Ohio, where he and one part-time employee serve a 90-member microgreens, salad and full-vegetable CSA. Learn how Stephen got his garden beds established from lawn to permanent raised beds, including the installation of drainage tiles. Stephen talks about his farming and business efficiencies—hint: microgreens are a year-round, stable source of income—and his farm's niche as a USDA Certified Organic home-delivery CSA. Get Stephen's advice for growing microgreens yourself, too.

Hear about how Stephen, as a college student, was inspired to start a curbside-collection compost subscription company, which he then sold. It's still in business today!

Denne episoden er hentet fra en åpen RSS-feed og er ikke publisert av Podme. Den kan derfor inneholde annonser.

Episoder(88)

Episode 88: Mike Ghia

Learn about Mike's family's farming heritage, which came to the US from Italy with his great-grandfather and how Mike grew up with a more diverse farm experience than most of us. Mike's early start in...

30 Okt 202459min

Episode 87: Ron Bittner

Entomologist and farmer Ron Bittner talks pollinators and soil health This conversation with Ron Bittner will help you make the connection between crop pollination, water conservation and soil health ...

11 Okt 202432min

Episode 86: Panha Suon

Cambodian agroecology educator Panha Suon talks with Hobby Farms Presents: Growing Good podcast host Lisa Munniksma about farming in Cambodia, from climate to crops and the challenges that farmers are...

26 Sep 202436min

Episode 85: Lewis Hughes

Lewis Hughes, land steward and local-food distribution pro Hear about Lewis Hughes's journey into farming, from conventional pig and corn farms to international agricultural research to organic farmin...

5 Sep 202434min

Episode 84: Nasuha Lenuh

Small-scale farmer and entrepreneur Nasuha Lenuh — nicknamed R — talks about the tree crops grown in her region, the southern part of Thailand. Hear about her family's tree crops, from rubber to duria...

22 Aug 202433min

Episode 83: Melissa Stewart

Military service members and veterans farming program and aeroponic gardening with Melissa Stewart Listen to Melissa Stewart's story about the West Virginia National Guard's Patriot Guardens program —...

7 Aug 202446min

Episode 82: Jenny Howard Owen

Flexibility in farming, connecting with the natural world, and the Organic Association of Kentucky with Jenny Howard Owen In this episode of Hobby Farms Presents: Growing Good, listen to Jenny's story...

24 Jul 202448min

Episode 81: Robert Frew & Juan Carlos Arango

The hazards of grants, letting vegetable plants go to seed and lessons in water rights with Robert Frew and Juan Carlos Arango Robert and Juan Carlos practice permaculture and a culture of sharing ...

3 Jul 202446min