Hobby Farms Presents: Growing Good10 Maj 2023

Episode 53: Helga Garcia-Garza talks crippling drought, cooperative organic farming and more!

Helga Garcia-Garza talks about the farmer opportunities offered by Agri-Cultura Network and La Cosecha CSA, dealing with crippling drought in the Southwest US, and cooperative organic farming.

Hear about how the community-led Agri-Cultura Network began in 2009 with just three small-scale farmers who wanted to build capacity, aggregate products for larger markets and work cooperatively. Helga talks about how the organization has grown into a coalition of 57 farms—the majority less than 3 acres in size—using a shared food-entrepreneur kitchen and other infrastructure, hosting a CSA with a food-access mission, selling to public schools and other institutions, participating in farmer training, partnering on nutrition-education programs, saving seeds, developing food policy and more.

Learn how acequia water rights govern what and how farmers can grow in New Mexico and what the critical drought looked like in 2022. Related to this, Helga talks about how the Agri-Cultura Network farmers realized they needed to be more serious about saving their own seeds and what exportation of agricultural products means for the land.

Listen through to the end for Helga's breakdown of the financial value of each market for the Agri-Cultura Network and some of the wins the New Mexico Food and Ag Policy Council have recently seen.

Follow online:

Det här avsnittet är hämtat från ett öppet RSS-flöde och publiceras inte av Podme. Det kan innehålla reklam.

Avsnitt(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 Juli 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 Juli 202446min