The Urban Farm Podcast With Greg Peterson

Considering design in architecture and it’s impact on urban agriculture. Sean complements his design practice with research in green building technologies including, among other things, urban and vertical agriculture. Sean is a Lecturer at Danube University Krems, Austria, was an Assistant Professor at the University of Hong Kong, and is a frequent lecturer at international universities and conferences. For the past several years, Sean has led research in Urban & Vertical Farming, and developed a prominent exhibition on urban ecology and biomimicry at the Hong Kong-Shezhen Biennale of Architecture and Urbanism. His research has been presented to key stakeholders at the United Nations, as well as for multiple international governments, diplomatic, private, and non-profit organizations. Sean believes that urban agriculture can provide a multi-faceted solution to the health and resilience of cities while catalyzing community and economic growth. IN THIS PODCAST: Greg gets to interview Sean Quinn, who works t

Growing Food, Jobs, and Hope on the Urban Frontier Michael Ableman, the cofounder and director of Sole Food Street Farms, is one of the early visionaries of the urban agriculture movement. He has created high-profile urban farms in Watts, California; Goleta, California; and Vancouver, British Columbia. Michael has also worked on and advised dozens of similar projects throughout North America and the Caribbean, and he is the founder of the nonprofit Center for Urban Agriculture. His newest book is called Street Farm: Growing Food, Jobs, and Hope on the Urban Frontier and is out now by Chelsea Green Publishing. Michael lives and farms at the 120-acre Foxglove Farm on Salt Spring Island in British Columbia. IN THIS PODCAST: This is an interview that Greg has wanted to do since before he even started the podcasts. A epic urban farming project more than a decade ago inspired him greatly, and now Michael brings Greg up to date with his Street Farm project he’s been working on for the past several years and it is ju

Utilizing managed intensive grazing for maximum benefit for land and animals Shawn and Beth have been farming together since the 1980’s, for the last twenty years in eastern Ohio, where they manage 24 acres designated by the state as ‘not suitable for agriculture’.  Using intensive grazing as the primary source of food energy, they raise dairy and beef cows, sheep, farm-fed hogs, and a variety of poultry, producing most of the food, and feed, on the farm.  Concerned that farming is so often dependent upon multiple off-farm resources, from feed, fuel and fertilizer to water and electricity, their ongoing project is to identify and test the means by which farming was done for centuries with a minimum of off-farm inputs. Their research has led them to identify grass conversion, especially the daily conversion of grass into milk by dairy ruminants, as a key to whole-farm sustainability, combined with the integrated nutrient feed-backs that are possible with a community of diverse animal and plant species, domesti

Robert is a scientist, author, and environmental entrepreneur who founded several leading market-based environmental concerns. Currently he serves as host of Green Sense Radio Show and Founding Farmer/CEO of Green Sense Farms.  Robert is recognized as a national expert and an authoritative source on brownfield redevelopment, sustainability and indoor vertical farming. He is the author of several books and numerous reports and articles on the subjects. He has appeared on national and local TV and radio programs, been quoted in national and local newspapers and has testified in congress in support of environmental legislation.   IN THIS PODCAST:  Greg gets to chat with Robert, an environmental entrepreneur who is transforming indoor farming and finding economic solutions in farming. Robert has been seeking out and creating solutions for environmental issues for many years and this has led him to the business he has now which is producing crops year-round. He also talks more about his radio show and introduces t

Storm lives on the South Fork of the Cosumnes River in Northern California with her husband Allen and her youngest child Savannah. She is the founder of “Wings on the Wind Healing Arts Center and Sanctuary.” The center is located on her organic farm, where they raise food, herbs, alpacas, and chickens. She has a bachelor degree in Metaphysical Science, is an ordained minister, a natural health practitioner, artist, author, herbalist, and Reiki Master. She has certifications in Advanced Pastoral Psychology, Herbology, Reflexology, Acupressure, Crystal Healing, Vibrational Healing, Flower Essences, and Survival Skills. She authored the book “A Pocket Full of Angels” and self-published in 2014. IN THIS PODCAST: Greg meets another kindred spirit in Storm with her connection to gardening, making a difference in the community, trusting in nature, and making a choice to be happy every day. Storm shares her story of how she started gardening with no skills or experience and is now the founder of a very special place

Marianne is the co-host/co-producer of the Sustainable Living Podcast, the co-organizer of the San Diego Permaculture Meet up group and the founder and organizer of the TOP Organic Edibles Garden Club. Top stands for Transition, Organic and Permaculture. She also is a wife, mother and grandmother who is very much involved in the life of her 3 grandchildren. Marianne teaches Yoga and other subjects and keeps working on developing her writerly self. IN THIS PODCAST: Marianne shares her story and motivations that have moved her to transform her 1/3 acre into a food forest. She shares her passion for permaculture with Greg and tells him how she has really put to use the water harvesting techniques she has learned. She explains how her upbringing in postwar Germany truly gave her a different perspective on nature and food, and now that she lives in an area that has a year round growing season as well as drought conditions she is really putting all her experience and learning to good use.  She tells of the many tec

Cara is passionate about the tradition of supper and takes Civil War history very seriously; So it made sense for her to couple her food passion with membership in MidStates Living History Association.  In the tradition of Dutch oven cooking during the civil war, “a supper was served at four o’clock in the afternoon, a good plain and substantial meal, with nothing fanciful” according to Goedy’s Magazine, dated 1863.  As a living historian, and owner of U-Relish Farm, Cara enjoys guiding others on low cost ways to store your urban farm harvest and offers secrets from the “Apothecara”. N THIS PODCAST: We venture back in time with Cara to learn how the women homesteaders of the mid 1800’s cooked, gardened, nurtured, and survived during the trials of the Civil War.  She explains to Greg that as a history buff she was intrigued enough to try to replicate many of the processes in use during the time period of when the Civil War directly affected her community. She does not hold back as she taught herself how to do

Craig’s love of the landscape was a natural progression of his upbringing in central Minnesota where he grew up at a youth camp. When he attended college in Chicago, he maintained his connection with the outdoors which he soon realized his career path needed to encompass.  In a confluence of events, Craig was hired as the Operations Manager at Chicago Christian Industrial League managing the landscaping job training program. Most of the landscaping contracts were with the city of Chicago where they maintained many of the city’s green spaces, median strips and public schools.  Eventually, Craig joined D. Foley Landscape as Construction Manager in Massachusetts where he continued to fine tune his plant knowledge, installation skills, and design esthetic. It was here that the vision of an urban landscaping business was formed and in early spring of 2003, he returned to Chicago to start Topiarius. Craig’s first landscaping job was completed out of the back of his Ford Focus wagon using 5 gallon buckets and a shov

Sherrie Pelsma on Pollinator Parkways. Bolstering pollinators in urban spaces and expanding safe habitats. Sherrie grew up on the rural Oregon Coast before moving to Portland to finish her degree. She has spent the last 10 years in Community Education, and runs a program where participants learn learn Do-It-Yourself skills to make homes safer and more energy efficient. As an environmentalist who loves macro photography, she took a special interest in pollinators and other insects which blossomed into the love that drove the founding of Pollinator Parkways.  IN THIS PODCAST: Sherrie shares her passion for the bees, butterflies, hummingbirds and other animals that serve such a vital purpose in the lifecycles of plants including the food we rely on every day.  Greg gets a chance to talk to her about how a simple interest grew into a passion and how she has turned that into a project that is truly making a difference in her community.  Sherrie is inspiring as she explains what she is doing to extend habitats and

Jack Wolfson D.O., F.A.C.C., is a board certified cardiologist who uses nutrition and supplements to prevent and treat disease. After ten years performing angiograms, pacemakers, and other cardiac procedures, Dr. Wolfson started Wolfson Integrative Cardiology in 2012 to offer patients the ultimate in holistic heart care. Raised in Chicago, he attended Midwestern University for his D.O. degree and completed a 3 year Internal Medicine residency and 3 year cardiology fellowship. He was selected as the chief fellow of his class. Together with his wife, Dr. Heather Wolfson DC, they are The Drs. Wolfson. Their website TheDrsWolfson.com is an excellent resource for holistic health and lifestyle information. The Drs. Wolfson have two beautiful boys who were born at home, nursed for over 3 years, and they are still co-sleeping. IN THIS PODCAST: Greg chats with Dr. Jack about the paleo diet and how it affects heart health. Dr. Jack shares why he changed the way he practices cardiology and what he has learned about eati

Whitney is a teacher, trainer, and author with tremendous commitment to, and expertise in, inquiry- and place-based education; strategies for engaging diverse learners; school gardens; and the intersection between environmental education and public schools. She is the Education Director of Life Lab and a lecturer at UC Santa Cruz. IN THIS PODCAST: Greg is excited and a bit envious of the kids who have participated in the natural world learning experiences explained by the Whitney in this podcast. She paints a beautiful picture of the resources of Life Lab’s gardens and how the programs offer many unique and awesome natural world laboratories for kids to learn. Their discussion ventures into the world of school funding and how garden based education can fill multiple needs of the schools, yet seems to on budget cutting blocks often. Life Lab has developed a potential resource for school interested in keeping a natural world option in their curriculums and Whitney explains how they hope to share this program na

Today's specials include healthy foods, great meals, dignity, education and community. A childhood spent on a farm in northeast Ohio shaped Lyn’s views on community and how neighbors can help and support one another through sharing food and resources. He believes this is a forgotten way of living in America. Thirty-plus years spent as a chef in world-class restaurants taught Lyn the importance of creating beautiful food for people to enjoy and gather together to share. In recent years, he spent time helping others open community kitchens and supporting local sustainability. This led him to open Seeds Community Café in September 2013. As a nonprofit that is based on a “pay it forward” model, Seeds’ patrons can partake of healthy, nutritious, locally-sourced and creatively crafted meals, regardless of their ability to pay. Lyn is a huge supporter of Community Cafes, Kitchens and local gardens as a Social Enterprise and way of life.  He believes this concept of sharing local great food around a community table c

Heather co-created Stetson University’s garden and farmers market and served as the founding Community Director of Orlando's East End Market. After interning with the USDA, researching food systems in Central Florida and abroad, Heather returned to her hometown to help rebuild Orlando’s local food system in 2011, where she helped bring Fleet Farming to life. She now works on sustainable agriculture and rural development projects abroad while consulting new branches of Fleet Farming around the world. IN THIS PODCAST: Greg gets a chance to meet Heather who is leading a transformative new community farming program called Fleet Farming. You might have heard about the new idea of community gardening through donated front lawns and volunteers traveling on bikes to farm the plots. Heather explains how the program was created and how far it has expanded at this point. It all started with a brainstorming event looking to help localize the food system, and it now is to be replicated in cities across the United States a

Tim grew up in West Texas, the younger son of a local church pastor and his Christian educator wife.  After graduating from Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, TX with a BFA in speech communications, he went on to seminary, graduating with a Master of Divinity degree. After graduating, he served churches in Texas communities in Houston, Athens and Lufkin; and then he moved to a historic urban congregation adjacent to Drake University in Iowa.  During the course of that 19-year ministry, Tim became captivated by questions about food, our global food system, and the need for a strengthened circle of memory around how to grow food on simpler terms.  So, at 55 years of age, he quit his job and with his wife moved to a 10-acre farmstead they’ve named “Taproot Garden” located south of Des Moines where they cultivate a large garden and raise laying hens – an enterprise he refers to as a writing project with an outdoor classroom.  IN THIS PODCAST: Greg interviews Tim and finds out what motivated Tim and his wif

Ruwan leads product design at Replantable. While earning his Mechanical Engineering degree at Georgia Tech, he machined microfluidic devices and instructed students in the campus machine shop. He has used this fabrication knowledge to bring a hands-on design approach to startups like Intuitive Pickups as well as larger companies like Verizon Telematics. Costas is the director of the Center of Innovation for Energy Technology, where his mission is to help Georgia’s companies accelerate the development of new products, ideas and business models in the Energy ecosystem and maintain the State of Georgia’s leadership position in the fields of energy generation, transmission, distribution, storage and consumption. IN THIS PODCAST: Greg does a double interview with Ruwan, one of the inventors of a new appliance that grows food indoors, and Costas, the director of the Center that that helped bring the idea to the fruition. Ruwan shares the genesis story of the Nanofarm from Replantable and tells how they considered t

Cecilia is a Master Gardner, permaculturist, seed saver, a dowser and an herbalist.   Gardening has been a passion all her life.  She is the founder and owner of “Cecilia’s Garden” and has transformed her residence into an urban farm utilizing the front & back yards.  Her garden is a highly producing, self-sufficient sanctuary specializing in vegetables, fruit and eggs.  All of her produce is grown beyond organics – meaning she doesn’t use any of the approved 244 organic chemicals one can use and still be called organic. Cecilia’s produce is sold at local farmer’s markets and she also supplies produce for a local restaurant that supports locally grown veggies. The sense of community is strong in her neighborhood with neighbors dropping in to pick-up eggs, veggies, or fruit, or just for the opportunity to visit and enjoy the serenity of “Cecilia’s Garden.” IN THIS PODCAST: Cecilia opens up with Greg and shares her passion about…growing food as naturally as possible. Her garden is a local marvel with layers

Simon grew up on a small farm in the hills of southwestern Pennsylvania before pursuing a degree in Information Sciences and Technology at Penn State University. Soon after college, Simon helped a long-time western Colorado fruit farmer expand his operation to include vegetable production and a CSA program. The project grew to serve five area farmers markets and a 130-member CSA. During his tenure at the farm, Simon took advantage of his education in information technology to develop a highly interactive website for the CSA. In retrospect, this website was a prototype for what Small Farm Central would eventually become. After leaving the farm in the Fall of 2006, Simon started Small Farm Central with a core group of 10 farmers from across the country. In four years, Small Farm Central has grown to serve more than 1000 farmers (as of October 2015) across the U.S. and Canada. Outside of Small Farm Central, Simon is kept active by his two sons, Eliot (age 4) and Theo (age 1). He enjoys food experimentation proje

Denise is a grandmother of eight who was forced into retirement from a management position at the age of 57.  She and her husband rented a community garden plot of 1000 square feet to save money by supplementing their food and decided they could try to live on a lot less money since life was nicer without her working a 50-60 hour work week.  Eventually they bought an old farmhouse on 1.7 acres 1-hour north of the city in southern Ontario, Canada and have developed raised beds, grow a good amount of their own produce and are starting with chickens this year.  They have found this has been a wonderful retirement solution for them. It has been a way to reduce expenses and yet create a lifestyle that is healthy, happy, and a wonderful example for their grandchildren who are learning all about where food comes from. IN THIS PODCAST: Denise tells Greg how one day she was unexpectedly retired and needed to start saving money.  After getting inspiration from a walk near a farmers’ market, she and her husband started

Kami, author of The Herbal Kitchen, has spent the past 25 years helping people grow and use herbs so they can be more self-reliant in their health care needs. She is the creator of Herbal Kitchen Remedy Solutions, an online course that demystifies the world of herbal medicine and empowers people to use their garden for herbal self-care in the home to prevent illness and take care of common ailments. Kami has developed and taught herbal curriculum for the Complimentary and Alternative Medicine Department at University of California, San Francisco School of Nursing and the Integrative Health Master’s Degree Program at California Institute of Integral Studies. She has helped thousands of families to use herbs and natural remedies for their self-care to avoid the damaging effects of medications when not needed. She is dedicated to inspiring the Home Wellness Revolution where the use of home herbal remedies is a normal part of our cultural heritage IN THIS PODCAST: Kami joins Greg for an informative discussion on

Catherine, The Herb Lady, Crowley is a self-taught, hands in the dirt, Urban Farmer who experiments and researches constantly for new and interesting edibles and old favorites. Catherine was given the nickname "The Herb Lady" when vendors and then customers at farmers markets would say "go ask the herb lady" for questions on herbs.  It stuck. Catherine has taught classes at various locations both private and public. She currently blogs and writes an irregular internet newsletter on greening, gardening and cooking in the Valley of the Sun and also participates in the Mesa Farmers Market. IN THIS PODCAST: Catherine shares with Greg some of her tricks that she has figured out for growing herbs in her garden in Phoenix. She explains how she learned about new herbs by asking her farmers market customers about their heritage, and how she experimented to expand her knowledge and skills. She talks about some of her favorites including nasturtium, stevia and Syrian oregano. She teaches Greg how to pick herbs for the b