551: Chloe Lieberman on Growing Calorie Crops.
Farming corn and other small-scale staple crops.
In This Podcast:
When one thinks of staple crops, what usually comes to mind is corn, wheat, and soybeans, yet Chloe Lieberman has worked with community farms around the world and discovered that there is an abundance of underutilized, calorie-dense types of crops. Listen in to learn about the value of staple crops, the processes of growing corn and wheat, and even learn how to make tortillas as Chloe shares the varieties of ancient grain corn that make the best tortillas.
Our Guest:
Chloe homesteads near Asheville, NC. She also writes and teaches for Wild Abundance, a school of permaculture, natural building, and homesteading that’s just down the road from Chloe’s farm. She and her partner raise dairy goats, ducks, a milk cow, vegetables, fruits, mushrooms, and herbs. One of Chloe’s great loves is growing staple crops: the kinds of plants that can be center stage during a meal. Along with growing food, Chloe is passionate about cooking and nutrition.
Listen in and learn about:
- What are staple crops
- How Chloe became passionate about creating a sustainable transition for staple crops
- The benefits of having relationships with plants
- The three classes of ancient grain corn
- The differences between field corn and sweet corn
- How to process corn to make tortillas from scratch
- Why it is ideal to plant corn in a square pattern verses a long row
- Chloe’s online gardening school
As well as:
Her failure – Viewing raccoons as pests and not realizing that the land is a shared ecosystem
Her success – Ability to be a guiding resource for friends and family
Her drive – To be the voice for the ecosystem
Her advice – “Find the passion that makes your heart truly sing, follow our individual heart’s delight through being a voice, activist, or changing people’s minds and systems.”
Chloe’s Book recommendation:
The Resilient Gardener: Food Production and Self-Reliance in Uncertain Times by Carol Deppe
How to reach Chloe:
Website: wildabundance.net
UrbanFarm.org/wildabundance
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