Greg Peterson – Special 250th Podcast.
Interviewing Farmer Greg himself – about his life mission and creating The Urban Farm.
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Greg has lived at the Urban Farm for almost 30 years. His 1/3-acre yard features an entirely edible landscape, including over 70 fruit trees, rainwater and grey-water harvesting, solar applications, and extensive use of reclaimed and recycled building materials. Greg is a longtime permaculture advocate, flunked out of university in 1981 because he was bored, then went back twenty years later to get a bachelor’s degree and a Masters in Urban and Environmental Planning in 2006 and is a lifelong continual learner.On his days off he hangs out in his garden with his sweetheart Heidi and their chickens, creating new projects and catching some rays.Don’t miss an episode! Click here to sign up for weekly podcast updates
In This Podcast:
This is the 250th episode of The Urban Farm Podcast with Greg Peterson and the tables are turned as our guest host Jake Mace gets to take control of the interview. Greg tells us his story, how writing a mission statement for a college assignment affected him, and why naming your farm is so important to him. And, he shares more about the origin of The Urban Farm Nursery and of Urban Farm U.
Listen in and learn about:
- Knowing at age 9 that fish aquariums were in his future
- At age 15 running his own fish business building fish ponds for people to raise their own fish to eat
- The friend’s story about the island grocery store
- Taking a Permaculture Design Course and being amazed at how much resonated with him
- Permaculture chickens versus Industrial chickens
- The permaculture concept of stacking functions
- Designing his yard to be a food forest
- What happened to him in 1991 that was cathartic
- Determining his purpose in life
- How he is seeing the changes in the world through people he has taught
- The difference in his two times in college
- Why making a mission statement for himself really made a difference
- Starting the tours at the Urban Farm
- The three aspects of being an urban farmer
- Why naming your farm is so important to the local food movement
- His favorite trees in the Urban Farm
- The Urban Farm Fruit Tree Program
- Gardening and interacting with neighbors
- Greg’s What ifs
- His project with Bill McDorman, Bell Starr, and Toby Hemenway about how to get information out to people – the first steps to Urban Farm U
- What he is currently eating from his yard
As well as:
- His failure – The first attempt to create The Urban Farm Nursery and having 50,000 leftover plant starters he had to give away
- His success – The podcast, and the feedback he is getting from previous students
- His drive – He wants to leave the world a better place for future generations
- His advice – Give more than you take; Live an EPIC life
Greg’s Book recommendations:
Ishmael:A Novel by Daniel Quinn
How to reach Greg:
Email: Greg@urbanfarm.org
UrbanFarm.org – You are already here!!
UrbanFarm.org/FarmerGreg
Producer’s notes: We give a special thanks to Jake Mace for stepping in to do this interview. We recognize him for everything he is doing on his own that helps make Greg’s mission come true. He is a good friend to the Urban Farm and we know our listeners will find a lot of resources through his site. Here is the link to his website: JakeMace.com Here is the link to Larry Santoyo’s Podcast that Greg mentioned.
Where & when are Greg Peterson’s urban farm tours?
Before Covid hit, we were having regular Urban Farm Tours in the Spring, Fall and Winter. Out of respect for family members with immunocompromised systems, we are not planning any in-person events at the Urban Farm for the time being. We will make announcements when they resume. We thank you for your interest, and invite you to take part in our classes as we will have virtual tours on the calendar.