My “farm” consists of 170 square feet of raised beds. We designed the space to have beds arranged in a U-shape with a center raised bed and walkways that make it easy to access all corners of the garden without stepping inside a bed. I affectionately call our garden Honey Hill Farm because my husband and I live at the top of a hill and Honey our beloved dog oversees all activity in and out of the garden.
Getting excited about agriculture in protected structures is the topic of discussion for Greg and his guest Andrew Mefferd today. With a journey that took him across the United States, Andrew learned a lot about different types and sizes of farms. He explains how he used that experience to improve his skills why he hopes others can learn from it as well.
Greg interviews Kate, an herbalist with a focus on healing her community. She tells how she found her calling in herbalism and becoming a partner in an herbal product company and she explains why ethical harvesting of herbs is so important.
Organic seed seller Petra Page-Mann chats with Greg about bio-regional adaptations in seeds, genetic purity in seeds, a special heatless habanero, and her seed company which is focused on organic seeds with genetic purity and transparency.
Wings on the Wind Healing Arts Center and Sanctuary. 3.2 acres
What are you growing? Everything: I will list some but there are too many to remember them all
Greg has found an east coast twin when he talks to a fruit tree farmer named Michael Phillips who has been growing apple trees in New Hampshire with a care that works for the health of the trees and the ecosystem in which they live. Michael grows and sells fruit trees and he focuses a lot of offering tree growing education as well. He shares his main points of growing healthy fruit trees and explains why some of the steps are so beneficial to trees.
By Melissa Miller. One great (and smelly) thing we do at my farm is our community compost. The farm is located right in the middle of our nation’s capitol, downtown Washington, D.C. It is about ½ acre and produces approximately 500 lbs of fresh produce a year, all of which goes directly back into the community.
Being green is all about having less of a negative impact on the planet and here Greg chats with Quita who has fully adopted a new lifestyle and loves helping others find their way into it as well. Quita tells how she got the courage to start gardening, and how that gave her confidence to try new ways to become self-sufficient even while living in a major city. Her encouraging attitude and caring nature helps as she spreads the word about little steps people can take in their own lives.
Greg chats with a new friend Kaye, a recent convert to organic gardening who has been chronicling her challenges and amazing successes in her small garden. Living in California on the beach has it benefits, but it also comes with a challenging microclimate due to early morning fogs that limit the sun to her small garden.
Greg meets Robbie who is not a farmer or gardener but really has a story to tell that can make a difference. Robbie was inspired by some honeybees and decided to learn more about them. Her research eventually led her to write an environmental fiction book for middle school kids to help them understand and appreciate the honeybees and the challenge of colony collapse disorder.
