The Real Cost of Scaling Your Farm Too Fast (2 of 3)
Last time, Diego made the case for starting small. This is the other side of the coin: the biggest risk in farming isn't starting too small,...
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Farm Small Farm Smart
Weekly insights for vegetable farmers and market gardeners who earn, or want to earn, a living growing vegetables profitably. The show is hosted by Diego Footer of Permaculture Voices. Each...
Episodes
20 of 605 episodes
Expectations from Microbial Applications - Gardening Beyond Basics 93
In this episode, Dr. Jane Fife of 3Bar Biologics discusses reasonable expectations borne from microbial additives. Subscribe for more conten...
Start Small, Prove the Farm Model, Then Scale (1 of 3)
Everybody wants to start a farm empire. The smartest move is to start it small. Very, very small. Diego breaks down why "start small, prove...
Raising Organic Matter in Soil - Gardening Beyond Basics 92
In this episode, Dr. Gabe Kenne of the University of South Carolina talks about how to raise organic matter in the soil to increase producti...
You're Selling to the Wrong People (2 of 2)
Your customer probably isn't who you think it is. In the finale of the Who to Sell series, Diego names the "mission trap," building a farm a...
Inoculating Soil with Microbes - Gardening Beyond Basics 91
In this episode, Dr. Paul Zorner of Locus Ag Solutions talks sheds light on how to go about populating soils with healthy microbes. Subscrib...
Why Your Farm Will Fail Charging Low Prices (1 of 2)
There's a number most farmers never calculate: the minimum price you need just to break even. Diego walks through the math that separates sm...
Increasing Carbon Stores in the Soil - Gardening Beyond Basics 90
In this episode, Dr. Johannes Lehmann of Cornell University talks about where the long-term carbon stores in the soil actually come from. Su...
The Profit Pie: Why Smart Farmers Choose Their Market Before Their Land (3 of 3)
Margin tells you how much to keep. Volume tells you how much to grow. But none of it matters without the right place to sell it. In part 3 o...
Putting Fungi in the Soil - Gardening Beyond Basics 89
In this episode, author and educator Peter McCoy of Mycologos discusses putting fungi into soil by building up the soil. Subscribe for more...
Profit Pie: 70% Profit Margin Doesn't Pay the Rent (2 of 3)
In Part 1, we built the Profit Pie, the framework for how much you keep on every bed. Here's what it doesn't tell you: a 70% margin on a bed...
Depending on What You Grow - Gardening Beyond Basics 88
In this episode, compost specialist and owner of Living Roots Compost Tea Troy Hinke breaks down the nuances of making and using compost tea...
Refusing Expansion (MFB 61)
Most entrepreneurs see growth as progress. What if the smartest move is to stop? Subscribe for more content on sustainable farming, market f...
The Profit Pie: What Actually Moves Your Farm's Profit (1 of 3)
Ask most farmers what has the biggest effect on profit and they'll say inputs: seeds, soil, amendments, the stuff you put in the ground. The...
Farming on the Conservation Reserve Program - Gardening Beyond Basics 87
In this episode, soil specialist and consultant Dr. Jim Hoorman of Hoorman Soil discusses farming within the bounds of the Conservation Rese...
7 Years, 100k Invested, Zero Products (MFB 60)
Struggling founders: detailed plans slowly, never execute. Successful founders: Build basic version, get it to customers, learn what actuall...
The Symbiotic Relationship Between Trichoderma and Plants - Gardening Beyond Basics 86
In this episode, Professor Emeritus at Cornell University College of Agricultural and Life Sciences breaks down what happens in a symbiotic...
Farming Below Minimum Wage (MFB 59)
Do you know how much labor goes into growing that bed of lettuce? Not just the planting and harvesting, the weeding, the washing, the sellin...
7 Things That Happen When You Go From Employee to Farm Owner
Everybody fantasizes about being their own boss, but nobody fantasizes about standing in front of a field at 6 AM wondering if you made the...
What are Efficient Microbes - Gardening Beyond Basics 85
In this episode, one of the pioneers of probiotic technology, Dr. Matthew Wood of Probiotic Holdings, sheds light on what efficient microbes...