The No-Till Flowers Podcast: Recent Episodes
Jennie Love
A show about regenerative flower farming. Hosted by Jennie Love of Love 'n Fresh Flowers, a flower farm in Philadelphia.
We as growers can get quite fixated on soil and water and fertility. But there's another factor that is so absolutely critical to plants and flower production and that is light, or more precisely photoperiod.
We all know that light is the foundation of photosynthesis. What we can sometimes forget is how critical the number of hours of light and dark are to triggering a plant to switch from vegetative growth to flowering. We drill into that in this episode with Dr. Alicain Carlson from Syngenta Flowers.
Great companion listening for this episode is Episode 46: 10 Late Season Flower Crops for November Sales with Dave Dowling.
Additional resources mentioned in this episode:
- Syngenta Flowers Cultural Guides
- Book: Specialty Cut Flowers
- MyLightMeter - an app for your phone to measure light
WANT TO LEARN MORE?
Join the Regenerative Flower Farmers Network (RFFN) for just $20/year if you'd like to continue the conversation on topics covered in this episode.
You'll also gain access to lots of helpful articles, discussion boards, and online courses.
On-demand Online Courses for Farmers Available on RFFN:
- Foliage for the Win
- Successful Flower CSAs and Subscriptions
- CREW: Hiring and Managing
- Simple Steps to Better Marketing
- Woodies: Playing the Long Game
WINTER SPECIAL: 3 Online Courses for $300! Click Here to Learn More.
HAVE IDEAS AND FEEDBACK ABOUT THE PODCAST? Share your opinions in this brief survey.
As always, if you appreciate this podcast and all the education it provides, please take a moment out of your day to rate and write a review for it on Apple Podcasts or wherever you are listening to it.
For anyone focused on building soil health and long-term productivity, cover crops are the most powerful tool available. Research shows that cover crop mixes—rather than single-species plantings—offer greater benefits to the soil ecosystem. When thoughtfully designed, a diverse cover crop mix acts like a self-balancing team, with each species performing a specific ecological role. In this episode, Keith Berns, one of the founders of Green Cover Seed in Nebraska, walks us through the value and decision-making process for adding cover crop mixes to your growing space.
If you're new to cover crops, you may want to start with Episode 33, Cover Cropping Basics for Small Scale Regenerative (Flower) Farms. And another great episode to check out is The Ins and Outs of Intercropping with Denise Ritcher.
Additional resources mentioned in this episode:
- Green Cover Podcast
- Cover Crops 101 book (Free Download)
- Webinar with Dr. Christine Jones
WANT TO LEARN MORE?
Join the Regenerative Flower Farmers Network (RFFN) for just $20/year if you'd like to continue the conversation on topics covered in this episode.
You'll also gain access to lots of helpful articles, discussion boards, and online courses.
On-demand Online Courses for Farmers Available on RFFN:
- Foliage for the Win
- Successful Flower CSAs and Subscriptions
- CREW: Hiring and Managing
- Simple Steps to Better Marketing
- Woodies: Playing the Long Game
Tap into the above courses and resources any time you need. These are available on-demand through the Regenerative Flower Farmers Network.
HAVE IDEAS AND FEEDBACK ABOUT THE PODCAST? Share your opinions in this brief survey.
As always, if you appreciate this podcast and all the education it provides, please take a moment out of your day to rate and write a review for it on Apple Podcasts or wherever you are listening to it.
Host Jennie Love walks listeners through a clear and concise discussion on how and why to overwinter dahlias in the ground. Save time, money and sanity with no-dig dahlias. Cold is not the enemey to successfully perennializing your dahlias. Moisture is. Tune in to learn more!
Mentioned in the episode:
Black Dog Flower Farm Dahlia Blog Post Part 1
Black Dog Flower Farm Dahlia Blog Post Part 2
Cornelia Macnamara Flowers in Chicago
Metal cages used to support dahlias
WANT TO LEARN MORE?
Join the Regenerative Flower Farmers Network (RFFN) for just $20/year if you'd like to continue the conversation on topics covered in this episode.
You'll also gain access to lots of helpful articles, discussion boards, and online courses.
On-demand Online Courses for Farmers Available on RFFN:
- Foliage for the Win
- Successful Flower CSAs and Subscriptions
- CREW: Hiring and Managing
- Simple Steps to Better Marketing
- Woodies: Playing the Long Game
Tap into the above courses and resources any time you need. These are available on-demand through the Regenerative Flower Farmers Network.
Past relate episode for further listening include:
The Dahlia Episode with LeeAnn Huber of Coseytown Flowers
Dahlia Pest Management with LeeAnn Huber of Coseytown Flowers
Nutrient Balancing in Living Soil with Bryant Mason, the Soil Doctor
HAVE IDEAS AND FEEDBACK ABOUT THE PODCAST? Share your opinions in this brief survey.
As always, if you appreciate this podcast and all the education it provides, please take a moment out of your day to rate and write a review for it on Apple Podcasts or wherever you are listening to it.
Dave Dowling is back for this episode. He’s a fan favorite and if you haven’t already listened to the Everything Tulips episode and Everything Ranunculus episode here, be sure to go back to grab those. Dave is well-known in the flower farmer sphere for his wealth of knowledge and decades of experience in farming and sales.
I asked Dave back so he could help me hash out what flowers are viable crops for November sales.
I’ve heard more and more growers talking about skipping summer production in favor of focusing on the shoulder seasons, myself included. The summer heat can flatten you. And summer sales tend to drop off as everyone goes on holiday. And after a whole season of training customers to buy from you, it’s a shame to just drop them at the first frost.
Here in the northern Hemisphere, there’s tremendous opportunity for brisk sales in November, if you have some infrastructure like a high tunnel or greenhouse. Retail sales reach a near fever pitch as customers realize cold weather is setting in and they’ll soon be without their local harvests. Thanksgiving can be a big floral holiday here in the U.S.. Wedding florists are still quite busy too in November as many couples have opted for a shoulder season date to either save a little on the budget or to also avoid that damn summer heat.
The problem is that usually we just think of mums when it comes to end of season sales. And even with all the specialty and heirloom varieties available to growers at the moment, mums alone don’t make a bouquet. Weather you’re selling at farmers market, doing weddings yourself, or selling wholesale to florists, you need a more diverse product mix to grab interest and bigger sales.
Dave and I go over a list of 10 late fall crops that can be harvested for gorgeous November bouquets and a really nice injection of cash in your bank account right before winter. Be sure to have a notebook handy when listening so you can jot down the particulars of each. For easy reference, here are the 10 crops we discuss (NOTE, these are crops grown in a tunnel/greenhouse):
- Stock
- Flowering Cabbage/Kale
- Snapdragons (Group 2 or 3)
- Sunflowers
- Lisianthus
- Lillies (LA Royal Sunset and Callas)
- Alstromeria
- Mums
- Celosia
- Eucalyptus
WANT TO LEARN MORE?
Join the Regenerative Flower Farmers Network (RFFN) for just $20/year if you'd like to continue the conversation on topics covered in this episode.
You'll also gain access to lots of helpful articles, discussion boards, and online courses.
On-demand Online Courses for Farmers Available on RFFN:
- Foliage for the Win
- Successful Flower CSAs and Subscriptions
- CREW: Hiring and Managing
- Simple Steps to Better Marketing
- Woodies: Playing the Long Game
Tap into the above courses and resources any time you need. These are available on-demand through the Regenerative Flower Farmers Network.
>>> FOR THE MONTH OF MARCH, GET 3 SHORT COURSES FOR $300.
I’ve long followed the fascinating research of Dr. James White of Rutgers University in New Jersey. He is a plant pathologist with a PhD in mycology. His specialty is "symbiosis research", particularly the impact of endophytic microbes in plant development and behavior. The nerdiest among you will rejoice at a science-rich episode in which Dr. White helps us understand how bacteria and fungus enter a plant as endophytes to help plants defend against stress, diseases and pests as well as provide the nutrients they need for growth and development.
Turns out plants are farmers too! And in many ways we human farmers need to get out of their way and let them do their own work!
In this episodes we talk about the rhizophagy cycle, in which microbes – not humans – provide the nutrients plants need.
We also talk about how we can support the rhizophagy cycle by boosting soil biology as a whole, something many of you are already doing through regenerative farming.
And we talk about how seed production can be adjusted to produce stock for healthier plants and greater resiliency in the face of climate change. So if you’re seed saving, make sure you listen closely to that part!
What’s really exciting about Dr. White’s research is two parts:
First, his work has shown that if we pay attention to soil biology – namely endophytes -- we create disease suppressing soils. With a bounty of diverse biology in the soil, devastating diseases like fusarium and pythium not only become benign but may even become beneficial! Whaaaaa???
Secondly, while Dr. White has not conducted research directly on homemade inputs like JADAM Liquid Fertilizer and other brews a la Korean Natural Farming, he absolutely sees a correlation between them and his studies of the impact of endophytic microbes on plant health and production. In particular, he sees these inputs as very beneficial at the time of seed starting, helping to load up the soil surrounding the seed with diverse and bountiful biology, which will lead to better root development and disease resistance.
Which means this is a great time to remind you to go back in the archives here of No-Till Flowers and relisten to Episode 28 where I talked with Lisa Zeigler about Seed Starting, Regenerative Style.
Learn more from Dr. James White by listening to these two episdoes on the Regenerative Agriculture Podcast with John Kempf:
Reshaping How Agriculture Sees Plant Nutrient Uptake
How Plant Absorb Living Microbes and Convert Soil Pathogens into Beneficials
And read some of Dr. White's research papers on Research Gate:
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/James-White-31
WANT TO LEARN MORE?
Join the Regenerative Flower Farmers Network (RFFN) for just $20/year if you'd like to continue the conversation on topics covered in this episode.
You'll also gain access to lots of helpful articles, discussion boards, and online courses.
On-demand Online Courses for Farmers Available on RFFN:
- Foliage for the Win
- Successful Flower CSAs and Subscriptions
- CREW: Hiring and Managing
- Simple Steps to Better Marketing
Tap into the above courses and resources any time you need. These are available on-demand through the Regenerative Flower Farmers Network.
>>> FOR THE MONTH OF FEBRUARY, GET 3 SHORT COURSES FOR $300.
In today's episode, we are replaying an interview that originally aired on The Flower Podcast, where host Scott Shepherd interviewed yours truly, Jennie Love, about regenerative flower farming. This seemed like a great conversation to include in the archives here on No-Till Flowers. Deep gratitude to Scott for sharing it with us!
Be sure to follow The Flower Podcast for more great flora-focused conversations.
And there are new fresh episodes coming soon! A few guests got hit with the flu and it's pushed back our production schedule. But we're getting everything rescheduled and will be hitting the air soon with those!
WANT TO LEARN MORE?
Join the Regenerative Flower Farmers Network (RFFN) for just $20/year if you'd like to continue the conversation on topics covered in this episode.
You'll also gain access to lots of helpful articles, discussion boards, and online courses.
On-demand Short Courses for Farmers on RFFN:
- Foliage for the Win
- Successful Flower CSAs and Subscriptions
- CREW: Hiring and Managing
- Simple Steps to Better Marketing
- Woodies: Playing the Long Game (coming in February 2025)
Tap into the above courses and resources any time you need. These are available on-demand through the Regenerative Flower Farmers Network. Current RFFN members shoud follow this link to access the Short Courses at the discounted member rate.
Past episodes for further learning about regenerative farming practices include:
Episdoe 29: Nutrient Balancing in Living Soils with Bryan Mason
Episode 34: Why I Love to Spray at My Farm: Boosting the Phyllosphere
Episode 17: Natural Inputs with Nigel Palmer
Episode 15: Korean Natural Farming and JADAM in Flower Farming with Tony Gaetz of Bare Mountain Farm
HAVE IDEAS AND FEEDBACK ABOUT THE PODCAST? Share your opinions in this brief survey.
As always, if you appreciate this podcast and all the education it provides, please take a moment out of your day to rate and write a review for it on Apple Podcasts or wherever you are listening to it.
In this episode, we’re digging into organic seed production. Seed saving and breeding are all the rage in the flower farming world at the moment, which is an exciting way to dive even deeper into the world of flowers and get even nerdier. And we all love getting nerdier, don’t we? :-)
Today's guest, Will Hazard, is the zinnia breeding project lead at the University of California, Davis. Through the SCOPE program -- which stands for Sustainable Crop Production and Enhancement, Will and his team of fellow research students have been breaking new ground in flower breeding that benefits both the environment and future generations of farmers. In particular, they’ve honed in on zinnias to breed for better stem length and disease resistance. In this conversation, Will unpacks the challenges, the innovations, and the incredible potential of this vital field of study.
Mentioned in this Episode:
UC Davis SCOPE Project
Video demo of saving zinnia seeds properly
UC Davis Zinnia Bulletin 2024
UC Davis Instagram (with lots of zinnia breeding photos)
Tips for Getting Involved in Organic Seed Breeding
Podcast with John Kempf and Dr. James White discussing seed biomes
Email Will directly at hrwilliam@ucdavis.edu
WANT TO LEARN MORE?
Join the Regenerative Flower Farmers Network (RFFN) for just $20/year if you'd like to continue the conversation on topics covered in this episode.
You'll also gain access to lots of helpful articles, discussion boards, and online courses.
On-demand Short Courses for Farmers on RFFN:
- Foliage for the Win
- Successful Flower CSAs and Subscriptions
- CREW: Hiring and Managing
- Simple Steps to Better Marketing
- Woodies: Playing the Long Game (coming in February 2025)
Tap into the above courses and resources any time you need. These are available on-demand through the Regenerative Flower Farmers Network. Current RFFN members shoud follow this link to access the Short Courses at the discounted member rate.
If you enjoyed this episode, you might also want to listen to:
Episode 28: Seed Starting, Regenerative Style with Lisa Mason Zeigler
Episode 24: Farming to Heal the Ecosystem with Dr. Doug Tallamy
Episode 31: Beneficial Insects and Natural Pest Control with IPM Expert Margaret Parks of Evergreen Growers Supply
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Follow @notillflowers on Instagram for more content.
HAVE IDEAS AND FEEDBACK ABOUT THE PODCAST? Share your opinions in this brief survey.
As always, if you appreciate this podcast and all the education it provides, please take a moment out of your day to rate and write a review for it on Apple Podcasts or wherever you are listening to it.
Thanks for tuning in!
Welcome to Season 5 of No-Till Flowers! It's good to be back!! We’re starting off with a fairly personal episode as I share what’s changed for me and my health in 2024.
This past season was my 17th season farming and selling flowers. There has been a lot of wear and tear on my body, mind and spirit along the way. I would wager heavily that no small business owner understands what they are signing up for at the beginning. Or even many years into it. The first 10 or so years are just holding on for dear life. The highs and lows of this rollercoaster ride lurch your emotions and mind all over the place. For too long, we define success as making a sale and making a customer happy. In most cases, we outright forfeit our own well-being. At least that certainly was the case for me.
When our bodies are under chronic elevated stress and we’re not eating well (which pretty much describes every farmer), our internal ecosystem starts to break down. Our bodies host trillions of microbes that that make us surprisingly similar to soil biomes. In this episode, we learn about how to better support our personal gut biomes so we can better support our farms and larger communities.
My guest today is Susan Brown, a functional medicine practitioner I've worked with over the past year to improve my own biome. If you’d like to work directly with Susan, her website is https://www.nourishwithsusanbrown.com/
Find a functional medicine practitioner near you with this site: https://www.ifm.org/find-a-practitioner
If you’d like to learn more about supporting your gut biome and supporting your body as a whole, here are a few links to podcasts that can help you learn more:
Dr. Zach Bush interview on Feel Better, Live More Podcast
Dr. William Li interview on Feel Better, Live More Podcast
How to Control Blood Sugar on Feel Better, Live More Podcast
The Dr. Hyman Show
Susan mentioned a supplement, Ion Biome, made from ancient soil. Here’s the link to that. Please note that I have not tried this supplement personally so can not speak to its effectiveness.
Other Supplements she mentioned were:
- Cytozyme-AD for adrenal support
- Magnesium glycinate
- LMNT for electrolytes and magnesium
- Vitamin D3 K2 (remember to eat some fat at the same time you’re taking this one – like an avocado)
Here’s a recipe for a quick and healthy meal you can take into the field with you:
CHOCOLATE CHIA PUDDING
-
1 can of unsweetened full fat coconut milk (Try Native Forest brand)
-
1 scoop chocolate protein powder (Try SunWarrior brand if you don’t have a favorite already)
-
6 Tbsp chia seeds
-
1 tsp vanilla extract
-
1 pinch of sea salt
-
dash of cinnamon (optional)
Mix everything together. Use an immersion/stick blender to get it all really combined for a smooth creamy pudding. Divide out into glass jars or other containers you can grab on the go. Keep cold. Can be stored in the fridge for 3-4 days. When you're ready to eat, top with fresh berries and/or shredded coconut.
Why is this recipe so good for you?
Coconut milk is a superfood that heals and supports for your gut microbiology. And all the good fat in it balances your blood sugar levels so your energy is stable throughout the day (no more sugar crashes!). Chia seeds, also a superfood, have tons of fiber and omega-3. The protein powder helps your muscles recover from fatigue faster. The sea salt adds some micronutrients and electrolytes. And the fresh berries on top add more fiber and antioxidants. Plus it's just dang yummy!
Would you like more recipes and a chance to connect with others who have experiences similar to yours? Join the Regenerative Flower Farmers Network (RFFN) for just $20/year if you'd like to continue the conversation on topics covered in this episode.
On-demand Short Courses for Farmers Available on RFFN:
- Foliage for the Win
- Successful Flower CSAs and Subscriptions
- CREW: Hiring and Managing
- Simple Steps to Better Marketing
Tap into the above courses and resources any time you need. These are available on-demand through the Regenerative Flower Farmers Network.
>>> FOR THE MONTH OF JANUARY, GET 3 SHORT COURSES FOR $300.
We don’t typically dive into business topics on this podcast as I like to keep the focus on regenerative growing practices. But today we’re going to go off theme a bit for a special guest. Many of you already know Scott Shepherd, the host of The Flower Podcast.
Scott has such a unique position in our industry. He studied horticulture under the likes of Dr. Allan Armitage. His day job in the three decades since has been working in sales at wholesale houses, first in Georgia and now in Tennessee. In that role, he’s touched every facet of the global import market. He’s also had a long-standing side hustle as a grower of specialty stems like hellebores. And as a podcaster, he’s had many in-depth discussions with both florists and flower farmers.
Scott recently interviewed me about regenerative farming for his own podcast. At the end of that chat, I asked him if I could switch seats with him, so to speak, and ask him so long burning questions I had about selling flowers through a traditional wholesaler. I don’t know about you, but it’s always felt a bit mysterious. Exactly how does one go about approaching a big wholesaler? What quantities do you need to bring to the table? What kind of prices could you get? What was supposed to be just a brief chat turned into a lengthy and very enlightening conversation I thought you’d all like to hear.
In addition to this episode here on No-Till Flowers, you can catch another piece of my conversation with Scott on a new podcast I’m currently hosting called Floral Guild Radio. Yep, you read that right! There’s now a second podcast where you can hear me talk about flowers. Floral Guild Radio is much more geared towards the business side of flowers, particularly selling to florists. I’d love to have you tune in there too!
As always, a big shout out to members of the Regenerative Flower Farmers Network who, through their membership, so generously support the making of this podcast! If you’re not a member but you’d like to join, it’s just $20 a year. Lots of detailed articles, podcast transcripts, and a community chat are available on RFFN. If you’ve ever had follow up questions to episodes here, that’s the place to go to ask!
Many of you may be in hiring mode for your farms right now. I’d love to help you be less intimidate by hiring and find a better flow to managing a crew that doesn’t consume all your brain space and time. I have an online short course called CREW that is focused on the best practices of hiring, training, and managing farm crews. If this sounds like something you could use, head to the show notes to grab the link.
Others of you may not be ready to hire, but could use a helping hand with decision making and trouble shooting this season. I host a monthly small group cohort for regenerative growers on RFFN and would be happy to field all your questions there. Look for the link to that in the show notes as well!
Additional places to find Scott Shepherd:
The Flower Podcast Instagram feed
The Flower Podcast YouTube channel
The Pansy Appreciation Society Instagram feed.
There are some incredible nuggets of pure gold in this episode. You will definitely want to have a pen and paper handy!
Joining me today is Dr. John Dole, cut flower researcher and professor at North Carolina State University. As you’ll hear in the episode, John has been immersed in flowers since he was just 8 years old, planting gladiolas at a neighbor’s farm in Michigan. Over the decades, he’s been a keystone leader for the floral industry, serving farmers and florists alike with his valuable research projects.
John is well known for his work with the Association of Specialty Cut Flower Growers, which is where I met him years ago. My friendship with John is an example of how priceless a membership in the Association can be. If you are not already a member of the ASCFG, you’ll want to click the link above right now to join. While John and I were talking here for the podcast, I was reminded how much I have learned over the years from him and others who have generously shared their knowledge through the ASCFG.
For flower farmers, John, along with his posse of awesome graduate students, has done a lot of studies on what we call "post harvest handling" of cut flowers. Basically, what are the best practices growers can implement after harvesting to get the longest vase life out of their crops. You can be a dynamite grower, but if you don’t know how to handle your flowers after they’re picked, you won’t have happy customers or a sustainable business.
In this episode, John and I talk about a handful of key crops and how to handle them after harvest. You are going to be shocked by what he has to say about storing peonies and tulips! For peonies, the ideal temperature for dry storage is 31F, for up to 16 weeks. For tulips, leave the bulb on and dry store at 31F for up to 8 weeks.
We also go down a rabbit hole about water quality and flower food. To be honest, I hadn’t planned to pick John’s brain about those, but I’m so glad the topic came up because it was really informative! I’ve long been anxious about using flower food and holding solutions because there are no organic certified options on the market. I assumed they were full of harsh chemicals that I wouldn’t want to dump out into my farm’s ecosystem. John sheds some light on this subject and I think you’ll find it reassuring to hear.
Some useful resources related to this episode:
Chrysal (post-harvest flower products)
Waypoint Labs (for water testing)
All of John's Research Publications
Postharvest Handling of Cut Flowers and Greens (reference book written by John)
Govee thermometers
WANT TO LEARN MORE? Join the Regenerative Flower Farmers Network! It's just $20/year and you'll have access to lots of articles, videos, online courses and live Q&As -- all related to regenerative farming and sustainable business practices.
On-demand Short Courses for Farmers available on the Regenerative Flower Farmers Network:
- Foliage for the Win
- Successful Flower CSAs and Subscriptions
- CREW: Hiring and Managing
- A Guide to No-Panic Marketing
- Woodies: Playing the Long Game (coming in spring 2024)
*Note: You'll need to become a RFFN member in order to register for the online courses.
Past episodes for further listening include:
Episdoe 12: The Everything Tulips Episode with Dave Dowling
Episode 20: The Everything Ranunculus Episode with Dave Dowling
Episode 36: Cool Flowers, Native Headerows and Frost Cloth with Lisa Mason Zeigler
Episode 38: Plant Tissue Testing Explained with Bryant Mason
HAVE IDEAS AND FEEDBACK ABOUT THE PODCAST? Share your opinions in this brief survey.
As always, if you appreciate this podcast and all the education it provides, please take a moment out of your day to rate and write a review for it on Apple Podcasts or wherever you are listening to it.
Welcome to Part 2 of a recent interview host Jennie Love had with guest Bryant Mason of Soil Doctor Consulting.
If you haven’t already listened to Episdoe 37 or Episode 29, stop this one now and go back to listen to those first. In this segment, Bryant helps listeners understand what plant tissue testing is and why it is so valuable for farmers to do. Bryant walks us through a tissue test for stock grown at Jennie's farm, explaining how to read the various nutrient values and make decisions for future fertilization.
If you'd like to see the tissue test result sheet Bryant and Jennie discuss in this episode, along with other test results from Jennie's crops, join the Regenerative Flower Farmers Network (RFFN) to have a look at those.
Two labs that Jennie has used for tissue testing flower crops are:
- Logan Labs
- Waypoint Analytical
At the end of this conversation, we also get a nice list of resources listeners can use to increase their knowledge of organic and regenerative growing. Here are links to most of those:
- The Nature and Properties of Soils textbook
- The Mineral Nutrition of Higher Plants textbook
- Nigel Palmer's book The Regenerative Grower's Guide to Garden Amendments
- Nigel Palmer's interview on this podcast
- Bryan O' Hara's book No-Till Intensive Vegetable Culture
- Shaping Fire podcast
- Regenerative Agriculture podcast
- ATTRA Voices from the Field podcast
- Priming for Production podcast
- Tractor Time podcast
- Field Lab Earth podcast
- Cannibas Cultivation and Science podcast
- Decode 6 podcast
- No-Till Growers podcast
This conversation with Bryant was broken into two episodes since it was full of so much information. So be sure to go back and listen to the first half in Episode 37.
Follow Bryant on Instagram @soil_doctor.
Bryant has developed an easy online tool to help you directly to interpret your soil tests and choose natural amendments accordingly. Click here to learn more.
On-demand Short Courses for Farmers available on the Regenerative Flower Farmers Network:
- Foliage for the Win
- Successful Flower CSAs and Subscriptions
- CREW: Hiring and Managing
- Simple Steps to Better Marketing (coming in late January 2024)
- Woodies: Playing the Long Game (coming in February 2024)
Tap into the above courses and resources any time you need. These are available on-demand through the Regenerative Flower Farmers Network.
>>> FOR THE MONTH OF JANUARY, GET 3 SHORT COURSES FOR $300.
Guest Bryant Mason of Soil Doctor Consulting returns to the podcast for another lively conversation about organic nutrients with host Jennie Love.
If you haven’t already listened to Episode 29 in Season 3, stop this one now and go back to listen to that one first. In Episode 29, we introduced Bryant to the flower farming community and we had a dynamic conversation about nutrient balancing in living soils. Bryant, a certified agronomist for organic growers and an orchardist living in Colorado, has an exquisite knack for making complicated sciency topics sound simple and do-able.
In this whirlwind tour de force we cover:
- Gypsum applications
- Analysis of WCA (homemade calcium input in Korean Natural Farming)
- Foliar Feeding Best Practices
- Detering Pests by Choosing the Right Organic Fertilizer
- EC/Salts
- Amino Acids and other Nitrogen Sources
- Orchard establishment and management
- Soil Paste Testing
- A Recipe for Biannual Soil Drench to supercharge your crops
This conversation with Bryant was broken into two episodes since it was full of so much information. So be sure to come back for the second half in Episode 38.
Follow Bryant on Instagram @soil_doctor.
Bryant has developed an easy online tool to help you directly to interpret your soil tests and choose natural amendments accordingly. Click here to learn more.
Mentioned in this episode:
- Logan Labs
- Nigel Palmer's Mineral Amendment Analysis Database
Join the Regenerative Flower Farmers Network (RFFN) for just $20/year if you'd like to continue the conversation on topics covered in this episode.
On-demand Short Courses for Farmers on RFFN:
- Foliage for the Win
- Successful Flower CSAs and Subscriptions
- CREW: Hiring and Managing
- Simple Steps to Better Marketing (coming in late January 2024)
- Woodies: Playing the Long Game (coming in February 2024)
Tap into the above courses and resources any time you need. These are available on-demand through the Regenerative Flower Farmers Network.
>>> FOR THE MONTH OF JANUARY, GET 3 SHORT COURSES FOR $300.
Today’s guest needs little introduction in the flower farming world. Lisa Mason Zeigler of the Gardener's Workshop is an author, teacher, industry leader, flower farmer, podcaster, and also a good friend of mine. With 25 years of growing under her belt, Lisa brings a wealth of knowledge and passion to everything she does.
Lisa has a new book, The Cut Flower Handbook, coming out in a few weeks, which prompted this conversation. But we cover several topics in our chat, including:
- Changing hardiness zones
- How cool flowers are even more important in farm resilience and profitability in the face of accelerating climate change
- Her new book's content
- Tips for growing Bells of Ireland
- Establishing natural hedgerows
- Mulching for soil health
- Using Frost Cloth for Season Extension
Mentioned in this Episode:
Join the Regenerative Flower Farmers Network (RFFN) for just $20/year if you'd like to continue the conversation on topics covered in this episode.
On-demand Short Courses for Farmers on RFFN:
- Foliage for the Win
- Successful Flower CSAs and Subscriptions
- CREW: Hiring and Managing
- Woodies: Playing the Long Game (coming in February 2024)
- Simple Steps to Better Marketing (coming in January 2024)
Tap into the above courses and resources any time you need. These are available on-demand through the Regenerative Flower Farmers Network. Current RFFN members shoud follow this link to access the Short Courses at the discounted member rate.
If you enjoyed this episode, you might also want to listen to:
Episode 28: Seed Starting, Regenerative Style with Lisa Mason Zeigler
Episode 24: Farming to Heal the Ecosystem with Dr. Doug Tallamy
Episode 31: Beneficial Insects and Natural PEst Control with IPM Expert Margaret Parks of Evergreen Growers Supply
Lisa's great podcasts: Field & Garden and Seed Talk
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Today’s guest needs little introduction in the small farm no-till world. Jesse Frost of Rough Draft Farm in central Kentucky has helped so many of us learn about soil health and diversified small scale production through the No-Till Growers YouTube channel, the No-Till Growers podcast, and his book The Living Soil Handbook.
If you’ve struggled with heavy clay, boggy or compacted soils at your farm or in your garden, this is the episode for you! Frequently I get asked about my recommendations for clay and poorly draining areas, but I actually have no experience with those conditions myself. Jesse does. And I eagerly picked his brain for you all. You're welcome! 😉
We talk a bit about cover crops for clay soils, including tillage radish, phacelia, sorghum sudangrass, vetch, and winter rye.
Also in this episode, Jesse and I take a stroll down memory lane to consider both of our paths as regenerative growers. As you’ll hear, five or six years ago, there was only a trickle of guidance available for smaller farms looking to implement no-till practices on a production level. We both had to do a lot of experimenting on our farms and still do today. We mention the Singing Frogs interview on the Farmer To Farmer Podcast back in 2018, a key catalyst for both of our no-till journies. Also Andrew Mefferd's book The Organic No-Till Farming Revolution, which was published in the spring of 2019. Both are highly recommended if you haven't already discovered them.
Also Mentioned In This Episode:
The Regenerative Growers COHORT with me, Jennie Love, is a year-long, small group coaching program for those that need a little help learning how to apply all the concepts and practices talked about here on the podcast. To learn more, click here.
Other On-demand Short Courses for Farmers:
- Foliage for the Win
- Successful Flower CSAs and Subscriptions
- CREW: Hiring and Managing
- Woodies: Playing the Long Game (coming in February 2024)
- Simple Steps to Better Marketing (coming in January 2024)
Tap into the above courses and resources any time you need. These are available on-demand through the Regenerative Flower Farmers Network. Current RFFN members shoud follow this link to access the Short Courses at the discounted member rate.
Join the Regenerative Flower Farmers Network for just $20/year if you'd like to continue the conversation on topics covered in this episode.
If you enjoyed this episode, you might also want to listen to:
Episode 14: Breaking Down Compost with Jesse Frost
Episode 33: Cover Cropping Basics for Small Scale Regenerative (Flower) Farms
Episode 13: Improving Poor Compost with Ellen Polishuk
Episode 28: Seed Starting, Regenerative Style with Lisa Mason Zeigler
Episode 12: The Everything Tulips Episdoe with Dave Dowling
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We're back with Season 4 of the No-Till Flowers Podcast! In this solo episode, host Jennie Love talks about regenerative spraying and how to boost the health of your crops with foliar feeding. Learn about the phyllosphere and what easy homemade inputs you can use to reduce pests and diseases with weekly foliar sprays.
Mentioned in this episode:
Join the Regenerative Flower Farmers Network if you'd like to continue the conversation on this topic.
Jennies on-demand short courses for fellow farmers:
- Foliage for the Win
- Successful Flower CSAs and Subscriptions
- CREW: Hiring and Managing
- Woodies: Playing the Long Game
- Simple Steps to Better Marketing
- Regenerative Farming Cohort
Tap into the above courses and resources any time you need. These are available on-demand through the Regenerative Flower Farmers Network. Current RFFN members shoud follow this link to access the Short Courses at the discounted member rate.
How to make WCA, a homemade calcium foliar feed.
How to make LAB, a homemade input for boosting good biology in the phyllosphere
My4Sons Backpack Sprayers
Quorum Sensing TED Talk on YouTube
If you enjoyed this episode, you might also want to listen to:
Episode 15: A Little Goes a Long Way in Regenerative Farming with Tony Gatez
Episode 21: The Magical BRIX Number that Stops Pests with Dr. Tom Dykstra
Episode 23: Bokashi & Worm Farming with Matt Arthur
Episode 30: JADAM Basics, Making JMS and Other Natural Inputs
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Curious about cover crops for a flower farm? Host Jennie Love walks listeners through a clear and concise overview of cover crops suitable for a small regenerative farm and why cover crops are such a valuable tool in the summer time for weed management. Included is a list of favorite cover crops for a small flower farm.
Mentioned in the episode:
Cover Crop Solutions Chart from Peaceful Valley
Deer Creek Seeds
Kings Agriseeds
Peaceful Valley
The Regenerative Flower Farmers Network
(find a transcript of this episode there as well as lots of other helpful resources)
If you enjoyed this show, you will also enjoy listening to these past episodes:
- Episode 26: No-Till Basics: Bed PReparation Using the Deep Mulch System
- Episode 18: The Ins and Outs of Intercropping with Denise Richter
- Episdoe 17: Exploring the Science Behind Natural Farm Inputs with Nigel Palmer
- Episode 15: A Little Goes A Long Way In Regenerative Flower Farming: KNF and JADAM with Tony Gaetz of Bare Mountain Farm
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Follow @notillflowers on Instagram for more content.
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Thanks for tuning in!
Here's Part 2 of my chat with Margaret Parks of Evergreen Growers Supply, an Oregon-based supplier of beneficial insects and microorganisms. If you haven't already, be sure to listen to Part 1 to get an introduction to using beneficial insects in your grow operation.
Some important links to go along with this conversation: Evergreen Growers Supply dmvbeneficials.com Cucumber Beetle Trap Japanese Beetle Trap
JOIN ME for a FIELD DAY AT MY FARM in Philadelphia THIS SEASON.
Register for the April 14th Field Day here.
If you liked this episode, you'll want to also listen to:
Episode 21: The Magical BRIX Number That Stops Pests with Dr. Tom Dykstra
Episode 25: The Power of Pusle Watering with Emma Horswill of Earthenry Farm
Episode 29: Nutrient Balancing in Living Soils with Bryant Mason, the Soil Doctor
Join the Regenerative Flower Farmers Network for more resources and Q&As with podcast guests.
HAVE IDEAS AND FEEDBACK ABOUT THE PODCAST? Share your opinions in this brief survey.
As always, if you appreciate this podcast and all the education it provides, please take a moment out of your day to rate and write a review for it on Apple Podcasts or wherever you are listening to it.
I’m joined in this episode by Margaret Parks of Evergreen Growers Supply, an Oregon-based supplier of beneficial insects and microorganisms. We begin by discussing the big picture pieces of Integrated Pest Management (IPM) as they relate to small scale flower farming. Then we dive into spider mite control with three fantastic beneficial insects. We also touch on banker and trap crops as well as the importance and fundamentals of scouting.
Some important links to go along with this conversation: Evergreen Growers Supply Margaret’s Critter Links
The mite predators Margaret mentions are: Amblyseius / Neoseiulus fallacis (pronounced "fuh-LASS-iss") Hypoaspis miles / Stratiolaelaps scimitis – (pronounced "stratio-LAY-laps") Phytoseiulus persimilis – (pronounced "per-SIM-ih-liss")
Margaret offered a great pro tip during our conversation I thought I’d put here in the show notes so it’s easy to reference. Add site:.edu after google search terms to find university and extension publications quickly without having to weed through all the companies sell stuff.
Because Margaret had so much great info to share, I’ve split my conversation with her into two parts. Tune in again for Part 2 where we talk about a few more specific pests, like cucumber and Japanese bettles, as well as a natural product Evergreen Growers offers to combat gall.
If you liked this episode, you may want to also listen to:
Episode 8: Dahlia Pest Management with LeeAnn Huber of Coseytown Flowers Episode 15: A Little Goes a Long Way in Regenerative Flower Farming KNF and JADAM with Tony Gaetz of Bare Mountain Farm Episode 21: The Magical BRIX Number That Stops Pests – An Exciting Conversation with Dr. Tom Dykstra
HAVE IDEAS AND FEEDBACK ABOUT THE PODCAST? Share your opinions in this brief survey.
As always, if you appreciate this podcast and all the education it provides, please take a moment out of your day to rate and write a review for it on Apple Podcasts or wherever you are listening to it.
Margaret Parks of Evergreen Growers Supply
Host Jennie Love walks listeners through a clear and concise discussion of what natural farming is and how to begin making natural inputs like JADAM Microbial Solution (JMS). If you've been intimidated by the host of natural inputs talked about in Korean Natural Farming (KNF) and JADAM, this is a great introduction that will demystify the process and get you started.
Mentioned in the episode:
Registration for the CREW virtual seminar to help you find and manage a great crew for the coming season.
The JADAM book
The JADAM YouTube channel
The Regenerative Flower Farmers Network where you'll find the transcript for this show and several related articles to making natural inputs for your regenerative farm (you must be a member to access it)
If you enjoyed this show, you will also enjoy listening to these past episodes:
- Episdoe 17: Exploring the Science Behind Natural Farm Inputs with Nigel Palmer
- Episode 15: A Little Goes A Long Way In Regenerative Flower Farming: KNF and JADAM with Tony Gaetz of Bare Mountain Farm
Please remember to rate and review this podcast! Many thanks!
Guest Bryant Mason of Soil Doctor Consulting in Colorado joins host Jennie Love in a lively conversation about nutrient balancing and soil testing, including key nutrients for better flower production and stem quality. Follow Bryant on Instagram @soil_doctor.
Bryant has developed an easy online tool to help you directly to interpret your soil tests and choose natural amendments accordingly. Click here to learn more.
Covered in this episode are:
- The Different Forms of Nitrogen
- Calcium
- Phosphorous
- Magnesium
- Soil pH
- Soil Paste Test and Soil Testing in General
- Tissue Testing
- Water Management
- Testing Natural Inputs for Nutrient Levels
Resources mentioned in this episode are:
- Biomin Cal-Boro (calcium boron feed)
- Infiltration Ring
- Chart for Mode of Nutrient Uptake in the Root Zone
- Logan Labs
Past episodes for further listening include:
Episdoe 25: The Power of Pulse Watering with Emma Horswill
Episode 17: Natural Inputs with Nigel Palmer
Episode 15: Korean Natural Farming and JADAM in Flower Farming with Tony Gaetz of Bare Mountain Farm
Episode 4: Soils Testing 101 with Ellen Polishuk
HAVE IDEAS AND FEEDBACK ABOUT THE PODCAST? Share your opinions in this brief survey.
As always, if you appreciate this podcast and all the education it provides, please take a moment out of your day to rate and write a review for it on Apple Podcasts or wherever you are listening to it.
It’s seed starting time! I’d venture to say this is what we growers are live for! Watching seedlings grow in the depths of winter is the best mood lifter. Those of you in the Southern Hemisphere are likely gearing up for your late summer sowings for cool annuals too. So it seemed like a great time to do a deeper dive into seed sowing with my old friend and seed starting pro, Lisa Mason Zeigler from the Gardener’s Workshop.
Lisa literally wrote the book, called Cool Flowers, on starting seeds for early spring crops. She’s been flower farming for 25 years and runs a seed supply house. She’s also the host of the Field & Garden podcast, which you should check out if you haven’t already.
In this episode, Lisa and I talk all about seeds. Everything from seed storage tips to creating a living soil with natural inputs to even a bit about sowing by the biodynamic calendar.
If you’d like to get my written out Regenerative Seed Starting Mix Recipe, join the Regenerative Flower Farmers Network (RFFN) to download that today.
Lots of links to share with this episode:
The New Organic Grower by Eliot Coleman
Seed Germination Theory and Practice by Dr. Norman Deno (free download)
Biodynamic Calendar (make sure to set your specific location for accurate days)
A study about the importance of the first few days of a seedling’s life and how they develop
Maxicrop (kelp product)
WCA (calcium input)
LAB (video on how to make it)
A study on worm castings enhancing germination
A study on worm castings improving disease resistance
TED talk on how bacteria “talk” with autoinducers
Past episodes mentioned in this conversation for further listening include:
Episode 21: BRIX with Dr. Tom Dykstra
Episode 15: Korean Natural Farming and JADAM in Flower Farming with Tony Gaetz of Bare Mountain Farm
Episode 16: Biodynamics with Erika and Ken from Teton Full Circle Farm
Episode 23: Bokashi and Worm Farming with Matt Arthur
HAVE IDEAS AND FEEDBACK ABOUT THE PODCAST? Share your opinions in this brief survey.
As always, if you appreciate this podcast and all the education it provides, please take a moment out of your day to rate and write a review for it on Apple Podcasts or wherever you are listening to it.
Guest Laura Beth Resnick of Butterbee Farm in Maryland joins host Jennie Love again to discuss building and rebuilding a successful farm business over the past decade.
Covered in this episode are:
- Finding land to farm - Pros and cons of renting versus buying farm land - Funding sources for land and infrastructure - Making infrastructure decisions - Bringing goats to a flower farm - Finding peach of mind and courage in the face of big change and wintertime
Mentioned in this episode are:
The Regenerative Flower Farmers Network
Jennie's upcoming virtual farming cohort where she'll coach a small group of flower farmers throgh the spring.
Laura Beth's previous episode here on No-Till Flowers.
Laura Beth's online class about building a farm, including more details about funding.
A past episode on farmer burnout and mental well-being with Amelia Ihlo.
The "goat moat" fig guy, Three Fold Farm in Mechanicsburg PA (they have an earth battery green house too).
Farm Service Agency (FSA) for farm loans
Please take a moment to rate and review this podcast wherever you are listening.
Find No-Till Flowers on Instagram @notillflowers
Host Jennie Love walks listeners through a clear and detailed description of how she has prepared no-till beds at her farm over the seasons. She goes into particular detail about the "deep mulch system" that many smaller diversified farms use for no-till bed preparation. Jennie also discusses her own journey to getting started with no-till farming back in 2018. Water and weed concerns related to no-till beds are also disucssed in this episode.
Mentioned in this show:
Registration for the 2023 No-Till Flowers Farming Cohort is now open and you can sign up here.
Andrew Mefferd's book, The Organic No-Till Farming Revolution
Join the Regenerative Flower Farmers Network to read detailed articles on and see lots of photos of no-till bed preparation.
If you enjoyed this show, consider listening to these related episodes:
- Breaking Down Compost with Guest Jesse Frost
- Improving Poor Compost with Guest Ellen Polishuk
- Talking All Things No-Till Flowers with Guest Tony Gaetz from Bare Mountain Farm
- Pulse Watering with Emma Horswill from Earthenry Farm
Please rate and review this podcast wherever you are listening so we can grow the auidence.
Welcome to Season 3 of the No-Till Flowers podcast! Emma Horswill from Earthenry Farm in Tasmania joins host, Jennie Love, for a lovely chat that hits on several important regenerative farming practices.
The primary focus of this episode is irrigation, particularly an approach to it called "pulse watering". Other topics include cover cropping, fertigation, quickly imporving poor compacted soil using regenerative methods, creating a flower farm that's very asethetically pleasing for a you-pick operation, and converting a horse farm to a flower farm.
Links mentioned in this episode are as follows:
Earthenry Farm on Instagram
Dahlias in Australia: The Winkie Way (the book Emma used to originally learn about pulse watering)
The Regenerative Flower Farmers Network where members can download Emma's fact sheet on pulse watering.
Steve Solomon's "Complete Organic Fertilizer" recipe.
Daniel May's book The No-Till Organic Vegatable Farm
ARC Centre for Excellence for Plant Success in Nature and Agriculture (Australian think tank for future proofing our farms)
Teeming with Bacteria by Jeff Lowenfels
Please rate and leave a review for this podcast as it helps us tailor the podcast even more to your needs and helps other listeners find it. Follow @notillflowers on Instagram for more content and conversations. And become a member of the Regenerative Flower Farmers Network to access additional detailed resources and live Q&A events as mentioned throughout the podcast.
Do you view your farm as a production space? A landscape that should generate x number of stems in x square feet for x amount of dollars each season? Many farmers do. In this episode, host Jennie Love encourages listeners to look at their farms as whole ecosystems that serves millions of lives, not just your own goals. Jennie is joined by author, Dr. Doug Tallamy, a professor in the University of Delaware’s Department of Entomology and Wildlife Ecology. For years, Dr. Tallamy has studied how insects interact with plants and how those interactions impact the food web, right up to us humans. He’s authored several books, including Nature’s Best Hope, which is the main focus of this episode’s discussion.
Farming is the single biggest land-use category on this planet! With nearly 50% of the earth’s land being used for agriculture, every single farmer HAS to be part of the solution as we face down the 6th great extinction our planet has seen. Some of the actionable steps that Doug and Jennie talk about are to:
- stop spraying pesticides of any kind
- plant native plants
- increase diversity of plants, particularly trees
- leave your weeds alone
- and stop manicuring your farm and let it get a little loose and wild.
If you enjoy the content you hear on this podcast, consider joining the Regenerative Flower Farmers Network (RFFN), a community of like-mind growers who put the ecosystem at the forefront of their farms. It's less than the price of a fancy latte to join for the whole year! Members get special access to podcast guests and other exclusive content, including an article with 15 favorite tried-and-true native plants for cutting.
Please rate and review this podcast on whatever platform you are listening. It only takes a minute and your review helps spread the word about this podcast and its important message so we can effect even more positive change for our earth and our community. Many thanks for your help with that!
In this episode, host Jennie Love is joined by farmer Matt Arthur of BLH Farm to dive into bokashi and worm farming at a scale that can actually provide a large volume of high-quality compost and castings for a small farm.
If you've struggled with making compost on your farm or finding well-aged, herbicide-free compost locally, bokashi could be the solution you've been searching for! An anerobic fermentation process, bokashi does not require a carbon source and takes a fraction of the time to produce finished compost that the more widely-known and used areobic compost pile does. Listen as Matt explains why and how. Originally farming flowers, Matt has diversified his business in recent years to include a paid food waste collection service for his local community to support his larger-scale bokashi operation.
And that bokashi operation produces high-quality feedstock for his worm operation! He sells castings and worms locally and nationwide. Matt's inspirational system is very do-able for just about any farm and requires no large equipment.
Find Matt on Instagram @blh_farm and at his website: https://blhfarm.com/
In this show, Matt mentions 96 gallon "rollers". Here's a link to a video showing how to convert one for bokashi as well as where to buy the components.
Matt also mentioned EM-1. Here's a link to where to purchase it: https://tinyurl.com/musry4hh
Coming up on October 28th, 2022, there will be an in-person No-Till Flowers Field Day at Jennie's regenerative flower farm in Philadelphia. Click here to register.
If you enjoy the content you hear on this podcast, consider joining the Regenerative Flower Farmers Network (RFFN), a community of like-mind growers who put the ecosystem at the forefront of their farms. It's just the price of a fancy latte to join for the whole year! Members get special access to podcast guests and other exclusive content. Matt will be answering questions about bokashi and worms live on RFFN in November.
PLEASE RATE AND REVIEW THIS PODCAST WHEREVER YOU ARE LISTENING: this helps us grow our aduience!
Follow @notillflowers on Instagram for lots of content about regenerative flower farming.
In this episode, host Jennie Love is joined by farmer Matt Arthur of BLH Farm to dive into bokashi and worm farming at a scale that can actually provide a large volume of high-quality compost and castings for a small farm.
If you've struggled with making compost on your farm or finding well-aged, herbicide-free compost locally, bokashi could be the solution you've been searching for! An anerobic fermentation process, bokashi does not require a carbon source and takes a fraction of the time to produce finished compost that the more widely-known and used areobic compost pile does. Listen as Matt explains why and how. Originally farming flowers, Matt has diversified his business in recent years to include a paid food waste collection service for his local community to support his larger-scale bokashi operation.
And that bokashi operation produces high-quality feedstock for his worm operation! He sells castings and worms locally and nationwide. Matt's inspirational system is very do-able for just about any farm and requires no large equipment.
Find Matt on Instagram @blh_farm and at his website: https://blhfarm.com/
In this show, Matt mentions 96 gallon "rollers". Here's a link to a video showing how to convert one for bokashi as well as where to buy the components.
Matt also mentioned EM-1. Here's a link to where to purchase it: https://tinyurl.com/musry4hh
Coming up on October 28th, 2022, there will be an in-person No-Till Flowers Field Day at Jennie's regenerative flower farm in Philadelphia. Click here to register.
If you enjoy the content you hear on this podcast, consider joining the Regenerative Flower Farmers Network (RFFN), a community of like-mind growers who put the ecosystem at the forefront of their farms. It's just the price of a fancy latte to join for the whole year! Members get special access to podcast guests and other exclusive content. Matt will be answering questions about bokashi and worms live on RFFN in November.
PLEASE RATE AND REVIEW THIS PODCAST WHEREVER YOU ARE LISTENING: this helps us grow our aduience!
Follow @notillflowers on Instagram for lots of content about regenerative flower farming.
Welcome to the first in a short summer series of episodes dedicated to farmer well-being. This is my 14th season flower farming and running a small business centered around such a stunning and stressful product. Every season brings its own set of challenges, most entirely out of my control. This year I broke a bone and strained a tendon in my left foot in late February that has impacted my physical and mental health immensely. I entered the intensity of spring planting season feeling hugely ineffective and burnt out. I’m used to those feelings in August each year, but never before had I felt that way in March.
Acknowledging burn-out and its source and making space for it is the first step to recovery. So I started talking about it with close farmer friends at first and then more publicly. As I did, I heard echoed back to me all the same feelings of exhaustion, anxiety and physical pain. I am definitely not alone. Nor are you.
My guest in this episode, Amelia Ihlo, is also a friend, which made this would-be heavy conversation flow easily. It’s proof that talking to a friend can be a huge step forward when you feel burnt out. We both share our stories of and strategies for farmer fatigue. Amelia, the founder of Rooted Farmers, brings a uniquely powerful tactic to the table: collective selling. She talks about how flower collectives – or co-ops or hubs or whatever you want to call them -- have the capacity to snuff out burn-out. Maybe you’re like me and had never thought about collective selling as a defense against burn-out, but it really makes sense once you start thinking about it in that way.
On the Rooted Farmers blog, Amelia and her team have put together a couple great post on farmer burn-out and health. Check those out here.
Two other resources are:
Young Farmers Coalition
Rural Health Information Hub
Neither I nor Amelia are mental health professionals. Rather we are two experienced flower farmers and business women having a candid conversation. If you need support for a well-being crisis or are worried about someone else who does, please call or text 1 800 273 8255 to connect with a trained crisis counselor.
If this episode makes you feel seen and you want to join a deeper conversation on farmer well-being, consider joining the Regenerative Flower Farmers Network, or RFFN for short. Over the past year, RFFN has developed into a safe harbor away from social media where all questions and scenarios are welcome, connections are made between farmers and experts, and experiences are shared so all members contribute to growing the knowledge of the group. Within that framework, we have a special space dedicated to discussing and supporting farmer well-being. Please join us there!
In this episode, host Jennie Love is joined by Dr. Tom Dykstra, an entomologist with over 25 years of experience in academic and field research. Predominantly, he has studied insect olfaction (how insects smell) from the standpoint of bioelectromagnetics and has proven a new theory based on the fusion of biophysics and neurophysiology. Dr. Dykstra has long been involved in the field of agriculture and pest control. He brings a unique perspective to the table that flies in the face of conventional agriculture's penchant for liberally applying pesticides. Turns out pesticides kill far more than the pests -- but we regenerative farmers already knew that, right? Still, it's great to hear a lauded scientist explain why pesticides are the undoing of healthy plants.
In this episode, we go into more detail about BRIX and how this easy measurement can be so meaningful to pest management. Through all his years of research with myriad crops and pests, Dr. Dykstra has found a magical BRIX number where, once that threshold has been reached, pests will not be a problem anymore! Listen in to learn what that number is!
In this episode, a few links are mention. Here they are for easy reference:
-
Previous interview with Dr. Dykstra on the Regenerative Agriculture Podcast wtih John Kempf
-
The refactometer model Jennie uses at her farm to take BRIX readings.
-
The Wikipedia article on bioelectromagnetics for those who are curious to have a brief intro to the idea.
A SPECIAL NOTE ABOUT THE EDITING OF THIS EPISODE:
We're so grateful to Dr. Dykstra for sharing all his nerdy knowledge. That being said, he did get super nerdy for a bit early on in this interview. Like super duper nerdy! We thought we'd loose a lot of you in the weeds if we started the episode with that. So you'll be jumping into the middle of the interview when you start listening to this episode. Keep listening alllll the way to the end to hear a lot of detail about how Dr. Dykstra has determined insects "smell".
Dr. Dykstra currently works as a consultant for Advancing Eco Ag if you'd like to pick his brain more.
This show is brought to you by the Regenerative Flower Farmers Network (RFFN). Your membership in RFFN will go to support the making of more podcasts here on No-Till Flowers. Join RFFN today to read dozens of great articles on regenerative practices as they specifically relate to flower farming. On RFFN, you'll find a more information about regenerative practices for pest control and a nerdy community to talk more about BRIX.
PLEASE RATE AND REVIEW this show wherever you are getting it. It really helps us grow!
Sign up for our newsletter so you'll be the first to know about special events and opportunities.
Follow @notillflowers on Instagram for more content.
Thanks for tuning in!
Host Jennie Love is joined again Dave Dowling of Ball Colorlink. Dave was on Season 1 of the podcast to discuss tulips in detail. Check out that episode if you haven't already.
This time we're talking for an hour about ranunculus cultivation. Because, you know, that's probably what you're doing right now! We cover a lot of ground in this episode, from considerations when ordering corms to pre-sprouting, variety selection, growing in crates(!!), harvesting, storing, and considerations for profitability.
In this show, we mention culture sheets for ranunculus that can help give some guidance for growers trying to dial in their ranunculus program. Here are three for your review:
https://www.unicornblooms.com/_files/ugd/73dfff_99320cb9eef54d1ba16fdd290cd9375f.pdf
http://64.41.82.172/pdfs/Ranunculus-Brochure-2017.pdf
https://www.green-works.nl/site/assets/files/10803/cult__info__ranunculus_butterfly_for_cut_green_works-1.pdf
Also mentioned in the intro of this show is our upcoming No-Till Flowers FIELD DAY! Join Jennie at her farm in Philadelphia on April 16th for a hands-on invigorating learning experience where you'll connect with many other flower farmers passionate about regenerative growing practices. Below is the link to purchase your ticket. If you can't make it to this event, stay tuned for another in July.
https://www.shoplovenfreshflowers.com/product/no-till-flowers-field-day
This show is brought to you by the Regenerative Flower Farmers Network (RFFN). Your membership in RFFN will go to support the making of more podcasts here on No-Till Flowers. Join RFFN today to read dozens of great articles on regenerative practices as they specifically relate to flower farming. On RFFN, you'll find a more information about regeneratively growing specific flower crops like ranunculus.
PLEASE RATE AND REVIEW this show wherever you are getting it. It really helps us grow!
Sign up for our newsletter so you'll be the first to know about special events and opportunities.
Follow @notillflowers on Instagram for more content.
Thanks for tuning in!
Host Jennie Love sits down with Dr. Catherine Brewer of New Mexico State University. Dr. Brewer (Catie) is a chemical and materials engineer who has devoted a good portion of her professional scientific career to studying biochar, particularly as it relates to processing agricultural waste to create a valuable farm input.
Biochar is a "fine-grained charcoal high in organic carbon and largely resistant to decomposition...produced from pyrolysis (burning) of plant and waste feedstocks" (Source IBI Website). It's been used for centuries as a soil amendment, particularly in the Amazon and when other indigenous peoples around the world had prescribed burns to areas they wished to farm.
Biochar resists further decomposition for hundreds or even thousands of years, making it a superb vehicle for sequestering carbon in our soils. It also provides excellent "housing" for soil microbial populations. Perhaps most importantly for growers, biochar is a great tool for helping even out water cycles in farm soils. Catie has great information about why that is exactly.
In this conversation, we learn how biochar can be used at a farm to "close the loop" and make better soils for future generations. This is a long game strategy, one that will be vital to the regeneration of our earth over more lifetimes than our own. Our flower farms can do so much more than just grow flowers and biochar is an example of that.
Mentioned in this show is the trench method for burning debris to make biochar. Here is a video by Bare Mountain Farm about how to dig a good trench and how to manage a burn.
This show is brought to you by the Regenerative Flower Farmers Network (RFFN). Your membership in RFFN will go to support the making of more podcasts here on No-Till Flowers. Join RFFN today to read dozens of great articles on regenerative practices as they specifically relate to flower farming. On RFFN, you'll find a more information about making biochar as well as a live video Q&A session with Catie.
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Joining host Jennie Love on today's show is Denise Richter from Pistil & Stamen in New Orleans. On her small urban flower farm, Denise has had to get very clever over the years with intercropping to maximize the number of harvestable stems. In this conversation, we dive deep into intercropping as well as urban farming, managing super wet soils, and being a farmer florist.
Intercropping is the practice of planting two or more crops at the same time or in quick succession in the same bed space so they are growing together for at least part of their life cycles. This diversifies the types of roots down in the soil and maximizes space and photosynthesis above ground. Intercropping is a key practice to regenerative farming. It’s talked about a lot in the grazing and vegetable farming communities. But it really hasn’t caught on much yet in flower farming. Hopefully today's show will help change that!
Some of the intercropping pairings mentioned in this episode include:
- sunflowers + dahlias
- stock + flowering cabbage + candy tuft
- calendula + snapdragons
- cardoons + iris
- edible peas + dormant perennials
- lisianthus + radishes
- celosia + dormant ranunculus/anemones
Some seed sources mentioned were Baker Creek Seeds for purple-pod peas and Johnny's Selected Seeds for cover crop peas.
Denise also mentioned Floral Genius pin cups as her favorite design mechanic.
This show is brought to you by the Regenerative Flower Farmers Network (RFFN). Your membership in RFFN will go to support the making of more podcasts here on No-Till Flowers. Join RFFN today to read dozens of great articles on regenerative practices as they specifically relate to flower farming. On RFFN, you'll find more conversations about intercropping.
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Host Jennie Love sits down with former aerospace engineer turned author, Nigel Palmer, to discuss his outstanding book The Regenerative Grower's Guide to Garden Amendments. Nigel has done a superb job of putting the science behind homebrewed natural inputs like those touted in Korean Natural Farming and JADAM practices. Nigel tells us how we can conduct our own citizen science to be better regenerative farmers.
The process for testing your own liquid mineral amendments can be found here on Nigel's website.
Nigel's upcoming workshops can be found here.
Nigel's YouTube channel has a growing collection of informative videos on how to make your own natural regenerative inputs.
This show is brought to you by the Regenerative Flower Farmers Network (RFFN). Your membership in RFFN will go to support the making of more podcasts here on No-Till Flowers. Join RFFN today to read dozens of great articles on regenerative practices as they specifically relate to flower farming. On RFFN, you'll find written recipes for making several of the natural inputs Nigel and Jennie talk about during this show as well as view a listener Q&A video with Nigel.
Please rate and leave a review for this show wherever you are getting it.
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No-Till Flowers is a podcast all about regenerative practices to help flower farms be more resilient and our community to thrive.
Flower farms can do so much more than just grow flowers! Through our work on our farms, we can build habitat for other creatures of all sizes, balancing soils, water cycles and ecosystems. If we e give back more than we take.
Come along with me as I ask lots of questions of podcast guests to help piece the puzzle together. Weather you're brand new to flower farming or a seasoned grower, you'll learn something new with each episode.
Be sure to subscribe so you won't miss when a new episode airs.
Sign up for the newsletter for occasional updates and special offers for listeners.
And check out the Instagram feed too for lots of pictures to go along with the information you hear here.
Learn more about me, Jennie Love, and my flower farming journey over on Love 'n Fresh Flowers.
Host Jennie Love talks with Erika Eschholz & Ken Michael from Teton Full Circle Farm in Idaho about what it means to be a biodynamic flower farm. We get into both the practical parts of biodynamics and the woo-woo.
Erika and Ken were gracious enough to provide a long list of resources for listeners who want to learn more about biodynamics:
Books
Grasp the Nettle By Peter Proctor
Agriculture by Rudolf Steiner
Gardening for Life by Maria Thun
The Biodynamic Way by Maria Thun
A Biodynamic Farm by Hugh Lovel
Biodynamic Gardening by Monty Waldin
Calendars
The Maria Thun Biodynamic Almanac 2022 (be sure to get the edition appropriate for your area- e.g. The North America Edition)
Stella Natura 2022 Biodynamic Planting Calendar Edited by Sherry Wildfeuer
Organizations
Biodynamic Demeter Alliance (formerly The Biodynamic Association and Demeter USA)
Resources
The Josephine Porter Institute for Applied Biodynamics
Biodynamic Source
What is Biodynamics? by Ken Michael and Erika Eschholz
This show is brought to you by the Regenerative Flower Farmers Network (RFFN). Your membership in RFFN will go to support the making of more podcasts here on No-Till Flowers. Join RFFN today to read dozens of great articles on regenerative practices as they specifically relate to flower farming. On RFFN, you'll find more info about biodynamic flower farming, including prompts to sow by the biodynamic calendar.
Please rate and leave a review for this show wherever you are getting it. It helps us grow!
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And we're back! It's the premiere of Season 2 of No-Till Flowers!!
Host Jennie Love talks again with fan favorite, Tony Gaetz of Bare Mountain Farm about making and using natural farm inputs for fertility and biology a la Korean Natural Farming and JADAM practices. The running theme is that a little goes a long way.
Tony was on Season 1 of the podcast so be sure to check out that episode if you haven't already.
Tony and his wife Denise have an outstanding YouTube channel full of videos about Korean Natural Farming, JADAM, biochar, bokashi, no-till techniques, tools, and much more.
This show is brought to you by the Regenerative Flower Farmers Network (RFFN). Your membership in RFFN will go to support the making of more podcasts here on No-Till Flowers. Join RFFN today to read dozens of great articles on regenerative practices as they specifically relate to flower farming. On RFFN, you'll find written recipes for making several of the natural inputs Tony and Jennie talk about during this show.
Please rate and leave a review for this show wherever you are getting it.
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Thanks for tuning in!
Surprise! Welcome to the third of No-Till Flowers spontaneous seasonal series...
To build on our last No-Till Flowers Summer short about improving meh compost with Ellen Polishuk, Jennie and Optimus... I mean, Jesse Frost (a hilarious, but unfortunate recording error), author of The Living Soil Handbook and host of The No-Till Market Garden Podcast, break down the four types of compost, how small-scale farmers can make their own without heavy equipment, they get real nerdy about worm bins, and lessons learned managing no-till on clay soils.
Mentioned in the show:
Sign-up for the No-Till Flowers Newsletter
John Kempf's Regenerative Agriculture Podcast
The Food Lab Earth Podcast
The Worm Farmers Handbook
Uncle Jim's Worm Farm
Brought to you by Jennie Love and No-Till Growers. If you like No-Till Flowers and want to see it grow, support our work and be sure to follow Love N Fresh and No-Till Flowers for more.
Surprise! Welcome to the second of No-Till Flowers spontaneous seasonal series...
It may be a Summer short, but Jennie Love of Love N Fresh Flowers and Ellen Polishuk of Plant to Profit have a powerful conversation about what to do with less-than-awesome compost, modifying our approaches to soil health over time, and an important piece of advice for farm resilience in the wake of a changing climate... and ain't just to increase your organic matter!
Brought to you by Jennie Love and No-Till Growers. If you like No-Till Flowers and want to see it grow, support our work and be sure to follow Love N Fresh and No-Till Flowers for more.
Surprise! Welcome to the first of No-Till Flowers spontaneous seasonal series...
Jennie Love of Love N Fresh Flowers talks with Dave Dowling of Ball Colorlink about everything TULIPS! Because, you know, that's probably what you're doing right now. They cover a lot of ground, from considerations when ordering bulbs, to no-till planting, harvesting, storing, designing, profitability, favorite varieties, and resources.
Sign up for the Newsletter to get the tulip resource guide
No-Till Tulips Step-by-Step How-To
Ednie Catalog that lists Weeks to Cool
Dave's Online Course all about bulbs and more!
Brought to you by Jennie Love & No-Till Growers. If you like No-Till Flowers and want to see it grow, support our work and be sure to follow Love N Fresh and No-Till Flowers for more.
Legendary flower grower Joe Schmitt joins the show to talk ornamental grains and grasses, efficient tools for reducing wear on the body, and a bunch else from his lifetime in flower farming.
Links:
https://www.johnnyseeds.com/tools-supplies/transplanters/paperpot-transplanter-7601.html
https://www.pendragonfabrication.com/specialty-machinery/drangen-lay-down-work-cart/
https://www.nativeseeds.org/pages/sonoran-panic-grass
https://territorialseed.com/products/quinoa-brightest-brilliant-rainbow?variant=12786106433635
https://www.wildgardenseed.com/index.php?cPath=39
https://www.victoryseeds.com/sorghum_white-popping.html
Sponsors: www.growingformarket.com www.farmersfriend.com
http://ascfg.org
Follow Jennie: www.instagram.com/notillflowers
www.notillgrowers.com
Erin McMullen joins host Jennie Love to talk restoring soil, wholesale flowers, farming with kids, being a female farmer.
https://www.raindropfarms.net
Lacy Phacelia: https://greencoverseed.com/product/1076/
Follow Jennie: www.instagram.com/notillflowers
Sponsors: www.growingformarket.com
www.farmersfriend.com
https://www.ascfg.org
Brought to you by www.Notillgrowers.com and the supporters at www.patreon.com/notillgrowers
Brenda and Andrew of Good Hope Blooms join host Jennie Love to talk biodynamic flower farming in through a multi-year drought, smoke from wildfires, farm store management, and more!
http://goodhopeblooms.com.au
https://www.instagram.com/good_hope_blooms/
Links:
https://www.youtube.com/user/livingwebfarms
Pat Coleby book: https://amzn.to/2Y8B1Px
https://www.harpercollins.com/products/sand-talk-tyson-yunkaporta?variant=32280908103714
Sponsors: www.growingformarket.com www.farmersfriend.com and http://ascfg.org/
www.notillgrowers.com
A bonus to this week's Dahlia episode––this one all about pest management!
http://coseytownflowers.com/
trap discussed: https://www.mosquitomagnet.com/store/mosquito-magnet-trap/dynatrap?area_to_protect=46
www.instagram.com/notillflowers
www.notillgrowers.com
LeeAnn Huber joins the show to dive deep into Dahlias, everything from breeding to storage, over wintering, best varieties, fertility and more!
https://coseytownflowers.com
other links:
https://coseytownflowers.com/dahlia-education/
https://lovenfreshflowers.com/2020/11/08/overwintering-dahlias/
https://lovenfreshflowers.com/2014/03/24/how-to-take-dahlia-cuttings-to-build-your-stock/
Follow Jennie at www.instagram.com/notillflowers
Sponsors: www.farmersfriend.com www.growingformarket.com
www.ascfg.org
More info at www.notillgrowers.com
Molly and Asher join Jennie from Maine to discuss biodynamic flower production, general soil management, landscape fabric for weed suppression and more.
www.onthemountainfarm.com
https://www.instagram.com/onthemountainfarm/
Follow Jennie: www.instagram.com/notillflowers
Sponsors: www.farmersfriend.com + www.growingformarket.com
- www.ascfg.org
Josephine Porter Institute (Asher recommended this preparation as a good place to start)
Rock Dust/Pioneer Valley
Bionutrient Food Association
Biodynamic Association
Habit Farming by Foot Print Farm
Permaculture and flower farming in windy conditions with no-till bed prep, fertility management and more.
https://www.islandflowerfarm.ca
Links from the show: http://www.growgreatvegetables.com/fertilizers/a-great-organic-fertilizer-mix/
https://stoneslinger.com/?gclid=Cj0KCQiAzsz-BRCCARIsANotFgMygzKh6oZx5X0jIjK6O1ud_jTvwfnFWc0Y1k7eInhyDWxg5V19iWcaAgnkEALw_wcB
https://www.brakethecycle.co.uk/?fbclid=IwAR2IAudd33wwPrl6s0t0IkLcfxvD-mnutt8yodcKioRtLyRmWi8C7mraNKw
https://amzn.to/3rDzAGs
Sponsors: www.growingformarket.com www.farmersfriend.com
and https://www.ascfg.org
Follow Jennie: www.instagram.com/notillflowers
www.notillgrowers.com
Jennie is joined by Ellen Polishuk of Plant to Profit to talk soil testing, soil health, adding microbes and more. Links:
https://www.planttoprofit.com
Book: https://amzn.to/2KCsP74
https://www.midwesternbioag.com
https://www.fertrell.com
https://www.7springsfarm.com/soil-amendments/
https://www.midwesternbioag.com/products/microhume/
Follow Jennie: www.instagram.com/lovenfreshflowers or www.instagram.com/notillflowers
www.notillgrowers.com
Jennie catches up with Tony Gaetz of Bare Mtn Farm in Oregon to talk no-till flowers, KNF, and more!
site http://baremtnfarm.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/baremtnfarm/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/baremtnfarm
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/butterbee_farm/
No-Till Flowers: www.notillflowerspodcast.com
Sponsors: www.farmersfriend.com and www.growingformarketmagazine.com and http://www.ascfg.org
A www.notillgrowers.com production
Jennie catches up with Mimo Davis in St. Louis and chats about reclaiming city lots, bindweed, changes markets and more!
http://urbanbudscitygrownflowers.com/
https://www.instagram.com/urbanbuds/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/butterbee_farm/
No-Till Flowers: www.notillflowerspodcast.com
Sponsors: www.farmersfriend.com and www.growingformarketmagazine.com and http://www.ascfg.org
A www.notillgrowers.com production
Jennie and Laura Beth Resnick talk about no-till flowers in the tunnel, employee management and more.
Butterbee Farm: https://www.butterbeefarm.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/butterbee_farm/
No-Till Flowers: www.notillflowerspodcast.com
Sponsors: www.farmersfriend.com and www.growingformarketmagazine.com and http://www.ascfg.org
A www.notillgrowers.com production