Shorts: Harvest Barn Market Garden July and August
Regular contributor Joel Rodker is creating a market garden from scratch and recording a diary for Farmerama as he goes. Here's is his report from June and July 2018

Regular contributor Joel Rodker is creating a market garden from scratch and recording a diary for Farmerama as he goes. Here's is his report from June and July 2018
This month we hear all about wiggly worms and their wondrous work. We get some tips on cow pats and profitability from a Missouri-based mob grazer. Then we head over to California for thoughts on regenerative agriculture on a biodynamic vineyard, and finally we dip into the Free Range Families initiative at Jubilee Farm in Northern Ireland. Thanks to Rebel Kitchen for supporting this episode and to all of you for listening in!
Charles Schembre is Vineyard Conservation Co-ordinator at Napa County Resource Conservation District. His work sees him leading the implementation of California’s Healthy Soils Program, a scheme which compensates farmers for increasing their soil health – with the goal of sequestering carbon and increasing water retention. Charles also helped create the first ever carbon farm plans for 4 vineyards in Napa county, working with their partners the Carbon Cycle Institute. You can hear more about the...
Regular contributor Joel Rodker is creating a market garden from scratch and recording a diary for Farmerama as he goes. In this report he lets us know what he's been up to during the month of June. Time have been tough but he's enjoying being outside and working in the English summer sun.
Regular contributor Joel Rodker is creating a market garden from scratch and recording a diary for Farmerama as he goes. Here's is his report from May 2018
Hear from Tony Lovell in his talk at Atlas of the Futures recent Barcelona event on 'Fixing the Future'. Atlas of the Future reports, 'by giving the animals a more holistic hook, carbon-canny cattle rancher Tony Lovell, co-founder of SLM Australia Livestock Fund, has raised a whopping $100 million to help to regenerate the billions of hectares of damaged Australian grasslands – using soil management, biodiversity restoration and grazing techniques: “Cows and sheep are just cows and sheep. They a...
This month we begin in California, where they are paying farmers to sequester carbon, using practices proven to increase soil health. We head to the home of democracy to hear how Greek citizens are bringing seed saving back to the people. In Somerset we get some tips on starting a market garden and we end up back in the USA, this time deep in Indiana, to hear how one college is using the power of education to transform the landscape of the mid-west.
In this Short Pavlos Georgiadis and Olly Moore are taken on a tour or PERKA. The group PERKA was created in the beginning of 2011 by people living in Thessaloniki, Greece, whose goal was the communal and in season cultivation of vegetables, fruits, flowers and herbs in a field or an appropriate space. The GROW Observatory is an EU-wide citizen science project helping people grow food and care for their soils using regenerative practices. They do so through massive experiments using low cost soil...
Jonny Hanson is an environmentalist who’s involved in setting up Northern Ireland's first Community-Supported Agriculture scheme, at Jubilee Farm. We’re going to be following their progress over the coming months. Jonny reports from Jubilee Farm’s first community volunteer day and provides a perspective on farming that’s I think a first for us on Farmerama. This was originally published as part of episode 31 of Farmerama
In this interview Pavlos and Olly from GROW Observatory learn about the Peliti seed saving initiative in Greece. The GROW Observatory is an EU-wide citizen science project helping people grow food and care for their soils using regenerative practices. They do so through massive experiments using low cost soil moisture sensors and online courses. GROW also uses people’s observations of soils to improve environmental monitoring by satellites. In so doing, the project helps with climate change adap...
The GROW Observatory is an EU-wide citizen science project helping people grow food and care for their soils using regenerative practices. They do so through massive experiments using low cost soil moisture sensors and online courses. GROW also uses people’s observations of soils to improve environmental monitoring by satellites. In so doing, the project helps with climate change adaptation. In this short, Pavlos Georgiadis and Olly Moore look back on their tour of 5 very different types of farm...
Hear from Pasture For Life farmer Rob Havard who was at the Future of UK Farming Conference. He tells us some clever tips on how to harvest your own seeds for planting herbal leys and how he has been experimenting with terminating herbal leys, working solely with his animals.
This month we hear from a self-confessed non-environmentalist about an ocean-based farming solution that might inadvertently be saving the environment as well as providing a simple, new and sensible option for people wanting to make a living from the sea. In Northern Ireland, we get stuck into the very important issue of mental health in farming. We get the lowdown on plants activating genes and how this relates to seed saving, and we end with a farmer in the remote South of Chile telling us abo...
Regular contributor Joel Rodker is creating a market garden from scratch and recording a diary for Farmerama as he goes. Here he reports from inside his new polytunnel.
In this interview Pavlos Georgiadis speaks to Hannes Lorensen, after the European rural sustainability gathering at Lake Plastiras, who talks about the problems with the sustainability of modern food production, and makes the case for the urban consumer needing to do more listen to and support farmers and grow connections. The GROW Observatory is an EU-wide citizen science project helping people grow food and care for their soils using regenerative practices. They do so through massive experimen...
The GROW Observatory is an EU-wide citizen science project helping people grow food and care for their soils using regenerative practices. They do so through massive experiments using low cost soil moisture sensors and online courses. GROW also uses people’s observations of soils to improve environmental monitoring by satellites. In so doing, the project helps with climate change adaptation. In this spcial feature, Nikos Vrantsis speaks to Greek organic olive grower Pavlos Georgiadis, one of the...
This month we have a political focus, but still manage to squeeze in talk of our fave topics, soil and microbes. First up, some personal stories from a ‘kitchen table talk’ on what good food means to the people in Scotland. A Jersey farmer tells us about trying out an innovative approach to growing the island’s favourite potato. We have an update on ‘Green Brexit’ and how global trade agreements affect farmers. We end with the launch of a ‘Pig Club’ and a catchy tune from the bee-lievers. 🐝 🐖�...
Regular contributor Joel Rodker is creating a market garden from scratch and recording a diary for Farmerama as he goes. Here is his latest report, recorded in March 2017.
If you live in Scotland – or even if you don’t – you might have heard that the Scottish Government will soon be introducing a “Good Food Nation Bill”. It’s set to be a wide-ranging piece of legislation, touching on health, sustainable production, food poverty, food culture, and a lot more besides. It has the potential to be radical and world-leading – or a huge missed opportunity. Katie spoke to Bella Crowe from Nourish Scotland about the Bill, the upcoming consultation, and the broader context ...
This month we get an update from Abby’s farm in Chile a year after the huge fires burned all their crops. We head to a farm in Wales to learn how planning legislation is opening doors for people wanting to produce, and live sustainably. Then we head to the US to hear how one farmer is taking a philosophical approach to sharing the practice of farming and connecting to the land. And finally, back on British soil to hear from a long-time soil scientist about organic matter. Plus if you listen to t...
Nikos Vrantsis reports from Greece for Farmerama where he had the unexpected luck to meet Sylvia Kay, among a visionary crowd of growers, food communities and experts gathered for 2017’s European Rural Sustainability Gathering. Sylvia is a researcher and member of the environmental and agrarian justice team of the Transnational Institute (TNI). Her team is monitoring policies around key natural resources like land, forests, food, trying to empower growers and put local communities in the heart o...
This month, we hear from herb growers and suppliers about the opportunities for growing herbs in the UK. We have the first of a series of reports from Jubilee Farm in Northern Ireland, offering a Christian perspective on agriculture and the environment. We take a visit to Humble by Nature, a tenant farm in the Welsh Wye Valley run by TV presenter Kate Humble we hear from an artisan pasta producer in Italy.
the 2018 Oxford Real Farming Conference last month featured a panel on growing and selling herbs in the UK. It addressed a real need for suppliers of good quality Uk-grown herbs. In this Short, Abby Rosie spoke to Alice Bettany from the Sacred Seeds Herbal project, who was a participant in the panel. She runs a herb box-scheme based on a CSA model which is currently the only herbal box scheme in the UK. Alice talks to us about her work and her mission to bring back herbal medicine to the people....
Regular contributor Joel Rodker is creating a market garden from scratch and recording a diary for Farmerama as he goes. Here is his latest report from week 7, recorded in December 2017.
This month we bring you stories from the 9th Annual Oxford Real Farming Conference (ORFC). We embrace agri-culture with new poetry from the front-lines of farming. We get an introduction to human ecology and hear about innovations in urban food systems from a group in Glasgow. Out in the field, we celebrate the wonders of a little-known crop: Sanfoin. And we get the low-down on animals browsing for their favourite fodder.
We visit one of the lesser-known wine-making regions – Wales – to get one perspective on biodynamic farming. Then we’re off to the hills of Catalonia to hear from a small-scale chicken farmer. And, finally, we take a dose of medicine just outside Seattle – in the form of herbs, human connections, and the land itself.
WeFarm is a free peer-to-peer service that enables farmers to share information via SMS, without the internet and without having to leave their farm. Farmers can ask questions on farming and receive crowd-sourced answers from other farmers around the world in minutes. In 2014, WeFarm was named one of the overall winners Google Impact Challenge. Amy Cooper spoke to Wefarm CEO Kenny Ewan for Farmerama at London Food Tech Week, 2017 Learn more about WeFarm https://wefarm.org/ See Amy’s TedX talk fo...
Rural Sociologist Maria Partalidou discusses Urban Farms in Greece. Maria spoke to Farmerama about the changing relationship between Urban and Rural communities in Greece in episode 28.
We hear from two projects which are using film to share stories from the front-line of farming. We meet a sociologist who’s been studying the relationship between urban and rural communities in Greece. And we indulge in more fungi-love as we learn how it's possible to manage weeds simply by working with the microbial balance in the soil.
This month, we dip into the wonderful world of agroforestry: both the help on hand to support farmers planting/managing trees and the stories of two farmers who have been pleasantly surprised at the benefits trees bring to their farm. Abby has been in California and she reports from an event celebrating women’s leadership in farming. Finally we have the first in a series of dispatches from a young farmer who's setting up a new farm – from the ground up.