Tonyehn is the owner of Eco-Arts Living. Eco-Arts Living is about interconectedness, living with wholeheartedness and meaning, and the lives we want versus the lives WE CREATE for ourselves. We spend too much time focusing on what we don’t have the time, the skill or the money to do. Life is about making the time, finding the space and doing your best. Tonyehn is an avid gardener, foodie and prior restaurant reviewer, and sits on the board of The Greenhouse Project.
Jake Mace will talk about why humanity's global future is local and 3 ways to ensure your fruit trees thrive. Jake is The Vegan Athlete, runs Longevity Gardens in Phoenix, AZ with his wife Pam, and is one of the most passionate food advocates that we know. This is his third visit to The Urban Farm Podcast. We love having him on the show because he is always working on some new project in his yard and has a lot of valuable expertise to share!
Don grew up in London and at age 16 spent 4 years being trained in horticulture through an apprenticeship and a college course. From there he continued landscaping in his hometown until he moved to Arizona in 1981, where he worked in landscaping and then starting his own business in garden maintenance.
In 2003 he attended a Permaculture Design Course, which was life-changing for Don. He knew right away that this was the path he’d been waiting for, and later attended two Permaculture Teacher Trainings.
He co-founded the Phoenix Permaculture Guild, started a Permaculture design company, redesigned his home site into a permaculture destination, and helped develop a thriving permaculture community in the Phoenix, Arizona area. He has presented in 5 cities, worked in several states, attended classes in 5 states, and pretty much lives and breathes permaculture.
Matthew Hoffman on Saving Organic and Heirloom Seeds
Matthew and his wife Astrid co-founded of The Living Seed Company, an organic and heirloom seed company, serving the greater Bay Area. Dedicated to planting the seeds of World Peace through supporting the act of families, friends and communities growing food together. The Living Seed Company preserves the diversity in our food through the distribution and growing of open pollinated seeds and educating about the life-affirming art of seed saving. Matthew and Astrid live and farm happily in Point Reyes Station, California.
For more links, photos and resources from this podcast go to http://www.urbanfarm.org/blog/2016/04/23/matthew-hoffman/
Laura operates Indian Ladder Farmstead Brewery and Cidery in Altamont, New York with her husband, Dietrich. The two have been growing hops and brewing beer at home while working to restore local hop production in the northeast. Their orchard has been in Ten Eyck’s family for four generations, and she and Dietrich have lived there for more than twenty-five years, growing fruits and vegetables for sale to restaurants, gardening extensively, and raising animals, including sheep for meat and wool, dairy goats for milk, and chickens for eggs and meat. Laura is also the author of The Hop Grower's Handbook: The Essential Guide for Sustainable Small-Scale Production for Home and Market (published by Chelsea Green).
Stewart Jacobson is with the Agricultural Consultation and Training Program (ACT) of the Arizona Department of Agriculture. A 37-year employee of the department, Stewart has spent over 33 of those years as enforcement with Meat and Poultry Inspection, as an inspector, trainer and the Program Manager. Now with ACT, Stewart’s role is consultation in food safety programs for leafy greens and other vegetables leading to the GHP/GAP audit. Whether traditional agriculture in a field, hydroponics or other systems, Stewart will assist in the development of your food safety program.
Stewart understands Arizona agriculture and will discuss the food safety audit and program with everyone.
In this episode, we have Hassena Kassim of Vermi-Love Worm Farm & More LLC to talk about her experience with vermicomposting. Sena (AKA the Worm Whisperer) holds degrees and certificates in Herbalism, nutrition, landscaping, arboriculture and water harvesting. Edible gardens, vermicomposting and water harvesting are all part of her integrated landscape designs. Besides a love of worms, Sena enjoys playing imaginative games with her daughter and creating art. Living a more natural life daily and always learning more about plants helps to get her out of bed in the morning.
Maat van Uitert is a homesteading and chicken expert who helps everyday people learn to grow food in their own backyard. She is the founder of the blog FrugalChicken, the author of Chickens: Naturally Raising A Sustainable Flock, and a sought-after freelance writer. When not writing and raising poultry, Maat develops online courses about backyard farming to spread the message that freedom is ripe for the picking. Grab a free ebook about using fermented feed to raise healthier chickens at TheFrugalChicken.com/TheBetterEgg
Jacq was born in Taipei, Taiwan, grew up in Taichung, moved to Singapore for High School, then moved to Ohio to study at Columbus College of Art and Design in 1997. She became a US citizen in 2011. After living in Texas for a few years, Jacq and her husband sold their house, moved into a 35-foot Fifth Wheel RV and traveled and worked full time in the RV for 4 years.
Jacq runs her own graphic design business, Jacq Design, from her home office in Tempe, AZ. She was first introduced to permaculture through the Valley Permaculture Alliance in 2012. Now, she is in the process of establishing a semi self-sustaining food forest in her backyard in Tempe, AZ. She hopes to inspire others to do the same by giving tours and trading seeds, harvests and plants with visitors.
Michael Kramer is Managing Partner and Director of Social Research at Natural Investments, a sustainable and responsible investment advisor with 10 offices in 9 states. A national leader in his field since 2000, Michael serves on the national policy committee of USSIF: The Forum for Sustainable and Responsible Investment, the industry’s trade association. He is co-author of The Resilient Investor: A Plan for Your Life Not Just Your Money (Berrett-Koehler, 2015). A former Executive Director of Permaculture Drylands Institute, Michael has facilitated permaculture courses and teacher trainings since 1992. He lives in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii.
In 1992, John and Cecilia moved to a flat in a suburban area of Southern California, where there was no space in to grow a garden. Prior to that, they had always lived in rural areas where they had some acreage to grow a good-sized garden. John began to experiment with the container gardening concept on the front porch balcony, and it eventually became the Balcony Budeze™ Vertical Growing System, a DIY method for vertical gardening inexpensively.
Claire is the co-author with two genetic engineers of the new book, GMO Myths and Truths: A Citizen's Guide to the Evidence on the Safety and Efficacy of Genetically Modified Crops, which is for sale on Amazon and in bookstores. GMO Myths and Truths summarizes the facts on GM crops and foods in simple terms that are accessible to the non-scientist but still relevant to scientists, policymakers and educators. As her regular job, Claire is the managing editor of GMWatch.org, a public news and information service on genetically modified crops and foods. She also grows some of her own food in her garden.
Kim began gardening using the original Square Foot Gardening method in the late 1980s. She learned the All New Square food gardening method and became a square foot gardening Certified Instructor, taught by Mel Bartholomew, in 2010. She teaches the next generation of Certified Instructors and serves as one of Mel’s assistants. Along with her daughter-in-law and Mel, Kim is working on children’s versions of the All New Square food gardening book. She is the owner of Square Foot Gardening 4 U, a woman veteran-owned business in Glen Burnie, Maryland where she teaches. She can be reached at sfg4u.com.