All in Curtis produced about 17,500lbs of product off of his farm this year. That's a lot of food coming from a small space. Remember Curtis is only farming off of 15,000 sq.ft. which is spread out over 5 plots. And this year he made the most of it producing over 17,000lbs of produce on those 5 plots. And we aren't talking corn and potatoes here. For the most part many of the crops which he produced really aren't that heavy, he simply produced a lot of product. 3000lbs of tomatoes, 2500 lbs of radishes, 2500 lbs of spring mix, 2000lbs of turnips. Big numbers for a small farm. Curtis has grown better throughout the years and grown a lot of crops in the past. At one time he grew over 90 differnet crops. Ultimatley that easn't affective for Curtis and he learned to focus on the crops that paid, dropping the ones that didnt'. Now in 2015 he produced about 23 differnet products off of the farm this year. But even with only 23 different crops, not all crops are created equal. Because his top 5 crops account for over 60% of his total sales. In this eposde we start to dig a bit into those different products and really disect the numbers looking at metrics like which crops made up the top five in terms of sales dollars. And what you will notice when we go through taht exercise is just what we have talked about all season, 20% of the crops produce the majortiy of the farms sales. Given that we'll look at how Curtis is using this data to start to plan for next year. In a nut shell it's grow what works and more of it if there's demand, and drop what isn't working so well. The numbers are telling and the numbers don't lie. Regarding of what you what, some crops just grow well on your farm and sell well in your market, so focus on those crops. You can't grow it all, so grow what counts. Learn more at permaculturevoices.com/tuf37

Dan Brisebois will be one of the speakers at PV3 in March 2016. Learn more about PV3 at permaculturevoices.com/pv3. Today’s episode takes us to Quebec, where farmer Dan Brisebois is doing some amazing things at the Tourne-Sol farm…. Dan Brisebois started out like a lot of other small scale growers, growing market vegetables intensively to sell to CSA customers. But unlike most other growers, Dan also had another plan in mind as he started his farm. A plan that would really distinguish him from many other small scale growers. Because from the beginning Dan’s plan was to integrate seed production into his small farm's operation. Seed which could be used on the farm, and seeds which could be sold. Dan's now about 10 years into the seed growing and selling business, and things are going well and he's producing a lot of seeds. Seeds that he uses in three ways. He's selling seeds which are being sold to through his own seed company and seeds which are being sold to seed retailers, and seed which is being used on his farm. It’s proving to be a lucrative and viable add on business for his small farm. And before starting thinking, I don't have enough room on my farm to grow seeds as well as market veg, thinking again, because Dan is dedicating less than 1/2 an acre to seed production. You don't need a lot of land to produce a lot of seeds. But it isn't just as easy as grow plants and get seeds. There's a lot of strategy, skill and marketing that plays into the small scale seed business. Some of which is intuitive and some of which isn't. Like why Dan grows his market tomatoes on supports in the greenhouse, but grows his tomatoes for seed outside on the ground. Find out exactly why in this episode, as Dan shares 10 years of seed growing experience. If you are looking to cash flow a small piece of land or diversify your farm operations, pay attention in this one... Learn more at permaculturevoices.com/dan

Christian Shearer will be one of the speakers at PV3 in March 2016. Learn more about PV3 at permaculturevoices.com/pv3. Hopefully this episode will help shed some light on the long term design process, so you can approach you own long term project with the right mindset, expectations, and goals. Christian as has a lot of experience working on projects that have taken years to complete and evolve. For the past 10 plus years he has been the managing director of the Panya Project in Thailand, and he has taken on numerous long term projects as one of the founding members of Terra Genesis International. Through his work with Terra Genesis Christian has taken the lead on reforestation projects in the Philippines, regenerative farming practices in northeastern Thailand, and the broad regeneration of a sand quarry in Barbados. He's worked aroudn the world on a varitey of project over the past ten years, and he's gathered a lot of wisdom along the way. Learn more at permaculturevoices.com/christian

In this episode we will be talking about real world issues and troubles with restaurant customers. How Curtis has dealt with customers who haven't paid in the past and how he has changed his procedures to help make sure that it doesn't happen again. Because Curtis has learned the hard way, when you're in the real world and restaurants don't pay, you can lose a lot of money. Learn more at permaculturevoices.com/tuf36

Jean-Martin Fortier will be one of the speakers at PV3 in March 2016. Learn more about PV3 at permaculturevoices.com/pv3. Basing his farm off of the French bio intensive market gardens JM has kept his farm small and intensive relying mostly on hand labor. He has focused on developing and following on farm systems that work and growing crops that pay. And the results have been a farm pays well. Jean-Martin's farm now generates $150,000 on 1.5 acres, with 40% of that being profit. Big numbers for a small farm. It's the $100,000 an acre that JM is associated with today. But he didn't start out making $100,000 an acre. He started out at square one, just like many of you. And as a preview for the episode, it wasn't easy. There was a lot of hard work involved in the beginning. It was that hard work and striving for constant improvement that allowed JM to arrive at the systems which he uses so profitably today. The systems which allow him to generate $100,000 off of 1 acre. But let's go back in time to Day 0 when he was just starting out. He was married, didn't have any money, he lived in a tipi, but he had a vision for the life that he wanted to live. Learn more at permaculturevoices.com/pv3

Where do you draw the line between this isn't working, but I can figure it out, and this will never work? Let's just accept the fact that farm start-up is going to involve it's fair share of struggles. How long should those struggles continue? Because there is no sense wasting your time, your life's energy, sacrificing the relationships in your life, as you pile on monumental amounts of stress if you don't have the skill, the will, or the resources to make it work. At some point should you draw the line and just say, maybe this isn't right for me, it's not working? When you find yourself scraping by ask yourself why, and what you can do about it, annd just maybe you will realize that your model doesn't work, or you're not very good at it. Learn more at permaculturevoices.com/tuf35

Erin Axelrod will be one of the speakers at PV3 in March 2016. Learn more about PV3 at permaculturevoices.com/pv3. A lot of people within the permaculture are visionaries. We imagine a better world. One that's more regenerative, versus depletive and consumption oriented. But sometimes it's hard to align those grand visions with how the world operates today, specifically when it comes to business. So how do you match the vision with what it takes to survive today? We’ll find out, in today's conversation with Erin Axelrod. Erin is a partner at LIFT economy, a business consulting and coaching company that provides support, structure and strategy to the next generation of businesses. A generation of business that share the vision of a world where all human needs are met, where people have more time to play and enjoy each day and where life flourishes in the richness of a stable climate and resilient ecosystems. In this episode Erin will be talking about her work at LIFT and what she has learned through her years of experience working with permaculture visionaries and the businesses that they are trying to build and grow to support their vision. Learn more at permaculturevoices.com/erin

Zach Weiss will be one of the speakers at PV3 in March 2016. Learn more about PV3 at permaculturevoices.com/pv3. Zach's going to give you a realistic view of what starting out as a designer is really like. And he is going to answer the big questions of can you actually make a living as a designer and how much opportunity is out there? If you are looking to go into the permaculutre design field, pay attention in this one, because Zach is someone who is carving out their own niche as a designer, and making a living doing it. Zach's a protégé of legendary Austrian farmer Sepp Holzer. He has worked on properties around the world with Sepp and he has worked on his own jobs in multiple countries that range from big to small. He approaches the field with a high level of professionalism and integrity, something that isn't stressed enough in this field. And something that we will touch on in this episode. Learn more about Zach at permaculturevoices.com/zach

It's currently November 2015 and the main farm season for Curtis is pretty much over. And along with, so is this season of the show. For the remainder of the episodes we'll be wrapping up everything that happened on the farm this year with Curtis and tying up a few loose ends. With things very slow on the land, Curtis is taking a few weeks off from the farm. Given that today's episode is Q and A episode. These questions were actually answered last winter on via Curtis on his YouTube channel. If you want to watch him answer these questions you can do so in the show notes at permaculturevoices.com/tuf34. In this show Curtis will be answering questions on time management, farm startup, finding land and securing land, converting land to urban farm land, approaching restaurants, and record keeping. The nice thing about these questions is that they cover a wide variety of topics which will help to help tie together the season as we look to wrap it up. There's a lot here, enjoy it. Watch the video answers of these questions at permaculturevoices.com/tuf34

Today's episode takes us north of the American border to the city of Vancouver. It's the story of how urban farmer Chris Thoreau started his microgreens farm. Like Darby Simpson's story this is another one that very relatable. Chris started his farm at what on paper looks like an in-opportune time. He started this part time while in school full time and 2.5 months into his first semester his son was born. Despite life presenting challenges that some people would say aren't worth the risk, Chris made a go of it taking on these early challenges he has managed to grow his operation to one that will do $180k in sales in 2015. And all that sales are coming from a farm that's in a shipping container taking up 320 sq. ft. Learn more at permaculturevoices.com/chris

If you think about your life, and you never made a dollar doing what you were doing, would you keep doing it - forever? Regardless of whether you are making money doing what you are doing or not, take a second to think about that. If you never made a dollar doing what you were doing, would you keep doing it - forever? Do you like it enough to keep it up? My goal for this episode is to try to get you to have a realistic view of what it's going to take to get to where you want to go. And it may scare a lot of people away. For today's episode I want to focus on the long road to overnight success. Being resilient enough to keep going when the times get tough, and being personal and emotionally invested enough to keep you going through those tough times. Show notes at permaculturevoices.com/cd7

What's your time worth as a farmer? How much should should you be charging yourself to do tasks on the farm? That's an important metric to think about when you are a small operation. Because for a lot of farmers in this space, the labor force is a force of one, you. And you only have so many hours in a day to get everything done. Your time is very valuable. Knowing that, are you spending your valuable time on tasks that actually return a greater value than the time that you put in? Today we talk about the way that Curtis used to do certain tasks and contrast that with how he does tasks now. And why he changed how he did things. For notes and links related to this episode visit the show notes at permaculturevoices.com/tuf33. This episode was recorded in November 2015.

Darby Simpson will be one of the speakers at PV3 in March 2016. Learn more about PV3 at permaculturevoices.com/pv3. As you will learn in this episode, Darby Simpson is someone who transitioned into farming on a part time basis while working full time in an unrelated field. Putting in well over 50 hours each week as an engineer and spending a couple hours each day in the car commuting back and forth. But despite those long hours, he started his farm, on the side. He did it while raising a young family, and keeping his sanity in the process. He did it by working hard and smart. And he did it in a very approachable way. He started his farming operation with only $500. With that $500 he bought 50 broilers and some equipment and he was on his way to farming full time. The first 50 sold and he never looked back. $500 in initial expenses, started farming on the side, while working full time, and with a young family. A very relate-able and applicable situation to many people listening to this show. If you are contemplating that jump into farming and making that dream a reality, but you feel like life is standing in the way, here is someone who's done it with life in the way. Learn more about Darby at permaculturevoices.com/darby

Darren Doherty presents the Regrarian Platform. This is Darren's introductory presentation that he gave at Grant Schultz's Versaland in October 2014. The presentation lays out the ten key components of the regarian platform - climate, geography, water, access, forestry, buildings, fences, soils, marketing, and energy. This episode focuses on soils, marketing, energy. This episode is the part of a four part series - episodes b032, 033, 034, 035. The workshop was open source, so thanks to Darren for allowing me to share this with you all. Show Notes: www.permaculturevoices.com/b35

In this episode we talk about post crop harvest processing, including how Curtis has changed some of his techniques over the years. We also talk about some of his farm equipment and infrastructure like his flame weeder and walk in cooler. For notes and links related to this episode visit the show notes at permaculturevoices.com/tuf32.

Darren Doherty presents the Regrarian Platform. This is Darren's introductory presentation that he gave at Grant Schultz's Versaland in October 2014. The presentation lays out the ten key components of the Regarian platform - climate, geography, water, access, forestry, buildings, fences, soils, marketing, and energy. This episode focuses on buildings and fences. This episode is the part of a four part series - episodes b032, 033, 034, 035. The workshop was open source, so thanks to Darren for allowing me to share this with you all. Show Notes: www.permaculturevoices.com/b34

Darren Doherty presents the Regrarian Platform. This is Darren's introductory presentation that he gave at Grant Schultz's Versaland in October 2014. The presentation lays out the ten key components of the Regarian platform - climate, geography, water, access, forestry, buildings, fences, soils, marketing, and energy. This episode focuses on water, access, and forestry. This episode is the part of a four part series - episodes b032, 033, 034, 035. The workshop was open source, so thanks to Darren for allowing me to share this with you all. Show Notes: www.permaculturevoices.com/b33

Set yourself up for success by having realistic plans and expectations for the first year. Match your lifestyle and your budgeting to those realistic expectations. If you are going to start out farming with a gun to the head survival mentality then it makes things very hard. Long term learning gets displaced for the need to put money into the till today. Work to learn, not to earn. The goal is to farm for a career. Not make a bunch of money this year and then do something else next year. And the only way to do that is day after day for the long run, learning as much as you can in the process. Learn more at permaculturevoices.com/tuf31

Darren Doherty presents the Regrarian Platform. This is Darren's introductory presentation that he gave at Grant Schultz's Versaland in October 2014. The presentation lays out the ten key components of the regarian platform - climate, geography, water, access, forestry, buildings, fences, soils, marketing, and energy. This episode focuses on the introduction, geography, and climate. This episode is the part of a four part series - episodes b032, 033, 034, 035. The workshop was open source, so thanks to Darren for allowing me to share this with you all. Show Notes: www.permaculturevoices.com/b32

Today's show is another remarkable story of another entrepreneur, a permaculture entrepreneur. It's the story of someone who went from being an anti-money activist to running a $1M permaculture design and build business. A business that catches millions of gallons of water, builds soil on hundreds of acres, plants hundreds of useful trees every year, restores native habit, redesigns our cites our schools and new developments. It is a success story that is 10 years in the making. And one was almost derailed a few times along the way. But just like with Harland Sanders, it was persistence and a strong belief in what he was doing that allowed my guest today, Erik Ohlsen of Permaculture Artisans, to continue his vision and build it into a $1M design business. If you don't think that permaculture based business can be profitable or be big, here's an example of one to change your mind... Learn more at permaculturevoices.com/cd6

Big isn't always better. More just for the sake of having more is pointless. Just because you have access to more land doesn't mean you need to take it. If you are getting bigger then you better have a reason why you are getting bigger... If you are thinking about expanding stop and ask why? Does it fit within the overall plan that you have for your business, your farm, and your life? If not, then don't do it. Learn more at permaculturevoices.com/tuf30

While the presentation will focus on plant propagation for a profit from a small/backyard nursery stand point if you want a successful permaculture business you will want to attend this talk. Within permaculture perennial plants represent an extreme expense and an incredible opportunity. In this 60 minute presentation Jack Spirko will bring his 20 years of business management, marketing, technology and sales experience to the plant propagation niche. This talk was presented at PV2 in March 2015. To watch this presentation visit permaculturevoices.com/b31.

Today's show is about time. Specifically how precious our tiem is, and how we ought not to waste it. I wish I'd had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me. This is one of the most common regrets that people have at the end of their lives. When people realize that their life is almost over and look back clearly on it, it is easy to see how many dreams have gone unfulfilled. Most people don't honor even a half of their dreams and die knowing that it is due to choices they had made, or not made. How many people listening to this have unfilled dreams? How many people are really living their lives the way they want? How many people are listening to this as they drive drive to or from a job that they really don't like and in a perfect world wouldn't be doing? A type of job that they only go to pay the bills because they have kids, a mortgage, etc, etc.. A lot of people live that life. And that's a life of fear disguised as practicality. It's a sad way to live, because life is too short. Learn more at permaculturevoices.com/cd5.

Think about how much work you do on the farm now. How much of that work is actually being done efficiently and effectively? Are you making the best use of your time by focusing on the 20% of the tasks that generate the most return? Getting rid of crops can actually be a good thing. It allow you to work more efficiently and effectively by focusing on the task at hand instead of always trying to keep you head above water. It's very hard for any one person to do many things well, but each of us can do a few things really well. Crops are no different. And odds are you can grow a few crops a lot better than you can grow a lot of crops. Take a look at your farm and the crops that you grow. Which crops generate 20% of your revenue? And how would your farm and life look if you just focused on those? Get a copy of Curtis's new book via the show notes at permaculturevoices.com/tuf29

Learn practical tips to leverage this powerful and often misunderstood marketing tool. This talk will teach you to focus on generating farm revenue while avoiding the popularity contest trap. This talk was presented at PV1 in March 2014. See the slides at permaculturevoices.com/b030.

Today's episode focuses on fear. Fear is a very powerful motivator for humans. It's part of what keeps us alive. But it's also what holds us back. It holds us back by taking over our mind. Stalling our actions because we are afraid of imaginary, un-quantifiable, or low odd outcomes. There's a big difference between being scared in shark infested waters and being scared about the sea level rising and flooding global coast lines. One could literally lead to death and other might not even happen. Yet a lot of people are paralyzed by the state of planet. Paralyzed by events that may or may not play our as predicted in their lifetime. And while these people remain paralyzed by fear over these future events, life goes by. And with it a lot of other things take place which should have a higher level of fear associated with them. Let's dig into this concept a little bit and see if we try to rationalize all this fear. Thanks for listening to this episode of Creative Destruction. For notes related to this episode visit permaculturevoices.com/cd4.

How can you a lot mistakes and wasting valuable resources by overproducing a crop, and the inverse of that, not producing enough? Good record keeping. Records on the farm are extremely valuable. When you start to get a few years of records and can notice trends, those records become very valuable because the records are what dictates your future action. Action that can save you work down the line and put the right amount of product in your walk in so you can sell it. This type of planning directly translates to maximizing your farm income. And it's not actually that hard to do. Don't over-complicate it. Start by keeping simple records and get into the habit of doing it, then expand and adapt your records as time goes on. If you want to be successful as a farmer, then this is something that you need to do. It's one of the principals that has made Curtis as successful as he is. Learn more at permaculturevoices.com/tuf28.

Is there a place for permaculture principles in a bio-intensive approach to successful ( and profitable) small-scale vegetable production? For more than a decade Jean-Martin and his wife have been making a living farming on 1.5 acres of land. Last year they sold for more than $140 000 in sales (with a profit margin of around 45 %) by selling freshly harvested vegetables trough their 140 member CSA and seasonal market stands. The secret of their success resides in the low-tech, high-yield methods of production they have developed at les Jardins de la Grelinette. This talk was presented live at PV2 in March 2015. View the slides at permaculturevoices.com/b29.

Joel Salatin speaks on successional farming - partnering the older generation with the next generation of farmers. This is an excerpt of an interview that I conducted with Joel Salatin on May 22, 2013 in Big Bear Lake, CA. Listen to another podcast with Joel at permaculturevoices.com/89

Can you accept in the beginning that what you are doing may not work? Because, guess what, it might not. But as long as you keep trying something will.. You just have to be willing to continue on until then. And if you are willing to accept that, then save yourself the time, money, and stress and quit now. This path isn't for everyone and that's fine. Regardless of what decision you make, just be content with you own decision. Do yourself a favor and think about this long and hard, because it is a life changer. 20 years from now, do you want to look back and say you went for it, or regret not going for it. Hopefully this show will lead you down the path of no regrets, and make your journey a little bit easier. More about The Urban Farmer at permaculturevoices.com/tuf27

In this talk Greg Judy talk covers the steps used to find leased land and build a multi-species grazing operation from scratch. Livestock can be a blessing or a curse. It's all in the management. With smart management livestock become a multiplier on the landscape. By using a variety of livestock to manage the forages it allows better utilization of plants. Harvesting much more solar energy through the wide selection of different plant leaves. This is a message that Greg Judy has come to learn, live by, and not preach. Greg's story is remarkable. He is someone that went from almost broke to financially successfully and paying off his farm and house in three years. He did it by grazing cattle on land that he didn't own, leased land. This talk was presented live at PV1 in March 2014. Greg will be speaking at PV3 in March 2016. Learn more about Greg at permaculturevoices.com/b28.

Denis Hayes talks about a lifetime of work in environmentalism - the challenges, successes, the changing environmental problems, and how he has endured numerous political changes in Washington. Denis was the organizer of the first Earth Day in 1970, headed the Solar Energy Research Institute under President Carter, and is now president of the Bullitt Foundation. In 1999 Time Magazine named him Hero of the Planet. In this episode we go through his early life in a polluted Washington paper milling community to how he became an environmental activist. We also discuss the creation and organization of the first Earth Day in 1970 and how the scope of the environmental problems have changed since then. Learn more about Denis at permaculturevoices.com/cd3.

Work to learn, not to earn... Understand where you want to go, understand why you want to get into it, figure out a smart systematic way to get there, and work hard in the process. And give yourself the forgiveness to make mistakes, but have the wherewithal to analyze those mistakes so you can adapt going forward. That's what this episode is all about. Taking the time to think long term and setting yourself up for long term success in the beginning. Part of setting yourself up for success is knowing some of the common pitfalls, so you can avoid them. In this episode we delve into more common reasons why many farmers struggle. Learn more at permaculturevoices.com/tuf26

Peter and Grant met at a Darren Doherty workshop in 2012 as landless farmers with the shared dream of regenerating landscapes. Since then, they’ve both landed properties, planted thousands of trees, and developed large-scale permaculture farms. They will share their stories of how they acquired land and rapidly deployed permaculture in different ways in different places, amid different contexts. Peter farms at Mastodon Valley Farm in the ridges and valleys of southwestern Wisconsin, and Grant at Versaland in the rolling hills of Iowa. This talk was presented live at PV2 in March 2015. View the slides from this presentation at permaculturevoices.com/b27.

This is an excerpt of an interview that I conducted with Joel Salatin on May 22, 2013 in Big Bear Lake, CA. Listen to another podcast with Joel at permaculturevoices.com/89

It's August 25, 2015 which means we are at the tail end of summer and shorter, cooler days are coming as fall nears. We are in one of those unique periods in the year known as the shoulder season, the transition periods at the end of one season and the beginning of another. They can be tricky time periods for farmers to navigate. Day lengths start getting shorter, temperatures start getting cooler, and the weather starts to change. As a farmer this is one of those time periods where it critical to be able to adapt. You need to be able to understand the changes that are taking place in your biome and plan your crop rotations accordingly. With an ever changing climate each situation is different and each climate is different, making these shoulder seasons tough to explain. This episode should shine some light on the topic and give you a general approach that works. It's this approach, and methodology, that lies at the core of every farmers ability to adapt. Learn more at permaculturevoices.com/tuf25

Appropriate technology plays a critical role in permaculture systems. Developing, documenting, and sharing these tools and systems can turn dreamers into true permaculture practitioners. Grant will discuss home and hot water heating using regenerative energy sources, year-round food preservation in a permacultural context, and functional transport including cargo bikes among other topics. This talk was presented live at PV2 in March 2015 by Grant Schultz of Versaland.com. Learn more about Grant at permaculturevoices.com/b26

Hello Diego, My name is Russ. I am married, and have two awesome children and I used to be an alcoholic... This episode is the story of Russ and how permaculture helped him get past alcoholism and change his life. Learn more at permaculturevoices.com/111

As a farmer, how do you communicate what you have to sell each week, how much it costs, and when you need orders placed by, so you can deliver it on time? You use what is called a fresh sheet. At it's simplest a fresh sheet is a list of what you are selling currently on the farm, and for what price. A fresh sheet is more than a current inventory list. It also reminds ever-busy chefs that you have product that they probably want. If you've never made a fresh sheet before, this episode may prompt you to make one. It's a whole bunch of little tips and tricks to help you design, create, and maintain an effective fresh sheet. Listen to past episodes at: https://www.paperpot.co/podcast Increase farm efficiency with the Paperpot Transplanter and Other Small Farm Equipment at https://www.paperpot.co/ Follow PaperpotCo on Instagram:http://bit.ly/2B45VKQ  

Learn the tools, techniques, and costs of establishing a productive silvopasture – a production system that produces yields from every layer. Beginning with bare land, you’ll understand harvest planning and sourcing trees, seed, livestock, and equipment. Also learn what can potentially be built, bartered or bartered. This talk was presented live at PV2 in March 2015. See the slides for this talk at permaculturevoices.com/b025.

This episode is all about the art of farming. Creating a framework, and understanding the overlying philosophy about why you do what you do, and leaving yourself some room to maneuver within that philosophy. Learn more about Curtis at permaculturevoices.com/tuf23 Listen to past episodes at: https://www.paperpot.co/podcast Increase farm efficiency with the Paperpot Transplanter and Other Small Farm Equipment at https://www.paperpot.co/ Follow PaperpotCo on Instagram:http://bit.ly/2B45VKQ

Part 2 of the series with Marcin Jakubowski of Open Source Ecology. This episode is the react show to the Marcin interview that I did in Part 1. This episode is made up of my commentary inspired by the interview with Marcin, and your comments. I dig deeper into some of the ideas that Marcin brought up such as the 1000 True Fans article by Kevin Kelly, how do you measure success, how do you focus your efforts, celebrating the small, and the advantages of quick iterative learning. Details, notes, and link mentioned in this episode can be found at permaculturevoices.com/cd2.  

This episode is all about being a better provider to your customers... In this episode we dig deep into sourcing products from other farmers, breaking into new markets, working with chefs and soliciting feedback. It's currently August 4, 2015 and the inevitable has happened. Curtis is short product, and he is having to source those products from other farmers to keep his restaurant customers happy... Learn more at permaculturevoices.com/tuf22

Are we moving to an open source world? Marcin Jakubowski thinks so. Through his global village construction set Marcin hopes to do what Wikipedia has done for actual physical equipment - open sourcing the tools and machines that are the fundamental components of civilization. But like the visionaries that created Encarta and Wikipedia, it takes a unique perspective to create a future that doesn't exist yet, and to make that future a reality. This episode is an exploration into Marcin's longer term view, specifically how does he stay focused and work towards something that is a far off view of the future. How does he deal with the hard times, the struggles, and the haters? How does fund the process and how does he measure progress? These are all challenges that come with having lofty goals and a grand vision, and when you starting point is currently only one one-millionth of the total economy. As you listen to this episode think about open source and think about where we could be in the evolution of open source. Don't forget the lesson of the encyclopedia - when everything is going great and things are at an all time high - that impossible scenario, the one that could change everything, might not only be possible, it might just be around the corner. Learn more about Marcin at permaculturevoices.com/cd1

In this episode Curtis and I are joined by new farmer Rob Kaiser. Rob is a few months into his farming journey. And like Curtis he didn't come from a farming background. He came from the corporate world. A few years ago Rob realized that the path that he was on, wasn't right for him anymore, and he needed to change. One part of that change was an entry into farming. In this episode Rob will talk about his transition into farming and the plan that he has put into place to make the transition. He'll touch on how he has dealt with not knowing everything. And how he has dealt with the good times and the really bad times that are unavoidable when you start any new business venture. One key to Rob's progress has been to surround himself with successful people to make his go a little easier by leveraging their experience. And it's worked because progress is being made and Rob is slowly making the change that he not too long ago dreamed about. The idea, the dream, has become a reality. It's happening. For all the new farmers and aspiring farmers out there, this episode will shed some light on the early parts of the journey, showing that you are aren't alone, even though we all feel like we are at times. There are others out there trying to do what you want to do. Keep at it and and be the change. And as Rob will say in this episode, "You may not be able to change the world, but you can change yours." More about the show at permaculturevoices.com/tuf21 Listen to past episodes at: https://www.paperpot.co/podcast Increase farm efficiency with the Paperpot Transplanter and Other Small Farm Equipment at https://www.paperpot.co/ Follow PaperpotCo on Instagram:http://bit.ly/2B45VKQ

You need to ask yourself - Are you approaching farming as a hobby or as a livelihood? There's no right or wrong answer. But you need to be clear with your decision and set your expectations accordingly. Because approaching farming as a business is dramatically different than approaching farming as a hobby. To sum this all up be clear in your own head of the distinction between farming as a hobby, and farming as a career. No BS. Know what the answer is and make all, all, of your choices on the farm accordingly. It is week 20 of the urban farm season - July 28, 2015. Learn more about The Urban Farmer at permaculturevoices.com/tuf20 Listen to past episodes at: https://www.paperpot.co/podcast Increase farm efficiency with the Paperpot Transplanter and Other Small Farm Equipment at https://www.paperpot.co/ Follow PaperpotCo on Instagram:http://bit.ly/2B45VKQ

Most of the world’s human population in now urban. Permaculture designer and teacher Larry Santoyo will examine the permaculturist’s role in city planning and it’s direct relevance to wilderness protection, resource management and cultural curation. Larry will lead the discussion and share his lessons learned on projects. Learn more at permaculturevoices.com/b24

This romantic notion of farming - working outside, hands in the soil, sowing seeds, and then nurturing those crops to harvest. While all great, and all true, they are just a piece of the farming pie. And this is where problem's start to arise. The romantic view pulls people into farming, on just that, a romantic view, not a realistic full picture. And one part of reality is sales and moving product. Many people don't think about how they are actually going to sell these crops that they harvest. Maybe just assuming someone will want to buy them, everyone needs to eat, right? A dangerous assumption. And it is no doubt one of the reasons why you hear about so many small scale farmers struggling. They invest a lot of time in the dream, but not how they can actually make that dream a successful and sustainable reality. Today we will take a look at that idea as we discuss how to sell your farm products, so you can keep working on the farm. This episode is detailed dig into CSA's and farmers markets. What's worked for Curtis, and what hasn't. Strategies that can help you succeed.. It is week 19 of the urban farm season - July 21, 2015. Learn more about The Urban Farmer at permaculturevoices.com/tuf19 Listen to past episodes at: https://www.paperpot.co/podcast Increase farm efficiency with the Paperpot Transplanter and Other Small Farm Equipment at https://www.paperpot.co/ Follow PaperpotCo on Instagram:http://bit.ly/2B45VKQ