Greenhorns Radio

Tomm Becker started farming due to his desire for adventure and loved it from the moment he began. While he studied to earn a degree in English Literature from Michigan State University, he worked at the MSU Student Organic Farm and at Owosso Organics, Pooh Stevenson’s farm in Owosso, MI. After graduation, he began working as the Production Manager at the Student Organic Farm. It was through growing in all seasons for that CSA, training and guiding the student farmers, and teaching three cohorts of students in the Organic Farming Certificate Program, that he gained the skills and confidence he felt he needed to endure as a farmer. Tomm started Sunseed Farm with his partner, Trilby, in the Fall of 2009 and started their CSA in May of 2010. They came by their land through our friends and CSA members who own it and live in the barn up the road. They are in the process of working with Ann Arbor Greenbelt to place a conservation easement on the property which would preserve it as farmland forever. They see this as an important step in conserving farmland near Ann Arbor, and it will be instrumental in enabling them to purchase the land.

Renae’s interest in food began while working summers in Alaska in the commercial fishing industry. Although very different from growing and tending to crops, she discovered the importance of where and how our food gets to our plate. After her college graduation, Renae decided to take a 10 month apprenticeship on ALM Farm in Sooke on Vancouver Island, BC. She took a season off to work back in Alaska before returning to agriculture at the Sunshine Farm (made famous by the documentary film Broken Limbs) in Chelan, Washington. She is now in her 3rd season as the field manager of 6.5 acres of vegetable production providing produce to an on site market, a CSA, the Chelan Farmer’s Market and numerous restaurants and grocers. In the near future she sees herself bridging the gap between agriculture and education. This episode was sponsored by Hearst Ranch.

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Matt Volz was born in Washington, D.C. and grew up in Cazenovia, NY and Philadelphia. He attended Middlebury College in Middlebury, VT, where he studied philosophy and began working on farms. In his junior year of college, he connected with a crazy couple from across Lake Champlain in Essex, NY. He worked with Mark and Kristin Kimball at Essex Farm (made famous by Kristen’s book, The Dirty Life) during his last two years of college and continued to work there for another two years after graduating. In 2009, he moved back to VT and worked on a few farms there before beginning a search for his own farm. In the Spring of 2010, he was introduced to Kaye Osbourne, and a few months later he moved back to Cazenovia to start the Greyrock Farm CSA.

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Zach Zink graduated with a bachelor’s degree in religion from Saint Olaf College in 2003. He worked at Holden Village in Chelan, WA for 2 years as a lead cook, developing a passion for cooking with fresh, local foods and wholesome ingredients. From Holden he went to Growing Things Farm in Carnation, WA for an organic farm internship, then to Bennett’s Bistro on Mercer Island where he continued to cook with pure, natural whole foods. In 2007 he was hired by Pike Place Market’s Preservation & Development Authority where for 2 years he was part of the team that coordinates the day to day crafters and farmers markets. Zach currently works for Cloudview Eco Farms as a “focalizer” of the CSA, Sales, Farmers Markets, and Cooking. He also tends a small herd of milk and meat goats and a flock of chickens. He is a former board member and continues to volunteer for the non-profit Tilth Producers of Washington, an association of several hundred organic and sustainable farms in Washington state.

Noah Shitama has been cultivating his knowledge of sustainable, community-based agriculture for over 8 years now, practicing on a small scale in Gainesville, and learning through visiting and volunteering on exemplary farms here and throughout the country. He is a father of two wondrous little ones, and has worked as a carpenter and builder. As a founding steering committee member of Citizens Co-op, he is committed to the creation of a local food system grounded in locality and community.

Michael Tevlin grew up in Lake Oswego and worked in many varied jobs before becoming interested in agriculture, including being a bus driver, delivery driver, concierge, camp counselor, and Americorps Volunteer. In 2006, he interned at Dancing Roots Farm in Troutdale and became interested in running a small farm. He traveled through Ireland volunteering on organic farms, then came back and spent some time with other Portland urban farmers getting ideas. He found the plot for Cully Neighborhood Farm in November 2009. Michael also works as an inclusion specialist for people with disabilities.

Tanya Tolchin and her husband Scott Hertzberg run a small diversified vegetable, flower, and herb farm called Jug Bay Market Garden (www.jugbaymarketgarden). The farm is located 20 miles outside Washington, DC and markets primarily through a CSA that delivers to Capitol Hill. Her first farm experience was on the Food Bank Farm in Western Massachusetts and later she worked on farms in Connecticut, England, and Israel. Tanya also worked for 10 years as an organizer and lobbyist for Sierra Club on issues ranging from protecting national forests to protecting workers and communities from toxic chemicals and forming alliances with labor unions. Now she is focused on her role as a full time mother of two young children and the farm’s bookkeeper, marketer, cheerleader and writer. Sometimes she can even be caught getting her hands dirty like the good old days, planting, weeding, picking and packing. Tanya is also trying to actualize her long time dream of being a writer, starting with freelance farm writing, blogging, and the occasional poem. You can read her blog at www.thelettuceedge.com.

The farm is the oldest organic farm in the state of Missouri, and possibly even west of the Mississippi. Settled in 1883, the 3rd generation is now 89 years old, with no one to carry on the farm. Surrounded by a low-income neighborhood, this 14 acre farm has resisted the surrounding development and an experienced tenant farmer on the land says that it\’s the best soil he\’s ever seen.
This week’s guest on Greenhorn Radio is Molly Rockamann of EarthDance Farms. EarthDance takes a unique approach to small-scale farming in that it fuses the celebration of art and music with organic farming education on the land. The five year plan includes an artist-in-residence program as well as a musician-in-residence program on the property. This season arts and music will be grown on the farm via an Open Space – Open Studio program, inviting local artists and musicians of all types to come on the farm to create together.

Scott Chichester, Production Manager at Nash’s Organic Produce, was raised in Sequim. He liked to garden and was curious about where food comes from, so it was natural for him to find a job at Sunny Farms after he graduated from high school. He worked there for three years, acquiring skills in retail sales, produce displays, and customer service. Organic agriculture was what really intrigued Scott, and he also realized that he wanted to find work that would allow him to be outdoors most of the time, so in 1996 he started working at Nash’s. Scott had an Associate of Applied Science degree from Peninsula College but still wanted to complete a bachelor’s degree. He took the 1997-98 academic year to go to Olympia and study at The Evergreen State College where he received a Bachelors of Science degree. At Evergreen, students create their own programs, and Scott took the opportunity to study fungal biology and taxonomy and soil microbial ecology—how microbes and other life forms interact in soil environments. Another of Scott’s goals is learning how to produce seed, not just for the farm’s use but to protect genetic diversity for organic agriculture in general. He says, “Farming can be hugely stressful, but amazingly rewarding. It’s incredible to do such important work outdoors in this beautiful place.”

Karyn Williams is the owner and operator of Red Dog Farm. Karyn has been farming since 1998 and first started running her own farm in 2005. Red Dog Farm was established in 2008. Karyn is aided by a crew of awesome workers and her faithful red border collie, the farm’s namesake, Rupert Dandelion.