Growing For Market Podcast

The Draft Animal Power Field Days are coming right up from October 2-4, and horse farmers Becky Frye and Donn Hewes tell us how they farm cooperatively thanks to a connection made through the Draft Animal Power Network (DAPNet). In addition to telling us about the ways to learn about horse farming at the Field Days, Becky and Donn tell us what it’s like to farm with horses. They both farm at Northland Sheep Farm, one of the oldest organic sheep dairies in the country which Donn and his wife Maryrose Livingston took over from the original owners.

Becky Frye runs Horsetail Herb Farm, growing certified organic medicinal and culinary herbs and cut flowers on the same property. Donn and Becky tell us how they share the Suffolk Punch draft horses between the sheep farm’s mostly hay-related tasks and the herb farm. We discuss the differences between working with horses and tractors, and how it’s possible to run modern machinery like hay balers and motorized sprayers with horses. So, listen to the podcast, then head over to the Shelburne, Vermont October 2-4 to learn hands-on at the Draft Animal Power Field Days!

Connect With Guest:

Website: draftanimalpower.org

northlandsheepdairy.com

horsetailherbfarm.com

Instagram: @draftanimalpower

@horsetailherbfarm

Podcast Sponsors:

Huge thanks to our podcast sponsors as they make this podcast FREE to everyone with their generous support:

Seven Springs Farm Supply is a farm-based supply company focused on serving market gardeners and has been in business for 35 years. Their catalog includes a comprehensive selection of approved-for-organic fertilizers, pest & disease controls, growing mixes, cover crop seed, and more. They offer custom fertilizer blending and seasonal cooperative purchasing opportunities, and their experienced team is ready to help guide you to the best solution for your farm’s needs. Growing For Market listeners are eligible for an exclusive discount. Visit 7springsfarm.com/GFM or give them a call at (540) 651-3228.

Farmhand is the all-in-one platform built for direct-market farms — CSA, farmers market, and farmstand growers who'd rather be in the field than juggling five different apps. Online store and subscriptions, delivery and pickup routing, SMS and email marketing, waitlist management, and now farm events: sell tickets to u-picks, tours, dinners, and workshops in minutes, with capacity caps, QR check-in, and SMS/email confirmations built in. Every ticket also puts a name, email, and phone on a list you keep. See how farmers are growing direct-to-consumer sales and set up a free account at farmhand.partners/gfm

BCS two-wheel tractors are designed and built in Italy where small-scale farming has been a way of life for generations. Discover the beauty of BCS on your farm with PTO-driven implements for soil-working, shredding cover crops, spreading compost, mowing under fences, clearing snow, and more – all powered by a single, gear-driven machine that’s tailored to the size and scale of your operation. To learn more, view sale pricing, or locate your nearest dealer, visit BCS America.

Nifty Hoops builds complete gothic high tunnels that are easy to install and built to last.  Their bolt-together construction makes setup straightforward and efficient, whether it's a small backyard hoophouse, or a dozen large production-scale high tunnels- especially through their community build option, where professional builders work alongside your crew, family, or neighbors to build each structure -- usually in a single day.Visit niftyhoops.com to learn more.

If you grow for market, you know performance is everything. That’s why so many farmers are turning to Burpee’s Farmers Market. Dedicated to professional growers, Burpee is now offering non-GMO seeds in larger quantities – bred and selected for standout flavor, strong yields, and the kind of visual appeal your customers crave. Burpee’s been doing this for 150 years, and they’re still creating new varieties with growers like you in mind. You can check out the full lineup at Burpee.com/FarmersMarket.

For more on veg and flower market farming, subscribe to Growing for Market Magazine!

There are two sources of inspiration for this week’s interview: one was Rebecca Kutzer-Rice’s article “Why and how we automated our flower greenhouses,” which you can read here. And the other is the 40hr Farmer live greenhouse coaching and video course, brought to you by Growing for Market and Orisha greenhouse automation (it’s also free for all GFM subscribers by the way- get the code to register from the home page when you log in). Now, The 40hr Farmer is currently an in-depth look at greenhouse tomato growing, but in the future we are going to expand it to other crops. 

And since we know Rebecca knows about automating GH flower crops from her article, and that greenhouse flowers can be as profitable if not more so than greenhouse vegetables, we wanted to get her opinion on which flower crops would be most important to cover when we get to flowers. Listen to this interview to hear why Rebecca recommends ranunculus, snapdragons and lisianthus as some of the GH flower crops that might need their own courses, and why growers are so obsessed with their greenhouses. We also talk about the greenhouse set points for these crops, climate settings for reducing disease in flower crops in general, maximizing production, why sometimes it can actually be cheaper and more efficient to grow a crop hotter, and more.

Connect With Guest:

Website: moonshotfarm.com

Instagram: @moonshot_farm

Read Rebecca’s article from the February 2025 Growing for Market Magazine:

Why and how we automated our flower greenhouses

Podcast Sponsors:

Huge thanks to our podcast sponsors as they make this podcast FREE to everyone with their generous support:

Nifty Hoops builds complete gothic high tunnels that are easy to install and built to last.  Their bolt-together construction makes setup straightforward and efficient, whether it's a small backyard hoophouse, or a dozen large production-scale high tunnels- especially through their community build option, where professional builders work alongside your crew, family, or neighbors to build each structure -- usually in a single day.Visit niftyhoops.com to learn more.

If you grow for market, you know performance is everything. That’s why so many farmers are turning to Burpee’s Farmers Market. Dedicated to professional growers, Burpee is now offering non-GMO seeds in larger quantities – bred and selected for standout flavor, strong yields, and the kind of visual appeal your customers crave. Burpee’s been doing this for 150 years, and they’re still creating new varieties with growers like you in mind. You can check out the full lineup at Burpee.com/FarmersMarket.

For more on veg and flower market farming, subscribe to Growing for Market Magazine!

When we asked what insect pests were bugging you, we got so many questions it turned into two podcast episodes! So, this week we sit back down with Dr. Anna Wallingford of New Hampshire Community Supported Research to answer the second half of the bug questions submitted by the audience. The first half of this podcast ran the week of 7/7/26 so you can still listen to that one if you haven’t yet. There’s also a free article linked in the show notes- cabbage aphids come up in the interview, so we linked to Dr. Wallingford’s article from the June/July Growing for Market Magazine, “Scouting guidelines for brassica crops so you know what’s OK and when to act.”

In this week’s interview we compare some of the organically-approved pest control options, like the difference between clarified and cold-pressed neem oil, and why only the former has azadirachtin. On that tip we also talk about why sub-lethal doses of some pesticides can make insects reproduce even more, and why BT is so well targeted to just the bugs that are damaging your plants. We also talk about controlling thrips, cabbage aphids, whether ants can be a farm pest, garden flea hoppers and tarnished plant bugs, cyclamen mites and more in this episode of the Growing for Market Podcast! 

Connect With Guest:

Website: New Hampshire Community Supported Research

The Serious Grower Podcast

Instagram: @nhcsr_ipm

@seriousgrower

Read Dr. Wallingford’s article from the June/July Growing for Market Magazine:

“Scouting guidelines for brassica crops so you know what’s OK and when to act.”

Podcast Sponsors:

Huge thanks to our podcast sponsors as they make this podcast FREE to everyone with their generous support:

Seven Springs Farm Supply is a farm-based supply company focused on serving market gardeners and has been in business for 35 years. Their catalog includes a comprehensive selection of approved-for-organic fertilizers, pest & disease controls, growing mixes, cover crop seed, and more. They offer custom fertilizer blending and seasonal cooperative purchasing opportunities, and their experienced team is ready to help guide you to the best solution for your farm’s needs. Growing For Market listeners are eligible for an exclusive discount. Visit 7springsfarm.com/GFM or give them a call at (540) 651-3228.

Nifty Hoops builds complete gothic high tunnels that are easy to install and built to last.  Their bolt-together construction makes setup straightforward and efficient, whether it's a small backyard hoophouse, or a dozen large production-scale high tunnels- especially through their community build option, where professional builders work alongside your crew, family, or neighbors to build each structure -- usually in a single day.Visit niftyhoops.com to learn more.

If you grow for market, you know performance is everything. That’s why so many farmers are turning to Burpee’s Farmers Market. Dedicated to professional growers, Burpee is now offering non-GMO seeds in larger quantities – bred and selected for standout flavor, strong yields, and the kind of visual appeal your customers crave. Burpee’s been doing this for 150 years, and they’re still creating new varieties with growers like you in mind. You can check out the full lineup at Burpee.com/FarmersMarket.

For more on veg and flower market farming, subscribe to Growing for Market Magazine!

This week we have the pleasure of learning from Clarenda “Farmer Cee” Stanley, author of the new book, The Black Girl’s Guide to Building a Boutique Farm: Practical Advice to Keep Your Business Cute, Profitable, and Sustainable. In the book and interview, Cee tells us how she built her own Green Heffa Farms in North Carolina. She uses her background as a marketing and fundraising expert to provide practical guidance on launching and growing a farm brand rooted in authenticity and community.

In the interview we talk about how to establish a brand identity and then scale it as your farm grows to be economically viable and culturally impactful. We discuss the essentials of brand-building for farms, including market positioning, storytelling, and cultivating a community presence. Cee has made her brand an extension of the farm, and we learn how to use our own farm brands to establish profitability, community impact and personal fulfillment.

Connect With Guest:

Website: Green Heffa Farms

Instagram: @greenheffafarm

Podcast Sponsors:

Huge thanks to our podcast sponsors as they make this podcast FREE to everyone with their generous support:

BCS two-wheel tractors are designed and built in Italy where small-scale farming has been a way of life for generations. Discover the beauty of BCS on your farm with PTO-driven implements for soil-working, shredding cover crops, spreading compost, mowing under fences, clearing snow, and more – all powered by a single, gear-driven machine that’s tailored to the size and scale of your operation. To learn more, view sale pricing, or locate your nearest dealer, visit BCS America.

Nifty Hoops builds complete gothic high tunnels that are easy to install and built to last.  Their bolt-together construction makes setup straightforward and efficient, whether it's a small backyard hoophouse, or a dozen large production-scale high tunnels- especially through their community build option, where professional builders work alongside your crew, family, or neighbors to build each structure -- usually in a single day.Visit niftyhoops.com to learn more.

If you grow for market, you know performance is everything. That’s why so many farmers are turning to Burpee’s Farmers Market. Dedicated to professional growers, Burpee is now offering non-GMO seeds in larger quantities – bred and selected for standout flavor, strong yields, and the kind of visual appeal your customers crave. Burpee’s been doing this for 150 years, and they’re still creating new varieties with growers like you in mind. You can check out the full lineup at Burpee.com/FarmersMarket.

For more on veg and flower market farming, subscribe to Growing for Market Magazine!

It’s that time of year when the pests and the questions about how to keep them in check are building up. So, in keeping with the mission of Dr. Anna Wallingford’s New Hampshire Community Supported Research to respond to what growers are wondering about, we surveyed our audience and asked her how to deal with the insect pests that are bugging you this time of year. In fact, we got so many bug questions this turned into a two-parter, so in this installment we talk about how to tell which of three potential pests tomato leafminer might be. 

We also talk about how to deal with cucumber beetle feeding damage and the bacterial wilt they can cause, how to deal with allium leafminer, and whether high brix can deter pests or not. We also talk about how to control leaf footed bugs, flea beetles, aphid control in high tunnels, Colorado potato beetles and slugs. For more on integrated pest management, check out Anna’s pod, the Serious Grower Podcast, for even more on pest control!

Connect With Guest:

Website: New Hampshire Community Supported Research

The Serious Grower Podcast

Instagram: @nhcsr_ipm

@seriousgrower

Podcast Sponsors:

Huge thanks to our podcast sponsors as they make this podcast FREE to everyone with their generous support:

Seven Springs Farm Supply is a farm-based supply company focused on serving market gardeners and has been in business for 35 years. Their catalog includes a comprehensive selection of approved-for-organic fertilizers, pest & disease controls, growing mixes, cover crop seed, and more. They offer custom fertilizer blending and seasonal cooperative purchasing opportunities, and their experienced team is ready to help guide you to the best solution for your farm’s needs. Growing For Market listeners are eligible for an exclusive discount. Visit 7springsfarm.com/GFM or give them a call at (540) 651-3228.

BCS two-wheel tractors are designed and built in Italy where small-scale farming has been a way of life for generations. Discover the beauty of BCS on your farm with PTO-driven implements for soil-working, shredding cover crops, spreading compost, mowing under fences, clearing snow, and more – all powered by a single, gear-driven machine that’s tailored to the size and scale of your operation. To learn more, view sale pricing, or locate your nearest dealer, visit BCS America.

Nifty Hoops builds complete gothic high tunnels that are easy to install and built to last.  Their bolt-together construction makes setup straightforward and efficient, whether it's a small backyard hoophouse, or a dozen large production-scale high tunnels- especially through their community build option, where professional builders work alongside your crew, family, or neighbors to build each structure -- usually in a single day.Visit niftyhoops.com to learn more.

If you grow for market, you know performance is everything. That’s why so many farmers are turning to Burpee’s Farmers Market. Dedicated to professional growers, Burpee is now offering non-GMO seeds in larger quantities – bred and selected for standout flavor, strong yields, and the kind of visual appeal your customers crave. Burpee’s been doing this for 150 years, and they’re still creating new varieties with growers like you in mind. You can check out the full lineup at Burpee.com/FarmersMarket.

There are a lot of farm sales platforms out there, but there’s only one that’s cooperatively owned by farmers. That’s GrownBy — your all-in-one solution to simplify farm sales. GrownBy makes online farm sales easy and affordable; setting up your shop is free, and you only pay when you sell. Join over 900 farms who have already signed up for GrownBy, at grownby.com.

For more on veg and flower market farming, subscribe to Growing for Market Magazine!