975: Healthy Plants Start in the Soil with Shota Austin

Soil Health, Beneficial Insects, and Growing with Nature In this Episode Farmer Greg talks with Kristen Battafarano, a horticultural consultant and educator with more than three decades of experience helping people grow healthier gardens. Kristen shares how an unexpected journey from illustration and office work to organic farming transformed her life and connected her with the soil, plants, and people who share her passion for growing food. She takes listeners on a tour of her Arizona garden, exploring wood-chip mulch, rainwater absorption, cover crops, volunteer plants, beneficial insects, and creative ways to recycle nutrients. Kristen also explains why healthy soil and thoughtful plant care can reduce the need for chemical treatments. Her message is simple: stay curious, experiment in your garden, and create a place where both people and nature can thrive. Our Guest: Kristen is a horticultural consultant and educator who has spent more than three decades helping people create healthier, more resilient landscapes. Her journey began on a small organic farm in Tempe, where she discovered a deep connection to soil, plants, and the natural world. Since then, she has taught horticulture and consulted on hundreds of landscapes, building bridges between science, practical application, and the people who care for our shared landscapes. Key Topics Kristen Battafarano — Horticultural consultant and educator with more than 30 years of experience. Organic farming — Kristen's introduction to hands-on growing and her connection to food and nature. Matt Sur — Organic farmer who mentored Kristen and contributed to the low-desert vegetable planting calendar. Soil health and microbial activity — How organic matter, mulch, and soil organisms contribute to healthier growing conditions. Wood-chip mulch — Using layers of woody material to improve soil, retain moisture, and recycle nutrients. Rainwater harvesting and swales — Designing garden spaces to absorb rainfall rather than allowing runoff. Cover crops — Using clover and other plants to protect soil, add nitrogen, and support soil structure. Volunteer plants and seed saving — Allowing plants such as cherry tomatoes, carrots, and trees to reseed naturally. Beneficial insects and pollinators — Recognizing the roles of native bees, flies, wasps, and other garden organisms. Desert gardening — Working with Arizona's heat, irrigation water, mineral salts, and challenging growing conditions. Integrated pest management — Identifying insects and assessing the severity of infestations before deciding whether treatment is necessary. Organic matter and nutrient cycling — Reusing rabbit litter, plant material, and other organic resources in the garden. Natural plant growth and pruning — Preserving blossoms, healthy foliage, and the movement and beauty of plants. Curiosity and experimentation — Treating garden challenges as opportunities to learn and improve.

On this replay of the Rosie on the House radio show Host Rome and Farmer Greg welcome Rachel Opio, founder of Little Lighthouse Farm, a certified organic urban farm in central Phoenix, Arizona, to explore how growing food in small spaces can strengthen communities and reconnect people with the land. Inspired by her late mother, Lane Bales, Rachel transformed a family garden into a productive quarter-acre farm focused on soil health, biodiversity, fresh local food, and community education. She shares practical approaches to regenerative agriculture, companion planting, seed saving, and growing food in the Sonoran Desert. Rachel also explains how small urban farms can improve access to fresh produce, preserve growing knowledge, and contribute to a stronger local food system. Her advice for beginners is simple: start with one plant, grow something you love to eat, and let your garden grow from there. Key Topics & Entities Rachel Opio — Founder and farmer at Little Lighthouse Farm in central Phoenix. Little Lighthouse Farm — Certified organic urban farm focused on nutrient-dense food, community access, and education. Farmer Greg Peterson — Urban farming educator, founder of UrbanFarm.org, and host of the Urban Farm Podcast. Urban agriculture — Growing food in residential yards, containers, and small urban spaces. Regenerative agriculture — Building soil health, increasing biodiversity, and supporting a living ecosystem. Certified organic farming — Annual inspections, detailed recordkeeping, traceability, and certification requirements. Local food systems — Connecting growers and consumers through direct sales, farm stands, restaurants, and local distributors. Soil health — Balancing nutrients, organic matter, airspace, water, and living organisms. Companion planting — Combining compatible plants, including tomatoes, basil, and marigolds, to support a diverse garden. No-till gardening — Protecting soil structure and using chickens to help cultivate garden areas. Seed saving and climate adaptation — Saving seeds suited to Phoenix's Sonoran Desert conditions. Food access and community inclusion — Accepting SNAP/EBT, WIC, and senior farmers market nutrition benefits. Pollinator stewardship — Maintaining bees, perennial flowering plants, and habitat for beneficial wildlife. Beginner gardening — Starting small with a container, herb, or favorite edible plant.

With Seed Expert Bill McDorman Join us for our monthly live Seed Chat at SeedChat.org What makes a seed viable, and how do you know when it's ready to grow? In this episode of Seed Chat, Greg Peterson of the Urban Farm Podcast joins seed expert Bill McDorman to explore the art and science of harvesting mature, viable seeds from vegetables, fruits, and wild plants. They share practical techniques for saving seeds from cucumbers, squash, tomatoes, peppers, beans, lettuce, and more, explaining when to harvest, how to dry and process seeds, and why nature's built-in diversity matters. The conversation also explores the importance of seed saving, locally adapted varieties, and community seed networks in building a more resilient food system. Their message is simple: when in doubt, save the seeds and see what happens. Key Topics & Entities Seed viability and germination testing Seed maturity and harvesting techniques Saving cucumber and winter squash seeds Harvesting seeds from grocery-store produce Seed saving from tomatoes, peppers, melons, and apples Wet seed processing and fermentation Harvesting and storing beans, peas, and cowpeas Lettuce flowering, seed collection, and winnowing Natural reseeding and letting plants self-propagate Genetic diversity and locally adapted seeds Native Seeds/SEARCH and traditional seed varieties Masanobu Fukuoka and The One-Straw Revolution Going to Seed and its seed-sharing program Community seed libraries and regional seed networks

with Jennifer Miller & Erin Torgerson In this Episode - What if small farmers could build trust with their customers without taking on the cost and paperwork of USDA Organic certification? That’s the idea behind Certified Naturally Grown (CNG), a grassroots organization helping farmers show customers how they grow their food. In this episode, Greg Peterson sits down with Jennifer Miller and Erin Torgerson from CNG to talk about how peer inspections, transparency, and a strong farming community help make that possible. Along the way, they explore the importance of local food, saving seeds, sharing knowledge, and making good food more accessible to everyone. Our Guests: Jennifer is the interim executive director of Certified Naturally Grown. From working on farms around the world to running her own farm and directing two food hubs, Jennifer's hands-on experience proves one thing, food is her love language. Erin is the communications and certification coordinator of Certified Naturally Grown. While filming a student documentary about a local farm-to-table restaurant, Erin caught her first glimpse of a biodiverse small-scale farm and hasn't looked back. Certified Naturally Grown is an organization that offers peer review certification to farmers and beekeepers producing food, flowers, and fiber for their local communities by working in harmony with nature without relying on synthetic chemicals or GMOs. Key Topics Certified Naturally Grown (CNG): A farmer-led certification program built around trust, transparency, and community. CNG and USDA Organic: How CNG offers an alternative for farmers who find USDA Organic certification too expensive or complicated. Peer inspections: Farmers visit and review one another’s operations, creating opportunities to learn as well as verify growing practices. Participatory Guarantee Systems (PGS): A community-based approach to building confidence in how food is produced. Making farming work financially: The challenges small-scale farmers face when balancing good growing practices with the realities of running a business. Five CNG certification programs: Produce and flowers, livestock, apiaries, mushrooms, and aquaponics. Transparency for consumers: How customers can learn more about participating farms and review inspection information. Local food systems: Why connecting farmers, consumers, and communities matters. Food hubs and distribution: The challenges of getting locally grown food to the people who want it. Natural beekeeping: Approaches to raising bees with attention to their health and well-being. Aquaponics: Growing food through a system that combines fish and plants. Seed saving: Preserving seed varieties and helping farmers maintain greater control over their growing systems. Farmer education and mentorship: How sharing experience can help new and established growers succeed. Understanding the food system: Why building a better food future involves more than just how we grow food.

In this Episode Farmer Greg welcomes returning guests Shawn and Beth Dougherty, homesteaders with 40 years of experience growing food and building a farm ecosystem with minimal outside inputs. They discuss their philosophy of homesteading, living soil, biological wealth, and the patterns that allow a farm to generate its own fertility and abundance. Their new book, One Cow Revolution, is an in-depth instruction manual for the family dairy cow, drawing on decades of experience with cows, goats, grazing, milk, and farm systems. Shawn and Beth have been homesteading for the last 40 years. They speak all over the country on sustainable farming, teaching whoever will listen how to grow food without inputs. They grow 95% of what they eat and what their animals eat, and the heart of their sustainable homestead is their grass-fed dairy cow. They joined us for the first time on episode 147 all the way back in October 2016. Key Topics Homesteading as producing food for your family while improving the soil How to grow food without relying on outside inputs Creating living soil is biological wealth How to build self-fertile farm ecosystems The relationship between plants, animals, soil, and sunlight Rotational grazing and working with natural patterns Learning through failure, mistakes, and setbacks The role of dairy cows in a homestead One Cow Revolution The Independent Farmstead Micrograzing and small-scale grazing Grass-fed dairy, milk, cheese, butter, whey, and buttermilk Chickens and pigs as part of the farm nutrient cycle Family, food, farming, and passing knowledge between generations