With hosts Phyllis Boorinakis and Julia Boorinakis Harper

Step outside and you can smell it in the air — it’s mushroom season! On this episode of the Homestead Radio Hour, we talk with mycologist/mycophiles Thea Chesney and Daniel Nicholson about the fungal bounty of the Sierra Nevada — this year’s forecast, safe and sensible foraging for edibles, the 17th Annual Fungus Foray and Wild Mushroom Exposition, and more!

  

With hosts Phyllis and Julia Boorinakis-Harper

Our guest this month is Richard Marks, president of the Banner Grange, about this weekend’s Seed Swap and Local Food Gathering. Tune in for a conversation about how our local community gathers to trade ideas, knowledge, and seeds! We’ll also talk about the history of the Grange organization and the role it plays in a local farming community, both past and present.

  

With hosts Phyllis and Julia Boorinakis-Harper

John Glavis: Ancient Heirlooms
John Glavis is an indigenous plant researcher, farmer, and the owner of BoTierra Biodiversity Farms, a private bio-diversity research center and botanical garden in Bolinas, CA. We sat down with John at the National Heirloom Expo to talk about ancient heirlooms, indigenous food wisdom, and the future of sustainable food and farming.

Recorded on location at The National Heirloom Exposition in Santa Rosa, CA, September 2013

Julia, Phyllis, and John Glavis at the Heirloom Expo

  

On this special edition of the Homestead Radio Hour, Phyllis and Julia talk with some of the fascinating plant-hunters, seed-savers, plant-breeders, and visionaries at the National Heirloom Exposition in Santa Rosa, CA. This episode features Maximilian Meyers on permaculture aquaponics, Irina Stoenescu on food security, and John Glavis on ancient heirlooms.

For Part 1, click here

Plus: Wendy Van Wagner and Rachelle Zorn stop by to share their work with Sierra Harvest Tasting Week, bringing locally-grown farm-fresh food into local schools.

Music: Bela Fleck, The Bluegrass Sessions. HRH theme music by Dakota Sid and Travers Clifford (and Timmy the Rooster).

  

The Homestead Radio Hour was honored and delighted last month to receive a grant from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and KVMR FM, to produce a radio series for national distribution… that’s right, we’re hitting the road, and our first stop was The National Heirloom Exposition in Santa Rosa, CA! Tune in for a special edition of the HRH, featuring some of the fascinating plant-hunters, seed-savers, plant-breeders, and visionaries we met at the Expo.

Featuring Jere Gettle of Baker Creek Heirloom Seed Co., Heather Granahan of CAFF (Community Alliance with Family Farmers), tomato breeders Brad and Evan Gates of Wild Boar Farms, and botanical explorer and culinary botanist Joseph Simcox.

For Part 2, click here

Music: Bela Fleck, The Bluegrass Sessions. HRH theme music by Dakota Sid and Travers Clifford (and Timmy the Rooster).

  

So you think you want to be a farmer? A homesteader? A farmsteader? What’s the difference?? On this episode of The Homestead Radio Hour, Phyllis and Julia talk with Roger Ingram, Farm Advisor for Placer and Nevada Counties, about farming vs. homesteading, growing for market, farm business planning, and finding your own ideal balance in it all. Plus great upcoming local food happenings, tastings and events in the area with Eat Local Placer and Nevada Counties!

  

With hosts Phyllis and Julia Boorinakis-Harper

On this edition of the Homestead Radio Hour: When it comes to small, local farming, is “profit” a dirty word? Does farming and ranching need to be profitable? Tune in for a conversation with Roger Ingram, County Director for the UC Cooperative Extension, and Andrew Meyers, UCCE Ag Program Reperesentative and former owner/founder of Four Frog Farm, about the challenges that small farmers face, the balancing act between profitability, sustainability, and locality, and how we as a community can support and encourage local, sustainable agriculture as a viable practice.

  

With hosts Phyllis and Julia Boorinakis-Harper

On this edition of The Homestead Radio Hour, hosts Phyllis and Julia talk with the guest speakers and organizers of this remarkable local event, including farmer and author Joel Salatin, sustainable rancher Mark Baker, Underground Wellness Radio host Sean Croxton, and farmer-organizer Eric Dickerson. Tune for a lively conversation about real food, independent farming, sustainability, and keeping it local.

Nevada County’s Sustainable Food and Farm Conference will once again bring together an internationally renowned panel of speakers, local and national farming related businesses and organizations, and the public, for a weekend full of informative lectures, lively discussion, a food and farming exposition, plus numerous workshops for all levels of farming and ranching.

  

With hosts Phyllis and Julia Boorinakis-Harper

Joel Salatin and Michael Ableman visit the Homestead Radio Hour to talk about sustainable agriculture, real food, and the future of farming.

Joel Salatin is a full-time farmer in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley. A third generation alternative farmer, he returned to the farm full-time in 1982 and continued refining and adding to his parents’ ideas. His speaking and writing reflect dirt-under-the-fingernails experience punctuated with mischievous humor. He passionately defends small farms, local food systems, and the right to opt out of the conventional food paradigm. He is the author of nine books, including The Sheer Ecstacy of Being A Lunatic Farmer and Folks, This Ain’t Normal: A Farmer’s Advice for Happier Hens, Healthier People, and a Better World.

Michael Ableman is a farmer, author, and photographer and a recognized practitioner of sustainable agriculture and proponent of regional food systems. He has written several books and numerous essays and articles, and lectures extensively on food, culture, and sustainability worldwide. Michael is currently farming at the Foxglove Farm on Salt Spring Island in British Columbia, home of The Center for Arts, Ecology & Agriculture.

  

With hosts Phyllis and Julia Boorinakis-Harper

On this episode of the Homestead Radio Hour: tune in to learn all about the joys of Backyard Chicken-Keeping! How do you get started? What do you need to know before you bring home those chicks? What should you consider when building a coop? And what is life with chickens really like? Find out why urban homesteaders everywhere, in city and country alike, are keeping chickens in their backyards — and why you should too! Plus, we take calls and questions from Homestead listeners.

See resources below for more info on getting started with backyard chicken-keeping…