My Path to Ethical Agriculture

Jul 30, 2022
1 min read

This spring, I had the chance to sit down for a chat with Kristeva Dowling, host of the Ethical Agriculture Podcast. It was an opportunity to take a trip down memory lane and reflect a little on how I have come to find myself starting a farm in the middle of our city and eventually founding the Vegetable Academy. The episode has now been released so you can listen to our conversation by clicking the link below.

Click here to listen to the episode.

Check out the timestamps listed below to see the specific subjects we covered.

Episode Timestamps

0:40 - A quick summary of my path into the world of food production...

3:30 - Why I chose to keep my agriculture operation small...

6:54 - How our little urban farm got started...

9:10 - How we started to find land to farm...

10:50 - How we found customers who wanted the food we were growing...

13:17 - Barriers to starting a farm in the city...

18:50 - Putting the power of food production in the hands of the people...

22:15 - Why should someone take responsibility for their own food supply...

25:44 - The challenges of sustainability in the modern food industry...

29:22 - The biggest reason people need to reconnect with their food production...

31:50 - Motivation for using a membership farming model...

34:07 - What educational programs are offered through the Vegetable Academy...

36:18 - Our venture into small scale grain production...

39:20 - Learning about food production through WWOOFing...

40:53 - Can YOU grow your own food?

45:25 - The value of record keeping...

Click here to listen to the episode.

garden covered with weeds — It all started from this 1500 square foot plot of weeds!

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Fine-tune succession planting with the bed calendar
Track seedling batches in the seed nursery
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Log harvests with ease and learn from the analytics

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Grow Smarter, Not Harder

The new GROUNDED GARDEN PLANNER gives you proven crop data, time-based visual planning, and automated task reminders. It's professional growing intelligence made simple for home growers, accessible from day one.

Created by Jared Regier | Award-Winning Urban Farmer | Vegetable Academy Founder

Start with proven crop production standards
Plan your garden layout across space and time
Fine-tune succession planting with the bed calendar
Track seedling batches in the seed nursery
Execute your plan with automated task reminders
Log harvests with ease and learn from the analytics

JOIN THE FREE BETA GROUP

100% free for a limited time — no credit card required

Grow Smarter, Not Harder

The new GROUNDED GARDEN PLANNER gives you proven crop data, time-based visual planning, and automated task reminders. It's professional growing intelligence made simple for home growers, accessible from day one.

Created by Jared Regier | Award-Winning Urban Farmer | Vegetable Academy Founder

Start with proven crop production standards
Plan your garden layout across space and time
Fine-tune succession planting with the bed calendar
Track seedling batches in the seed nursery
Execute your plan with automated task reminders
Log harvests with ease and learn from the analytics

JOIN THE FREE BETA GROUP

100% free for a limited time — no credit card required

Episode Timestamps

Grow Smarter,

Not Harder

The new GROUNDED garden planner gives you proven crop data, time-based visual planning, and automated task reminders. It's professional growing intelligence made simple for home growers, accessible from day one.

How Plant Spacing Affects Yield and Fruit Size in Vegetable Gardens

Updating a Vintage Electric Tractor for a Modern Homestead and Market Garden

Conquer Gardening Overwhelm With These 5 Strategies

Essential Equipment for Indoor Seed Starting

Soil Blocking FAQ: A Beginner’s Guide to Growing Without Plastic

Garden Bed Layout: Zones, Sizing, and Orientation

4 Steps to Happier Gardening

Why We're Moving to the Country to Start a Market Garden (Again)

Staying Ahead of the Game at Harvest Time

How to Prune and Stake Zucchini Plants

Growing Vegetables with Custom Weed Barriers

Flower Forecasting

9 Crops We're Growing That Don't Need Cold Storage

Why bother to pot up your vegetable seedlings?

Planning a Rainwater Irrigation System

Kid-Friendly Crop Selection

How do you find the time?

10 Lessons from the Vegetable Garden: Part 4

Can low tunnels extend your garden season into winter?

Breaking the Rules of Crop Rotation

How to Upgrade to a Walk-in Cooler for FREE

Take a Walk Through Our Homestead Garden

What's Wrong With My Plants?

Crop Rotation When it Matters

The Path to Liberation Starts With Drip Irrigation

Measuring The Heat Trapping Potential of Covered Spaces

Essential Equipment for Starting Your Own Seeds

Can Peat Moss be Beat?

Our End-of-Season Review Process

Growing, Threshing, and Milling Our Own Wheat

Ginger Makes Its Debut

How Garlic Spacing Impacts Bulb Size and Total Yield

Growing Potatoes in Containers

My Path to Ethical Agriculture

What to Do First in the Garden

Heating Water With Our Walk-In Cooler

How We Take the Guesswork Out of Garden Planning

Leaping Into Small-Scale Grain Production

Eating From Our Garden in January

Growing and Winnowing Our Own Amaranth Grain

Stretching the Growing Season with Relay Planting

Growing Potatoes Without Digging

Taking Our Vegetable Garden on the Road

Growing Vegetables Without Rain

A Compost Bin to Last a Lifetime

Patience, Pacing, and Practice: An Improved Mindset for Spring Planting

8 Upgrades That Have Made Our Garden Work More Productive

Using Vegetables in the Off Season

LED Grow Light Comparison: SunBlaster vs Active Grow

10 Lessons From the Vegetable Garden: Part 3

Grow Smarter, Not Harder

The new GROUNDED GARDEN PLANNER gives you proven crop data, time-based visual planning, and automated task reminders. It's professional growing intelligence made simple for home growers, accessible from day one.

Grow Smarter, Not Harder

The new GROUNDED GARDEN PLANNER gives you proven crop data, time-based visual planning, and automated task reminders. It's professional growing intelligence made simple for home growers, accessible from day one.

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