Farm Small Farm Smart Daily

As you will hear from my guest today Paul Greive of Primal Pastures "One of the most important things about marketing is not convincing people your product is X, it's about finding people who actually want X."
 
That’s the route that Primal Pastures has gone.  They don’t sell a cheap product.  They have positioned themselves as the premium product.   And that means they don’t try to compete in on price.  And they don’t worry about the non-believers or the price discriminant buyers. Because no amount of convincing is going to make that buyer pay up.  They already have a price point set in their mind, and the mind is a very hard thing to change as a marketing.
 
Therefore Primal Pasture’s sole job as marketers is to try to find and sell to the believers.  The customers who value their product for what it is and are willing to pay for it.  
 
Over time they have learned that "It's a really sustainable model when you can start focusing on the customer and then you can figure out what products meet their needs and what your skills are to make those products.”  It’s a key distinction that they have made for their brand, Primal Pastures and one that they have stuck too.
 
Branding and marketing are just one of the topics that Paul Greive of Primal Pastures and I talk about today.
 
In addition to that you will also learn about how to prepare for a transition from full time job to full time farmer, how to overcome early obstacles in farm startup and Paul tackles the question - is pastured poultry a good business?

View the show notes at permaculturevoices.com/124.

Support the show at permaculturevoices.com/support.

Direct download: PVP124-PaulGreive-2016.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 3:00am PDT

Homesteader Justin Rhodes of AbundantPermaculture.com talks about what type of electric fence and charger he uses on his homestead.

To learn more about Justin and see all of the ASK Justin episodes visit permaculturevoices.com/justin.

Support the show at permaculturevoices.com/support.

Direct download: AskJustin-04-Fence.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 4:57am PDT

It's currently April 12, 2016.

We start off today talking about whether you should start farming with a greenhouse or not.

The conversation quickly turns into reasons why people succeed and don't succeed.

Hopefully this episode is a welcome kick in the ass for those who need it.  And motivation to keep kicking ass for everyone else.

Learn more at permaculturevoices.com/theurbanfarmer

Support the show at permaculturevoices.com/support

Direct download: TUF-S2E4-2016.mp3
Category:permaculture -- posted at: 3:00am PDT

Farmer John Suscovich of Camps Road Farm and FarmMarketingSolutions.com answers the question, "Where do you process your chickens - on farm or off?"

To learn more about John and see all of the ASK John episodes visit permaculturevoices.com/john.

If you like the show, please support the show by making a contribution at permaculturevoices.com/ilikevoices

Direct download: 04-ASKJohn-Process.mp3
Category:permaculture,agriculture -- posted at: 3:00am PDT

In honor of Earth Day, today's show is a replay of the interview with the original Earth Day lead organizer Denis Hayes.

Denis Hayes talks about a lifetime of work in environmentalism - the challenges, successes, the changing environmental problems since the 60's, and how he has endured numerous political changes in Washington.

Denis was the organizer of the first Earth Day in 1970, headed the Solar Energy Research Institute under President Carter, and is now president of the Bullitt Foundation. In 1999 Time Magazine named him Hero of the Planet.

In this episode we go through his early life in a polluted Washington paper milling community to how he became an environmental activist. We also discuss the creation and organization of the first Earth Day in 1970 and how the scope of the environmental problems have changed since then.

Learn more about Denis at permaculturevoices.com/cd3.

Direct download: CD003-DenisHayes.mp3
Category:permaculture -- posted at: 11:59pm PDT

Homesteader Justin Rhodes of AbundantPermaculture.com goes over ways to protect your chickens from predators.

To learn more about Justin and see all of the ASK Justin episodes visit permaculturevoices.com/justin.

Direct download: ASKJustin03-Predators.mp3
Category:permaculture -- posted at: 3:00am PDT

It's currently April 5, 2016.

Today's episode focuses on starting and transplanting Salanova via micro soil blocks.

Curtis will talk about how he starts Salanova lettuce using the blocks and the advantages for doing so.

We also run a quick time and cost analysis of starting lettuce in blocks versus cell trays to show the comparison.

At the end of the episode I go over a recipe to use for the micro blocker and some basic techniques for using it.

Learn more at permaculturevoices.com/theurbanfarmer

Support the show at permaculturevoices.com/support

Direct download: TUF-S02E03-2016.mp3
Category:permaculture,agriculture,farming -- posted at: 3:00am PDT

Farmer John Suscovich of Camps Road Farm and FarmMarketingSolutions.com answers the question, "What do you feed your chickens, and can they get their full diet off pasture?"

To learn more about John and see all of the ASK John episodes visit permaculturevoices.com/john.

 

If you like the show, please support the show by making a contribution at permaculturevoices.com/ilikevoices

Direct download: 03-AskJohn-WhatFeed.mp3
Category:permaculture,agriculture -- posted at: 3:00am PDT

Learn more in the show notes at permaculturevoices.com/123

Permaculture is very difficult to define for most people.  

How do you define permaculture?  

I go with Larry Santoyo's definition - “Permaculture is: Design protocols for critical thinking, decision making and problem solving – all based on the patterns of nature.”

In today’s show my guest Andrew Millison and I will look at common frustrations with the word "PERMACULTURE".

We’ll answer questions such as:

Does permaculture need a new name, a consistent definition?
Should permaculture reject the mainstream?
Should permaculture go the mainstream?
Should everyone learn permaculture, why or why not?

Support the show at patreon.com/diegofooter

Direct download: PVP123-2016.mp3
Category:permaculture -- posted at: 3:00am PDT

Homesteader Justin Rhodes of AbundantPermaculture.com goes over 20 reasons why your chickens might not be laying eggs.

To learn more about Justin and see all of the ASK Justin episodes visit permaculturevoices.com/justin.

Direct download: ASKJustin02-NotLaying.mp3
Category:permaculture -- posted at: 3:00am PDT

It's currently March 30, 2016.

And over the past few months Curtis has literally been all around the world.

I today's episode we'll look back at some of the places that he visited and what he took away from those visits.

From the high tech innovation being done at Jean-Martin Fortier's Le Ferm de Catra Taaamp in Quebec to the low tech soil building techniques used by Jodi Roebuck to build soil in his bio-ingestive garden in New Zealand.

It's not just all fun and stories, there's a lot of good information in this one such as do these techniques scale, how can you build soil, and how can you combine tarps and soil to really build soil.  

Learn more at permaculturevoices.com/theurbanfarmer

Support the show at permaculturevoices.com/support

Direct download: TUFS02E02-2016.mp3
Category:permaculture -- posted at: 3:30am PDT

Farmer John Suscovich of Camps Road Farm and FarmMarketingSolutions.com answers the question, "What breeds of broilers do you raise?"

To learn more about John and see all of the ASK John episodes visit permaculturevoices.com/john.

 

If you like the show, please support the show by making a contribution at permaculturevoices.com/ilikevoices

Direct download: 02-ASKJohn-WhatBreed.mp3
Category:permaculture -- posted at: 3:00am PDT

Not every business will work, but over the course of a career odds are, one idea will work.  
 
If you want to be an entrepreneur, then it’s up to you to smartly continue on until you find it.  Because you can’t win the race, unless you finish the race.
 
But can you find that right idea?  
 
Many of people don’t think that they can.  
 
And it’s that defeating self talk that keeps many people from succeeding, and many more of even starting in the first place, thereby having no chance at future success.  
 
This episode is geared at the entrepreneurs and the wantrepreneurs who are listening; the ones who think they can and the ones who think they can’t. 
 
Because either way, you’re right.
 
In today’s show, I am talking with entrepreneur, and business owner Philippe Choiniere of Oneka.
 
Philippe didn’t have the ideal road to become a business owner (none of us do).
 
He started as as a professional hockey player and now finds himself owning a leading sustainable personal care products line.
 
Likely not the career path that he would have mapped out ahead of time.
 
But that’s the greatness of his path.  It wasn’t that ideal path, it was the real path, the actual path, that took place in reality.
 
His journey wasn’t always easy, it was hard, but he pushed through and he now has a growing and profitable business.
 
Along the way he gained the equivalent of three real world MBA’s in the school of hard knocks.  And he will share a lot of that with you in this episode.  
 
He is going to talk extensively about his entrepreneurial journey.  He is going to talk about what it feels like to deal with rejection and failure.  And he is going to talk a lot about marketing and branding and some of the expensive lessons that he has learned along the way.  
 
Philippe’s clearly learned a lot, and one tell to of that is the calmness and acceptance with which he states that everyone isn’t the right customer, and he is going to charge what his product is worth. 
 
Sage advice.
 
Enjoy this one.
 
 
Direct download: PVP122-Philippe.mp3
Category:permaculture -- posted at: 3:00am PDT

Homesteader Justin Rhodes of AbundantPermaculture.com talks about how he feeds his 30 chickens for just $1.25 per day.

To learn more about Justin and see all of the ASK Justin episodes visit permaculturevoices.com/justin.

Direct download: ASKJustin01-Feed.mp3
Category:permaculture -- posted at: 3:00am PDT

If we go back to where we left of Season One of the show, it was December and there really wasn't any crop production happening on the land itself for Green City Acres. At that time some of the land was sitting fallow waiting for future planting in the spring, and some of the land was occupied by dormant crops that had been planted a few months earlier in the fall. Let's find out how much Curtis' total farm has been quietly in production throughout the winter, with beds holding overwintered crops, and why.

This episode also covers overwintering crops, prepping beds with tarps and stale seed bedding, and dealing with the shoulder season day length changes.

Learn more at permaculturevoices.com/theurbanfarmer

Support the show at permaculturevoices.com/support

Direct download: TUFS02E01.mp3
Category:permaculture -- posted at: 3:00am PDT

Farmer John Suscovtich of Camps Road Farm and FarmMarketingSolutions.com answers the question, "Are pastured broilers profitable?"

To learn more about John and see all of the ASK John episodes visit permaculturevoices.com/john.

Direct download: 01-BroilersProfitable.mp3
Category:permaculture -- posted at: 3:00am PDT

A new phenomenon being developed by the US university systems is the Massive Open Online Course (MOOC). Through his work teaching Permaculture within the Oregon State University Horticulture program, Andrew Millison was given the opportunity to develop an Introduction to Permaculture course in the MOOC format. Freely available to anyone interested, this course is slated to run three times this year with enrollment goals of thousands of students per course. Andrew will explain what a MOOC is and how it can expose and engage thousands of people in the Permaculture concept.

Register for the MOOC at open.oregonstate.edu/courses/permaculture/

Learn more at permaculturevoices.com.

Direct download: PVP-A5-AndrewMillison.mp3
Category:permaculture -- posted at: 3:00am PDT

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