Podcast #106 – Young Future Farmers 1


What a delightful visit we had with students from the University of Alabama this weekend!


Eight students are enrolled in a course through the New College at the University of Alabama called “Living Your Best Life Sustainably – To Start a Farm,” with their professors Emily Conner and Samuel Gray. The students joined their two professors, Amanda and me for Saturday and half a day Sunday, and it won’t surprise you that we immediately put them to work. They made short work of some brush that had been piled up for three years near the East Ramp, and we got us a rip-roaring fire going to dispose of it. They also helped pick beans, okra, and eggplant on Veg Hill, including some they got to take home with them.

All 12 of us sat down together Sunday morning to record this week’s podcast, during which Amanda and I did our best to answer their questions for us about how we came to the decision to create Longleaf Breeze, what we’ve learned, and what we wish we had done differently. I am unapologetic about the length of this program, more than 36 minutes. I hope you’ll agree that the high quality of the ideas exchanged more than makes up for the rough audio quality.

Listen – 36:21

Here’s our group. I honestly don’t know last names, so I’ll just give you first names. Row 1: Amanda, Emily (petting Oddie), Jessica, and Elizabeth. Row 2: Lee, Whitney, Stephanie, and Elana. Row 3: Michael, Sam, Matthew, and Peter.

Here are links to some of the references we made during the conversation:

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle – one of the books that profoundly influenced Amanda and me as we contemplated this adventure. The students all read it in preparation for their visit with us.

Southern SAWG (Southern Sustainable Agriculture Working Group)

Central Alabama Master Gardeners

Yahoo Group: GardeningOrganically

Yahoo Group: Organic Homesteading & Gardening

Yahoo Group: Little Houses

Books by Michael Pollan. The one that made the biggest impression on us is The Omnivore’s Dilemma.

Our podcast July 1, 2010 – “Can We Grow Enough Food?”

Oakview Farms Granary – where we buy wheat berries (grown in Montana)

Our Maytag MTF2142EEW refrigerator, which has given us nothing but trouble. Big mistake.

General Links:

The Longleaf Breeze Planting Database

Join us at the (online) Longleaf Breeze Social

 


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