Farm-to-counter may not be a thing for most of us, but it is a service that Bolyard's Meats delivers all the time. Bolyard's is a butcher shop that works directly with farmers on the beef, pork, lamb, poultry and more. And in a really unique sp

Tapping into Fresh & Seasonal Cooking: A Convo with Chef Zane Dearien

Sep 27th, 2023 42m 45s

As we change seasons, we're talking seasonal foods with chef Zane Dearien at a unique restaurant in St. Louis' Central West End -- Bowood by Niche. The restaurant is paired with a garden center, providing a perfect patio environment to enjoy a

Artisan Cheddar from the Farm: Cheese Curds & Conservation

Sep 13th, 2023 50m 8s

Cheese farmer made be a made up term but when you make artisan cheddar cheese from the dairy cows you milk, it seems fitting! This episode we visit David Hemme, a Missouri dairy farmer who began making cheese seven years ago! The Hemmes are com

Uncovering Cahokia's Food History & Forgotten Farmscapes

Aug 30th, 2023 37m 10s

With Cahokia on our minds after our last episode, we turn to my backyard of St. Louis and are digging into more Native American food and farming history. Joined by guest expert Dr. Gayle Fritz, an anthropologist and professor emeritus from Wash

Cahokia Rice and the River: Intertwined Story of Improvement & Adaptation

Aug 16th, 2023 43m 7s

Did you know that rice is grown in Southern Illinois where the Ohio River meets the Mississippi? And there's actually a rice that has been bred to deliver a higher protein content that makes it low glycemic too! We talk with farmer Blake Gerar

Beyond the Ordinary: Wagyu Beef's Unmatched Tenderness and Marbling

Aug 2nd, 2023 40m 22s

The marbling of wagyu beef adds benefits to the tenderness and flavor that makes it stand out according to Jeff Swanson. We visit Jeff & his family in Adams, Tennessee -- just an hour or so from Nashville. We delve into the history and flavor

Cultivating Curiosity: Food and Farm Books Janice Recommends

Jul 19th, 2023 24m 33s

So often, a podcast interview opens up whole new areas of discovery and here, food and farm books can help provide additional depth. In fact, the last few episodes opened that curiosity for host Janice Person who jumped on a friend's book recom

Revitalizing Native Foods & Farming at Ramona Farms

Jul 5th, 2023 41m 6s

We continue discussions about food and farm on the Gila Indian Community in Arizona. In this episode we talk to Terry Button about the work he and his wife Ramona are doing at Ramona Farms. Terry shares some of the foods the Pima people have e

Digging Up Ancient Desert Farming Practices

Jun 21st, 2023 38m 24s

Let's go on a journey to the Gila River Indian Community in Arizona's Sonoran Desert, to travel locations and understand differences in time. We look at water use over time as host Janice Person interviews two expert archaeologists, Kyle Woodso

The Farm Willing to be Your Backyard Garden & Event Space

Jun 7th, 2023 36m 30s

I love veggies from a backyard garden but I have to admit, I am not the most committed gardener. And I definitely have never kept my backyard in event space shape. After visiting Mortimer Farms in Dewey, Arizona, I'm pretty sure I would leave t

Rich Flavors and History of Midwestern Vineyards

May 24th, 2023 29m 32s

We offer a deep dive into the world of winemaking, sustainability, and the family-run business of St. James Winery in Missouri talking with Brandon Hofherr (marketing director) and Sam Cobb (vineyard manager). From the rich history of Missouri

Homeless to hopeful: How urban farming is changing lives in an Iowa shelter

May 10th, 2023 40m 3s

Urban farming has so much potential but it can be hard to make a living doing it. With the economy today, every city and town seems to have more people experiencing homelessness. In Iowa, there is a unique approach connecting individuals utiliz

Could Cricket Farming Be the Next Big Thing?

Apr 26th, 2023 49m 57s

Shelby Smith never expected to be a farmer, so it may be fitting that she's a kind of farmer almost nobody thinks about. Shelby is a cricket farmer. Right in the heart of the Midwest. She describes this space as one changing quickly and compar

How Our Family Holiday Food Traditions Have Shifted: A Conversation with My Mom

Nov 30th, 2022 23m 43s

Holidays bring together an amazing combination of foods & traditions, but how often do we step back and talk about how our families celebrated the holidays 25, 50, even 75 years ago? That's exactly the conversation we have with my mom (Ada Pers

Holiday Foods and Traditions: Stories from Listeners & Friends

Nov 16th, 2022 23m 41s

We're off the farm in this episode as listeners and friends share their holiday foods and traditions. As we listen to these five people tell us about the foods that must be a part of their festive season, it's impossible not to reflect more on

Update: Life Beside a Cranberry Marsh: Smoothies, Ecology & a Cran-Baby

Nov 2nd, 2022 53m 48s

We first talked with cranberry farmer Amber Bristow more than two years ago. She did an amazing job helping us understand this uniquely American fruit grown on vines low to the ground with water added at harvest to float the berries to the top

Updated: Pumpkin Patches and the Passing of Time

Oct 19th, 2022 36m 42s

Back in 2020, we talked with Shannon Latham who runs a pumpkin farm up in Northern Iowa. Well, now that 2022's pumpkin season has rolled around, we headed back to the pumpkin patch to find out what the latest news is for Shannon and Enchanted A

Beekeeping and Building Leadership Skills at Sankofa Farms

Oct 5th, 2022 32m

Have you ever considered beekeeping as the path to teaching leadership skills and tap passions? Kamal Bell has been doing that on his first generation farm in Cedar Grove, NC. As we sat down to discuss the farm, we found chairs and sat down in

Foraging Pawpaws, Fruit Farming and Making Fruit Leather

Sep 21st, 2022 29m 30s

Pawpaws are one of a handful of unique fruits and vegetables native to the United States, and yet they are not nearly as widely enjoyed as the holiday must have cranberries! One of the reasons they aren't as well known is the primary way to ge

Finding Environmental Common Ground: Dairy & Nature Experts Talk

Sep 7th, 2022 38m 40s

Common ground is a phrase that is said less frequently these days, and environmental common ground isn't what everyone expects happens when sustainability experts and farmers sit down together. But maybe we should. The health of our soils, shif

Growing Dates: Coachella's Longest Running Jam Session

Aug 24th, 2022 39m 45s

Not many of us look at palm trees and immediately think of growing dates and yet, this episode may change that for you! And that's one of the things that visiting a date farmer brings out, but the process of working trees that reach the heights

Called to Live the Cheese Life, Interview with a Cheesemonger

Aug 10th, 2022 47m 33s

There are titles that go almost unnoticed, but being a cheesemonger definitely stands out! It took a long time but eventually, I met a cheesemonger. That cheesemonger, Jessica Keahey (founder of Sweet Freedom Cheese in Bentonville, Arkansas), l

A Tale of Two Dairies: Visiting Two Dairy Farms & Talking Similarities & Differences

Jul 27th, 2022 23m 50s

I recently had the chance to tour two dairy farms in Northeastern Oklahoma. The differences between the two and some of the similarities among them were really striking. After the tours, I sat down with Anthony & Charlie Coblentz and Logan Cour

Farm Co-op: Two Decades of Food Self-Sufficiency & Community

Jul 13th, 2022 37m 8s

You hear the dream-like conversations regularly.... people shifting from a small backyard garden to something that will sustain them and their family. How often do you see people do it? For two decades I've had a front row to watch as my brothe

Talking Lamb from Pasture to Table with Ohio's Kristin Root Patterson

Jun 29th, 2022 38m 6s

The unique taste of lamb draws me in everytime its on a menu and I think pasture to table lamb is something everyone should try. The Mediterranean flavors just aren't the same without lamb. That's what led me to head southeast from Columbus, Oh