Diego Footer’s

FARM SMALL FARM SMART

The Longest Running Vegetable Farming Podcast in the World

New Episodes Every Monday

Farm Small Farm Smart is the longest-running farm podcast in the world.

The show brings weekly insights for vegetable farmers—whether a market gardener, urban farmer, small-scale farmer, part-time farmer, full-time farmer, you name it!—in all stages of their farming journey. It’s the must-listen-to farm podcast for anyone in, or interested in, the small-scale farming space.

A Beginner Farmer Just Starting Out on Your Farming Journey?

Learn in-depth, proven strategies on how to start a farm and get it up and running, from tips such as:

How to choose a plot of land if you’re considering purchasing a property to set up your farm
How to start farming when you don’t own land
How to spot a viable farm plot in urban areas
How to choose which crops to grow
How to get your first customers
How to market your farm and get word around
Where to sell your crops
How soon you should consider setting up an online store
How to transition into farming full-time from a non-farming career, and many more!

Hear young farmers talk about their experiences when they were just beginning their farming journeys.

A Seasoned Farmer Thinking About the Next Step?

If you’re an experienced farmer looking for creative ways to grow your business, expand into new market streams, or simply run your operation more efficiently to free up more time on the farm, then check out what other farms are doing.

How do other market gardeners advertise their farms and gain new customers?
Apart from growing more crops and selling more products, what other ways can you expand your business?
What are some different ways to increase farm sales?
What are ways to increase efficiency and productivity on the farm?
How can you build soil without consistently having to add a whole lot of amendments and compost?
What should you look for in a person when you’re looking to hire a farm employee?
How can you manage your employees effectively to ensure their longevity?

Listen to long-time market farmers tackle the same questions you’re dealing with.

Working a Non-Farming Job and Interested in Dipping Your Toes in the Water?

Interest in small-scale farming can come from anywhere—maybe you’ve been intrigued by the young farmers selling their produce at the farmer’s market, maybe your local food scene sources their ingredients from the farmers in your area, maybe you’ve taken an interest in the health benefits of organically grown food, or maybe you just have a very enthusiastic co-worker!

Whatever it is that piqued your interest, if you find yourself wanting to know more about the local ag industry, or you want to get involved in the steadily growing local food revolution, or you want to understand how an urban farm works and how a millennial farmer makes a living out of growing food, or if you’re just curious about what it’s like to grow and sell vegetables for a living, tune in and listen to the multitude of guests and get an idea of what farm life looks like day-to-day, week-to-week, and month-to-month. Listen to the real-life stories that go behind every beautiful farm photo on Instagram to help you decide if small-scale farming is something you want to do.

All of the information in the show comes from real farmers actually farming.

In each podcast episode, Diego talks with a farmer and dives deep into their story to find out what makes their market farm successful.

Hear about the various challenges and struggles farmers face, along with specific tips and techniques that worked for them. Learn what makes each farm’s context unique—from their location to their market, to their soil, to their climate, to what makes their farm and products appealing to their core customer base, each episode is sure to bring new learnings to every kind of farmer.

The series covers different aspects of farming.

On-the-Field Tips.

Make fieldwork easier! Learn how different farmers build their soil while working towards sustainable agriculture, manage their weed pressure in a way that fits into organic growing, choose which tools and equipment best fit a farm’s size and needs, make post-harvest processing faster and less taxing on the body, and many more.

Business Tips.

Make the business side of farming more enjoyable with interesting advice from other farm business owners about how to get better prices for your products, how to choose the market that best fits your farm, how to market your business to different customer types, how to keep track of your numbers, how to choose the best online selling platform for your context, among many others.

Life Tips.

Maintain your work-life balance and avoid burnout. Sometimes, we need a reminder to take a step back and take stock of our health, both physically and mentally, and our relationships. Listen to how other farmers keep burnout at bay while balancing their time and taking care of themselves and the people around them.

Farm Small Farm Smart is hosted by Diego Footer of Permaculture Voices.

The archives contain over 300 past episodes and have been listened to over two million times.

What Listeners are Saying

Just one episode changed our business life!

“Our small farm needs help on the office side of the business. The office side is non existent. So I searched “small farm” in the podcast app and your podcast was recommended. And just the day before you posted an interview with Emma Hendel. I listened to that podcast and it scratched in so many places I was itching!!! Thank you for the guidance in the specific area of the office side of the farm. Emma said so much on exactly how I feel. Please continue to share quality information in this important side of farming.”

Amateur or Professional…

“Just wanted to say Diego, that I have really appreciated your podcast. I’m new to the small farm approach, looking to invest next year, and these programs have been wonderful! Some of them I have listened to over and over! – and I so very much appreciate that while you do advertise, your program is still education based. There is a phenomenal amount of information in your podcasts! Thank you! Please don’t stop anytime soon!!”