Today’s episode comes to you from Hyde Park Vermont where we meet with Ryan Demerast and Genica Breitenbeck. They run two businesses off of their farm of less than 3 acres. Ryan runs Naked Acre Farm, and Genica runs a gardening service business called Home Front Gardens.
Together we sat down as they shared their winding paths into agriculture. They share the challenges they faced finding access to land and why they decided to settle here in Vermont, all while making the decision to purchase by digging through the snow in the middle of winter to take a look at the soil. Ryan and Genica share how they boot strapped their way to build a sustainable farm business which is now in the 10th year of farming. They open up and share how they navigated some stressful seasons farming, and their plans to maintain the current size of their farm and not expand beyond the intensively managed land they are working now.
This episode contains two parts of conversation, the first hour and twenty minutes is a sit down discussion talking about their farm story and the remaining forty minutes part of of the show features a walking tour of the farm where you can listen to the rain as we walk between high tunnels and rows of kale.
Visit the Farm
High Tunnels
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Field Growing
Potting Bench Set-up
Ryan adds bulk potting soil to the box outside of the greenhouse, with a door on the inside to pull it out and fill trays. These trays are then seeded using a vacuum seeder to make filling trays quick and easy.
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