EP 07: You don’t need to buy a farm to farm successfully (with Angie Koch, Fertile Ground Farm)

Summary

In this episode, our guest Angie Koch (Fertile Ground Farm, London, Ontario) talks about how she managed to get onto someone else’s farmland as a new farmer, and has since grown a profitable farm and market garden by building community, doing effective marketing, and helping people make stronger connections with their food. Whether you’re an aspiring farmer or someone who’s been in the game for a few years, you’re sure to gain a ton of insights and inspiration from Angie’s interview!

Connect with us on:

• Instagram: @cavaleirofarm
• Facebook: @cavaleirofarm
• Website (Cavaleiro Farm): http://cavaleiro.farm/
• Website (Urban Crops): https://urbancrops.ca/
• Email: antonio@cavaleiro.farm

Please subscribe + leave the podcast a review and 5-star rating if you’re enjoying the show. It’ll help others who want to learn more about how to do farm life better find the podcast!

Connect with Angie Koch and Fertile Ground Farm on:

• Facebook: @FertileGroundCSA
• Website: https://www.fertilegroundcsa.com/

Timestamps:

1:55: Introducing Angie Koch from Fertile Ground Farm – and the sights and sounds on her farm

4:17: Angie’s life before farming: a blend of community development and urban agriculture work (and how she “found therapy” in the garden)

6:59: How Angie’s past, seemingly unrelated work experiences have helped her in the farmlife

8:47: Why Angie fell in love with farming and kept doing it (even though she started with the belief that she didn’t want to farm)

11:40: Factors contributing to our current problem of not attracting and retaining enough people into the farming profession

14:07: How solving the problem can be helped by people becoming more connected to their food and addressing the need for affordable farmland that is close to markets

16:25: Angie’s experience renting farmland versus buying – why and how she did it

22:45: Why starting a CSA was both brilliant and stressful as a new farmer

24:37: Tips for new farmers on how to begin growing and selling veggies

26:10: Challenges with vegetable farming, and the importance of asking for help from community

29:25: How Angie has used social media (and other marketing channels) to get community help on her farm (great tips for workday events!)

32:48: Why keeping it real on social media about the hard side of farmlife can be effective

34:51: How Angie uses storytelling to create a stronger connection between people and their food

37:14: What Angie does to help kids create stronger connections with their food

39:04: What keeps Angie wanting to farm after 13 years

41:08: Benefits of developing more landowner-new farmer relationships

45:50: Angie’s answer to the question she always gets: “What is one of the most important skills a farmer needs?”

48:30: How you can connect with Angie and her farm