NOFA Podcast

This episode is a culmination of voices and stories of our NOFA community members that visited the in person Winter Conferences. For those of you who don’t already know, most of the NOFA state chapters host an annual Winter Conference. Some are jam packed single days, others are weekend long intensives, and others have been held in a more virtual online format. None-the-less t

Closing the Mushroom Production Loop: Evaluating Soil Microbe Changes Following Field Application of Compost Inoculated with Spent Mushroom Substrate with host, Tony Kennette, Ruben Parilla Soil Tech Coordinator and Education Dir NOFA MASS and Elizabeth Almeida of Fat Moon Farm. In this episode we discuss the use of compost inocullated with "spent" mushroom substrate, and the scie

In this episode I am joined by Central Massachusetts cattle farmer, Ridge Shinn to discuss the amazing possibilities that good management of cattle can have on soils and land as a whole. Ridge Shinn is the founder of Big Picture Beef in Hardwick Mass. Big Picture Beef is an aggregator of grass-fed cattle and an educational resource for cattle farmers interested in a Grass-Fed parad

In this episode I am joined by my colleague Ruben Parilla our NOFA/Mass Soil Tech Coordinator and together we interview Lincoln Fishman of Sawyer Farm in Worthington, MA. Lincoln is presenting at our upcoming NOFA/Mass Winter Conference happening the weekend of January 14th & 15th, 2022. Lincoln Fishman is co-owner/operator of Sawyer Farm. In 2010 they started raising vegetables a

In this episode I interview Mary Sage Napolitan and Evan Abramson about their collaborative work on re-establishing ecologically diverse landscape to the properties of Island Grown Initiative in the town of Vineyard Haven on the island of Martha’s Vineyard. Mary Sage and Evan are presenting their work on this project at our upcoming NOFA/Mass Winter Conference happening the week

NOFA/Mass Winter Conference Highlight - When and How To Kill (Winter) Cover Crops With Arthur Siller In this episode we’re drawing another highlight from our annual NOFA/Mass Winter Conference that happened remotely in January 2022. We join University of Massachusetts at Amherst PhD student Arthur Siller as he outlines four different cover crop killing strategies that we can empl

In this episode I interview my colleague Andrew Laurion to discuss the bioremediation project underway in Springfield, MA. We talk about the changes in the soil, the properties and the community now that this project has been underway for two years. Andrew Laurion is the Bioremediation Project Coordinator for NOFA/Mass and the Youth Program Coordinator of the food justice organiza

In this episode I am joined by two of my NOFA colleagues Monique Bosch from our CT NOFA chapter as well as Ruben Parilla of NOFA/Mass and they introduce us to the world of microscopy. We discuss the advantages of looking at your soil and compost under the microscope to determine the state of affairs and influence your soil management strategies. Monique Bosch, is the Organic Land

In this episode I am joined again by our NOFA/Mass Soil Tech Coordinator, Ruben Parilla. We interview Yoko Takemura of Assawaga Farm in Putnam, CT. This material is based upon work supported by the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, U.S. Department of Agriculture, through the Northeast Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education program. Yoko Takemura owns and operates

In this episode I am joined again by my NOFA/Mass colleague, Soil Health Projects Manager, Christine Manuck. We interview Meryl Latronica, Director of Farm Operations at Just Roots in Greenfield, MA. We continue our conversations with farmers working within our Compaction Mitigation grant as a collaboration with an MDAR 2020 Specialty Crop Block Grant titled Accelerating Soil Healt