Reinventing Farm-to-Table in the Concrete Jungle with Greg Peterson

WEBVTT

00:00:00.681 --> 00:00:02.285
If we're growing our food locally.

00:00:02.285 --> 00:00:06.453
There are seven components to the local food economy.

00:00:06.453 --> 00:00:13.573
One of those is seeds, because without seeds we can't have local food.

00:00:13.573 --> 00:00:26.152
And the cool thing about local seeds the more seasons you grow them in your locality, the more acclimatized, the more appropriate they are for growing in your space.

00:00:26.152 --> 00:00:30.550
Their genetics changes a little bit to fit where you're at.

00:00:31.560 --> 00:00:39.142
Welcome to Pivoting Pharmacy with Nutrigenomics, part of the Pharmacy Podcast Network, a must-have resource for pharmacist entrepreneurs.

00:00:39.142 --> 00:00:40.484
Seeking to enhance patient care while enjoying career and life.

00:00:40.484 --> 00:00:52.197
Seeking to enhance patient care while enjoying career and life Join us as we pivot into nutrigenomics, using pharmacy and nutrition for true patient-focused care.

00:00:52.197 --> 00:00:58.171
Explore how to improve chronic conditions rather than just manage them.

00:00:58.171 --> 00:01:02.009
Celebrate entrepreneurial triumphs and receive priceless advice.

00:01:02.009 --> 00:01:06.131
Align your values with a career that profoundly impacts patients.

00:01:06.131 --> 00:01:11.091
Together, we'll raise the script on health and pivot into a brighter future.

00:01:11.091 --> 00:01:15.429
Hello and welcome to Pivoting Pharmacy with Nutrigenomics.

00:01:15.429 --> 00:01:20.072
I'm Dr Tamar, lawful Doctor of Pharmacy and Certified Nutritional Genomics Specialist.

00:01:20.515 --> 00:01:28.528
Today we're bridging worlds the vibrant, life-giving universe of our gardens with the revolutionary, health empowering fields of nutrigenomics.

00:01:28.528 --> 00:01:39.625
Imagine just for a moment if every seed we planted, every plant we nurtured, had the power not just to beautify our surroundings, but to directly influence our health, down to the genetic level.

00:01:39.625 --> 00:01:42.671
I have a little secret for you that's exactly what they do.

00:01:42.671 --> 00:01:49.433
But today our paths converge in the beautiful dance of nature and nutrition and our personal health journey.

00:01:49.433 --> 00:01:57.650
Now, who better to guide us on this exploration than a true visionary in urban farming and sustainable living, greg Peterson?

00:01:57.650 --> 00:02:09.750
Greg has made it his life's work to transform concrete jungles into lush edible paradises, teaching us that every little seed holds a world of potential, not just for the planet, but for our health too.

00:02:09.750 --> 00:02:17.212
From Phoenix to Asheville, he's shown that it's possible to live in harmony with nature, no matter where we are.

00:02:17.212 --> 00:02:35.573
In 2003, greg created urbanfarmorg as an online portal for urban farming education, urbanfarmorg as an online portal for urban farming education, and in 2015, he created urbanfarmpodcastcom, designed to help fulfill his passion of spreading the word about growing your own food and sharing new and seasoned gardeners epic stories.

00:02:36.034 --> 00:02:46.711
Today, greg will share insights on how nurturing our own gardens can be a step towards personalized wellness, much like nutrigenomics, encourages us to tailor our nutrition to our unique genetic makeup.

00:02:46.711 --> 00:02:54.729
So if you're ready to be inspired to look at your humble home garden as a powerhouse of health, or even to start one, you're in the perfect place.

00:02:54.729 --> 00:02:58.486
Let's dig into this rich soil of knowledge and grow together.

00:02:58.486 --> 00:02:59.508
Listen in.

00:02:59.508 --> 00:03:01.453
Okay, welcome, greg.

00:03:01.453 --> 00:03:03.580
I'm so excited to have you on board today.

00:03:03.580 --> 00:03:06.747
Can you kick this off by diving into your story?

00:03:06.747 --> 00:03:09.212
What exciting journey led you to where you are now?

00:03:09.781 --> 00:03:10.401
Oh my gosh.

00:03:10.401 --> 00:03:32.027
So I'm 63 years old and when I was 15 years old and I have no idea where this came from to this day I wrote a paper on how we were overfishing the oceans Because I knew back then in the mid 1970s, that there was something wrong with the way we were eating and living on the planet and I started studying back then.

00:03:32.027 --> 00:03:57.187
In 1981, I was on the board of the Arizona Aquaculture Association Aquaculture is fish farming and we visited a farm in Arizona and they were taking the fish, cleaning the fish and throwing away the 70% bones and everything that was left over after they were cleaning the fish, and it just didn't make sense to me to throw it wherever a way is.

00:03:57.187 --> 00:04:06.193
And so back in the early eighties I designed what we would now call is a regenerative fish farm, a circular fish farm, where everything got used.

00:04:06.193 --> 00:04:12.670
And fast forward to 1991, I read a book called Ishmael by Daniel Quinn.

00:04:12.670 --> 00:04:21.194
Talks about how our food system has arrived where it is today, talks about how food used to be free and it's not anymore.

00:04:22.180 --> 00:04:23.944
And a couple more things happened for me.

00:04:23.944 --> 00:04:31.865
That year I did a seminar at Landmark Education, their advanced course, and they wanted me to create a vision for my life.

00:04:31.865 --> 00:04:38.026
So I created my life that I was the person on the planet responsible for transforming our global food system.

00:04:38.026 --> 00:04:39.846
That's not a burden for me.

00:04:39.846 --> 00:04:41.105
That gets me up every morning.

00:04:41.105 --> 00:04:42.088
It's like what I get to do.

00:04:42.088 --> 00:04:44.052
I get to figure out how to transform our food system.

00:04:44.052 --> 00:04:44.593
Gets me up every morning.

00:04:44.593 --> 00:04:45.132
It's like what I get to do.

00:04:45.132 --> 00:04:46.194
I get to figure out how to transform our food system.

00:04:46.214 --> 00:04:53.485
But the really interesting thing that happened for me and I was 30 at the time, in 1991, was I discovered permaculture.

00:04:53.485 --> 00:05:00.444
For me, remember the circular system on my regenerative farm in 1981 where everything got used.

00:05:00.444 --> 00:05:02.468
There is no waste in nature.

00:05:02.468 --> 00:05:04.915
Nature doesn't throw anything away, it all gets used.

00:05:04.915 --> 00:05:05.826
Human beings are the only beings.

00:05:05.826 --> 00:05:06.531
Nature doesn't throw anything away, it all gets used.

00:05:06.531 --> 00:05:09.524
Human beings are the only beings on this planet that throw things away.

00:05:10.065 --> 00:05:18.322
So when I discovered permaculture, which I like to call the art and science of working with nature, how do we work with a flow of nature rather than against nature?

00:05:18.322 --> 00:05:21.047
And that's what permaculture is.

00:05:21.047 --> 00:05:52.170
And what we do in permaculture is we observe and then we work to see how we can build systems that work in the flow of nature rather than against nature, because nature works in the flow, and every single human system that has ever been developed and I've been looking for decades, and I challenge your listeners to come up with a human system that is what we would call regenerative or the circular system Human beings create degenerative systems.

00:05:52.170 --> 00:06:14.730
Every single human created system is degenerative, and I'm talking about the chair you're sitting in the chair, I'm sitting in the computers, the roadways, the cars everything goes away eventually, and so when we're thinking about living on this planet, if every single human system is degenerative, that means they're all going to eventually go away, which is a problem.

00:06:14.730 --> 00:06:21.874
So this kind of gives you an idea of the first 30 years of my life and jumping in to teach permaculture.

00:06:21.874 --> 00:06:24.110
I teach people how to permaculture their places.

00:06:24.110 --> 00:06:25.357
I teach people how to permaculture their places.

00:06:25.357 --> 00:06:27.084
I teach people how to grow their own food.

00:06:27.886 --> 00:06:29.812
And fast forward to 2001,.

00:06:29.812 --> 00:06:31.536
I was in a class.

00:06:31.536 --> 00:06:40.923
I went back to college late in life, at the age of 40, I was getting my bachelor's degree and I was in a class and they had me write a again mission for my life.

00:06:40.923 --> 00:06:58.244
And at the time I was living at a third of an acre house right in the middle of Phoenix and realized when I was doing the paper for that class that I was already doing what I wanted, which was to build what in permaculture we call as a food forest, where, basically, you would go out into my yard.

00:06:58.244 --> 00:07:04.843
My yard was 80 feet wide and 160 feet deep and there was food growing everywhere, although there was little grass.

00:07:04.843 --> 00:07:07.108
I replaced grass with things that were edible.

00:07:07.108 --> 00:07:09.552
I had 80 fruit trees on the property.

00:07:09.552 --> 00:07:15.488
We had chickens, outdoor showers and sinks so we could use that water in the landscape.

00:07:16.290 --> 00:07:28.615
Basically, I was making what turned into when we left there, 32 years of an old growth food forest where there was just something to eat in the yard every single day.

00:07:28.615 --> 00:07:32.149
So I was basically wild foraging my yard every day.

00:07:32.149 --> 00:07:34.065
That's how I got to where I'm at.

00:07:34.065 --> 00:07:43.822
And then two years ago, my partner, heidi, and I decided we wanted to slow down a little bit and we found four acres just outside of Asheville, north Carolina.

00:07:43.822 --> 00:07:50.886
And we found four acres just outside of Asheville, north Carolina, and I'm starting a new track on learning how to grow food in Asheville rather than Phoenix.

00:07:50.886 --> 00:07:53.286
Phoenix is a different place to grow food.

00:07:53.286 --> 00:07:54.468
It's very hot and dry.

00:07:54.468 --> 00:07:58.910
Asheville isn't so hot, it's more humid and a lot more water.

00:07:58.910 --> 00:07:59.831
So there you go.

00:08:00.250 --> 00:08:00.711
Thank you.

00:08:00.711 --> 00:08:02.052
Thank you for sharing that, greg.

00:08:02.052 --> 00:08:03.752
We have a lot to unpack there.

00:08:03.752 --> 00:08:12.137
So your journey from Phoenix to Asheville, it does sound like a leap of faith right into the dream that you have right to transform this global health system.

00:08:21.480 --> 00:08:22.865
Now you mentioned a different weather in from Phoenix to Asheville.

00:08:22.865 --> 00:08:24.372
Does that affect what you can actually grow or just how well it grows?

00:08:24.372 --> 00:08:26.240
Both and one of the big things for people that have never grown any food before.

00:08:26.240 --> 00:08:33.210
One of the big, big things that you have to do is you have to get a planting calendar for your city.

00:08:33.610 --> 00:08:34.572
Interesting okay.

00:08:35.379 --> 00:08:40.109
Because in Arizona we have a hot season where things don't grow.

00:08:40.109 --> 00:08:50.900
That's July, august, september, where just forget about growing anything you can, but it's really hard.

00:08:50.900 --> 00:08:52.946
In Asheville we have a November, december, january, february where things don't grow.

00:08:52.946 --> 00:09:00.485
So it's opposite and that planting calendar is going to help you define what needs to be planted when.

00:09:00.485 --> 00:09:09.182
So in Phoenix we plant cold season crops in October and November because they'll grow all the way through the winter.

00:09:10.445 --> 00:09:16.705
In Asheville I'm coming to find that we're going to plant cold season crops in February, March.

00:09:16.705 --> 00:09:24.828
So the other thing you'll want to know about growing food in your area when is your first frost date and when is your last frost date?

00:09:24.828 --> 00:09:28.644
Our last frost date in Phoenix is February 14th.

00:09:28.644 --> 00:09:37.131
So that means after February 14th we could plant tomatoes and peppers, and a little a month later we could plant squash and those kinds of things.

00:09:37.131 --> 00:09:46.321
Our first frost date here in Asheville, north Carolina, is Mother's Day, so we have to wait until then to get these things planted.

00:09:46.321 --> 00:09:53.274
So knowing when to plant by getting a local planting calendar is so important.

00:09:53.274 --> 00:09:55.102
It's going to save you a lot of heartache.

00:09:55.604 --> 00:09:56.505
Very much so.

00:09:56.505 --> 00:10:03.567
Could you give us some examples of the cold weather or winter type foods that you would want to plant?

00:10:03.886 --> 00:10:04.629
Yeah, absolutely.

00:10:04.629 --> 00:10:19.942
Cold season crops are brassicas, so cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli onions can usually go through the winter, carrots, beets, those kinds of things.

00:10:20.364 --> 00:10:24.269
I see, when you mentioned, I think of everything you put in a soup when you said that.

00:10:24.870 --> 00:10:27.414
Exactly, exactly.

00:10:28.321 --> 00:10:37.375
Yes, I guess that's why during the cold months, cold seasons, soup is a thing, because those are the vegetables that are available and best grown during that time.

00:10:37.375 --> 00:10:38.804
So it's all coming together now.

00:10:39.779 --> 00:10:42.308
Exactly, and that goes to eating what's in season.

00:10:42.779 --> 00:10:45.269
Yes, Eating what's in season cost effective as well.

00:10:45.899 --> 00:10:56.350
Yeah, and eating what's in season correlates with your planting calendar as well, because if you plant cold season crops and you're harvesting them 60 to 90 days later, that's when you're going to want your soup.

00:10:57.533 --> 00:10:58.174
That makes sense.

00:10:58.174 --> 00:11:03.793
Now I want to talk about digging into the soil pretty much and the lessons that we can learn from that.

00:11:03.793 --> 00:11:07.287
Digging into the soil pretty much and the lessons that we can learn from that.

00:11:07.287 --> 00:11:09.394
When we're digging into the earth, we're nurturing the plants from seed to harvest.

00:11:09.394 --> 00:11:11.701
What life lessons has this cycle taught you?

00:11:12.381 --> 00:11:13.884
oh, that's a curious question.

00:11:13.884 --> 00:11:24.628
A big one is to pay attention, pay attention and observe, and one of the first premises is observe, stand back and pay attention.

00:11:24.628 --> 00:11:29.534
I tell people all the time spend at least a year on a property before you make any major changes.

00:11:29.534 --> 00:11:35.729
Now I've been telling people that for 30 years and remember I lived on the same property for 32 years.

00:11:35.729 --> 00:11:45.866
So when I moved to Asheville I actually had to take my own advice and pay attention to what's happening on the property and you brought up soil.

00:11:45.866 --> 00:11:56.951
Soil is the, with a capital T, most important thing you can be doing for the success of your farm, for your garden, for your garden beds, for everything.

00:11:56.951 --> 00:11:59.940
There's five components of healthy soil.

00:11:59.940 --> 00:12:04.432
They include dirt, which everybody's got dirt.

00:12:04.432 --> 00:12:19.211
A lot of people have clay dirt or sandy dirt, and if you're just trying to grow in dirt, good luck growing anything, because dirt doesn't grow very much, although dirt has micronutrients in it which are really important.

00:12:19.211 --> 00:12:28.831
So the five components of healthy soil are dirt, airspace, water, organic matter and everything that's alive in the soil.

00:12:29.541 --> 00:12:32.028
So is the organic matter, everything that's alive in it.

00:12:32.028 --> 00:12:34.885
Is that like fertilizer, but a natural fertilizer?

00:12:35.419 --> 00:12:36.341
That's different.

00:12:36.341 --> 00:12:40.390
So dirt has micronutrients in it.

00:12:40.390 --> 00:12:56.408
The compost or the organic matter that you put in your gardens has life and nutrients in it, and so the nice thing about fixing your soil is that all you have to do is add organic matter.

00:12:56.408 --> 00:13:01.082
I'm talking about compost planting, mix woody mulch on top.

00:13:01.082 --> 00:13:03.229
You never want to put woody mulch in your garden.

00:13:03.229 --> 00:13:18.104
You want to put it on top and in the pathways around your garden, and by adding the organic matter, you're adding the life, and eventually what's going to happen is the airspace will show up and the water is going to get in more easily.

00:13:18.104 --> 00:13:24.179
So the way to fix broken dirt is to add lots and lots of organic matter.

00:13:24.179 --> 00:13:28.965
Now here's a few things that you have to know about adding organic matter.

00:13:28.965 --> 00:13:39.456
So I'm doing raised beds here to start with, because it's easier to do raised beds when you have just clay dirt than it is to modify the clay dirt.

00:13:39.456 --> 00:13:50.731
So I've started building raised beds since I arrived here, and I will spend $30 on the raised bed and $300 on the soil.

00:13:50.731 --> 00:13:51.432
To go.

00:13:51.493 --> 00:14:09.192
In the raised bed, you want to get something that's OMRI, o-m-r-i certified, so that way it's organic or organic-ish, and with soil, you actually get what you pay for, and I had somebody reach out to me recently and say they bought a load of topsoil.

00:14:09.192 --> 00:14:17.330
Topsoil, in 99% of the cases, is dirt and you already have lots and lots and lots of dirt.

00:14:17.330 --> 00:14:18.972
You don't need more dirt.

00:14:18.972 --> 00:14:30.071
So if you want to find something that's OMRI certified, if you're in Phoenix or in Arizona, there's a company called Tanks Green Stuff that does a really good product.

00:14:30.071 --> 00:14:36.873
In Asheville, north Carolina, there's a company called Dirt Craft that does a really good product.

00:14:36.873 --> 00:14:43.171
And what I've been putting in my garden beds is a raised bed garden mix.

00:14:43.171 --> 00:14:54.549
The thing is you only have to do that once, because then, going down the road, I'll just put a little bit of worm castings on top or a little bit of compost on top every year for a top dressing.

00:14:54.549 --> 00:14:59.686
So the spending on the soil for the beds is a one-time thing.

00:15:00.407 --> 00:15:03.941
Okay Now, Greg, could you explain to us exactly what is a raised bed?

00:15:04.481 --> 00:15:10.410
Oh sure, raised beds are a garden bed that is raised up off of the ground.

00:15:10.410 --> 00:15:13.221
They usually connect to the ground.

00:15:13.221 --> 00:15:21.260
So the raised beds that I build, I build them out of two by eights, or two by tens, or two by twelves.

00:15:21.260 --> 00:15:28.370
So that's either eight inches, 10 inches or 12 inches tall, and I just simply screw them together at the corners.

00:15:28.370 --> 00:15:33.196
What I'll do is I'll buy three eight foot, two by eights.

00:15:33.196 --> 00:15:34.664
I cut one in half.

00:15:34.664 --> 00:15:37.168
You can have them at the home centers.

00:15:37.168 --> 00:15:40.908
They'll usually cut them in half for you if you ask them to.

00:15:40.908 --> 00:15:49.606
So the four foot wide ones go on the ends and the eight foot wide ones are the sides, and then I just screw them together.

00:15:50.062 --> 00:15:53.399
And you'll do that, versus just planting them directly into the ground.

00:15:53.399 --> 00:15:54.543
For what reason?

00:15:55.025 --> 00:16:07.466
Great question, because going right into the ground takes a lot of effort, especially the first couple of years, to nurture the soil, the dirt that is going to become soil.

00:16:07.466 --> 00:16:09.392
I'll put it that way Okay.

00:16:09.392 --> 00:16:17.322
You know, like out in my backyard is clay and I would have to till in compost, till in some more compost.

00:16:17.322 --> 00:16:21.832
It would take a lot of work to make those in-ground garden beds work.

00:16:21.832 --> 00:16:26.010
If you're someplace that has great soil, you may not necessarily need to do raised beds.

00:16:26.600 --> 00:16:32.225
I see Now, earlier you had said one of the first things you recommend is observing the soil.

00:16:32.225 --> 00:16:33.428
What are we looking for?

00:16:33.990 --> 00:16:45.448
You're looking to see what your soil is made of, and the easiest thing to do that is to grab a shovel and walk out where you want to put your garden and stick it in and turn over a load of soil.

00:16:45.448 --> 00:16:51.022
And if it looks like clay, like mine does out there, you're going to have to do something different.

00:16:51.022 --> 00:17:02.474
If it looks like something you would call healthy soil, which is a nice mixture of organic matter and airspace, then you could be good to go right into the ground.

00:17:03.280 --> 00:17:06.816
So many light bulbs are going off in my head right now because it all makes sense.

00:17:06.816 --> 00:17:10.609
When I first moved to the Central Valley in California, I got a house.

00:17:10.609 --> 00:17:15.403
I felt like cause I'm from New Jersey, the soil was fertile, it rained a lot, it was good.

00:17:15.403 --> 00:17:25.673
I came here in California and I thought, oh, I'm just going to plant my flowers like I usually did back East, and I was digging into rocks and it was very hard to plant.

00:17:25.673 --> 00:17:26.480
I had no clue.

00:17:26.480 --> 00:17:27.122
No clue.

00:17:27.122 --> 00:17:29.345
So a raised garden would have been perfect.

00:17:29.345 --> 00:17:31.729
It would have been exactly what I needed.

00:17:31.729 --> 00:17:34.992
My flowers, needed to say, did not survive, they did not last.

00:17:34.992 --> 00:17:36.174
Because it makes sense now.

00:17:45.661 --> 00:17:48.692
There you go, well, and you know you can buy concrete blocks that go on the corners so that the two by six just, or two by eight slides right into it.

00:17:48.692 --> 00:17:49.556
There's all kinds of different ones.

00:17:49.556 --> 00:17:55.292
There's metal beds that you can buy that are 17 inches or 34 inches tall, so they're more expensive.

00:17:55.292 --> 00:18:00.445
You know, my raised bed wood garden beds cost me 30 bucks to build.

00:18:00.445 --> 00:18:06.942
My raised metal garden beds were 180 for something that was about the same size.

00:18:07.625 --> 00:18:08.930
Now what would you recommend?

00:18:08.930 --> 00:18:21.844
Not many people may have a space that they can plant their own vegetables and grow their own garden, so what would you recommend for those who are mainly in areas where it's just concrete what can, how can they start?

00:18:21.844 --> 00:18:22.465
What can?

00:18:22.486 --> 00:18:22.645
they do.

00:18:22.645 --> 00:18:23.910
Oh my gosh, All right.

00:18:23.910 --> 00:18:25.404
So the easy.

00:18:25.404 --> 00:18:31.912
I got a quiz question for you here what's the easiest thing to grow and the most expensive thing to buy in the grocery store?

00:18:32.441 --> 00:18:34.548
Oh, the easiest thing to grow and the most expensive.

00:18:34.548 --> 00:18:37.909
To I want to say tomatoes, because that's what's popping in my mind first.

00:18:38.779 --> 00:18:41.164
Well, tomatoes, yes-ish, but herbs.

00:18:41.665 --> 00:18:44.992
Yeah, you're right, herbs are expensive, right they are.

00:18:45.099 --> 00:18:46.980
Herbs are crazy expensive.

00:18:46.980 --> 00:19:02.909
You pay four bucks for a little tub of basil, right, and you can, literally, with some potting soil and a nice pot, you can grow basil on a sunny windowsill or if you have a east-facing or south-facing patio.

00:19:02.909 --> 00:19:12.544
Usually north-facing patios don't get enough sun and, depending on where you live, a Western facing patio might have too much sun, might get too hot.

00:19:12.544 --> 00:19:14.126
You can grow them in pots.

00:19:14.126 --> 00:19:28.451
Once in my life I lived in a town home in Phoenix, arizona, and we had a South facing back patio that was 10 by 6, was 10 by 6, 60 square feet.

00:19:28.451 --> 00:19:33.395
That's it, and we grow all kinds of things in terracotta pots.

00:19:33.395 --> 00:19:42.622
So those are a couple of simple things to do.

00:19:42.682 --> 00:19:51.496
There is something called a tower garden and in 2010, I discovered a tower garden and actually bought one before they actually were on the market, and it's a product by Juice Plus.

00:19:51.496 --> 00:19:53.266
They're not inexpensive.

00:19:53.266 --> 00:19:56.308
It'll cost you 800 bucks to get in.

00:19:56.308 --> 00:19:58.086
You can buy them used.

00:19:58.086 --> 00:20:08.813
There are other ones that are coming on the market that I've heard of that are maybe less, but the thing is we're 14 years off of buying our tower garden.

00:20:08.813 --> 00:20:10.866
We still use it to grow greens.

00:20:11.881 --> 00:20:13.888
It's a hydroponic growing system.

00:20:13.888 --> 00:20:32.423
Basically, at the bottom there's a 20-gallon tub of water with a pump in it and the pump pumps the water up about six feet into this tower, part of the tower garden, and the water trickles down through the tower and when it's completely leafed out it looks like a Christmas tree.

00:20:32.423 --> 00:20:33.306
That's edible.

00:20:33.306 --> 00:20:35.631
So that's another possibility.

00:20:35.631 --> 00:20:43.000
And what we used to do in Phoenix because greens so lettuces and spinach and that kind of stuff don't like the heat.

00:20:43.000 --> 00:20:54.615
So what we used to do in Phoenix is we would grow greens for our salads in April, may, june, july, august and September inside.

00:20:54.615 --> 00:20:59.414
We're actually growing them inside with some grow lights on the tower garden.

00:20:59.414 --> 00:21:04.670
So that's another possibility and, like I said, it is a little expensive to get in.

00:21:04.670 --> 00:21:15.714
But the nice thing is, like I said, we're 14 years into this thing and it costs us $50 a year for supplements the supplements that go in the water to grow the food and that's it.

00:21:15.714 --> 00:21:19.068
And we grow a lot of food on our tower garden.

00:21:19.589 --> 00:21:25.211
Wow, so it seems like it definitely sounds like a worthwhile investment that's going to keep producing for you.

00:21:25.853 --> 00:21:29.509
Yeah, you know, windowsill pots on the patio, a tower garden.

00:21:29.509 --> 00:21:32.503
A friend of mine just bought a garden tower.

00:21:32.503 --> 00:21:33.926
It's a different thing.

00:21:33.926 --> 00:21:41.348
A garden tower is the same concept but it has dirt in it and I think she ended up spending 150, $160.

00:21:41.348 --> 00:21:45.567
So for her back patio, you know another simple thing to do.

00:21:45.990 --> 00:21:46.813
Talking about that Cause.

00:21:46.813 --> 00:21:49.162
The first one you mentioned was it wasn't soil, it was water.

00:21:49.162 --> 00:21:56.565
In the world we know water is increasingly becoming precious, but you've pioneered using every drop wisely.

00:21:56.565 --> 00:21:59.853
Can you share some of your water harvesting secrets?

00:22:00.720 --> 00:22:04.093
So in Phoenix I used to do water harvesting classes.

00:22:04.093 --> 00:22:07.246
I'd give water harvesting classes Every summer.

00:22:07.246 --> 00:22:25.656
For the past four years we've done a water harvesting summit and invariably, whether somebody's in the desert or whether they're in a really raining area so we get 50 inches of rain here, where we're at Invariably I'll get somebody ask the question well, I live in Phoenix and we only get eight inches of rain a year.

00:22:25.656 --> 00:22:28.064
Why should I bother harvesting rain?

00:22:28.064 --> 00:22:37.564
And I would say, yes, absolutely you need to bother harvesting rain because it's eight inches that you get every year that you can direct into your landscape.

00:22:37.564 --> 00:22:44.567
And the same thing here, where we're getting 50 inches of rain, we have this precious resource falling out of the sky.

00:22:45.229 --> 00:22:53.305
It's our job to observe Remember I talked about observing to observe where the water goes on our property and direct it where we want it.

00:22:53.305 --> 00:23:07.852
When we're in the desert, what we do is we observe where the water's arriving at on our property, whether it's coming off of a roof or from somebody else's property, and we want to direct it in the place that is going to do the best work.

00:23:07.852 --> 00:23:12.612
So I am not a big fan of water storage, rainwater storage.

00:23:12.612 --> 00:23:19.471
I'm a big fan of rainwater direction, directing the rainwater where it's going to do the best work.

00:23:19.471 --> 00:23:30.085
So, number one, observe where your rainwater is interacting with you at whether it's coming from your property, from the sky, whether it's coming up from off your property.

00:23:30.085 --> 00:23:37.885
Observe that and then start managing it so that it gets delivered without you doing any work.

00:23:37.885 --> 00:23:40.612
It gets delivered where it's going to do the best work.

00:23:41.200 --> 00:23:44.329
And that would would that pretty much dictate where you would put your garden.

00:23:45.279 --> 00:23:51.676
Exactly, exactly so one of the things that I did at the urban farm was in Phoenix.

00:23:51.676 --> 00:24:08.126
Remember seven, eight inches of rain a year is the water on the back patio used to fall on the back patio and what I did is I put a gutter in place that ran down to the south end of the house on the patio and it went down in the ground and I ran it out underground.

00:24:08.126 --> 00:24:26.712
I ran a pipe out about 30 feet to a fruit tree orchard that I had planted, that when it rained, the water would come off of the roof and, rather than getting wasted on the patio, it would flow down through the pipe and out to the orchard and water the orchard.

00:24:27.840 --> 00:24:28.542
That's genius.

00:24:28.542 --> 00:24:29.224
I like that.

00:24:29.224 --> 00:24:37.387
So would this be because, when I think about climate change, it's definitely affecting Can affect your gardening and your practices.

00:24:37.387 --> 00:24:42.529
Would this be one of those innovative practices that you could use, especially for urban farmers?

00:24:43.250 --> 00:24:46.614
Oh, yeah, yeah, Use all the water you can from the sky.

00:24:47.278 --> 00:24:47.420
Yeah.

00:24:47.420 --> 00:24:59.536
Are there any other innovative practices that you think would be beneficial for farmers to use or our home gardeners to use so that our gardens can thrive and survive?

00:25:00.240 --> 00:25:01.169
Build healthy soil.

00:25:01.169 --> 00:25:10.303
I have a website that people can download some great information for free called urbanfarmwatercom, and it talks about how to water your garden.

00:25:10.303 --> 00:25:20.349
Once you have your garden beds in, making sure that they can get watered is really important and what we do.

00:25:20.349 --> 00:25:27.961
Our garden is off to the left in my backyard and we actually have to go out and water it every day in the summertime because we don't get enough rain.

00:25:27.961 --> 00:25:34.661
My orchards, however, I have about 170 fruit trees and berry bushes in the ground.

00:25:34.661 --> 00:25:38.607
They, after the second year, will survive on rainwater.

00:25:39.088 --> 00:25:40.792
Oh, that's impressive.

00:25:41.233 --> 00:25:44.329
Yeah, and that would never happen in Phoenix Arizona.

00:25:44.329 --> 00:25:51.769
So the manage that I had to do in Phoenix Arizona with my fruit trees was make sure I had a method by which they would get watered.

00:25:51.769 --> 00:25:57.211
Here the fruit trees get rainwater and that's virtually enough water for them.

00:25:57.633 --> 00:26:02.228
Okay, and that's sustainable as well, because you're getting enough rain in that area.

00:26:02.869 --> 00:26:04.913
Yeah, let's touch on that word a little bit.

00:26:04.913 --> 00:26:08.307
Sustainable, I don't like it, it's been way overused.

00:26:08.307 --> 00:26:11.753
Number one and number two sustainable.

00:26:11.753 --> 00:26:17.067
The concept is that it simply sustains the status quo.

00:26:17.067 --> 00:26:19.210
It doesn't do anything to fix it.

00:26:19.210 --> 00:26:22.315
The status quo, it doesn't do anything to fix it, it sustains here's what I really like to say.

00:26:22.315 --> 00:26:29.262
It sustains the mess we've already created.

00:26:29.262 --> 00:26:29.763
That's not what we want.

00:26:29.763 --> 00:26:30.385
What we want is to regenerate.

00:26:30.385 --> 00:26:45.627
Regenerative is the word that I like to use, and when we're observing nature and putting permaculture systems in place and they're really, I guess I wouldn't shouldn't call them permaculture systems in place, and they're really, I guess I wouldn't shouldn't call them permaculture systems because they're natural systems, they're permaculture principles.

00:26:45.627 --> 00:26:59.489
So we're looking at nature and then taking those natural systems and we're putting them in place in our space so that we're in the flow of nature and again, nature does this regenerative thing.

00:26:59.489 --> 00:27:03.365
The circle that you know just keeps regenerating itself.

00:27:03.365 --> 00:27:11.250
And that's what we're trying to do in permaculture is create systems that regenerate themselves yeah, we definitely want that.

00:27:11.932 --> 00:27:14.380
Thank you, I like that regenerative.

00:27:14.380 --> 00:27:17.425
Could you talk to us about the great american seeded Up?

00:27:17.425 --> 00:27:19.711
Is that something that you found it?

00:27:19.711 --> 00:27:20.432
It is.

00:27:21.299 --> 00:27:30.541
So about 15 years ago I put together a system and it's the system of our local food economy, a local food.

00:27:30.541 --> 00:27:39.588
If we're growing our food locally and creating a local food system, which is, in my opinion, the biggest thing we can be working on right now.

00:27:39.588 --> 00:27:47.650
There are seven components to the local food economy and these are components of any food economy.

00:27:47.650 --> 00:27:55.932
It's just I've downsized them so that they're local and it starts with farmers and educating farmers and value-added products.

00:27:55.932 --> 00:28:03.931
But one of those is seeds, because without seeds we can't have local food.

00:28:03.931 --> 00:28:18.271
And the cool thing about local seeds the more seasons you grow them in your locality, the more acclimatized, the more appropriate they are for growing in your space.

00:28:18.271 --> 00:28:23.403
Their genetics more appropriate they are for growing in your space.

00:28:23.403 --> 00:28:24.826
Their genetics changes a little bit to fit where you're at.

00:28:24.826 --> 00:28:33.413
So I don't know if you watched the gardening arena when COVID hit, but seed companies for months were out of stock of seeds.

00:28:33.413 --> 00:28:38.991
When people figured out that COVID was coming it was like, oh my gosh, panic, I got to have seeds.

00:28:38.991 --> 00:28:44.611
And that's not what facilitated the Great American Seed Up, because we've been doing it about 10 years now.

00:28:44.611 --> 00:28:50.961
But it's the reason and what we do with the Great American Seed Up first and foremost is we do education.

00:28:50.961 --> 00:28:54.049
We teach people how to grow and save their own seeds.

00:28:54.049 --> 00:28:55.820
I'll talk about that more in a minute.

00:28:55.820 --> 00:29:07.731
And then we have an event once a year in Phoenix, and if you're not in Phoenix, I have a solution for you where people can go into a 10,000 square foot room.

00:29:07.731 --> 00:29:16.134
It's a huge room and what we do is we put over a hundred different varieties of open pollinated seeds.

00:29:16.134 --> 00:29:28.652
Those are not hybridized, they're not genetically modified, they're open pollinated seeds in buckets and then they can do it's this great big seed buying bazaar.

00:29:28.652 --> 00:29:59.925
People go to the bucket of Armenian cucumbers and they say, all right, I want a scoop of Armenian cucumbers, and that scoop maybe is a tablespoon and they put it in their own bag and they grab a card that talks about that seed and they put it in the bag and they zip it up and then they mark on their pull sheet okay, I got one bag of armenian cucumbers and oh, by the way, it's a dollar and a quarter for armenian cucumbers seeds and you get five to ten times the amount of seeds that you get in a normal packet of seeds.

00:30:06.940 --> 00:30:44.954
So basically, what we're doing with the Great American Seed Up is we're super energizing the local seed economy so that people have seeds to grow right now in your garden and they can stock up on seeds in case there's a problem like COVID or a storm, or or or or, and then when COVID hit, we couldn't do the Create American Seed Up in person, so we created our product called Seed Up in a Box and basically what we do is we give people an opportunity to buy 25 different varieties of open pollinated seeds in 10 packs.

00:30:44.954 --> 00:31:01.882
So rather than one scoop, you get 10 scoops and it comes with instructions, and what we do is we highly encourage people to have a potluck, a seed potluck, where everybody brings some food and then you buy yourself a 10 pack of all these seeds you actually get.

00:31:01.882 --> 00:31:20.184
We figured you get 250 packets of seeds, 25 different varieties of seeds, and the seed packets cost 63 cents a packet amazing and how much food you're going to get from just 63 cents well, see, there's that other thing.

00:31:20.786 --> 00:31:25.814
I've said for years that the only place that lack lives is between our ears.

00:31:25.814 --> 00:31:42.169
Because when you look at the amount of apples that an apple tree makes and the amount of oranges that an orange tree makes and the amount of seeds that a carrot plant makes when it goes to seed, one carrot plant can make 5,000 seeds.

00:31:42.169 --> 00:31:48.893
That's enough seeds for carrots for you, probably for the rest of your life, and that's just in one year.

00:31:48.893 --> 00:31:50.461
Save the seeds.

00:31:50.461 --> 00:31:54.371
Next year you get that many again, yeah that is amazing.

00:31:54.791 --> 00:32:13.807
For those who are interested, I'm looking on the website right now greatamericanseeduporg the Great American Seed Up in Phoenix is October 25th and 26th, so check that out because that is truly beneficial and a resource that to pass up on, now that you know about it.

00:32:14.548 --> 00:32:20.990
Yeah, Well, and people, and again on that same website, people can get their own seed up in a box that they do it with their friends.

00:32:21.511 --> 00:32:26.690
Yes, indeed, thank you for sharing that with us and going into that information with us at a Phoenix Seed Up.

00:32:26.690 --> 00:32:33.012
Greg, I have one final question for you that we discussed before I hit record on our podcast today.

00:32:33.012 --> 00:32:38.492
I now want to start planting vegetables in my yard.

00:32:38.492 --> 00:32:49.340
Planting vegetables in my yard, but for someone who, like me, who's inspired to start our own garden, our own urban garden, we may be feeling a little bit overwhelmed, right, not knowing where to start.

00:32:49.340 --> 00:32:57.787
So what words of encouragement and advice can you offer to us to take the first step into a greener, more regenerative future?

00:32:58.248 --> 00:32:59.971
Yeah, great question.

00:32:59.971 --> 00:33:00.834
Start small.

00:33:00.834 --> 00:33:04.369
Don't jump in with a 10 by 100 garden.

00:33:04.369 --> 00:33:06.567
Jump in with some pots on your patio.

00:33:06.567 --> 00:33:13.830
Take a look at the energy that you have and the space that you have and start simple.

00:33:13.830 --> 00:33:16.950
That's going to be the easiest thing to do.

00:33:16.950 --> 00:33:18.539
And then build healthy soil.

00:33:18.539 --> 00:33:25.685
I have my Healthy so healthy soil hacked series of videos at healthysoilhackedcom.

00:33:25.685 --> 00:33:28.210
That'll give you some clues.

00:33:28.210 --> 00:33:31.021
And then we have our growing food the basics course.

00:33:31.021 --> 00:33:35.740
That's on sale, I think, for 29 bucks right now, but there's all kinds of resources.

00:33:35.740 --> 00:33:36.461
Start simple.

00:33:38.023 --> 00:33:39.726
Thank you, greg and for those listening.

00:33:39.726 --> 00:33:46.135
Greg has a wealth of resources for us who want to start our own gardens, who want to grow our own food.

00:33:46.135 --> 00:33:47.806
Please visit his website.

00:33:47.806 --> 00:33:57.374
I'm going to leave the information in our show notes and listen to his upcoming podcast yes, podcast at urbanfarmpodcastcom.

00:33:57.460 --> 00:34:01.431
I have 840 episodes over the past eight and a half years.

00:34:01.700 --> 00:34:03.625
Just a wealth of information.

00:34:03.625 --> 00:34:04.508
Everyone.

00:34:04.508 --> 00:34:05.951
Please check him out.

00:34:05.951 --> 00:34:08.288
Greg, it was a pleasure having you today.

00:34:08.288 --> 00:34:09.925
Thank you so much for joining us.

00:34:10.467 --> 00:34:14.911
Oh my gosh, I loved your smile and spending time with you today, thank you.

00:34:16.280 --> 00:34:17.726
That's all I have for you today, friend.

00:34:17.726 --> 00:34:21.068
Our time with Greg Peterson has come to its natural, nourishing end.

00:34:21.068 --> 00:34:29.668
Did you feel it too, that stirring in your soul to step outside, to plant, to nurture and to grow not just a garden, but a legacy of health for yourself and your loved ones?

00:34:29.668 --> 00:34:30.672
So what's next for us?

00:34:30.672 --> 00:34:42.510
I challenge you to take this inspiration and turn it into action, whether it's sprouting a single seed in a windowsill pot, joining a community garden or reimagining your backyard as an edible paradise.

00:34:42.510 --> 00:34:43.893
Start somewhere today.

00:34:43.893 --> 00:34:58.132
Remember every choice you make, from the food you grow to the food you consume, is a step towards a healthier, more harmonious life, perfectly aligned with the principles of nutrigenomics.

00:34:58.132 --> 00:35:05.170
And if you're interested in learning how you can align your health with nutrigenomics, your personal unique genetic code visit wwwthelifebalancecom.

00:35:05.170 --> 00:35:11.913
That's wwwthelifebalancecom.

00:35:11.913 --> 00:35:19.188
Until we meet again, keep feeding your curiosity, nurturing your soul and embracing the beautiful, empowered being you are.

00:35:19.188 --> 00:35:24.072
Let's cultivate not just gardens, but lives filled with vibrant health and joy.

00:35:24.860 --> 00:35:29.447
If you enjoyed this episode and found value in our conversation, please share it with a friend or two.

00:35:29.447 --> 00:35:33.010
I can't wait to hear all about your green adventures and health revelations.

00:35:33.010 --> 00:35:39.168
Share your stories, your successes, your learning moments and, if you have a moment, consider leaving us a review.

00:35:39.168 --> 00:35:43.346
Wherever you listen to podcasts, your words and support matter more than you know.

00:35:43.346 --> 00:35:44.528
Talk to you next Friday.

00:35:44.528 --> 00:35:52.132
Until then, always remember to raise a script on health, because together we can bring healthcare to higher levels.