Episodes

  • Assessing Soil Health and Quality - Gardening Beyond Basics 76
    Jun 28 2026

    In this episode, microbiologist and co-creator of the Johnson-Su bioreactor, Dr. David Johnson, schools us on how to tell if a soil is healthy and of good quality.

    Subscribe for more content on sustainable farming, market farming tips, and business insights!

    Get market farming tools, seeds, and supplies at Modern Grower.

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    Listen to other podcasts on the Modern Grower Podcast Network:
    Carrot Cashflow
    Farm Small Farm Smart
    Farm Small Farm Smart Daily
    The Growing Microgreens Podcast
    The Urban Farmer Podcast
    The Rookie Farmer Podcast
    In Search of Soil Podcast

    Check out Diego's books:
    Sell Everything You Grow on Amazon
    Ready Farmer One on Amazon

    **** Modern Grower and Diego Footer participate in the Amazon Services LLC. Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.

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    9 mins
  • The Real Reason Why Farmers Quit (MFB 49)
    Jun 25 2026

    Diego has identified what breaks farm business owners. It's not the physical work: it's everything else.

    And the difference between farmers who barely survive and those who thrive? Systems.

    Subscribe for more content on sustainable farming, market farming tips, and business insights!

    Get market farming tools, seeds, and supplies at Modern Grower.

    Follow Modern Grower:
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    Instagram

    Listen to other podcasts on the Modern Grower Podcast Network:
    Carrot Cashflow
    Farm Small Farm Smart
    Farm Small Farm Smart Daily
    The Growing Microgreens Podcast
    The Urban Farmer Podcast
    The Rookie Farmer Podcast
    In Search of Soil Podcast

    Check out Diego's books:
    Sell Everything You Grow on Amazon
    Ready Farmer One on Amazon

    **** Modern Grower and Diego Footer participate in the Amazon Services LLC. Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.

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    27 mins
  • The Most Profitable Crops for a Market Garden
    Jun 22 2026

    Search "most profitable crops" on YouTube and you'll get saffron, ginseng, cannabis. After interviewing 200+ small-scale farmers over a decade and running a farm supply company, I can tell you almost nobody is making real money on anything from those lists.

    Click here to watch the full episode on our YouTube Channel!

    Subscribe for more content on sustainable farming, market farming tips, and business insights!

    Get market farming tools, seeds, and supplies at Modern Grower.

    Follow Modern Grower:
    Instagram
    Instagram

    Listen to other podcasts on the Modern Grower Podcast Network:
    Carrot Cashflow
    Farm Small Farm Smart
    Farm Small Farm Smart Daily
    The Growing Microgreens Podcast
    The Urban Farmer Podcast
    The Rookie Farmer Podcast
    In Search of Soil Podcast

    Check out Diego's books:
    Sell Everything You Grow on Amazon
    Ready Farmer One on Amazon

    **** Modern Grower and Diego Footer participate in the Amazon Services LLC. Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.

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    18 mins
  • Cover Crops, Biomass, and Nutrient Cycling - Gardening Beyond Basics 75
    Jun 21 2026

    In this episode, soil specialist and consultant Dr. Jim Hoorman of Hoorman Soil discusses how increasing above-soil biomass plays a role in nutrient cycling.

    Subscribe for more content on sustainable farming, market farming tips, and business insights!

    Get market farming tools, seeds, and supplies at Modern Grower.

    Follow Modern Grower:
    Instagram
    Instagram

    Listen to other podcasts on the Modern Grower Podcast Network:
    Carrot Cashflow
    Farm Small Farm Smart
    Farm Small Farm Smart Daily
    The Growing Microgreens Podcast
    The Urban Farmer Podcast
    The Rookie Farmer Podcast
    In Search of Soil Podcast

    Check out Diego's books:
    Sell Everything You Grow on Amazon
    Ready Farmer One on Amazon

    **** Modern Grower and Diego Footer participate in the Amazon Services LLC. Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.

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    15 mins
  • Year-Round Farming on 1.5 Acres (MFB 48)
    Jun 18 2026

    When Taylor Mendell moved from California to Vermont, she made every mistake possible: spent their entire budget on irrigation during the wettest year on record. By year three, everything felt out of control. Then they built something remarkable: a year-round CSA grossing over $200,000 on just 1.5 acres of growing space.

    Subscribe for more content on sustainable farming, market farming tips, and business insights!

    Get market farming tools, seeds, and supplies at Modern Grower.

    Follow Modern Grower:
    Instagram
    Instagram

    Listen to other podcasts on the Modern Grower Podcast Network:
    Carrot Cashflow
    Farm Small Farm Smart
    Farm Small Farm Smart Daily
    The Growing Microgreens Podcast
    The Urban Farmer Podcast
    The Rookie Farmer Podcast
    In Search of Soil Podcast

    Check out Diego's books:
    Sell Everything You Grow on Amazon
    Ready Farmer One on Amazon

    **** Modern Grower and Diego Footer participate in the Amazon Services LLC. Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.

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    15 mins
  • The Exact Math Behind $250 of Lettuce a Week
    Jun 15 2026

    How many beds of lettuce do you actually need to hit $250, $500, or $1,000 a week? Using production data from Ray Tyler's Rose Creek Farms in Tennessee — a farm that's done over $400,000 in sales on ¾ acre — here's the exact math.

    Click here to watch the full episode on our YouTube Channel.

    Subscribe for more content on sustainable farming, market farming tips, and business insights!

    Get market farming tools, seeds, and supplies at Modern Grower.

    Follow Modern Grower:
    Instagram
    Instagram

    Listen to other podcasts on the Modern Grower Podcast Network:
    Carrot Cashflow
    Farm Small Farm Smart
    Farm Small Farm Smart Daily
    The Growing Microgreens Podcast
    The Urban Farmer Podcast
    The Rookie Farmer Podcast
    In Search of Soil Podcast

    Check out Diego's books:
    Sell Everything You Grow on Amazon
    Ready Farmer One on Amazon

    **** Modern Grower and Diego Footer participate in the Amazon Services LLC. Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.

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    15 mins
  • Replacing Lost Nutrients in the Soil - Gardening Beyond Basics 74
    Jun 14 2026

    In this episode, soil microbiologist and founder of The Soil Food Web Dr. Elaine Ingham talks about how farmers can go about replenishing soil nutrients for future growing.

    Subscribe for more content on sustainable farming, market farming tips, and business insights!

    Get market farming tools, seeds, and supplies at Modern Grower.

    Follow Modern Grower:
    Instagram
    Instagram

    Listen to other podcasts on the Modern Grower Podcast Network:
    Carrot Cashflow
    Farm Small Farm Smart
    Farm Small Farm Smart Daily
    The Growing Microgreens Podcast
    The Urban Farmer Podcast
    The Rookie Farmer Podcast
    In Search of Soil Podcast

    Check out Diego's books:
    Sell Everything You Grow on Amazon
    Ready Farmer One on Amazon

    **** Modern Grower and Diego Footer participate in the Amazon Services LLC. Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.

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    8 mins
  • The Planning Habits that Turned a Farm Profitable (MFB 47)
    Jun 11 2026

    Taylor Mendell was drowning. Nothing was working on Footprint Farm until she discovered something unexpected: brain science and habit formation could fix her farming chaos. What started as a desperate loan application turned into an annual planning system that transformed their operation.

    Subscribe for more content on sustainable farming, market farming tips, and business insights!

    Get market farming tools, seeds, and supplies at Modern Grower.

    Follow Modern Grower:
    Instagram
    Instagram

    Listen to other podcasts on the Modern Grower Podcast Network:
    Carrot Cashflow
    Farm Small Farm Smart
    Farm Small Farm Smart Daily
    The Growing Microgreens Podcast
    The Urban Farmer Podcast
    The Rookie Farmer Podcast
    In Search of Soil Podcast

    Check out Diego's books:
    Sell Everything You Grow on Amazon
    Ready Farmer One on Amazon

    **** Modern Grower and Diego Footer participate in the Amazon Services LLC. Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.

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    6 mins