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35: Growing Hops, Compost Teas, and Customer Education with Jessica Patton and Ken Armstrong of Ouroboros Farms
07/04/2015
35: Growing Hops, Compost Teas, and Customer Education with Jessica Patton and Ken Armstrong of Ouroboros Farms
Located in Half Moon Bay, San Francisco Bay Area, California, Ouroboros Farms carries out its mission to partner with nature by combining the principles of aquaponics and permaculture to bring to customers the freshest, healthiest, chemical-free produce on the planet! Ken is the founder and owner of 3-year-old Ouroboros Farms. Jessica is part-owner of Ouroboros farms and working there since it started, with a background in soil farming and hydroponics on a hobbyist level. She also has experience with medicinal herbs. Listen up as they talk about how they started up with a 20,000-gallon farm! They discuss the different kinds of plants and fish they're growing, their various distribution channels, the online grocery store they sell through (a great tip for future aquaponic growers!!!). They also describe their use of channel catfish, their top-selling crops, hybrid UVI systems, biochar, and the constant drain method they use for growing and selling hops (which are drier-loving plants). Listen as we also talk about their market research process, starting with 121 varieties of lettuce to see what grew best under different seasonal conditions, how they found what people wanted, and what they could have done in hindsight in terms of sales! Also checkout other challenges they've dealt with: water quality, light, temperature, location, and marketing issues. They talk about what not to do when running a commercial aquaponic system, how you can effectively sell to your distribution lines, food processing laws, and permaculture practices they've integrated into the farm such as beneficial insect hedges, rainwater collection, vermicompost, wormcastings, compost teas, and EM (effective microorganisms!), as well as all the other value-added products they're selling in the retail space right next to their greenhouse! Check out more at http://www.ouroborosfarms.com
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