Breaking Down What Biochar Is and Why We Should Make It with Dr. Catherine Brewer
Release Date: 03/18/2022
Episode 48: The Power of Photoperiod for Better Flower Production with Dr. Alicain Carlson
The No-Till Flowers Podcast
We as growers can get quite fixated on soil and water and fertility. But there’s another factor that is so absolutely critical to plants and flower production and that is light, or more precisely photoperiod. We all know that light is the foundation of photosynthesis. What we can sometimes forget is how critical the number of hours of light and dark are to triggering a plant to switch from vegetative growth to flowering. We drill into that in this episode with from Great companion listening for this episode is Episode 46: 10 Late Season Flower Crops for November...
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Episode 47: The Power of Cover Crop Mixes with Keith Berns of Green Cover Seed
The No-Till Flowers Podcast
For anyone focused on building soil health and long-term productivity, cover crops are the most powerful tool available. Research shows that cover crop mixes—rather than single-species plantings—offer greater benefits to the soil ecosystem. When thoughtfully designed, a diverse cover crop mix acts like a self-balancing team, with each species performing a specific ecological role. In this episode, Keith Berns, one of the founders of in Nebraska, walks us through the value and decision-making process for adding cover crop mixes to your growing space. If you're new to cover...
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Episode 46: Overwintering Dahlias in the Ground, Zones 5 and Warmer
The No-Till Flowers Podcast
Host walks listeners through a clear and concise discussion on how and why to overwinter dahlias in the ground. Save time, money and sanity with no-dig dahlias. Cold is not the enemey to successfully perennializing your dahlias. Moisture is. Tune in to learn more! Mentioned in the episode: WANT TO LEARN MORE? Join the You'll also gain access to lots of helpful articles, discussion boards, and online courses. On-demand Online Courses for Farmers Available on RFFN: Tap into the above courses and resources...
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10 Late Season Flower Crops for November Sales with Dave Dowling
The No-Till Flowers Podcast
Dave Dowling is back for this episode. He’s a fan favorite and if you haven’t already listened to the Everything Tulips episode and Everything Ranunculus episode here, be sure to go back to grab those. Dave is well-known in the flower farmer sphere for his wealth of knowledge and decades of experience in farming and sales. I asked Dave back so he could help me hash out what flowers are viable crops for November sales. I’ve heard more and more growers talking about skipping summer production in favor of focusing on the shoulder seasons, myself included. The summer heat...
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How Farmers Can Improve Plant Health with Endophytic Microbes: A Conversation with Dr. James White
The No-Till Flowers Podcast
I’ve long followed the fascinating research of of in New Jersey. He is a plant pathologist with a PhD in mycology. His specialty is "symbiosis research", particularly the impact of endophytic microbes in plant development and behavior. The nerdiest among you will rejoice at a science-rich episode in which Dr. White helps us understand how bacteria and fungus enter a plant as endophytes to help plants defend against stress, diseases and pests as well as provide the nutrients they need for growth and development. Turns out plants are farmers too! And in many ways we...
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Regenerative Flower Farming with Jennie Love: A Replay from The Flower Podcast
The No-Till Flowers Podcast
In today's episode, we are replaying an interview that originally aired on , where host Scott Shepherd interviewed yours truly, , about regenerative flower farming. This seemed like a great conversation to include in the archives here on No-Till Flowers. Deep gratitude to Scott for sharing it with us! Be sure to follow for more great flora-focused conversations. And there are new fresh episodes coming soon! A few guests got hit with the flu and it's pushed back our production schedule. But we're getting everything rescheduled and...
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Organic Seed Breeding with Will Hazzard
The No-Till Flowers Podcast
In this episode, we’re digging into organic seed production. Seed saving and breeding are all the rage in the flower farming world at the moment, which is an exciting way to dive even deeper into the world of flowers and get even nerdier. And we all love getting nerdier, don’t we? :-) Today's guest, Will Hazard, is the zinnia breeding project lead at the University of California, Davis. Through the SCOPE program -- which stands for Sustainable Crop Production and Enhancement, Will and his team of fellow research students have been breaking new ground in flower...
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Feeding Our Own Biomes with Functional Medicine
The No-Till Flowers Podcast
Welcome to Season 5 of No-Till Flowers! It's good to be back!! We’re starting off with a fairly personal episode as I share what’s changed for me and my health in 2024. This past season was my 17th season farming and selling flowers. There has been a lot of wear and tear on my body, mind and spirit along the way. I would wager heavily that no small business owner understands what they are signing up for at the beginning. Or even many years into it. The first 10 or so years are just holding on for dear life. The highs and lows of this rollercoaster ride lurch...
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Tips for Wholesale Flower Sales with Scott Shepherd
The No-Till Flowers Podcast
We don’t typically dive into business topics on this podcast as I like to keep the focus on regenerative growing practices. But today we’re going to go off theme a bit for a special guest. Many of you already know . Scott has such a unique position in our industry. He studied horticulture under the likes of . His day job in the three decades since has been working in sales at wholesale houses, first in Georgia and now in Tennessee. In that role, he’s touched every facet of the global import market. He’s also had a long-standing side hustle as...
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Storing Peonies and Tulips + How to Handle Cut Flowers After Harvest with Dr. John Dole
The No-Till Flowers Podcast
There are some incredible nuggets of pure gold in this episode. You will definitely want to have a pen and paper handy! Joining me today is , cut flower researcher and professor at North Carolina State University. As you’ll hear in the episode, John has been immersed in flowers since he was just 8 years old, planting gladiolas at a neighbor’s farm in Michigan. Over the decades, he’s been a keystone leader for the floral industry, serving farmers and florists alike with his valuable research projects. John is well known for his work with the s, which is where...
info_outlineHost Jennie Love sits down with Dr. Catherine Brewer of New Mexico State University. Dr. Brewer (Catie) is a chemical and materials engineer who has devoted a good portion of her professional scientific career to studying biochar, particularly as it relates to processing agricultural waste to create a valuable farm input.
Biochar is a "fine-grained charcoal high in organic carbon and largely resistant to decomposition...produced from pyrolysis (burning) of plant and waste feedstocks" (Source IBI Website). It's been used for centuries as a soil amendment, particularly in the Amazon and when other indigenous peoples around the world had prescribed burns to areas they wished to farm.
Biochar resists further decomposition for hundreds or even thousands of years, making it a superb vehicle for sequestering carbon in our soils. It also provides excellent "housing" for soil microbial populations. Perhaps most importantly for growers, biochar is a great tool for helping even out water cycles in farm soils. Catie has great information about why that is exactly.
In this conversation, we learn how biochar can be used at a farm to "close the loop" and make better soils for future generations. This is a long game strategy, one that will be vital to the regeneration of our earth over more lifetimes than our own. Our flower farms can do so much more than just grow flowers and biochar is an example of that.
Mentioned in this show is the trench method for burning debris to make biochar. Here is a video by Bare Mountain Farm about how to dig a good trench and how to manage a burn.
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This show is brought to you by the Regenerative Flower Farmers Network (RFFN). Your membership in RFFN will go to support the making of more podcasts here on No-Till Flowers. Join RFFN today to read dozens of great articles on regenerative practices as they specifically relate to flower farming. On RFFN, you'll find a more information about making biochar as well as a live video Q&A session with Catie.
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