Sourcing Local Foods

Websites:

·      Local Harvest 

·      Dakota Rural Action Local Foods Directory 

·      South Dakota Local Foods Online Co-op

Black Hills Area CSA’s (community supported agriculture):

·      Bear Butte Gardens (Sturgis) 

·      Cycle Farm (Spearfish) 

·      Joy Farm (Rapid City) 

·      Matriarch Gardens (Nisland) 

Local Farmer’s Markets:

·      Black Hills Farmer’s Market (Rapid City)

·      Deadwood Street Market

·      Spearfish Farmer’s Market in the Park

Restaurants Sourcing Local Foods:

·     Black Hills Burger and Bun (Custer)

    Dough Trader Pizza (Spearfish)

    Jambonz (Sturgis)

·      Killian’s (Spearfish)

·      Tally’s Silver Spoon (Rapid City)

Local Food Outlets:

·      Back to Nature (Sturgis)

·      Black Hills Milk (Spearfish)

·      Breadroot Co-op (Rapid City)

·      Good Earth Natural Foods (Spearfish)

·      South Dakota Online Food Co-op (pick-up points in Spearfish and RC)

Ways to Increase Local Food Options:

·      Ask restaurants which items on the menu are locally sourced

·      Ask grocery stores if any items are locally sourced

·      Call individual producers and inquire about what they grow and if they can help you source other items

·      Post a question on Facebook (“Does anyone know of a good source for local pork?”)

·      Encourage your school’s food services manager to source locally (there are Farm to School grants available for schools)

Saturday, March 21^st – Small Farm Summit Social 6 p.m. at Sturgis Center for the Arts

Saturday, April 25^th – Farm Tour (Cycle Farm and Bear Butte Gardens)

Michelle Grosek, Owner Bear Butte Gardens

Email:  Michelle@BearButteGardens.com 

www.BearButteGardens.com 

Raising Food

(previously printed in Black Hills Simple Life Online Magazine)

The more we know about food, the more we want to have better control over the entire life cycle of what we eat.  That is a big undertaking, but increasingly more important for Rick and me.  It started with gardens.  I wanted to grow all of our veggies.  A couple years later with gardens in place and vegetables growing we realized we needed manure for composting our gardens, so we might as well get some chickens and collect their manure while simultaneously getting eggs.  We did not want to order sexed chicks, so we decided to order straight runs, which means we would potentially get 50% males with each order.  For us, that meant butchering cockerels for meat as we did not wish to have more than one or two roosters.  Then with all of the bad press about large corporation-raised meat birds testing positive for various viruses and bacteria, we were further convinced to go ahead and raise our own broilers.  Even though chickens can produce a lot of manure, it is not enough for two greenhouses and six outdoor gardens.  We started talking about other livestock.  Ever since I was a kid I had wanted to have a few sheep again.  We decided to take on some bum (bottle-raised) lambs last spring with the intention of manure production, grazing, and ultimately a freezer full of organically fed lamb in the fall.  What else might we easily raise about the gardens that could be beneficial to our gardening process as well as serve an ultimate purpose of providing food for the family?  Turkeys!  For years I had been either sourcing a local Thanksgiving turkey or ordering as wholesome of bird as I could find from a local health food store.  Why not try raising a couple turkeys?

The thing about growing healthy, happy animals for your own family’s food is that when other people find out what you are doing, they want healthy food for their family, too.  Maybe they are not wild about knowing all of the details, but they certainly would rather know that the chicken, lamb, or turkey they are cooking for their own dinner table was happily going about its business on a sunny hillside a few miles out of town a short time ago rather than think about so many animals that are raised for our dinner tables in very confined, smelly spaces and being fed low-grade feed. 

We get a lot of questions about our attachment to our animals and the fact that the chickens, turkeys, and lambs are raised for food, not necessarily companionship.  No one shames us for it, but a lot of customers state that they could not do it.  Sometimes I am surprised that we can do it.  We thoroughly enjoy baby animals and just love everything about them….their frolicking energy, fuzziness, cuteness, and dependence for food and shelter.  From Day One we know that specific animals will eventually be food for us or for our customers, but that does not keep us from caring for those animals and tending to them just as we do our pets.  Fortunately, farm animals have a way of becoming independent, large, smelly, demanding, and well, not so cute.  As that transition happens from tiny, sweet baby animals to full-grown animals we still take great care of our livestock, but we give more thought to how we will conscientiously honor the animal’s life and make sure its last days are sunny, well-fed, and just plain enjoyable.  We both enjoy having meat with our meals and we feel we need to materially participate in raising and butchering some of that meat to fully appreciate it.  Raising animals for food is fun, entertaining, melancholy, soul-searching, rewarding, and difficult all at the same time. 

So, as the scope of our Bear Butte Gardens vision grows, we gradually add in the components that we need for the gardens and for our own family and also see where our customers’ needs take us.

Organic Agriculture Can’t Feed the World... What?

The following text (greatly Para-phrased) is from an interview with Will Harris III, by Diego Footer.  Diago has a podcast called Permaculture Voices.  This interview is from podcast episode 28: Industrial Farmer to Beyond Organic Icon, Will Harris III of White Oak Pastures.

Some people say “Organic farming methods will never be able to feed the world’s growing population.”

I say…

That is an interesting statement, and I would like to discuss it with you.  But before we have that discussion, I would like to stipulate and agree to the fact that neither “organic” farming systems, nor “conventional” farming systems will feed the world if the population grows indefinitely, forever.  Certainly, the world has a maximum carrying capacity.  Most people will agree to that point.

So then, I’ll concede to you right now, that conventional farming systems (e.g. centralized, commoditized, industrialized, mono-culture) can produce more food per acre, if land is the limiting factor.  But, if fossil fuel becomes the limiting factor, then organic farming systems win – because organic farming systems easily produce more food per acre with much less fossil fuel usage.  And if water becomes the limiting factor, then organic wins – because organic farming systems easily produce more food per acre with less water than conventional farming systems can.  And if antibiotic resistant pathogens become the limiting factor, then organic wins again – because organic farming systems rely much less on antibiotics than conventional farming systems do.  And if pollution becomes the limiting factor, then organic wins yet again – because organic systems pollute much less than conventional systems.  And if environmental disasters (such as the dead-zone in the Gulf of Mexico) become the limiting factor, then organic wins again.  And this can go on and on.

It is not as simple as coming to a conclusion based on current conditions alone.  There are many factors involved, which may change in the future.  Organic farming systems have more chances to win.

With that concept in mind, I started thinking about how conventional farming systems currently work, the dependencies involved, and just how fragile a system it really is.  The quantity and complexities of these dependencies is vast.

The following list (rather dis-organized) is intended as fodder – just to get you thinking about what could happen.  If something would change with any one of these items, or with multiple items, it could have a huge impact upon conventional farming systems.

• Fossil fuel
• Current and future fossil fuel reserves
• consider the concept of “peak oil”
• Politics and wars with foreign countries where fossil fuels exist
• think about all the wars fought in the middle-east over oil
• The ability to safely extract fossil fuels
• remember the recent BP oil well disaster in the Gulf of Mexico
• consider “fracking” methods
• The ability to safely transport fossil fuels
• remember the Exxon Valdez oil spill
• think about the current Keystone XL pipeline controversy
• Government
• USDA, FDA, & EPA influences and regulations
• GMO labeling
• International Trade (free trade, tariffs, sanctions, Trans-Pacific Partnership, etc.)
• Food Freedom (think Raw Milk)
• Economy
• think great depression
• think recession of 2008
• think “housing crisis”, “banking crisis”, “energy crisis”
• Politics
• think Farm Bill
• think “do nothing congress”
• Technology
• Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs)
• Antibiotics
• Chemical fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, etc.
• Green Energy (e.g. solar, wind, hydro, geothermal, etc.)
• High-Tech products
• think tractors and combines that depend upon computers and GPS
• think chip implants into livestock
• Industries
• Oil/Energy
• AG Equipment (tractors, implements, etc.)
• Transportation/shipping (trucking, rail, air, sea, etc.)
• think about the current rail car shortage impacting corn producers
• Groceries/retail
• Stock Markets/Investments
• Banking
• Labor Unions
• Health Issues (possibly linked to chemical use by conventional farming methods)
• Diseases (e.g. cancer, diabetes, autism, obesity, etc.)
• Early puberty issues
• Environment
• Natural/normal weather patterns (storms, drought, fires, etc.)
• remember the October 4, 2013 blizzard in SD
• think about the droughts in TX, CA, etc.
• remember “Super Storm Sandy”
• Global warming
• think about changing growing seasons and zones (e.g. frost-safe dates, first-frost dates, min/max/avg temperatures, moisture rates, wind velocity, etc.)
• think about loss of farm land to flooding, population relocation, etc.
• Honey Bee Colony Collapse Disorder crisis
• Water (quantity, quality, etc.)
• remember West Virginia chemical spill
• remember Toledo water crisis
• think PowerTech Uranium Mining proposal
• Pollution
• Gulf of Mexico Dead Zone
• Toxic waste from North Dakota Oil Fields

I’m certain you could add many more items to this list.  Thinking about what could change with any one item in the list, the probability of change, and how a change could impact the food on your table (via conventional AG systems), is scary enough.  Then think about a combination of changes in multiple areas.  Mind blowing!

For example, suppose someday IF someone proved that autism is caused by Roundup Ready BT corn.  Wow!  That would change the entire conventional farming system from top to bottom!  Or imagine if the Ogallala aquifer became contaminated or experienced decreased production due to extended drought (like in TX or CA).  Wow!  That would change conventional farming greatly as well. 

And yes, these potential changes could also impact organic farming.  But in all likelihood, to a much lesser extent – especially if “organic” is combined with “local”.  That is the way we put food on the table for ten thousand years, up until "conventional" farming methods developed within the last 100 years or so.  And that is my point.

Do you still want to bet on conventional farming as the best way to feed the world’s growing population?

Rick Grosek

Bear Butte Gardens

www.BearButteGardens.com

Rick@BearButteGardens.com

Upcoming Projects – Help Wanted!

Upcoming Projects – Help Wanted!

We have had a very busy winter at Bear Butte Gardens planning new projects for 2014!  I don’t know how we will accomplish every project that we have on the list.  So, I thought I would share the list and ask for a little help!   I’m hoping for a little give-and-take collaboration.

• What I have to gain:  Getting some projects done.
• What I have to give:  Experience and education about how to complete specific tasks.
• What you have to gain:  Experience and education.
• What you have to give:  Labor.

The project list below includes a brief description of each project and some indication of when I hope to work on the project.  If you see something that interests you, please feel free to contact me.  We can discuss it.  If you are interested in learning how to do the task, maybe we can identify a schedule that works for both of us.  You can help me get the work done while learning something new.  I see this kinda like an internship program, but with fewer strings attached.

Project List:

1. Build Fence – both barb wire fence and woven wire fence
   
   
   We have a variety of fencing projects – from small to large.  Tasks will include building “H” braces, installing “T” posts, installing barb wire, installing woven wire, installing electric wire, and building gates.  I plan to work on these projects whenever I have the time and resources, from now until the ground freezes in the fall.
   
   
2. Build Chicken Tractors
   
   Last year I built one “Joel Salatin style” chicken tractor.  This year I plan to build two more – one will be for chickens, one for turkeys (12 inches taller than the chicken tractor).  These tractors will house our “meat” birds.  This is an early spring project (April/May).
   
   
   Link:  Bear Butte Gardens - Building a Chicken Tractor
   
   
3. Add onto our Existing Chicken Coop
   
   
   Last year I built a chicken coop.  The primary use of this coop is to house our laying hens during winter months.  Last fall, I didn’t get a chance to add-on the outdoor, fenced-in, chicken “run”.  The October blizzard kinda impacted my schedule a bit.  Last October I setup a dog kennel for the chickens to use as a temporary outdoor run.  This year I plan to complete that project.  This is a late spring project (May).
   
   Link:  Bear Butte Gardens - Building a Chicken Coop
   
   
4. Build a New Turkey Coop
   
   
   We are expanding our organic turkey operation into a year-round endeavor, with hopes of breeding and hatching our own turkey poults.  We plan to house our adult, breeding turkeys in a new coop.  This structure will probably be similar in design to the chicken coop I built last year, but taller.  I plan to build a new turkey coop and outdoor run late spring (May).
   
   
5. Build a Portable Chicken Coop (Eggmobile)
   This year we plan to put our egg laying hens out on pasture for the summer.  In order to protect these hens from predators and weather, I plan to convert an old Dodge ranch truck into a portable “Joel Salatin style” eggmobile.  I plan to replace the truck box with a wooden coop structure.  Our eggmobile won’t be as large as Joel’s, but will server a similar purpose.  I plan to work on this project thru the early summer (May-July) as time and resources allow.
   
   Link:  Joel Salatin's Eggmobile
6. Build a Vegetable Cleaning Facility
   
   In order to improve the efficiency of washing vegetables for our CSA shares, we plan to expand one of our greenhouse to include a new room.  This room will be used to wash and weigh vegetables.  I’m planning this project for early summer (June-July).
7. Install Electricity to one of our Greenhouses
   
   
   Our permanent-structure greenhouse #1 gets too hot!  So, we want to install an under-ground electrical cable to this greenhouse and install a couple ventilation fans.  This will be a late summer project (September-October).
   
   
8. Move a Garden/Tool Shed
   
   
   This small project will involve moving a small garden/tool shed from one place to another.  I don’t really have a target time to complete this project.  I just want it done sometime this summer.
   
   
9. Build an Underground Root Cellar
   
   
   Michelle is hoping to have a root cellar to store root-crop vegetables this fall.  This will be a late summer project (September).
   
   
10. Build/install a Roadside Sign for “Bear Butte Gardens”
    
    
    We have already arranged for two large 8x8 signs to be painted.  This project will involve installing the posts and framing to mount the signs at the end of the driveway.  This will be a late spring project (May).
    
    
11. Build several Permaculture Swales and Ponds
    
    
    This is actually a huge project that I plan to work on for the next decade.  I’ve been researching, studying, and learning as much as I can about key-line water management processes for over two years now.  This project will be based on information from Bill Mollison, Geoff Lawton, and Mark Shepard.  I plan to work on this project whenever I get the opportunity.  For more information, Google “permaculture swale”.
    
    
12. Collect Rocks for a New Rock Wall
    
    
    A wonderful friend of ours is building a rock wall for us!  The wall is intended to block the wind and help protect our high-tunnel greenhouse.  We have been gathering rocks from a site a few miles away, but we need several more loads.  It is hard work, but it saves in gym membership fees!  We get a load of rocks whenever we have the resources and time.

Note:  Bear Butte Gardens is USDA Organic Certified.  This means that we cannot use any treated wood for any structures which might come into contact with either vegetables or livestock.  This rule requires us to utilize other building materials (e.g. cedar, metal, concrete, rock, etc.) that are approved for organic certified facilities.

So, if you have the time, energy, want to learn about an organic certified gardening/farming operation, and are willing to give us a helping hand, please feel free to contact me!

Thank you!

Rick Grosek

Bear Butte Gardens
Sturgis, South Dakota
www.BearButteGardens.com
Rick@BearButteGardens.com

My Favorite Things (Seeds!)

I have some of my seeds ordered, but still need to get a couple more orders made.  The first thing I do when preparing to order seeds is inventory what I have left over from last year, make a list, and then determine what I need this year and what I would like this year…..not always the same thing!  :-)

Now that I have been gardening as a business for a few years, I have a few varieties that have become favorites and I would like to share those with you:

Asian Greens

• Kyona Mizuna
• Prize Pac Choi
• Tatsoi

Beans

• Bush - Royal Burgundy Snap
• Pole - Red Noodle

Broccoli

• Umpqua

Cabbage

• Red Acre

Cauliflower

• Romanesco Veronica

Cucumber

• Armenian (technically a melon, but grown and sold as a cucumber)

Eggplant

• Ping Tung

Endive

• Treffine Maraichere Frisee

Garlic

• Chesnok Red
• Chet's Italian

Herbs

• Genovese Sweet Basil

Kale

• Lacinato
• Red Russian

Onions

• Dakota Tears
• Italian Red Torpedo

Peas

• Oregon Giant Snow

Peppers

• Wenk's Yellow Hots
• Purple Beauty (sweet)
• Anaheim

Potatoes

• French Fingerlings
• Yukon Gold

Pumpkins

• Howden-Dakota

Radishes

• French Breakfast

Summer Squash

• Costata Romanesca Zucchini

Swiss Chard

• Rainbow

Tomatoes

• Japanese Black Trifele
• Oxheart
• Black Cherry

Winter Squash

• Hidatsa
• Red Kuri
• Winter Luxury

You may notice I haven't listed many favorite items:  corn, lettuce, spinach, melons, most herbs.  It's not because I don't like them, I just haven't found a "favorite" yet.  I like pretty much every vegetable and fruit that I grow, but some really jump out at me as must-haves for future seasons.  I reserve the right to update my favorites on a yearly basis!  Happy seed shopping!  And as always, please order your seeds from sustainable sources, seek out the heirlooms (and even better, organic certified!), and try to buy as regionally as you can, even if that means the "northern states" or "midwest".  Your garden plants will thank you for it!

Michelle
www.BearButteGardens.com
Michelle@BearButteGardens.com
Sturgis, SD

How this Farmer Uses Google News

As a small business owner, as a voting citizen, as a husband and father, as a farmer, as a person with a curious mind, and as a contributing member of society (I could go on and on), I feel I have some level of responsibility to attempt to be educated and informed on important issues that impact my everyday life and the people around me.  But how can anyone truly be informed on all important issues?  The Internet can provide an incredible volume of information.  But what information is important?  What sources of information are accurate and reliable?  How can someone possibly manage all that information without going absolutely crazy?  Well, I don't know that it really is possible, but I do know of a couple tools that might help a little!  In this BLOG post, I want to share just one Internet based tool that I use to help me keep my sanity.  I'm not necessarily a Google fanboi, but I do like some of their products.  I like Gmail.  I like YouTube.  I like Blogger.  And, I like Google News.  Today's post is about Google News -- what it can do and some tips in how to use it.

When Michelle and I decided to start a gardening & greenhouse business, I felt completely overwhelmed by my lack of knowledge.  Some of the topics I knew I needed to study-up on included: USDA Organic Certification, current events involving the EPA, anything to do with Monsanto, news about the South Dakota Legislature, Permaculture Design Courses, anything about Honey Bees, and any news about Joel Salatin.  Regardless of starting a business, there are some topics that I like to keep up with, such as: local news about Sturgis, any news about specific politicians, and anything that pops-up on the internet with my last name "Grosek" or our business name of "Bear Butte Gardens".  I could sit at the computer every day and execute a series of Google searches... and try to sort out what is new and what is old, and try to sort out where the information came from... Or, I could let Google news do it for me.   :o)

What is Google News?

This description is from the "About Google News" page:

Google News is a computer-generated news site that aggregates headlines from news sources worldwide, groups similar stories together and displays them according to each reader's personalized interests. 

Traditionally, news readers first pick a publication and then look for headlines that interest them. We do things a little differently, with the goal of offering our readers more personalized options and a wider variety of perspectives from which to choose. On Google News we offer links to several articles on every story, so you can first decide what subject interests you and then select which publishers’ accounts of each story you’d like to read. Click on the headline that interests you and you'll go directly to the site which published that story. 

Our articles are selected and ranked by computers that evaluate, among other things, how often and on what sites a story appears online. We also rank based on certain characteristics of news content such as freshness, location, relevance and diversity. As a result, stories are sorted without regard to political viewpoint or ideology and you can choose from a wide variety of perspectives on any given story.

How to get started using Google News:

Step 1

First of all, you will need a Google account.  Creating a Google account is easy and free.  If you don't already have a Google account, click here to create one.

Step 2
Sign in to Google with your Google account by going to www.Google.com, and clicking on the "Sign in" button in the upper right.

Step 3
Now that you are signed-in, you can click on the Google "Apps" icon in the upper right.  This will pop-up the Google Apps menu.  From this menu, you can navigate to a variety of Google applications.  The application we want is "News".

Step 4
The first time you go to Google News, you will see current news stories based on the default categories that Google recommends.  This is kinda interesting already, but the real power of Google News is in personalizing the news stories to include topics that you are interested in.  To personalize YOUR news topics, click on the icon of a gear in the upper right.

Step 5
This opens the "Personalize Google News" panel.  From this panel, you can enter news topics that you are interested in, and remove any topics you are not interested in.  This is what my "Personalize Google News" panel looks like:

To add topics, find the text input box labeled "Add any news topic" near the bottom, and then click on the "+" button to the right.  What you enter here functions very similar to what you might enter when executing a Google Internet Search -- except that the Google News application will remember your entries.  From my example above, you can see what search terms I used.  The search convention is similar to a regular Google Internet search in that you can use quotes to search on multiple-word phrases, etc.

To remove topics, hover over the term until the trash can icon appears, and then trash it!

You can also customize the "frequency" of how news topics appear by using the slider control.  This can help cut down on some of the static.  Cool huh?

If you need to create a very customized topic, then click on the "Advanced" link.

In addition to all that, you can "Adjust Sources" of your personalized news topics.  From here, you can increase or decrease the importance of specific news "sources".  For example, I don't like Fox News, so I decreased that one.  I also entered some news sources (e.g. Mead County Times Tribune) that Google didn't have by default.

When you are done with your personalizations, be sure to save your preferences by clicking on the "Save" button.

Also, remember that you can continue to "tweak" your personalizations until you get them just right!

Step 6
Enjoy reading the news!  Now, when you log-in to Google and go to the News app, you will see recent news stories that are important to you, and from sources that you like.  The appearance of your screen can be customized even further, but this is what my News looks like today:

On the left is a list of topics.  I can click on any of these to jump down to that topic.  I like the default topic of "Top Stories" to be at the top of the list.  After that you can see my custom topics listed below.

In the center is the main list of news stories, grouped and sorted by my personalized topics.  There are lots of links to click on to get more details from the original web source.

Please note: Google News lists "recent" content found on various web sites.  When you execute a Google Internet search, you will get "all" content, ranked and prioritized, regardless of the content's age.

On the right is a list of recent topics, and other tools.


Every day I try to go into Google News and at least scan through the news stories.  If something catches my eye, I can easily get more details.  It works for me, and I hope it might save you a little time and help you be more productive!

Cheers!

Rick Grosek
Bear Butte Gardens
Sturgis, South Dakota
www.BearButteGardens.com
Rick@BearButteGardens.com

I Love Podcasts! And this is why!

Do you listen to Podcasts?  I do, and I think it is a great way to get a wealth of educational information!  If you want to learn about something, and I mean almost any topic, you may want to consider listening to podcasts too.

What exactly is a podcast?  According to About.com:

A podcast is an audio or video program formatted to be played on the iPod and made available for free or for purchase over the Internet.

Podcasts are shows, similar to radio or TV shows, that are produced by professionals or amateurs and posted to the Internet for download and listening or viewing. Many podcasts are made available for free, though some must be purchased.

I think of a podcast as a special radio talk show about a specific topic, that I can listen to whenever I choose.  Whenever I am ready to listen, there is an episode to listen to, of a topic that I choose!  Now that's convenient!  Most podcasts that I listen to are less than 60 minutes per episode, some as short as ten minutes per episode.  It works great for me - with my 50 minute commute to work.  All the podcasts I've listened to have been free.  Podcasts can be audio or video.  I generally only listen to audio podcasts.

What topics are available?  You name it!  Almost every topic you can think of!  Over several years, I've listened to podcasts about gardening, permaculture, agriculture, food freedom, healthy living, sustainability, homesteading, bee keeping, music, music/audio recording, mixing live music, music instruments, bluegrass bands, computers, databases, backpacking, canoeing, dog training, product reviews (e.g. cars, phones, computers, guitars, etc.), American history, world news, and politics, just to list a few.

Where are the podcasts?  In general terms, a podcast is a collection of episodes.  It is common for a podcast to have a new episode on some kind of schedule (e.g. weekly, monthly, quarterly, etc.).  When someone creates a new podcast episode, it can be "published" in a couple different ways.  The most popular place to publish a podcast is to the Apple iTunes Store.  The iTunes Store contains an staggering quantity of podcasts.  These podcasts can then be subscribed to and down-loaded from the iTunes Store.

Here is a link to preview the Apple iTunes Store Podcast Directory.

A note about the Apple iTunes Store: In order to access the iTunes Store, you will need an Apple ID account.  You can create this account for free.  You do not need to use an Apple iPhone or iMac computer to use the iTunes Store.  You can access the iTunes Store from a variety of devices (e.g. iPhones, other smart phones, Apple iMac computers, Windows computers, etc.).  The process of creating an account leads you to believe you must provide a credit card to complete the process.  If you do so, the credit card will not be charged unless you purchase something from the iTunes Store.  And, they do make it pretty clear when you are about to purchase something (as opposed to downloading something that is free).  However, there is a way to create an Apple ID account without providing a credit card.  Follow this link to learn how.

Another way to publish a podcast episode is to put it on a specific web site that you author and control.  Other people can then go to your website and play or download the podcast.  An example of this can be found at the Farm-To-Consumer Legal Defense Fund website.  On the main page of this website, they maintain a list of news topics.  Some of the news topics are actually links to specific podcast episodes.  From there you can listen to the podcast (streaming over the internet to your computer), subscribe to the podcast, or link to the iTunes Store.  Another example of this publishing method is the NPR (National Public Radio) Podcast Directory.

How to get podcasts?  I mainly get and listen to podcasts on my Apple iPhone, but you can get podcasts on most other smart phones and computers also.  First you need to find the podcast, then you can either "subscribe" to the podcast, or simply pick an episode and listen to it.

This is how I do it with my Apple iPhone:

1. I went to the Apple website and created an Apple ID Account.  Here is a link.
2. On my iPhone, I went to the Apple App Store and downloaded the free application "Podcasts" made by Apple.  This application will allow you to connect to the Apple iTunes store, find podcasts, subscribe to podcasts, manage your podcast subscriptions, and actually listen to podcast episodes.
3. From the "Podcasts" application, I can search for podcasts by entering key words/phrases (i.e. "organic gardening", etc.), or browse thru categories of podcasts (i.e. Arts, Business, Health, Music, Technology, etc.), or browse thru featured podcasts.
4. Once I find a podcast that looks interesting, I can either subscribe to it, or select an episode and listen to it.  Generally, I listen to at least one episode to decide if I'm interested.  If I like it, then I subscribe to the podcast.
5. After I subscribe to a podcast, I can configure the settings of that specific podcast to download episodes as I specify - or I can simply use the defaults.  Since I have an unlimited cell phone data plan, I'm generally fairly liberal with my download configuration.  I usually set it to download new episodes automatically, and keep all un-listened-to episodes on my iPhone.  After I listen to an episode it is automatically deleted from my iPhone.  If I didn't have the unlimited data plan and needed to be more frugal with data downloads, I would set the podcasts to download manually, and I would only download episodes when I have access to free wi-fi (e.g. at a coffee shop, library, etc.).  I could even only download specific episodes based on episode title and description.  However you get the podcast episodes to download, you can then listen to them any time you want to.  
6. I can connect my iPhone to the USB port in my car and listen to the podcast episodes with my car stereo.  This works great for my commute to work.  This also works great when we go on road trips across South Dakota, Wyoming, or Montana where Internet access is not available and radio stations are not cutting it.

This method of getting podcasts (e.g. using the Podcasts app to subscribe to podcasts in the iTunes Store) takes all the work out of it!  It becomes an automated process.  All I need to do is listen.  Nice!

Here is a list of my favorite podcasts right now.  These are all available on the iTunes Store by searching for the podcast name.  Or you can go to their associated websites by clicking on the links below.

• An Organic Conversation - An actual radio talk show based in San Francisco, that  also gets published to a podcast.  They cover health, food, environmental, and gardening topics.  Great show!  This is Michelle's favorite!

• The Permaculture Podcast - Permaculture education and interviews

• Terra Informa - Each week Terra Informa delivers coverage of breaking environmental news from across Canada and around the world. From corporate wrongdoings to tips on living a little greener, they are your source for the news that the mainstream media missed.

• Homesteading and Permaculture by Paul Wheaton - Sometimes Paul is very direct in making a point, and often uses adult language, but his content is very useful.

• The Organic View - The Organic View Radio Show, part of The Organic View Radio Network, is a unique, live, interactive, Internet talk-radio show that features key leaders, scientists and educators who work within industries that involve organics, environment, technology, pollinator health, wildlife, and clean energy.

• Sustainable World Radio - Ecology and Permaculture Podcast

• Food Rights Hour Podcast - The podcast about: small-scale farmer, consumer, and producer rights; effects of genetically engineered crops and foods; farm raids; nutrient-dense traditional foods; homeopathy; raw milk laws; sustainable agriculture and more!

• The Agroinnovations Podcast - Provides people with information about permaculture, organic agriculture, appropriate technology and other strategies to further relocalization and regenerative ecosystem management.

• Vegetable Gardening

• The Self-Sufficient Gardener

I hope this information helps you get started with the wonderful world of podcasts!  Please feel free to contact me with any questions, comments, or suggestions you may have.

Rick Grosek

Bear Butte Gardens

Sturgis, South Dakota

www.BearButteGardens.com

Rick@BearButteGardens.com