Episodes

  • Ditto Foods: Where a pair of hydroponic farmers persevered through 25 rejections before being able to start their own urban farm and invest in the place they call home
    Jan 10 2023
    Nick Carter (Host - Market Wagon CEO) (00:00): Thanks for joining us. I think you're going to find this first episode of 2023 as fascinating as I did. It's about a pair of farmers named Derek and Brad, who grow about three acres worth of produce in just 320 square feet. They're using hydroponics to, as Derek put it, replicate Mother Nature at its finest. And for an old dirt farmer like me, it was really fun to talk with them about the science behind this technology. But in between all of the talk about soil science and chemistry and light spectrums, I hope you don't miss the story of endurance and entrepreneurship, perseverance, and above all, the meaningfulness of investing in the place you call home. Enjoy. Nick Carter (Host - Market Wagon CEO) (00:45): Welcome to More Than a Mile, a local food podcast from Market Wagon focused on connecting you to local food through farmer stories from across America. I'm Nick Carter, your host, a farmer and CEO and co-founder of Market Wagon. We are your online farmers market with a mission to enable food producers to thrive in their local and regional markets. Food is so much more than just nutrients and calories. It's actually the fabric that holds us together. Thanks for joining me for this episode of More Than a Mile, and thank you for buying local food. That's one critical step in making an investment in food for future generations. All right, well, I'm really excited. My guests today are Derek Drake and Brad Schiever of Ditto Foods. Really excited to have you guys. Thanks for joining. Derek Drake (Ditto Foods) (01:32): Thanks for having us. Brad Schiever (Ditto Foods) (01:33): Yes, thank you. Nick Carter (Host - Market Wagon CEO) (01:33): You know, some people farm just because they have to, some people get to choose to farm because they want to. And a few people farm because they want to change the world or their corner of the world. And I've been looking forward to this conversation because that describes, I think both you and I, Derek. But our farms look very different. . Derek Drake (Ditto Foods) (01:56): Oh yeah. Nick Carter (Host - Market Wagon CEO) (01:58): So how big's your farm? Derek Drake (Ditto Foods) (01:59): It is a 40 foot shipping container, so 320 square feet. Nick Carter (Host - Market Wagon CEO) (02:04): And where is it sitting right now? Derek Drake (Ditto Foods) (02:06): It's in our driveway in the back of our house Nick Carter (Host - Market Wagon CEO) (02:10): In the south suburb of Chicago. Derek Drake (Ditto Foods) (02:12): In the south suburbs of Chicago. Yes. On our property. So we take up a very small footprint. Nick Carter (Host - Market Wagon CEO) (02:17): How many cows can you get in that shipping container? I'm just kidding. Derek Drake (Ditto Foods) (02:20): Oh, probably about five. Nick Carter (Host - Market Wagon CEO) (02:25): Ok Derek Drake (Ditto Foods) (02:25): They won't be able to move around, but Nick Carter (Host - Market Wagon CEO) (02:27): Not a whole lot of grazing inside there, Derek Drake (Ditto Foods) (02:29): . Ok. No, Nick Carter (Host - Market Wagon CEO) (02:30): This is a fascinating journey. I want to start from the beginning. So 2020, Covid happens. You are senior staff at Kellogg, Northwestern University mm-hmm. . And that comes to an end with a furlough related to Covid. Tell me what happens from there. Derek Drake (Ditto Foods) (02:47): Well, I've always been one of those folks that goes to, all right, what's the next right move for me. In grad school, I've created a business plan for a food truck concept. And it was kind of marrying food truck meets tiny home. And after the furlough, I was like, okay, I want to see if I can do something with this. And started down this long rabbit hole of looking for developers, manufacturers of food trucks and tiny homes and seeing what we can do. And went to Brad and said, all right, I'd like to go down this route. And so I started the search and found this company out of Boston called Freight Farms that manufactures these shipping container farms, and went to Brad and said, I think I wanna be a farmer. I think this is the next right move. And he thought I was crazy. And we started the journey. Nick Carter (Host - Market Wagon CEO) (03:52): And today you're a farmer, Derek Drake (Ditto Foods) (03:54): And today I'm a farmer in a shipping container. Yes. Nick Carter (Host - Market Wagon CEO) (03:57): Take that Brad New Speaker (03:59): . Brad Schiever (Ditto Foods) (04:00): Right, Right? It was interesting. It was interesting to say the least for Derek to say, we're gonna grow three acres of farm and three acres of crops in 320 square feet. It took a lot of, a lot of convincing and a lot of research and understanding of what exactly that meant to be a farmer, especially without soil. Nick Carter (Host - Market Wagon CEO) (04:21): Well, I, I want to dive into that for sure. Because I'm a farmer with soil and a lot of it. And and this whole concept is fascinating to me....
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    30 mins
  • The Homestead: Where a busy working mom reinvigorated her downtown, all because she didn't want to miss out on the fun when loved ones came to visit. Now her recipes can be found on tables all across the state.
    Dec 6 2022
    Nick Carter (Host - Market Wagon CEO): Thank you for tuning into our holiday episode. Today you are going to hear a great story of Jody. It’s an entrepreneurial success story in small town America. Jody is a farmer’s wife. Her family wanted to reinvigorate the dying downtown of a small Indiana community. So they started a small homey business and they called it The Homestead and it’s just grown from there. They’re in two locations now. They have a blossoming eCommerce business. But the origin story is due to this farmer’s wife being a busy mom—they had 5 girls in 6 years—and she didn’t want to be stuck in the kitchen any time they had friends or family over. So she learned some tricks about how to have frozen meals ready to pull out and heat up and today she’s sharing those with you. As CEO and chief cook of The Homestead, she’s going to talk about some of her tricks. We’re going to talk about one of my favorites, the Indiana state pie, a delicacy called the sugar cream pie, so listen in for that. She’s going to have some inspiring advice for would-be entrepreneurs and letting you know why it’s important to know where your food comes from. Thanks for tuning in. Enjoy. Nick Carter (Host - Market Wagon CEO): Welcome to More Than a Mile, a local food podcast from Market Wagon focused on connecting you to local food through farmer stories from across America. I'm Nick Carter, your host, a farmer and CEO and co-founder of Market Wagon. We are your online farmers market with a mission to enable food producers to thrive in their local and regional markets. Food is so much more than just nutrients and calories. It's actually the fabric that holds us together. Thanks for joining me for this episode of More Than a Mile, and thank you for buying local food. It's one critical step in making an investment in food for future generations. My guest today is Jody Bahler, the CEO, founder and chief cook at The Homestead. Jody, thanks for joining us. Jody Bahler (The Homestead): Hi Nick. How are you? Nick Carter (Host - Market Wagon CEO): I'm doing great. Good. So we are doing this recording virtually, but we could have gotten together. You are just an hour away from where I'm at in Indianapolis, up in Remington, Indiana. Right? Yep. I know that you've got a background in farming. Do you and your husband still farm? Jody Bahler (The Homestead): Yes, absolutely. That's Mike. And Mike farms with his two brothers. so it's a hundred year farm here in Indiana and that's where we've lived since we've been married and raised our five girls. Nick Carter (Host - Market Wagon CEO): That is so cool. Jody Bahler (The Homestead): I grew up on a dairy farm and married a hog farmer, so I got an ag background myself, . Nick Carter (Host - Market Wagon CEO): So you grew up on a dairy farm where at? Jody Bahler (The Homestead): I grew up in Kansas, little town of Lamont, Kansas. Teeny tiny town near Emporia State University, Kansas State University. So that was where I began. Nick Carter (Host - Market Wagon CEO): So I grew up on a dairy farm too. Not really heavy in production because we had gotten rid of the milking equipment. So I just bred. What did you raise? What, do you know what breed? Holsteins, of course. Jody Bahler (The Homestead): Yep. Nick Carter (Host - Market Wagon CEO): Yeah. Very cool. So you were no stranger to the farm life when your husband, Mike decided to whisk you off to the farm life in Indiana? Jody Bahler (The Homestead): Nope. Absolutely not. Nick Carter (Host - Market Wagon CEO): How'd the two of you meet? Jody Bahler (The Homestead): We actually met through our church. We did a lot of traveling and back and forth with our church network across the United States, and we had met through that. And so that was, that was, yeah, that was primarily how we met and got acquainted. Nick Carter (Host - Market Wagon CEO): Oh, that's neat. So moved Indiana, how many daughters did you say? Jody Bahler (The Homestead): We have five girls. Nick Carter (Host - Market Wagon CEO): Five girls. Are they, are any of 'em still in the house or have they moved on? Jody Bahler (The Homestead): Our oldest is still home. Um, she's 26, and then we have twin girls that are 25. Then we have, we had two girls after that. So youngest is, is 20, they range anywhere from 20 to 26. And the oldest is the only one single and living at home still. She's an RN and works in Lafayette, Nick Carter (Host - Market Wagon CEO): So she's a nurse. So she took that on after you as well. I'm understanding you're a nurse. Jody Bahler (The Homestead): She did, she did. She followed in my footsteps. . Nick Carter (Host - Market Wagon CEO): Cool. So tell me a little bit about what it's like to raise five girls on a farm in rural Indiana. Jody Bahler (The Homestead): Well, it's been a good life. I wouldn't trade it. We love the country life. We love, we loved being able to raise our girls on the farm and to know what hard work means. ...
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    37 mins
  • Classic City Gourmet Mushroom: Honoring our Veterans with Dr. Sara Skinner and hear from her about the journey from the Army to mushroom farmer and professor of social work at the University of Georgia.
    Nov 9 2022
    Nick Carter (Host - Market Wagon CEO) (00:00): Hello, and thanks for joining the podcast. My guest today is Dr. Sara Skinner. She's the owner of Classic City Gourmet Mushrooms. And with Veterans Day on Friday, it just seemed appropriate to share her journey to becoming a mushroom farmer because it's directly connected the time that she spent in the Army. And she may have left the Army 12 years ago, but she's never really stopped advocating for veterans. She's now a professor of social work at the University of Georgia. She's even designed courses that help other clinicians working with veterans and military families. And as you're about to hear, while she has no desire to be the mushroom queen, farming itself has really become an important part of her healing process because of the hope that's found in growing things and investing in the future. Nick Carter (Host - Market Wagon CEO) (00:46): Welcome to More Than a Mile, a local food podcast from Market Wagon focused on connecting you to local food through farmer stories from across America. I'm Nick Carter, your host, a farmer and CEO and co-founder of Market Wagon. We are your online farmer's market with a mission to enable food producers to thrive in their local and regional markets. Food is so much more than just nutrients and calories. It's actually the fabric that holds us together. Thanks for joining me for this episode of More Than a Mile, and thank you for buying local food. It's one critical step in making an investment in food for future generations. Well, my guest today is Sara. Sara, thanks for joining us. Dr. Sara Skinner (Classic City Gourmet Mushrooms) (01:28): Yeah, no problem. Nick Carter (Host - Market Wagon CEO) (01:29): I love your story. At time of recording, we are coming up on Veterans Day. So it's a time of year everybody acknowledges, you know, the sacrifices veterans have made throughout the generations in our country. Seems like every day's Veteran's Day for you though, right? This is a lived reality. Dr. Sara Skinner (Classic City Gourmet Mushrooms) (01:48): That is true. Nick Carter (Host - Market Wagon CEO) (01:49): So we're gonna talk about your service and how that's brought us around to growing mushrooms. I just want to start at the beginning and first of all, say thank you for serving our country to you and your husband. Dr. Sara Skinner (Classic City Gourmet Mushrooms) (02:02): Thank you for your support. Nick Carter (Host - Market Wagon CEO) (02:04): Of course. How did you get, you know, today you're a mushroom farmer. You started in the Army. How did you get, how did you decide to join the army right out of high school? Dr. Sara Skinner (Classic City Gourmet Mushrooms) (02:14): . So I didn't actually, So I grew up as a military brat. My dad was a, um, lifelong Army soldier. Growing up I was very adamant of like, I'm never gonna go in the army. No way. Then after high school, I did one semester in college and it didn't go very great . Uh, and so I was like, Hm, Army's not looking so bad now. So, yeah, after I did one semester of college and then I joined the Army mostly to kind of help me get back to college, but it turns out I loved it. And, uh, I really had a wonderful experience. Nick Carter (Host - Market Wagon CEO) (02:55): I really love that because I grew up son of a farmer and swore I'm never going to be a farmer. Then I dropped out of college and now I farm. So we have a lot of things in common except I didn't join the military. So you grew up in a military family. You met your husband in the military, right? Dr. Sara Skinner (Classic City Gourmet Mushrooms) (03:15): That's correct, Yeah. Nick Carter (Host - Market Wagon CEO) (03:17): At West Point? Dr. Sara Skinner (Classic City Gourmet Mushrooms) (03:18): That's right. Yeah. So after I was in the Army for a couple years, so I enlisted originally, and so I was enlisted for a couple of years. And then I was given the opportunity to apply to West Point and I was accepted. And so while I was there, I did meet my husband and we've been married for 20 years now. We just did our 20th reunion this past weekend. Nick Carter (Host - Market Wagon CEO) (03:44): Congratulations. Dr. Sara Skinner (Classic City Gourmet Mushrooms) (03:45): Yeah. Nick Carter (Host - Market Wagon CEO) (03:46): And your husband also was in the Army? Dr. Sara Skinner (Classic City Gourmet Mushrooms) (03:48): Yep. Yep. It's a requirement after graduating. So we both graduated and our senior year was when 9/11 happened. So our senior year of college was 2001-2002. We graduated 2002 and pretty much we were both, you know, immediately deployed to Iraq. Nick Carter (Host - Market Wagon CEO) (04:08): So you're newlyweds on deployment. Is that hard? Dr. Sara Skinner (Classic City Gourmet Mushrooms) (04:13): Um, the hard part was most, most of the time we were separated. Yeah. But there was a brief point where we were both deployed to Baghdad at the same time. So I was on one side of the river, he ...
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    26 mins
  • New Horizon Farms: where a 16-year-old's question saves her family's farm and Jackie Bickel and daughter Maggie explain crafting their product and even trash talk some cow breeds
    Oct 26 2022
    Season 2 - Episode 1 Nick Carter (Host - Market Wagon CEO) (00:00): Today we're gonna have a conversation with a farmer and her teenage daughter, who are two key parts of the family owned New Horizon Farm and Dairy, as well as Happy Cows Creamery. They're in southwest Ohio, located about halfway between Cincinnati and Columbus. And as they so eloquently put it, the milk you get from them today was just grass two days ago. But it almost didn't happen. If not for a business plan that was drawn up by a 16-year-old girl, the farm would've likely suffered the same fate as the dozen other dairy farms around him, which have gone out of business in the past 10 years. Welcome back for the second season of the podcast. I am so excited to share the Bickel story with you today. Nick Carter (Host - Market Wagon CEO) (00:40): Welcome to More Than a Mile, a local food podcast from Market Wagon focused on connecting you to local food through farmer stories from across America. I'm Nick Carter, your host, a farmer and CEO and co-founder of Market Wagon. We are your online farmers market with a mission to enable food producers to thrive in their local and regional markets. Food is so much more than just nutrients and calories. It's actually the fabric that holds us together. Thanks for joining me for this episode of More Than a Mile, and thank you for buying local food. That's one critical step in making an investment in food for future generations. I am really excited today to be joined by Jackie Bickel and Maggie Mathews. We are gonna be talking about what turns out to be a story of kind of how a teenager's question and ambitious business plan, breathe new life, and another generation into a family farm. With now the expectation that it becomes a third generation farm. So welcome to the podcast, Jackie, More than a mile, New Horizon farm. Jackie Bickel (New Horizon Dairy) (01:43): Yes. Nick Carter (Host - Market Wagon CEO) (01:43): Yeah. So this was started by your father-in-law, right? Almost 60 years ago? Jackie Bickel (New Horizon Dairy) (01:48): Yes, it'll be 60 years next year. Nick Carter (Host - Market Wagon CEO) (01:51): Okay. And while for over half a century he operated the farm under normal business conditions, it sounds like in the last decade or so, things really, really changed. Right? Jackie Bickel (New Horizon Dairy) (02:04): They did. For decades, my father-in-law, my husband and his two brothers operated essentially a commercial dairy farm where we shipped our milk through a co-op. They came and picked it up by the semi-load every other day. We received pay based on the hundred pound weight, which was established by, you know, federal order. And about 10 years ago, the milk industry went upside down for a variety of reasons. Consumer demand declines, commercial dairies kept getting bigger, family farms kept getting smaller. And with the economy the way that it was, we, at one point we were receiving payment for our milk t hat was the same payment my father-in-law was receiving back in the 1980s. So Nick Carter (Host - Market Wagon CEO) (02:57): Wow. That's not how that's supposed to go Jackie Bickel (New Horizon Dairy) (02:57): . Right, exactly. Yeah. And we knew the demand was there. We just, we couldn't understand it. And my husband was just, he was getting very frustrated and we were talking about an exit strategy, not something that my father-in-law wanted to see happen. Wow. But, you know, putting pen pencil to paper, it just was not, it was not working. Nick Carter (Host - Market Wagon CEO) (03:22): Now the whole, was the whole family aware? Was this a family affair and family conversations around what could happen with the farm? Jackie Bickel (New Horizon Dairy) (03:29): Well, in 2015, my father-in-law retired and he passed the operation down to my husband. So we rent the land off of the family partnership and we still operate the dairy. 2015 prices were great. It was shortly after that where it started the downturn and we did have conversations with my father-in-law. He didn't wanna see it happen. We were looking for other alternatives. We downsized the herd. We started renting out part of our tillable ground to other area farms to farm themselves to keep our expenses down. And it just, it wasn't gonna work. And Maggie came home from an FFA field trip one day. She was on the dairy judging team, and she's like, I have an idea. And of course, we were not interested because we were very focused on what we were going to do. Nick Carter (Host - Market Wagon CEO) (04:29): And she was 16 years old at the time, right? Jackie Bickel (New Horizon Dairy) (04:33): Yep. Just turned 16. Nick Carter (Host - Market Wagon CEO) (04:34): Yeah. Was, was there an aspect of let the adults in the room figure this out? Jackie Bickel (New Horizon Dairy) (04:41): You know, my husband is very hardheaded and I can publicly say that because he's very proud of his hardheadedness. And you know, all he's ever known is ...
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    32 mins
  • Bowerman Blueberries’ family-run farm and market hand-pick their bushes to ensure quality and flavor. Andrew VanTil, co-owner, joins Nick to talk blueberries (including wine), diversifying business, and connecting with customers through Market Wagon.
    Jun 21 2022
    Episode 14 Nick Carter - Host (Market Wagon) (00:01): Today, we're gonna have a conversation with Andrew VanTil of Bowerman Blueberry Farm and Farm Market. They're in West Michigan and if you have tasted blueberries that you bought from Walmart or Kroger, you probably tasted their blueberries at one point or another. So how does a farm who has national distribution in some of the largest retailers in the country, find the value in connecting directly with you on Market Wagon so that you can know their farm, their name, and chat with them so that you can know where your food came from. Happy 4th of July and enjoy the episode. Nick Carter - Host (Market Wagon) (00:35): Welcome to More Than A Mile, a local food podcast from Market Wagon, focused on connecting you to local food through farmer stories from across America. I'm Nick Carter, your host, a farmer and CEO and co-founder of Market Wagon. We are your online farmers market with a mission to enable food producers to thrive in their local and regional markets. Food is so much more than just nutrients and calories. It's actually the fabric that holds us together. And I look forward to crafting a generational quilt of farmer stories and experiences, the victories and challenges of individuals, families, and teams doing their part to help democratize food in America. Thanks for joining me for this episode of More Than A Mile, and thank you for buying local food. It's one critical step in making an investment in food for future generations. Nick Carter - Host (Market Wagon) (01:26): Well, my guest today is Andrew VanTil from Bowerman Blueberries in Michigan. And welcome to the show, Andrew. Andrew VanTil (Bowerman Blueberries Farm Market) (01:34): Good morning, Nick. Nick Carter - Host (Market Wagon) (01:35): Great to have you here. Thanks for joining. So this is our 4th of July episode. We're coming up on the middle of the summer. Is that holiday, does that have a big spike for you guys or what kind of impact does that have on your farm? Andrew VanTil (Bowerman Blueberries Farm Market) (01:48): Oh man. 4Th of July. It's really the start of the season for us. You know, we start harvesting blueberries about a week after the 4th of July. But I think it--I think it really signifies the start of summer for a lot of people. You know, it, here in Michigan, it's, you know, cherries become available right around the 4th of July. We start harvesting blueberries about a week after everybody's out of school, everybody's in summer mode and, you know, for us, it really, it kicks off the summer of amazing Michigan produce. Nick Carter - Host (Market Wagon) (02:21): Awesome. And blueberries are your main thing. Is there anything else you guys grow? Andrew VanTil (Bowerman Blueberries Farm Market) (02:26): So we have dabbled in a lot of things. We have grown strawberries here on the farm. We've grown raspberries on the farm, we've grown pumpkins, you know, it's all been a matter of you know, figuring out how to bring customers in, not only during this time during the 4th of July when things are really busy, but you know, kind of extending that experience out into other parts of the summer. So, you know, we used to grow asparagus to kick things off really early. That was--that was hard. I'm not gonna lie . And like I said, we then moved into, we did some strawberries, we've done some raspberries, you know, we've tried a lot of different things. And what we found is that, you know, everything that you grow, everything that you do on the farm, it requires a lot of passion, you know, and for us, our passion is definitely it's definitely in blueberries. So while we have done a lot of different things and we've allocated a lot of different space on the farm for different fruits right now we're back to what we started with, and that is blueberries. Nick Carter - Host (Market Wagon) (03:27): Sticking with the core. Andrew VanTil (Bowerman Blueberries Farm Market) (03:28): That's right. Nick Carter - Host (Market Wagon) (03:29): Okay. And one of the things I've heard you say, I wanna get a little bit into your family farming background, and I've heard you say farming is family. Tell me about that phrase, how that works into your colloquial. Andrew VanTil (Bowerman Blueberries Farm Market) (03:43): Yeah. So we know that better than anyone here at Bowerman's, you know we are truly your quintessential family farm. I--right now Bowerman is run by me, my sister-in-law and my brother-in-law. Mom and dad still live here on the farm. They're pushing their mid seventies and, you know, they're honestly still the hardest workers on the farm. And I, I don't think they're ever they're ever gonna quit which is great because we absolutely love having them around. But it, as, you know, as we've grown, we've taken in even more you know, more family members. So now I have another brother-in-law, who's working here at the farm. We're starting to see our nieces and nephews get to the age where ...
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    34 mins
  • Christina Deyo launched Cook N Craft Academy after learning to cook and bake initially from her parents—and then after an Emmy Award-winning producer career learning from Martha Stewart and other amazing food professionals.
    May 23 2022
    Christina shares her stories of growing up in a multi-cultural food home and what she learned and was inspired by before working in TV with Martha Stewart and other food lifestyle titans.  Nick Carter (Host - Market Wagon) (00:01): I think you're gonna love listening in to this conversation I had with Christina Deyo. She was my guest on this next episode of More Than A Mile. Christina is an Emmy award-winning producer of cooking shows and segments for Martha Stewart, Rosie O'Donnell, Emerald Lagasse and more. She now runs Cook n Craft Academy near Knoxville. And this is a great opportunity for me and you to learn from her amazing food experiences and about her love of supporting local food. Enjoy listening in to the conversation. Nick Carter (Host - Market Wagon) (00:31): Welcome to More Than A Mile, a local food podcast from Market Wagon, focused on connecting you to local food through farmer stories from across America. I'm Nick Carter, your host, a farmer and CEO and co-founder of Market Wagon. We are your online farmers market with a mission to enable food producers to thrive in their local and regional markets. Food is so much more than just nutrients and calories. It's actually the fabric that holds us together. And I look forward to crafting a generational quilt of farmer stories and experiences, the victories and challenges of individuals, families, and teams doing their part to help democratize food in America. Thanks for joining me for this episode of More Than A Mile, and thank you for buying local food. It's one critical step in making an investment in food for future generations. Nick Carter (Host - Market Wagon) (01:21): My guest today is Christina Deyo and I'm excited to talk about her business Cook n Craft Academy down near Knoxville. And guess some stories sounds like we're gonna get a lot of good stories of about the background that led up to this. So I'm looking forward to this welcome, Christina. Christina Deyo (Cook n Craft Academy) (01:40): Well, hello, Nick. Thank you so much for having me. Nick Carter (Host - Market Wagon) (01:43): You're an Emmy award winner--eight time. You teach kids and adults how to cook but now we can also buy your food on Market Wagon. So there's a lot of ground to cover and I'm gonna start all the way from the beginning though. You're--can you tell me a little bit more about your family background? Where did your cooking come from? Is that is that from history? Family? Christina Deyo (Cook n Craft Academy) (02:07): Yes. Mom and dad both cook. So my dad is Italian and he learned cooking from his mom. And so every Sunday I would be sitting with my dad watching him make homemade pasta, homemade sauce, meatballs you name it. It's great. I always say like, I've had the best of all worlds because yeah, you know, I've got the great delicious Italian food and then my mom is Slovak. So I've got the stuffed cabbage, the pierogi and the thing I love about you know, their recipes and how they've taught them to me is I feel like it has kind of linked me to relatives in the past that I've never even met. You know, it's a generational thing. It's a link to our history is, you know, those recipes just as like, what's your favorite dish that you had growing up? Nick Carter (Host - Market Wagon) (03:05): Me? Christina Deyo (Cook n Craft Academy) (03:06): Yes. Nick Carter (Host - Market Wagon) (03:06): Something called hamburger rice casserole, which I've learned as an adult--it's one of those Campbell's soup can dump recipe, things that was basically made up and invented by the Campbell Soup Company in the fifties to try and sell their stuff. Christina Deyo (Cook n Craft Academy) (03:22): Wow, and sometimes those are the best ones, right? Nick Carter (Host - Market Wagon) (03:24): Oh, it's just loaded with fat and sodium and it's just fantastic. Christina Deyo (Cook n Craft Academy) (03:29): There you go! Nick Carter (Host - Market Wagon) (03:29): There's a lot of people that grew up in, you know, Midwest America, that those seem like the good old family recipes, like green bean casserole, a classic one. And they're inventions of our industrial food, you know, they don't have, they're not really rooted in the history like what you're talking about--coming across from the old world. Traditions passed down from generation to generation. So... Christina Deyo (Cook n Craft Academy) (03:54): But now that recipe that you love and you maybe make now for dinner, I'm sure it's something your children will love or do love and you know, years from now, when they have maybe kids of their own, they're going to make it and share it with their kids and so on and so on. Yeah. Nick Carter (Host - Market Wagon) (04:13): Yeah. For all levels allow them to, sure. Christina Deyo (Cook n Craft Academy) (04:16): Yeah. Nick Carter (Host - Market Wagon) (04:17): So I I'd have to ask my mom where she even got that recipe. I should do that. Christina Deyo (Cook n Craft Academy) (04:20): Yes, ...
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    32 mins
  • The Beghtel family is raising asparagus and their children with the opportunity to teach life lessons of rewarding hard-work in a loving environment on their family farm. - Joy Beghtel, Fields of Joy's story
    May 11 2022
    Joy Beghtel and her husband Greg wanted more for their family so they bought a strawberry farm that they've transitioned to a larger asparagus operation. Enjoy the story and deep-dive into all things asparagus! Nick Carter - Host (Market Wagon) (00:00): Joy Beghtel joins me today to discuss hand snapping an acre and a quarter of asparagus spears with her family on their farm, Fields of Joy, in Anderson, Indiana. Enjoy this conversation as we dive deep into all things farming with this perennial crop and their transition away from strawberries. Nick Carter - Host (Market Wagon) (00:22): Welcome to More Than A Mile, a local food podcast from Market Wagon, focused on connecting you to local food through farmer stories from across America. I'm Nick Carter, your host, a farmer and CEO and co-founder of Market Wagon. We are your online farmers market with a mission to enable food producers to thrive in their local and regional markets. Food is so much more than just nutrients and calories. It's actually the fabric that holds us together. And I look forward to crafting a generational quilt of farmer stories and experiences, the victories and challenges of individuals, families, and teams doing their part to help democratize food in America. Thanks for joining me for this episode of More Than A Mile, and thank you for buying local food. It's one critical step in making an investment in food for future generations. Nick Carter - Host (Market Wagon) (01:11): My guest today is Joy Beghtel from Anderson, Indiana. Not very far from Indy, just a few miles up the road from where we farm and where the Market Wagon headquarters is at. Joy, thanks for being with us today. Joy Beghtel (Fields of Joy) (01:22): Yeah. Thanks for having us, Nick. Nick Carter - Host (Market Wagon) (01:24): So you grow one edible crop--and one only that I know of, right? Joy Beghtel (Fields of Joy) (01:31): Yes. . Well, one only that we sell on Market Wagon. Yeah. We do grow other things, but primarily just for our farm stand the rest of the year. Nick Carter - Host (Market Wagon) (01:38): So you've got a farm stand where you grow some other produce for, but what do you sell on Market Wagon? Joy Beghtel (Fields of Joy) (01:43): We sell a lot of asparagus. Nick Carter - Host (Market Wagon) (01:46): How much, how many acres? Is it measured in acres or row feed? How much asparagus do you have over there. Joy Beghtel (Fields of Joy) (01:51): It is measured in acres. We actually grow that much. So I always laugh and say, isn't it every little girl's dream to grow up and own an asparagus farm. We right now have about an acre and a quarter of asparagus. Nick Carter - Host (Market Wagon) (02:06): Wow. Joy Beghtel (Fields of Joy) (02:07): Yeah, that's a lot. Nick Carter - Host (Market Wagon) (02:09): Okay. That's a lot of asparagus and this is--for our listeners who don't know--this is a permaculture, right? So it's perennial. Joy Beghtel (Fields of Joy) (02:18): Correct. It has a 15 to 25 year lifespan on it. Nick Carter - Host (Market Wagon) (02:22): Oh, wow. That long. Okay. Joy Beghtel (Fields of Joy) (02:23): Yeah. It just depends on the variety and I think kind of the weather and that sort of things, but we should get at least 15 years, we're hoping for somewhere around 20 on the plants that we put in. Nick Carter - Host (Market Wagon) (02:35): And so when did you start this farm? Joy Beghtel (Fields of Joy) (02:37): Yeah, so we actually bought the farm in 2013. When we purchased it, it was a U-Pick strawberry farm. We kind of just stumbled onto it--kind of a long story. I grew up on a, what would probably be considered a small hobby farm. Probably not far from where you grew up, Nick. I grew up in Northern Grant County, so... Nick Carter - Host (Market Wagon) (02:58): Yeah, I actually showed dairy calves in Grant County. Joy Beghtel (Fields of Joy) (03:02): Okay. I thought you said on one of your podcasts, that you were a Howard County boy and I was like... Nick Carter - Host (Market Wagon) (03:05): I'm a Howard County boy, but there was no other dairy farms in all of Howard County so I got special permission to drive to the next county over and show my Four-H dairy calves. Yep. Joy Beghtel (Fields of Joy) (03:15): Very fun. Very fun. Yeah. So I grew up in Northern Grant County. We had probably what would be considered a hobby farm. You know, we did like a third of an acre of garden and had goats and chickens and rabbits and all of that kind of stuff. And so I didn't think much about it. I really had just an idyllic childhood looking back on it. It was all of that good stuff that you get living out in the country. And then I grew up and went to college, got a couple degrees in social work and Greg and I got married and started living the good life... Nick Carter - Host (Market Wagon) (03:46): Two degrees. Joy Beghtel (Fields of Joy) (03:46): Two degrees in social work. Nick Carter - Host (Market Wagon) (03:47): Because if you're gonna get one ...
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    26 mins
  • Running a mission-based ghost kitchen with great local food and foundation & community building for people of all abilities--Mandy Anderson, Lake Effect Kitchen's story.
    Apr 26 2022
    Mandy Anderson, co-founder of Lake Effect Kitchen in Grand Haven, Mich., talks about the ghost kitchen she and her partner started that was inspired by their children with autism and continues to provide learning and professional opportunities for differently abled individuals.    Nick Carter - Host (Market Wagon) (00:00): Welcome to More Than A Mile. Today, you're going to hear from Mandy Anderson, she co-founded Lake Effect Kitchen in Michigan. It's a catering company specifically designed to employ young adults with different abilities like her own son. Listen on to hear how it's going. Nick Carter - Host (Market Wagon) (00:17): Welcome to More Than A Mile, a local food podcast from Market Wagon focused on connecting you to local food through farmer stories from across America. I'm Nick Carter, your host, a farmer and CEO and co-founder of Market Wagon. We are your online farmers market with a mission to enable food producers to thrive in their local and regional markets. Food is so much more than just nutrients and calories. It's actually the fabric that holds us together. And I look forward to crafting a generational quilt of farmer stories and experiences, the victories and challenges of individuals, families, and teams doing their part to help democratize food in America. Thanks for joining me for this episode of More Than A Mile, and thank you for buying local food. It's one critical step in making an investment in food for future generations. Nick Carter - Host (Market Wagon) (01:09): Well, my guest today is Mandy Anderson from Lake Effect Kitchen. And I'm looking forward to hearing your story, Mandy. Mandy Anderson (Lake Effect Kitchen) (01:17): Thanks for having me. Nick Carter - Host (Market Wagon) (01:17): Thanks for joining me. So, Lake Effect Kitchen--you're from the beach side of Michigan. Grand Haven, is that correct? Mandy Anderson (Lake Effect Kitchen) (01:26): Yep. Sunny Grand Haven. Nick Carter - Host (Market Wagon) (01:28): Okay. Are you from there originally? Mandy Anderson (Lake Effect Kitchen) (01:30): No, I'm originally from the Metro Detroit area. I moved over to Grand Haven in 2000. My spouse had gotten a job over here in this area and I had actually fallen in love with West Michigan when I was a college student at Hope College a few years prior to that. The beach is beautiful, people are friendly and welcoming, and it's just a nice kind of relaxing sort of vibe. Nick Carter - Host (Market Wagon) (01:54): Do you think it's yeah, easier or better to start a small business in a smaller town? Or no? Mandy Anderson (Lake Effect Kitchen) (02:00): I think there's challenges either way. A bigger city might have more customers for opportunity, but a smaller town--they reach out more, I think, and really try to support small businesses because we know more people, we're more connected since there's--since it's a small town kind of feel. Nick Carter - Host (Market Wagon) (02:19): Easier to be connected in the community and have the community support you? Mandy Anderson (Lake Effect Kitchen) (02:23): That's right. Nick Carter - Host (Market Wagon) (02:24): Yeah. I'm a small town kid and now I live in a big city, so I'm always curious. So what sparked you and Aaron to start Lake Effect Kitchen? Mandy Anderson (Lake Effect Kitchen) (02:33): So Aaron and I each have a child on the autism spectrum. We served for five or six years together on the Board of Autism Society of West Shore, which is now called Autism Support of West Shore, our local autism advocacy organization. So we worked together to provide support for parents living with--and people living with autism. We were working together on all kinds of like family activities, but also trying to focus on the transition age student. So your older teenage student exiting the school system or just exiting high school and needing some kind of next steps: job skills, training, paid employment. A lot of them aren't working when they're still in high school, which isn't ideal. We need to get them out into the workforce and give them those solid job opportunities. So we started looking around for what, how we could support them and what we could do personally to, you know, bring that to life. And we stumbled on a catering business for sale. We thought we'd take the plunge and just kind of go for it. Nick Carter - Host (Market Wagon) (03:43): So Lake Effect Kitchen began with buying an existing catering business? Mandy Anderson (Lake Effect Kitchen) (03:49): Yeah. We bought a facility that had been renovated into a kitchen and so it was in 2017 that we got started. And so the, the business that was here was doing meal prep and catering much like we're doing now. And we just sort of changed the focus a bit to be hiring and training people that have intellectual disabilities, including autism and other types of disabilities. Nick Carter - Host (Market Wagon) (04:16): So that's a clear focus in a direction for your company is being able to teach...
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    21 mins