Mix in 2 biologist, spice it up with 4 kids, be sure to add 2 working acres as needed and that sounds like a recipe for Broadfork Farm.

In this local edition of the podcast, I had the pleasure of having a wonderful converstation with owners Janet and Dan of Broadfork Farm. As they describe it, they're growing 'intensively' on just two acres while harvesting and packing for 200 Farm Shares each week plus a robust farmers’ market stand, an on-site Farm Stand, and two local grocery stores.
 
Dan Gagnon has been growing vegetables for 25 years, first as a gardener and for the past 13 years as a professional market grower. Dan’s approach to teaching and presenting is to provide nuts and bolts tangible information that growers can apply to make their farm’s operations more profitable, efficient, and resilient.

Dan resists a one-size-fits-all approach to farming and tries to assist growers to leverage their gifts and resources while minimizing their deficiencies and liabilities. Dan has farmed as co-owner of Broadfork Farm with his wife and business partner Janet Aardema since 2011 in Chesterfield County, Virginia. Dan and Janet have worked to build a resilient farm business that can handle both an unpredictable climate and an uncertain economy.   

Janet describes farming success as 50% soil and 50% systems. Appropriately managing both allows one to meet their farming goals! As co-owner of Broadfork Farm with her husband and partner Dan Gagnon, Janet enjoys helping others learn practical farming information with her pragmatic approach grounded in realism.

Drawing on her experience growing vegetables for market customers since 2011, Janet teaches learners to adopt systems-based-thinking in order to apply knowledge to the unknown future events inherent in farming.

Learning from soil and plants while walking gently on the shared earth, living mindfully while surrounded by vegetables and flowers, and mothering four children in the context of both makes for a life simultaneously uber rich, challenging, and ceaselessly full of learning opportunities. With patient explanations and a strong attachment to honesty and integrity, Janet thrives on helping others learn about growing and selling vegetables and I was blessed to be able to share their story.

Facebook ➡️ https://www.facebook.com/broadforkfarmva

IG ➡️ https://www.instagram.com/broadfork_farm/

Website ➡️ https://broadforkfarm.net/

The Good Foods podcast is hosted by Shardan Sandoval and it’s possible that you've heard my voice on a commercial here and there, particularly since I'm currently one of the many talented National Creative Production Designers for iHeartMedia and to date, I voiced and produced commercials that have aired from Hartford to Hawaii.
I created this podcast for Good Foods Grocery in March of 2023 and it is a joy to create this for you.

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