Ep 197 Audra Hall: Brave(ly) Flowing Lochs

Of all the sheep we have seen, this one has to be the most unusual. With bold spots and two horns or four (varied shapes, but reaching up toward the sky on the top set, curling in loops on the bottom set), this animal looks very much like something you would see on the tram tour at the San Diego Wild Animal Park. It is thought by some to be the sheep mentioned in Genesis 30, hence the origin of "Jacob" in the naming of the Jacob American Sheep. That Bibli...

12 Aug 201953min

Agricultural events - one of Elara's favorite things to do. Big or little, all shapes and sizes, there is usually no shortage of things to do, see, smell, pet, ride, eat and buy (but not necessarily in that order). A smaller fair of 10,000 to 40,000 people is a much difference experience than a large, elbow-crowding, junk food bonanza of 500,000 to 2 million. Both types of experiences have something wonderful to offer, but at a smaller fair ...

5 Aug 201945min

Of the breeds we have covered in the podcast, this has to be one of the most endangered ones yet, in terms of population size. With 400 individuals but only 250 breeding animals, the Newfoundland Pony is at a crisis point, if they are to be saved from extinction. They came to Newfoundland over the last four centuries and numbered 9,000 in the 1930's, but the exports to France for horse meat in the 1970's and the rise of the machine age took the numbers down to the very, very low s...

29 Juli 201927min

John and Bonnie Hall are two of the most down-to-earth people we have met in our travels. They raise American Milking Devon Cattle (and produce amazing maple syrup) on Maple Breeze Farm in Westbrook, Connecticut. The Milking Devons are called "American" now, but maybe that's because they no longer exist in their original home country of England. And yes, the yummy Devonshire cream you may have heard of comes from these animals. ...

22 Juli 201933min

City Farmers Nursery is our idea of a good date. This nursery (and feed store, and aquaponics center, and hydroponics supply, and compost source, and...) has been around since 1972, and is smack dab in the middle of San Diego, the 8th largest city in the U.S. Owned and run by family members Bill Tall, Sam Tall and Rebecca Tall-Brown, the amazing business is often more like a field trip than a supply run. It's a good date because you can get ...

14 Juli 201942min

It's summertime, and the San Diego County Fair just finished it's annual run here in Del Mar, California. Since the event started with agricultural roots way back in 1880, and since we had a great conversation at the fair last year with The Friends of Farming bunch, we thought we would sit down with them for a podcast. Eric Larson, Executive Director of the San Diego County Farm Bureau, was kind enough to have a conversation with us about th...

8 Juli 201934min

Beef! Bar-B-Q! Texas! Join us, as we visit with John and Debbie, two ranchers that raise the Texas Longhorn - a quintessentially American animal. We felt that our visits to Colorado and New Mexico to see this awe-inspiring creature were a fantastic way to celebrate America's Independence Day. This animal is the epitome of some of the issues that arise with heritage breeds. It is one of the earliest agricultural animals brought t...

1 Juli 201928min

What do fly fishing, blue eggs, the fashion industry, and the Romans in Britain have in common? Dr. Tom Whiting, of course. Our visit to Whiting Farms in Delta, Colorado was an eye opener. With about 100,000 chickens in one place it's an ear opener too, we can attest. This quietly brilliant man pushes the edge of what new and old chicken breeds can bring to the table, and talks about how to jump to that future while preserving the past. Another mad scien...

24 Juni 201943min