In this episode of Talkin’ Dirt, I sit down with Shawn Bruckman in Eagle, Colorado — a soil health specialist, worm farmer, and someone who has built a career around understanding what’s happening beneath our feet.

Shawn shares her journey from studying environmental policy to becoming a local expert in soil biology, composting, and regenerative practices. The conversation explores her work with The Ground Up and Wiggle Worm Gardens, along with her experience helping develop a composting facility in Eagle County.

We get into worms, compost, and the living biology inside soil — including how red wigglers produce nutrient-rich castings, what healthy soil actually looks like under a microscope, and how building soil can reduce the need for costly inputs.

The episode also touches on water challenges in the West, the importance of native plants, and the connection between soil health, food, and human health.

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In this episode of Talkin’ Dirt, I sit down with Audrey and Michelle from Lucky Ewe Farm on Lopez Island in Washington’s San Juan Islands.

They talk about how they got into sheep, what it’s like managing a small band on an island, and the role sheep play in their daily life.

The conversation also gets into lambing season, working with dogs, and how sheep behavior can shift depending on the landscape. Audrey and Michelle share some of the unique benefits and challenges of farming on a small island like Lopez and talk about why they’ve made the difficult decision to begin transitioning away from sheep ranching.

This was a reflective look at small-scale farming and life with a small band of sheep.

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In this episode of Talkin’ Dirt, I sit down with Julie Hansmire of Campbell Hansmire Sheep, a Western sheep rancher running bands between eastern Utah and the mountains of central Colorado.

We get into what a full year looks like for her sheep, from lambing season to trailing them into high country. Julie shares what it takes to manage not just thousands of animals, but the herders and guardian dogs that keep them moving and protected.

We talk wool, meat, public grazing, stewardship, and the recent ballot initiative to reintroduce wolves back into the Colorado wilderness, all from the perspective of someone living it every day.

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In this episode of Talkin’ Dirt, I sit down with Grace, the owner of Briscot Farm and Sanctuary here in Washington State.

Briscot was recently hit hard by the historic floods that left their entire farm underwater, and Grace shares what that experience was like — from the immediate impact to the long road of recovery. When I visited to record, the farm was in the middle of a community cleanup day. It was incredible to see so many people show up to get their hands dirty for such a meaningful mission.

We talk about how Briscot began, the animals they rescue and care for, what it takes to sustain a sanctuary day-to-day, and how community support makes all the difference. We also get into agro-tourism, USDA funding challenges, and an interesting workaround Grace shares for farms that rely on on-farm experiences to keep going.

This is a powerful conversation about resilience, rebuilding, and the people doing the work of caring for animals and keeping small farms alive.

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In this episode, I sit down with Dr. Taya Brown to unpack the hidden world behind one of the most familiar drinks on the planet - coffee. While Taya isn’t a coffee farmer herself, she has spent years working closely with smallholder coffee farmers in Central America, listening to their experiences and studying how global systems shape their livelihoods.

We talk about coffee as a plant, an agricultural product, and a complex global system — from seasonality and growing practices to pricing, certification, and distribution. Along the way, we explore why coffee costs what it does, how it moves from farm to cup, and what it really means to be a conscientious coffee drinker. This conversation makes it clear that the cup of coffee you’re holding is just the tip of the iceberg.

To learn more about Taya’s work and the Del Fuego Project, visit delfuegoproject.org.

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In this episode of Talkin’ Dirt, I sit down with my longtime friend Richie Stephenson, who’s been growing a home garden for his family for the past several years. Richie isn’t a farmer by trade, but we talk about what first got him into gardening, what his early years looked like, and how long it took before things really started to click. He shares what he’s learned through trial and error, why he’s considering raised beds, and how growing food at home has changed the way his family thinks about what they eat.

We talk about how Richie got into canning his food and preserving harvests for later in the year. Along the way, we talk about how gardening fits into family life with his wife and son, and how even a small backyard garden can shape habits, values, and perspective around food. This conversation offers a grounded look at what it’s really like to grow a little food at home—and why you don’t need a farm to get started.

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In this episode I’m joined by Lake Cowart Jr. of Cowart Seafood Corporation, one of the largest oyster operations on the East Coast. We talk about how oysters are grown today, the role hatcheries and triploid oysters play in modern aquaculture, and how factors like salinity, weather, disease, and predators shape production in the Chesapeake Bay. Lake also shares his perspective on regulation, why Virginia’s leasing system works, and how water quality and industry collaboration are improving conditions on the water.

This is my second recent conversation with an oyster farmer, and together the episodes highlight just how diverse and complex this industry really is.

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In this episode, I sit down with Glen, one of the founding members of Seattle’s Beacon Food Forest - a community-run, open forage garden built on public land with a mission rooted in food access, food sovereignty, and shared stewardship. Glen walks through how the project started, how they leveraged Seattle’s P-Patch program to get it off the ground, and how the Food Forest grew into a multi-layered landscape shaped by the community itself.

They discuss how planting decisions are made, how harvest practices guide the evolution of the land, and how similar projects across the region support one another. Glen shares how the Food Forest is funded, the impact it’s had on the neighborhood, and the policy conversations that have emerged around public foraging and food security.

The episode expands to bigger themes; the state of farming in Western Washington, the challenges local growers face, and what our food system and topsoil say about where things are headed. Glen closes with advice for anyone interested in starting a community driven project of their own.

A grounded look at what can happen when public land, community energy, and shared values all grow in the same direction.

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