294. Kat Ragone and Kolin Buzerak on Building Community through Small-Scale Farming

The Thriving Farmer Podcast

How can small-scale farmers balance sustainability and profitability while building strong community connections?

In this episode of the Thriving Farmer Podcast, Michael is joined by Kat and Kolin who own and operate Starry Ridge Farm, a regenerative hillside farm in Northern New York. In addition to producing vegetables, flowers, maple syrup, and pastured livestock, they are dedicated to building community through events and their soon-to-open farm store.

Tune in to hear how Kat and Kolin run their farm business together while creating a local culture and community around organic farming and food.

Episode Highlights:

• Development: How Starry Ridge Farms started [1:41]
• Division of Labor: How are responsibilities divided out [3:55]
• Tunnel Size: Season Extension and Farm Store Construction [15:45]
• Customer Demographics: Customer Base and Marketing [21:03]
• Soil Health Improvement: Low-Till and No-Till Methods [26:04]
• Future Plans: Expansion and Increasing Community Involvement [29:19]

Don't miss this episode to hear Kat and Kolin share their journey of building Starry Ridge Farm, their innovative farming practices, and their vision for creating a vibrant, sustainable community through small-scale agriculture.

About the Guest:

Kat & Kolin own and operate Starry Ridge Farm, a diversified regenerative hillside farm in Northern NY focusing on vegetables, flowers, maple syrup, and pastured livestock including cows, pigs, sheep & laying hens. Their farm is located on 125 acres, and they grow on 1 1/4 acres with 45ft 30” permanent beds which they have terraced out of the hillside.

Kat & Kolin are in their 5th growing season and primarily sell to their CSA, farmers market, local restaurants, online retail orders, and are working on renovating an old barn for a farm store. They have a very tight knit wonderful CSA community and are so excited to bring more people together with their new farm store.

Connect with Kat and Kolin:

• Website: Starry Ridge Farm
• Instagram: Follow on Instagram
• Facebook: Like on Facebook

The Thriving Farmer Podcast Team would like to thank our sponsor Growing Farmers!

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