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Ruby was a featured guest on The Thriving Farmers Podcast with Michael Kilpatrick.

This is an extremely popular farming podcast, and we are so honored to be invited to share our story! Michael is a nationally recognized farmer and educator – he supports farmers to build thriving businesses to be sustainable environmentally and financially. Ruby first met Michael when she signed up for one of his online courses for farmers (we talk about it in the podcast!).

We also talked about being Certified Naturally Grown, shared some adventures in beekeeping, described how Chris and Ruby split up responsibilities on the farm, and advocated for farmers to support the Movement for Black Lives. It was an awesome conversation, and we hope you’ll check it out!

Michael and Ruby talked about so many different aspects of our farm, our life, our philosophy, and our values.

✔ What made Ruby and Chris decide to start a farm 1:29
✔ What a typical day looks like on the Valhalla Organics farm 3:58
✔ About the bee products they sell 6:06
✔ What kinds of pickled products they offer 8:19
✔ What systems are in place to ensure prioritized productivity 10:13
✔ The hardest thing Ruby has done since she began farming 16:37
✔ Who Ruby’s mentors were on her farming journey 19:34
✔ What systems Ruby would put into effect sooner if she could go back in time 25:07
✔ How Ruby operates with her partner, Chris 31:42
✔ How Valhalla Organics goes about hiring and delegating 34:29
✔ Why Valhalla Organics chooses to market the way they do 38:21
✔ About Ruby’s experience with the Farmer’s Market Challenge 40:33
✔ About Ruby’s stance on the BLM movement 46:54
✔ What promotional tactics Ruby finds to work well 58:34
✔ How Valhalla Organics got CNG certified 1.00:50
✔ The biggest mistake Ruby sees new farmers making 1.03:48
✔ What words of encouragement Ruby would give her former self as a new farmer 1:07.29
✔ Ruby’s favorite farming tool 1.09:09
✔ Where you can find out more about Ruby and Valhalla Organics 1.10:58