October 1, 2025 • 18 mins
Doug welcomes Julia Barton, a passionate organic grower and the driving force behind Octagon Acres and Northridge Blueberries & Chestnuts in Conneaut, Ohio. Julia and her family raise heritage Soay and American Jacob sheep, grow certified-organic vegetables and seedlings, and invite visitors to experience pick-your-own blueberries and chestnuts along the beautiful Lake Erie shoreline.
Beyond her own farms, Julia is the Farmer Services Director at the Organic Farmers Association, where she champions policies that strengthen and support certified organic producers nationwide. With a background in environmental science and rural sociology, Julia brings a unique perspective on sustainable food systems and the challenges—and rewards—of organic farming.
Tune in as Doug and Julia talk about transitioning farms to organic certification, the joys of heritage breeds, and how local food systems can thrive when farmers and communities work together. Visit Northridge Blueberries to learn more.
Website: AmericanFamilyFarmerShow.com
Social Media: @GoodDayNetworks
Beyond her own farms, Julia is the Farmer Services Director at the Organic Farmers Association, where she champions policies that strengthen and support certified organic producers nationwide. With a background in environmental science and rural sociology, Julia brings a unique perspective on sustainable food systems and the challenges—and rewards—of organic farming.
Tune in as Doug and Julia talk about transitioning farms to organic certification, the joys of heritage breeds, and how local food systems can thrive when farmers and communities work together. Visit Northridge Blueberries to learn more.
Website: AmericanFamilyFarmerShow.com
Social Media: @GoodDayNetworks
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
The American Family Farmer podcast sponsored in part by Caldron,
The Safe, proven Way to lose weight. Check it all
out at toploss dot com. Doug Steffan here with Julia Barton,
who's the owner at Octagon Acres in conyat Ohio. I'm
sort of a transplanted Buckeye. I don't know transplant story where.
I went to school at Heidelberg College, which is in
(00:21):
the northwestern part of the state. But I had lots
of friends who grew up in Coryac and came to Heidelberg.
That's how come I pronounce it correctly to it because
most people when they look at Kanya, they don't pronounce
it correctly.
Speaker 2 (00:32):
Right.
Speaker 3 (00:33):
I was just about to congratulate you on that.
Speaker 1 (00:36):
It comes for many years of being teased. Let's put
it that way, all right. So let's talk about first
of all, Octogon. You have two different operations here and
the highlight. When we do these conversations with folks, we
like to highlight what it is it's unique about the
efforts that you have to survive in this farming atmosphere.
(00:56):
I just spent the news portion of the program talking
about it's not the first time and probably won't be
the last. How difficult it is to survive as a
farmer in America, and how disrespectful it is. These are
my words, not somebody else's. I find it annoying isn't
even the right word for it. I just find it
(01:16):
appalling that there's so little respect and knowledge about what
goes on on the farm. So let's start with Octagon
Acres and what you do. This is an organic vegetable farm.
What sort of is it? The regular stuff? Is that
what people want or do they want some special herbs
and flowers and things that may only be produced on
(01:38):
Octagon Acres.
Speaker 2 (01:39):
Well, let me back up and say that I farm
together with my husband, Patrick Turner, and my two children,
my two boys who are nine.
Speaker 3 (01:46):
And ten, and we farm all together. We're the team.
Speaker 2 (01:51):
We don't run a crew here, so we're pretty small,
and our primary business that Octagon Acres, is organic vegetable
seedlings in the spring.
Speaker 3 (01:59):
And we started out about.
Speaker 2 (02:02):
Ten years ago with octagun Acres here on my husband's
grandmother's farm. We rented for a while from his dad
and then eventually bought it.
Speaker 3 (02:09):
And what we found is that home.
Speaker 2 (02:11):
Gardeners were really interested in growing starting with organic seedlings,
and they were interested in some different varieties, so we
kind of focused on airloom tomatoes and we have a
few very local varieties that have been shared with us
that we save seed.
Speaker 3 (02:25):
From every year. So that's a big part of our business.
Speaker 2 (02:28):
And then we also do organic mixed vegetables. In addition
to grazing sheep, we graze soy sheep and Jacob's American Jacobs.
Speaker 1 (02:38):
Most people think a sheep is a sheep, is a
sheep is a sheep. Let's talk about the difference between
those two breeds.
Speaker 3 (02:45):
Yes, not so as we know.
Speaker 2 (02:47):
So soy are a very interesting breed. They're in ancient
sheep kind of like a Viking sheep that you might
think of. This would have been the fiber that the
Vikings would have used to spin. It's a very short
staple and they're a very small breed. They're a very
resilient breed. They lam on their own. They're very scrappy.
We had very scrappy pastures here to work with when
(03:08):
we began this ground had been in conventional soybeans every
year for about four years, and so we really wanted
to use grazing to rehabilitate the soil. And it was
part of our plan to transition to organic at the time,
which we did, but we've continued to need to really
work on the soil here and so grazing as part
(03:29):
of that. The soy they're very they do well.
Speaker 3 (03:33):
On marginal pastures.
Speaker 2 (03:35):
I'll say they're also a little bit wild, so by compared, Yeah,
they're a little bit wild. They lived on an island
off the coast of Scotland by themselves for quite a
long time, so they they they're very resilient and a
little bit wild. The American Jacobs, by comparison, are more domesticated.
Speaker 1 (03:57):
All right, So there's the story with one of the breeds.
Let's get into the other breed. And I also want
to know about organic seedlings. What's the difference. We understand
the organic plants, but what's the real difference. Why can't
you take a regular seed will be the question and
make it organic? Is that possible? We'll ask that of
Julia Barton, who is here from Octagon Acres and the
(04:18):
north Ridge Blueberry and Chestnut Farm in Conneatta, Ohio. I'm
Doug Stephan and she's not She could be Elizabeth Miller However,
as a matter of fact, she is Elizabeth Miller is
one of the great reasons for going to top looss
dot com and engaging in the work of Caltrin getting
that weight off the natural way.
Speaker 4 (04:38):
Caldron is different than everything else that there because it's
really good for you. It's actually drug free, stimulant free,
so it's good for you. We've been helping customers since
nineteen ninety seven. That's up for two hundred thousand happy customers.
So I know we just helped people all over the
United States. Loz White, So if you go to toploss
dot com you'll say the Caltrin sell right there. But
we do also, like.
Speaker 3 (04:59):
Dougs, had put together some packages.
Speaker 4 (05:01):
Usually they're available by email or our Facebook page or
you can call us and we'll put together something custom
for you that will also have some special pricing on there.
And then of course Doug has a promo code. If
you use the promo code Doug, that's going to styche
you own shipping on all orders.
Speaker 1 (05:14):
Elizabeth Miller from the folks at calderd Trinn. Thanks Elizabeth.
I'm Doug Stefan. This is the American family farmer. Thinking
about the family part of this. Do you have off
farm income? Do you and or your husband have to
work at another job in order to feed your passion
(05:35):
for farming.
Speaker 2 (05:37):
We both have off farm income, and we have some
friends who do it without. But we would not be
able to afford our mortgage on the farm without off
farm income, nor would we be able to, you know,
do things like save for college or those sorts of
things for the kids.
Speaker 3 (05:54):
So yes, both of us work off arm.
Speaker 2 (05:55):
I work part time and my husband works full time
off farm and holds down our insurance. He works at
an ag research station taking care of grapes and fruit
tape trees for Ohio State and making site aron wine.
Speaker 3 (06:07):
There.
Speaker 2 (06:08):
I work for Organic Farmers Association as farmer services director.
Speaker 1 (06:12):
Ah. Okay, so that's cool. So what is the farmer's
services director? Is this the Ohio Organic Farmers Association or
is this a national group? I think that has come
under our scrutiny before, but give us a little more clarification.
Speaker 3 (06:27):
Yes, this is the national group.
Speaker 2 (06:29):
Organic Farmers Association was started by organic farmers for organic
farmers to provide a strong national voice on organic farmer
issues in the national policy arena.
Speaker 1 (06:40):
All right, so let me circle back to the question
about organic seeds seedlings, if you will, and how it
is that they're different. It seems to me, you know,
how to start at someplace. We all talk about organic
versus the stuff that is not organic. But if you
go back one hundred years, everything was organic because there
(07:01):
wasn't any chemical that you could spray on to the
products to either make them grow bigger or get more volume,
if you will, out of a field. But it was
you know, there was manure, and there were other natural things,
and so how this has happened, Maybe it would be
an interesting just a few minutes of going back over
(07:24):
when we actually decided that we needed to go back
to the real way of farming and we called it organic.
Speaker 3 (07:33):
Yes, well that was before my time.
Speaker 2 (07:35):
There are some amazing elders you could get on your
show who could tell you the whole story. But what
I know is that the Organic Foods Production Act was
written in nineteen ninety and then the regulations for that
act to be enacted came out twelve years later in
two thousand and two. And then there were various folks
(07:58):
around the country who had made up their own organic
regulations in different states and regions, and those farmers called
for there to be one standard that was you know,
transparent and readable, kind of followable by all, and that
was that USDA process that was then passed in two
thousand and two so that the REGs were available and
(08:21):
they accredited. Then certifying agents throughout the nation to certify
the farmers as organic, and the organic farmers then had
to all follow those national regulations which were built from
the regional ones you know that had grown up over time.
Speaker 1 (08:37):
Yes, I understand that. I just when I'm trying to
point out, and not necessarily to make you uncomfortable, but
before the before the need for an organic organization and
for making sure that people knew the industry and organic
and quote unquote I regular farming, there was no it
(08:58):
was all organic. Before actually the nineteen thirties, after the
dust Bowl and the depression, there were products that came
out that supposedly helped farmers farm better, but didn't really
grab until after World War Two and then the fifties
we really saw the encurasion, if you will, a mon
(09:21):
Santo in the sixties actually and what they have done
to hurt American agriculture and people listening say, what do
you mean, I heard it, look at your soil, I
would say. I remember once in school I took some
EG courses. I worked on a bull farm in Tiffin
where Heidelberg was, and I remember going with a group
(09:44):
of people that were involved in ag education. There were
on this county road two fields. One of them was
quote unquote organic and one of them was quote unquote
normal and normal. Unfortunately, what was normal isn't normal, but
they're trying to paint it as being normal. This is
(10:05):
what the usual, this is what the regular farmers do.
So you pick up a piece of soil in that
field and it's like clay. It's clumpy, it's heavy, and
it doesn't have any that it doesn't break easily. And
so you go across the street and you pick up
a handful of dirt in an organic field, and it's
(10:25):
all powdery and it's all you know, it feels different,
smells different because it is different. And that's always been
the way I remembered differentiating between organic and non organic
or whatever it is that we call non organic. But again,
we were all organic before the chemicals were introduced. And
the chemicals, by the way, the Bear company that owns
(10:48):
Monsanto and DuPont and the others. I don't mean to
go off on a toot here, but I'm going to
because I think a lot of people, especially younger people,
don't have a clue. Bear was the original company that
manufactured the gas that killed all the Jews in the
various uh in Auschwitz and the other places where the
(11:08):
Jews were dispatched, and they had to change their name
after World War Two, but they started and used a
lot of the chemicals that were used to gas people
to That was the beginning of the research and the
and the stuff that was done to add those chemicals
to the land to kill various pasts and pesticide. You
(11:31):
know what I'm saying. This is all of it is
not Most people don't know this, but that's what happened,
and that makes it even more horrific in my mind anyway,
all right, so let me get off of that my toot.
Speaker 3 (11:45):
So Doug, if I can pile on there.
Speaker 2 (11:48):
I was not aware of that story that you shared
about the Holocaust, but I was aware of the big
change of agriculture following World War Two, and it was
my understanding that a number of Bibes products of the
war and the various activities of the war needed then
another market, and so agriculture became the you know, the
(12:11):
market for those things. And I think we still see
that today where other folks waste products are solicited than
to agricultural producers as opportunities, when in fact they're just
someone else's trash. So I think, you know, we have
an opportunity to really be vigilant about that pattern and
(12:32):
pay attention to what is being offered and whether or
not it's actually useful to us.
Speaker 1 (12:36):
Well, I think it's pretty disgusting to know what the
origins are, and most people don't know. And so that's
why I tell that story when I can, I have
another story to tell. Hold on a second, Julia Barton
is here. We're talking about organic in many different ways.
I want to get to the story of north raids,
blueberries and chestnuts in a matter of moments. But first,
the solution to another problem I would like to I
(12:57):
always like to talk about problems and talk about and
caltrin is the solution to losing weight, the natural way,
the simple way, the non toxic way. And you can
prove that to yourself by going to toploss dot com,
which is their website to see and understand read the
expressions and the exciting stories that come from the people
(13:20):
hundreds and hundreds of thousands of people who've lost weight
the safe way. And then once you figure out this
looks like a good thing for me to do, I
don't have to worry about chemicals because there is this
all natural thing we call organic right in America. We're
talking about that here. This is the way, the non
toxic way to lose weight. You can check it out
at top loss dot com. And then after you've convinced
(13:42):
yourself this makes nothing but sense, you can take advantage
of using the DOUG code to order products DUG this weekend.
Right now, Caldron is offering a total slim pack for
one hundred and seventy one dollars and eighty cents. So,
as they say in some kind of KOI advertising way,
under one hundred and seventy two dollars. Well, okay, so
(14:03):
on one to seventy one eighty you will get in
your cart when you're checking out as you prepare for
the holiday eating season, because we all know it's full
of fun and food and family. But they don't have
to throw you off of your health goals and your
and your weight loss program or keeping your weight where
it is. So you grab the total slim Pack, you'll
(14:26):
be able to do that this weekend, which includes three
calitrons to rebuild lead muscle and approve sleep quality, the
belly blaster which encourages fat burning, and the starch blocker
which helps minimize carb absorption. All these plus the detox
cleanser one hundred and seventy one dollars eighty cents. That's
one hundred dollars off the usual price. Check it out
(14:47):
top loss dot com the way to go and we'll
find yourself accounstant because they have them there. You're can
ask for one. They'll help you with your weight loss.
Product of the project, Yeah, it is a project. Use
Doug dug on the orders. You get free shipping as well.
Julia Biden, the owner at octagone Acres, We've been spending
a lot of time time about organic and how it
(15:09):
all works and giving you a little history into what's
going on. So Northbridge Blueberries is another adjunct to your farm.
Why did you decide you wanted to acquire a blueberry farm?
Speaker 2 (15:21):
Well, a really good opportunity came up. A friend of ours.
Julie Richard Steely had started this farm about seventeen years
ago with her dad, Bob Steely, and Julie had focused
on the blueberries, and I think they worked together on
the chestnuts.
Speaker 3 (15:35):
It's about a.
Speaker 2 (15:36):
Ten acre parcel that's in town in conyat where we live,
on kind of a main drag for a small town,
and Julie started a blueberry operation there you pick blueberry operation.
While the chestnuts were getting going, and she lives pretty
far away, has a few kids, it became difficult for
her to travel back and forth to take care of
it for blueberry season, and she hadn't had a chance
(15:58):
to do anything with the chestnuts yet, so, you know,
besides get an orchard established. So my husband and I
saw the opportunity and went for it this spring.
Speaker 1 (16:07):
Good. Now you're on the shores of Lake Erie. How
does that affect the climb in northwest and northeast O.
How can we kind of cloudy and drizzly and dank
over the winter, but in the summertime on the shores
of any of the great lakes it's kind of cool.
How does that help you with either the chestnuts or
the blueberries?
Speaker 2 (16:29):
Yes, well, there's a lot of specialty crop and fruit
production along Lake Erie because there is a little bit
of a microclimate created by the lake. So you can
imagine it's a large body of water that you know
holds heat or holds cool. So our springs come a
little bit later and our falls, you know, we linger
in warmth a little bit longer in the.
Speaker 3 (16:49):
Fall, which is lovely.
Speaker 2 (16:52):
The moisture is very good for the blueberries, and I'm
just learning about chestnuts to be frank, we just acquired
the farm.
Speaker 3 (16:59):
Here two days before.
Speaker 2 (17:01):
You pick blueberry season open this spring, so for this
summer rather so it's been a wild ride, but we
had a really fun you pick season for blueberries. The
blueberries are transitioning to organic production, and we're just in
the process of figuring out the chestnuts now.
Speaker 3 (17:17):
So we are open for chestnuts.
Speaker 2 (17:19):
If you want to stop by.
Speaker 1 (17:20):
Ah, there's a good trip. So how do you take
something that isn't organic and make it organic? If we
got about sixty seconds left, if you can give us
a quick overview of how that happens.
Speaker 2 (17:31):
Sure, transitioning to organic is a process that begins from
the last date that a prohibited substance was applied to
that land. So in this case there had been round
up used for weeds under the blueberries. So we would
take the date that that was applied and we would
count thirty six months forward. During that period we would
manage those blueberries and are managing those blueberries as organic,
(17:53):
so for example, we're mulching rather than spraying for weeds,
and all organic input would be used during that time,
which they actually already were prior to that on the
berries themselves. And then at the end of that period
we would be inspected by our organic certifier and we
would then receive organic certification and could then market the
(18:15):
blueberries as organic.
Speaker 1 (18:16):
Cool, all right, what a great story. North Ridge Blueberries
dot com is the website to go check out. I'm
looking at this. I have blueberries, almost a pack of
blueberries a day, and I can never really find good,
local and delicious blueberries. I wish I was closer to you.
What a great story about. Keep up the good work
with you, father, your husband, and your children. Julia Barton
(18:40):
here with us visiting on the American Family Farmer this week.
Speaker 2 (18:44):
This program was produced at bobk Sound and Recording.
Speaker 1 (18:47):
Please visit bobksound dot com. The American Family Farmer podcast
sponsored in part by Caldron, which is the safe way
for you to lose weight and keep it off.
The American Family Farmer podcast sponsored in part by Caldron,
The Safe, proven Way to lose weight. Check it all
out at toploss dot com. Doug Steffan here with Julia Barton,
who's the owner at Octagon Acres in conyat Ohio. I'm
sort of a transplanted Buckeye. I don't know transplant story where.
I went to school at Heidelberg College, which is in
(00:21):
the northwestern part of the state. But I had lots
of friends who grew up in Coryac and came to Heidelberg.
That's how come I pronounce it correctly to it because
most people when they look at Kanya, they don't pronounce
it correctly.
Speaker 2 (00:32):
Right.
Speaker 3 (00:33):
I was just about to congratulate you on that.
Speaker 1 (00:36):
It comes for many years of being teased. Let's put
it that way, all right. So let's talk about first
of all, Octogon. You have two different operations here and
the highlight. When we do these conversations with folks, we
like to highlight what it is it's unique about the
efforts that you have to survive in this farming atmosphere.
(00:56):
I just spent the news portion of the program talking
about it's not the first time and probably won't be
the last. How difficult it is to survive as a
farmer in America, and how disrespectful it is. These are
my words, not somebody else's. I find it annoying isn't
even the right word for it. I just find it
(01:16):
appalling that there's so little respect and knowledge about what
goes on on the farm. So let's start with Octagon
Acres and what you do. This is an organic vegetable farm.
What sort of is it? The regular stuff? Is that
what people want or do they want some special herbs
and flowers and things that may only be produced on
(01:38):
Octagon Acres.
Speaker 2 (01:39):
Well, let me back up and say that I farm
together with my husband, Patrick Turner, and my two children,
my two boys who are nine.
Speaker 3 (01:46):
And ten, and we farm all together. We're the team.
Speaker 2 (01:51):
We don't run a crew here, so we're pretty small,
and our primary business that Octagon Acres, is organic vegetable
seedlings in the spring.
Speaker 3 (01:59):
And we started out about.
Speaker 2 (02:02):
Ten years ago with octagun Acres here on my husband's
grandmother's farm. We rented for a while from his dad
and then eventually bought it.
Speaker 3 (02:09):
And what we found is that home.
Speaker 2 (02:11):
Gardeners were really interested in growing starting with organic seedlings,
and they were interested in some different varieties, so we
kind of focused on airloom tomatoes and we have a
few very local varieties that have been shared with us
that we save seed.
Speaker 3 (02:25):
From every year. So that's a big part of our business.
Speaker 2 (02:28):
And then we also do organic mixed vegetables. In addition
to grazing sheep, we graze soy sheep and Jacob's American Jacobs.
Speaker 1 (02:38):
Most people think a sheep is a sheep, is a
sheep is a sheep. Let's talk about the difference between
those two breeds.
Speaker 3 (02:45):
Yes, not so as we know.
Speaker 2 (02:47):
So soy are a very interesting breed. They're in ancient
sheep kind of like a Viking sheep that you might
think of. This would have been the fiber that the
Vikings would have used to spin. It's a very short
staple and they're a very small breed. They're a very
resilient breed. They lam on their own. They're very scrappy.
We had very scrappy pastures here to work with when
(03:08):
we began this ground had been in conventional soybeans every
year for about four years, and so we really wanted
to use grazing to rehabilitate the soil. And it was
part of our plan to transition to organic at the time,
which we did, but we've continued to need to really
work on the soil here and so grazing as part
(03:29):
of that. The soy they're very they do well.
Speaker 3 (03:33):
On marginal pastures.
Speaker 2 (03:35):
I'll say they're also a little bit wild, so by compared, Yeah,
they're a little bit wild. They lived on an island
off the coast of Scotland by themselves for quite a
long time, so they they they're very resilient and a
little bit wild. The American Jacobs, by comparison, are more domesticated.
Speaker 1 (03:57):
All right, So there's the story with one of the breeds.
Let's get into the other breed. And I also want
to know about organic seedlings. What's the difference. We understand
the organic plants, but what's the real difference. Why can't
you take a regular seed will be the question and
make it organic? Is that possible? We'll ask that of
Julia Barton, who is here from Octagon Acres and the
(04:18):
north Ridge Blueberry and Chestnut Farm in Conneatta, Ohio. I'm
Doug Stephan and she's not She could be Elizabeth Miller However,
as a matter of fact, she is Elizabeth Miller is
one of the great reasons for going to top looss
dot com and engaging in the work of Caltrin getting
that weight off the natural way.
Speaker 4 (04:38):
Caldron is different than everything else that there because it's
really good for you. It's actually drug free, stimulant free,
so it's good for you. We've been helping customers since
nineteen ninety seven. That's up for two hundred thousand happy customers.
So I know we just helped people all over the
United States. Loz White, So if you go to toploss
dot com you'll say the Caltrin sell right there. But
we do also, like.
Speaker 3 (04:59):
Dougs, had put together some packages.
Speaker 4 (05:01):
Usually they're available by email or our Facebook page or
you can call us and we'll put together something custom
for you that will also have some special pricing on there.
And then of course Doug has a promo code. If
you use the promo code Doug, that's going to styche
you own shipping on all orders.
Speaker 1 (05:14):
Elizabeth Miller from the folks at calderd Trinn. Thanks Elizabeth.
I'm Doug Stefan. This is the American family farmer. Thinking
about the family part of this. Do you have off
farm income? Do you and or your husband have to
work at another job in order to feed your passion
(05:35):
for farming.
Speaker 2 (05:37):
We both have off farm income, and we have some
friends who do it without. But we would not be
able to afford our mortgage on the farm without off
farm income, nor would we be able to, you know,
do things like save for college or those sorts of
things for the kids.
Speaker 3 (05:54):
So yes, both of us work off arm.
Speaker 2 (05:55):
I work part time and my husband works full time
off farm and holds down our insurance. He works at
an ag research station taking care of grapes and fruit
tape trees for Ohio State and making site aron wine.
Speaker 3 (06:07):
There.
Speaker 2 (06:08):
I work for Organic Farmers Association as farmer services director.
Speaker 1 (06:12):
Ah. Okay, so that's cool. So what is the farmer's
services director? Is this the Ohio Organic Farmers Association or
is this a national group? I think that has come
under our scrutiny before, but give us a little more clarification.
Speaker 3 (06:27):
Yes, this is the national group.
Speaker 2 (06:29):
Organic Farmers Association was started by organic farmers for organic
farmers to provide a strong national voice on organic farmer
issues in the national policy arena.
Speaker 1 (06:40):
All right, so let me circle back to the question
about organic seeds seedlings, if you will, and how it
is that they're different. It seems to me, you know,
how to start at someplace. We all talk about organic
versus the stuff that is not organic. But if you
go back one hundred years, everything was organic because there
(07:01):
wasn't any chemical that you could spray on to the
products to either make them grow bigger or get more volume,
if you will, out of a field. But it was
you know, there was manure, and there were other natural things,
and so how this has happened, Maybe it would be
an interesting just a few minutes of going back over
(07:24):
when we actually decided that we needed to go back
to the real way of farming and we called it organic.
Speaker 3 (07:33):
Yes, well that was before my time.
Speaker 2 (07:35):
There are some amazing elders you could get on your
show who could tell you the whole story. But what
I know is that the Organic Foods Production Act was
written in nineteen ninety and then the regulations for that
act to be enacted came out twelve years later in
two thousand and two. And then there were various folks
(07:58):
around the country who had made up their own organic
regulations in different states and regions, and those farmers called
for there to be one standard that was you know,
transparent and readable, kind of followable by all, and that
was that USDA process that was then passed in two
thousand and two so that the REGs were available and
(08:21):
they accredited. Then certifying agents throughout the nation to certify
the farmers as organic, and the organic farmers then had
to all follow those national regulations which were built from
the regional ones you know that had grown up over time.
Speaker 1 (08:37):
Yes, I understand that. I just when I'm trying to
point out, and not necessarily to make you uncomfortable, but
before the before the need for an organic organization and
for making sure that people knew the industry and organic
and quote unquote I regular farming, there was no it
(08:58):
was all organic. Before actually the nineteen thirties, after the
dust Bowl and the depression, there were products that came
out that supposedly helped farmers farm better, but didn't really
grab until after World War Two and then the fifties
we really saw the encurasion, if you will, a mon
(09:21):
Santo in the sixties actually and what they have done
to hurt American agriculture and people listening say, what do
you mean, I heard it, look at your soil, I
would say. I remember once in school I took some
EG courses. I worked on a bull farm in Tiffin
where Heidelberg was, and I remember going with a group
(09:44):
of people that were involved in ag education. There were
on this county road two fields. One of them was
quote unquote organic and one of them was quote unquote
normal and normal. Unfortunately, what was normal isn't normal, but
they're trying to paint it as being normal. This is
(10:05):
what the usual, this is what the regular farmers do.
So you pick up a piece of soil in that
field and it's like clay. It's clumpy, it's heavy, and
it doesn't have any that it doesn't break easily. And
so you go across the street and you pick up
a handful of dirt in an organic field, and it's
(10:25):
all powdery and it's all you know, it feels different,
smells different because it is different. And that's always been
the way I remembered differentiating between organic and non organic
or whatever it is that we call non organic. But again,
we were all organic before the chemicals were introduced. And
the chemicals, by the way, the Bear company that owns
(10:48):
Monsanto and DuPont and the others. I don't mean to
go off on a toot here, but I'm going to
because I think a lot of people, especially younger people,
don't have a clue. Bear was the original company that
manufactured the gas that killed all the Jews in the
various uh in Auschwitz and the other places where the
(11:08):
Jews were dispatched, and they had to change their name
after World War Two, but they started and used a
lot of the chemicals that were used to gas people
to That was the beginning of the research and the
and the stuff that was done to add those chemicals
to the land to kill various pasts and pesticide. You
(11:31):
know what I'm saying. This is all of it is
not Most people don't know this, but that's what happened,
and that makes it even more horrific in my mind anyway,
all right, so let me get off of that my toot.
Speaker 3 (11:45):
So Doug, if I can pile on there.
Speaker 2 (11:48):
I was not aware of that story that you shared
about the Holocaust, but I was aware of the big
change of agriculture following World War Two, and it was
my understanding that a number of Bibes products of the
war and the various activities of the war needed then
another market, and so agriculture became the you know, the
(12:11):
market for those things. And I think we still see
that today where other folks waste products are solicited than
to agricultural producers as opportunities, when in fact they're just
someone else's trash. So I think, you know, we have
an opportunity to really be vigilant about that pattern and
(12:32):
pay attention to what is being offered and whether or
not it's actually useful to us.
Speaker 1 (12:36):
Well, I think it's pretty disgusting to know what the
origins are, and most people don't know. And so that's
why I tell that story when I can, I have
another story to tell. Hold on a second, Julia Barton
is here. We're talking about organic in many different ways.
I want to get to the story of north raids,
blueberries and chestnuts in a matter of moments. But first,
the solution to another problem I would like to I
(12:57):
always like to talk about problems and talk about and
caltrin is the solution to losing weight, the natural way,
the simple way, the non toxic way. And you can
prove that to yourself by going to toploss dot com,
which is their website to see and understand read the
expressions and the exciting stories that come from the people
(13:20):
hundreds and hundreds of thousands of people who've lost weight
the safe way. And then once you figure out this
looks like a good thing for me to do, I
don't have to worry about chemicals because there is this
all natural thing we call organic right in America. We're
talking about that here. This is the way, the non
toxic way to lose weight. You can check it out
at top loss dot com. And then after you've convinced
(13:42):
yourself this makes nothing but sense, you can take advantage
of using the DOUG code to order products DUG this weekend.
Right now, Caldron is offering a total slim pack for
one hundred and seventy one dollars and eighty cents. So,
as they say in some kind of KOI advertising way,
under one hundred and seventy two dollars. Well, okay, so
(14:03):
on one to seventy one eighty you will get in
your cart when you're checking out as you prepare for
the holiday eating season, because we all know it's full
of fun and food and family. But they don't have
to throw you off of your health goals and your
and your weight loss program or keeping your weight where
it is. So you grab the total slim Pack, you'll
(14:26):
be able to do that this weekend, which includes three
calitrons to rebuild lead muscle and approve sleep quality, the
belly blaster which encourages fat burning, and the starch blocker
which helps minimize carb absorption. All these plus the detox
cleanser one hundred and seventy one dollars eighty cents. That's
one hundred dollars off the usual price. Check it out
(14:47):
top loss dot com the way to go and we'll
find yourself accounstant because they have them there. You're can
ask for one. They'll help you with your weight loss.
Product of the project, Yeah, it is a project. Use
Doug dug on the orders. You get free shipping as well.
Julia Biden, the owner at octagone Acres, We've been spending
a lot of time time about organic and how it
(15:09):
all works and giving you a little history into what's
going on. So Northbridge Blueberries is another adjunct to your farm.
Why did you decide you wanted to acquire a blueberry farm?
Speaker 2 (15:21):
Well, a really good opportunity came up. A friend of ours.
Julie Richard Steely had started this farm about seventeen years
ago with her dad, Bob Steely, and Julie had focused
on the blueberries, and I think they worked together on
the chestnuts.
Speaker 3 (15:35):
It's about a.
Speaker 2 (15:36):
Ten acre parcel that's in town in conyat where we live,
on kind of a main drag for a small town,
and Julie started a blueberry operation there you pick blueberry operation.
While the chestnuts were getting going, and she lives pretty
far away, has a few kids, it became difficult for
her to travel back and forth to take care of
it for blueberry season, and she hadn't had a chance
(15:58):
to do anything with the chestnuts yet, so, you know,
besides get an orchard established. So my husband and I
saw the opportunity and went for it this spring.
Speaker 1 (16:07):
Good. Now you're on the shores of Lake Erie. How
does that affect the climb in northwest and northeast O.
How can we kind of cloudy and drizzly and dank
over the winter, but in the summertime on the shores
of any of the great lakes it's kind of cool.
How does that help you with either the chestnuts or
the blueberries?
Speaker 2 (16:29):
Yes, well, there's a lot of specialty crop and fruit
production along Lake Erie because there is a little bit
of a microclimate created by the lake. So you can
imagine it's a large body of water that you know
holds heat or holds cool. So our springs come a
little bit later and our falls, you know, we linger
in warmth a little bit longer in the.
Speaker 3 (16:49):
Fall, which is lovely.
Speaker 2 (16:52):
The moisture is very good for the blueberries, and I'm
just learning about chestnuts to be frank, we just acquired
the farm.
Speaker 3 (16:59):
Here two days before.
Speaker 2 (17:01):
You pick blueberry season open this spring, so for this
summer rather so it's been a wild ride, but we
had a really fun you pick season for blueberries. The
blueberries are transitioning to organic production, and we're just in
the process of figuring out the chestnuts now.
Speaker 3 (17:17):
So we are open for chestnuts.
Speaker 2 (17:19):
If you want to stop by.
Speaker 1 (17:20):
Ah, there's a good trip. So how do you take
something that isn't organic and make it organic? If we
got about sixty seconds left, if you can give us
a quick overview of how that happens.
Speaker 2 (17:31):
Sure, transitioning to organic is a process that begins from
the last date that a prohibited substance was applied to
that land. So in this case there had been round
up used for weeds under the blueberries. So we would
take the date that that was applied and we would
count thirty six months forward. During that period we would
manage those blueberries and are managing those blueberries as organic,
(17:53):
so for example, we're mulching rather than spraying for weeds,
and all organic input would be used during that time,
which they actually already were prior to that on the
berries themselves. And then at the end of that period
we would be inspected by our organic certifier and we
would then receive organic certification and could then market the
(18:15):
blueberries as organic.
Speaker 1 (18:16):
Cool, all right, what a great story. North Ridge Blueberries
dot com is the website to go check out. I'm
looking at this. I have blueberries, almost a pack of
blueberries a day, and I can never really find good,
local and delicious blueberries. I wish I was closer to you.
What a great story about. Keep up the good work
with you, father, your husband, and your children. Julia Barton
(18:40):
here with us visiting on the American Family Farmer this week.
Speaker 2 (18:44):
This program was produced at bobk Sound and Recording.
Speaker 1 (18:47):
Please visit bobksound dot com. The American Family Farmer podcast
sponsored in part by Caldron, which is the safe way
for you to lose weight and keep it off.
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
CrimeLess: Hillbilly Heist
It’s 1996 in rural North Carolina, and an oddball crew makes history when they pull off America’s third largest cash heist. But it’s all downhill from there. Join host Johnny Knoxville as he unspools a wild and woolly tale about a group of regular ‘ol folks who risked it all for a chance at a better life. CrimeLess: Hillbilly Heist answers the question: what would you do with 17.3 million dollars? The answer includes diamond rings, mansions, velvet Elvis paintings, plus a run for the border, murder-for-hire-plots, and FBI busts.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com