Viva Farms is a farm incubator for new and Latino farmers, but they also maintain a large production farm. Produce from the Viva farm and the incubator farms feeds into the Viva Farms "food hub" along with other local products, which is then distributed to a 1,200 member CSA and various wholesale accounts in the greater Seattle market. Chris oversees it all, helping to cultivate new farmers as a relatively young farmer himself. He has worked on farms and ecological preserves for over 10 years, farming in Montana, Ecuador, New Mexico and Washington. Chris is both a hardcore farmer and a teacher, managing production, interns, and a bilingual farm crew while troubleshooting in the field with new farmers. His experience and perspective would make for a great conversation about young farmers--particularly beginning Latino farmers! This program has been brought to you by Hearst Ranch.

"Most of the farmers in our program are Latinos that have grown up as farm workers, and now they have the chance to be farm owners." [8:00] -- Chris Elder on Greenhorn Radio

Learn all about compost on this week's Rooftop Farming Update with Ben Flanner. Erin Fairbanks calls up Ben to talk about ideal compost ratios, and what you can toss into your compost pile. What qualifies as a 'green', and what would be considered a 'brown'? Find out where you can pick up some compost for your very own NYC garden!

This week on Rooftop Farming with Ben Flanner, Ben calls in to talk with Erin Fairbanks about transplanting kale and compost. Learn how to transplant seedlings into the ground, and find out why compost needs to cure in order to curb weed outbreaks! Find out how local businesses have helped Ben with mulching!