Shea Belahi's guest appearances

Shea Belahi

Farmer to Farmer with Chris Blanchard

Illinois Specialty Crop Podcast Series

Katie Bishop

Ben Hartman

Dave Chapman

Dan Brisebois

Curtis Stone

Karl Hammer

Chris Field

MARK SHEPARD

Jim Crawford

Scott Chaskey

Michael Ableman

Simon Huntley

Josh Volk

Andrew Mefferd

Shawn Jadrnicek

OwlTail

Shea Belahi, co-manager of Blue Moon Farm, stops by to talk to Jim Lewis about their operation, how she became part of Blue Moon Farm, and what some of their plans are to increase awareness about local and organic foods in the community. Located just a couple miles north of Urbana, Blue Moon Farm is a Certified Organic, diversified vegetable farm that operates year-round and sells at the Urbana Market at the Square, through Common Ground Food Co-op, and to a number of area restaurants. Although Blue Moon Farm has been around since the mid-90’s, Shea Belahi and Lorien Carsey only became managers of the farm in the past couple years as John Cherniss and Michelle Wander wanted to step back from managing the day-to-day operations of the farm. Make sure to check out the podcast and listen to Shae discuss Blue Moon Farm and what she thinks could be done to encourage continued growth of the local food system.

Shea Belahi - BlueMoon Farm [9-29-18]

Lorien Carsey

Lorien Carsey and Shea Belahi of Blue Moon Farm in Urbana, Illinois, raise vegetables for farmers market, restaurants, stores, and a CSA. With twenty acres dedicated to vegetable production, and ten high tunnels totaling just under half an acre of year-round production, Blue Moon Farm was founded in 1977 by John Cherniss and Michelle Wander, and now Lorien and Shea are in the process of taking over the ownership and management of the farm. We dig into how Lorien, Shea, John, and Michelle are managing the nuts and bolts of this ownership transition, including ownership structures, roles in the transition (and how they’ve figured those out), tackling farm-life balance, and the challenges of managing employees through this transition. We also discuss their homemade customized CSA program, which includes meat and eggs from other farms; a complex crop rotation that keeps ten acres of the farm in a combination of long- and short-term cover crops, and the ins and outs of managing a diversity of high tunnel sizes, shapes, and technologies. Perennial support for the Farmer to Farmer Podcast is generously provided by Vermont Compost Company. Pictures, show links, and more at farmertofarmerpodcast.com/episodes/bluemoon.

Lorien Carsey and Shea Belahi of Blue Moon Farm in Urbana, Illinois, raise vegetables for farmers market, restaurants, stores, and a CSA. With twenty acres dedicated to vegetable production, and ten high tunnels totaling just under half an acre of year-round production, Blue Moon Farm was founded in 1977 by John Cherniss and Michelle Wander, and now Lorien and Shea are in the process of taking over the ownership and management of the farm. We dig into how Lorien, Shea, John, and Michelle are managing the nuts and bolts of this ownership transition, including ownership structures, roles in the transition (and how they’ve figured those out), tackling farm-life balance, and the challenges of managing employees through this transition. We also discuss their homemade customized CSA program, which includes meat and eggs from other farms; a complex crop rotation that keeps ten acres of the farm in a combination of long- and short-term cover crops, and the ins and outs of managing a diversity of high tunnel sizes, shapes, and technologies. Perennial support for the Farmer to Farmer Podcast is generously provided by <a href="http://vermontcompost.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Vermont Compost Company</a>. Pictures, show links, and more at <a href="http://www.farmertofarmerpodcast.com/episodes/bluemoon" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">farmertofarmerpodcast.com/episodes/bluemoon.</a>

162: Lorien Carsey and Shea Belahi of Blue Moon Farm on Farm Ownership Transitions, Farm-Life Balance, Complex Crop Rotations, and Custom-Packed CSA Shares