Curtis Millsap's guest appearances

Curtis Millsap

Farmer to Farmer with Chris Blanchard

The Thriving Farmer Podcast

HPI Interview Series

Brian Bates

Lisa Kivirist

Karl Hammer

Liz Graznak

Richard Wiswall

Josh Volk

Collin Thompson

Karen Washington

Vern Grubinger

Ellen Polishuk

Rachel Armstrong

Dan Brisebois

Ray Tyler

Howard Prussack

Ryan Thiessen

OwlTail

This week's episode is a fantastic conversation with Curtis Millsap of Millsap Farms, a 20-acre farm in Springfield, MO. We cover a lot of ground in this extensive conversation, including how Curtis started his farming career, how they grew their famous on-farm pizza nights, how using Harvie as CSA management software has been a game-changer, a discussion about winter growing and growing in an earth-bermed greenhouse, and so much more. It's a long one so you may need to listen to it in installments!   You'll also hear:   &gt;&gt; Why he’s moving the farm away from deep tillage towards minimal tillage   &gt;&gt; How choice and convenience are the most important factors for satisfied CSA customers   &gt;&gt; How to tackle to fear of the empty box by using CSA management and planning   &gt;&gt; How defining roles between staff makes delegation clear  &gt;&gt; Takeaways from the Frozen Ground winter growing conference  &gt;&gt; An overview of Curtis' earth-bermed greenhouse inspired by ones used in China  &gt;&gt; How his advice for new farmers is to learn is a less costly way by apprenticing  Quotes from the episode:   "Fluffing does not solve soil problems" “Start with the end in mind” when planning your CSA   About the Guest   Curtis and Sarah Millsap, along with their ten children, farm manager, apprentice, and occasional volunteers, have been operating Millsap Farms, a 20-acre farm in Springfield MO, for the past 12 years. They grow 2 acres of vegetables and flowers, with 20,000 s.f. (almost ½ acre) under greenhouses, high tunnels, and caterpillar tunnels. They use organic practices and sell through a year-round 170 member CSA, farmers' market, and restaurants. They sow, transplant, harvest, and sell, 50 weeks out of the year. The Millsaps also host a weekly pizza night from May to October, where they have 250 people out to the farm for wood-fired pizza and live music. They are always looking for ways to do more with less, including energy and water conservation measures such as no-till, solar greenhouses, stored heat, etc. They love to teach people who are looking to enter the field of farming, having hosted, as of the end of the 2018 season, over 25 interns, most of whom are still involved in farming full time, 4 of whom now have their own farms. Additionally, they host hundreds of people on tours each year, from large extension organized field days, to farm families from near and far who drop in for an impromptu tour of their farm. Curtis speaks to various groups about how to design farms for a balanced life, including using the right tools, infrastructure, labor and marketing mix to fit each farm. The Millsaps and their farm crew consider themselves stewards of creation, and take that responsibility seriously. They also love to travel and camp, and spend an average of 5 weeks a year away from the farm, often taking their farm crew with them to enjoy the hills and creeks of the Ozarks.

34. Curtis Millsap on Building Community through Farming

Curtis Millsap has always enjoyed the outdoors, especially canoeing, rafting, and backpacking. When he met his wife Sarah, he began to dream of raising kids on a farm where they could enjoy the outdoors with their kids daily.  Curtis had little farm experience but worked tirelessly to grow in his abilities to farm. He and his farm manager Kimby now grow 2.5 acres of organic veggies and cut flowers year round. They also run a 150 member summer CSA and a 70 member winter CSA, maintain a weekly year-round farmers market stand and on-farm market, provide produce to local restaurants and help Sarah pull off a weekly wood-fired pizza and music night all summer long.  Curtis enjoys sharing his passion for organic farming and speaks at conferences, leads tour groups, invests in his internship program, and is generally working to shepherd in the next generation of farmers. He especially enjoys the days when his children are out in the fields helping and experiencing God’s wonderful creation with him. LINKS Millsapfarms Millsap Facebook

Curtis Millsap has always enjoyed the outdoors, especially canoeing, rafting, and backpacking. When he met his wife Sarah, he began to dream of raising kids on a farm where they could enjoy the outdoors with their kids daily.   Curtis had little farm experience but worked tirelessly to grow in his abilities to farm. He and his farm manager Kimby now grow 2.5 acres of organic veggies and cut flowers year round. They also run a 150 member summer CSA and a 70 member winter CSA, maintain a weekly year-round farmers market stand and on-farm market, provide produce to local restaurants and help Sarah pull off a weekly wood-fired pizza and music night all summer long.   Curtis enjoys sharing his passion for organic farming and speaks at conferences, leads tour groups, invests in his internship program, and is generally working to shepherd in the next generation of farmers. He especially enjoys the days when his children are out in the fields helping and experiencing God’s wonderful creation with him.  LINKS <a href="https://millsapfarms.wordpress.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Millsapfarms</a> <a href="https://www.facebook.com/millsapfarms/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Millsap Facebook</a>

HPI #6 Parenting, Building Community and Farming with Curtis Millsap

Curtis Millsap farms raises two acres of vegetables, with 22,000 square feet under plastic, at Millsap Farms, just outside of Springfield, Missouri. He and his wife, Sarah, make a living from the farm with the help of their ten kids, a full-time farm manager, and another employee. Curtis shares how his farm grew over the years – and then how it shrunk on its path to profitability and a more family- and faith-focused life, shedding most of its livestock and farmers markets in favor of production that they can stay on top of, and the addition of a major value-added enterprise with their pizza club. We dig into the pizza club, why they’ve structured it as a membership program, and how that works on a farm that’s wired for community. Curtis shares how they have leveraged seconds and family labor – including Sarah’s skills as a pizza magician – to grow the enterprise and make it work. Curtis also lets us in on how they’ve created a farm that allowed them to take five full weeks of vacation last year. We talk about the routines and management systems they’ve built to support Curtis’ quality of life goals, including the fundamentals of Curtis’ paper-based system to stay on top of tasks and projects. He also shares the good and the bad about the Chinese-style solar greenhouse they built. Perennial support for the Farmer to Farmer Podcast is generously provided by Vermont Compost Company and BCS America.

Curtis Millsap farms raises two acres of vegetables, with 22,000 square feet under plastic, at Millsap Farms, just outside of Springfield, Missouri. He and his wife, Sarah, make a living from the farm with the help of their ten kids, a full-time farm manager, and another employee. Curtis shares how his farm grew over the years – and then how it shrunk on its path to profitability and a more family- and faith-focused life, shedding most of its livestock and farmers markets in favor of production that they can stay on top of, and the addition of a major value-added enterprise with their pizza club. We dig into the pizza club, why they’ve structured it as a membership program, and how that works on a farm that’s wired for community. Curtis shares how they have leveraged seconds and family labor – including Sarah’s skills as a pizza magician – to grow the enterprise and make it work. Curtis also lets us in on how they’ve created a farm that allowed them to take five full weeks of vacation last year. We talk about the routines and management systems they’ve built to support Curtis’ quality of life goals, including the fundamentals of Curtis’ paper-based system to stay on top of tasks and projects. He also shares the good and the bad about the Chinese-style solar greenhouse they built. 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> and <a href="https://bcsamerica.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">BCS America</a>.

101: Curtis Millsap of Millsap Farms on Family, Faith, Time Management, and Pizza