Sonja Birthisel, Agroecologist & PhD from the University of Maine

Hi everyone, it's Natalie. It's hard to believe this is my sixth episode for The No-Till Market Garden Podcast. It felt super intimidating to commit to finding and interviewing ten people, but it turns out to have been a lot of fun to talk with people I've admired from a distance and also some of my friends. For this episode, I talked with my friend and colleague, Sonja Birthisel. She is a weed ecologist and agroecologist by training, but her interests and expertise are wide and varied. We get into some of her research on the effects of tarping and solarizing on soil biology, important traits of weeds, seed predation, and her work in the community. Mentioned in the show... Take Podcast Host Natalie's Survey! Bulletin #1075, Tarping in the Northeast: A Guide for Small Farms Folks who make the show possible... RIMOL Greenhouses quality greenhouses and high-tunnels. Certified Naturally Grown grassroots, peer-to-peer, holistic certification. Farmers Friend for caterpillar tunnels, harvest equipment, tarps, & more! Get free shipping through ->> farmersfriend.com/notill  BCS America for two wheel tractors + implements. ... and, as always, our work is powered by the folks who support us every month over at patreon.com/notillgrowers, you can pick up a copy of The Living Soil Handbook if you don't have one already, as well as a No-Till Growers hat, and you can ask you questions or share your insights into ecological market gardening on our brand new forum at notillgrowers.community.chat