VOA – CONNECT
EPISODE # 263
AIR DATE: 01 27 2023
TRANSCRIPT

OPEN ((VO/NAT/SOT))
((Banner))
Birch Syrup
((SOT))
((Anna Meredith
Co-owner, Bridge Creek Birch Syrup))
I don't like just working for a paycheck. With this operation, I really love that it’s friends and family. We get to do it all together and actually all be a part of the process.
((Animation Transition))
((Banner))
City Farming
((SOT))
((Oksana Bihun
Vice President of Operations, Little Wild Things City Farm))
In most urban cities, a lot of your food comes from, you know, several hundred miles away. There’s a huge climate and financial cost to having imported that food.
((Animation Transition))
((Banner))
Working Lambs
((SOT))
((Cory Suter
Founder, LambMowers.com))
So, this is your grazing area today. We've got lots of work to do. They are independent contractors of sorts.
((Open Animation))

BLOCK A


((PKG)) HARVESTING BIRCH SAP
((TRT: 12:55))
((Topic Banner: Harvesting Birch Sap))
((Producer/Camera/Editor: Gabrielle Weiss))
((Map: Homer, Alaska))
((Main characters: 1 male; 1 female))
((Sub characters: 2 male; 3 female))
((BLURB: With friends and family, two Alaskans produce syrup from birch trees))
((NATS/MUSIC))
((Mike Meredith
Father of Anna Meredith))
Pails are getting sticky. 1% sugar adds up. It can make everything sticky.
((Anna Meredith
Co-owner, Bridge Creek Birch Syrup))
Good morning. Morning Dale.
((Katie Marden
Volunteer))
We're ready to rock and roll. Hi.
((Anna Meredith
Co-owner, Bridge Creek Birch Syrup))
Everything Jake and I have done has been pretty unplanned and organically unfolds. We kind of spend the majority of our time doing things that we really enjoy and that we feel are good for us and healthy for us. And so, once we started making birch syrup together, it's a short time of the year or too, so that really helps. It's not a huge commitment now that ten years later, it's most of the year because of marketing and everything.
((Anna Meredith
Co-owner of Bridge Creek Birch Syrup))
So Quetzal, do you want to start in the zone where you did yesterday?
((Quetzal Hauser
Volunteer))
Yeah.
((Anna Meredith
Co-owner, Bridge Creek Birch Syrup))
I also work in education, and to leave the home like first thing in the morning, and to go away for 8 to 10 hours a day and not see your family, and your family doesn't know what you're doing at work all day, that was a really, that was a pretty foreign existence for me. And so, I struggled with that, just that way of life. So, I always had to find my balance. With this operation, I really love that it's Jake and I and it's our friends and family. We get to do it all together and actually all be a part of the process. Volunteers love to come help and every time they do, we trade them a bottle of syrup. So…
((Quetzal Hauser
Volunteer))
Am I a volunteer?
((Anna Meredith
Co-owner, Bridge Creek Birch Syrup))
Yeah.
((Quetzal Hauser
Volunteer))
I love this. And it's really, really beautiful, but I don't like waking up really early.
((Anna Meredith
Co-owner, Bridge Creek Birch Syrup))
It makes it a little easier though, right?
((Quetzal Hauser
Volunteer))
Yeah.
((Anna Meredith
Co-owner, Bridge Creek Birch Syrup))
Be somewhere so nice?
((Quetzal Hauser
Volunteer))
Yeah. Some very, very full ones.
((NATS))
((Anna Meredith
Co-owner, Bridge Creek Birch Syrup))
You will see this too. There are so many filter systems, it's okay. They're crew.
((NATS))
((Quetzal Hauser
Volunteer))
I think it makes me stronger carrying all these buckets with sap and more sap.
((NATS))
((Quetzal Hauser
Volunteer))
A lot, a lot of sap. How much, I wonder how much we're going to get today. Yesterday how much…
((Katie Marden
Volunteer))
I know yesterday they got, I think they got over a thousand [gallons/3,780 liters]. They got a few gallons over their record.
((Quetzal Hauser
Volunteer))
That's good.
((Brad Marden
Volunteer))
Been coming out for a few seasons. Yeah, it's a nice way to start a day. And my kids love the syrup. And look, Maple likes it.
((Katie Marden
Volunteer))
It's just fun to get outside and help friends at the same time. And it's so fun with the kids because we can be helping and hauling and they can kind of do their own thing, which is fun. It's a fun multi-age activity.
((Jake Beaudoin
Co-owner, Bridge Creek Birch Syrup))
Timing is pretty much everything with birch. Waiting as long as you can, because the later you go, the more sap you'll get. But if you wait too long, you'll miss all that first, the first sugars that they put up the tree is like the primo, you know. It's got a little bit of sucrose in there and it's just really like, it makes not necessarily the best syrup, but it's like, you know, what I shoot for is like light and like, butterscotch. Just really nice, like the good stuff. But the late stuff is good too. I mean, it's all good. It's just different. Some of these trees, I mean, they fill these bags up every day just overfull.
Kenai Birch, they're kind of their own, own little hybrid species. It's pretty neat that we get to just exclusively tap these. They’re unique to the area.
((NATS))
((Jake Beaudoin
Co-owner, Bridge Creek Birch Syrup))
Just a quick little poke and then you can see the pressure. That’s it. They got positive pressure, making a osmotic pump with their roots, you know, pulling all that groundwater. Flushing the minerals or sugars out of their roots that they stored last year and pumping it up to make new buds for the summer. So, a tree like this will probably put out about a half-gallon [1.9 liters] to three quarters of a half-gallon [1.9 liters] to three-quarters of a gallon [3.8 liters] per day, you know, for about three weeks. So, you get about a pint [.5 liters] of syrup, like out of a good tree, you know, so, for the whole season.
((NATS))
((Anna Meredith
Co-owner, Bridge Creek Birch Syrup))
Sap’s getting a little darker, later in the season.
((Katie Marden
Volunteer))
I'll go high. Is there any other empty buckets? Trogon, can I take your bucket?
((Trogon Hauser
Volunteer))
Wait, what?
((Katie Marden
Volunteer))
Can I have your bucket?
((Trogon Hauser
Volunteer))
Totally.
((Katie Marden
Volunteer))
Totally, thanks buddy.
((NATS))
((Anna Meredith
Co-owner, Bridge Creek Birch Syrup))
We’re already getting backed up. There's so many muscles up top. The hoppers start. There's only a two-inch main line, and then it goes through a three-quarter-inch main line. And so, there's only so much pressure it can handle from all the muscles.
Guys look up.
((Penelope Haas
Volunteer))
I've been out here every day for like seven years. It's a hard thing to pin down. It's like what do you love about the ocean or what do you love about the mountains or…? It feels very alive in here, but still quiet. And I'm one of those people that likes the labor side of things. Like for me that's also peaceful. It's the best way to start the day from my point of view.
((Volunteer))
It's kind of a haul.
((Scott Hauser
Volunteer))
Everyone's had maple syrup, but a lot of people haven't had birch syrup. What is it? How is it different?
((Quetzal Hauser:
Volunteer))
It's well, it's not as sweet.
((Brad Marden
Volunteer))
So, if maple syrup is like a PBR [Pabst Blue Ribbon], it's like a craft beer. Birch syrup’s like more of a acquired taste sort of thing, but really good once you get, I don’t know, it’s different.
((NATS))
((Quetzal Hauser
Volunteer))
It tastes like sugary water. Like you dumped a bag of sugar in some water.
((Anna Meredith
Co-owner, Bridge Creek Birch Syrup))
All of us want the sweet stuff. It’s really good for us. It's like a spring tonic, which is pretty common in Scandinavian culture. And I think we're a little slower in North American culture to grab on to that or at least Alaskan culture. But a lot of people are doing it now, and they have been too like, usually old timers and homesteaders are like, “Oh yeah, I've been drinking sap for a lot of years.”
((NATS))
((Anna Meredith
Co-owner, Bridge Creek Birch Syrup))
So you can hear it. You hear it flowing? We're going to overflow again. Ready? Here, I got to run up there and tell them to stop.
((Quetzal Hauser
Volunteer))
Uh oh, not again.
((Anna Meredith
Co-owner, Bridge Creek Birch Syrup))
Guys, we got to stop pouring. I got two barrels overflowing. Let's give it like 10 minutes to clear out.
((Mike Meredith
Father of Anna Meredith))
It’s just a lot of sap going in at one time.
((Quetzal Hauser
Volunteer))
We should just drink.
((Mike Meredith
Father of Anna Meredith))
You just got to be patient for a minute, and it'll go down.
((Anna Meredith
Co-owner, Bridge Creek Birch Syrup))
That’s exciting. We’ve got sap spewing out everywhere. We’ve got to wait for that one to clear and then the whole line to burp and then we'll start again. That’s a good problem to have. We have too much sap.
((Trogon Hauser
Volunteer))
Every single thing, it just gets bigger until it overflows. It's a good thing we have hands.
((Quetzal Hauser
Volunteer))
Next time, I think I'll bring a straw.
((Trogon Hauser
Volunteer))
Same.
((Anna Meredith
Co-owner, Bridge Creek Birch Syrup))
Alright, it’s burping. I think we're good.
((SOT))
Wow.
((Jake Beaudoin
Co-owner, Bridge Creek Birch Syrup))
Today’s a great day. Yep, just the quintessential sap day.
((Anna Meredith
Co-owner, Bridge Creek Birch Syrup))
I want to be able to do things together and share it, because otherwise you, you know, I don't like just working for a paycheck. That doesn't really do it for a lot of people I bet.
((Brad Marden
Volunteer))
We did it!
((Katie Marden
Volunteer))
All the sacs are empty because we emptied them all.
((Anna Meredith
Co-owner, Bridge Creek Birch Syrup))
Done for the day. Yep. Now we go start the next 8 to 10 hours routine of what we did yesterday.
((NATS))
((Mike Meredith
Father of Anna Meredith))
Yeah, a good day. No accidents. No, no trips. Good quality sap. Now, let Jake boil it down.
((Scott Hauser
Volunteer))
This is how we do it.
((Quetzel Hauser:
Volunteer))
Good girl. Bye.
((Anna Meredith
Co-owner, Bridge Creek Birch Syrup))
So, we're going to take this load of grove one up to the sugar shop. And then the reverse osmosis system can start.
((NATS/MUSIC))
((Anna Meredith
Co-owner, Bridge Creek Birch Syrup))
Wait till it's all steaming up in the evapotorium. It's pretty, pretty amazing smell. We wait all year just for that awesome environment, sweet-smelling sap boiling.
((NATS/MUSIC))
((Jake Beaudoin
Co-owner, Bridge Creek Birch Syrup))
Sap, water tank, which is basically the water that we extract from the sap. You know, you pull a bunch of water out with the reverse osmosis. So, it reduces the fuel costs, you know. Burn, we burn wood so, if you can, as much water as you can get rid of makes a big difference. It's a big science project. It's pretty fun. Chemistry, you know. There's some pretty cool chemistry involved and just, I don't know, it's interesting.
I try to get it up to 67 brix [measure of the dissolved solids in a liquid] before it goes in the bucket or bottle. I mean, I don't want to go to work for somebody every day. I’d much rather do this for myself and then scrape by and be able to work from home, you know, and in the woods too.
((NATS))
((Anna Meredith
Co-owner, Bridge Creek Birch Syrup))
It gets pretty stressful, yeah. I mean, the burn point is a very real thing. A burned pan could be end of a season, but we've never had that before. Jake's pretty precise and on it, so. He hasn't whistled much this season. So, that's good. Whistling is an indicator, something's not right. It's like a sweet little, sweet little tune too.
((Mike Meredith
Father of Anna Meredith))
Like I said before, that's the finished product which is not done until you’re paid for it.
((Jake Beaudoin
Co-owner, Bridge Creek Birch Syrup))
He runs the financial department.
((Mike Meredith
Father of Anna Meredith))
Different kinds of minerals are coming out of the ground at this time of, this time of the run. See the difference in early and later run? Some people like the lighter, some people like the medium, mid-run.
((Jake Beaudoin
Co-owner, Bridge Creek Birch Syrup))
Some people don't like it at all. But…
((Anna Meredith
Co-owner, Bridge Creek Birch Syrup))
Jake and I both don't want things to get too big. It doesn't have to be all on a website. It doesn't have to be on social media. It doesn't have to be like crushing it and growing and everything that society says it needs to be. We just go at our own pace and we love where it's at.
((NATS/MUSIC))

TEASE ((VO/NAT/SOT))
Coming up…
((Banner))
Urban Agriculture

((SOT))
((Oksana Bihun
Vice President of Operations,
Little Wild Things City Farm))
Urban agriculture in major cities is really kind of an exploding industry. Fresh produce is out
the door every single week.

BREAK ONE
((https://www.voanews.com/a/5637747.html))
((UV Disinfecting Robots))
((Andy Molnar
UVD Robots))
BUMP IN ((ANIM))

BLOCK B


((PKG)) URBAN AGRICULTURE
((TRT: 04:10))
((Topic Banner: Urban Agriculture))
((Producer/Camera/Editor: Jeff Swicord))
((Map: Washington D.C.))
((Main characters: 1 female))
((BLURB: As climate change takes its toll on food production in many parts of the world, urban agriculture, growing food indoors under controlled conditions, is taking root as a viable alternative in cities across the U.S.))
((MUSIC/NATS))
((Oksana Bihun
Vice President of Operations, Little Wild Things City Farm))
I initially got into the world of urban agriculture when I was still a college student. Greenhouse growing and student farming. By my senior year, I finally realized that that is, you know, kind of where my pole was.
((NATS))
((Oksana Bihun
Vice President of Operations, Little Wild Things City Farm))
I found myself in New York City initially, so I worked for a company there that did a lot of consulting with urban agriculture around the world. And I just really wanted to get my hands dirty and get a real feel for what a farm does and how it can be improved. And so, that's how I found my way to Little Wild Things Farm. And here I am, managing the farm.
((Oksana Bihun
Vice President of Operations, Little Wild Things City Farm))
We have about 4000 square feet [372 sq. meters] of space. We grow microgreens, lettuces, edible flowers, both in soil-based agriculture and also in hydroponics. So, we grow about 25 to 30 different varieties at the farm.
So, this is some radish. It's a little bit larger than, you know, what you might expect out of a microgreen, but it really has that strong radish taste in it. We've also got some, you know, delicate herbs. So, we have celery over here. You can see, has that traditional celery leaf sticking out of it. We also have some basil. So, this is Purple Opal Basil. It's a little bit sweeter than what you might expect out of traditional Genovese Basil. And so, you can see, it has like that nice purple color in it. And then our other kind is our brassicas.
So, that's anything from broccoli, kale, red cabbage, turnip, kohlrabi. And so, those are kind of our bread and butter here at the farm.
((NATS))
((Oksana Bihun
Vice President of Operations, Little Wild Things City Farm))
Our farm is certified naturally grown, which is very similar to the organic certification. So, we use ladybugs at the farm as a natural pest control. So, they just, you know, hang out on the plants that are growing in our hydroponic base, and then, you know, if we ever have pest issues. So, you know, common pests in urban farms are aphids and spider mites, but they do a lot of work to help control that issue.
((NATS))
((Oksana Bihun
Vice President of Operations, Little Wild Things City Farm))
In most urban cities, a lot of your food comes from, you know, several hundred miles away.
There's a huge climate and financial cost to having imported that food. Urban agriculture in major cities is really kind of an exploding industry. Fresh produce is out the door every single week. They will harvest it, you know, as soon as 10 to 14 days later.
((NATS))
There.
((Oksana Bihun
Vice President of Operations, Little Wild Things City Farm))
And so, that turnaround is really a different model entirely when it comes to agriculture, you know. We're able to have a much, much quicker turnaround.
((NATS))
((Oksana Bihun
Vice President of Operations, Little Wild Things City Farm))
So, the market for our products is a bit varied. It's a subscription where people sign on for ten weeks to receive weekly deliveries of our greens. We still do restaurants, chefs, small grocery stores. Sadly, as climate change gets worse, traditional farming is going to have to adapt. And so, because of that, urban agriculture has the opportunity to really step in there and be an alternative method for farming. So, I definitely think that this model is adaptable to all areas of the world.
((NATS/MUSIC))
((Oksana Bihun
Vice President of Operations, Little Wild Things City Farm))
There is profit to be had in this industry. And, you know, we’re proving it. You know, we have multiple employees, full-time employees, part-time employees that have, you know, a stable living doing urban agriculture, which is pretty awesome.

TEASE ((VO/NAT/SOT))
Coming up…
((Banner))
Lambs Mowing Lawns

((SOT))
((Cory Suter
Founder, LambMowers.com))
The sheep tend to like tree seedlings, poison ivy, herbaceous weeds, even more than the grass. So, the mowing is very imperfect. This is a supplemental service to like an existing lawn care service.

BREAK TWO
((https://www.voanews.com/a/logon-bird-migration-tech--web-mp4/6655228.html))

((Bird Migration Tech))
((Rodd Kelsey
The Nature Conservancy))
((Jon Munger
Montana Farms))
((Courtesy: Google Earth))
((Courtesy: Cornell Lab of Orinthology))
((Courtesy: Point Blue Conservation Science/The Nature Conservancy))
((Jon Munger
Montana Farms))
((Courtesy: California Rice Commission))
((Courtesy: Migration Bird Conservancy Partnership))
BUMP IN ((ANIM))


BLOCK C


((PKG)) LAMBS MOWING LAWNS
((TRT: 5:11))
((Previously aired September 2022))
((Topic Banner: Lambs Mowing Lawns))
((Producer: Faiza Elmasry))
((Camera/Editor: Adam Greenbaum))
((Map: Burke, Virginia; Fairfax, Virginia))
((Main characters: 1 male))
((Sub characters: 1 female))
((BLURB: In Fairfax, Virginia, a flock of roughly 11 sheep is mowing lawns. The sheep are employed by LambMowers, an eco-friendly company that was founded to allow sheep to eat weeds instead of poisoning the soil and ecosystem with herbicides.))
((NATS: Cory))
All right, sheep. You guys ready to come out? Morning, sheep. Baa, sheep! Baa, sheep!
((Cory Suter
Founder, LambMowers.com))
I'm Corey Suter. I'm the owner of LambMowers.com and also the half owner with my wife of Suters Glen Permaculture Farm. We’re a five-acre [2 hectares] organic homestead. I bought the domain before we ever signed on the farm. It was something that I had envisioned. I had a number of different business ideas. I'm always been someone who's very entrepreneurial.
((NATS: Cory))
So, this is your grazing area today. We've got lots of work to do.
((Cory Suter
Founder, LambMowers.com))
So, I am a shepherd. I've been caring for this flock and helping breed this flock for, since 2016. They are independent contractors of sorts.
((NATS: Cory))
Looks like the young ones are ready to go.
((Cory Suter
Founder, LambMowers.com))
I had been practicing working with the sheep for five years here on my farm before I ever started bringing them out to other places.
((NATS: Cory))
Cinnamon, you're saying hi?
This is Cinnamon, the sheep. My kids name all the sheep.
((Cory Suter
Founder, LambMowers.com))
If you have less than two acres [0.8 hectares], we come out for a two-hour grazing appointment.
((NATS: Cory))
Ho, there is a lot of poison ivy in here. I think I might want to wait for the sheep to work through there.
((Cory Suter
Founder, LambMowers.com))
And the sheep tend to like tree seedlings, poison ivy, herbaceous weeds, even more than the grass. So, the mowing is very imperfect. This is a supplemental service to like an existing lawn care service. It might replace the spray, but it's not going to replace completely the lawn mower mowing of grass.
((NATS: Cory and Susan))
Cory: What would you like me to work on while the sheep are here? I see that there's a tulip poplar that's growing really close to the house. Would you like me to take that out for you?
Susan: That would be great.
Corey: Okay. Awesome.
((Cory Suter
Founder, LambMowers.com))
When someone hires LambMowers.com, not only do they get a flock of sheep in the yard, they get a gardener to come and help pull invasive weeds out of trees or make sure the mulch isn't covering over the root flare of a tree which can promote disease in the tree and cause it to die.
((Susan Glasby
Client))
I hired sheep to come help take care of some of the overgrowth in my backyard. I was actually researching goats because I knew that goats would eat poison ivy and it doesn't bother them. And so, while I was researching goats, I found Cory and LambMowers.com.
((NATS: Cory))
Susan, you're creating some wonderful habitat back here for wildlife with these rotting logs and sheltered areas. You did the right thing by leaving all these logs to rot, though. That's what's keeping all these trees so happy.
((Susan Glasby
Client))
Cory's been great to educate me too. A lot of what I have here is not natural. It's invasive. And so, removing that and then be able to replace it with something that's native to this area, you know, is definitely one of the goals as well. And I had recently done the solar panels in January and just looking to create a more friendly environment for my kids and for me and for our neighbors.
((Cory Suter
Founder, LambMowers.com))
I like that they stay together. They care about each other. They are very sociable. If you try to separate one from the flock, they'll die of loneliness. They realize that we're dependent on each other in a way that maybe sometimes we people like to think we're not.
((NATS: Sheep))
((Cory Suter
Founder, LambMowers.com))
So, their most important role here on our farm is not to provide fiber, not to provide food for us. It's to provide nutrients for our garden.
((NATS: Cory))
You know food is good when there's insects wanting to eat it. This is why I farm. Food is way better than what you can buy in stores.
((Cory Suter
Founder, LambMowers.com))
Sheep’s little fertilizer pellets or manure is 30 percent carbon. And so, not only do we make the grass a lot healthier but we're also helping bring carbon back into the soil, which has been greatly depleted. That's why I'm so passionate about protecting soil because we need that soil to sustain life for future generations.
((NATS: Sheep))
((Cory Suter
Founder, LambMowers.com))
There's always an interesting problem when you're working with animals that are independent thinkers and some kind of headstrong. We've learned a lot of solutions. So, we use this temporary fencing to help contain them and helps direct them towards the plants that we want them to eat and the ones we don't want them to eat.
((NATS: Cory))
Sheep! Hey, Sheep! Come on over here. Yeah, come on over. No? Not today? Okay, I'll get some more vines over here.
((Cory Suter
Founder, LambMowers.com))
Overall, the customers are very happy with the service we're providing.
((Susan Glasby
Client))
Oh, it's been very fun. They're a pleasure to have.
((NATS: Cory))
Baa, sheep!
((Cory Suter
Founder, LambMowers.com))
I'm excited about the potential. We have a bright future ahead as humans if we can continue to learn to work with nature instead of just trying to dominate nature.
((NATS: Cory))
Baa, sheep!
((NATS))

CLOSING BUMPER ((ANIM))
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BREAK THREE
https://www.voanews.com/a/episode_experiencing-realities-aging-through-virtual-reality-4505071/6113741.html
((VR Experiencing Aging))
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((Carrie Shaw
Founder & CEO, Embodied Labs))
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California State University Channel Islands))
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SHOW ENDS