136: Tim Diebel, from Pastor to Farmer

Tim grew up in West Texas, the younger son of a local church pastor and his Christian educator wife.  After graduating from Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, TX with a BFA in speech communications, he went on to seminary, graduating with a Master of Divinity degree. After graduating, he served churches in Texas communities in Houston, Athens and Lufkin; and then he moved to a historic urban congregation adjacent to Drake University in Iowa. During the course of that 19-year ministry, Tim became captivated by questions about food, our global food system, and the need for a strengthened circle of memory around how to grow food on simpler terms.  So, at 55 years of age, he quit his job and with his wife moved to a 10-acre farmstead they’ve named “Taproot Garden” located south of Des Moines where they cultivate a large garden and raise laying hens – an enterprise he refers to as a writing project with an outdoor classroom. IN THIS PODCAST: Greg interviews Tim and finds out what motivated Tim and his wife to move to the country and start focusing on growing food through simple techniques some of which are those which were used a couple generations back. Through experimentation, they have increased their harvests dramatically, and even Greg is blown away by how many tomatoes they got this year.  And there is a great story about a kindergartner's comment after visiting his farm which is awesomely rewarding to any farmer.Visit https://www.urbanfarm.org/2016/09/27/tim-diebel/ for show notes and links.