Food, Flowers, & Fun: Visits with farm women from around the world
This podcast celebrates the stories of women farmers around the world who are engaged in food production, ornamentals, and agritourism. Join us for some honest farm talk--and lots of laughter--about the unique challenges faced by female farmers as they try to balance their farm and personal lives, support their mental health and well-being, and sustain healthy relationships on and off the farm.
The first season’s guests include a cassava grower from Cameroon, an agroforester from North Carolina, a ”chicken midwife” from California, the Grass Whisperer, and many, many more. You won’t want to miss an episode!
Your host, Kristen ”K” Castrataro, is a fifth-generation farm kid from Rhode Island. She has a rich agricultural background as a producer, Extension Agent, and farm consultant. She is driven by the conviction that the people feeding our bodies and souls should NOT be starving themselves. K is the founder of Pen Light for Farmers, a business that helps farmers (especially farm women) build a farm life and relationships that meet their deepest needs and values. You can find her at www.penlightfarmers.com.
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Episodes
7 hours ago
7 hours ago
Welcome to the second season of Food, Flowers, & Fun: Visits with farm women from around the world! Episode seven features behavioral health professional Roberta Bellamy of Medical Family Therapy and Consulting, PLLC as we discuss:
Watching stress and mental health challenges end farming
Managing fear
Breaking out of relational triangles
Speaking truth kindly
Much, much more!
You will love this wise and compassionate ag service provider!
#IYWF2026
About Roberta:
Since 2015, Roberta has worked collaboratively with agricultural and health care entities to provide behavioral health services to North Carolina family farms across the state. She works with farm families, farm workers, and the entities that serve and support the agricultural population, to help farms manage and reduce stress. Roberta grew up on a small, multi-generational family farm in Kittrell, NC. During the turbulent farming years of the early 80’s, her father was hospitalized with a stress-induced, psychotic breakdown, and her family’s life of farming ended. As an adult, she set her professional goals toward becoming a therapist for farming families.
Connect with Roberta at:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/roberta-bellamy-phd-lmft-359174209/
Connect with K at:
Website: https://www.penlightfarmers.com
YouTube: @k.castrataro3466
Facebook and Instagram: @penlightfarmers
Podcast (audio): https://www.penlightfarmers.com/podcast
Podcast (video): https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLIVBn53rrIsTwS4ag6hH4DHnxG_Lxqt7x
Recording date: January 29, 2026
4 days ago
4 days ago
Recording date: January 27, 2026
Welcome to the second season of Food, Flowers, & Fun: Visits with farm women from around the world! Episode six features apple orchardist Sandra Barden of Barden Family Orchard as we discuss:
Marrying into the farm family
Growing organic apples
Listening to customers
Rebuilding after the death of the primary farmer
Much, much more!
You will love this positive and determined farmer!
#IYWF2026
About Sandie:
Sandra Barden is the owner/operator of Barden Family Orchard in Rhode Island. She managed the farm with her husband, Gil, for twenty-five years until tragedy struck in 2023, leaving her both a widow and the primary farm operator. Because the business had been set up as a sole proprietorship, Sandie had to set up a completely new business structure while navigating her grief…all during the beginning of the growing season.
Connect with Sandie at:
Website: https://bardenfamilyorchard.com/
Facebook: @bardenfamilyorchard
Instagram: @barden_family_orchard
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sandra-barden-9a815831/
Connect with K at:
Website: https://www.penlightfarmers.com
YouTube: @k.castrataro3466
Facebook and Instagram: @penlightfarmers
Podcast (audio): https://www.penlightfarmers.com/podcast
Podcast (video): https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLIVBn53rrIsTwS4ag6hH4DHnxG_Lxqt7x
Monday Feb 02, 2026
Monday Feb 02, 2026
Recording date: January 27, 2026
Welcome to the second season of Food, Flowers, & Fun: Visits with farm women from around the world! Episode six features apple orchardist Sandra Barden of Barden Family Orchard as we discuss:
Marrying into the farm family
Growing organic apples
Listening to customers
Rebuilding after the death of the primary farmer
Much, much more!
You will love this positive and determined farmer!
#IYWF2026
About Sandie:
Sandra Barden is the owner/operator of Barden Family Orchard in Rhode Island. She managed the farm with her husband, Gil, for twenty-five years until tragedy struck in 2023, leaving her both a widow and the primary farm operator. Because the business had been set up as a sole proprietorship, Sandie had to set up a completely new business structure while navigating her grief…all during the beginning of the growing season.
Connect with Sandie at:
Website: https://bardenfamilyorchard.com/
Facebook: @bardenfamilyorchard
Instagram: @barden_family_orchard
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sandra-barden-9a815831/
Connect with K at:
Website: https://www.penlightfarmers.com
YouTube: @k.castrataro3466
Facebook and Instagram: @penlightfarmers
Podcast (audio): https://www.penlightfarmers.com/podcast
Podcast (video): https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLIVBn53rrIsTwS4ag6hH4DHnxG_Lxqt7x
Friday Jan 30, 2026
Friday Jan 30, 2026
Recording date: 2025
Welcome to this special highlight edition of Food, Flowers, & Fun: Visits with farm women from around the world! Episode 5 features five of our most transformational guests from Season 1 as we discuss:
Making a difference right where we are
Supporting women farmers to have more purpose, community, and profitability
Engaging in boat-based advocacy
Nurturing the sea through kelp
Sharing the fun sides of farming with the next generation
If these bite-size snippets whet your appetite, be sure to check out the full episodes, listed below!
#IYWF2026
Listen to the Full Episodes Here:
Farming That Contributes with Azure Cygler: https://www.podbean.com/eas/pb-rew66-19a1352
Raising Chickens with Humanity and Integrity with Franchesca Duval: https://www.podbean.com/eas/pb-9c2ei-194a871
Women Discovering Purpose and Community through Cassava with Nancy Nalova: https://www.podbean.com/eas/pb-ti82k-196c43b
Each Farmer Matters with Toluwani Precious Ogunbiyi: https://www.podbean.com/eas/pb-dz53v-1959ef1
Grassroots Advocacy for Farmers on Land and Sea with Sarah Schumann: https://www.podbean.com/eas/pb-e4y6x-198067f
Connect with K at:
Website: https://www.penlightfarmers.com
YouTube: @k.castrataro3466
Facebook and Instagram: @penlightfarmers
Podcast (audio): https://www.penlightfarmers.com/podcast
Podcast (video): https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLIVBn53rrIsTwS4ag6hH4DHnxG_Lxqt7x
Monday Jan 26, 2026
Monday Jan 26, 2026
Recording date: 2025
Welcome to this special highlight edition of Food, Flowers, & Fun: Visits with farm women from around the world! Episode 5 features five of our most transformational guests from Season 1 as we discuss:
Making a difference right where we are
Supporting women farmers to have more purpose, community, and profitability
Engaging in boat-based advocacy
Nurturing the sea through kelp
Sharing the fun sides of farming with the next generation
If these bite-size snippets whet your appetite, be sure to check out the full episodes, listed below!
#IYWF2026
Listen to the Full Episodes Here:
Farming That Contributes with Azure Cygler: https://www.podbean.com/eas/pb-rew66-19a1352
Raising Chickens with Humanity and Integrity with Franchesca Duval: https://www.podbean.com/eas/pb-9c2ei-194a871
Women Discovering Purpose and Community through Cassava with Nancy Nalova: https://www.podbean.com/eas/pb-ti82k-196c43b
Each Farmer Matters with Toluwani Precious Ogunbiyi: https://www.podbean.com/eas/pb-dz53v-1959ef1
Grassroots Advocacy for Farmers on Land and Sea with Sarah Schumann: https://www.podbean.com/eas/pb-e4y6x-198067f
Connect with K at:
Website: https://www.penlightfarmers.com
YouTube: @k.castrataro3466
Facebook and Instagram: @penlightfarmers
Podcast (audio): https://www.penlightfarmers.com/podcast
Podcast (video): https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLIVBn53rrIsTwS4ag6hH4DHnxG_Lxqt7x
Friday Jan 23, 2026
Friday Jan 23, 2026
Welcome to the second season of Food, Flowers, & Fun: Visits with farm women from around the world! Episode 4 features no-dig vegetable farmer Lucía Cueto Kearney of Pea Shoot Farm, LLC as we discuss:
Farming to address climate change
Growing vegetables in a no-dig system
Sharing income in a communal living structure
Assigning appropriate value to the work of those who provide community services
Much, much more!
You will love this passionate and ideological farmer!
#IYWF2026
About Lucía:
Lucía Cueto Kearney is a first-generation farmer of Argentine and Irish descent. For the last decade and more, her twin passions have been cooperative living and small-scale sustainable agriculture. Lucía is a founding member of the Wolf Tree Cooperative, a rural housing coop in Foster, RI launched in 2022. After eight years of working for and learning from other farmers, Lucía was able to launch Pea Shoot Farm, LLC (Quinta Arvejita) at Wolf Tree in 2023, a no-dig, intensive market garden producing a variety of crops and homestead goods using farming practices that go beyond sustainability and actively work to build healthy soil. We believe that healthy, sustainably produced, culturally affirming food is a human right, and seek to serve the needs of our local community through the food we grow and access to the land we steward. We believe that small farms are key in reconnecting people to community and planet, and seek to be a part of a robust, sustainable, and just food system here in Rhode Island.
Connect with Lucía at:
Website: https://www.wolftreecoop.org/farm
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61563293259907
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pea.shoot.farm/
Connect with K at:
Website: https://www.penlightfarmers.com
YouTube: @k.castrataro3466
Facebook and Instagram: @penlightfarmers
Podcast (audio): https://www.penlightfarmers.com/podcast
Podcast (video): https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLIVBn53rrIsTwS4ag6hH4DHnxG_Lxqt7x
Recording date: January 15, 2026
Monday Jan 19, 2026
Monday Jan 19, 2026
Recording date: January 15, 2026
Welcome to the second season of Food, Flowers, & Fun: Visits with farm women from around the world! Episode 4 features no-dig vegetable farmer Lucía Cueto Kearney of Pea Shoot Farm, LLC as we discuss:
Farming to address climate change
Growing vegetables in a no-dig system
Sharing income in a communal living structure
Assigning appropriate value to the work of those who provide community services
Much, much more!
You will love this passionate and ideological farmer!
#IYWF2026
About Lucía:
Lucía Cueto Kearney is a first-generation farmer of Argentine and Irish descent. For the last decade and more, her twin passions have been cooperative living and small-scale sustainable agriculture. Lucía is a founding member of the Wolf Tree Cooperative, a rural housing coop in Foster, RI launched in 2022. After eight years of working for and learning from other farmers, Lucía was able to launch Pea Shoot Farm, LLC (Quinta Arvejita) at Wolf Tree in 2023, a no-dig, intensive market garden producing a variety of crops and homestead goods using farming practices that go beyond sustainability and actively work to build healthy soil. We believe that healthy, sustainably produced, culturally affirming food is a human right, and seek to serve the needs of our local community through the food we grow and access to the land we steward. We believe that small farms are key in reconnecting people to community and planet, and seek to be a part of a robust, sustainable, and just food system here in Rhode Island.
Connect with Lucía at:
Website: https://www.wolftreecoop.org/farm
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61563293259907
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pea.shoot.farm/
Connect with K at:
Website: https://www.penlightfarmers.com
YouTube: @k.castrataro3466
Facebook and Instagram: @penlightfarmers
Podcast (audio): https://www.penlightfarmers.com/podcast
Podcast (video): https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLIVBn53rrIsTwS4ag6hH4DHnxG_Lxqt7x
Friday Jan 16, 2026
Friday Jan 16, 2026
Recording date: December 29, 2025
Welcome to the second season of Food, Flowers, & Fun: Visits with farm women from around the world! Episode 3 features cut flower farmer Heather Meehan of The Daisy Edition as we discuss:
Connecting with land, food, and people
Building foundational farming skills
Getting—and staying—open to new agricultural possibilities
Navigating land access and tenure
Much, much more!
You will love this responsive and reflective farmer!
#IYWF2026
About Heather:
Heather Meehan, the founding farmer of The Daisy Edition, got her start at a twenty-acre pick-your-own CSA (community-supported agriculture) in 2021. It was there that she first fell in love with growing flowers, and she went on to hone her flower farming and floral design skills at farms in New York and Rhode Island. Heather’s favorite moments are early mornings spent harvesting dahlias and anytime one of her cats crawls into her lap.
Connect with Heather at:
Website: https://www.thedaisyedition.com/
Instagram: @thedaisyedition
Connect with K at:
Website: https://www.penlightfarmers.com
YouTube: @k.castrataro3466
Facebook and Instagram: @penlightfarmers
Podcast (audio): https://www.penlightfarmers.com/podcast
Podcast (video): https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLIVBn53rrIsTwS4ag6hH4DHnxG_Lxqt7x
Monday Jan 12, 2026
Monday Jan 12, 2026
Recording date: December 29, 2025
Welcome to the second season of Food, Flowers, & Fun: Visits with farm women from around the world! Episode 3 features cut flower farmer Heather Meehan of The Daisy Edition as we discuss:
Connecting with land, food, and people
Building foundational farming skills
Getting—and staying—open to new agricultural possibilities
Navigating land access and tenure
Much, much more!
You will love this responsive and reflective farmer!
#IYWF2026
About Heather:
Heather Meehan, the founding farmer of The Daisy Edition, got her start at a twenty-acre pick-your-own CSA (community-supported agriculture) in 2021. It was there that she first fell in love with growing flowers, and she went on to hone her flower farming and floral design skills at farms in New York and Rhode Island. Heather’s favorite moments are early mornings spent harvesting dahlias and anytime one of her cats crawls into her lap.
Connect with Heather at:
Website: https://www.thedaisyedition.com/
Instagram: @thedaisyedition
Connect with K at:
Website: https://www.penlightfarmers.com
YouTube: @k.castrataro3466
Facebook and Instagram: @penlightfarmers
Podcast (audio): https://www.penlightfarmers.com/podcast
Podcast (video): https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLIVBn53rrIsTwS4ag6hH4DHnxG_Lxqt7x
Friday Jan 09, 2026
Friday Jan 09, 2026
Recording date: January 2, 2026
Welcome to the second season of Food, Flowers, & Fun: Visits with farm women from around the world! Episode 2 features farmer, educator, and ag mediator Stacy Entel of Land & Sea Together as we discuss:
Solving problems through agricultural mediation
Building and maintaining strong relationships
Farming forty hours a week
Keeping farm staff for the long-term
Much, much more!
You will love this engaging and relational farmer!
#IYWF2026
About Stacy:
Stacy is in her eleventh farming season. She currently grows organic vegetables at Heart Beets Farm in Berkley, Massachusetts, where she exercises her passions for regenerative agriculture and equitable access to local produce. She is also an agricultural mediator with Land & Sea Together. Prior to her work as a farmer and mediator, Stacy earned her B.A. from Tufts University, taught elementary school, and worked especially with English Language Learners.
Connect with Stacy at:
Website: https://landandseatogether.org/ ; https://www.heartbeetsfarm.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/landandseatogether/ ; https://www.facebook.com/heartbeetsfarm/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/landandseatogether/?hl=en ; https://www.instagram.com/heartbeetsfarm/?hl=en
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@heartbeetsfarm2540
Connect with K at:
Website: https://www.penlightfarmers.com
YouTube: @k.castrataro3466
Facebook and Instagram: @penlightfarmers
Podcast (audio): https://www.penlightfarmers.com/podcast
Podcast (video): https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLIVBn53rrIsTwS4ag6hH4DHnxG_Lxqt7x