Uploaded June 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Chef Mikey Russo left a 20-year kitchen career to start a market garden in Tennessee. We first talked in 2023 during his first full-time season. Now he's in year four with no job, running $130,000 in annual revenue across 80 fifty-foot beds on two properties, selling to roughly eight restaurants, and paying himself $30,000 after $40,000 in labor costs.
The biggest change since our last conversation: he dropped farmer's markets entirely. Switching to restaurant-only sales cut his labor by 75% and packaging costs to zero. Chefs don't want bunched vegetables — they want bulk roots in reusable totes, unwashed lettuce heads at $8/lb, and salad mix at $13/lb delivered consistently every week. No cardboard boxes, no bags, no bunching.
His operation is built around salad greens — 1,200 lettuce heads transplanted and three beds of arugula direct-seeded every week. He sells 100–300 pounds of salad greens weekly and turns down new restaurant clients because he can't grow enough. The consistency is the moat: nobody else in his market delivers every single week.
Also covered: his two-farm model (backyard + leased acre on an 80-acre homestead in exchange for vegetables), why he saved $80,000 before quitting his job, the year-one disasters (groundhogs, fallen trees, burst water line), station-based workflow design from his chef background, building a brand beyond the farm (YouTube, future restaurant, private farm dinners), and his philosophy that market gardening is a starting point for entrepreneurship — not the end goal.
➡️ Get market farming tools, seeds, and supplies at shop.moderngrower.co
🎥 Subscribe for more content on sustainable farming, market farming tips, and business insights! 🌿
Follow Modern Grower:
➡️ Instagram: instagram.com/moderngrowerpro
➡️ Instagram: instagram.com/moderngrowerco
Listen to other podcasts on the Modern Grower Podcast Network:
🔊 Carrot Cashflow: bit.ly/carrotcashflow
🔊 Farm Small Farm Smart: bit.ly/farmsmallfarmsmart
🔊 Farm Small Farm Smart Daily: bit.ly/farmsmallfarmsmartdaily
🔊The Growing Microgreens Podcast: bit.ly/thegrowingmicrogreenspodcast
🔊The Urban Farmer Podcast: youtube.com/playlist?list=PLTd1FPZ7J8xS3ebyyIxmBqp1pl2h87RpU
🔊The Rookie Farmer Podcast: youtube.com/playlist?list=PLTd1FPZ7J8xRJ0O4mAIdgX94QvXTI0ZZ7
🔊In Search of Soil Podcast: youtube.com/insearchofsoil
Check out Diego's books:
📖 Sell Everything You Grow on Amazon: amzn.to/4hoqUx6
📖 Ready Farmer One on Amazon: amzn.to/42FjrVX
0:00 — Is Farming Hard? "Starting a Farm From Scratch Is Near Impossible"
2:00 — Year One Disasters: Groundhogs, Fallen Trees, Burst Water Line
3:30 — "It's Not Sustainable to Do All This Work by Yourself"
5:00 — The Hiring Objection: "I'm Giving Too Much Money Away"
7:00 — The Farm as One Cog in a Business Portfolio
8:30 — Five Months With Little to No Revenue (Tennessee Climate Reality)
10:00 — $400/Month Mortgage, No Kids, Wife Pays Half — His Context
11:30 — The Second Farm: Leased Acre in Exchange for Vegetables
13:00 — "I Leave the Farm at 3 PM Every Day and Go to the Gym"
15:00 — Systems That Anyone Can Be Trained On
18:00 — Station-Based Workflow: "Like a Restaurant — Don't Move Your Feet"
19:00 — Switching to Restaurant-Only: 75% Labor Reduction, Zero Packaging Costs
20:30 — Selling Unwashed Lettuce Heads at $8/lb
22:00 — Ben Hartman's "Touch It Twice" Rule
24:30 — The Crop Plan: Salad Greens, Arugula, Some Roots, Garlic
29:00 — "I Turn Down Customers — I Can't Grow Enough"
32:00 — Building the Brand Through Social Media (Zero Marketing Budget)
37:00 — Ben Hartman's Course: Plan Backwards From the Customer
39:00 — "I Can't Grow Enough. I Sell Out Every Week."
43:00 — Paper Pot + Jang Seeder: The Two Tools That Run the Whole Farm
47:00 — Year 4 With No Job: The Numbers
48:00 — Almost Failed Financially — Fired Everyone and Grinded Through
50:00 — The $80K Savings Buffer Before Quitting
52:00 — Solely Restaurant Sales: ~8 Accounts, $13/lb Salad Mix
57:00 — $130K Revenue, $40K Labor, $30K Take-Home
1:00:00 — Constantly Reinvesting: YouTube, Equipment, Coaching
1:04:00 — "Don't Start a Business — Build a Brand"
1:08:00 — The 5-Year Vision: Farm + Restaurant + YouTube
1:10:00 — Investing in Yourself: Courses, Coaching, Paying to Learn
#ChefMikeyRusso, #MarketGardening, #FarmBusiness, #ChefsHarvestFarm, #SmallFarm, #RestaurantSales, #FarmToTable, #MarketGarden, #CareerChange, #ModernGrower, #FarmSmart, #SaladMixFarm, #FarmingBusiness, #FarmEntrepreneur, #ChefToFarmer, #CarrotCashflow, #farmsmallfarmsmart
**** Modern Grower and Diego Footer participate in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.
Chef Mikey Russo left a 20-year kitchen career to start a market garden in Tennessee. We first talked in 2023 during his first full-time season. Now he's in year four with no job, running $130,000 in annual revenue across 80 fifty-foot beds on two properties, selling to roughly eight restaurants, and paying himself $30,000 after $40,000 in labor costs.
The biggest change since our last conversation: he dropped farmer's markets entirely. Switching to restaurant-only sales cut his labor by 75% and packaging costs to zero. Chefs don't want bunched vegetables — they want bulk roots in reusable totes, unwashed lettuce heads at $8/lb, and salad mix at $13/lb delivered consistently every week. No cardboard boxes, no bags, no bunching.
His operation is built around salad greens — 1,200 lettuce heads transplanted and three beds of arugula direct-seeded every week. He sells 100–300 pounds of salad greens weekly and turns down new restaurant clients because he can't grow enough. The consistency is the moat: nobody else in his market delivers every single week.
Also covered: his two-farm model (backyard + leased acre on an 80-acre homestead in exchange for vegetables), why he saved $80,000 before quitting his job, the year-one disasters (groundhogs, fallen trees, burst water line), station-based workflow design from his chef background, building a brand beyond the farm (YouTube, future restaurant, private farm dinners), and his philosophy that market gardening is a starting point for entrepreneurship — not the end goal.
➡️ Get market farming tools, seeds, and supplies at shop.moderngrower.co
🎥 Subscribe for more content on sustainable farming, market farming tips, and business insights! 🌿
Follow Modern Grower:
➡️ Instagram: instagram.com/moderngrowerpro
➡️ Instagram: instagram.com/moderngrowerco
Listen to other podcasts on the Modern Grower Podcast Network:
🔊 Carrot Cashflow: bit.ly/carrotcashflow
🔊 Farm Small Farm Smart: bit.ly/farmsmallfarmsmart
🔊 Farm Small Farm Smart Daily: bit.ly/farmsmallfarmsmartdaily
🔊The Growing Microgreens Podcast: bit.ly/thegrowingmicrogreenspodcast
🔊The Urban Farmer Podcast: youtube.com/playlist?list=PLTd1FPZ7J8xS3ebyyIxmBqp1pl2h87RpU
🔊The Rookie Farmer Podcast: youtube.com/playlist?list=PLTd1FPZ7J8xRJ0O4mAIdgX94QvXTI0ZZ7
🔊In Search of Soil Podcast: youtube.com/insearchofsoil
Check out Diego's books:
📖 Sell Everything You Grow on Amazon: amzn.to/4hoqUx6
📖 Ready Farmer One on Amazon: amzn.to/42FjrVX
0:00 — Is Farming Hard? "Starting a Farm From Scratch Is Near Impossible"
2:00 — Year One Disasters: Groundhogs, Fallen Trees, Burst Water Line
3:30 — "It's Not Sustainable to Do All This Work by Yourself"
5:00 — The Hiring Objection: "I'm Giving Too Much Money Away"
7:00 — The Farm as One Cog in a Business Portfolio
8:30 — Five Months With Little to No Revenue (Tennessee Climate Reality)
10:00 — $400/Month Mortgage, No Kids, Wife Pays Half — His Context
11:30 — The Second Farm: Leased Acre in Exchange for Vegetables
13:00 — "I Leave the Farm at 3 PM Every Day and Go to the Gym"
15:00 — Systems That Anyone Can Be Trained On
18:00 — Station-Based Workflow: "Like a Restaurant — Don't Move Your Feet"
19:00 — Switching to Restaurant-Only: 75% Labor Reduction, Zero Packaging Costs
20:30 — Selling Unwashed Lettuce Heads at $8/lb
22:00 — Ben Hartman's "Touch It Twice" Rule
24:30 — The Crop Plan: Salad Greens, Arugula, Some Roots, Garlic
29:00 — "I Turn Down Customers — I Can't Grow Enough"
32:00 — Building the Brand Through Social Media (Zero Marketing Budget)
37:00 — Ben Hartman's Course: Plan Backwards From the Customer
39:00 — "I Can't Grow Enough. I Sell Out Every Week."
43:00 — Paper Pot + Jang Seeder: The Two Tools That Run the Whole Farm
47:00 — Year 4 With No Job: The Numbers
48:00 — Almost Failed Financially — Fired Everyone and Grinded Through
50:00 — The $80K Savings Buffer Before Quitting
52:00 — Solely Restaurant Sales: ~8 Accounts, $13/lb Salad Mix
57:00 — $130K Revenue, $40K Labor, $30K Take-Home
1:00:00 — Constantly Reinvesting: YouTube, Equipment, Coaching
1:04:00 — "Don't Start a Business — Build a Brand"
1:08:00 — The 5-Year Vision: Farm + Restaurant + YouTube
1:10:00 — Investing in Yourself: Courses, Coaching, Paying to Learn
#ChefMikeyRusso, #MarketGardening, #FarmBusiness, #ChefsHarvestFarm, #SmallFarm, #RestaurantSales, #FarmToTable, #MarketGarden, #CareerChange, #ModernGrower, #FarmSmart, #SaladMixFarm, #FarmingBusiness, #FarmEntrepreneur, #ChefToFarmer, #CarrotCashflow, #farmsmallfarmsmart
**** Modern Grower and Diego Footer participate in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.
