Hannah Lencheck and Kevin Whitham didn't have access to land when they hatched a plan to start a Crosstown Compost, a food waste pick-up service that would turn the scraps into compost.

"When we sat down and started to really think seriously getting into the business, the first thing that came up was where would we do it and needing land," says Lencheck. She thought of farmers she knew who had extra space and might be willing to rent it out, "And Megan Hutchison immediately came to mind."

Hutchison owns property near Unionville, Indiana. In her experience as a former manager of the Local Growers Guild, there are plenty of landowners who are willing to share their land with ag start-ups. "We had folks all the time saying, ‘I have this piece of property. If you know of anyone, a young person who needs land, here. Let them know.'"

Today on Earth Eats, we hear the story of this business partnership.

In the kitchen, it's a fall fungus of fall foragers -- chicken mushrooms.

And, the final installment of Harvest Public Media's series called "Watching Our Water." Upstream farmers can't just stop using fertilizer all together. Researchers are looking at plant-based strategies to help mitigate the dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico.

Stories On This Episode

Wasabi Is The "Hardest Plant To Grow," Just As Hard To Find

Somewhere between 90 and 95 percent of wasabi sold in restaurants is fake. It's just a mixture of horseradish, green food coloring and dry mustard.

Researching New Ways Farmers Can Fight Gulf's ‘Dead Zone'

Upstream farmers can't just stop using fertilizer without massive changes in our food system. Researchers are looking at two plant-based strategies to help mitigate the dead zone.

In Rural Indiana, Farm Veterinarians In Short Supply

Indiana's 200 or so veterinarians do a lot of driving, and starting in January, they'll need to do even more.

Southern-Fried Chicken Mushroom Sandwich

Bright orange chicken mushrooms are all over Midwestern woods and farmers markets these days.

Hurricane Matthew Latest Catastrophic Event To Hit N.C. CAFOs

Hurricane Matthew floodwaters killed millions of chickens and pigs and potentially flooded lagoons that retain millions of pounds of hog waste.

Pepsi Pledges To Cut Sugar In Drinks

PepsiCo this week announced new targets for reducing sugar, salt and fat drinks and snacks by 2025.