farm business class

Registration is now open for the Vermont New Farmer Project farm business class Growing Places.

This Summer:
Growing Places for aspiring and start-up farmers
Location: Vital Communities offices, White River Junction, VT
Time: 5:30 – 8:30 pm
Dates: June 24, July 8, July 22, & August 5
Fess: $100-$135
Registration Deadline: June 10; early discounts available for registrations by May 31.

This four session course introduces new and aspiring farmers to important topics, resources and services integral to getting their farm started off right.  Participants will learn about the cornerstones of farm business development—goal setting and decision making, accessing capital and financial management, exploring markets, and learning about the resources and services available to support beginning farmers. 

worksong workshop, beacon NY

Facebook Event HERE

groundswell programming scholarships

The Groundswell Center for Local Food & Farming is offering scholarships for limited-resource trainees in its 2013 Sustainable Farming courses. These courses provide training in small-scale, commercial organic farming systems and are geared for beginning and aspiring farmers.

Programs begin May 6 – Apply now!

Groundswell’s 100-hour Sustainable Farming Certificate Program runs from May 6 to October 26 and provides a well-rounded, in-depth immersion in organic crop and livestock production. It also exposes trainees to a variety of models and mentors for successful small farm management. The curriculum combines on-farm workshops, classroom training, farm tours, and supervised on-farm work experience.

This year Groundswell is also offering a series of shorter courses for those who don’t want to take on the full 100-hour Certificate Program. These include several advanced-level Intensives, geared for farmers with at least two years of production experience.

Groundswell’s 2013 Sustainable Farming Programs:

Sustainable Farming Certificate Program: 100 hours, May 6 – October 26

Finger Lakes CRAFT: Monthly farm tours and social gatherings

Organic Farming Fundamentals: Six sessions, May 8 – June 26.

VT events with greenhorns artist in residence

The Vermont Sail Freight Project (VSFP), sponsored by the Willowell Foundation, is a sail-powered food trading adventure linking the farms and forests of Lake Champlain with the Lower Hudson Valley.  During two upcoming Weds evening workshops, mariner Christin Ripley will teach knot tying useful in sailing.  Prospective VSFP volunteers are especially encouraged to attend.  Sponsored by Willowell; $10 suggested donation.  The first workshop is at VUHS, the second at Boundbrook farm in Ferrisburgh.  Space is limited!  RSVP

Weds, April 10: Basic Knot Tying
6:30-8 PM
- Learn about the resources that make cordage, occupational applications of cordage, and the difference between a knot, hitch and
bend. Followed by demonstration and knot tying.

Weds, April 17: Whipping, Splicing, and Fancywork
6-8 PM
-Learn how to stop a line from fraying by whipping the ends. Learn how to make a rope longer or create a permanent loop by splicing. And, learn how to make decorative and functional fancywork: turkshead, grafting, pointing, and hitching.

*Join us at 5 PM at Erik’s farm for brick-oven pizza. RSVP for details.

About the instructor:  

Christin Ripley is a sculptor and mariner based in New York City. She has cooked and crewed on several Sail Training Vessels and currently teaches sailing lessons and marine ecology in NY Harbor. For the month of April, she is living and teaching in Essex, NY through the Greenhorns, a grassroots non-profit for young farmers.

farm listening session with congresswoman delbene, washington

Join us for a Farm-Based Listening Session with Congresswoman Suzan DelBene!
Saturday, April 13th, 10 AM – 12:30 PM Local Roots Farm, Duvall

Share your thoughts on the Farm Bill and other federal policy issues that affect Washington farmers with our new House Agriculture Committee member, Congresswoman Suzan DelBene. Join us as we show the Congresswoman around a successful, working, direct-market farm in her district and talk about key issues. Not familiar with policy issues and want to join us anyway? Don’t worry – the event will start with a briefing on key issues!

Agenda:
10:00 AM: Policy issue briefing and walk-through
11:00 AM: Congresswoman DelBene arrives, tour 12:00 PM: Question and answer period See this information on our policy blog

For more information or to RSVP, contact Ariana Taylor-Stanley: ariana@tilthproducers.org [mailto:ariana@tilthproducers.org], 206.660.8958 This event is a collaboration between Tilth Producers of Washington, the Northwest Farm Bill Action Group, and the Washington Young Farmers Coalition. Funding is provided by the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition. Please support our work on the Tilth 2013 Policy platform.

vermont cheesemaking workshops

2013 is Peter Dixon’s 15th year of Cheesemaking Workshops near his home in Westminster, Vermont.  In our third year at Westminster Artisan Cheesemaking and our first year at the Parish Hill Creamery, the lineup is better than ever! 

This year’s series is comprised of two and three day sessions on the fundamentals of making and aging cheese and operating a small-scale, farmstead or artisanal cheese business.   Workshops are tailored to the needs and interests of aspiring cheesemakers as well as experienced manufacturers looking to improve and/or expand their cheese production.    Topics include:

• Hands-on Cheesemaking;
• HACCP and Food Safety;
  
• Technical Information on Milk Chemistry, Cheesemaking Processes, Affinage, Sanitation; and
  
• Practical Approaches to Construction of Cheesemaking and Aging Facilities. 

Also available, Peter’s HACCP-BASED PROGRAM HANDBOOK: A Guide for Farmstead and Small-Scale Artisan Cheesemakers Who Make Cheese by Hand in Small Batches from Raw and Pasteurized Milk  This handbook provides a framework for cheesemakers to construct food safety programs using the principles of the FDA/National Committee of Interstate Milk Shippers Dairy Products HACCP program.

vegetable breeding intensive

Register by email at basil@ecologycenter.org $50, worktrade & student discounts are available, pay with check or paypal (use donation button on the right)

Fred Hempel is an organic farmer and plant breeder at Baia Nicchia farm. He breeds tomatoes squash, peppers, & mustard. He sells his own & Ethiopian vegetable varieties through Artisan Seeds. He has released multiple tomato varieties that are sold through partnerships with wholesale producers and seed companies. The course will cover:

• Planning and Tools for Data Assessment:  gather materials; preliminary experiments; prioritize important traits for plant selection
• Seed Saving and Introduction to Reproductive Biology (inbreeding, outcrossing, vegetative propagation, ect.)
• Principles of Selection: what to look out for in order to get the results you want, recognizing mutations, natural crossing between garden neighbors, and line variation b) Selection for, or against, recognized traits
• Introduction to Cross-pollination, and How to create your own Hybrid
• An analysis of Hybrids
• Post-hybrid selection for new open-pollinated varieties.  Selection and data organization
• Politics of Seed: Intellectual property, distribution issues and return-on-investment:  Implications for the use of varieties in breeding, and for paying for your breeding activities.

https://www.facebook.com/events/434638103284072/

vermonters – consider dry beans!

Facebook Event HERE
NOFA-VT site HERE

rancher to rancher

California greenhorns! If you’re interested in ranching, check this out:

five upcoming fibershed classes!

The mission of Fibershed is to change the way we clothe ourselves by supporting the creation of local textile cultures that enhance ecological balance, and utilize regional agriculture while strengthening local economies and communities.

Community Felting Project: The Fibershed Yurt Cover

• When: April 20-21, 9:00 am to 5:00 pm
• Where: a private farm in Lagunitas, CA with group camping at Samuel P Taylor State Park
• Cost: $60 per person, includes felting instruction and camping
• Instructors: Katharine Jolda and Amber Bieg for large-scale wet felting; Heidi Harris for needle felting
• Registration: To reserve your place, email fibershed@gmail.com and you will be sent a Paypal payment request. Limited to 14 participants.

Join us for a 2-day community felting event and workshop at a beautiful farm in Lagunitas! Fibershed is making a felted cover for our signature yurt (which will be constructed at our Yurt Building Workshop taking place June 29-30 in Petaluma).

For further details: visit the event page on our calendar.

for greenhorns interested in goats

UVM Extension New Farmer Project Webinar Series

7 PM EST, Tuesday, March 26: Transitioning to a Commercial Goat Dairy: Are you ready?

Carol Delaney, M.S. is a small ruminant dairy specialist and author of A Guide to Starting a Commercial Goat Dairy.  Carol will present the platform and viewpoint to help you lay the framework for running a commercial dairy goat operation.  There will be an emphasis on planning, livestock considerations, budgeting, record keeping, time management and marketing. Formerly with the University of Vermont Department of Animal Science and Extension, 1998-2008, Carol now works as a farmer grant specialist for Northeast Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education,  and as a small ruminant consultant.

Newcomers to online learning are welcome. All you need to participate is internet access and a computer that you can hear sound through. To participate, please go to http://go.uvm.edu/aemon at about 6:45 pm EST on March 26, 2013 and click on the webinar title.  For more information, contact newfarmer@uvm.edu or call 802-223-2389×203. If you require accommodations to participate in this program, please let Jessie Schmidt know by March 12, 2013 at 802-223-2389 or 1-866-860-1382 (toll-free in VT) or newfarmer@uvm.edu so we may assist you.

2013 farm to market connection

Severine will be on a panel discussing “Supporting Beginning Farmers in the Catskills & Beyond”

Register Now for the 2013 Farm to Market Connection!
Join us for a day of networking and education about the most current topics in marketing. Gather with local food advocates from across the region including farmers, retailers, restaurateurs, specialty food producers, distributors, farmers’ market staff and economic development practitioners. The Farm to Market Connection is the perfect way to get the growing season off to the right start!

Dozens of past attendees have told us about lasting business connections they have made as a result of attending. Buyers of all scales will be present from local retailers to regional distributors. Educational topics will suit the interest of vegetable, livestock and dairy producers.

Full program HERE

 

NOFA/mass: spring cheese-making workshop series

Online registration for the Spring 2013 NOFA/Mass Cheese-making Workshop Series is open. See here for a full listing of all six workshops: http://www.nofamass.org/events/type/cheese-making

The workshop series takes place at dairies and cheese-making operations throughout Massachusetts. This series provides instruction and training on making a wide variety of cheeses on a small scale without a lot of investment in equipment. These workshops are led by professional cheese-makers, and they are meant for people interested in learning cheese-making for the first time or honing their skills.

Each workshop provides an opportunity to ask questions and gain direct experience in cheese-making. Instruction is hands-on, and participants will be grouped into teams to do the work. Milk is normally supplied to each participant so that they can take home the cheese made during the workshop. Instructors will also provide a general understanding of the cheese-making process. Workshop enrollment is limited to 10 participants.

homesteading course in maine

Spring Semester course at Stone Soup Insitute in Harpswell Maine.

Stone Soup Institute is offering a spring semester to four students who are curious and adventuresome enough to explore the learning opportunities on a small homestead in coastal Maine. The major focus of this semester will be farming and farm construction.  Coursework will include:

• Use and care of draft horses
• Bed prep and spring planting
• Selection and care of piglets and chicks
• Introduction to greenhouse and cold frame construction
• Wild Harvesting
• Wine Making

Spring Semester: April 5, 2013 – June 30, 2013
Full listing: http://stone-soup-institute.org/springsemester.html
A video intro to the school-> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y8rwURmzBf8

CSA expert exchange online conference

CSA Expert Exchange online conference hosted by Small Farm Central on March 15, 2013 !

For more details, see the CSA_ExpertExchange_release.

Be sure to check out the “New Farmer Scholarships” being offered to new and beginning farmers.  For more information on that:  http://www.csafarmconference.com/new-farmer-scholarships