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11. Yes you can can! A workshop on canning food

 

Anxious to learn how to benefit from nature's fall bounty all winter long? Join us for "Canning 101 Applesauce," to learn hands-on how to make and preserve your own applesauce, on Nov. 14 from 6:30-9:30 p.m.

at Eastern Avenue Christian Reformed Church, 514 Eastern S.E, Grand Rapids. All participants will leave with their own jars of applesauce to take home.

 

The workshop is sponsored by Mixed Greens, a school gardening project "Growing Kids Who Grow Gardens" (www.mixedgreens.org) and made possible by funding from the Wege Foundation. The Greater Grand Rapids Food Systems Council (www.foodshed.net) assisted.

 

The registration fee of $10 includes equipment, jars, materials, apples and all necessary ingredients. (Scholarships are available.)

 

Space is limited so RSVP soon by e-mail to [log in to unmask] or by calling 616-301-3592. For more information on scheduling private canning classes, please call 231-578-0873 or e-mail [log in to unmask].

 

12. A chance to share innovative approaches to farming and marketing

 

If your 2006 growing year has something to crow about you may want to create a poster for the 2006 Great Lakes Fruit and Vegetable Expo. Perhaps you started a CSA this year and are very happy with the impact it has on your community or you have implemented a new cover crop program on your farm that you would like to share with farmers.  This is your chance to create a 4 x 4 display and present it at the GLFV expo in Grand Rapids on Dec 5-7.  This opportunity not only offers you a chance to share and interact with others on a one on one basis but it also offers you a reduced registration of $5.00 for the expo. So if this is of interest please read on…. The poster does not have to be of research but it does need to contain explanation and photographs with a professional appearance.


The 2006 Great Lakes Fruit, Vegetable & Farm Market EXPO is scheduled for December 5-7 at DeVos Place Convention Center. The poster session is an extremely valuable part of the Expo as a means of showcasing your research and extension information and meeting one-on-one with Expo attendees, many of whom have had a stake in financially supporting our MAES and MSUE efforts.  The poster session location in the Grand Concourse of the DeVos Convention Center provides a high visibility area that all Expo attendees pass sooner or later.
Also, remember that poster contributors now get complimentary registration for the presenting author.  Additionally, there is a special registration fee of only $5 each for all other participants having an MSU I.D. - faculty, staff, extension agents, graduate and undergraduate students, etc.

Please send your poster title(s), full authorship, and the name and mail/email addresses of the presenting author (i.e., the person to receive the complimentary Expo registration) to me via email ([log in to unmask]
) by NOVEMBER 17 (or sooner, if possible), so that we can assure that there is enough space for everyone, can pre-assign poster board sites and host times (see below), and can provide a list, map, and schedule for attendees to use during the Expo. I need the presenter(s) name and address in a timely fashion so that Expo organizers can prepare the complimentary registrations appropriately. We cannot guarantee space and complimentary registrations for last-minute submissions.
 
Also, please indicate a specific date and time (at least 1 hour, but which day and time during the Expo is your choice) during which you will be available to answer questions about your work.  If space becomes limited, we will have to give priority to those who commit at least one of the authors to be present during their chosen time.  Certainly, you can spend more than an hour, or can host your poster at more than one time, or have various authors host the poster over the course of the Expo, but we need a commitment of at least one hour to place on the list/map/schedule of posters that is expected to be included in each Expo attendees registration information.
 
The poster area will be set up with backboards on which you can pin your posters.  Each poster (you may have more than one) will be allotted a 4 x 4 ft poster area, as in scientific meetings.  If, for any reason, you have a conflict arise for your self-scheduled time to host the poster, please indicate prominently on your poster the revised or additional day(s) and time(s) that you will be available.  Attendees also have noted that they particularly appreciate it when posters are accompanied by a folder or envelope containing pertinent brochures, reprints, or 8.5x11" copies of the poster, providing an excellent way for your clientele to retain the take home message of your efforts.  Also, please indicate on your poster the contact information for the corresponding author(s), including email addresses and/or office phone numbers so that you can be reached regarding any follow-up inquiries.
 
All are invited to present as many pertinent posters as they wish; however, please also note that if you have been funded during 2006 by the Michigan State Horticultural Society Trust Fund, you are required to present the results of your project in either a scheduled oral session or as a poster. Commercial products, advertising, and reports developed by commercial companies will not be allowed as a poster (that is why we have exhibit hall space).  We are hoping to have the poster area set up by late Monday afternoon so that early birds can put up their posters prior to Tuesday morning; at the latest, please have your poster up by mid-morning on Tuesday.  Please plan to keep your poster up from Tuesday through the end of the program sessions on Thursday.   We will be collecting all posters at the end of the Expo on Thursday for return to their authors, so you should not remove your poster prematurely even if you cannot be present on Thursday to take it down.  All collected posters will be available for pick-up in Room B18, National Food Safety and Toxicology Center, MSU campus, after the Expo.
 

Please note the suggestions below regarding content and manner of poster presentations to achieve the greatest impact in this forum:
 
1 - Growers attending the meeting have limited viewing time.
2 - Make your poster colorful with plenty of photos and summary graphs, and less text.
3 - Information presented in text form should be in a large font readable from several feet away.
4 - Focus on presenting the highlights of the work or story.
 
What type of content is appropriate for a poster presentation at the Expo:
 
1 - Results of extension, demonstration, and research work.
2 - Summaries, from previous articles or scientific publications, transformed into posters.
3 - Previously presented posters from other scientific and industry meetings.
4 - Michigan State Hort. Society Trust Fund project reports.
5 - Updated or revised extension advisories.
6 - Institutional promotional literature.

The Expo poster session is of critical importance to the program, because we have a very limited number of hours of educational programming; therefore, oral presentation timeslots are insufficient to communicate all that we do during the course of the year for our clientele industries and stakeholders.  The Expo poster session compensates for the limited time, providing institutional researchers and extension agents an opportunity to share their timely information. 

We look forward to learning of your work and projects at this year’s session!

 

 


For the first time in the U.S. - The Internationally Acclaimed...

13. NTS Certificate in Sustainable Agriculture at ACRES Conference,

 Dec 4, 5, 6 in St. Paul, Minnesota

Nutri-Tech Solutions (NTS) are the undisputed leaders in high-production biological agriculture in Australia, serving a client base of 15,000 farmers and exporting to thirty five countries.  Over the past six years many hundreds of growers from around the world have attended the NTS Certificate in Sustainable Agriculture course.  Here are some of their comments:

"Thank you all for the most interesting week. It was one of the most stimulating and satisfying seminars I have ever attended" - Charl Geldenhuys, Research Scientist, New Zealand
"A thoroughly entertaining, information-packed few days which can be best described as 'inspirational' and 'life-changing'" - Hennie Saaiman, Consultant, South Africa
"It gave me the tools to change the way I farm and a reason why I should change"
- Sandra Kirk, Tomato Grower, Qld Australia

This intensive 3 day course (with two evening sessions) covers 5 modules including; Mineral Management, Microbe Management, Plant Management, Pest Management and Human Health Management.  Participants must successfully pass all 5 modules (involving open book exams) to achieve their Certificate in Sustainable Agriculture (a sought-after qualification).  The presenters are:

Writer/consultant, Graeme Sait, is a world leader in high-production, biological agriculture, author of over 200 published papers and a best-selling book entitled "Nutrition Rules!". Graeme's inspirational presentations are jam-packed with tips and techniques to help build productivity, profitability and sustainability.  His popular human health presentations are often described as "life-changing" Graeme is CEO of NTS, a trail blazing innovator working in 35 countries.

Ag Scientist, Joel Williams, is a powerful, passionate presenter and a highly regarded biological consultant.  He is a skilled educator who has delivered numerous training courses in Australia and beyond.  Joel can provide expert advice in both organic and conventional arenas, but he is a keen proponent of developing a "functional hybrid" with a "best of both worlds approach".  He is head agronomist at NTS and responsible for the popular Soil Therapy
programs.


Day 1 - Mineral Management
Eight hours of presentations and workshops covering multiple aspects of mineral nutrition in the soil, animals and humans including: productive ratios, mineral stabilisation and magnification, chlorophyll management, trace mineral nutrition, soil test analysis, fertiliser guidelines and the "remineralisation imperative" for human health.


Day 1 - Evening Session - 90 minutes - Nutrition Rules and The Art of Detox - Author/educator Graeme Sait delivers his thought-provoking guidelines for proactive wellness including detox protocols.

Day 2 - Microbe Management

Discover how to house, feed and protect your microbial workforce.  Learn how to work with your soil biology using paramagnetism, humates, compost teas, specialist inoculums and bio-stimulants. Understand nitrogen fixation, phosphate solubilisation and soil-life monitoring techniques and realise the critical role of beneficial gut organisms in human health.


Day 2 - Evening Session - The Secrets of Longevity - 90 min - An inspiring analysis of positive strategies to achieve a happy, healthy, extended life.

Day 3 - Plant Management/Pest Management
Explore new crop monitoring tools, cutting-edge nutrition technology, techniques to boost nutrient uptake and the use of natural hormones and growth stimulants.  Discover new techniques for non-toxic insect management and poison-free control of disease and nematodes.  This absorbing 3 day seminar concludes with a human health workshop involving several tests and a comprehensive personal health report card.

Date:            December 4th, 5th & 6th
Time:            8.30am - 5.00pm (& night sessions)

Location:       Crowne Plaza  St Paul, Riverfront, St Paul, Minnesota
Cost:              $470 (includes 300 page manual)

Registration: Fill out your registration form online at www.nutri-tech.com.au , fax your details to +61 7 5472 9933, phone +61 7 5472 9923 (office hours - Australian time) or email [log in to unmask] and an NTS representative will contact you regarding payment options.  Registrations close 20 Nov or when fully booked. DON'T MISS OUT!

 

Allan Balliett, HEN Friend, Fresh and Local CSA, Shepherdstown, WV 25443

 


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14.
Animal Rights Initiatives A Little Scary  Go Arizonia!! J
The most publicized animal rights issue this fall was proposition 204 in Arizona which prohibited veal crates for calves and gestation crates for pigs. A similar initiative was passed regarding gestation crates in 2002, and was successful in essentially eliminating the already small pig industry in Florida.

The animal rights movement has found a model for success and they took it to Arizona where this measure passed by a whopping 61% of the vote. While the agricultural industry was not prepared for the initiative in Florida, they were well funded and well aware of the threat to their industries by this initiative. But, they were simply outgunned on an issue that inherently has the support of the public as they are not educated on the issue.

We can expect these initiatives to emerge at a more rapid pace, and agriculture is going to have to figure out how to band together to counteract the massive funding disadvantage that agriculture is going to have. If they pick each state off one by one, step by step, they will have won not because of the correctness of their agenda, but because of a vastly superior implementation of tactics and strategy.
-- Troy Marshall

 

 

Vicki Morrone

Organic Vegetable and Crop Outreach Specialist

Michigan State University

C.S. Mott Sustainable Food Systems

303 Natural Resources Bldg.

East Lansing, MI 48824

517-353-3542

517-282-3557 (cell)

517-353-3834 (fax)

http://safs.msu.edu/

http://www.mottgroup.msu.edu/

 

If you would like to access a searchable archive of the all the previous Mich-Organic listserv postings copy this URL and paste in your browser address field http://list.msu.edu/archives/mich-organic.html