10. Lacto Fermentation II: Vegetables Date & time: October 27, 9am-noon Description: In this hands-on workshop you will learn how to preserve fall-harvested vegetables through fermenting processes. Some of the resulting products will include tangy sauerkraut and pickled vegetables. Janet Gamble will lead this course. She directs the Garden Student Program at Michael Fields Agricultural Institute and incorporates Farm Life Skills into the programs curriculum. Instructor: Janet Gamble <http://www.michaelfieldsaginst.org/about/staff.html#gamble> , MFAI Education Director Price: $35 registration. Location: Michael Fields Agricultural Institute <http://www.michaelfieldsaginst.org/visit/directions.html> 11. Growers Conference 2007 October 29, 2007 Firehouse Restaurant 1211 5th Street, Sioux City, IA FOOD FOR HEALTH “LOCAL FARMERS, LOCAL FOOD, LOCAL ECONOMY” Registration Information: Cost: $25 for Day Sessions (incl. breakfast & lunch)/$150 for Evening Fundraiser Seating: Both Day & Evening Sessions Limited to First 140 Paid Participants Reservations: Step 1: Call 712.279.6609 (Jackie) Step 2: Check Payable to: Organic Growers Conference Step 3: Mail by 10/19/07: Woodbury County Rural Econ. Development 7th & Douglas Streets, 6th Floor Sioux City, IA 51101 More Information: www.woodburyiowa.com <http://www.woodburyiowa.com/> 12. New American Farm Photo Contest Four grand-prize winners to attend the National Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) conference for free! Click here <http://www.sare.org/2008Conference/photo_contest.htm> for official rules and details, or check out http://www.sare.org/2008conference/photocontest <http://www.sare.org/2008conference/photocontest> Never before has the American public cared more about how and where its food is produced. New, lucrative markets are opening up for farmers and ranchers: “natural”, “organic”, “local”. More and more Americans are supporting farming communities through community supported agriculture, farmers’ markets, and farmer-to-table restaurants. Capture the groundbreaking innovations, people and partnerships advancing the frontier of sustainable agriculture in America. Enter SARE’s New American Farm Photo Contest today! <http://www.sare.org/2008conference/photocontest> Deadline is October 31, 2007 SARE is a program of the Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension Service <http://www.csrees.usda.gov/> (CSREES), USDA, and works with producers, researchers, and educators to promote farming systems that are profitable, environmentally sound and good for communities. 13. Organic Tree Fruit Projects Field Day Friday, November 2, 2007 There will be a field day at Jim Koan's AlMar Orchards on Friday, November 2 to report on MSU organic tree fruit research projects conducted in 2007. AlMar is located at 1431 Duffield Rd., Flushing, MI 48433, 1 street east of M-13 off of Beecher Rd, approximately 5 miles north of I-69. Please do not confuse Koan's Orchard (Jim's Cousin) on Beecher with AlMar on Duffield. An agenda for the field day is attached, below, as a Microsoft Word document. The program will begin at 9AM. Lunch will be provided. 9 AM: Welcome, Introductions Dave Epstein - Update on MOFFA &Rodale Institute George Bird 9:15: New Gerber Products Co. Organic Initiative with MSU Mark Whalon and Todd Dekryger 9:25: Integrated Hog Project - Project Overview Dave Epstein - Hog rearing, handling, fencing Jim Koan - 2007 Results - June drop and PC control Dave Epstein - Hog health, nutrition and reproduction planning, E-coli concerns with manure in orchard Dale Rozeboom - Hog rooting, age of hogs for grazing, weed control Jim Koan - Legume crops for hog forage Dale Mutch - Plans for 2008-2010 Rozeboom/ Epstein 10:45: Codling Moth Control – 2007 Research Projects - Entomopathogenic nematodes - Codling Moth Virus Larry Gut/Epstein 11:10: Plum Curculio – 2007 Research Projects - Entomopathogenic nematodes Mark Whalon/ - Entomopathogenic fungiRenee Pereault 11:35: Apple Scab Controls Jim Koan 11:50 Leafroller Mgmt - Where do Bt’s fit? Gut/Whalon 12:00: Clarksville Organic 2007 Results Mark Whalon - Super Neem Results Dan Nortman - Groundcover Management - Push Pull & Biopesticides for PC mgmt 12:20: Lunch (provided)- General Discussion Integrating Organic Efforts for Successful Production Handouts Available on Additional Topics - Biodiversity and Sustainability - Functional Ecology measures Companion planting for natural enemies 14. Propagation and Cultivation of Medicinal Herbs Date & time: November 3, 9am-3pm Description: In this workshop, you will learn about how to propagate, cultivate, harvest, process and market medicinal herbs, as well as some tips for herbalist usage. This workshop will have an emphasis on longer-term root crops that include Valerian, Marshmallow Root, Black Cohosh Root and Goldenseal Root. Blaine Tornow is an experienced medicinal herb grower who has been growing medicinal herbs for over fifteen years. Bring a bag lunch or call in advance to purchase one ($8.50 + tax) Fields Best (262) 642-9665 Instructor: Blaine Tornow Price: $70 registration. Location: Michael Fields Agricultural Institute <http://www.michaelfieldsaginst.org/visit/directions.html> 15. Intensive Mini-school Series for Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) January 19, 2008, Kettunen Center, Tustin, Michigan February 23, 2008, Kalamazoo Public Library A third session yet to be determined Cost: $50 per person. Another person from the same farm, half price. Lunch included. Contact: CSA-MI 3480 Potter Rd Bear Lake, MI 49614 231-889-3216 (toll free 877-526-1441) Email [log in to unmask] www.csafarms.org/csaresources.asp Summary Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) basics will be the topic of intensive day-long mini-schools, intended for the prospective or new CSA grower. Full Text Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) is one of the most innovative developments in agriculture today. As local food is becoming more popular, many growers view CSA as a way to enter farming in an exciting way, or to keep their small farm alive and thriving in an era of failing family farms. But many growers go into CSA without adequate preparation, or underestimate the complexity of the CSA model. To help new or prospective CSA growers succeed, CSA-MI, with some support from a Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) grant, is offering a series of day-long intensive mini-schools on Community Supported Agriculture. “The training will be geared to those who hope to start a CSA, or those with little CSA experience, perhaps a season or two,” according to Jo Meller, who will represent Five Springs Farm CSA on the panel of instructors. “We will cover topics that are specific to CSA,” added Jim Sluyter, who is helping to put the curriculum together. “The CSA grower is confronted with issues that other market growers do not have to consider, or with complexities beyond those of many other market farms.” Beginning growers are particularly vulnerable. One experienced grower has referred to CSA as “graduate school for growers,” with complicated cropping plans for a steady harvest, the need to know and understand dozens of different crops and the social aspects of growing for a pre-paid group of farm members. Distribution, pricing, integrating the CSA into the farm’s other marketing and much more will be covered in the training. The mini-schools will be patterned after the successful session offered at the CSA Conference in Michigan last fall. A panel of experienced CSA growers will give individual presentations and offer insights into the topic areas. “We will build on that success, incorporating what we learned from that process into these sessions,” said Meller. “Much of the content will be driven by the needs and interests of the participants,” she added. CSA farms tend to be very individual and can vary greatly. “Our goal is to offer the perspectives of a variety of farm models – different sizes, structures, distribution strategies and so on – in order that participants can learn the many options open to them in developing their own CSA project,” said Jim Sluyter, also of CSA-MI. Attendance will be limited. Please register early! CSA-MI, 3480 Potter Rd, Bear Lake, MI 49614 [log in to unmask], toll free phone 877-526-1441 Or check http://csafarms.org/csaresources.asp THE END!! Hope you have a good weekend and week. And a SAFE harvest!! 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) For information on organic agriculture production please visit: http://www.MichiganOrganic.msu.edu/ P Please consider the environment before printing this email