4. Looking for Intern/Apprentices:
You and everyone else looking for interns/apprentices should register on
the OEFFA apprentice program website. It's free to OEFFA members.
Apprentices seeking positions for 2008 are already signing up--3-4 in
the last 2 weeks. (I've already found a good one myself!) But to
access the names and contact info of the apprentices data host farmers
need to register their opportunity. Don't delay. So go to
www.oeffa.org, click on apprentice program, and sign up. If you are
already registered on the Good Earth Guide, use your sign in username
and password. If you've registered before, you only need to update
your listing. Make sure you change the dates to 2008! Your application
is automatically made invisible after the availability date you set.
Contact [log in to unmask] if you have any problems. Mike Anderson, new
OEFFA Organic Education Coordinator, is now in charge of the program.
Trish Mumme
Former Chair of Apprentice Program Committee Chair
5. Farm to School: Healthy Kids, Thieving Farms
A Regional Conference for Schools, Camps, Parents, Students and Farms.
SAVE THE DATE! March 12, 2008
Help Kids eat healthy, learn well, and connect to their community with
locally grown foods!
This is where school and camp food service directors, parent groups,
teachers, and others can find the farmers in northwest Michigan who are
ready to sell them healthy, locally grown food just perfect for
cafeteria meals or for replacing "candy sales" with homegrown offerings.
For conference information visit www.localdifference.org/farmtoschool
6. BLUEBERRY IPM SCOUT TRAINING PROGRAM STARTS FEB. 14
EAST LANSING, Mich. -- Michigan blueberry growers and farm
workers can learn how to adopt sustainable and cost-effective farming
practices that are in compliance with changing state and federal
regulations in a series of blueberry integrated pest management (IPM)
scout training modules offered by Michigan State University (MSU).
Having qualified IPM scouts benefits growers, packers,
processors and shippers. Growers can learn more about adopting
sustainable farming practices to reduce pest and disease control costs
and maintain fruit quality. Employing highly trained IPM scouts will
reassure packers, processors and shippers that they are purchasing the
best berries and lay the groundwork for expanding sales of high quality
fruit into other markets.
Anamaria Gomez-Rodas, MSU blueberry IPM scout training
certificate program coordinator, says that the program is specially
designed for growers and farm workers in Michigan's blueberry industry.
"It is important for blueberry growers to comply with the new
pesticide regulations as required by the Food Quality Protection Act,"
she says. "Our training program deals with how to scout for insect pests
and diseases and how the new insecticides and fungicides act on pests
and beneficial insects."
The blueberry IPM scout training program consists of three
modules.
* Module 1 will be held Feb. 14, 21 and 28 and will cover the
fundamentals of IPM and insect and plant growth and development.
* Module 2 will be held March 6, 13 and 20 and will cover changes
to the immigration laws; monitoring and management of blueberry pests,
weeds and diseases; blueberry crop insurance; pesticide regulations and
safety; and proper application of insecticides, fungicides and
herbicides.
* Module 3 offers advanced hands-on field practice during monthly
sessions from March 27 to July.
The sessions are offered in English with training materials
and help sessions available in both English and Spanish. Participants
must be able to speak and understand English at a minimum of a fifth
grade level.
The program is approved by the Career Education Consumer
Report (CECR) and the Allegan Michigan Works! agency. Participants who
successfully complete all modules and pass the exams will receive a
certificate of completion.
Training will take place at the Angus J. Howitt IPM Training
Room at the MSU Trevor Nichols Research Complex in Fennville. Classroom
sessions will run from 1 to 6 p.m., including breaks and help sessions.
Each topic will be divided into 50- to 55-minute segments.
The registration fee is $250. MSU students may register for
one university credit. Registration includes classroom instruction,
materials and snacks. Scholarships may be available.
Participants can register on site or by calling Gomez-Rodas
at 269-561-5040 or Carlos Garcia at 616-846-8250.
7. Learn as You Grow:
A Practical Experience in Organic Gardening
Continuing Hands-On Workshops throughout the Growing Season
at Whetham Organic Farm
Gardening is a rewarding hobby for many people throughout the country.
It relaxes us, brings us closer to nature, improves our health in many
ways. Vegetable gardening also allows us to eat the freshest food
possible - from garden to table as it has been done for millenia by
people all around the world. But not everyone is confident in their
ability to bring real food to their table or to do it in a way that is
environmentally beneficial as well as healthful to them. Gardening
organically is proven to be ecologically sustainable and to provide food
that is more nutritious.
This series of workshops on our farm is designed to teach the
philosophy and principles of organic growing to beginning gardeners and
those who want to convert to organic practices. These classes will begin
in late winter and continue through the season. In spring and summer the
sessions will take place in the hoophouse and the garden, providing the
hands-on experience needed for practical application of the information.
Participants will learn how to choose varieties and seeds; the
importance of soil tests and the minerals needed to increase the
fertility of your garden; how to start transplants (in seeds flats and
plugs and in soil blocks) and how to transplant. All will be able to
take home vegetable plants for your garden. Later in the season
participants will actually work in the gardens on our farm, learning
when and how to plant seeds and transplants, how to choose cover crops
for summer and fall and how to compost.
Workshops will begin in late winter (February) and will continue
through October. Ten sessions are planned with each session 2 to 3 hours
in length. The cost to attend the entire series is $150. Individual
workshops will be $25. Space is limited .
Pat Whetham has 30+ years experience with organic vegetable gardening,
including 19 years on a certified organic farm.
This series of workshops focuses entirely on vegetables and herbs and
will not cover flowers or ornamentals except as the same techniques
apply. Fruit trees will not be covered at all but some of the
information can be applied to small fruits such as strawberries.
Contact Pat at Whetham Organic Farm for details: [log in to unmask]
<https://mail.msu.edu/cgi-bin/webmail/login/schaend1.authdaemon/3CBF95E7
3C48C3F8DA1A3EE27DCFF238/1200074963?folder=INBOX&form=newmsg&to=miorgani
[log in to unmask]> or 810-659-8414 or reserve your spot in the workshops by
sending in the form below with a $25 deposit. Send to Pat Whetham,
Whetham Organic Farm, 11230 W. Mt. Morris Rd, Flushing MI 48433.
Vicki Morrone
Organic Vegetable and Crop Outreach Specialist
Michigan State University
C.S. Mott Group for 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
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