 2007 Sustainable Agriculture Conference
S u n d ay Wo r k s h o p s
Yoga for Growers: 7:00 a.m.
Laura Woodall, MS, RYT 200
Begin your day with a class of gentle Yoga to open the body and spirit. All skill levels are welcome. Wear comfortable
clothing and bring a yoga mat, blanket or towel.
Session D: 8:30 – 10:00 a.m.
Using Locally Grown Produce to Demonstrate Positive Nutrition Practices for
Middle School Students and their Families
Jana Bartleson, Nutrition Education Coordinator, Avery-Mitchell-Yancey Counties, NC & Elizabeth Gibbs, Firefl y Farm
Learn how the “Students Eating Smart and Moving More” (SESAMM) after school club at East Yancey Middle, Burnsville,
NC and Irwin Middle, Buncombe County, NC partners with farmers and chefs to demonstrate healthy cooking
and eating with locally grown fruits and vegetables.
Seed Banking
Ira Wallace, South Eastern Seed Exposure & Cricket Rakita, Seed Project Coordinator
The southeast has a very deep, rich history of vegetable, grain, and fl ower seed diversity. Unfortunately, this diversity
is endangered by both extinction and patenting. Here we will discuss how seed banking is crucial for our region and
the rest of the country, for today and the future. We will also discuss what seed banking activities are taking place in
the Southeast.
Cut Flower Production and Marketing
Leah Cook, Wild Hare Farm & guest
Cut fl owers can be a good business alone or add great diversity to your farm production. Learn from some Piedmont
fl ower growers how they grow and market some of their great selection of cut fl owers.
Weeds, Good, Bad and Invasive
Joe Hollis, Mountain Gardens
Many of the most useful plants can be problematic in a Permaculture (perennial) setting. Join Joe in a discussion of
weed types, specifi c species, simple control and coexistence techniques (including marketing!), and the philosophy of
weeds.
Farm Incubators: Growing New Farmers for the Carolinas
Jackie and Louie Hough, Raft Swamp Farms
Learn how Raft Swamp Farms has been “Growing the Organic Growers of Tomorrow” since its start in 2005. Discover
what’s involved in creating a farm incubator, and fi nd out if a farm incubator is for you – as a landowner, or as an
aspiring organic farmer!
Make your own Propagation Tools
Patryk Battle, Sparkling Earth Farm
Learn what it takes to build and use a germination chamber, a compost heated grow- out table, a large electric cable
heated, affordable grow-out table, and a vacuum seeder. Explore the possibilities of using movable insulation with
either bottom heated grow out table in lieu of heating the whole greenhouse. For the greenhouse-less grower the set
up and use of indoor fluorescent light towers will also be covered.
Food Handling Safety Workshop
Debbie Hamrick, NC Farm Bureau
What are the top 15 actions to take to dramatically increase produce safety? Debbie Hamrick, NC Farm Bureau, will
moderate this workshop covering FDA Produce Safety Guidelines and a model NC Farm Produce/Food Safety Plan. This
workshop is geared to farmers, producers and interested professional agriculture personnel.
Grassroots Advocacy and County Agriculture Boards
Noah Rannells, Orange County NC Ag Economic Development Coordinator &
Roland McReynolds, Executive Director, CFSA
A decade ago, farmers in Chatham County who joined the local Cooperative Extension Advisory Board demanded and
received a sustainable ag agent to serve their needs. Learn how you can win resources to support sustainable farms in
your county, and change agriculture from the grassroots.
Getting Pesticides out of our Kids – at Schools, Parks and Child Care Centers
Fawn Pattison, Executive Director, Pesticide Education Project
Durham Public Schools manages their buildings and grounds without hazardous pesticides – and thanks to parents
and teachers around the state, soon all North Carolina Public Schools will be doing the same under a new state law!
Learn about your right to be notified of pesticide use under the new School Children’s Health Act, how to make sure
your children’s school is complying, and how to get pesticides out of our child care centers, parks and other community
spaces.
How to Conduct On-farm Research
Dr. Keith Baldwin, North Carolina A&T University
Hear a step-by-step approach to the elusive subject of agricultural research. Find out the way to convert questions
like “Can I increase my yields with no-till?” or “Why did my neighbor get such great yields with this bean cultivar and I
didn’t?” into answers applicable to your particular farm.
Session E: 10:30 – 12:00
Small in Size - Big in Nutrients
Diane Palmer-Quay
Make every square foot count in a home garden
planted with nutrient dense foods. This workshop
will look at which
nutritionally-dense vegetables
are the best choices for limited garden space (and
beginning gardening skills). Some
time will also be
devoted to discussing pesticide loads of familiar foods
and the nutritional differences between organically
and conventionally grown fruits and vegetables.
Variety Trials
Doug Jones, Owner, Piedmont Biofarm &
Cricket Rakita, Seed Project Coordinator
Lots of folks are doing variety trials for vegetables
throughout the Southeast. Come to find out what
varieties are
succeeding and what varieties are not.
Valuable information will be shared here for home
and market gardeners alike.
Growing and Using Culinary Herbs
Meg Shelton, Shelton’s Herb Farm &
Sarig Agasi, Zely and Ritz
This session will give you an overview of how to grow
several unusual culinary herbs. A special cooking
demo courtesy of chef Sarig Agasi, of the Tapas restaurant
Zely and Ritz in Raleigh will provide you with
some tips and recipes to help you learn to use them.
Having a Beautiful Landscape and Eating it Too: Fruit in the Suburban Landscape
Anton Calloway, Vice-President of NAFEX
An overview of fruit in the suburban/urban landscape, to demonstrate how easily fruit can be an integral part of
beautiful, low-maintenance landscapes, even with a small amount of space. Some deeper discussion of selected fruits
for this purpose will include pawpaw, pear and peach.
Pursuit of Raw Milk in North Carolina
Natalie Sadler, MD & Dacia King
An update on the status of raw milk regulations in NC and an overview of other states’ laws on it. Nutritional information
from the Weston A. Price Foundation’s philosophy of diet will be presented in depth.
Crash Course in Electrical Wiring
Kevin Meehan, Turtle Run Farm
This workshop will cover the fundamentals of electrical work. Subjects include: basic circuits, well pumps, irrigation
pumps, cooling systems, thermostats, and ventilation. Learn how to modify and rewire a window AC unit to use in a
home-made walk-in cooler.
Ever Expanding Constellation of Organic Values
Jim Riddle, Organic Outreach Coordinator, Univ. of Minnesota
An educational, inspirational and entertaining show about the benefits of organic agriculture. How certification can
benefit you and the small organic farming community.
Farm Bill Update
Gerry Cohn, American Farmland Trust &
Scott Marlow, RAFI-USA
Recent passage of the 2007 Farm Bill could have major
implications for farmers and consumers across the
Carolinas over the next five years. New programs in
conservation, value-added, local foods, enterprise
development, and incentives for beginning and socially
disadvantaged farmers may offer options to add to your
farming operation. Come learn about what’s there for
you, what you may need to take action on, and how you
can play a role in federal policy development.
Tale of Two School Gardens
Patrick Robinette, Harris Acres Farm &
Lynn Streck, Durham Academy
School gardens are a popular and exciting idea for
proponents of teaching children to eat well by showing
them how food is grown. There are many ways to create
and use a school garden. Hear about two school gardens
created in NC- what they did and how, what worked well
and what lessons were learned.
Taking the Mystery Out of Grant Proposal Writing
Susan Gramling, UNC Grant Source Librarian
Research is crucial to improved production, but takes
time, planning and other resources. Grants can provide
needed funding to explore your questions but the
applications can be intimidating. Susan Gramling, Grant
Source Librarian from UNC-Chapel Hill, will share her expertise
to demystify the process of applying for a grant. |
