Farmer Training

This winter, Just Food will offer several Farmer Training workshops. Take a moment to look through the offerings. To register for any of the courses, reply to this email with your name, phone number and full names of those accompanying you. Please put the name of the workshop (i.e. “composting workshop”) as the subject of the email. I will get back to you with further details.

Monday January 25th, 6PM – 9PM – Hosting Interns on your farm - $20

Learn about the possibilities of hosting an intern on your farm, including what should be provided, education and training suggestions, salary, legalities, and an introduction to the CRAFT program.

Saturday, February 13th, 9AM - 4PM – CSA Mini-School - $60

This full day workshop for those interested in starting a CSA production will cover advanced market gardening techniques (using a bed system, equipment, irrigation, steps in scaling up), and will introduce the basics of planning proper succession planting for a CSA farm. In the afternoon, the steps in setting up the CSA itself will be reviewed, including where to find and how to retain CSA customers, and efficient distribution systems.

Coming in late Feb/March - 2 workshops on cooperatives:
1. Cooperative Marketing
2. Buying land (individually and cooperatively)
(More details to follow in January)

Coming in March:
Exploring the Small Farm Dream: Is Starting an Agricultural Business Right for You?

This one full day plus two half day course is designed to help aspiring farmers learn what it takes to start and manage a commercial agricultural businesses, and decide whether this is a path they really want to take. Created as a decision-making tool, Explorer can help you establish the clear vision and goals you will need to guide a new agricultural venture. It will help you identify and assess personal motivations, business and farming skills, and available resources. It will help you clarify values. The goal of Explorer is to help you decide whether starting an agricultural business is right for you, and-based on that decision-to help you plan practical next steps. This course includes a visit to a local, viable, small-scale farm, and in-class facilitation with local farmers.

Coming in April – EFAO Composting Workshop $50/$70 (member/non-member)
Facilitated by Maureen Bostock
An issue for most organic farms is maintaining long term soil fertility. Making and using compost is part of the answer. The composting workshop will look at basic composting biology and the different options for getting a great final product. Special composting topics such as field application rates, vermiculture, compost teas, liquid manure, green manures and biogas will be touched on.