Current Events Bulletin
FarmStart Events Bulletin
Summer, 2010
Upcoming training events, workshops and more!
FarmStart Programming
1. McVean Open Farm Days and Harvest Celebration NEW!
2. Exploring Your New Farm Dream New Locations!
3. FarmStart Skills Building Field Day Series – monthly across Ontario Updated!
4. Steel in the Field July!
5. Farm Business Enterprise Series: Pastured Pigs and Poultry July!
Other Programs
6. Farm Tours NEW!
7. Other Training Opportunities NEW!
News
8. Join the NFU New Farmer Campaign NEW!
9. Metcalf Food Solutions reports released, including one from FarmStart NEW!
Please participate in the Ontario Farmer Training Survey,
if you have not already done so! http://www.farmstart.ca/farmstart-survey/
1. McVean Open Farm Days and Harvest Celebration
At FarmStart’s McVean Incubator Farm 19 new farmers are digging in with 11 different farm enterprises on-site. These farmers, from all over the world, are growing a huge diversity of crops, from honey to mushrooms to a hundred kinds of vegetables.www.farmstart.ca/mcveanfarm
OPEN FARM DAYS
Farm tours, tractor rides, fun farm activities for kids, produce to taste, fresh prepared treats to try.
When: Sunday July 11 and August 29. 11am – 3pm
Cost: FREE.
Where: 1km north of Hwy 7 (Queen St.), on McVean Drive (west side) Brampton, ON
HARVEST CELEBRATION
A delicious 4 course, family-style afternoon harvest table feast. Food will be prepared, cooked over coals and fresh picked on the farm.
When: Sunday September 26, Noon – 5pm
Cost: $75/ person. Kids under 12 free.
Where: 1km north of Hwy 7 (Queen St.), on McVean Drive (west side) Brampton, ON
All proceeds will support the farm and new farmers.
2. Fall FarmStart Explorer Courses
Exploring Your New Farm Dream: Is Starting an Agricultural Business Right for You? Thinking about starting your own farm business? Want to learn more about the opportunities and realities of farming? This course is designed to help aspiring farmers learn what it takes to start and manage a commercial agricultural business, and decide whether this is the right path. The course includes 4 evening sessions and 1 day of farm tours.
Grey Bruce Course
Where: Georgian College, Owen Sound
When: Tuesdays (6:30 pm – 9:30 pm), Sept 14, Oct 5, Oct 12
Farm tour: Saturday, October 2 (full day)
For more information: details to follow later this summer http://www.georgianc.on.ca/campuses/owensound/
GTA Course
Where: Brampton Fairgrounds (12942 Heart Lake Road)
When: Tuesdays (6:30 pm – 9:30 pm), Sept 28, Oct 5, Oct 19, Oct 26
Farm tour: Saturday, Oct 16 (full day)
Cost: $300
For more information and to apply visit: http://www.farmstart.ca/explorer.
If you have questions contact Gayl at gayl@farmstart.ca or (519) 836-7046 x105
Eastern Ontario Course
There will be at least one course held in Eastern Ontario in the near future. Stay tuned for more information!
*This training opportunity is eligible for cost-share funding through the Growing Forward Business Development for Farm Businesses program in Ontario. For more information on program requirements, call 1-877-424-1300 or visit: http://www.omafra.gov.on.ca/english/about/growingforward/busdev.htm
3. FarmStart Skills Building Field Day Series – April to October
FarmStart in partnership with the Ecological Farmers Association of Ontario (EFAO) and other organizations is planning at least one farm tour a month from April to October, across Ontario. The format allows for a farm tour in the morning with an emphasis on how each enterprise contributes to farm business viability (10 am to noon), and then during the afternoon, the farmer teaches a particular skill used on their farm (2 hours after lunch).
Networking: BYO bagged lunch, lunchtime is for networking.
Cost: $20, or $30 per family.
RSVP (required): admin@farmstart.ca or call Cherie Bauman (519) 836-7046 ext. 103. Please bring cash or cheque (made out to FarmStart) on the day of the tour.
July: DragonFly Farm and Direct Marketing
When: Saturday, July 24th, 10 am – 4 pm
Where: 216303 Concession 4, Chatsworth. View map.
Cindy and Mike fro DragonFly Garden Farm (http://www.dragonflyfarmstore.ca/) raise pastured beef, pork, chicken, turkey, that they sell in their farm store, along with other items they produce, such as maple syrup, honey, and soap. Come tour the farm in the morning, and spend the afternoon learning about their experience direct marketing. Learn from their success through diversity and product packaging, how one product can easily translate into many and then blossom with value adding or on-farm processing.
August: Garden Party Gardens and Berry Growing
When: Sunday, August 15, 10am – 4 pm
Where: Garden Party (Waterloo Region)
Visit Theresa’s Garden Party Gardens and understand how a public health approved kitchen can be set up on your farm. See various berry crops – several kinds of raspberries, gooseberries, some cranberries and elderberries, and blueberries. The afternoon will focus on strawberry propagation, as this is when strawberries are getting ready to set fruit for the following year.
August: Apple Orchard Farm Tour, Part 2 (note that this is a half day tour)
When: Saturday, August 21st, 1 pm – 4 pm
Where: Ignatius Jesuit Centre, 5420 Hwy 6 N (Workshop), Guelph (Wellington County).
Join us for an afternoon in the orchard at Ignatius Farm. During the spring tour, farm manager Lorne Jamieson introduced the practices employed in managing their organic orchard. You are invited for this second tour of the orchard to see what concerns they have this year, how the different varieties respond to their methods, and how grass/ ground cover is managed. Post harvest handling will also be discussed including sorting, selling, and processing.
4. Steel in the Ignatius Centre Fields and Seeding Green Manure
Still trying to figure out all the different farm implements? What is the difference between tilling, cultivating, discing and scuffling? In the morning, you will tour field crops at the Ignatius Farm by wagon tour and check out the various implements used to prepare those fields. During the afternoon, Farm Manager Lorne Jamieson, will demonstrate the use of these attachments, do some plowing, cultivating, seeding, tine weeding and discing on demonstration plots all within one acre, so that you can understand a full season of cultivation.
When: Saturday, July 17th, 10 am – 4 pm
Where: Ignatius Jesuit Centre, 5420 Hwy 6 N (Workshop), Guelph
Cost: $50 (EFAO members), $70 (non members)
To register: EFAO office, 1 877-822-8606 or info@efao.ca.
5. FarmStart Farm Business Enterprise Series
This series of workshops introduces particular farm enterprises, and include the topics of production, marketing and business viability.
Pastured Pigs and Poultry – Neustadt You can register for a half or whole day
Join us for this very popular workshop offered by Tarrah Young on her farm in Neustadt. In the morning, Tarrah, who raises chickens and turkeys on pasture, will explain her system from day-old chicks and poults to the finished product. You will learn about brooder design, feed requirements, health, marketing and cost of production.
In the afternoon, Tarrah will share lessons from her own experiences raising heritage pigs on pasture, as well as innovative and valuable information gleaned from research abroad, from the likes of Joel Salatin and Allan Nation. Gain an understanding about the role of pigs in our ecosystem, options for grazing pigs on pasture and in the woods, feeding, health, whether farrowing is right for you, breed selection, butchering, marketing, economics and the health benefits of eating pastured pork!
When: July 10, 9:30am-5:00pm
9:30am – 1pm: Pastured Poultry
1:30pm – 5:00pm: Pastured Pigs
Where: Green Being Farm, Neustadt (15 minutes north-west of Mount Forest, directions will be sent to registrants).
Cost: $100 for the full day, $55 for half day
Lunch: Please bring your own lunch. Snacks and beverages will be provided.
For more information and to register visit www.farmstart.ca/workshops
6. Farm Tours
EFAO Farm Tour of Amish Ice House, Garden, Goat Dairy and Pastured Pork
When: Saturday, July 3rd, 1pm-4:30pm
Where: Aylmer
1pm-2:30pm at 10737 Walker Road. Amish farm of Franz Seeburger and family whose certified organic operation includes a goat dairy in a cover-all type building, pastured Berkshire pork, and flour milling with retail store.
2:45pm-4:15pm at 52259 College Line. Off-grid warehouse which houses the Amish vegetable co-op where the production of more than 2 dozen families is pooled to market to chain stores and other customers. They have developed a clever ice-powered forced air cooling and cold storage system to prolong the shelf life of their vegetables.
For more information: EFAO office, 1 877-822-8606 or info@efao.ca
EFAO Farm Tour of Harro Wehrmann Farm and On Farm Biodiesel Plant
When: Saturday, July 10th, 10 am to 3 pm
Where: South West of Ripley at 460 Sideroad 20 South, Huron Township
A 750 acre mixed organic cash crop farm with a focus on processing oil seeds for vegetable oil and for biodiesel production. The morning will be a tour of the farm and after lunch there will be a tour of the biodiesel plant. Bring a brown bag lunch.
For more information: 519-955-0386
Oxford Organic Growers Tour of Bill Scheurman’s farm
When: Saturday, July 10th (rain date July 17th), 1pm to 4 pm
Where: 345195 Quaker St. Burgessville and composting demo at 3pm at Tom Boon’s, 593780 Hwy 59.
For more information: Call Tom Boon for more details (519) 424-3113.
Organic Meadow Summer Crop Symposium – Stratford
When: July 14
Where: Rob Fleischauer’s farm, Gad’s Hill near Stratford.
The day will feature corn plots comparing 3 different soil amendments, and oat plots comparing 3 different soil which organic consultant Ruth Knight will tissue test. Rob will also be showing off his new scuffler with rotary hoes that go down the row along with his spelt, buckwheat and soybean crops.
Cost : $20.
To register: Jenny Butcher at (519) 767-9694 or butcher@organicmeadow.com (directions will be sent to those registered).
7. Other Training Opportunities
a) Everdale Programs
b) NFU New Farm Project
c) Draft Horse Workshops
d) Ontario Farm Fresh Marketing Association (OFFMA)
e) Biodynamic Courses
a) Everdale Programs
For more information on these workshops and to register visit: http://www.everdale.org/node/222
The Buzz on Bees
with local bee keeper extraordinaire – Jay Mowat
When: Sunday, July 18, 2010 10:00am – 4:00pm
Where: Everdale Farm
Cost: $92.00
Introduction to Sheep
with Les Richards of Bowbells Farm
When: Saturday, October 2, 2010 10:00am – 4:00pm
Where: Everdale Farm
Cost: $92.00
b) NFU New Farm Proejct http://www.newfarmproject.ca/farming-training
Scything Series – Part I
Learn the art and science of scything in this new 3 part series
When: Sunday July 4th, 9-12 AM
Where: directions will be emailed upon registration.
Agritourism Primer
When: Friday July 16th, 9-12 AM
Where: Location: Storrington Community Hall, 3910 Battersea Road.
Looking to get more visitors to your farm? This workshop, presented by Cathy Bartolic, Executive Director of the Ontario Farm Fresh Marketing Association will provide information about marketing, liability insurance, safety, and risk management, as well as getting lots of ideas from seeing successful examples in the field today.
c) Draft Horse Workshops
Central Ontario Draft Horse Workshop NEW!
When: July 19th to 23rd
Where: Stirling
5 Teams 5 Teamsters, 40 hours hands-on driving! We will drive draft horses, 8 hours per day for 5 days. Wagons, farming implements and some logging.
For more information: http://harderequipment.com
Southern Ontario Draft Horse Basic Workshops, Level 1
When: Aug. 12 – 14
Where: Sparta near St. Thomas at Orchard Hill Farm, www.orchardhillfarm.ca
To register: A $50 deposit is required to hold your place in this workshop.
For more information: Ken Laing, 519-775-2670 or kmlaing@orchardhillfarm.ca
Cost: $500 plus GST, including meals. Accommodation available.
d) Ontario Farm Fresh Marketing Association (OFFMA)
Introduction to Social Media
The morning session will cover Web 2.0 and some of the different tools that are out there like blogs, Twitter, Facebook, Podcasting and RSS. The afternoon session will focus on developing a social media strategy for your business; establishing your goals, measuring return on investment and risk management in the social media world.
When: Tuesday, July 13th, 9:00 am to 4:00 pm
Where: Kemptville College, Kemptville
Cost: $120 + GST, including material and lunch (Second person is $85.00 + GST)
To register: Deadline to register is THURSDAY, July 8, 2010. Please call the OFFMA office at 905-841-9278.
e) Biodynamics http://www.rsct.ca/index.cfm?pagePath=Biodynamic_Agriculture&id=949
The Individuality of the Farm: an Advanced Biodynamic course taught by Cory Eichman
When: One Sunday a month from Sept. to April from 9-5 pm
Where: Whole Circle Farm, Rockwood
Cost: $495 (Subsidies are available for people currently apprenticing on a farm)
Prerequisites: Some farming or gardening experience, completion of an introductory course on Biodynamics, or registration in the North American Biodynamic Apprentice Program
For more information or to register: Rudolf Steiner Centre Toronto at 905.746.7570 or info@rsct.ca
Introduction to Biodynamic Farming and Gardening 2011
This course will be offered again early in 2011. Click the link above for more information.
News
8. Join the NFU New Farmer Campaign NEW!
The National Farmers Union New Farmer Campaign now has a blog. Join in the discussion! http://nfuyouth.wordpress.com
9. Metcalf Food Solutions Reports released, including one from FarmStart NEW!
Five new reports have just been released that together present a new vision for how we think about, produce and consume food. The reports offer a range of strategies to promote local economic development and improve access to healthy and abundant locally-produced food. FarmStart’s report ‘New Farmers and Alternative Markets Within the Supply-Managed System’ is among the report collection, titled Metcalf Food Solutions. http://www.metcalffoundation.com/story.php/?id=167
