Elizabeth D. Azari, JD Janet D. Carson, JD Deborah Danoff, MD, FRCPC, FACP Catherine Farmer, PsyD
MD Beginning Farmer Newsletter March 2015
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Transcript of MD Beginning Farmer Newsletter March 2015
BEGINNING FARMER SUCCESS
March 2015 Volume 1, Issue 12
In This Issue:
FH-CASA Foodshed Field
School Launch (pg 1-2)
Beginning A Successful Small
Farm Class in Frederick Co.
(pg 4)
Upcoming Events (pg 3)
What You Missed:
Mid-Atlantic Women in
Agriculture Conference (pg 3)
Small Ruminant Expo (pg 3)
Photo : Natalie Schiazzi
Foodshed Field School Launch Future Harvest CASA recently launched its new Foodshed Field School, which provides year-round educational
programming for farmers, consumers, and everyone in-between wanting to learn how to grow and source
sustainably in the Chesapeake region.
The program offers farmer education on the latest
innovations in sustainable growing. It also provides programming for farmers’ customers – chefs, wholesalers,
grocery stores, and individual consumers – on how and where to source sustainably and locally grown food. Our
programming comes in a variety of formats: panel discus-sions, field days, intensives, and workshops.
The Foodshed Field School also houses our Beginner
Farmer Training Program (BFTP), which is now in its seventh season and in greater demand than ever. The BFTP
provides trainees with in-depth classroom learning as well as practical, hands-on training by pairing them with successful,
sustainable farmers in the region. (article cont. on page 2)
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Foodshed Field School Launch (cont. from pg 1)
The Foodshed Field School starts each year
with our annual conference in January, which this year attracted more than 550 at-
tendees. We then carry the momentum and ideas generated at the conference
through our programming for the rest of
the year. The school covers a range of ex-perience levels, from introductory to ad-
vanced, in 6 topic areas: Fruit & Vegetable Production, Grassfed: Meat & Dairy, Made
Local: Artisanal Foods, Environment, Com-
munity & Policy, Business of Farming, and Everybody Eats: Health & Food.
Here is a brief look ahead at upcoming field
events, the most up-to-date information
can be found on our website at: futurehar-vestcasa.org/field-school/field-school-
events
March 20: Coastal Sunbelt
Produce: Working with Distribu-tors (Savage, MD)
Early April (Date TBD): 2-Day High Tunnel Raising at UMD Terp
Farm (Upper Marlboro, MD)
April 27: Sassafras Creek Farm Tour: Improving Efficiency on
Your Farm (Leonardtown, MD)
May 7: Farm Skills Refresher
(Purcellville, VA)
May 23: Hops Hop – Tour of local hops growers and Flying Dog
brewery (Multiple locations in MD & VA)
More programming to be announced soon, including pasture walks on the
Eastern Shore, and field events in West Virginia and Delaware!
Also, coming up on April 16th: Dinner at Gertrude’s of Baltimore, a
fundraiser for Future Harvest’s Be-ginner Farmer Training Program.
Simply eat dinner at the restaurant
on Thursday, April 16, and a per-centage of the proceeds will be do-
nated to Future Harvest. To make dinner reservations, call: (410) 889-
3399.
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Extension.umd.edu/newfarmer
Upcoming Events
Mar 3 –CSA Contract and Labor
Workshop
Mar 4 - Legal Documents Every
Farmer Should Have - Harford Ext
Business Planning and Financial
Management for Your Small Farm -
Baltimore Co
Mar 10 - Field Crops & Pasture IPM
Workshop - Anne Arundel Ext
Mar 11 - Integrating Livestock into a
Small Farm - Baltimore Co
Mar 14 - How to Understand the Soil
in Your Field, Pasture, or Garden -
UMES
Mar 18 - Food Safety Trainings for
Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Producers
- Carroll Co Ext
Small Farm Business and Marketing
Experiences Panel - Baltimore Co
Mar 25 - Quality Assurance, Post-
Harvest Handling and Other Certifi-
cations - Baltimore Co
Mar 26 Day Neutral Strawberry
and Fall Bearing Raspberry Produc-
tion - Allegany Co Fairgrounds
Raised Bed Gardening - Garrett Col-
lege Northern Outreach Center
Mar 28 - Vegetable Gardening -
Why Do It? How Do I Start? - Long
Branch Library
More events can be found on our website under “events”
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Recap: Small Ruminant Expo
Photo : Hannah Shear
The Small Ruminant Expo took place on Saturday,
February 28 at the Frederick 4H Camp Center with over 120 in attendance. The all-day event featured separate educa-
tional programs for adults and youth. Four tracks were of-
fered, including forage/pasture, marketing, production and
health, and alternative enter-prises
The youth program included
sessions related to fiber, dairy, meat, and science. Everyone
enjoyed a lunch of a taco bar, with a choice of lamb and/or
goat meat and sheep and/or
goat milk cheese all sourced lo-cally.
Thanks to all for coming!
The Mid-Atlantic Women in Ag Conference took place
on February 12 and 13 in Dover Delaware. Over 100 wom-
en from across Maryland, Delaware, and Virginia flocked to
Dover Downs to learn about the many aspects of agricul-
ture.
Friday night activities included two pre-conference work-
shops covering Agri-tourism and Estate Planning. These
informational sessions were followed by an evening social
hour and harness racing.
Despite the bitter cold, Saturday’s events kicked off with a
discussion of biotechnology from which preceded the after-
noon workshops covering
many diverse topics.
Be sure to join us next
year!!!
Recap: Mid-Atlantic WIA
What You Missed
Hannah Shear
301.600.3580
“This project was supported by the Beginning Farmer and Rancher Devel-opment Program of the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, USDA, Grant #2012-49400-19552. To find more resources and programs for be-ginning farmers and ranchers please visit www.Start2Farm.gov, a compo-nent of the Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program.”
The University of Maryland Extension programs are open to any person and will not discriminate against anyone because of race, age, sex, color, sexual
orientation, physical or mental disability, religion, ancestry, national origin, marital status, genetic information, political affiliation, and gender identity
or expression.
Click here to receive this newsletter every month
To submit information for the monthly newsletter, please contact the Beginning Farmer Success Project Coordi-
nator, Hannah Shear at [email protected].
Beginning a Successful Small Farm Course
Studies show that most new small farm owners are new
to farming, or have little agricultural experience, and that
the new farming venture is a family project. For this rea-
son, this 7-week, 14-hour course is designed to provide
some basic training in critical farming subject matter for
those new and inexperienced in agricultural production
in this region.
You are invited to participate in this upcoming short
course series, Beginning a Successful Small Farm, to
be held on Thursdays from 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm, from
April 2 to May 14. This course is specifically designed for
beginner farmers. All classes will be held at the University
of Maryland Extension, located at 330 Montevue Lane,
Frederick.
Topics to be covered include Finding the Perfect Farm
Enterprise/Marketing What You Produce , the Basics of
Soil and Plant Fertility, Developing a Pasture System,
Pasture System Management Hay Evaluation, Review of
Weeds Commonly Found in Pastures , Field and Forage
Crops on Small Farms , and Adding Animals to Your Farm
To register for this course, please either complete the
registration form included in this pamphlet and return it
promptly to my office, or call me at 301-600-3577, or
email me at [email protected]. Registration is $15 for this entire course and checks should be made
payable to Frederick County EAC. Space is limited, so register as soon as possible.
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