What's Happening in and around the state of Ohio related to local foods and farming!
Saturday, April 4, 2009
Organic Gardening Workshop
Growing without chemicals is not difficult; however it requires a perspective of viewing your garden as a natural and diverse system. Join us at Stratford Ecological Center from 10 am to 12 noon for an organic gardening workshop. This class will cover the basics of composting, companion planting, crop rotations, pest control, organic standards, and many more topics. Pictures will inspire and clarify concepts. $15/person or $25/family. Please register in advance. Contact Christa at 740-363-2548 or treebeing@aol.com. Location: 3083 Liberty Rd. outside Delaware
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
Waste to Energy Workshop: Advances and Opportunities for Ohio?s Livestock and Food Processing Industries
Held by Ohio energy and agriculture groups, this program will look at methane production and power generation from livestock manure and food-processing waste. The role of anaerobic digestion in reducing environmental impacts, integrating combined heat and power (CHP) technologies with anaerobic digesters, non-electrical uses of anaerobic digester biogas, and case studies of existing waste-to-energy installations will be among the topics. Hours are 7:30 a.m.-3 p.m. at the Arden Shisler Center for Education and Economic Development on the OARDC campus, 1680 Madison Ave. Seventeen industry and university experts will speak, including a keynote talk at lunch by Mark Shanahan, energy adviser to Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland. Register online at http://www.chpcentermw.org/Ohio0904_registration.html. Registration costs $25 per person. Call (312) 996-2554 or e-mail samr@uic.edu for more information.
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
Stretching the Food Dollar part of the Victory in the Kitchen Lecture Series presented by OSU Extension. Series focuses on using your grocery and kitchen skills to prepare easy, healthy, tasty and economical meals. From 6:30 - 8:30 p.m. at the Toledo Botanical Garden Conference Center, 5403 Elmer Drive, Toledo, OH 43615. Course fees are $15 per session or $35 for the total series. Other sessions include - Back to the Kitchen (May 13) and Choose, Prepare & Enjoy Fresh Produce (July). Reservations are required and may be made by calling OSU Extension Office at Toledo Botanical Garden (419) 578-6783.
Thursday, April 9, 2009
Backyard Gardening and Composting Tips
Informal open house at the Franklin Park Conservatory, 1777 E. Broad St. from 6-8 pm in the Palm House; 7-8PM - Meet in lower level community room for a talk with Kim Brown, Education Mgr. for the Franklin Park Conservatory, who will share suggestions on composting and backyard gardening and answer your questions. Kim has an academic background in carbon sequestration and forest management and oversees the Conservatory's educational programming. This is the monthly meeting of the Peak Oil/Global Warming Learning Group; all are welcome!
Saturday, April 11, 2009
Earth Care, People Care, Fair Share: An Introduction to Permaculture
Learn about the ecological design principles that benefit people and their environment during a free Ohio State University event on the basics of permaculture.
This event will be held from 9 a.m. to noon in Kottman Hall, Room 103, 2021 Coffey Road, on Ohio State's College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences Columbus campus. The event is sponsored by the college's Chadwick Arboretum and Learning Gardens. Horticulture and permaculture experts Deb Knapke and Josh Beniston will present an overview of earth patterns in nature and design and techniques for incorporating permaculture in the garden. Free parking is available in the lots adjacent to Kottman Hall. For more information, log on to http://chadwickarboretum.osu.edu. Or contact Mary Maloney, Chadwick Arborteum and Learning Gardens maloney.23@osu.edu (614) 688-3479
Tuesday, April 16, 2009
Marketing Your Products
An effective marketing plan is vital to the success of any business, and a farmer's market is no exception. Ohio State University Extension will offer a workshop on direct marketing and sales strategies for farmers' markets. This event will be held 16 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at OSU South Centers at Piketon, 1864 Shyville Road, Piketon, Ohio. The cost of the workshop is $5 per person. The workshop is designed to teach participants cost-effective ways of marketing their products and increasing sales. For more information, or to register, contact Julie Strawser at (740) 289-2071, ext. 223 or e-mail strawser.35@osu.edu, or log on to http://southcenters.osu.edu.
Thursday- Saturday, April 16-18, 2009
Hands-On Basic Cheese Making -- Enhancing Dairy Profitability with Cheese
Enhance your dairy operation with a farmstead cheese business with the aid of an OSU Extension cheese-making workshop. The workshop will be held in Ashtabula County, 39 Wall St., Jefferson. The course will run from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. with an optional evening cheese house tour. Peter Dixon, one of the nation's premier cheese-making instructors and operator of the Center for Farmstead Milk Processing in Vermont, will teach the course. Registration is $425 per person and includes course tuition, resource materials, workshop supplies, lunches and refreshments. Registration is limited to the first 15 people. The workshop is intended for those interested in a value-added opportunity in meeting the public?s growing demand for local cheeses. For more information, contact the OSU Extension office in Ashtabula County at (440) 576-9008, or email Abbey Averill at averill.10@osu.edu
Saturday, April 18, 2009
Columbus Winter Farmers Market
Please join us for the last event for this season at First UU Church from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. The First Unitarian Universalist church hosts this farmers market complete with local homemade, handmade and organically grown farm products including free-range chicken, eggs, baked goods, herb dips, rubs, seasonings, artisan cheeses, pies, bread, gourmet chocolates, meats, honey, and seasonal produce. Location: 93 West Weisheimer Rd. Columbus 43214. Contact: Mayda Shingler at 740-387-3580 or visit www.columbuswinterfarmersmarket.com
Friday, April 24, 2009
Friday Night Film: Establishing a Food Forest the Permaculture Way
Join us at the Simply Living office, 2929 N. High St. at 7:30 pm for a film. This film, despite a rather imposing title, will inspire you to see new possibilities in how we garden, even in urban areas. Geoff Lawton shares a holistic vision of a food production system that builds and protects soils, feeds people, locks up carbon and increases our biodiversity. Josh Beniston hosts. Bring snacks to share; donations welcome.
Saturday-Sunday, April 25-26, 2009
Permaculture Weekend Training
Join us to learn the basics of permaculture and explore some examples of permaculture that will work well here in Ohio. This workshop, introducing the concept and principles of permaculture, the design process, urban permaculture strategies, and permaculture forest gardens will be led by experienced permaculturalist Josh Beniston. Workshop cost is $70 for the weekend. Sliding scale and scholarships are available. Please call or e-mail Ben at Simply Living, 447-0296, ben@simplyliving.org if interested.
Save the Date!
May 11, 2009
The Social Responsibility Initiative will host Dr. Rich Pirog, associate director of the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture as part of its 2009 Brown Bag Series. The presentation will be held in room 105 Agricultural Administration Building, 2120 Fyffe Road, Columbus, OH at noon. This endeavor is supported by the Center for Farmland Policy and Innovation and the Ohio Department of Agriculture?s Sustainable Agriculture Program. Dr. Pirog will share with us Iowa?s journey in developing a more resilient local and regional food system. Bring your lunch and don?t miss this opportunity to learn!
August 6-9, 2009
American Community Gardening Association 30th Annual Conference ? Putting Down Roots at the Franklin Park Conservatory, Columbus, OH. For more details, visit:
http://www.communitygarden.org/learn/training/annual-conference/index.php
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North Central SARE - Communities of Practice Workshop
Coordinated by the Value Chain Partnerships Project
Sponsored by the North Central SARE Professional Development Program
When: July 21 – 8:30 a.m. through July 22 – 3:30 p.m.
Where: Des Moines, Iowa – Airport Holiday Inn (or other location close to Des Moines airport)
Workshop Objectives
Goals of workshop:
• Explain the purpose, function, and value of using communities of practice to address key emerging community and regional issues in sustainable agriculture and food systems
• Use Iowa-based examples and lessons learned from working groups that employ a community of practice framework to share and discuss principles and considerations to selecting, initiating, managing, funding, branding, and participating in communities of practice as a process and knowledge management tool
• Learn more about the functions of mid-sized values-based food chains
Workshop Program
July 21
o Learn about the framework
o Discuss the community of practice model and how it has been used to develop and sustain a successful community of working groups.
o Understand the life-cycle
o Discuss principles and considerations on selecting, initiating, managing, funding, branding, and participating in working groups
July 22
o Witness a community of practice in action
o Attend one of three Value Chain Partnerships working group meetings: Regional Food Systems, Pork Niche Market, or Grass-based Livestock
o Review value chain examples
o Participate in a case study discussion of two mid-sized values-based food chains; Country Natural Beef and Organic Valley
o Put it all together
o Discuss how working groups (aka communities of practice) can help to better address the challenges found across food value chains
What is Value Chain Partnerships?
Value Chain Partnerships is an Iowa-based network of food and agriculture working groups that delivers social, environmental, and economic benefits to our businesses and communities by providing a forum for cumulative learning and innovation. Core organizations involved include the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture, Iowa State University, ISU Extension, and Practical Farmers of Iowa
* A definition of communities of practice
Communities of Practice (CoPs) are groups of people in organizations that come together to share what they know, to learn from one another regarding some aspects of their work and to provide a social context for that work (Wenger et al. 2002).1
1 Wenger E., R. McDermott and W.M. Snyder. 2002. Cultivating Communities of Practice, Harvard Business School Press, Boston MA.
Workshop Details
• The workshop will be limited to 75 participants, including an 8 person training team.
• Target audience includes key North Central state educators from University Extension Service, non-profit organizations, state agencies, private or community colleges, farmer leaders, and community leaders. The workshop will provide value to those wishing to start and/or join communities of practice.
• The NC SARE PDP grant for this workshop provides up to two travel expense honorariums ($500 each) per person per state in the NC SARE region. These honoraria will be awarded on a first-come, first served basis to individuals who will attend both days of the workshop.
• If by June 1, no registrations for these honorariums have been received from a particular state, then they will be opened up to those who are on the waiting list to receive the honorariums, regardless of state.
• Our goal is to have four to five people from each of the north-central SARE states to attend. If you are not one of the first two people in your state to register with the Leopold Center, we will request that you check with your state SARE coordinator to determine if they have resources to cover your travel and workshop expenses.
• You will be responsible for making all of your travel and lodging arrangements. More details will follow once a location is confirmed.
• The workshop will cover the following meals: July 21 – lunch and dinner; July 22 – lunch. You must cover the expense of all other meals through the honorarium or resources from your state SARE coordinator.
• The cost of the workshop materials are covered for all participants.
• We expect to work with and track a subset of participants through periodic conference calls and a follow-up training in spring or summer 2010.
• This is a two-day workshop for the target audience. We strongly encourage attendance both days; grant honorariums will only be given to those individuals who can participate both days.
• There will be a few food businesses that will be attending only the July 22 session which features the value chain case studies.
To register
Please contact Beth Larabee, Leopold Center program assistant: (blarabee@iastate.edu or call 515 294-8530)
In your registration, please provide complete contact information including e-mail and cell-phone, confirm your commitment to attend both days, and whether you are requesting to receive the honorarium or have your travel expenses covered by other means.
For more information about the workshop content and structure:
Please contact Rich Pirog, Associate Director of the Leopold Center (rspirog@iastate.edu) or 515 294-1854