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

hshear@umd.edu

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 hshear@umd.edu.

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 tepoole@umd.edu. 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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