Wed.  June 11 EARLY SWEET CORN FROM TRANSPLANTS
5-7pm   Wood’s Market Garden, Brandon, VT

Tour Wood’s Market Garden with Jon Satz where he will highlight their SARE grant research on early sweet corn production from transplants.  He will focus on types of seeding, tray sizes, soil types, transplanting, row covers and cultivation.  This is Jon’s third season of collecting data.

Directions: Traveling on route 7, Wood’s Market Garden is located 1.5 miles south of the Brandon Village.  Farmstand is on the east side of road, with sign, “Wood’s Market Garden”.
 

Sun.  June 29 BASIC DOWSING FOR WATER AND AGRICULTURE
10am-5pm  Randolph Center, VT

*Please pre-register with the NOFA office to ensure a spot for yourself at this workshop!
Back by popular demand, Steve Herbert will introduce a variety of dowsing instruments for dowsing both tangible targets such as water, as well as for more abstract information used for personal guidance.  Steve will focus on the fundamentals of water dowsing and expand to the applications of dowsing and agriculture.  All dowsing instruments will be provided for practice, with option to purchase. Bring a bagged lunch.

Directions:  From I89, take exit 4 and go east on Rt. 66.  At “T” with Vermont Technical College in front of you, turn left (still Rt. 66) and follow about one mile until you turn left onto Rand Rd.  Take Rand Rd. all the way to the end and take a right onto the North Randolph Rd.  Lisa McCrory and Carl Russel’s house is the second house (#848) on the right (log home). Please park in their field or along road.
 

Sun.  July 13 RAISING GOATS FOR CHEESE
1:30-4:30pm  Lazy Lady Farm, Westfield, VT

Farmer Laini Fondiller will share her cheesemaking operation at Lazy Lady Farm.  She presently has 25 registered French-Alpine goats and has been making organic goat cheeses for 20 years.  Her focus will be herd health, diet, grazing, fencing as well as the basics of cheesemaking.

Directions: From the South: On Rt. 100, 5.5 miles after Lowell, look for Buck Hill Rd on left.  Travel this road for exactly 1.5 miles and turn left on Gravel Rd.  Go 3/8 mile and you will see farm on the right.
 

Sat.  July 19  ORGANIC EGG PRODUCTION AT ROCK BOTTOM FARM
9-11am  Rock Bottom Farm, Strafford, VT

Farmers Berry and Earl Ransom give a tour of Rock Bottom Farm’s 800 layer organic egg operation.   As the largest organic egg operation in Vermont, Berry’s farm is unique since it is set-up to be a one-person business.  The chickens are grazed on rotational pastures in both stationary and mobile coops.  If you are interested in learning more about management and efficiency, this is the workshop for you!

Directions:  From I89, take exit 2 in Sharon.  Go east onto Rte. 132 toward Strafford.  At the stop sign in South Strafford, go left onto the Justin Morrill Hwy.  In 2 miles, bear left onto the Brook Rd at the town green.  Just under 2 miles, take a right onto Kibling Hill Rd.  In .77 miles, the driveway is on the left.  A sign on the big pine tree reads, “Den of the Bear”.
 

Tues. July 22  ABC’s TO GROWING ORGANIC GARLIC
5-7pm   Last Resort Farm, Monkton, VT

Come and join farmers Eugenie Doyle and Sam Burr as they give a tour of their ½ acre garlic patch (which yields 1,000 pounds of garlic each season!)  Together, they will cover planting, mulching, weed control, harvesting and storage techniques as well as some tips for marketing.  The Last Resort Farm is a 280 acre diversified farm, mostly in organic hay, with 6 acres of organic vegetables and berries.

Directions:  From the north, when you are in the center of Monkton, with the general store on your left, turn left on State’s Prison Hollow Rd. (follow below*).  From the south, when in the center of Monkton, turn right on State’s Prison Hollow Rd, just before the general store.  *Make your first left which is Tyler Bridge Rd.  Last Resort Farm is the 1st farm on the left.
 

Sat.  August 2 ENERGY EFFECIENCY & RENEWABLE ENERGY LIFESTYLE CHOICES
10am –2pm  Calais, VT

Come and learn about an off-grid, energy efficient lifestyle from Paul Scheckel, an energy efficiency and renewable energy specialist.  Paul’s home uses solar energy and homemade biodeisel for electricity, wood for heat and harvested rainwater for the garden.  This workshop will include an introduction to these renewable systems and a group-directed discussion on lifestyle and energy use.   Please bring a bagged lunch.

Directions: Travel on Route 14 until you reach the East Calais Village.  Approximately. 100 yards north of the general store, turn Left onto Moscow Woods Rd.  Bear Left immediately at fork (at post office).  Go 1.1 mile up Ledge Rd and bear left at fork into driveway.  Please park in the field and walk up the driveway to the house (100 yards).
 

Mon.  August 4 BEEF GRAZING:  CLEARING LAND WITH BEEF CATTLE
10am-12pm  Bowman Hill farm, Barnard, VT

Co-sponsored with UVM Center for Sustainable Agriculture Vermont Pasture Network.  *This workshop is free to NOFA members and collaborative sponsor members. This workshop explores the use of animals to clear land.  When Joe LaDouceur and his wife moved to their Barnard farm, it was planted to mature pines.  Through a combination of cutting, mob-stickering of beef cattle and lots of time, pasture and hay land have been reclaimed.  On this pasture walk, Joe will share some of the time and frustration–saving lessons he learned along the way.

Directions:  Take Rte 12 (N or S) through Bethel, and turn onto Rte. 107W at the southern end of the village.  Take your first obvious left onto North Road, and travel about 5 miles until you see a left turn onto Bowman Rd.  The farm is at the top of the hill with gray barn on the left and house on the right.
 

Wed. August 20   FOOD AS MEDICINE:  A PERSONAL STORY OF HEALING
6 – 8 pm  Trinity Methodist Church, Montpelier, VT

Nearly four years ago, Jerry Brunetti was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma and was advised that without aggressive chemotherapy he would be dead in as little as 6 months.  Rather than capitulate to the corporate/medical model, Brunetti instead chose to approach his health challenges as he approached the agriculture challenges of his clients - holistically.  Come and learn Jerry’s remarkable story and hear how human health practices relate to agricultural health practices.  Jerry is the founder of Agri-Dynamics, a consulting firm and lives in PA.

Directions:  From I89, take exit 8 for Montpelier.  This becomes Rte. 2 (Memorial Drive).  Turn left on Main Street (over bridge).  After the first light, you’ll see the church on the right (#137), next to the library. Please park in the back, and use the back door entrance.
 

Thurs, Aug. 21 ORGANIC FERTILIZATION AND IRRIGATION OF PASTURES
11am – 2pm  Forgues Family Farm, Alburg Springs, VT

Co-sponsored by a Northeast SARE research and education grant.  *This workshop is free to NOFA members.
The Forgues and Bill Murphy, UVM researcher, professor and author of “Greener Pastures On Your Side of the Fence”, are starting a three-year experiment to study pasture yield with organic nitrogen fertilizer and soil amendments under irrigation.  Come to the Forgue Family Dairy Farm during the hottest time of the season to see how this experiment is working in their operation.

Directions:  Traveling west out of Swanton on hwy 78, cross a bridge and turn right (north) toward Alburg Springs.  In 2.7 miles the farm is on the west side of the road (the left side) just before the US-Canada border.
 

Sun.  August 31 GROWING SUPER-HARDY GRAPES IN VERMONT
2-4pm   Granstrom Farm, New Haven, VT

Come and learn about a series of new, hardy grape varieties perfect for the Vermont growing season with growers, Chris Granstrom and Ray Knutsen.  They will talk about varieties available, planting, soil and site preparation, training, pruning, and trellising which will get you prepared to start your own grape production!

Directions:  Take Rte. 7, 3 miles north from Middlebury.  Turn right on River Rd (sign says “New Haven Mills”).  Farmstand is on right side of River Rd, just 200 yards from Rt. 7.
 

Sat.  Sept. 6  DIVERSIFIED MUSHROOM PRODUCTION TECHNIQUES
10am -2pm  The Intervale Foundation, Burlington, VT

*In addition to the registration fee, the supplies cost of this workshop is $25.  This workshop will begin with a tour by Erik Wells and David Demarest of their facility and a presentation about cultivation techniques for a variety of mushroom species.  Basic design considerations of a sterile mushroom laboratory and laboratory techniques will be covered.  After lunch, there will be a hands-on demonstration of the use of bag culture for indoor production of oyster mushrooms and log culture for outdoor production of shiitake mushrooms.  Please bring a bagged lunch.

Directions:  From I89, take exit 14W and drive west on Williston Rd. toward downtown Burlington.   Just past the University of Vermont green, take a right onto South Prospect St.  Drive north on Prospect St. past the green, through a residential area and down a steep hill to a traffic light on Riverside Ave.  Cross Riverside Ave.  Prospect St becomes Intervale Rd.  Continue down the hill and over the railroad tracks.  Proceed past Gardener’s Supply Company.  Take your next right and park near the red brick building.  The Calkins Farmhouse is where the course begins.
 

Thurs.  Sept. 18 CUT FLOWER PRODUCTION MANAGEMENT AND MARKETING
5-7pm   Lilac Ridge Farm, West Brattleboro, VT

Tour Lilac Ridge Farm, winner of the 2002 Sustainable Farm of the Year Award, with grower Amanda Thurber.  With 1 ¼ acres in organic cut flowers, Amandamarkets her flowers at farmers’ market, wholesale and for weddings.  She will share her tips on marketing and cover the important aspects of growing such as production techniques, planting, bed layout, weed control and post-harvest handling.

Directions:  Off Interstate 91, take Brattleboro exit 2.  Take a Right off the ramp, which puts you on Rte. 9, traveling west.  In 5 miles, take a Left off Greenleaf St.  (There will be a 7-11 laundry mat on the corner).  Follow for 2.5 miles.  You’ll see a farmstand with a large painted mural on left.  Go straight.  That is Ames Hill Rd.  1/4 mile from the farmstand is Lilac Ridge Farm on the left.  There is a large dairy barn, veggie fields and greenhouse out front.  Please park in the farmyard.
 

Fri.  Sept. 19 CARCASS (MORTALITY) COMPOSTING
10am-12pm Foster Brothers Dairy, Middlebury, VT

This workshop is co-sponsored by the Composting Association of Vermont. Carcass composting is one alternative to rendering services which have become increasingly expensive and unreliable or unavailable for some regions and types of livestock.  Avoid the risks that come with “dragging the carcasses out for the coyotes” and other even less desirable means of disposal by learning about proper composting.  Visit the Foster Brothers Dairy and see how their site and process is working for them.  Both Bob Foster, dairy farmer and Brian Jerose, SARE researcher will give this presentation.

Directions:  Heading south on Rt. 7 thru Middlebury, take a left on Lower Foote St. (about 2 miles south of the Middlebury town center).  Foster Brothers Dairy is less than one mile on Right.
 

Sun.  October 5 SEED CLEANING
10am-5pm  High Mowing Seeds, North Wolcott, VT

*Please pre-register with the NOFA office to ensure a spot for yourself at this workshop!  This workshop is free to NOFA members.  Come and learn how to improve your efficiency in the challenging joy of seed cleaning!  Tour High Mowing Seeds and their new seed cleaning facility with grower, Tom Stearns.  Tom will share his magical hand seed cleaning techniques and specialized seed cleaning equipment. This workshop is geared toward those interested in commercial seed production as opposed to home gardeners.

Directions: From the east:  Take Rte. 15 thru Hardwick.  Travel approximately 7 miles and turn right on North Wolcott Rd.  (continue below*)  From the west:  take Rte. 15 thru Hyde Park.  Travel 7 miles and take a left on North Wolcott Rd.  *In 4 miles, you’ll see the North Wolcott general store. ¼ mile past the store, turn left.  Immediately there will be a fork in the road, stay right.  This is Brook Rd.  .9 miles on left there is a sign for High Mowing Seeds.  Take the driveway to the seed building which is about 300 yards down.