Healthy Farms Conference Breakout Sessions VI

Wetlands in Unexpected Places. Greg Fripp

 Using Constructed Wetlands in Urban areas to help the environment, to educate students and the community & to enhance economic opportunities for local populations.

Another Year in a Rural Whole Food System - A Conversation. Harold Stone

Last year, Harold described his rural economic development work - creating a Whole Food System in deeply rural Davenport, NE. In this, a follow-up report, we see that "rural" does not mean "dull and sedate."   The past year at Stones Thoreau has uncovered new challenges, and - as always - the solutions are not so quick and simple. This break-out session will be a simple conversation with the NSAS community about issues of rurality, food and community, when using economic development as a driver.

About: Dr. Harold L. Stone, owner of Stones Thoreau – Farm to Market, Inc. and South Maple Street Farmers Market and Commercial Kitchen is implementing food-based strategies to restore vitality to rural communities.  His primary focus is to create a replicable whole food system that will serve as an economic engine for development in rural food deserts. For over 30 years Dr. Stone, has been a professor of Regional Planning, a Cooperative Extension Associate in Soil and Crop Science at Texas A&M University, and supervised the preservation of historic structures in Washington, DC for the National Park Service.

Dispatches on Global Beekeeping. Dillon Blankenship & Kat Shiffler

Drawing on experiences from beekeeping at home and abroad (five continents between them), Kat Shiffler and Dillon Blankenship will talk about beekeeping livelihoods, beekeeping for development, and how alternative hive management and ancient practices can inform our domestic work with bees. Nature Conservancy.

About: Dillon Blankenship is a 2012-2013 Thomas J. Watson Fellow who spent thirteen months exploring local (and historic) beekeeping practices in the UK, Tanzania, Egypt, India, Russia, and Germany. He currently lives in Wood River, Nebraska where he works for the Nature Conservancy as a field steward and biological technician. You can find some information on his travels at adetourbywayofthebeehive.blogspot.com

About: Kat Shiffler is an Agroecologist and beekeeper based in Lincoln, Nebraska. She conducted her thesis fieldwork in Chile with a Fulbright Scholarship, where she worked with distinct beekeeping enterprises throughout the long, skinny country. Learn more about her current projects at www.sweetberthas.com 

Cultural Recovery of Seed Saving. Betsey Goodman

Seed saving used to be a natural part of the growing season on every farm across this land. What happened? Each of us has an individual responsibility to uphold our food system if we want to keep at least a portion of it in the public domain, and it all starts with seeds. Come to this session to learn about seed saving basics and to have a discussion about why it's imperative in our time. 

About: Betsy Goodman: Elizabeth graduated from Northern Arizona University in 2009 with a B.S. in Environmental Studies, emphasizing in Sustainability, Community, and Biocultural Diversity. She has worked with various farmers, herbalists, and seed producers along the West Coast. Since 2010, Elizabeth has been Production Assistant at BloomsOrganic Farm. Every year, Elizabeth works with the Douglas County Health Department and the Douglas County Extenuation office to plan a community wide Seed Swap. Additionally, Elizabeth is the Founder and Volunteer Coordinator for Omaha Public Library's, Common Soil Seed Library. 

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Healthy Farms Conference Youth Program!

Friday – February 6, 2015

8:30 a.m.  Develop a Vision Board for Your Farm – Liz Sarno, Organic Farmer

Liz will help the kids to develop their own vision for their farm and family for 2015. 

10:00 a.m. How to Market Your Products at Farmers Market– Rebecca Bloom, Bloomsorganic

Rebecca will go over how to present your products at farmers markets.  The things to do to sell your products and definite things not to do.   She will discuss how to price products, licenses and how to make your market stand attractive.  

Bloomsorganic is a family business located just outside Crescent, Iowa, farmed by Rebecca Bloom, with help from her husband, Brent, and sons, Alex and Eli.  They are USDA Certified Organic with Iowa Department of Agriculture. The farm produces  berry fruits, culinary herbs, and a large variety of vegetables, including tomatoes, potatoes, peppers, onions, garlic, greens, and root crops.   They like to grow heritage and heirloom varieties whenever possible. Bloomsorganic also grows flowers and food garden plants.  They market their products through various local markets, restaurants, and community supported agriculture.

12:00 p.m. Lunch

1:00 p.m. Tai Chi break 

2:00 p.m. How to make and find recipes for your products – Create your own cookbook- JoAnne Garvey

JoAnne will help you to find recipes for your products and then create recipe handouts and a cookbook. 

Some of JoAnne earliest childhood memories are of her grandmother’s kitchen where she learned the art of cooking rice, beans, tortillas from scratch, and other traditional Mexican dishes. It is easy to assume that her grandmother introduced her to cooking, but the truth is she claims to be born with the desire to cook; her grandmother simply added to an already intrinsic love.  JoAnne has over thirty years in the Hospitality Industry, and experience as a business owner, manager, and college chef instructor.

BA in Organizational Management from St. Joseph College, Whiting, IN,

AAS degree in Hotel Restaurant Management from Ivy Tech Community College, Indianapolis, IN. Current Food Handler Certification for Serv Safe, and Proctor for this national exam, Certified Executive Chef Certification from the American Culinary Federation.

Jo Anne Garvey CEC, Chef Instructor, Institute for the Culinary Arts, Metropolitan Community College, Omaha, Ne

Saturday – February 7, 2015

8:30 a.m.  Yoga break

9:30 a.m. No More Empty Pots - Nancy Williams, CIO, Boys & Girls Clubs of the Midlands

Nancy Williams will talk about youth programs and volunteer opportunities for kids.

Nancy began the practice of agriculture at an early age; first as a 4-H member in elementary school then as an FFA member in high school. Her family raised most of the produce they consumed; at one time maintaining as many as six gardens to feed themselves and share with neighbors. In addition to achieving success with FFA competition teams, Nancy earned scholarships to study Horticulture. She earned a Bachelor of Science degree at Louisiana State University then studied for a master of science in Weed Science with a minor in Plant Pathology at Cornell University. Nancy has diverse experiences in agriculture, from corporations, serving as an agronomist for local farmers and entrepreneurs to grassroots organizing and management for nonprofit community organizations. For the past 10 years, she has served as an information technology director for a nonprofit organization; where she has led award winning programs, increased technology integration and supported improved organizational outcomes.

Nancy Williams, No More Empty Pots

10:30 a.m. Making Pizza – JoAnne Garvey.  JoAnne will show how versatile pizza dough is for adding your fresh local products. 

12:00 p.m. Lunch

1:00 p.m. Bee Keeping – Fun with Bees – Lynn Danzer,

Bee-keeper from Council Bluffs, Iowa and Vice President of Education and Mentoring for the Omaha Bee Club: http://www.omahabeeclub.org/home .  Lynn has kept bees for 45years; ever since his Dad bought him, his first bees at a farm sale when he was 14 years old. 

Lynn will cover the types of honey bees, bee-keeping equipment, pollination, what effect pollination has on the plants and what plants attract bees. Lynn, teaches classes on bee-keeping at the South Omaha Library on 28th & Q St: http://www.omahabeeclub.org/beekeeping-classes. 

  

3:00 p.m. Finalize Your Vision Board

The Healthy Farms Conference Youth Program is a part of the Healthy Farms Healthy Kids Nebraska program of the Nebraska Sustainable Agriculture Society.

We have youth rates available, for information please email William @ healthyfarms@gmail.com

Healthy Farms Conference Breakout Sessions V

Let’s Grow Aquaponics.

Using Aquaponics in the classroom to engage children, teach S.T.E.M. and Agriculture principles and expose students to healthy food options.

About: Gregory Fripp is the Founder and Executive Director of Whispering Roots, Inc. A former “top ranked” Naval Officer and Corporate Executive, he followed his passion for growing healthy food and educating children by creating innovative, “hand on” experiential learning opportunities for students and the general public. His award winning Aquaponics and S.T.E.M. programs are changing the way people think about growing food and growing young minds.

Starting a Slow Money Investment Club

Slow Money is a movement to organize investors and donors to steer new sources of capital to small food enterprises, organic farms, and local food systems.  Slow Money takes its name from the Slow Food movement and aims to develop the relationship between capital markets and place, including social capital and soil fertility.  We've started a Slow Money Investment Club in Omaha called "LET'S EAT INVESTMENT GROUP, LLC."  As of January 2015, we have 12 members and have raised $60,000.  We'll share what we have learned so far and learn from any comments or suggestions the audience cares to contribute.

About: Jack Round - Jack has a finance and accounting background & is interested in re-localizing our economy as much as possible.  He is a member of Transition Omaha, the Omaha Time Exchange, & the LET'S EAT INVESTMENT GROUP, LLC (inspired by Slow Money).  Let’s Eat Investment Group, Founder, Round@Cox.net

Top Bar Bee Hives II

A second level breakout session on Top Bar Bee Hives. A top-bar hive is a single-storey frameless beehive in which the comb hangs from removable bars. Hives that have frames or that use honey chambers in summer but which use similar management principles as regular top-bar hives are sometimes also referred to as top-bar hives. Top-bar hives are rectangular in shape and are typically more than twice as wide as multi-story framed hives commonly found in English speaking countries. Top-bar hives are usually not portable, and allow for beekeeping methods that interfere very little with the colony.

Farmer/Chef Speed Dating

The Humane Society of the United States and Lone Tree Foods present this unique opportunity for farmers and chefs to meet, exchange business cards and price or request lists.  Farmers will be seated at tables and chefs will sit down with each one for 5 minutes with a bell moving things along. Register today and bring your information and even samples to share!"   

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Healthy Farms Conference Breakout Sessions IV

Tractor Selection for Small Scale Beginning Farmers

 Participants will learn about the decision-making process used to select a tractor & implements for a small scale (2 to 40 acre) agricultural operation. This session is intended for beginners with limited experience selecting farm equipment. Participants will explore how a tractor & implements can help them meet their farming goals, & features to consider when selecting a tractor & implements.  The group will examine tractors currently on the market to explore their usefulness in meeting individual farming needs. Tractor maintenance issues will also be discussed.

About: Dr. Ronald Rosati currently serves as Dean of the Nebraska College of Technical Agriculture. Rosati received his associate's degree in agriculture from Farmingdale Agricultural and Technical College, his bachelor's and master's degrees in agricultural education from Cornell University and his doctorate in agricultural education from Iowa State University. Rosati also has experience at Illinois State University, Ohio State University, Iowa State University and Alfred State College, where he also served as provost.

Growing in the Fall, Winter & Spring in Greenhouses.

Whether growing for market, or home gardening and you are considering moving your skill set to a new level, attend this session! Learn Why and How Winter Gardening is the now and future of local Healthy Fresh Food. Why and how to winter gardening. Sell to markets never considered. Sold out before you harvest. Training your customer

About: Honey Creek Farms is a family-owned and operated sustainable farming business. Our farm is in Pottawattamie County, Iowa, where we have three greenhouses on 20 acres with gardens and livestock.

We grow using the old ways, as nature intended, incorporating sustainable principles. We grow without using chemicals, hormones or pesticides in the production of our produce and livestock. Our farm is Certified Naturally Grown and we grow according to organic standards. The Never Ending Harvest videos contain the knowledge we have gained in our winter greenhouse growing and our gardening experiences since we began in 1996.

Top Bar Beehives.

The object of a Top Bar Hive (TBH) is to be easy and cheap to construct, easy to work and having natural sized cells. A Kenya style (sloped sides) is so that the combs are more naturally strong and less likely to break and collapse when they are full of honey. This hive worked very well with no comb collapses. The small combs are easy to handle and not nearly as fragile as large free hanging combs.

About:  Michael Bush is one of the leading proponents of treatment free beekeeping. He has been keeping bees since the mid 70's, usually from two to seven hives up until the year 2000. Varroa forced more experimentation which required more hives and the number has grown steadily over the years from then. By 2008 it was about 200 hives. He is active on many of the Beekeeping forums with last count at more than 50,000 posts between all of them. He has a web site on beekeeping at www.bushfarms.com/bees.htm

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Healthy Farms Conference Breakout Sessions III

Helping You Help Your Land! Charles Leinen

The session describes the Natural Resource Conservation Service in Nebraska and the program opportunities that are available to farmers and landowners.

About: Charles Leinen,  Civil Engineer with over 30 years of work experience with the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) formerly Soil Conservation Service.  He has multi-state experience in conservation planning, design, and implementation on several engineering practices, such as, terraces, waterways, ag-waste facilities, surface and subsurface irrigation systems, grade stabilization structures, wetland restoration, watershed rehabilitation, and emergency watershed program assistance. He is a graduate of Iowa State University, BS (1991) with over 16 years’ experience as an NRCS employee in Nebraska serving agriculture farmers in Eastern Nebraska.

Global Gardening: Urban Community Gardening & Farming with Refugee Populations

 This breakout session will provide insight into initiatives happening around Omaha and Lincoln that are providing refugee communities with available land and resources to grow their own food. We will focus on funding ideas, seed orders, overcoming initial challenges, and overall best practices for the most successful growing season.

About: Aaron French is currently the farm training manager at Community Crops, where he helps to oversee the day to day production and farmer training on the Prairie Pines Training Farm.

About: Laura Weiss is the Education, Employment, & Outreach Coordinator at Southern Sudan Community Association and founder of Root Down Community Gardens, a program aimed at providing resources for refugee communities to grow their own fresh and culturally appropriate food. Outside of work you can find her singing in her band, gardening with Root Down participants, eating Kim-chi, or conversing over coffee.

Nebraskan Permaculture Design & Trees as the Farmer’s Best Friend.

Gus would like to share Permaculture designs that highlight lessons he has learned when designing landscapes for the Nebraskan home, community or farm.  The main lesson he would like to showcase is the many uses for every tree in your landscape; with all its different stages of development and decomposition.

About: Gus Von Roenn is a permaculture designer in Omaha.  With a background in social sciences, he pursues sustainability projects that help improve healthy food accessibility for low-income communities.  As a general contractor for many years, he adopts a building sensibility when designing permaculture projects.   He engages his community by participating on boards of local food organizations to help promote sustainability and create awareness of water quality degradation from agricultural runoff.   He hopes to spread a vision of agroecology throughout the farms of the midwest.

Building a Local Foods Movement. Next Steps

Local food is fresher, tastier and more nutritious—good for our personal health and the health of our communities and local economies.  But with the onset of climate change and the increasing peril of extreme weather to our global food production and distribution system, local food is also vital to our ‘food security.’  The farther away we are from our food supply, the more food insecure we are.  The need for building a vibrant local food movement capable of meeting these economic and environmental challenges has never been greater.  In this workshop session, we will examine some possible ‘next steps’ local food advocates may want to take to dramatically grow both the production and consumption of local foods.

About: Tim Rinne just celebrated his 20^th year as the State Coordinator of Nebraskans for Peace.  Long interested in environmental and climate issues, from 2004-2013, he was the Political and Legislative Chair for the Nebraska Sierra Club.  Helping create the Hawley Hamlet and learning to grow some of his own food is the most satisfying political thing he’s ever done.  Makes you wonder why he waited until he was in his fifties to get going…

Register today and save!

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