MOSES Organic Farming Conference 2013

Again, I return from the MOSES Organic Farming conference inspired and eager to put my notes into action!  This year, the conference was a bit of a bittersweet experience - it was the first time being away from my 5-month old daughter for more than a few hours!  Though I bonded with other moms there, it did make it challenging at points to focus on the conference.

Fortunately, this conference is full of intriguing and insightful farmers, producers, students and food-enthusiasts that I was able to keep my mind off of my separation anxiety!  ;-)

Highlights for me this year included:

• Vegetable Crop Rotation - not only did this session offer great information within the 1.5 workshop, but also gave some great book/resource recommendations (FREE through the SARE website!).  One thing that I hadn't considered before - mid-season cover cropping to restore soil nutrients.
• GMO-OMG Filmmaker keynote - this is an exciting film that has yet to make its way to the U.S.  The clips that we saw were well-made, easy to understand and relate to.  The filmmakers' goal to reach the 'average' U.S. consumer are definitely within reach, as long as their distribution plans are grassroots and intentional. 
• Exhibition hall - being my second year at the conference, I was able to better engage in the exhibits, rather than just be overwhelmed by the aisles and aisles of tables, information, and products.  I had a great conversation with ladies from the Wisconsin Dept of Agriculture and Consumer Protection, connected with an organic herbalist about possibly partnering for wholesale herb distribution, and found out about an exciting fundraising opportunity through Seeds of Change.  Even when the workshops were too full to enjoy, I still learned a lot! 

Next year is the 25th anniversary of the conference. Check out the MOSES website for more information and other pictures from this year's gathering. 

Fruity Nutty Neighborhood

I'm excited to announce that Walker's Point is one of six Milwaukee neighborhoods chosen to host a fruit and nut orchard!

Check out the link here to the 3.5 minute video put together by CORE/El Centro and Bucketworks, showcasing our neighborhood participants and the impact these edible plants would have on our community.

This video was a lot of fun to put together; though it was challenging at times to find green space to plant a tree or two, I was so happy with the overwhelming support I received from those who I met during the process.  Even if they didn't have the time/space to host their own tree, all the neighbors were supportive of the initiative.  We will be holding our first 'group meeting' in early April to finalize the tree selection and planting details.

Check out the Victory Garden Initiative website to see more about the other neighborhoods that were chosen, and watch other group's video applications.

Workshops at CORE/El Centro

I am excited to announce some upcoming workshops being held at CORE/El Centro this spring!

Healthy Cooking Classes

I have posted previously about this exciting partnership with the Art Institute of Wisconsin International Culinary Arts program - which continues!  Our next series of classes begins February 19th - these topics have been chosen based on feedback from clients and previous workshop attendees.  We hope you enjoy!

Tuesday, February 19th 6:00-7:30pm: Nutrition for Weight Loss

Tuesday, March 19th 6:00-7:30pm: Gluten-Free Foods (focus on Ancient Grains)

Tuesday, April 23rd 6:00-7:30pm: Heart Healthy Meals

All classes cost $5.00 and include 2-3 recipes, tastings, and a heaping serving of nutritional information!  Spaces are limited for these hands-on classes, so please call me to register: 414-225-4267


Garden Workshops

We are offering two workshops in March to help get your garden off to a healthy start this year!  Both workshops are $5.00 and include a wealth of resources, tools and in-class planning time.  Participants will also be able to take home organic seeds for their own garden.

Saturday, March 2nd, 2-4pm: Planning for Small-Space Gardens

This workshop will review some fundamental principles of gardening and planning.  Participants will receive a number of planning tools and techniques as well as some in-class planning time to put their knowledge to practice.

Saturday, March 30th, 2-4pm: Getting an Early Start

This workshop will build on the first by sharing and showing specific techniques to get a head start on the season - planting indoors and using floating row cover in your garden to start growing food early.  Participants will plant and take home organic seeds to put out in their garden mid-May.

Holistic Nutrition

We don't have a specific date for this class, but I just had to announce an exciting partnership with the Bauman College of Holistic Nutrition and Culinary Arts.  In April/May we will be offering a FREE 4-part series based on the Bauman Eat 4 Health program.  Two lucky participants from the class will be selected to receive 6 weekly individual nutrition consultation sessions, too!  Stay tuned to CORE/El Centro's website and/or facebook page for more info.

Garden Plan 2013

Before starting this post, I looked back at the Garden Planning 101 post from last March and couldn't help but smirk at the picture of the garden layout I had created for last year's rooftop garden. The actual plan turned out MUCH differently!

Not only did many of the initial plants keel over from high winds, but being the first year of our garden we ended up planting most of our items based on donated plants we received - so I couldn't really choose what we were planting.  This year, I still received a LARGE seed donation from Seed Savers Exchange, but did so before planning out the garden.  So I was able to more realistically estimate spacing and plant capacity, while ensuring that I included the seeds we actually had!

We are still looking for more donations, so please contact me if you are able to support us with a few more seed packets, seed starting soil mix, or planting mix.

I am excited to announce that we will also be expanding our planting area this year.  In addition to the original four planting beds we are also going to be planting in the L-shaped garden bed on the east end of the garden.  Last year, this bed was home to grasses and other water-catching plants; but many did not survive the first year, so we will be using that space to increase our vegetable/herb production.  Also, we will be utilizing the remaining earth box planters which we recycled from Future Green in 2011.  These will be reserved mainly for the Children's Gardens - including a salad garden, square foot mini-garden, pizza garden, and some culture-specific gardens for the World Lunchbox curriculum.

View the full 2013 Garden Plan here

Agricultural Inspiration III

Here are the final words of wisdom from Wendell Berry as written in, "Prayers and Sayings of the Mad Farmer." For the first two installments, see my previous posts: Day 1 and Day 2.

                   XI
By the excellence of his work the workman is a neighbor. By selling only what he would not despise to own the salesman is a neighbor. By selling what is good his character survives his market.

                   XII
Let me wake in the night
and hear it raining
and go back to sleep.

                   XII
Don't worry and fret about the crops. After you have done all you can for them, let them stand in the weather on their own.

If the crop of any one year was all, a man would have to cut his throat every time it hailed.

But the real products of any year's work are the farmer's mind and the cropland itself.

If he raises a good crop at the cost of belittling himself and diminishing the ground, then he has gained nothing. He will have to begin all over again the next spring, worse off than before.

Let him receive the season's increment into his mind. Let him work it into the soil.

The finest growth that farmland can produce is a careful farmer.

Make the human race a better head. Make the world a better piece of ground.

Agricultural Inspiration II

As promised, here are the next set of musings taken from Wendell Berry's "Prayers and Sayings of the Mad Farmer."

                   VI
Beware of the machinery of longevity. When a man's life is over the decent thing is for him to die. The forest does not withhold itself from death. What it gives up it takes back.

                    VII
Put your hands into the mire. They will learn the kinship of the shaped and the unshapen, the living and the dead.

                    VIII
When I rise up
let me rise up joyful
like a bird.

When I fall
let me fall without regret
like a leaf.

                     IX
Sowing the seed,
my hand is one with the earth.

Wanting the seed to grow,
my mind is one with the light.

Hoeing the crop,
my hands are one with the rain.

Having cared for the plants,
my mind is one with the air.

Hungry and trusting,
my mind is one with the earth.

Eating the fruit,
my body is one with the earth.

                     X
Let my marriage be brought to the ground.
Let my love for this woman enrich the earth.

What is its happiness but preparing its place?
What is its monument but a rich field?

Agricultural Inspiration

As the temperatures finally sink below freezing and the winter wind picks up, I find myself seeking inspiration and comfort to wait out the next few months until seeds can be started and the Earth worked again.

To help ease the ache of winter, I'll be periodically posting poems, prose and other writings from various authors (including myself, when the Spirit moves me!).  I'll start with a few postings from Wendell Berry's book, "Farming: A Handbook," a collection of poems written by the eloquent Kentucky farmer.

Let's begin with some funny and insightful pieces. For the next few weeks, I'll post a collection each week from the Prayers and Sayings of the Mad Farmer. Enjoy!

                  I

It is presumptuous and irresponsible to pray for other people. A good man would pray only for himself - that he have as much good as he deserves, that he not receive more good or more evil than he deserves, that he both nobody, that he not be bothered, that he want less. Praying thus for himself, he should prepare to live with the consequences.

                  II

At night make me one with the darkness.

In the morning make me one with the light.

                  III

If a man finds it necessary to eat garbage, he should resist the temptation to call it a delicacy. 

                  IV

Don't pray for the rain to stop.
Pray for good luck fishing
when the river floods.

                  V

Don't own so much clutter that you will be relieved to see your house catch fire.