Workshop

Learn how to pasture raise a small flock of chickens (2-50) in your backyard or small farm. We will discuss and demonstrate some of the steps involved to sustainably raise chickens for eggs (layers) or meat (broilers).

For more details and to register: click here.

Farmers Growing Farmers – Greenhouse tour of Cookstown Greens with David Cohlmeyer & Kestrel Farms with Peter Vanderpost.

Both Cookstown Greens and Kestral Farms practice season extension techniques and market their vegetables to restaurants as well as the general public. The tour will focus on current greenhouse and season extension production.

For more details and to register, go to: http://www.everdale.org/node/307

Come to the farm and find all those wonderful, hard to get organic and heritage seeds and transplants.

You can swap your favourite seeds with other gardeners, ‘Ask the Expert’ your gardening questions, and buy open-pollinated heritage seeds and plants that have not been genetically engineered, and which have been selected over many generations to grow well in your local conditions.

We will also be offering an organic lunch, adult mini-workshops and activities for kids.

Admission:
Adults: $6
Student/Senior: $4
17 and under: FREE!

For all the details, check here: http://www.everdale.org/node/97

FGF Livestock tour in Grey County, at Bows Bells with Les Richards and Grassroots Organics with Sean McGivern.

Les manages over 100 acres of grain and hay production for his year-round sheep operation and Sean raises a variety of livestock and rotates grain production and milling on about 1500 acres. The tour will focus on livestock housing, care and pasturing, and grain/feed production.

For more details and to register, go to: http://www.everdale.org/node/291

After registering for the event, let your friends know you’re attending via Facebook.

More and more urbanites want to become farmers and they are looking for training that will fast track their entry into agriculture.  Everdale Farm is launching an innovative training program called the Organic Farming Certificate (OFC) program.

Hillsburgh, Ontario, Canada  January 27, 2010 – Everdale Organic Farm & Learning Centre announced today that it will be launching Ontario’s first Organic Farming Certificate (OFC) program in April 2010.  The OFC is based on a program offered at the University of California at Santa Cruz and will help Ontario to meet a growing demand for locally grown organic produce.

Everdale is a farm-based learning centre located one hour northwest of Toronto near Hillsburgh, Ontario.  Everdale has been breaking ground in farmer training since 2000, when they partnered with Agriculture Canada to create an on-farm internship program.  That internship program was one of the first of its kind in Ontario.  It provided hands-on farm experience to young people interested acquiring skills in organic farming.

More than 50 interns graduated from Everdale’s farm internship program and about half are now farming on their own.  Other farms have been inspired by the success of the internship model.  In 2000, Everdale was one of only a handful of Ontario farms offering internships.  Today there are about 100 active internship farms across the province and most of them belong to CRAFT Ontario, a farmer-training organization co-founded by Everdale.

With the upcoming launch of the new OFC program Everdale is once again raising the bar for farmer training standards in Ontario.  The OFC is a hybrid program that combines the hands-on rigour of a practical farm internship with the curriculum-based focus of a college or university course.

Gavin Dandy, Everdale’s Farm Programs Director, believes that the OFC fills a void in the current slate of training offered by agricultural schools and farms in Ontario.  “The OFC is designed to train farmers of tomorrow,” says Dandy.

“As a society we are entering into uncharted territory with respect to farming and farmer training.  For the first time in recorded history the vast majority of tomorrow’s farmers will have to come from non-farming backgrounds.  In other words, city folks will have to become farmers.  There simply aren’t enough ‘farm kids’ out there to meet the demand.”

Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) statistics show that consumer demand for organic produce continues to outpace the supply.  In a paper on Key Industry Trends released in November 2008 AAFC states that “Canada’s organic industry is estimated to be worth $1 billion with annual retail sales growth of 20%.  Fuelled by consumer demand for more natural, minimally-processed and pesticide-free food in North America, the Canadian organic sector has seen dramatic growth in recent years with consumer demand currently outpacing domestic production.”

According to Dandy, there are plenty of urbanites who see opportunity in organic farming.  “We get dozens of emails and phones calls every month from people who are looking information and training.  They want to become organic farmers.  Every one of them is interested in the kind of ‘relationship farming’ that Everdale farm is practicing.  They don’t want to get into commodity markets and that sort of model.  They want to start farms that are based on supporting viable eco-systems and cultivating direct-market relationships with customers.”

Brendan Johnson, Everdale’s Executive Director, believes that the OFC program will help a wide range of people to get started in organic farming.  “The OFC is a complete package.  Whether we’re talking about career changers coming from the city, conventional farmers looking for a viable farm plan, or young people in their twenties looking to make a difference…  the OFC will fast track those people into farming careers.  There’s nothing like the OFC in Ontario.  We’re proud to be offering this new program at a time when it is really needed.”

The OFC is a 32-week program that teaches the practical skills and concepts necessary for the sound management of a small-scale organic farm. The OFC training schedule includes 600 hours of curriculum-based learning such as field trips, lectures/seminars, a personal field plot project completed by each OFC intern, field walks, and technical field demonstrations.  It also includes 900 hours of in-field training and farm experience on Everdale’s organic farm.

The units of study in the OFC curriculum are:

-         Organic Farming and Gardening Skills and Practices

-         Managing Soil Fertility

-         Garden and Field Tillage and Cultivation

-         Propagating Crops from Seed and Greenhouse Management

-         Transplanting and Direct Seeding

-         Irrigation: Principles and Practices

-         Selecting and Using Cover Crops

-         Making and Using Compost

-         Managing Arthropod Pests and Plant Pathogens

-         Managing Weeds

-         Soil Science

-         Social and Environmental Issues in Agriculture

For additional news and information regarding the OFC please contact:

Gavin Dandy, Director of Farm Programming

Everdale Organic Farm & Learning Centre

gavin@everdale.org

519-855-4859 x104

www.everdale.org

Spreadsheets 101 – Need help getting started with spreadsheet programs like Microsoft Excel?
10pm – 12pm  Cost : $15
Learn the basics of how to create, customize and update spreadsheets for your farm business.  The focus will be on the skills required to prepare a budget and cash flow however once that’s covered, the possibilities are endless!  Farmers use spreadsheets for a wide range of tasks from crop planning, schedules, storing contact information and more!

Budget and Cash Flow Basics for Farmers
1pm – 4pm Cost: $25
Lead by a financial expert, learn how to create professional budgets and cash flows.   Is it a fixed or variable cost?  Will I have enough money to make it through the season?  Step by step we will work through the basics of what these documents are and the rules you need to follow to create them so that they represent your farm or planned farm business accurately.   There’s no question too basic in this workshop, the focus is on the basics!

Limited seating available for both workshops. To register for these workshops, please contact Everdale’s Harris Ivens at growingfarmers@everdale.org with your name and phone number.

Enjoy tips and tricks of the farming trade, a page on companion planting and more to get you through the winter, with a new farmer profile for each month. These calendars make unique and useful holiday presents while supporting the next generation of farmers.

To see sample pages and order the calendar, go to: www.everdale.org/node/292

This calendar has been published by Everdale’s Farmers Growing Farmers (FGF) program. All proceeds go towards supporting new farmers.

For more information see www.everdale.org or please contact the FGF team at growingfarmers@everdale.org.

http://www.everdale.org/node/288

Upcoming Events Snap Shot:
-New Farmers Forum – Lindsay
-Lucky In Land – Millbrook
-Cheese making and woodlot management
-Urban Agriculture Symposium

Are you ready to start farming? Do you need assistance planning a new enterprise or direction for your farm?  Thinking of transitioning to organic? If so, the FGF farm business planning course is designed to turn your ideas into action!

Develop a comprehensive farm plan –

An hour of planning can save many hours in the field.  With 8 full day sessions and 2 additional workshops, the course guides you through the step-by-step development of a comprehensive farm plan.

Understand your farm business –

Good information is required to make good decisions.  The FGF course uses unique visual tools to help you understand, plan and analyze your farm business.

Get connected –

To ensure your plan benefits from the experience of many generations of farming the course includes: 5 hours of one-on-one mentorship, farm tours and expert farmers at every opportunity.  Become a member of our farmer to farmer network by joining our mailing list and coming out to our events.

We are now accepting applications for our Farm Business Planning Course.  The course runs for eight Saturday’s between October 24th and March 20th.

Learn more about:

The Farm Business Planning Course

www.everdale.org/node/182

The Farmers Growing Farmers Program

www.everdale.org/node/173

Contact: Harris Ivens, Program Coordinator, Farmers Growing Farmers, Everdale Farm -

www.everdale.org (647) 367-1816