CT NOFA: Focus On Trees And Shrubs

The CT NOFA Annual Gathering is Tuesday, Dec. 6 at the University of Connecticut, Storrs campus. Keynote speaker is Tom Wessels, an ecologist and founding director of the master's degree program in Conservation Biology at Antioch University New England.

This year's program will focus on trees and woody shrubs in our landscape.

Trees Scrutinized at CT NOFA Annual Meet

The CT NOFA Annual Gathering is Tuesday, Dec. 6 at the University of Connecticut, Storrs campus.

Keynote speaker is Tom Wessels, an ecologist and founding director of the master's degree program in Conservation Biology at Antioch University New England.

This year's program will focus on trees and woody shrubs in our landscape.

Snow date is Dec. 7.

NOFA Mass. Advanced Growers' Seminar

Hear Harvey Ussery and his work - at a NOFA/Mass. event.

The Northeast Organic Farming Association/Massachusetts Chapter presents an Advanced Growers' Fall Seminar with Harvey Ussery talking about the modern homestead on Friday, Nov. 4 and Saturday, Nov. 5, at Barre Congregational Church, Barre, Mass.

This two-day seminar focuses on achieving greater food independence using innovative models for increasing production on the homestead and small farm. The seminar will present an integrative, whole-systems approach to achieve maximum diversity and biological efficiencies that imitate nature while minimizing reliance on purchased solutions. Soil care, cropping, and livestock husbandry, much more.

Harvey Ussery and his wife, Ellen, are activists in the local foods movement. They produce all their own poultry and eggs, and grow most of their own vegetables, year-round, on three good acres in northern Virginia and further reduce dependence on the supermarket by purchasing most of the remainder of their food from local producers. His book, The Small-Scale Poultry Flock, with a forward written by Joel Salatin, is being published by Chelsea Green in October.

Registration is $150. For details and discounts, contact Ben Grosscup, event coordinator, ben.grosscup@nofamass.org, (413) 658-5374.

'Peonies, Wine And Jazz' Event

"Peonies, Wine & Jazz" is a benefit event for Connecticut NOFA hosted by Cricket Hill Garden in Thomaston, Friday, May 20, 6 to 8 p.m.


Cricket Hill Garden is a plant nursery with passion for peonies and extensive gardens. Their mission is to introduce American gardeners to the beauty of Chinese tree and herbaceous peonies. 

Additional details and registration information at ctnofa.org.

CT NOFA Second Greenhouse Growing Workshop

Greenhouses are appealing places for food and other life forms.

The Northeast Organic Farming Association of Connecticut (CT NOFA) will host a Greenhouse Growing Workshop on Monday, April 25, 4 p.m. at Holcomb Farm CSA in West Granby.

John Bartok, Jr., an agricultural engineer and UCONN Extension professor emeritus, will lead the workshop and discuss greenhouse design and ways to improve efficiency and function.

Holcomb Farm utilizes several greenhouses of varying designs for a variety of crop production, including a three-bay, three-season structure.

Cost is $15; attendance is limited. To pre-register call (203) 888-5146 or sign up online at www.ctnofa.org.

This workshop is supported by a specialty crop grant from the Connecticut Department of Agriculture focusing on winter food.

What's On And In Your Lawn?

Children and pets can absorb pesticides and chemicals through their skin and feet. Learn more about healthy lawns at the NOFA's Accreditation Course in Organic Land Care, now in its 10th year.

The five-day course will be held in Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island.

In Mass., starting Jan. 12 at the Parker River Wildlife Refuge in Newburyport. Contact is Kathy Litchfield (kathy@nofamass.org) or call (413) 773-3830.

In Conn., Jan. 24 at the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station in New Haven. Contact Robert Mercede (robert@ctnofa.org) or (203) 888-5146.

In Rhode Island, Feb. 17 at the Save The Bay Center in Providence. Contact Sheryl Ellal (sheryl@organiclandcare.net) or (401) 330-6869.

Ask about early bird discounts and partial scholarhips.
Early Bird Discount available until January 28! Three (3) partial scholarships. More information can be found at www.organiclandcare.

CT NOFA's New Farmer Program

New, young, and emerging farmers have several opportunities coming up to network, resource share and support efforts to farm and keep farming in Connecticut.

A "Getting Started in Organic Farming Conference" is set for Jan. 29 in New Haven. A beginning farmer track at the Annual Conference on March 5 in Manchester. We have scholarship funding to help beginning farmers pay for registration to those conferences.

All new and beginning farmers to participate, whether they are organic or not.
The USDA defines a "beginning farmer" as one farming for fewer than 10 years.

The project was supported by the Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program of the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, USDA, Grant # 2010-49400-21847.  The CT NOFA New Connecticut Farmer Program is supported in part by a USDA Beginning Farmer grant in collaboration with NOFA NY and other NOFA chapters.

Grow It, CT NOFA, Red Hook, Nuestras Raices

How can a community garden be connected to economic development, environmental sustainability, healthier eating in schools and at home, and a sense of community?

It's one big circle. Cultivate community and ideas - with attention and care (as with children, plants, or animals), watch them grow.

The Connecticut chapter of the Northeast Organic Farming Association, CT NOFA hosts a conference "Cultivating an Organic Connecticut: Closing Connecticut's Food Gap with Urban Agriculture, Small Farms and Gardens."

Featured speakers are Ian Marve, co-founder and director, Added Value and its Red Hook Community Farm (Brooklyn, New York), and Dan Ross, executive director, Nuestras Raices (Spanish, "our roots"), an urban agriculture/community garden centered in Holyoke, Mass. (For a Boston Globe story about how Nuestras Raices is part of global change, see this link.)

The conference with workshops and an exhibit area is Saturday, Feb. 21 from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., at Windsor High School.

More importantly, anyone considering a community garden, niche business, organic lawn care, or wanting to learn where to get local food can find a network of people at CT NOFA.

Bill Duesing is executive director of CT NOFA, president of the NOFA Interstate Council, and author of Living on the Earth: Eclectic Essays for a Sustainable and Joyful Future.

For details about membership, other workshops and regional conferences, visit www.ctnofa.org or call (203) 888-5146.