Boston Flora

Tag: Sustainable Agriculture

  • Friday, October 7, 9:30 am – 4:30 pm – Practices and Principles of Growing Nutrient Dense Vegetables

    This Berkshire Botanical Garden course, for serious home vegetable gardeners as well as professionals caring for vegetable gardens, is an overview of how biological systems function and support you in addressing limiting factors in your garden. Examine soil testing and mineral balancing, biological inoculation, seed sizing and sorting, potting soil, tillage, fertility, in-season plant and soil monitoring and supplemental feeding based on plant needs. In-season monitoring will be based on conductivity and Brix monitoring with appropriate solutions including nutrient drenches and foliar spraying. The objective of this course is to support gardeners in growing vegetables that are pest- and disease-resistant as well as very flavorful and containing high levels of nutrition.  The course will take place Friday, October 7, from 9:30 am – 4:30 pm, and will be repeated in the spring, on Friday, March 23.

    Dan Kittredge is an organic farmer and cofounder of the Real Food Campaign. As the son of two prominent leaders in the organic farming movement, Dan has been an organic farmer since childhood. His experience managing organic farms and developing sustainable agriculture techniques has connected him to farmers in Central America, Russia, India and the United States. Dan is passionate about raising the quality of nutrition in our food supply.  This hands-on workshop will cost $185, plus an additional $35 soil test fee, payable directly to the instructor. Participants are requested to have their soil test completed prior to the first class. For information on specifics, contact the garden, 413-298-3926, four weeks prior to the course.  To register, visit www.berkshirebotanical.org.

  • Monday, April 25, 4:00 pm – Fred Kirschenmann on Sustainable Agriculture

    Join farmer, agrarian philosopher, author, and sustainable food advocate Fred Kirschenmann for a lecture and discussion about the future of sustainable agriculture on Monday, April 25, beginning at 4 pm at Harvard University, Sever Hall 113. Kirschenmann’s experience as an organic farmer along with his education in philosophy combine to make him a leader in sustainable agriculture. He oversees his family’s 3,500-acre, certified-organic farm in North Dakota and is also a professor in the Department of Religion and Philosophy at Iowa State University. Kirschenmann holds a doctorate in philosophy from the University of Chicago and has written extensively about ethics and agriculture. Free and open to the public. Co-sponsored with Center for Health and the Global Environment.  For directions, log on to www.harvard.edu.

  • New Entry Sustainable Farming Project

    The mission of the New Entry Sustainable Farming Project (New Entry) at Tufts University is to assist people with limited resources who have an interest in small-scale commercial agriculture, to begin farming in Massachusetts. The broader goals of New Entry are to support the vitality and sustainability of the region’s agriculture, to build long term economic self-reliance and food security among participants and their communities, and to expand access to high-quality, culturally appropriate foods in underserved areas through production of locally-grown foods.

    Tufts is now registering students for the next Explore Farming! course. These courses take place on a rolling basis, and the next class will be scheduled once an adequate number of students have enrolled. The class meets for one or two sessions, and is taught three or four times per year.

    During the class you will discuss some of the challenges and rewards of farm ownership, as opposed to other means of satisfying your interest in farming. A primary goal of the course is to encourage you to think realistically about the financial feasibility of starting and growing your own farm businesses. Most of the participants have worked on farms for at least one season, and know that they love farming, but are interested in learning how to start their own farm businesses. Whether you decide to pursue starting your own farm business, or would rather continue farming in another way, Tufts has lots of resources to help you move forward in your farming career.  For more information log on to www.nesfp.nutrition.tufts.edu.

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  • Tuesday, February 23, 6:00 pm – From Cooking Food to Cooking the Planet: Growing Constraints to Food Production

    To keep pace with the world’s food demand, it is estimated that agriculture production must double by 2050.  Dr. Samuel Myers, Instructor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and a practicing physician, will discuss troubling trends, including climate change and increased threats from pests and pathogens that may constrain the world’s resources, requiring new approaches to sustainable agriculture.  The program will include a discussion moderated by Noel Michele Holbrook, Professor of Biology and Charles Bullard Professor of Forestry at Harvard. Free and open to the public. Part of the Food for Thought program series.

    Location:
    Harvard Museum of Natural History
    26 Oxford St.
    Cambridge , MA 02138

    Sponsor: Harvard Museum of Natural History
    Time(s): 6:00 pm, Tuesday, February 23
    Cost: Free and open to the public
    Phone: 617-495-3045
    Email: hmnhpr@oeb.harvard.edu
    http://www.hmnh.harvard.edu/lectures_and_special_events/index.php

  • Saturday, July 18 – Meals in the Meadow

    You are invited to The FARM Institute’s annual auction and celebration Meals in the Meadow on Saturday, July 18th held under the stars in the pastoral setting of Katama Farm in Edgartown, MA.

    This year The FARM is pulling out all the stops to celebrate nine years of reconnecting children and adults to the land, animals and each other. Indulge in priceless auction items, eat locally grown food prepared by some of the Island’s best chefs and dance your boots off with The Cattle Drivers and other local musicians.

    Island auctioneer celebrity and auctioneer Trippy Barnes will be taking the reins of the live and silent auction.

    Throughout the evening there will be plenty of food to sustain your soul. From sushi to oysters to chocolate desserts to smoked tomato martinis and everything in between your appetite will be more then satisfied.

    BerriesThis year’s event will feature a full buffet dinner prepared by Buckley Gourmet Catering. Appetizers will be served where patrons can sample a variety of delicious items from some of the Island’s most renowned chefs. As always, the menu will work to offer enticing, locally grown foods, which showcase the Island. Contact Rob at 508-627-7007 for exact time and directions, or email him at rob@farminstitute.org. Learn more about the Farm Institute at www.farminstitute.org.

    The FARM Institute (TFI) is a teaching farm that educates and engages children and adults in sustainable agriculture through the diverse operations of a working farm. TFI provides year-round educational programs offering learning experiences in:

    • The culture and history of Martha’s Vineyard farming;
    • Farming (Field crops, produce, fruit, hay);
    • Land preservation;
    • Nutritional awareness;
    • Humane livestock management (cattle, poultry, swine, sheep, goats);
    • Entrepreneurial thinking and application