Farm Trainings

I have attended two farm trainings and a growers' alliance meeting within five days.  What a whirlwind!  Notables:

1 Capay Valley Tour for Wholesale Success

• Annie of Leap Frog Farm built a strawbale cooler and made a shelter into a 4-in-1 greenhouse, curing area, tool shed, and starter space.
• Atina Diffley shared her knowledge of efficient and safe packing and harvesting flow

Leap Frog Farm's Straw Bale Cooler

Leap Frog Farm -- 3 acres

Good Humus Farm

Say Hay Farm

2 Soil Management Workshop

• Carbon sequestration credits (Adrian turned me onto this before I found out about this workshop that Julia sent me a notice for weeks before, and that I had already signed up for)

3 Grain Growers Alliance

• My map idea took off -- map quantity, type of wheat, and location of grain farms
• Most people seemed to think that if we develop a game for ourselves, we'll keep out competitors like big ag; that's what the heirloom tomato growers and organic farmers thought! (Obviously these people don't have experience in having their work coopted)

I talked to Leonard about this issue of being coopted, since he was the voice of opposition to the idea that grain growers would be immune to appropriation.  He said that he thinks a value added chain wherein a cooperative of grain growers milled and baked with their products and made them available in a store front that customers could visit and engage with these farmer/miller/bakers, that we might have a chance.  I think he's right that the main way we stand out is our presence.  We can share our knowledge in person and build relationships with people, which is in part what people seek at farmers' markets.  Sure, some people go for kitsch value, but some people want to talk to the farmers (or stall person who lives in the city and knows nothing about farming).  Maybe the Decatur and Frey children would be interested in combining efforts to create something like that.