Megan McGowan is starting her own farm this year with the help of the Organic Growers School’s CRAFT farmer training initiative.
In her first year farming, Megan is growing more than 100 varieties of vegetables, herbs, and sunflowers for market on an acre of leased land in Canton.
“CRAFT is an incredible resource for up-and-coming farmers and this program has been indispensable to me and my education as a farmer.” ~ Megan
Megan credits the Organic Growers School’s CRAFT farmer training program with helping her get her start farming: “For the past three years I have participated in the CRAFT tours as a farm worker and farm intern. Then this past winter I went to the Farmer Roundtables put on by the Organic Growers School which were amazing. The biggest thing I gained was just seeing all the many different ways people farm. Even for people that grow the same product, everyone has a unique way of doing it and that variety really helps in figuring out how you want to run your own farm. The connections with local farmers have been huge and the ability to ask them for advice and guidance as I try to get my own operation off the ground.”
CRAFT stands for Collaborative Regional Alliance for Farmer Training and is a program of the Organic Growers School. Membership is open to beginning and experienced farmers, apprentices and farm workers, and anyone else who has a strong desire and drive to begin farming.
Congratulations to Megan on your first year farming and good luck!
- Find out how you can help the Organic Growers School help farmers like Megan
- Learn more about CRAFT or join CRAFT
- Contact Cameron Farlow, OGS Farmer Programs Coordinator and CRAFT program coordinator.
Author: Agatha
Agatha Hannah holds a degree in Environmental Studies — Sustainable Agriculture from Warren Wilson College. She has more than twenty years of experience working with non-profits focused on farmer education and sustainable and regenerative agriculture at the local and national levels. As a farmer, mother, and community activist with an off-grid homestead in Floyd, Virginia, Agatha has a deep commitment to cultivating a vibrant agriculture system based on thriving family farms.
