Friends,
We’re reviewing our programmatic achievements this year. And wanting to thank all of your who donated to OGS. Your gifts and sponsorships have made all of this possible.
Farmer Training Good News:
The best news is that our Farm Beginnings Farmer Training program filled with 25 farmers from 16 farms from seven counties in Western NC. We even turned away some folks (to get some more experience) and have farmers on a wait list. The year-long, comprehensive farmer training program started this past weekend on October 15th.
New OGS Programs:
We launched two new online programs: Apprentice Link and OGS Farm Network.
Updates & Press:
Here are some of our press releases:
Farmer Programs:
- Farm Beginnings Winter Sessions Graduation
- Farm Pathways Completes Development Year
- Apprentice LInk & Farm Network Launch
- Farm Beginnings Accepts Applications
- Farm Beginnings Information Sessions Announcement & Schedule
- Citizen Times Article about Farm Beginnings Graduates Start Red Scout Farm in Black Mountain Articlehere and an OGS article about the same couple.
Outreach Projects:
- 5-Points Pollinator Garden Project with Gillian Scruggs, OGS AmeriCorps Service Member
- Fairview Garden Tour Goal: Help Neighbors End Hunger, Interview of Jim Smith, by Gillian Scruggs, OGS AmeriCorps Service Member
- Community Resilience Challenge by Laura Lengnick
- A beautiful article written by one of our attendees of our Women in Ag Gathering.
Conferences:
- OGS Hosts 3rd Annual Harvest Conference
- OGS Brings Sandor Katz to Asheville
- 3rd Annual Harvest Conference Lineup
- At Organic Growers School, Sandor Katz Shares his Passion, article by Jameson O’Hanlon
CRAFT tours from 2016:
- WNC CRAFT Apprentice Orientation & New Farmer Panel
- WNC CRAFT – Second Spring Market Garden – Year Round Growing
- WNC CRAFT – Green Toe Ground – Biodynamic Farming
- WNC CRAFT Farm Tour – Bluebird Farm
- WNC CRAFT Farm Tour – Ivy Creek – Irrigation Strategies
- WNC CRAFT Farm Tour – Gaia Herb Farm – Growing Medicinal Herbs
- WNC CRAFT Farm Tour – Flying Cloud Farm – Berries Through the Seasons
- WNC CRAFT – East Fork Farm – Poultry Processing
- WNC CRAFT Farm Tour – Balsam Gardens – Scaling Up
Thanks for being more than a funding partner; a champion for sustainable agriculture, farmers, and home-growers in our region.
We appreciate you!
Author: Lee Warren
Lee Warren has been homesteading and farming in cooperative community for more than 20 years. She is the Executive Director of Organic Growers School, which has been offering organic education to Southern Appalachia since 1993. She is the co-founder of Village Terraces CoHousing Community, a collaborative, off-grid neighborhood at Earthaven Ecovillage, and the manager of Imani Farm, a pasture-based cooperative farm. Lee is also an herbalist, writer, teacher, and food activist, with an avid interest in rural wisdom, sustainable economics, and social justice issues.