Workshop on Seed Crops and Other Opportunities!

Seed Saving in the Kawarthas: Register Now!

Join Farms at Work and The Bauta Family Initiative on Canadian Seed Security for a series of two on-farm workshops on Seed Saving in the Kawarthas. Register for both workshops and save!

Growing Seed to Support Your Market Garden

Tuesday, July 26  |  Hastings  |  9AM – 12PM  |  $20 or $35 for both workshops

Chick-a-biddy Acres has a long history in the farming community in the Kawarthas, as one of the first CSAs in the region 17 years ago. If you’ve been considering integrating seed crops as part of your market garden operation, for sale or for on-farm use, join us on July 26th to learn how Chick-a-biddy Acres is meeting the challenge!

Best Practices for Harvesting and Cleaning Seed

Monday, September 26  |  Campbellcroft  |  9AM – 12PM  |  $20 or $35 for both workshops

On September 26th, join us for a second workshop at Urban Harvest for the opportunity to learn seed-harvesting and cleaning techniques from Urban Harvest owner and experienced seed-saver, Colette Murphy. Urban Harvest has been harvesting and selling seed for nearly 20 years and offers over 100 kinds of seed!

For more information and to register, please visit www.kawarthaseedsaving.eventbrite.ca.

Pollinator Week: Celebrating On-Farm Plantings

Next week, June 20th to 24th, Canada is celebrating Pollinator Week in order to bring awareness to the importance of pollinators for ecosystems, food security, and the economy. Farms at Work has been heavily involved in improving pollinator health through education and on-farm projects over the last few years.

Throughout the week, keep an eye on our website homepage and social media (Facebook and Twitter) for posts about our 2016 planting projects to support pollinators in partnership with farmers and community organizations. To learn more about our Native Pollinator Program, visit www.farmsatwork.ca/pollinators.

2016 Flint Corn Project

The Flint Corn project got off to a great season late last week, building and planting 37 traditional mounds with flint corn and ceremonial tobacco. Squash, beans and sunflowers still to come! For more information, visit www.farmsatwork.ca/news/corn-ground.


Other Opportunities

OMAFRA Market Considerations Workshop

Are you interested in starting or scaling a value added or food processing business? OMAFRA will be holding their full day Market Considerations Workshop September 19th. The workshop will cover topics such as business planning, food safety requirements and labeling. It will include representatives of Peterborough Public Health and Canadian Food Inspection Agency. The workshop will be held at the Cavan Monaghan Township Office in Millbrook on County Road 10.

For more information contact Jamey Coughlin at Peterborough Economic Development jpcoughlin@peterboroughed.ca or 705 743 0777 x2123.

Eastern Ontario Local Food Conference - Local Food Showcase

The Eastern Ontario Local Food Conference planning committee has been busy making preparations for this year’s conference to be held November 22-23 in Belleville.  New this year will be the opportunity for all regions of Eastern Ontario to showcase their local food offerings at the evening reception. The planning committee is looking forward to showcasing a broad range of local foods from across Eastern Ontario, so please make your communities and food groups aware of this new opportunity.

Click here for the details and the Expression of Interest form. The deadline to submit expressions of interest is August 31, 2016. Note that the fee includes conference registration for one person.

Seed Production Capacity Building Grants

The Bauta Family Initiative on Canadian Seed Security is pleased to offer numerous high quality training opportunities through our different regional organizations and partners in Canada. However, there are lots of training opportunities that happen across North America that are often difficult for many seed growers and farmers to attend because of the significant travel costs associated with those incredible offerings.

BFICSS would like to help make these opportunities easier to access for Canadian seed growers by offering the Seed Production Capacity Building Grant Program. The new program offers two granting streams: 1) Seed Event Training Grants and 2) Custom Seed Learning Programs. You can click here for more information about both grant streams and apply today!

Grazing Workshops with Sarah Flack

Register for the following two workshops with grazing specialist, Sarah Flack, as well as many other opportunities at www.efao.ca/upcoming-events.

Multi-Species Grazing

Kingston  |  Wednesday August 3, 2016  |  6:30 pm - 8:00 pm

Join the Ecological Farmers of Ontario to discuss how each type of animal grazes, and the best ways to manage their pastures to keep your animals healthy and the pastures productive. Topics will include fencing and pasture water systems for dairy cows, beef cattle, goats, and sheep.  

Grazing School

Howe Island  |  Thursday August 4, 2016  |  9:00 am - 4:30 pm

In this workshop, the morning will be focused on the basic principals of good grazing management systems. In the afternoon, Sarah will go into more depth on topics such as how to use different stocking densities, pre- and post-grazing heights, length of rest periods, different plant species to improve pasture and maximize dry matter intake from pasture. Workshop includes a farm tour.