Cornell Small Farms Program Update
Message from the Managing Editor
Happy Summer! Here on the agriculture quad, students have left for summer internships, faculty and technicians are in the fields doing research, and the campus gardens are the most lively place to be!
This Spring we hosted a writing workshop for farmers and agriculture educators called “Telling Better Stories.” Over the years, I’ve noticed that there is a dearth of formal training opportunities for those that tell the stories of farming. While agriculture is chockfull of the ingredients good stories are made of – love, sweat, tears, birth, death, drought, harvest, to mention a few – weaving the details into a compelling narrative requires skill and practice. 50 farmers and educators joined us on the Cornell campus to take the full-day workshop from professional journalists. As post-workshop homework, attendees were required to submit an article or photo to be featured in this magazine. While we don’t have room to feature everything, we hope you enjoy seeing their work scattered throughout the next several issues. Other submissions are posted on our “Storyshare” pages. Visit our website and click on projects > Telling Better Stories > Storyshare.
If a refresher on writing tips sounds like something you could benefit from, you’ll be pleased to learn we posted handouts and videos from the workshop sessions at the address above.
Do you chronicle seed selection, tool invention, animal husbandry, or other aspects of farm life? We hope you’ll consider sharing one of your stories with us! Submission forms are posted at our website. Click on “Quarterly.”
Best wishes for a fruitful growing season!
Violet
Cornell Small Farms Program Update
Heatwave? Watch Sustainable Farm Energy Webinars Online Anytime!
Need a break from summer heat? If you missed any of the lunchtime webinars in the “New Generation Energy: Sustainable Power for Your Farm & Homestead” series this past March-April, you can stream them online anytime by visiting the Cornell Small Farms Program website. Learn more about passive solar, radiant heat, solar electric, wind power, compost heat, and services that installers provide in this 4-part series. You’ll also be able to get descriptions of each webinar and download PDF files of the slideshows. We’ve posted plenty of other sustainable farm energy resources at this page, too, awaiting you for a heat break, or an evening read! Enjoy!
2013 Online Farming Courses: Registration Opens Soon
Registration opens August 1st for 2013-14 online farming courses offered by our Northeast Beginning Farmers Project. These interactive 5- to 7-week courses are led by experienced educators and farmers and connect you to the information and people you need to start a successful farm business or diversify your farm. Courses help you establish clear goals, assess personal resources, plan marketing, create budgets, set up record-keeping, navigate regulations, choose the right equipment, improve soil, get organically certified, write a business plan, and learn how to raise veggies, berries and chickens. The classes are primarily targeted to those farming (or planning to farm) in the Northeastern US, though most of the courses are also appropriate for those outside this region. Visit the course calendar or course descriptions to see the offerings of all our courses organized by season
