Bounty!

Apples, blueberries (a fortune but worth it!), potatoes, green beans, beets, broccoli, lettuce, rice, and bread... all local, all ethical. Good eats!

Sustainable Agriculture Workshops

Yesterday we went on a day-long ag. field trip. Needless to say, I was pumped. First we went to Dave Forrest's farm. He farms a whole host of things, including macadamia nuts (called "maccas" here) and bananas. He talked to us about all the problems with modern agriculture, and let us sample some amazing goldfinger bananas and macca nuts along the way. We went for a little tour, and met his two jersey cows.

Dave with his lettuces

Next we went to Djanbung Permaculture Center near Nimbin. It was fantastic. The 12 principles of permaculture are:

-Use and value renewable resources and services

-Produce no waste

-Design from patterns to details

-Intergrate rather than separate

-Use small and slow solutions

-Use and value diversity

-Use edges and value the margin

-Creatively use and respond to change

-Observe and interact

-Catch and store energy

-Obtain a yield

-Apply self-regulation and accept feedback

All of these things can be applied to life AND to agriculture. Very cool people.

Mandala student garden

Delicious lunch they made for us!

Overall, a great day! Learned lots of fun little tidbits, and saw a wallaby in the gardens. Also met the biggest turkey I had EVER SEEN.

Young Farmers Conference... AND MORE!!!

Oh my, so many adventures I haven't blogged in over a week cause I've been so overwhelmed by all the awesome stuff I've been doing! First was last Thursday and Friday- the Young Farmers Conference at Stone Barns!!! An older crowd than myself (the 25-35 range...) which was fun because I got to meet a bunch of people who are a few years ahead of me in the game. The first morning I was feeling a little overwhelmed- EVERYONE seemed to know EVERYONE! But then I found Dina, who runs The Hickories, where I interned my senior year of high school. We had even signed up for the same first workshop. Relief! She introduced me to a bunch of people and it was fun to catch up with her.

Young Farmers socializing in the hay barn!

I went to a bunch of awesome workshops, ranging from specialty crop production to farm-to-school initiatives. It got me so pumped about all the possibilities of farming! Got lots of good resources and ideas!

The greenhouse is GREEN!

The greenhouse was in full swing, with greens and chard and all sorts of green things! Beautiful to see!

Packing up christmas trees with Dad over the weekend at the Bit of Earth

Then on to Vermont to cut down a bunch of balsams. Good hard work!

Also...

This video has made a stressful week SO much better. Especially the break-dancing tractor.

Young Farmers Conference!

Me and my coworker/farmers this summer

I'm signed up for the Stone Barns Young Farmers Conference!!! I am waaaay beyond pumped for this. So many awesome workshops... it makes me so excited to get started on all the work I have to do to make my dreams of agrarian bliss come true! To find out more and register, go HERE!