Agriculture Conference 2018 will take place from the 7th to 10th of February at the Goetheanum in Dornach.

The biodynamic preparations bring vitality to the earth, its fruits, the farms and their communities. They inspire our actions and bring concrete benefits to nature as a whole. They also present us with big questions. At the conference insights will be shared from all over the world and in order to inspire and encourage, there will be an intensive exchange of experiences. Those invited include farmers, gardeners, wine growers, orchardists, herb growers, advisors, researchers, students and apprentices, food processors, traders, cooks, nature educators and also consumers and friends of the biodynamic impulse. The plenary sessions will explore the preparations in all their breadth and depth, in the parallel themed sessions specialists will be able to share experiences and deepen their work while in the workshops intensive personal dialogue will be encouraged. To complete the programme there will be music, artistic courses, guided tours of the Goetheanum and an exhibition. 

The conference includes: Themed sessions on biodynamic preparations for viticulture, food, tropical agriculture, preparations in daily life, soil fertility, medicinal plants and herbs, plus 23 workshops, 14 artistic courses and 15 guided tours. All are welcome.

Click HERE for the Programme and HERE to register.

‘If there’s no water, what’s the point?’ Female farmers in Arizona – a photo essay

Debbie Weingarten and Audra Mulkern, December 19th 2017, The Guardian 

Despite the fact that women have always farmed, they have been left out of our agricultural narrative. An incomplete story has real consequences: women have been left off land titles and bank documents; they have been denied federal loans and training opportunities; and until the 1982 census of agriculture, female farmers were not counted at all.

Read the full article HERE

The Heinrich Boll Foundation and the ETC Group recently released a 20 page report about the ill defined and understood “Climate Smart Agriculture”. Unsurprisingly the agro-industrial sector has embraced these developments that rely heavily on synthetic biology. Synthetic biology sometimes dubbed “genetic engineering on steroids,” broadly refers to the use of computer-assisted, biological engineering to design and construct new synthetic life forms, living parts, devices and systems that do not exist in nature. Proponents maintain that designer crops and entirely genetically new products are the way forward in the fight against climate change. The lobbying power of this sector is significant, we cannot allow them alone to dictate the future of the food system.

The report identifies the major players behind the scenes of the climate smart brand including the UN FAO and the World Bank, both of whom have shown a stunning lack of comprehensive understanding of complex issues in the past.

The world cannot rely on high-tech fixes to solve problems of poverty, hunger and climate crisis. Governments meeting in Paris for UNFCCC COP21 must reject corporatized “Climate-Smart agriculture” and, instead, promote Climate-Resilient strategies based on Agroecology

It also goes in more details about the nature of synthetic biology and offers a critique of synthetic biology projects that aim to hack plants to the extent that they can increase nitrogen fixation and create self-fertilizing plants to reduce the need to apply such intensive levels of fertilizer.

Perhaps the most interesting and terrifying aspect of the study is their analysis of Gene Drive technology. Which would theoretically be released into the wild to make weed populations more susceptible to Roundup and potentially other herbicides. This would have the effect of altering ecosystems to extend the commercial viability of particular agrochemicals. If Gene Drive technology is allowed to proceed agrochemical companies will be essentially given a free license to decide what is a weed and what is not. Think about that for a moment. Who is to say that this technology would not be used to eradicate species that industry finds inconvenient, there are thousands of plant species that are considered weeds by some but medicine by others. Gene Drive technology could and would be deployed to further remove control and autonomy from regular people and consolidate it at the top of the power pyramid. This cannot be allowed to happen.

More than 350 civil society organizations from around the world (including social movements, peasant/farmers’ organizations and faith-based communities) are urging negotiators in Paris to reject the “Climate-Smart” brand of the Global Alliance

Click HERE to read the full report.

credit: Max Pixel

In the southwest German city of Freiburg, there is a successful co-op of some 260 people who are participating in successful organic vegetable gardening and sharing the costs and risks. Whatever the harvest, good or poor, it’s distributed to all members. Cucumbers are allowed to be bent, carrots entwined, the occasional lettuce smaller than average. Seasonal, totally organic growing, 100% original seed, local food production, solidarity economics, collective property and education are some of the many hallmarks of the work that they are doing.

This documentary reveals the motivations and inner life of the cooperative. It shows people, who in a time of economic and ecological crisis are doing something to counter the might of industrial agriculture: The strategy of crooked cucumbers.

Click HERE to find out more about the coop and click HERE to watch the documentary.

Join Andy Smith of Smith’s Smokehouse and delve into the basics of charcuterie through a series of four workshops. Learn how to create your own charcuterie goods, and potential business, and then dig deep into a variety of curing processes including bacon, bresaola, beef jerky and more!

Don’t forget to register for this course, there are only 10 spots available. The complete series is $350 for MOFGA members and $400 for non-members. Each course will take place at Smith’s Smokehouse; bring your own lunch.

Click HERE to register and please contact Anna Mueller at events@mofga.org if you have any questions.

This lovely clip above give a snapshot of Arista Holdens most recent sail camp. Arista will be working with the Greenhorns to hold another sail camps in the Summer of 2018 on the beautiful coast of Maine. Contact Arista directly if you would like more information by sending an email to arista@thegreenhorns.org

Once upon a time in a land… not so far from Seattle… lived a man, his wife and their two beautiful young daughters.

One day the man came to his wife and proclaimed that he wanted to be a beekeeper. The wife, completely bewildered by his announcement, looked at her husband and demanded:
“WHY on Earth, would you want to do that?”
After many months of attempting to convince his wife that beekeeping would be fun, educational and beneficial to their family, she finally gave in.

As the winter passed the man and his two daughters’ researched the art of keeping bees, built beehives and prepared to become “backyard beekeepers” in the coming spring.  The two young daughters took a genuine interest in the newfound hobby. Everyday their knowledge and enthusiasm for beekeeping grew until finally one day they made a proclamation of their own:
“Daddy,” the five year old said to the man, “I think sissy and I should be the beekeepers, and you can just kinda stand by and supervise.”

It was that day, which Two Little Ladies Apiary was born.

Check out their site HERE, they have a ton of amazing resources and links for new and old beekeepers alike that range from DIY tips to links to the required legal information for beekeepers and everything in between.