This year at the Farm School pre-conference intensive, we have three tracks to choose from:

Flower School with Gretel and Steve Adams of Sunny Meadows Flower Farm

Since 2007, Gretel and Steve have built the highly successful Sunny Meadows Flower Farm. The beginnings of selling bunches of flowers has grown to the present day production of sustainably grown fresh cut flowers and seasonal wedding floral designs. This day’s track will cover crop planning, season extension, selling flowers and the business of flower farming.

HOOPHOUSE SCHOOL with Andrew Mefferd, author of The Greenhouse and Hoophouse Grower’s Handbook and The Organic No-Till Farming Revolution.

Growing vegetables in a hoophouse/greenhouse is becoming more important for local growers to lengthen the local food season. However, there are many differences between growing in the field and in protected culture. Many small growers are using the same techniques they use in the field in protected culture, and missing out on some of the benefits of the most precious real estate on the farm. This track as a whole will cover the techniques that most professional/commercial greenhouses use, that smaller growers could benefit from, as detailed in Andrew’s book, The Greenhouse and Hoophouse Grower’s Handbook.

PERMACULTURE SCHOOL with Richard Perkins, author of Making Small Farms Work

Ridgedale Farm AB is a high-quality local food producer and pioneering educational site. Here at 59°N in Sweden we demonstrate and teach Farm Scale Permaculture Design, Regenerative Agriculture, Keyline Design, Agroforestry, Pasture-based livestock enterprises, Holistic Management, No-Dig Market Gardening as well as operating our own on-farm poultry processing facility.

Plus check out the two-day Trade Show, including the Friday evening cocktail hour with live music by 1000 Watt Prophets and NEW dinner ticket option.

For more info visit The Northern Michigan Small Farm Conference web page.