Crosshatch Field Schools are hands-on, on-farm learning days—more than the 101 for farmers but friendly enough for homestead scale growers. Field Schools offer experienced instructors and small group sizes with both classroom time and field work for an in-depth education. Included is a local food lunch and a post-workshop hour to continue the discussion or catch up with your peers.
Field School Spring Line-up
AGENDA:
9:30 to 10am: Welcome with coffee and pastries
10 to 12:30: Morning Sessions
12:30 to 1:30pm: Local lunch
1:30 to 4:00pm: Afternoon Sessions
4:00 to 5:00pm: Social hour with beer, cider and snacks
TRACK OPTIONS:
This spring we present three tracks to choose from:
Home Mushroom Production with Bernie Ware of Ware Farm: You will learn how to propagate mushrooms such as oysters, shiitakes and wine caps. You will leave with the knowledge of how to find logs to grow mushrooms, how to inoculate them and the steps to care for your mushrooms. Head home with your own set of inoculated logs to get your mushroom yard started.
Herbs with Sierra Bigham of Bear Earth Herbals: You will enter into a day-long exploration into herbs—how to forage and harvest, how to cultivate herbs and how to use them. You will leave knowing how to identify edible and medicinal wild plants and trees common in Northern Michigan and be able to use them in your daily life.
Holistic Grazing for Regenerative Farms with Jason Rowntree and Matt Raven of Michigan State University: Learn how to plan for animals to be at the right place, at the right time, and for the right reasons. In this introduction to Alan Savory’s holistic management technique you will leave understanding how to make decisions looking at economic, ecological, and social needs while taking into careful consideration profit, paying for infrastructure, and growth. The day will include pasture-walks to get a hands-on look at this technique. (This track will take place at Grow Benzie—5885 Frankfort Hwy, Benzonia—for in-class time and Misty Acres for pasture walks)
PRICING:
We are committed to making Field School as financially accessible to all who wish to participate. To that end, we offer a sliding scale.
$175.00: This is the unsubsidized cost per person. Please select this amount if you have the means. This helps us keep costs low for folks on a limited budget.
$87.00: Not too high, not too low! This is a great value.
$48.00: If you have a limited budget, this option is for you!