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March Meeting via NMSU Coop. Ext.
Vegetable Farming Workshop
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Vegetable Farming Workshop for Producers!
by NMSU Bernalillo & Valencia County Cooperative Extension Service
**NOTE**
1. This is a registration-only workshop.
2. The Ag Collaborative will not meet at MRCOG this month.
This month, we encourage Ag Collaborative members to join Extension Agents John Garlisch & Newt McCarty for this "soup to nuts" workshop for producer success in 2015!
Topics will include:
- Soil Health
- Integrated Pest Management
- Marketing
- Certified Organic Program
- Cover Cropping
- Hoophouse Production and Management
- Healthy Business Practices
Meeting Details
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Tending the Roots of Our Local Food Dreams
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To all you local food dreamers, good news: long time efforts to strengthen the local food system and increase access to fresh, locally produced food are showing tangible results. New commercial kitchens are popping up around the state. Culinary entrepreneurship opportunities for young people are expanding. New food trucks, breweries, cideries, distilleries and growers markets have found fertile ground to launch. All signs point to a New Mexico local food system that is deepening its roots.
It is encouraging to witness this ongoing transformation. And, now’s a great time for new entrepreneurial foodies to jump in. If you are one of those on the sidelines, here are a couple of tips and resources to help ensure that your local food dreams—be they small farm, food truck, or canned product—get seeded, watered, and continue to thrive for years to come.
Have a plan.
Some small business owners jump in without a business plan. Though things might be booming initially, without a plan, it’s difficult to keep perspective and know when you’re on track to meet your projected goals or when you’re in over your head. Take advantage of the many organizations available to help you through this worthwhile process.
Keep records.
Budgets, inventories, planting journals, expense logs… Set yourself up for success and know when you’re operating at a loss, just breaking even or really raking it in. Plus, those records help you build on all the knowledge you gain year to year.
Market your business.
Getting the word out about your business can be affordable and pretty simple with a little strategy and effort. There are free and low cost social media options plus organizations that help small businesses reach more customers.
Join the Agriculture Collaborative.
Coming together once a month with peers can be exceedingly helpful for an entrepreneur who is working by him or herself. In addition to great programming, the Agriculture Collaborative can help forge contacts, connect to resources and answer questions.
These are just a few foundational steps to help sustain your local food dream. Fortunately, there are more resources available to assist you than we can list in this article! But here are just a couple to get you on your way:
Happy dreaming!
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This Saturday FREE Spring Seed Fair @ Main Library
It's 10am to 2pm at the Main Libary (6th & Copper in Downtown). Read more on Facebook.
Glyphosate: the Autism link
La Montanita Co-op's Robin Seydel sheds light on recent research linking the conventional ag chemical glyphosate with autism. Read more.
Rail Yards Market now accepting vendor applications
Visit www.railyardsmarket.org to learn how to be a vendor in 2015.
Street Food Institute unveils tasty new convoy
The Street Food Institute has unveiled new trucks (read more), and is now expanding to Santa Fe with Santa Fe Community College’s culinary program (read more).
Local sweet potato plants for sale
Farmer Jack's homegrown sweet potato slips (plants) are for sale now and will be ready to go in the ground this May! Contact Farmer Jack at (505)504-5540 to purchase slips.
Four varieties are available
- Carver/Ginseng Mix is a tan skin and tan flesh with light streaks of purple very productive.
- Carolina Ruby is a red skin and orange flesh very typical Sweet Potato shape.
- Violetta is a purple skin and white flesh a little harder to dig because they spread out underground.
- All Purple is (you guessed it) purple skin and purple flesh less sweet flavor hard to dig and when cooked they don't lose any purple color they stay super vibrant.
Pricing
- $1.00 ea. for orders under 21 slips
- 50 cents ea. if you order 21 - 99 slips
- 45 cents ea. if you order 100- 249 slips
- 40 cents ea. if you order 250-499 slips
- 35 cents ea. if you order 500 plus slips
Contact Jack to purchase slips at (505)504-5540.
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National Food and Ag News
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The Year of Soil
In this UN International Year of Soil, the Guardian shares why soil “is essential to sustaining life on Earth.” Read more.
Funding
USDA seeks applications for farmers and ranchers socially disadvantaged funding. Read more.
The NMDA specialty crops fund application is now available. Read more.
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Website Relaunch Coming Soon!
Stay tuned to the monthly newsletter for details on how to create listings and find ag opportunities on the new LandLink website.
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