Message from the President
 Last month I used this space to talk about compost and compost teas, highlighting one of the many ways that one can utilize local and on-farm materials as a tool in growing high quality food. The middle line of that Arthur Ashe quote from last month is the one that intrigues me most: “Use what you have.” I like efficiency, and a hallmark of efficiency is finding ways to use those ‘waste’ materials from an activity or process and getting benefit from that end-product somehow. Compost is a good example of this--by managing the natural process of decomposition, we can make excellent compost and teas that we then use to build resilience and nutrient-density in our food. Another really good example of this is biochar.
In the simplest terms, biochar is a carbon source—wood, leaves, corn stover and other plant debris, manure--that has been through the process of pyrolysis, which is basically heating the biomass in the presence of little to no oxygen in order to drive off the volatile gasses in the biomass. Stopping just short of combustion--which produces mostly ash—pyrolysis leaves the main structure of the carbon behind. In this way, biochar is a relatively stable carbon source that can be used as a soil amendment to provide structure and water holding capacity in many different soil types. It can also enhance the environment used by soil biology, improving diversity in the soil and providing shelter to the microbial ecosystem we depend upon to feed our plants.
I make biochar in small batches on my farm and use it to build structure in my extremely sandy soils. I crush up the char as small as I can get it and then add that to my compost pile, killing those two proverbial birds with one stone: the char adds carbon and structure and the microbes in my compost inoculate the char—a true two-for-one deal! There are also those making biochar that capture the gasses driven off in the process to produce additional energy, which can then be used for heat, power or both! Talk about using everything but the squeal!
If you are interested in biochar, you can obviously research it on the google box. But there is still time to attend our multi-partner-sponsored biochar workshop this weekend at the Catawba Sustainability Center in Catawba, Virginia. Check out the info included in this e-news and make plans to join us for a great two-day event in the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains in October!
Happy fall, y’all!
Brent
|
|
|
We still have spaces left! Sign up today!
Do you enjoy cooking sausages and marshmallows over an open fire? Do you enjoy burning things in a barrel and drinking beer?*
Then you have discovered some of the fun and synergy of making biochar. Once you have cooked and conditioned your biochar it is ready to apply as a soil amendment that brings nutrients, water holding capacity, microbial refuge, and Carbon sequestration to your farm.
Join us for this two day workshop all about Biochar and learn ways you can use this low-tech carbon source to improve your soil, animal husbandry, off-grid energy demands for heat and electricity, and gas for small engines. Come explore the synergy of biochar on the farm and learn how to do-it-yourself. (*beer not included)
A two day intensive course on the production and use of bio-char for fuel and soil amending. From simple backyard production to high-tech machinery.
Instructors Dale Hendricks, Gary Gilmore, and Mark Cohen will demonstrate machinery, including the BioGen electricity generator, small engine machinery running solely on biochar, and the production and concepts of soil amendments and carbon sequestration.
Registration Includes Light Breakfast on Saturday and Sunday, Lunch on Saturday, and Catered dinner Saturday night
Interactive Discussion & Demonstrations to include:
- Ecological Sourcing of Raw Materials for Making Biochar
- Gasification: Tractors, Generators & Internal Combustion Engines
- Space Heating & Cooling, Hot Water & Cook Stoves
- Combined Heating and Power Biochar (CHPB)
- Uses in Animal Agriculture, Soil Health & Carbon Sequestration
- Filtration & Sanitation
$75 Per Person - Register HERE
Thanks to USBI for providing scholarships to this event!
|
|
|
Book Review: Building Your Permaculture Property, A Five Step Process to Design and Develop Land
By Rob Avis, Michelle Avis and Takota Coen, New Society Publishers, 2021, 222 pages
Book Review by Pam Dawling
 Thank goodness for this book! I had already admired some of the work of Michelle and Rob Avis in Adaptive Habitat (ecological design and sustainable technology), so I knew them to be committed and practical. I am one of those put off from permaculture by the worshipful jargon of some followers, and the peculiarly male-dominated field. This book restores my faith in being able to benefit from and use the good ideas in permaculture without abandoning independent thought or the all-important holistic approach.
This book is a valuable and realistic resource from authors who have “earned their share of cuts and bruises”; a guide to clarifying your goals, attitudes and approaches to holistic land management; a step-by-step guide to get from today to a future aligned with your dreams.
This is not an introduction to permaculture, or a quick-fix for your garden, woodlot, home energy source, flooded land, compacted soil, or back aching from rototilling! There is a common misperception that permaculture is about a set of trendy vegetable gardening techniques. Here is a careful Five StepPermaculture Process, with exercises, templates, workflow tools and thoughtful questions. It addresses real challenges.
The book is introduced by the quote from Bill Mollison (one of the cofounders of Permaculture), defining Permaculture: “Permaculture is the conscious design and maintenance of agriculturally productive ecosystems which have the diversity, stability and resilience of natural ecosystems. It is the harmonious integration of landscape and people providing their food, energy, shelter, and other material and non-material needs in a sustainable way.”
When Rob and Michelle were teaching, Rob was often ashamed to mention the word “permaculture”. Despite the elegant practical solutions for solving systemic problems with food, water, housing and energy systems offered by Bill Mollison and David Holmgren in Permaculture One, most people publicizing permaculture talk about zones, guilds, keyhole and spiral planting beds. “Putting a herb spiral in your backyard while you still source the majority of your basic needs from the degenerative food, water and energy systems is simply permaculture tourism.” Thank you! Straightening the deckchairs on the Titanic! Society’s big messes will not be helped by a herb spiral!
 The authors believe that the root cause of people becoming disenchanted in permaculture is a lack of a clearly defined process. They ask the question “What is the biggest problem you are struggling with right now putting permaculture into practice?” and have found that answers fall into five categories...Read the Full Review
|
|
|
October Gardening Tips
By Ira Wallace of Southern Exposure Seed Exchange and the author of Grow Great Vegetables in Virginia
 Fall is with an increasing array of tender sweet greens and succulent winter roots. Amidst all this plenty remember that the first frost is right around the corner. By the end of October the summer crops will be done and all of the winter crops need to be mulched, covered or otherwise tucked in for the cold months ahead. So decide which crops you want to keep. Make arrangements to protect them. Harvest everything else. Save only the best produce for storage. Protect larger lettuce, squash, cucumbers, celery, chard, spinach, and Chinese cabbage with row cover and wire hoops. Transplant smaller plants to a cold frame or your greenhouse.
Finish sowing kale and spinach in October for overwintering. Try growing asparagus, artichoke, and short-day onion varieties like Texas Early Grano seedlings overwinter in a cold frame or greenhouse as well. Have spun polyester row cover in place to protect tender crops from frost.
Harvest sweet potatoes before the soil temp goes below 55 degrees at night and air below 50 degrees (usually the week of the first frost). Cure 4-10 days at 85 degrees and 85% humidity.
Store Cured sweet potatoes at room temperature out of the light. We use cardboard boxes in a closet under the starts and have fresh sweet potatoes to eat until summer.
By mid-October ( when the soil temp at 4" depth drops to 50 degrees) you can start planting garlic, yellow potato onions, Egyptian onions and shallots. Cover immediately with 3-4 inches of mulch. Romanian Red, German Extra Hardy, and California Early perform well for us most years. Check and free trapped garlic from under heavier sections of mulch when 50% have emerged. Plant small leftover garlic bulbs whole together for garlic scallions. For more information and details on growing download Southern Exposure Seed Exchange Perennial Onion and Garlic growing Guide Continue Reading
|
|
|
Purchase Building Your Permaculture Property, A Five Step Process to Design and Develop Land here!
VABF has partnered with independent bookseller, Stone Soup Books, in Waynesboro, Va. Buy this book, and ANY of the farming books found on their website here, and 1/2 of the net proceeds from your purchase will come back to support VABF! Thanks for your support! Happy Reading!
|
|
|
October Policy Updates
By Mark Schonbeck & Francesca Constantino
What does “Budget Reconciliation” mean for family farms and sustainable agriculture?
Find out in this October 14 NSAC blog post on budget reconciliation – what it has and what is missing at this time.
USDA funds $30 Million in Organic Research, Extension, and Education
Toward the end of September, the USDA Organic Research and Extension Initiative (OREI) and the Organic Transitions Program announced a total of 33 awards to research teams, often including farmers as well as university scientists, to conduct research into a wide range of pertinent topics, from development and release of new improved cover crop cultivars to organic rice production and much more. See the NSAC blog on the 2021 OREI and ORG awards for more.
USDA To Launch Loan Guarantee Initiative to Create More and Better Market Opportunities, Promote Competition and Strengthen America’s Food Supply Chain
In a recent press release, USDA announced an additional $100 million to provide loan guarantees for infrastructure for all sectors of the food supply chain, on top of the $500 million committed to meat and poultry processing infrastructure.
USDA Introduces New Insurance Policy for Farmers Who Sell Locally
In an effort to better serve specialty and organic crop producers, USDA is rolling out a new Micro Farm insurance policy option specifically for small farms who sell locally. The Micro Farm policy simplifies record keeping and covers post-production costs like washing and value-added products. Beginning with the 2022 crop year, the program is available to producers whose farm operations earn an average allowable revenue of $100,000 or less, or for carryover insureds, $125,000 or less.
Funding and Marketing Opportunities
New VA grant program for local food production and sustainable agriculture infrastructure
Apply for funding by November 15
The Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (VDACS) is launching a new program under the Agriculture and Forestry Industries Development (AFID) Fund providing matching grants of up to $25,000 in partnership with local governments for community infrastructure development projects that support local food production and sustainable agriculture. The reimbursable grants are for capital projects at new and existing food hubs, farmers’ markets, commercial kitchens and other value-added facilities for processing and packaging meats, dairy products, produce, or other Virginia-grown products. Small farmers, food processors, and local food systems advocates are encouraged to work with their localities to identify and develop suitable projects. Learn more and apply here. Application deadline is November 15, 2021. Awards will be announced no later than December 31, 2021. Interested?
Application Period Opens for Pandemic Response and Safety Grant Program
USDA announced a Request for Applications (RFA) for its new $650 million Pandemic Response and Safety (PRS) Grant program to assist small businesses and nonprofits in certain commodity areas - specialty crop producers, shellfish farming, finfish farming, aquaculture, and apiculture; specialty crop, meat, and other processors; distributors; and farmers markets. Grants of $1,500 to $20,000 cover COVID-related expenses such as workplace safety measures (e.g., personal protective equipment), retrofitting facilities for worker and consumer safety, shifting to online sales platforms, transportation, worker housing, and medical costs.
Applications must be by 11:59 p.m. Eastern on Monday, November 22, 2021. Note: if your operation does not currently have a DUNS number; you will need to obtain one (at no charge) at the USDA’s PRS DUNS number portal. Learn more at the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition’s blog post on the PRS.
USDA releases Action Plan for Climate Adaptation and Resilience
As part of its response to the Biden Administration’s Executive Order, Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad, the USDA has announced a new Climate Adaptation and Resilience Plan, available in a pdf file.
Take Action - Framing Policy
USDA Unveils New Climate Partnership Initiative, Requests Public Input
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is committed to partnering with farmers, ranchers, foresters, landowners, and rural communities to develop climate solutions that strengthen rural America. The Department has outlined and requested public comments on a new Climate Smart Agriculture and Forestry Partnership Initiative designed to create new revenue streams for producers via market opportunities for commodities produced using climate-smart practices. Comments may be provided on or before 11:59 p.m. EST on November 1, 2021 via the Federal Register, Docket ID: USDA-2021-0010 Feedback will be used to inform design of the new program.
USDA Announces Intent to Establish an Equity Commission, Solicits Nominations for Membership
USDA is establishing an Equity Commission Advisory Committee and Equity Commission Subcommittee on Agriculture and seeks nominations for membership. This represents an important step towards implementing the American Rescue Plan Act provision that directs USDA to “address historical discrimination and disparities in the agriculture sector… [through] one or more equity commissions to address racial equity issues within USDA and its programs.”
|
|
|
Organic Certification Cost Share Program (OCCSP)
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced that organic producers and handlers can now apply for funds to assist with the cost of receiving or maintaining organic certification. Applications for the Organic Certification Cost Share Program (OCCSP) are due Nov. 1, 2021.
OCCSP provides cost-share assistance to producers and handlers of agricultural products for the costs of obtaining or maintaining organic certification under the USDA’s National Organic Program. Eligible producers include any certified producers or handlers who have paid organic certification fees to a USDA-accredited certifying agent during the 2021 and any subsequent program year. Producers can be reimbursed for expenses made between Oct. 1, 2020 and Sept. 30, 2021 including application fees, inspection costs, fees related to equivalency agreement and arrangement requirements, travel expenses for inspectors, user fees, sales assessments and postage. See the fact sheet here. Find your local USDA Service Center Here.
|
|
|
Recipe: Puffball and lemongrass stir fry
By Anna Wills
 This column has featured recipes from my friend Lexi Rojan at Wingstem Farm before. Lexi and her family grow and forage some great ingredients featured in this recipe. I was very excited to see the culinary use for lemongrass here. I love lemongrass tea and have grown it for years for that purpose but never cooked with it. Here she combines her garden-grown lemongrass and turmeric with log-grown shiitake and wild foraged puffballs.
Ingredients:
Quarter pound shiitake, sliced
handful of puffballs (or container of tofu)
4 carrots, sliced
3 eggs, beaten
sesame oil
liquid aminos
half an onion, chopped
1 cup basmati rice
1 finger turmeric
1 bulb of lemongrass
Directions:
Cook rice using package directions adding the turmeric and lemongrass
bulb when you add the water. Heat oil in pan, saute on medium high chopped onion and sliced shiitake. Add sliced carrots, cook till softened. Add half cup of frozen peas. Add crumbled puff balls. Squirt of aminos. If food sticks to pan, add a little water to steam, and after it's cooked off, add a little oil. Add beaten eggs and scramble. Mix together and serve.
|
|
|
In the News
Compilation by Francesca Constantino
Farmers Need Our Help Tackling Climate Change
The National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition recently published a blog on farmers and climate change, illustrating both the ingenuity and resilience our best farmers already exemplify, and the urgent need to support farmers in meeting this challenge. Extreme weather is bringing anguish and grief to an already precarious way of life, as discussed in this Civil Eats article. In another recent article, the author of ‘Bet the Farm’ talks about becoming a new farmer in middle age, the huge barriers to entry, and preparing for climate change. In California, Full Belly Farm and other organic and California sustainable farms offer lessons in climate resilience, although many of these farms are meeting the challenge without a safety net, which remains most available to larger, industrial-scale operations. While USDA prepares to help farmers deal with climate change through more sustainable practices, crop insurance rules continue to pose hurdles and challenges to farmers seeking to implement certain stewardship practices, and thus must be reformed as part of the Department’s response to the climate crisis.
Rural America is Becoming More Diverse
Conservation Innovation Grants Program Creates Market Opportunity for Small Grains in the Midwest
A Conservation Innovation Grant (CIG) project is helping midwestern farmers tackle water quality, soil health and greenhouse gas issues. Partners are using CIG funding to help farmers plant small grains and cover crops as part of the traditional soy and corn rotation, which can help break up pest cycles while increasing the amount of carbon and nitrogen stored in the soil and diversifying market venues. CIG partners are also looking to address the lack of a downstream market by working with 11 supply chain partners, including Cargill, General Mills, McDonalds, Oatly and PepsiCo.
Presentations from inaugural Soil Health Innovations Conference
The National Center for Appropriate Technology has released a series of 19 videos from its inaugural Soil Health Innovations Conference. The presentations feature nationally recognized experts and innovative farmers from around the U.S. who share the latest in soil science, best practices in soil management, and the emerging technologies that will drive the future of sustainable and regenerative agriculture.
Free organic training
The National Organic Program provides free training and outreach materials for organic farms, businesses, and organic certification agencies, including through the Organic Integrity Learning Center. To get a free Organic Learning Center account and start increasing your knowledge, visit the OILC sign-up page or visit the USDA Organic Training webpage to see the index of courses available.
2021 Annual Refresh of Soils Survey Database October 1
The USDA-NRCS Soil and Plant Science Division refreshes the publicly available soil survey database once a year. This Annual Soils Refresh (ASR) allows for publication of new soils data, updates to existing soils data, release of new soil interpretations, and it ensures all official soils data adheres to the same standard. The new data is available to the public through Web Soil Survey (WSS) or Soil Data Access (SDA).
|
|
|
4 the Soil
 4 the Soil is a campaign of the VA Soil Health Coalition working to raise awareness about the critical importance of soil and the 4 Core Principles of healthy soil management:
- Keep Soil Covered: It’s the first step in protecting it from erosion, but also buffers soil temperature, slows rainfall runoff, and aids rainfall infiltration.
- Minimize Soil Disturbance: Both physical and chemical. This proactive measure can heal and protect properties of the soil and ultimately enhance the biological component of soil life.
- Maximize Living Roots: Doing this longer throughout the year fuels biological activity, aids nutrient cycling, and contributes to improved soil structure.
- Energize with Diversity: Use different crop species and integrate livestock where possible for specific purposes to enhance chemical, physical and/ or biological aspects of the soil. It improves the whole system.
Visit 4thesoil.org for more information and to Take The Pledge!
Podcasts - 4 The Soil Conversations
Hear and learn from farmers, agricultural professionals, conservation leaders, master gardeners, and many more on how and why to be 4 The Soil. Check out the inaugural episode in which Eric Bendfeldt, Community Viability Specialist with Virginia Cooperative Extension, and Mary Sketch, Coordinator of the Virginia Soil Health Coalition talk to host Jeff Ishee about why we should all care about soil health. Stay tuned for new episodes released every second and fourth Tuesday of the month. The 4 the Soil podcasts are part of the 4 the Soil Awareness Campaign led by the Virginia Soil Health Coalition.
|
|
|
Job Ops, Classifieds and Event listings on vabf.org
|
|
|
|
|
|
