March 2024 | Issue 2

Welcome!

Statewide

In case you have not met all of Urban Soil Health personally, we have one Urban Soil Health (USH) Specialist that covers each quadrant of the state. Find your county's USH Specialist on our website and send us a message to see how we can support you. https://www.urbansoilhealth.org/team

All four of the USH Specialists made the pilgrimage to Marbleseed (formerly MOSES) in LaCrosse, WI for the premier Organic Farming Conference in the country.

The Midwest Cover Crop Council (MCCC) was an inspiring time where we heard research and project updates from other midwest states, and were encouraged that the United States is well on its way to 50 million acres of cover crops planted.

One of our favorite events of the year, the Purdue Small Farms Conference last week was a great mix of education and connecting with familiar and new farmer friends!

Northeast

February in the NE has been filled with conferences, presentations, SWCD annual meetings, and preparation for upcoming events. USH Specialist Terri always appreciates visiting farmers on their farms. Her highlight for February was visiting Lee's Edible Acres with Ryan Lee. They talked cover crops, high tunnels, compost, irrigation, and soil test results. They even got to peak under one of the tarps (pictured above)! Terri appreciates the warm reception, even with the blowing snow. They had a special treat during the visit with the serenade of thousands of sandhill cranes moving through on their annual migration north.

Southeast

Megan was busy this month.

Presented at Small Farms Conference via Unvarnished Farms
Started a Soil Health Demonstration Garden in Jennings Co. at Muscatatuck Park—look for upcoming educational events to coincide with the growing season, beginning on Earth Day, April 22nd!
On March 6th she will present on Soil Health at Medora Community School in Jackson Co. For Envirothon (Go Hornets!)

There are lots of workshops popping up in the SE in the next couple of months, so look for them in March, April, and May!

Working Group Highlights

Northeast

Working groups have been busy and staying engaged with the warmer than usual temperatures. Kosciusko and Allen Counties continue to have site visits with local land owners and are busy hosting and attending events.

The Kosciusko Urban Health Soils group visited a blueberry farm and had great conversations on conservation for their blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, and sunflowers they grow. Who else can taste the fresh berries thinking about summer?

Southeast

A new working group has joined in the Southeast: Dearborn Urban Conservation Team (DUCT). Welcome!

March 5 – Garden Prep for a Healthy Growing Season

Madison

FREE workshop open to the public. More information is available on Facebook.

March 5, 6, & 7 – Pay Dirt 2024

Goshen

Land users, Contractors, Engineers, Surveyors, Excavators, Erosion Control Inspectors and more! Three day event, come for one day or come for all three days. Learn more or purchase tickets by visiting the event page.

March 8, 9 – SW Indiana Homesteading Conference

Newburgh

Purdue Extension will offer the Southwest Indiana Homesteading Conference to help current, beginning, and prospective small farmers in the tri-state area improve and diversify their small farm and homestead operations. Click here to begin registration!

March 9 – Unity Gardens Growing Summit 2024

South Bend

A fun and educational event, featuring over 20 free classes, vendor booths and demos. Visit the website for more information.

March 12 – Soil Health on the Small Farm: The Small Farm of the Future with Dan Perkins

Winona Lake

Kosciusko County Soil & Water and the Lilly Center invite you to an informative and interactive workshop! Dan Perkin will guide you through the fascinating world of sustainable agriculture, covering topics such as cover crops, intercropping techniques, and effective seeding practices for your gardens and fields. RSVP for FREE.

March 12 – Urban Updates – Perennial Fruit Crops on Diversified Farms

Virtual

Urban Updates is a monthly call hosted by the Urban Soil Health Program on the 2nd Tuesday of each month. Visit the Facebook event for the zoom link.

March 13 – LandWise Workshop Montgomery

Lunch will be provided, but registration is required.

To RSVP or arrange for accommodations to attend contact Purdue Extension, Daviess County by March 4, 2024 @ 812-265-8668

For more information visit the website.

March 19 - Indiana Grown Symposium

Hendricks County Fairgrounds, Danville

The 2024 Indiana Grown Symposium will focus on supporting and connecting Indiana businesses. The content will be tailored to newer agritourism and food based operations. Registration is required for this event.

March 19 - Produce Safety Alliance Grower Training

Goshen

The Produce Safety Alliance (PSA) Grower Training is for fruit and vegetable growers and others interested in learning about produce safety, the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) Produce Safety Rule, Good Agricultural Practices (GAPs), and co-management of natural resources and food safety. This training is FREE, but registration by 3/9/24 is required.

March 20 - Soil-Con

Syracuse

Soil-Con is designed as a working meeting to provide a roadmap for collaborative exploration into the connections within soil health, the soil food web, and ecological risk of pest management strategies and developing long-term solutions for regenerative food systems.

Learn more

March 20 – Yard Sprouts Holistic Gardening Workshop

Clarksville

How to utilize holistic planing and maintenance practice in gardening. Please complete the form on the website to register for this free workshop.

March 22 – Coffee and Interpreting a Soil Test

Virtual from Allen Co SWCD

https://allenswcd.org/coffee-and/

March 23 – Allen County Garden Symposium

Fort Wayne

This year’s theme is sustainability, and there will be 5 knowledgeable speakers who will present a variety of skills to use in our own gardens and landscapes.

This event is open to the public, but seating is limited. Registration is $40 and closes on March 15th. Don’t let this opportunity pass you by! Sign up today!

March 28 – Black Loam Conference

Merrillville

The Black Loam conference builds agricultural relationships and networking opportunities These workshops will provide introductions to USDA programs and resources available to BIPOC and socially disadvantaged rural, urban and community farmers, growers and producers to assist and increase participation of USDA programs, loans, grants, sustainable agriculture practices, business planning, and community development. Tickets are required.

March 25 – Composting, Vermicomposting, and Microbes (oh my!)

Columbus

Join us for a farm tour, composting and vermi-composting workshop, soil health, and how microbes benefit the garden and you. Lunch provided. Reserve a spot.

June 11-13 2024 Urban Food Systems Symposium

Columbus, OH

This symposium will bring together a national and international audience of academic, non-profit, academic, and research-oriented professionals to share and gain knowledge on how we can build coalitions to adapt to this changing world and how urban food systems contribute to these solutions. Conference registration is now open!

Indiana State Department of Agriculture (ISDA) - Resilient Food Systems Infrastructure Grant (RFSI) Grant Program.

Application Deadline: March 8, 2024, by 12:00 pm (noon) EST.

Awards: from $10,000-$100,000 for specialty equipment and $100,000- $3M for infrastructure

The purpose of this program is to improve food supply resilience in the middle of the food chain through increasing distribution, aggregation, storage capacity, market expansion and facility updates/expansions.

Who's eligible? Indiana businesses, producers, and organizations/institutions that work in the middle of the food chain sector, defined as “from the farm gate to end point retail” or the processing and aggregation/distribution sector of the food chain.

Indiana NRCS is still accepting applications for the second round of Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP) funding through March 15. CSP is a financial assistance program for producers who are already established conservation stewards and who want to add more conservation benefits on their land, such as improved water and soil quality, climate-smart agricultural practices and enhanced wildlife habitat.

There are new opportunities for small-scale, diversified producers to participate in CSP. Contact USH or NRCS directly for more information about Indiana NRCS and other technical and financial assistance available through conservation programs, visit www.nrcs.usda.gov/indiana or contact your district conservationist at Farmers.gov/service-locator.

NACD Urban and Community Conservation Grants

Application deadline: April 1, 2024

The FY 2024 application period for the UAC grants is now open. Only conservation districts, as defined by state statute and tribes, are eligible to apply for these grants. More info.

SARE - Professional Development Program

Application Deadline: April 3

Awards: Up to $120,000

The North Central Region SARE (NCR-SARE) Professional Development Grant Program supports state professional development programs and competitive grants for training agricultural professionals. Grants emphasize training agricultural educators in extension, Natural Resources Conservation Service, private, and not-for-profit sectors, using farmers as educators and addressing emerging issues in the farm community.

EPA’s Community Change Grants Program

Application deadline: November 21, 2024

The EPA has announced $2 billion in Inflation Reduction Act funds for environmental and climate justice activities. Technical assistance for grant preparation is available. Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis with initial award selections beginning in March 2024. The final application deadline is Nov. 21, 2024.

Federal Funding Tip: Applicants for federal grant and cooperative agreement opportunities may require an active Sam.gov and Grants.gov registration to apply. Register in these systems now so you are ready when the opportunities are open.

Native Plantings for Small Farms and Gardens / Plantings for Pest Management

Beneficial Insects for Fruit and Vegetable Growers

Wildflowers for Beneficial Insects

Source: Marion County SWCD: Insect Management

Midwest Vegetable Production Guide 2024

This annually-revised guide is a summary of currently suggested fertility, horticultural, and pest management techniques and tools for commercial vegetable growers, and is a collaboration of land-grant universities from eight states. It provides contact and vegetable production information that is valid for the current year in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, and Ohio.