The Vermont Farmer Olympics
The Vermont Farmer Olympics started in 2013 on our farm, and has now gone statewide! I loved organizing this annual event in 2015 & 2016 to get farmers off the farm for some ridiculous competitive events like the Manure Relay and the Single Strand Fence Race.
Check out this link to the feature in the Boston Globe.
Check out this link to the feature in the Boston Globe.
Photos courtesy of the Boston Globe.
Concluyó en Cuba V Encuentro Internacional de Agroecología
Con la asistencia de 255 delegados de casi una treintena de países, concluyó en el teatro del Pabellón Central de EXPOCUBA, el V Encuentro Internacional de Agroecología, en el que desde el pasado día 22 fueron debatidos temas como el cooperativismo en Cuba y otras regiones del mundo, la biodiversidad y producción de semillas, así como el no uso de productos químicos como alternativa al cambio climático y la salud humana.
Además del trabajo en cinco comisiones, los delegados visitaron 113 fincas, en 45 municipios de todas las provincias del país, y sostuvieron encuentros con campesinos que aplican productos biológicos y otras ventajas de la agroecología.
Read more...
Además del trabajo en cinco comisiones, los delegados visitaron 113 fincas, en 45 municipios de todas las provincias del país, y sostuvieron encuentros con campesinos que aplican productos biológicos y otras ventajas de la agroecología.
Read more...
Farm Management Spanish Workshop
This will be an intensive workshop to: Learn basic phrases to communicate with Spanish speaking workers, understand cultural differences, and troubleshoot common miscommunications in farm settings. In this 3 hour workshop participants will practice frequently used phrases and receive written materials. The workshop is taught by a farmer with real world examples. We plan to develop further classes with the student body to eventually have bimonthly or annual meetings with pre-arranged topics.
Master Certificate Program: Labor Management and Human Resources for Farmers Certificate
Registration Information: November 2, 2015 | 9am-12pm Register Now!
Location: TBD - Either Randolph Center, VT or Middlebury, VT
Tuition and Fees: $50
Instructor: Mimi Arnstein
More info: http://www.vtc.edu/spanish
Master Certificate Program: Labor Management and Human Resources for Farmers Certificate
Registration Information: November 2, 2015 | 9am-12pm Register Now!
Location: TBD - Either Randolph Center, VT or Middlebury, VT
Tuition and Fees: $50
Instructor: Mimi Arnstein
More info: http://www.vtc.edu/spanish
Program helps cultivate young Vt. farmers
Click image to view video.
By Alexei Rubenstein
June 26, 2015
PEACHAM, Vt. -On Willow Brook Farm in Peacham, there is no end to the work. Nattie Emmons weeds the cauliflower beds. Meanwhile, his wife, Molly Willard, is suckering the tomatoes in the greenhouse. Although the couple are no strangers to farm work, they are newcomers to owning and running their own farm. "There's a lot to figuring out how to start your business," Willard said. "Not just all the science and the farm part of it, but then even the logistical business parts of stuff that we're just learning how to do." As new farmers, Emmons and Willard turned to Mimi Arnstein, an organic farming veteran and a mentor in NOFA, Vermont's Journey Farmer program. The two-year program is designed for beginning farmers to help them learn the ropes, from leading them through the organic certification process to marketing and business management skills. "If a budding farmer has not grown up farming, they have a real pie-in-the-sky vision that it's going to be beautiful and relaxing and abundant. And sometimes all those things are true, but the truth is a farm is a business," Arnstein explained. "Anybody can grow stuff, but actually marketing and selling stuff is a challenge, and keeping all of your books in order so that you know where you're at and where your margins are and your budgeting and whatnot," Emmons said. After starting small last summer, the 4-acre farm ramped up this summer to selling CSA shares in the community, running a farm stand and selling to the wholesale market. Willard grew up on this land. Her family was involved in sugaring and logging. Now, her family is embarking on a different kind of venture. "My parents always said, 'Well, if you're going to live in Vermont, you're going to have to think about what it is you're going to be able to do to live in Vermont.' And so I think this sort of has naturally come from that," Willard said. With 15 years of experience running a farm, Arnstein is able to offer advice on a range of topics, from tractor configuration to the timing of pesticide spraying. Emmons and Willard have big dreams including expansion into more markets and diversifying their crops, but it's all been grounded in the fundamentals. "This program helps to sort of produce farmers that will be able to stay with it by making it economically viable for them," Willard said. "They've got the skills, the passion and the know-how to be successful," Arnstein said. Handing down the farming tradition to a new generation.
The Journey Farmer program began in 2011. To date, 31 farms have participated in the program. Click here for more information on the program and how to apply.
June 26, 2015
PEACHAM, Vt. -On Willow Brook Farm in Peacham, there is no end to the work. Nattie Emmons weeds the cauliflower beds. Meanwhile, his wife, Molly Willard, is suckering the tomatoes in the greenhouse. Although the couple are no strangers to farm work, they are newcomers to owning and running their own farm. "There's a lot to figuring out how to start your business," Willard said. "Not just all the science and the farm part of it, but then even the logistical business parts of stuff that we're just learning how to do." As new farmers, Emmons and Willard turned to Mimi Arnstein, an organic farming veteran and a mentor in NOFA, Vermont's Journey Farmer program. The two-year program is designed for beginning farmers to help them learn the ropes, from leading them through the organic certification process to marketing and business management skills. "If a budding farmer has not grown up farming, they have a real pie-in-the-sky vision that it's going to be beautiful and relaxing and abundant. And sometimes all those things are true, but the truth is a farm is a business," Arnstein explained. "Anybody can grow stuff, but actually marketing and selling stuff is a challenge, and keeping all of your books in order so that you know where you're at and where your margins are and your budgeting and whatnot," Emmons said. After starting small last summer, the 4-acre farm ramped up this summer to selling CSA shares in the community, running a farm stand and selling to the wholesale market. Willard grew up on this land. Her family was involved in sugaring and logging. Now, her family is embarking on a different kind of venture. "My parents always said, 'Well, if you're going to live in Vermont, you're going to have to think about what it is you're going to be able to do to live in Vermont.' And so I think this sort of has naturally come from that," Willard said. With 15 years of experience running a farm, Arnstein is able to offer advice on a range of topics, from tractor configuration to the timing of pesticide spraying. Emmons and Willard have big dreams including expansion into more markets and diversifying their crops, but it's all been grounded in the fundamentals. "This program helps to sort of produce farmers that will be able to stay with it by making it economically viable for them," Willard said. "They've got the skills, the passion and the know-how to be successful," Arnstein said. Handing down the farming tradition to a new generation.
The Journey Farmer program began in 2011. To date, 31 farms have participated in the program. Click here for more information on the program and how to apply.
International farmer-to-farmer exchange in Cuba
Mimi Arnstein stands next to a Cuban farmer, joined by Howard Prussack, and Charles Mitchell, right.
Vermonters bring organic insights to farmers in Cuba
Link to original article
April 21, 2015
A Marshfield woman was one of three farmers with Vermont ties to travel to Cuba recently to help farmers there to learn more about organic agriculture and what resources they need to improve their productivity.
The three traveled to Cuba under the auspices of Winrock International, a nonprofit based in Arkansas that assists in economic and environmental development projects around the world.
Mimi Arnstein, former owner of the Wellspring Farm in Marshfield who now works in agricultural consulting, joined Putney farmer Howard Prussack and former Elmore farmer Charles Mitchell, who now lives in Canada, on the journey to Cuba from March 15-26. They visited over 20 farms, food cooperatives and other agricultural organizations on the Caribbean island nation.
Winrock’s director of volunteer technical assistance, Deann McGrew, described the trip as a combination of assessing needs for the Cuban farmers and providing some technical assistance. She said she was already familiar with what Arnstein, Prussack and Mitchell could bring to the task because of prior volunteer work they had done together.
A primary goal for the trip was to teach their Cuban hosts about organic certification, which for the most part does not exist there, according to McGrew. Organic certification verifies a farm’s compliance with USDA organic regulations and allows farmers to sell, label, and represent their products as organic. There are Cuban farmers’ groups that want to explore organic certification further, according to McGrew, and the American delegation’s 12-day assignment in March was keyed to that interest.
Arnstein said she marveled at the Cuban farmers’ ability to produce food with very few agricultural inputs like seed, fertilizer, and mechanized equipment. “Here in Vermont we strive to reduce outside inputs, but we always have the option of buying what we need. In Cuba, farmers have to make do with what they have which promotes sustainable agriculture, innovation and sharing among producers,” she said.
Prussack said of the Cuban farmers, “They are not impoverished but they need more stuff,” noting that he saw very few tractors in Cuba and those that he did see were old Russian models. He said he saw also only one rototiller.
“They have limitations and we might be able to help them with some of that,” Prussack added.
One example he noticed to underscore how Cuban agriculture could benefit from some modernization was an invasive thorny weed that Cuban farms have been disposing of by hand. “They are going to need tractors and bulldozers to get rid of that,” said Prussack. Many Cubans also don’t have greenhouses, he said, or even machinery to make ice — a significant consideration given the country’s hot, tropical climate.
The American group traveled from Havana to the north coast and on to the western part of the country where they grow tobacco. McGrew observed, “There’s limited access to chemical inputs in Cuba, so they’re essentially growing things organically already.” But further education about organic agriculture and organic certification is likely in the future, McGrew said, with a follow-up trip by some connected Vermont farmers in the not too distant future.
Link to original article
April 21, 2015
A Marshfield woman was one of three farmers with Vermont ties to travel to Cuba recently to help farmers there to learn more about organic agriculture and what resources they need to improve their productivity.
The three traveled to Cuba under the auspices of Winrock International, a nonprofit based in Arkansas that assists in economic and environmental development projects around the world.
Mimi Arnstein, former owner of the Wellspring Farm in Marshfield who now works in agricultural consulting, joined Putney farmer Howard Prussack and former Elmore farmer Charles Mitchell, who now lives in Canada, on the journey to Cuba from March 15-26. They visited over 20 farms, food cooperatives and other agricultural organizations on the Caribbean island nation.
Winrock’s director of volunteer technical assistance, Deann McGrew, described the trip as a combination of assessing needs for the Cuban farmers and providing some technical assistance. She said she was already familiar with what Arnstein, Prussack and Mitchell could bring to the task because of prior volunteer work they had done together.
A primary goal for the trip was to teach their Cuban hosts about organic certification, which for the most part does not exist there, according to McGrew. Organic certification verifies a farm’s compliance with USDA organic regulations and allows farmers to sell, label, and represent their products as organic. There are Cuban farmers’ groups that want to explore organic certification further, according to McGrew, and the American delegation’s 12-day assignment in March was keyed to that interest.
Arnstein said she marveled at the Cuban farmers’ ability to produce food with very few agricultural inputs like seed, fertilizer, and mechanized equipment. “Here in Vermont we strive to reduce outside inputs, but we always have the option of buying what we need. In Cuba, farmers have to make do with what they have which promotes sustainable agriculture, innovation and sharing among producers,” she said.
Prussack said of the Cuban farmers, “They are not impoverished but they need more stuff,” noting that he saw very few tractors in Cuba and those that he did see were old Russian models. He said he saw also only one rototiller.
“They have limitations and we might be able to help them with some of that,” Prussack added.
One example he noticed to underscore how Cuban agriculture could benefit from some modernization was an invasive thorny weed that Cuban farms have been disposing of by hand. “They are going to need tractors and bulldozers to get rid of that,” said Prussack. Many Cubans also don’t have greenhouses, he said, or even machinery to make ice — a significant consideration given the country’s hot, tropical climate.
The American group traveled from Havana to the north coast and on to the western part of the country where they grow tobacco. McGrew observed, “There’s limited access to chemical inputs in Cuba, so they’re essentially growing things organically already.” But further education about organic agriculture and organic certification is likely in the future, McGrew said, with a follow-up trip by some connected Vermont farmers in the not too distant future.
Workshop in Puerto Rico
We had a very successful workshop with over 50 attendees!
Mimi will be teaching a course this summer at the University of Vermont's Summer Highschool Program titled "Introduction to Sustainable Vegetable Farming". The course will be held July 14-25, 2014. Here are some further details on the course:
Description: In this hands-on, field-based course, students will explore the basic concepts and practices of sustainable farming. Topics include vegetable crop families, soil management, composting, organic weed, pest and disease control, propagation and planting, and marketing techniques. Concepts and skills taught will immediately be applied through participation in Catamount Educational Farm’s five acre vegetable operation.
For more information or to sign up, visit: http://www.uvm.edu/~summer/precollege/summer-academy/session-two/
Description: In this hands-on, field-based course, students will explore the basic concepts and practices of sustainable farming. Topics include vegetable crop families, soil management, composting, organic weed, pest and disease control, propagation and planting, and marketing techniques. Concepts and skills taught will immediately be applied through participation in Catamount Educational Farm’s five acre vegetable operation.
For more information or to sign up, visit: http://www.uvm.edu/~summer/precollege/summer-academy/session-two/