Small Farms Working Groups
Northeast Florida Small Farms Working Group
Extension Agents and Small Farmers met recently to form a working group to build a community network of farmer to farmer support for Small Farms. This group officially became the "Northeast Florida Small Farms Working Group" (NFSFWG). All producers, regardless of their varied and unique agricultural products are included. An information network, collaboration with the Extension Service, and a more unified voice for agricultural production, (regardless of commodity size) is envisioned. Practical, applied, hands-on methods in production information, marketing, processing, dealing with regulatory issues and other priority items were identified by the group.
On March 25th the first Small Farms East Working Group program was held at Comet Farms, outside Worthington Springs on scenic Bonnet Bluff, over-looking the Santa Fe river, in Union County. Our hosts were Haley West and Scott Edmundson, both University of Florida Botany graduates. Scott works at UF while Haley runs the family farm of 17 acres. Their goal is to expand the organic production as well as increase the biodiversity on their farm so that a balanced system of beneficial insects, soil organisms, and soil carbon:nitrogen balance can be sustained. On a person note, Haley was one of Union County’s 4-H youth many years ago, and her family had a relationship with Extension for at the last 20 years.
The program was entitled ‘Integrated Pest Management for Organic Farming.’ One of the nice, informal parts of the agenda was the dessert and coffee table which featured a wide range of items that those who attended had brought. Haley’s Chocolate Seminole Pumpkin Cake got rave reviews, along with other home-made desserts! The social portion of the program was great.
The formal portion of the agenda was extremely educational and popular, beginning at 4pm in the afternoon. Those who attended stayed late into the night. We packed things up and left at 9pm. Insect and disease collection, identification, management, drip irrigation, compost sources, compost management options, informal trials on the farm, biodynamic of worm castings fauna, legume inoculums culture and many more stations (marketing strategies, publications, handouts, resources, etc.) were occupied into the late hours of the night by those who attended. We had almost 40 attendees from NE Florida.
Visit the Events Calendar section of this site for a listing of programs available.
Bob Hochmuth, (386) 362-1725
bobhoch@ufl.edu, http://nfrec-sv.ifas.ufl.edu
Southwest Florida Small Farmers Network
Small farmers in Southwest Florida can now network about diversified and sustainable farming systems with a new outreach project of the UF/IFAS/FAMU Small Farms and Alternative Enterprises Program. Started in July 2007, the Southwest Florida Small Farmers Network (SWFSFN) includes growers in the region from Hillsborough to Collier County. This farmer group is facilitated by the county UF/IFAS Agriculture Extension Agents of Sarasota, Lee, and Collier counties. The goal is education to meet small farmer-identified priorities, issues, and needs with farmer-to-farmer contact and extension resources. The format of the meetings is a farm visit that provides a farmer-led walk and description of the farm operations in conjunction with extension presentations on topics preselected by the membership. Additional activities include a growers meeting, pot-luck lunch and seed swap. The intended audience is the small farmer who wants to develop a regional network of producers with similar interests, to evaluate first-hand alternative enterprises, and also for beginning farmers. Membership is open and at no costs.
Visit the Events Calendar section of this site for a listing of programs available.
Robert Kluson, (941) 861-9808
rkluson@scgov.net
