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The Northeast Organic Farming Association has lots of appealing happenings coming up. NOFA 2009 Organic Field Days - sweet little summer calender of workshops and various farm events-- free, open to all (unless noted to register) 2009 NOFA Summer Conference The NOFA Summer Conference is the Northeast's largest and most comprehensive gathering of growers and […]

greenhorns, this is a most fabulous, understated dutch publication. a worthwhile subscription, and available online--such a lot of academic research avail to us: directories case studies post graduate programs for the academic agriculturalists especially. LEISA: The Center for Information on Low External Input and Sustainable Agriculture Here is their latest e-newsletter... you can also read […]

4H just got a nice facelift on their website. I noticed. and then this PSA http://4-h.org/b/Pages/Layouts/GroupPage2889.html?SiteId=2323&PersistentTheme=4H about 1 million new scientists. and the companies who are supporting 4H to make it happen.  including Monsanto, who recently donating $1.5 million. 4H isn't about making technology. Its about raising animals.

we've been gazing at these posters for over a week now, and we can't get enough. we think you'll love them just as much as we do.  Available on our etsy site now. A series of poster size pen and ink drawings by brooke budner. "use your tools wisely", "spend some time in the kitchen […]

Any artistic hudson valley-based greenhorns out there?  The Hudson Valley Seed Library is seeking artists to illustrate their seed packs!  Read on... Hello from Seedy Farm! I'm excited to say that the Hudson Valley Seed Library is going to offer more Art Packs in our next seed catalog. Please help us in our search for […]

yes. it goes against many of our instincts to borrow money. Guiding thinking on this issue is borrow as little as you can. Pay it back as fast as you can. But you can't really can without a canner, or a kitchen, or a flame. Can you. Got to build back the infrastructure of food […]

Medium scale food processing. YES! we need more and better. May every PETSMART in america be converted into a smokehouse. Every walmart into a slaughterhouse Every Kmart into a farmers market May the retro-fitter install skylights and roof gardens. And may the parking lots become amphitheatres for local culture. here is a brilliant example of […]

on a farm. bluegrass. yes. Grey Fox Bluegrass Festival July 16-19, 2009 Walsh Farm, Oak Hill, NY get your tickets now!  And check out the line up - http://greyfoxbluegrass.com/gfblog/2009/06/26/grey-fox-2009-main-stage-schedule/

young farmer ninjas have what it takes to survive the global warming blasts. real guts. real courage. real resilient diversified systems! here's the latest from our friend Nic Koontz of Native Hill Farm in Fort Collins, CO Hey Severine, Hoping all is well in your neck of the woods. Just taking a moment as I […]

we've mentioned the greenhorns radio show before, broadcasting weekly on Heritage Radio. It's quite informative and entertaining - interviews with young farmers, events, etc.  We recently heard from another radio-saavy greenhorn out in South Dakota, producing the "Rock Garden Tour" - farming/gardening/rock and roll in collaboration with South Dakota Public Broadcasting.  We love it, and […]

we got to meet & share goat sandwiches with Annie & Ben of Rooftop Farms last saturday at the Goat Spit, truly delightful folks.  if you're urban and needing to get your hands in the dirt, give them a shout. Dear urban farmers, friends and volunteers, It's been another great week. Thanks to all who […]

Patti Moreno is known as the Garden Girl.  She's got a pretty rad site, and some great informational videos, including this on, on sustainable urban gardening. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rmmBXqHpdV8&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.gardengirltv.com%2F&feature=player_embedded] and check out her how-to on drip irrigation here: http://www.dripworksusa.com/video/videoggtab.php

give them a shout, greenhorns... Hello from Farmers for the Future! We now have more than 1,800 members from all 50 U.S. states and more than 100 countries. You have generated more than a million page views since the site launched last fall. Members have posted nearly 7,000 photos. How are your Crops looking? Jeramie […]

Some news on Slow Food's Time for Lunch campaign... Remember this date: September 7, 2009. We’ll look back on that day as the moment when people across America took a stand about the food our children eat at school. As you know, children who grow up enjoying food that is both delicious and good for […]

by now you've probably taken note of the artwork that adorns our letters, websites, stickers and guidebook.  It's all the work of the brilliant Brooke Budner, official Greenhorns illustrator!  

well. the goat spit was an utter success. with a rugged volunteer crew of young farmers, ex-restaurant managers, underground chefs, micro-brewers, and assorted aspiring agrarians of all stripes-- we pulled off a quite phenomenal day-long event in a tiny little pharmacy in brooklyn.

our little summer goat spit has somehow astral-virulized itself into quite some promotional prominence . We expect quite some hundreds of people. Lets hope that they are all hungry, and generous.  see you? Where: 513 Henry Street, corner of Sackett & Henry in Brooklyn When: 2-9pm What: Workshops, Music, Auction, Food, Love, Greenhorns

news from natalie & the popsicle boys... Hey y'all, Our 29-day popsicle shop in Battery Park starts today, woot woot! We just found out this was happening earlier in the week so basically, nobody knows about it. But we made a bunch of strawberry-rhubarb, strawberries & cream and sweet rhubarb pops and are going to […]

dear greenhorns goat spit summertime throwdown attendees, We've decided to simplify your eating and enjoying experiences at tomorrow's event... and so, we now proudly present a newer, hipper, simpler (and just as affordable) pricing structure for tomorrow's event!  Also, we picked some organic strawberries for you: Here's how it works:

hey party people, we're ready to rock out with you tomorrow at the goat spit summertime throwdown!  The goats are on ice, and so's the beer.  The vegetables are on their way to Brooklyn along with volunteers from near and far, and we're making lots of mayonnaise!  These crates of spring onions and lettuce from […]

We just got word from Greenhorn Talia Kahn-Kravis, who's busy spreading the good greenhorns vibes in the mountains of Spain!  Talia worked with us all of last year, maintaining databases and tending the geese and ducks among other valiant efforts for the cause.  Keep up the good work, Talia! i have been in the middle […]

we highly recommend signing up for this Small Farms Monthly Update from Cornell - it's juicy reading.  Here's June... June 15th 2009 Small Farms Update Announcements * Organic Dairy Summer Field Days * Small Farm Quarterly Bulk Orders Available * NY Sustainable Ag Quarterly SPRING Released

bring your smiles, your positive energies and your wallets to the Goat Spit Summertime Throwdown this Saturday!  We've already shared the menu, now here are some additional items that could be yours if the spirit moves you!  We'll be auctioning off all kinds of delicious, fuzzy, and useful items. Greenhorns Auction Items MUD Coffee: Goodie […]

June 27-28, Golden Vineyards and Mendocino Organics are hosting the Biodynamic Association of Northern California (BDANC) Summer 2009 Meeting at beautiful Heart Arrow Ranch in Redwood Valley, CA (about 2.5 hours north of San Francisco). The weekend will include a farm tour, a yarrow prep-making workshop, a group study on "Growing Community," and yummy catering […]

Lots!  and much of what you'll get is free: good vibes, great entertainment, sunshine, pep talks, Reverend Billy!  But it's also a fundraiser for the greenhorns, so we're selling things! and auctioning things off! The pharmacy has been cleaned out, spruced up and made ready for an onslaught of greenhorns  & foodie folk, and we […]

"Compost Only" comes via the Hardwick, VT - based Highfields Institute. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d7qNPUYh5Yo&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.highfieldsinstitute.org%2FCompostVideo1.htm&feature=player_embedded] "This video covers the basics of composting in an entertaining and informative way, interspersing nuts-and-bolts lessons of composting with clips of students from Hazen High School kickin' the message home in a hip-hop style that will have you moonwalking all the way to […]

Reverend Billy is our spiritual advisor. and the only candidate for mayor that specifically targets 'young farmers' as protagonists of place, nutrition and economic retrofit. check out his stop shopping hour of power here: http://www.revbilly.com/participate/hour-of-power

The Greenhorns seek an HTML-savvy, Excel-tolerant, Photoshop-friendly intern who will put time in on their laptop each day to perform entry-level feats of data entry, banner banging, spreadsheeting, and code contortionism. The marketing industry calls this 'trafficking.' We call it heroism. Details: Location flexible - your place or ours. Part-time (afternoons ok). Benefits include mindbendingly […]

we asked greenhorn Neysa King to tell us a bit about her experience transitioning to the farming life.  here's what she had to say... My fiancée Travis and I had no farming experience when we came to Ryder Farm last month—just an interest in organic food and a desire to make a change in our […]

ivili.org pulls together short films on practical sustainable solutions, such as this one on growing your own: [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mCPEBM5ol0Q&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ivili.org%2Fvideo%2Fhomegrown-revolution-growing&feature=player_embedded] here is the founder's statement: One day early last year I came across a brilliant, innovative way of heating water for showers in a lodge in South Africa. it was cheap, lo-tech, easily replicable and it worked. […]

State programs out to help young farmers Two beginning-farmer programs are helping a new generation of farmers and ranchers with below-market interest rates, fee reductions and other services by David Lester Yakima Herald-Republic PROSSER, Wash. -- Jon and Amy Martinez packed a lot into 2008 by anyone's standard.

come out come out of the green hills! and to our roundtable discussion at Sterling. and to our young farmer mixer at High Mowing. - severine

novella is killing two of our rabbits at her NYC book signing for Farm City.  Stay tuned. and tune into her blog: http://ghosttownfarm.wordpress.com/. You can read the first chapter of her book, linked from this NYTimes review! Books of The Times Living Off the Land, Surrounded by Asphalt By DWIGHT GARNER Published: June 11, 2009 […]

This brand new journal has some terrific content, quite relevant to greenhorns. Including: BURNING FOOD| How corn ethanol is effecting food supply in Zimbabwe, FOOD SCRUTINY| Why the sustainable food message needs a makeover, and much more. WHEEL: Yale Undergraduate Sustainable Development Journal You can download their first issue at http://www.yale.edu/wheel/wheel1.pdf

who want to serve sustainable ag.... here's an opportunity. POSITION ANNOUNCEMENT: ASSISTANT DIRECTOR NORTHEAST ORGANIC FARMING ASSOCIATION OF NEW YORK The Northeast Organic Farming Association of New York (NOFA-NY) is the oldest and largest organization in New York devoted to organic and sustainable farming and gardening, and counts over 850 farms among its 1700 members […]

Slow Food Youth Workshop at Quillisascut Farm School of the Domestic Arts Date: Aug 6-12, 2009 What: A week long Slow Food Youth Workshop at Quillisascut Farm School of the Domestic Arts will be offered the second week of August. While at Quillisascut Farm School of the Domestic Arts, the participants of the Slow Food […]

Please join us this Saturday, June 13, for our seasonal opening day celebration! For some dancing and fiddling by the Wahoo String Band, homemade crepes and omelets, a tasting of local cheeses and artisan products, and a photo show by local artist Michael Sibilia. Whether you are a regular of the farm, an occasional visitor […]

Cargill, Bunge Win Most Export Aid Since 1992 as Credit Slows By Alan Bjerga May 27 (Bloomberg) -- Cargill Inc., Archer Daniels Midland Co. and Bunge Ltd. are benefiting from the most government support for farm exports since 1992 as the U.S. steps up loan guarantees for foreign buyers unable to get credit. About $4.35 […]

or wanting to?  here is a great opportunity: 100th Annual Meeting of the Northern Nut Growers Association Learn how to grow nut trees on your farm or in your backyard. Come to the 100th Annual Meeting of the Northern Nut Growers Association from July 19 – 23 at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana. For […]

fresh stuff from greenhorn Trace Ramsey Farm or Die - A Revised Manifesto A few months ago I wrote an essay that became known as “A Young Farmer Manifesto” for this blog and also for Civil Eats. That piece spoke to many people and generated a lot of emails and comments and such from farmers, […]