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Whole Systems Design, based in Vermont, is an inspiring company and resource, Greenhorns. Regenerative Food Systems? Yes, please. From their website: What We Do We develop human habitats that yield perennial abundance and enduring value. We design and implement regenerative food, fuel, and shelter systems that thrive on current solar energy.

Here's an uplifting story about West Oakland, urban farming and agricultural revival. Security, business drive small farm revival By Suzanne Bohan Contra Costa Times 05/16/2009 The din of a neighborhood gathering made it hard to hear Barbara Finnin as she strolled through a dense garden thriving on a once vacant lot in West Oakland.

Greenhorns, this is a solid opportunity for collaboration and activism.  The convergence organizers would like to make farming and food activism a bigger part of ENGAGE. Let's help them do that! The ENGAGE Convergence brings students, educators, organizers, community members, and other allies together to reflect on the year's work, to share victories and struggles, […]

Milk-drinkers probably remember The Cornucopia Institute's report and scorecard on organic milk  (and if not, you should check it out) - - for many of us, it has become an invaluable tool in determining which organic dairy farms (and companies) should be trusted and supported. This time the Institute takes on Soy in "Behind the […]

Susan Boyle may have won out this weekend on Britain's Got Talent, but these three farmers are pretty amazing: Barrow Boys' bid to win Britain's Got Talent [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9RwgL0qYUSY&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.fwi.co.uk%2Fblogs%2Frural-life%2F2009%2F05%2Fbarrow-boys-bid-to-win-britain.html&feature=player_embedded] [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hd7gcau14UE&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.fwi.co.uk%2Fblogs%2Frural-life%2F2009%2F05%2Fbarrow-boys-bid-to-win-britain.html&feature=player_embedded]

Craving more information on the spit-roasted goat, cheese sandwich, local beer Summer Throwdown?  Check out this poster and start drooling. Download here - Throwdown Poster We'll See You on June 20th.

Save the Date - JUNE 18th! Greenhorns Young Farmers Mixer young dairy, livestock, veggie, fruit and grain farmers as well as young ag.-based business owners and employees are all welcome! download the poster HERE and get psyched. live music, local beer, veggie nibbles and farmstead cheeses, bike blenders for smoothies, high mowing seeds! WHERE: Claire’s […]

Living in NYC and still without a CSA?  And don't have time to cook?  This is a rad partnership between Severine's landlords, Paisley Farm, and Sweet Deliverance, a NYC-based company which transforms farm-fresh, organic ingredients into deliciously wholesome meals and then delivers them to your home.

Mobile Poultry Processing Unit Training & Field Day Training Partners include: New Entry Sustainable Farming Project, New England Small Farm Institute, Mass Dept of Agricultural Resources, Mass Dept of Environmental Protection, and Mass Dept of Public Health DATE: Friday, May 29th TIME: 9:30 am - 4:30 pm LOCATION: New England Small Farm Institute - 275 […]

This report on "Beginning Farmers and Ranchers" was released just last week... USDA defines beginning farmers and ranchers as those who have operated a farm or ranch for 10 years or less either as a sole operator or with others who have operated a farm or ranch for 10 years or less. Beginning farmers tend […]

Little Piggies and loads of garlic... This a clip from the Les Blank Film Garlic is as Good as Ten Mothers (1980) [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-Kptp6u4JQ]

Here's the latest from the Greenpoint Rooftop Farmers - perfect weekend for gardening! Hello all, The weather is beautiful, and this is a holiday weekend! Join us on our rooftop farm transplanting peppers, planting beans, corn and herbs, and scaring away the pigeons that keep nibbling our mesclun mix. Thank you to everyone who came […]

Greenhorns! Greenhorn Fans! Join us for a Goat Spit, Sandwich, Salad & Beer Summertime Throwdown... to benefit the Greenhorns!  June 20th, 2-9pm  in Brooklyn at the Corner of Sackett & Henry. More information, graphics, & tempting menus coming very very soon.  (think spit- roasted, pastured goat meat sandwiches, artisanal cheese, funky brews, etc) In the […]

The weather has been beautiful. The flowers and trees and birds are happy. And next Sunday is SoupStock - May 24th ! At the Jerry Garcia Amphitheater which is in McLaren Park, S.F., CA. On Sunday, May 24th 'Food Not Bombs' presents the Free Concert with Free Music and free food. It is the 29th […]

Awesome resources made available by awesome bureaucrats!  From our friends at the Organic Farming Research Foundation. USDA Service Center Locator: http://offices.sc.egov.usda.gov/locator/app Our last OFAN alert: http://ofrf.org/action/ofan/090507_alert.html Our resource page, which lists organizations that can help farmers apply for EQIP: http://ofrf.org/policy/federal_legislation/farm_bill_implementation/eqip_oi_resource_page.html

Any Canadian Greenhorns out there?  This would be a valuable experience. The Canadian Nuffield Farming Scholarship Trust is accepting applications for their 2010 program. Applications are due by June 1, 2009 and forms can be downloaded from the Nuffield Canada website at http://www.nuffield.ca/ApplicationForm.htm Nuffield Farming Scholarships are awarded to enthusiastic individuals, between the ages of […]

this is severine. writing on her yellow awesome post it note pad...in the car for just this purpose. about a 1930s washing machine that looks just perfect for tanning rabbit skins.

obama spring yes. I am planting trees. Planting trees on land I do not own. yes. I am laying drip tape. Laying drip tape in the rain. yes. I am shlepping mulch and snipping mesh and learning to use the air-compressor. yes. I am full of poison ivy and the chemical tips of rosebush. my […]

The NYC Food Project We are a group of food justice and urban agriculture activists working to ensure that people of all walks of life have access to fresh, nutritious, and environmentally-sound food. as part of this mission, we run a CSA (community supported agriculture group) in the Lower East Side, and are pursuing several […]

Greenhorns in and around NC -  this work weekend & Crop Mob will be pretty awesome. Who: Crop Mob What: a million things, eating good food, building community Where: Circle Acres farm 160 A W Buckner Rd (1964 Jessie Bridges Rd) - Silk Hope, NC Why: why not When: 10am-3:30pm Sunday May 24th

Paisley Farm CSA still has some shares available. IN NYC! You thought that all the CSAs were full...but Mike and Jan are my landlords, and very gracious lords too. This is their first year doing CSA after 20 years growing for local markets and fancy restaurants in the city. - Severine Mike is generous with […]

Some light reading for a drizzly day... Seriously people. BUY MILK! not sodapop Young Dairy Farmers Worry About Future - Brattleboro Reformer, May 8 bootstrap optimism. but only to a point. we need to change the structures ( POLITICAL! EDUCATIONAL! CULTURAL! ECONOMIC!) that govern the American food system. Stubbornness and Optimism Drive Many Farmers - […]

The Rodale Institute is making this happen. Field day to explore farmer resources for converting to organic State and federal incentive programs make the Institute’s free online training course and its field demonstrations more useful than ever. “The right people at the right place at the right time” is the best way to describe the […]

The latest from the greenhorns at White Barn Farm... Hi there farm-supporting team! Two main points: 1. We are selling wonderful varieties of vegetable seedlings as well as flower and herb starts next weekend: May 16 & 17. 9am-4pm both days. rain or shine. Our idea is: Grow your own organic garden. it is time […]

The first of an series of tours to local farms with the Seattle, with a work-trade focus. Get your hands dirty! Teach Out! Engaging our Local Food Cycle An opportunity to learn about and work for a local farm. Coordinated by the Food Justice Project of the Community Alliance for Global Justice Marra Farm; Saturday, […]

FRESH the Movie. From Director Ana Sofia Joanes FRESH celebrates the farmers, thinkers and business people across America who are re-inventing our food system. Each has witnessed the rapid transformation of our agriculture into an industrial model, and confronted the consequences: food contamination, environmental pollution, depletion of natural resources, and morbid obesity. Forging healthier, sustainable […]

Contamination is a crime against humanity.  And this piece is brilliant.  LONG, but worth the time. Immoral Maize: Extract from Don't Worry, It's Safe to Eat by Andrew Rowell I don’t want to be a martyr by any means, but I cannot avoid now realising that this is a very, very well concerted and coordinated […]

Check out this punky direct action garden celebration from Time's Up! With the Rude Mechanical Orchestra, a 300-piece radical marching band and dance troupe. "Stop! Plant! Grow!" [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ZLBkkw1890&feature=related]

Fans, friends, farmers, The greenhorns trailer is up at http://views.newhope.com/organicfilm/Videos/tabid/79/Default.aspx! Check it out and vote for us! The Organic Film Trailer Competition "Pick of the Harvest" award will be determined by public votes and the votes of the Organic Summit attendees with the award being announced the evening of June 3.

But she is Sexy. Liz Hurley shares her country "estate" with four labradors, two cats, three geese, eight chickens, 49 cows, 63 sheep and 82 pigs, and thinks people look "sexier in the country". here here! Sexier than the City: Liz Hurley reveals the naughty secrets of life in the country By Jo Clements Perhaps […]

ok kiddos. We all say: "Organic certification is great. I wish it weren't so costly and time consuming" We all say: "the government should help growers get certified so that more people would do it and less poison would go into our food, water, air and the bodies of hapless creatures" well.  here it is. […]

Another side of the young farmers scene... Future Farmers of America - Founded in 1928, the Future Farmers of America brought together students, teachers and agribusiness to solidify support for agricultural education. In Kansas City's Baltimore Hotel, 33 young farmboys charted a course for the future. They could not have foreseen how the organization would […]

Rising to the Challenge: Entrepreneurs Building Living Economies Denver Colorado, May 21-23, 2009.  Register Online BALLE's 7th Annual Conference will be in Denver, Colorado, one of America's leading cities committed to economic sustainability. We invite you to join fellow business owners, community investors, economic development experts, and sustainability leaders as we share best practices, discover […]

Want more Greenhorns news in your life?  Check out the Greenhorns radio show online via the Heritage Radio Network.  Each show is archived and worth a listen. This week Severine interviewed Kevin Skvorak of Regeneration CSA in High Falls, NY. Regeneration CSA is a community supported farm growing with permaculture based, no-till systems that use […]

This is a great learning opportunity for Hudson Valley & NYC Greenhorns...and fun! An Old-Fashioned Barn Raising SATURDAY JUNE 6, 10AM - 4PM; RT. 301 COLD SPRING Help us put the finishing touches on our new barn. Bring your hammer. Bring the kids. If you know how to pound a nail or saw a board, […]

If you are a loyal reader of this blog, you might notice that there is a LOT going on for young farmers -- and you might also notice that our postings have a very distinct bias to the communities (east and west coats) to which we have personal linkages. I know that there are barn […]

Remember the 1918 flu? Well here is the 1913 apprenticeship scheme. globalization, down under baby! http://www.safarmapprentices.net/farmers/

This is a big deal. Organic Farming Research Foundation Hails Historic USDA Plan To Aid Farmers and Ranchers with Organic Transition Santa Cruz, CA Background: The USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service today announced plans to provide $50 million in 2009 to help farmers and ranchers throughout the country transition to organic production systems. The funds […]

Imagine. the man who predicted the shopocalypse. in office! [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D4Pl2UA_Rp0]

Want to be a leader in the local-food movement? Join the University of Montana Farm to College Program! Give one year. Create real change. The University of Montana Farm to College Program is now accepting applications for a full-time AmeriCorps VISTA to increase the amount of locally and sustainably-grown food on campus. The University of […]