Join Lisa Soledad Almaraz, Multimedia Director for Living Web Farms and host of Eartheart Network Radio, for this conversation with presenters of the 28th annual and first-time online Organic Growers School.
We will hear from Sera Deva, former Director of Programs & Systems Design at OGS. She serves on the Southern Sustainable Agriculture Working Group (SSAWG) Board of Directors, and is the Administrative Director for The Firefly Gathering. When she’s not geeking out over genetics, systems theory, or soil hydrology, she spends her time growing and eating food in the South Toe Valley in Burnsville, NC. This is her last year organizing the Spring Conference after 6 amazing years working with OGS.
Also joining us will be Derek Haynes, The Crazy Botanist www.thecrazybotanist.com Derek Haynes’s passion for botany is felt by everyone who meets him. “The Crazy Botanist”, as he is known, had an allure for plants at a young age. Derek gives back to his community by volunteering with local community gardens and creating and maintaining relationships, especially within the community of Black plant enthusiasts.
Derek is teaching Gardening Victoriously: Raised Beds & Greenhouses in the GARDENING Track — “Victory Garden,” a term coined by George Washington Carver, references the gardens, grown in yards and parks, that provided food security to nearly 20 million people during World War II. In this era, we can cultivate a resurgence of community, resilience, and joy by growing our own victory gardens! This workshop will have a focus on raised beds, seed propagation, and greenhouse management.
Another guest and upcoming presenter is Jason Roland, the owner of Organically Roland, a small scale market garden in Lexington, SC. He uses organic and biodynamic methods to provide two CSAs, local restaurants, and a weekly market with fresh produce. He loves sharing his knowledge and passion for growing with others through classes.
Jason is teaching Finding Farm Flexibility: Adapting Your Business During A Pandemic in the FARMING Track — 2020 has created a rapid shift in farm sales outlets. From farmers’ markets to CSA’s to wholesale markets, often farms have had to do a 360 in how they are selling their products. In this session, we’ll examine how to adapt your business model to fit the needs of your community and still make a profit.
April Jones will also be joining us. She is the founder of the Pinehurst Farmers Market located in downtown Columbia, S.C. April is passionate about community, gardens, and farmers markets. She is a writer, blogger, YouTuber, and more, advocating for her community through the food sovereignty movement. Ms. Jones contributes content to her blog Frolicking Americana, and to national magazines such as Mother Earth. She founded Pinehurst Consulting to help farmers and communities be more sustainable and to increase their impact.
April is teaching Local Food Impact in the FOOD SYSTEMS Track — Learn how to create a local food market and strategies to bring the community together with food. Take steps to maintain and expand your local food system, and expand local food knowledge in your community.
Another OGS presenter joining us is Seher Seven, a plant-loving herbalist and home chef currently living in the beautiful Sonoran Desert. She is the author of two full-length books as well as multiple poetry anthologies and is the creator of Align with Plants Community, a non-profit organization on a mission to spread the power of plants around the world.
Seher is teaching Rainbow Salads in the COOKING Track – The rainbow salad is an all-inclusive meal made to not only nourish our bodies but our minds and hearts as well. Learn how to make and use a rainbow salad in every meal, with creative and delicious plant-based recipes that taste as good as they make you feel.
Be sure to sign up for Organic Growers School’s 28th annual Spring Conference that begins on March 13. The first online conference will span the globe reaching a new international audience and welcomes you to join us as we grow this vibrant community around the world. Sign up at www.organicgrowersschool.org
