FUTURE HARVEST

Our virtual fencing field day is right around the corner! Thursday, 11/7, 1:00-4:00 pm --Join Future Harvest and Cheesemaker & Shepherd extraordinaire Molly Kroiz at George's Mill Artisan Cheese in Lovettsville, VA for an up close look at how the farm is using Nofence technology to set up and move virtual fences for their dairy goats. The collars and app allow for boundaries to be placed in areas that are not easily fenced as well as monitor, locate, and check on the animals. This is a MUST SEE for anyone who's spending loads of time setting fence in order to rotate their animals. Register: https://lnkd.in/e3uwuHyt ABOUT THE FARM: George's Mill is an eighth generation family farm in Loudoun County, Virginia, producing farmstead cheeses, caramel, gelato, soaps, and pork with a focus on pasture and browse. Loudoun Economic Development will be providing lunch - including a sampling of George's Mill cheeses - and Future Harvest staff will share details about our upcoming conference in January 2025. Dress comfortably and wear shoes you can walk on pasture in. Tickets are $10 for members, $20 for non-member, and free for BFTP & ALDI

Do you know the five principles of soil health? On Friday, we got to talk in depth about each of them with living examples during the @chesapeakebayfoundation Regenerative Agriculture Farm Tour at Holterholm Farms and Open Book Farm. Here they are: 1) Maximize soil cover -- Keep the soil covered as much as possible. 2) Minimize soil disturbance -- Reduce or eliminate tillage, as heavy tillage can undo soil health improvements. 3) Maximize plant diversity -- Increase the diversity of plant and animal species in your soil. 4) Maximize living roots -- Keep plants growing throughout the year to feed and protect the soil. 5) Integrate livestock -- Graze livestock on cover crops and crop residue in the fall and winter to improve nutrient cycling and soil biological activity. Want to know an additional fun fact? Rob Schnabel made a wonderful list of his top recommended books on soil health and ALL of the authors mentioned have spoken at our annual conference in the past! We're just a few days away from sharing details about our 2025 Conference with everyone. Stay tuned!

Sweatshirts are coming out so we aren't too far from insulated Carhartt season, eh? The crisp chill in the air at yesterday's Healthy Soils event tells us that fall farm tours and education program planning takes center stage for us. We've got two more awesome Field School events in November & December and we're looking ahead to all things conference.We'll be announcing out keynotes very soon! Big thanks to everyone who came out to ECO City & Love Bug Farm yesterday. May your cover crops be plentiful and your soil microbes happy.

Quick! There are still a few spots open for tomorrow's event. Join the Million Acre Challenge and Future Harvest for a field day at ECO City Farms' Urban Farm Incubator at Watkins Regional Park with Love Bug Farm. We'll learn more about farming on community land in an incubator setting with shared infrastructure, limited till systems, equipment choices, cover cropping, and composting. $10 members; $20 nonmember; Free for BFTP and ALDI. REGISTER: https://lnkd.in/eAvdBA3z

THANK YOU @commonmarketcoop Future Harvest received a wonderful donation this week through The Common Market's Bring-A-Bag for Change Program. The program encourages shoppers to reuse bags and reduce waste by offering a 5¢ charitable donation for each reusable bag used at checkout. Each quarter they select four non-profits to support through this program. These non-profits represent the categories of Children & Families, Environmental Protection, Animal Welfare, and Community. At the end of the quarter, donations are combined with a percentage of sales from a chosen day and voila! A win-win—it keeps single-use bags out of the waste stream and gives back. AND GET THIS: The flowers we were standing in front of were from our dear friends at FH member farm @WindingRootFarm Three cheers for community, reusable bags, farmers and wonderful businesses like The Common Market supporting local growers.

TONIGHT IN RICHMOND Come see us at the Common Grain Alliance's first baker-meet up in the city of Richmond, Virginia. The event at CGA member Reservoir Distillery (1800A Summit Ave) will feature remarks from Evrim Dogu, owner of Sub Rosa Bakery, and Mark Woodward, Serious Home Baker. Evrim will share his philosophy behind sourcing and milling local grain at Sub Rosa, and Evrim and Mark will share tips and tricks for baking with local grains. RSVP: https://lnkd.in/eU6zUcB3 This will also be an opportunity to meet with local farmers participating in the Agriculture Leadership Development Initiative, and discuss how bakers and farmers can work together to build the regional grain economy.

Tuesday, 10/15 4:00 - 6:30 pm Join the Million Acre Challenge and Future Harvest for a field day at ECO City Farms' Urban Farm Incubator at Watkins Regional Park with Love Bug Farm. We'll learn more about farming on community land in an incubator setting with shared infrastructure, limited till systems, equipment choices, cover cropping, and composting. $10 members; $20 nonmember; Free for BFTP and ALDI. REGISTER: https://lnkd.in/eAvdBA3z

Come see us at the Common Grain Alliance's first baker-meet up in the city of Richmond, Virginia on Tuesday, Oct. 8! The event at CGA member Reservoir Distillery (1800A Summit Ave) will feature remarks from Evrim Dogu, owner of Sub Rosa Bakery, and Mark Woodward, Serious Home Baker. Evrim will share his philosophy behind sourcing and milling local grain at Sub Rosa, and Evrim and Mark will share tips and tricks for baking with local grains. RSVP: https://lnkd.in/eU6zUcB3 This will also be an opportunity to meet with local farmers participating in the Agriculture Leadership Development Initiative, and discuss how bakers and farmers can work together to build the regional grain economy.

"What do farmers do when it's raining?" We've all gotten that question once or three dozen times, right?! Well this week, we can say: Go to Future Harvest Field School events! On Wednesday, more than 20 farmers joined us for a tour of @onestrawfarm and @starbrightfarm. Joan and Drew Norman shared their experiences with the USDA Organic and Real Organic Project certifications. They discussed the certified organic protocols they use for pest and disease control (and lessons learned) over their 40+ years of farming. Farmer attendees shared the challenges they are facing with pests and disease, and how they are mitigating risks. Peer-to-peer learning is at the heart of Future Harvest’s work and we're honored to facilitate opportunities like this.

SAVE THE DATES! Winter is coming - aka conference planning time - but we're still hosting and co-hosting on-farm events this fall and hoping to see everyone in the coming months too! Mark your calendars: Thursday 9/25: Organic Certification, Plant Disease and Pest Management at One Straw Farm Tuesday 10/15: Healthy Soils Field Day at ECO City Farms Urban Farm Incubator with Love Bug Farm Thursday 11/7: Nofence Demo at George's Mill Artisan Goat Cheese Tuesday 12/3: Healthy Soils in High Tunnels at Butterbee Farm RSVP or register on www.futureharvest.org