Workshop on Troubleshooting a CSA Vegetable
Farm June 25 Near Star Prairie
CONTACT: Parker Forsell, LSP, 507-523-3366; parker@landstewardshipproject.org
6/16/09
STAR PRAIRIE, Wis. — A special workshop on troubleshooting a beginning Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) vegetable farm will be held Thursday, June 25, from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m., at Threshing Table Farm near Star Prairie. This event, which is sponsored by the Land Stewardship Project’s Farm Beginnings program, is free to Land Stewardship Project members and open to the public for a $25 fee. Registration is limited to 20 participants. Please pre-register before June 22 by calling Parker Forsell at 507-523-3366 or e-mailing parker@landstewardshipproject.org.
This is a production workshop for people farming or interested in beginning farming. Participants can view firsthand a CSA start-up operated by Mike and Jody Lenz, graduates of the Farm Beginnings program. Featured at the workshop will be two of the most experienced CSA farmers in the region: Dan Guenthner of Common Harvest Farm and Michael Racette of Spring Hill Community Farm. CSA farming, which involves farmers selling “shares” in their operations before the growing season, is one of the fastest-growing production/marketing trends in the local foods movement.
During the June 25 workshop, Guenthner and Racette will discuss how to prioritize capital improvements, improve cover cropping/soil fertility, choose an appropriate greenhouse facility and determine correct equipment needs.
For more than a decade, the Land Stewardship Project’s Farm Beginnings program has been offering cutting-edge training to people interested in learning innovative farm management systems. Farm Beginnings classes for the 2009-2010 session will be offered in River Falls, Wis., beginning this fall. For more information, see www.farmbeginnings.org, or call 507-523-3366.
