It may be a bit of a drive from Franklin Co. but there will be a ton of useful information for small farmers, or those who are looking to start a small farm.
OSU Extension will host the Eastern Ohio Small Farm Conference on April 6, 2024, at the Mid-East Career Technical Center Buffalo Campus, in Senecaville, Ohio! This is an incredible opportunity to hear from a vast selection of producers, professionals, and peers all in one place and just a short drive away.
Conference session topics are geared to beginning and small farm owners as well as to farms looking to diversify their operations. There will be five different conference tracks including: Horticulture and Produce Production, Business Management, Livestock, Natural Resources and new this year- The Farm Kitchen.
Some conference topic highlights include:
Raising Meat Rabbits (Kim Ray)
Making Goat Milk Products (Radisson Norman & Kirstin Roman)
Starting and Setting Up a Business (David Marrison)
Ohio Landowner/Hunter Access Partnership Program (John Morton)
Introduction to Bramble Production (Ryan Slaughter)
Products from the Hive (Joan Leary)
And SO MUCH MORE!
Anyone interested in developing, growing, or diversifying their small farm is invited to attend including homesteaders, gardeners, farmers market vendors, and anyone with a general interest in small farm living.
Attendees will have the opportunity to browse a trade show featuring the newest and most innovative ideas and services for their farming operation. The conference provides an opportunity to talk with the vendors and network with others.
The Conference will take place from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. on Saturday, April 6, 2024 at the Mid-East Career Technical Center Buffalo Campus (57090 Vocational Rd. Senecaville, Ohio 43780). Registration to attend is $100 and includes light breakfast and catered lunch by Hog Hollow BBQ, due by March 28, 2024.
For conference and registration information call OSU Extension Morrow County 419-947-1070 or OSU Extension Knox County 740-397-0401. You can also register for the conference online at: https://go.osu.edu/2024osusmallfarmconference
I will be speaking on hydroponics! I hope to see you there!
Are you a beginning farmer trying to nail down all the resources and information you need to be successful? This series is designed to introduce you to some of the most important topics and resources of which a farm should be aware. OSU Extension, USDA and Farm Credit staff will present critical information on each of these topics allowing attendees to build relationships with these critical partners.
This series of events is free and open to the public but we do ask for pre-registration for planning purposes. You can click the QR in the flyer or THIS LINK to register.
I want to remind everyone that the newly established Franklin County Urban Agriculture Critical Infrastructure grant is accepting applications until February 1st!
This grant aims to address a significant funding gap that small growers face when looking to scale up their operations. The current City-County Community Garden Grant continues to be very successful in its purpose, however, the total request amount for this existing grant is capped at $3,000 per applicant and it is only available for nonprofits – so another source of support is needed for local growers who have outgrown the Community Garden Grant and want to scale up their operations. Franklin Soil and Water Conservation District will also provide technical assistance, education, and key third party connections to grantees while ensuring equitable support for socially disadvantaged growers, including BIPOC growers, women growers, and low income growers.
Interest in keeping backyard poultry has been increasing steadily with a huge jump in growth around the COVID pandemic and Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza outbreak due to egg price increases and egg shortages. We have also see a big jump in the number of 4H kiddos who want to keep chickens and turkeys for 4H livestock projects. Many cities and municipalities require a certification before they allow you to keep backyard poultry. Lots of people just want to learn more about this for their own family and personal food security. Maybe this is the perfect holiday gift for that hard to buy family member. Whatever your reason, we have you covered.
The course costs $25 dollars. (Super cheep!) Click on the QR code or head to go.osu.edu/chicken
This self-paced course is expected to take 2-3 hours to complete and includes the following 6 modules:
Getting Started
Brooding, Basic Husbandry & Nutrition
Housing
Egg Production
Maximizing Health
Biosecurity
After completing this course, learners will be able to:
Identify rules and regulations relevant to raising backyard poultry in their state, city, or municipality
Source healthy birds to raise in their backyard
Apply concepts of basic husbandry, nutrition, and housing to successfully raise backyard poultry.
Explain how eggs are produced
Practice safe handling of birds and eggs
Recognize health-related abnormalities of poultry through physical examination
Describe the roles of of veterinary care and biosecurity in maximizing poultry health
There are NO refunds issued for this course.
If you have questions about the course, contact Tim McDermott at mcdermott.15@osu.edu for assistance.
Biosecurity is one of the most important tools in the toolbox of the poultry producer. Learn some tips about keeping your flock safe in this short video collaboration with The Ohio Poultry Association.
The Urban Gardening Grant RFP is open. This is a chance to get some funding to support your garden. Make sure to read the application information carefully.
Grant applications are due by Friday October 29th, 2021
There will be a free Backyard Poultry Production Virtual Clinic held in partnership with the Harrison/Jefferson Co. Extension ANR and 4H programs on Tuesday May 25th @ 6:30 pm. The clinic is geared towards youth but youth of all ages are invited. The class is free but registration is required so check out the registration link below and bring your friends and your questions.
There has been a resurgence of people who wish to raise their own food for personal and family food security, both with produce and with poultry. I am increasingly getting asked about backyard poultry keeping so I wanted to put a resource together to assist you in getting the knowledge you need for safe, healthy and productive backyard poultry keeping. Here is the second webinar to support backyard poultry keeping: Top Ten Diseases of Backyard Poultry
FIRST THING: Find out the regulations in your city or municipality that governs the keeping of backyard poultry and follow those rules carefully.
Here is the recorded Top Ten Backyard Poultry Diseases class.
Below is a Backyard Poultry Production Webinar Recording plus some helpful links:
We also have a number of Fact Sheets hosted on Ohioline to support poultry keeping:
There will be a virtual class event on Top Ten Diseases of Backyard Poultry on Tuesday March 16th @ 7:00pm. This class is free and open to the public so bring your friends and your questions. Registration for this webinar is required and the link is below.
Hi there,
You are invited to a CarmenZoom webinar.
When: Mar 16, 2021 07:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)
Topic: Top 10 Backyard Poultry Diseases
#2020 was quite the year. One positive was the number of backyard growers, community gardeners, teacher educators and urban farmers that either wanted to learn how to start growing or to increase their production of fresh, healthy produce. Growing Franklin was there every step of the way with a year long string of content. I am creating this post to assist any new growers as well as the seasoned grower progress through a years worth of content, starting this spring through summer, fall and even winter.
I highly recommend you subscribe!
Link is in the column on the right. ——–>
It is time to get started growing again!
SPRING
First things first – Time to take a look at our upcoming weather prediction:
There is a greater percentage of warmer than normal and wetter than normal through April. Make sure to take advantage of that. If you can start some cool weather seedlings and protect them with season extension you can get an early harvest of lettuce, spinach, radishes, kale, carrots and bok choi.
The next step is to start planning that spring garden. Here is a virtual class event to help get you started.
When people started to social distance at home it was not just vegetables that they wanted to learn how to grow. Backyard poultry keeping saw a similar jump in popularity. Here is a virtual class recording to help get you started in poultry keeping.
One of the most powerful tools in your toolbox is starting your own seeds. This allows you to grow whatever you want to grow, whenever you want to grow it. The whole seed catalog is available to you. I will be starting seeds any time now for spring transplanting. Want to learn how to start your own seeds? Below is a whole recorded webinar if you want to go in depth, as well as a short snappy video that introduces the topic.
Recorded webinar class:
Quick introduction video:
What if you do not have a spot to garden? Try growing in a container! Container gardening lets you grow just about anywhere and is a great way to get a harvest from a small space.
Once you got some seeds started, depending on how you started them, you may need to pot those up into larger pots to get ready for transplanting. This short video will give you an introduction on how to pot up transplants prior to planting.
Kale is a tasty and healthy spring vegetable. Join me and my OSU Extension Franklin County colleague Jenny Lobb to learn how to make nutritious and delicious kale chips.
SUMMER
Now let’s talk some summer planting. We are big into spring harvest but we need to start thinking about some hot weather crops and how to get ready for them.
I am a huge fan of summer squash and zucchini. Here is a quick 2 minute video made in collaboration with my OSU Extension colleague Jenny Lobb on How to Grill Summer Squash
Tomatoes are the taste of summer. They are also one of the crops that generate the most questions sent to me. I have lots of content to share on how to get your best tomato year. First up is a virtual class recording on Tomatoes 101:
Here are three great articles with pics on some of the most common tomato weather questions:
Let’s take a look at a summer garden in full harvest and talk about summer growing. Here is a tour of my plot at Wallace Community Garden, an actual Victory Garden remnant from the 1940’s
Summer gardening usually means pests, weeds and disease. They can devastate your garden and drive you crazy. Let’s talk about managing pests in the garden:
If you are still hungry after the summer squash video then join me and my OSU Extension colleague Jenny Lobb on How to Grill Sweet Corn
FALL
While it is still summer, we need to start thinking about our Fall Garden. Each seasons gardening plans are made one season (at least) prior. So let’s start thinking about our fall garden and what we want to think about planting:
Once you get some transplants for fall, and have your seeds ready to go, it is time to plant the fall garden. Fall garden planting will allow a harvest right through Thanksgiving with some sound timing, the right varieties, and some season extension.
Organic matter is the foundation for great soil health. Fall is the ideal time to get a compost pile started to provide a stream of organic matter to use to get your best harvest. Here is a Composting virtual class event to get you started as a composter.
Fall is also a great time to get some end of season chores done plus get a jump start on next years growing. So when we say End of Season we are talking about the main season but as we will see below, we use all the seasons.
WINTER
Ohio is a four season growing environment. Picking the right varieties, timing your plantings and using some season extension will allow a harvest all 12 months of the year. Let’s talk growing over winter.
Believe me, you can eat fresh, healthy produce that you grew yourself all 12 months of the year. Here is an update of a January over-wintered planting.
I hope you enjoyed a trip through #2020 growing virtually. Feel free to share. I will be hosting more classes this year to support growers so I recommend subscribing. Feel free to send any questions my way to Tim McDermott.15@osu.edu or if you are not a Franklin County resident, find the contact for your Extension educator at Extension.osu.edu
This self-paced course is expected to take 2-3 hours to complete and includes the following 6 modules:
