OEFFA’s Heart of Ohio chapter will hold its monthly meeting at 7:30 PM on Thursday, June 5 at Kenyon’s Brown Family Environmental Center. At 8 PM, the chapter welcomes guest speaker Bob Hendershot, Grasslands Management Systems Specialist with the NRCS-Ohio State Resource Conservation office. Mr. Hendershot will discuss soil management topics of particular interest to sustainable farmers.
Learn how to quantify your soil health. Soil quality is very important to plant growth. It is also important to clean and sustain water supplies. Healthy soils reduce soil erosion and sedimentation, improves plant nutrient uptake efficiencies and sustains the soil resource for future generations. Bob Hendershot helped develop the Ohio Soil Health Card and will be reviewing its use Thursday, June 5.
This presentation is free and open to the public. For additional information about the chapter or the program, contact Chapter President Joan Richmond.
There will be no meeting or program next month due to the 4th of July holiday. The next meeting will be August 7th; the program is yet to be determined.
OEFFA’s Heart of Ohio chapter will hold its monthly meeting at 7:30 PM on Thursday, May 1 at Kenyon’s Brown Family Environmental Center. At 8 PM, the chapter welcomes a guest panel comprised of local area Farmer’s Market managers. The preliminary slate of panelists include representatives from Granville, Sunbury, Clintonville, Worthington, and Granville Winter markets.
This will be a great opportunity for Heart of Ohio producers to meet with those who organize and manage local farmer’s markets to share ideas, field questions and hear suggestions.
This presentation is free and open to the public. For additional information about the chapter or the program, contact Chapter President Joan Richmond.
June preview: Bob Hendershot from Fairfield County’s USDA/NRCS office will do a presentation on soil managment practices.
OEFFA’s Heart of Ohio chapter will hold its monthly meeting at 7:30 PM on Thursday, April 3 at Kenyon’s Brown Family Environmental Center. At 8 PM, the chapter welcomes guest speaker Howard Sacks, Director of the Rural Life Center at Kenyon College, who will speak on Building Sustainable Agriculture and Sustainable Communities. He will also be able to report on the first meeting of Governor Strickland’s Ohio Food Policy Advisory Council.
Dr. Sacks has for over a decade promoted efforts to build a sustainable local food system in Knox County. He will share his experiences with the project, called “Food for Thought,” which has gained state and national recognition as a model for creating new markets for family farmers and enhancing local communities.
This presentation is free and open to the public. For additional information about the chapter or the program, contact Chapter President Joan Richmond.
May preview: A panel representing local Farmer’s Market coordinators will meet local Heart of Ohio producers to share ideas, field questions and hear suggestions.
OEFFA’s Heart of Ohio chapter will hold its monthly meeting at 7:30 PM on Thursday, Mar. 6 at Kenyon’s Brown Family Environmental Center. At 8 PM, the chapter welcomes guest speaker Dan Kamburoff, owner and president of Columbus Irrigation Co. Mr. Kamburoff will discuss the various irrigation options available for small, diversified organic farms.
Before purchasing Columbus Irrigation Co. in 2003, Mr. Kamburoff raised vegetables and sweet corn on his family farm in Kent, OH, for sale at their farm market. It was through farming that he became well-acquainted with the local dealer for irrigation supplies, Bob Webb. When Mr. Webb decided to retire, Mr. Kamburoff made the decision to give up farming and take over his irrigation business. Now headquartered in Ashland, OH, Columbus Irrigation Co. covers a territory that includes OH, WV, PA, KY, and NY; equipment and supplies are available for the smallest backyard installation to the largest commercial installation and everything in between.
This presentation is free and open to the public. For additional information about the chapter or the program, contact Chapter President Joan Richmond.
April preview: Dr. Howard Sacks from Kenyon’s Rural Life Center, speaking on Creating Local Markets for Local Foods.
OEFFA’s Heart of Ohio chapter will hold its monthly meeting at 7:30 PM on Thursday, Feb. 7 at Kenyon’s Brown Family Environmental Center. The chapter welcomes Dr. Karen Goodell of OSU-Newark for a guest presentation “The Role of Native Bees in Agricultural Pollination.”
Dr. Goodell will discuss recent research on crop pollination by native bees, including her own work on pollination of pumpkins and squash in Ohio. She will link her discussion of native pollinators with local, regional and global concern over the status of bee populations. Of particular interest is how to determine bee population status and what ecological and farm management factors promote native bees. A question and answer period will follow her presentation.
An assistant professor in the Department of Evolution, Ecology and Organismal Biology at Ohio State Newark, Dr. Goodell received her Ph.D. in Ecology and Evolution from SUNY Stony Brook in 2000 and an M.S. in Botany and Plant Sciences from University of California, Riverside in 1994. She was a D.H. Smith Conservation Research Postdoctoral Fellow from 2000-2003. Dr. Goodell has conducted extensive research regarding the interactions between plants and their pollinators, and how these interactions change as a result of human activities.
This presentation is free and open to the public. For additional information about the chapter or the program, contact Chapter President Joan Richmond.
Located in central Ohio, OEFFA’s Heart of Ohio chapter draws members from several counties including Licking, Knox, Richland, Morrow, Franklin, and Perry. Meetings are:
2008 second quarter programs:
Programs begin at 8 PM after a short business meeting at 7:30. They are free and open to the public.
