Update: Winter Break is Over, Welcome 2016 Season!
Hello!
I hope all of you dear readers are warm, cozy, and eating plenty of seasonal local foods this winter. As you can see, I've been on a winter hiatus since November when my seasonal employment with Our Harvest Cooperative ended for 2015. At the end of my last day on the farm, I left for Florida for Thanksgiving where I spent a glorious week with my husband's family relaxing and rejuvenating my achy bones and muscles.
Upon returning to Ohio, I began winter employment at a local restaurant, Rooted Juicery and Kitchen. Sticking to locavore values, working at Rooted was a wonderful, ethically based decision because Rooted's owners are committed to 100% organic produce, seasonally influenced menus, and sourcing from local Ohio farms whenever possible. Currently, the majority of their local produce is from Turner Farm in Maderia. Recently, Rooted is looking to work with Ohio Valley Food Connection as well as eventually Our Harvest to source even more locally produced food. Not to mention they only opened in September and are opening two more locations, one downtown and the other in Mariemont.
The desire for locally produced fresh food is out there, the issue is that there is definitely not enough supply to meet that demand, at least here in the Ohio Valley. That's where people like myself come in, a young aspirational farmer concerned about the local food economy, nutritional value of produce, and the availability of healthy food to ALL people. With the help of Our Harvest Research and Education Institute, I'll be prepared to do just that.
Last fall I began my course work at Cincinnati State with a very informative Soil Science class, finishing a couple weeks prior to Christmas. It set a great foundation for understanding the chemistry of how soils, nutrients, and plants interact. The class was sustainably concerned so there was a lot of discussion regarding compost, organic matter in soils, and soil health. An easy way to understand these concepts is the saying "organic farmers grow good soil, conventional farmers grow crops." I could do many a blog posts about dirt and they wouldn't bore you!
Two weeks ago I began this semester's course, aptly named Spring Vegetable Production, taught by one of my farmer mentors Charles Griffin, it is based on a cumulative spring production planning project. The class is filled with a variety of 'farmers' with different goals; many are interested in urban SPIN farming, a few are into intensive specialty crops like strawberries, others are more large scale concerned- such as two women from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio who are invested in turning 35 acres of conventionally farmed land into organic food production to supply the University's cafeteria needs. It shall be an interesting semester. Not to mention that OHREI's project coordinator, Ken, is also taking the class to jump start a new spring project for this year's apprentices.
Keep warm out there, I'm very excited to share the 2016 season with you!
I hope all of you dear readers are warm, cozy, and eating plenty of seasonal local foods this winter. As you can see, I've been on a winter hiatus since November when my seasonal employment with Our Harvest Cooperative ended for 2015. At the end of my last day on the farm, I left for Florida for Thanksgiving where I spent a glorious week with my husband's family relaxing and rejuvenating my achy bones and muscles.
Upon returning to Ohio, I began winter employment at a local restaurant, Rooted Juicery and Kitchen. Sticking to locavore values, working at Rooted was a wonderful, ethically based decision because Rooted's owners are committed to 100% organic produce, seasonally influenced menus, and sourcing from local Ohio farms whenever possible. Currently, the majority of their local produce is from Turner Farm in Maderia. Recently, Rooted is looking to work with Ohio Valley Food Connection as well as eventually Our Harvest to source even more locally produced food. Not to mention they only opened in September and are opening two more locations, one downtown and the other in Mariemont.
The desire for locally produced fresh food is out there, the issue is that there is definitely not enough supply to meet that demand, at least here in the Ohio Valley. That's where people like myself come in, a young aspirational farmer concerned about the local food economy, nutritional value of produce, and the availability of healthy food to ALL people. With the help of Our Harvest Research and Education Institute, I'll be prepared to do just that.
Last fall I began my course work at Cincinnati State with a very informative Soil Science class, finishing a couple weeks prior to Christmas. It set a great foundation for understanding the chemistry of how soils, nutrients, and plants interact. The class was sustainably concerned so there was a lot of discussion regarding compost, organic matter in soils, and soil health. An easy way to understand these concepts is the saying "organic farmers grow good soil, conventional farmers grow crops." I could do many a blog posts about dirt and they wouldn't bore you!
Two weeks ago I began this semester's course, aptly named Spring Vegetable Production, taught by one of my farmer mentors Charles Griffin, it is based on a cumulative spring production planning project. The class is filled with a variety of 'farmers' with different goals; many are interested in urban SPIN farming, a few are into intensive specialty crops like strawberries, others are more large scale concerned- such as two women from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio who are invested in turning 35 acres of conventionally farmed land into organic food production to supply the University's cafeteria needs. It shall be an interesting semester. Not to mention that OHREI's project coordinator, Ken, is also taking the class to jump start a new spring project for this year's apprentices.
Keep warm out there, I'm very excited to share the 2016 season with you!
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