By DOUG GRAVES
Ohio Correspondent COLUMBUS, Ohio — The Ohio Ecological Food & Farm Assoc. (OEFFA) will hold its 31st annual conference, “Growing with Integrity, Eating with Intention”, Feb. 13-14 at Granville Middle and High Schools in Granville, Ohio. The conference will feature 60 informative, hands-on workshops and two keynote speakers.
One high-interest workshop, pertaining to tomato grafting, is tailored to vegetable growers interested in finding out more about this propagation technique, which can lead to plants that are stronger, have a higher yield, and are more resistant to disease and stress.
“This workshop allows growers to become early adopters of this technology, to become familiar with some of the newest information on the topic, from topics conducted by OSU and its partners, and to share what they know about it,” said Matt Keleinhenz, a vegetable specialist with OSU Extension and one of the presenters. “Grafting is an emerging technology in vegetable production and much needs to be learned to successfully employ grafted plants more widely.”
Grafting of this nature is increasing worldwide as a means to improve plant growth, control diseases, provide tolerance to temperature and other stresses. Grafted plants are widely used in the high-input greenhouse environment and are very popular among farmers in Asia, where nearly 95 percent of vegetables like eggplant, cucumber and tomato plants are grafted before being transplanted to the field or greenhouse.
“Vegetable crops grown under organic and sustainable production systems in the Midwest are challenged by nutrient availability, pathogens, low soil temperature during planting, and fluctuations in moisture,” said David Francis, a geneticist from the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center (OARDC) in Wooster, Ohio. Francis is one of the presenters at this year’s workshops.
“Breeding varieties tailored to organic production is a way to try to solve these problems. We want to demonstrate the feasibility of grafting as a compatible strategy, one which is likely to have high impact in the short term,” Francis said.
The opening day workshops include mob grazing, cheesemaking, farmers’ markets, farm preservation, social media marketing, garden design, dairy goats, sustainable dairying, small farm renewable energy, organic certification, urban gardening, small fruit systems, weed mental models, poultry niche pork, grassfed dairy, soil fertility, harvesting rain, apple pruning, worm composting, weed tree management, small grains, and off-grid living.
Second-day workshops include worm composting, organic recordkeeping, solar and wind energy, horse farming, bio-dynamics, tree grafting, drip irrigation, food safety, natural cleaners, organic soil biology, beekeeping, farm to restaurant, ginseng and goldenseal, plant disease control and cover crops.
The conference will feature keynote speakers Joel Salatin, one of the best-known farmers of the sustainable food movement, and celebrated author, chef and educator Ann Cooper.
Salatin (who will speak on Saturday) farms in Virginia and serves more than 1,500 families, 10 retail outlets and 30 restaurants through on-farm sales and metropolitan buying clubs with grass-fed beef, pastured poultry, eggs, pork, forage-based rabbits and pastured turkey. He will speak on topics such as zoning, labor, food safety, insurance and more.
Cooper (who will speak on Sunday) will speak about the current food system and explain what effect it has on children. Through her push for organic, fresh foods and nutritional education her mission is to transform the National School Lunch Program into one that places greater emphasis on health of students rather than the financial health of agribusiness corporations.
The conference will also feature a kid’s conference, offering a variety of workshops for children ages 6-12 and a playroom for children under age 6.
“The OEFFA conference is an ideal place for local farmers and consumers to network and plan how to best improve Ohio’s food production system,” said OEFFA Executive Director Carol Goland.
Granville High School and Granville Junior High are located at 248 New Burg Street in Granville, Ohio. To register for the OEFFA conference call 614-421-2022 or log on to www.oeffa.org |
