The NOFA/Mass Organic Land Care Program, a project of the Northeast Organic Farming Association (NOFA), will present the 4th annual NOFA Organic Lawn and Turf Course at UMass Dartmouth in Dartmouth, MA on August 19, 2008, from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm.This one-day, intensive course will provide state-of-the-art information for managing lawns and turf organically and is geared toward land care professionals, groundskeepers and municipalities who are responsible for the establishment and care of grass, as well as anyone interested in learning organic methods.

Belchertown, Mass – A workshop on foraging for wild edibles will be held on Sunday, July 13th from 1-4pm in Belchertown, Mass.  Led by foraging expert and author Russ Cohen, participants will discover more than two dozen of the 150 species of wild edibles that can be found in Massachusetts.  

A wide coalition of family farmers, independent ranchers, organic and local food system advocates from across the country today criticized a provision to be included in the House Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee's markup bill that would force USDA to purchase meat for the school lunch program only from sources that are registered in the controversial National Animal Identification System (NAIS).

Colrain, Mass - Colrain Dairy Farm in Colrain will host a workshop on transitioning to organic dairy on Thursday, July 10 from 10am -1pm.  Larry Shearer, owner of the farm, will lead the event.

Larry Shearer has been intensively grazing his dairy cows since 1983, and milking seasonally since 1991. In August 2007 he completed a two-year transition process, and began shipping milk to Organic Valley.

AUGUST 8-10, 2008, Amherst, MAKeynote speakers Arden Andersen and Mark McAfee 

AMHERST, Mass, June 16, 2008 – NOFA, the Northeast Organic Farming Association, is pleased to announce its 34th Annual Summer Conference.  An enlightening weekend-long event, this year’s conference will be held at the University of Massachusetts - Amherst.

Hardwick - A workshop on transitioning to organic dairy farming and the services offered by the Natural Resource and Conservation Service (NRCS) will be held at Robinson Farm in Hardwick on Saturday, June 21st from 11am – 2pm. 

Jamaica Plain – A workshop on heating hot water with the sun will be held at 21st Century Foods at 30A Germania St from 10AM-12:30PM on Saturday, June 21, 2008.

      
SUSTAINABLE LIVING TOUR TO BE HELD 

Wendell, Mass – A sustainable living tour of two separate locations will be held on Sunday, June 15th from 10am-3pm to show how some people have worked at creating sustainable systems and have chosen to live in ways that are closer to the rhythms of the natural world. 

Sterling, Mass – A workshop on Small Ruminant Management will be held at Crystal Brook Farm, 192 Tuttle Road in Sterling on Wednesday, June 4th from 10am – 1pm.  The workshop will be led by Ann Starbard who owns the farm. Topics to be discussed will include mixing browse with pasture, managing parasites, using trace minerals while pasturing, watering systems and fencing. Crystal Brook Farm is an award winning farmstead that began making cheese in 1998.  It now produces about 12,000 lbs.

Washington, Mass – A workshop on framing carpentry will be held at the Heartwood School for the Homebuilding Crafts in Washington, Mass on Saturday, June 14th from 9am-5pm.  Will Beemer will demonstrate making joists, sills, studs, rafters and he will show the tools to frame interior and exterior walls, floors and roofs. Layout for openings such as windows and doors will also be covered as participants work on a stick-framed building project under construction.