Organic Seed Partnership

On-Farm Summer/Fall 2006

Tours, Field Days and Workshops

All events are free and open to the public. Watch for further information on each event in mailings, on the websites of the OSP (www.organicseedpartnership.org) and NOFA-NY (www.nofany.org), or contact Elizabeth Dyck (607 895-6913, organicseed@nofany.org).

August 1, Tuesday, 4-7 pm. Freeville Organic Research Farm (Cornell University), Freeville, NY

Tour organic breeding and variety trials of potatoes, cucurbits, peppers, and tomatoes and talk with Cornell breeders about their organic breeding program. A summer cover crop species trial and a reduced tillage experiment in its first year will also be featured. Come a bit earlier (1-3:30 pm) for an in-depth look at an organic vegetable crop system trial that features intensive use of cover crops and such innovative practices as ridge-tilling. To get to the farm, take Rte 366 approximately one mile beyond the village of Freeville. For more information, contact Marguerite Wells at (607) 255-9911, mw38@cornell.edu. 

August 11-12, NOFA-MA Summer Conference, Amherst, MA

On Friday, from 1:30-3:30 pm, catch a workshop on breeding better varieties for Northeast organic farms by Elizabeth Dyck and Teri Ferrin that focuses on promising varieties developed by farmer-breeders and through farmer-university collaborations and provides how-to information on starting your own farm/backyard breeding projects. On Saturday, August 12, from 9-6, the OSP’s mobile seed-processing unit will be cleaning growers’ dry seed for free. Formal demonstration of wet and dry seed processing will be given at 3 pm and 4:30 pm, respectively. For more information on the seed-cleaning demo, contact Teri Ferrin at (315) 787-2396 or tferrin@pgru.ars.usda.gov.

August 22, Tuesday, 4-7 pm. Flanders Bay Farm, Flanders Rd, Long Island

Learn breeding and seed-saving techniques that will help you to produce superior vegetable varieties on your farm or in your garden from Ken Ettlinger, backyard breeder extraordinaire, and Bryan Connolly, author of Organic Seed Production and Saving. View breeding projects on corn, broccoli, cukes, pumpkins, and squashes and unusual and rare varieties of many different vegetables. OSP vegetable varieties (melons, tomatoes, squash, peppers and more), contributed by local growers, will be available for tasting. Farm is located on Rte 24 in Flanders. Contact Ken at 631-369-0257 or ken@liseed.org for directions and more information.

August 30, Wednesday, 4:30-7:30 pm. Rehoboth Homestead, Rte 9, Peru, NY

Folks from the High Mowing Seed company will discuss how they and other small seed companies are “fighting the good fight” to maintain and even expand diversity in our seed supply and how growers, gardeners, and the public can get involved. Learn seed-saving and seed-cleaning techniques from experts of the Plant Genetic Resources Unit (USDA-ARS, Geneva) and bring seed to clean in the OSP mobile seed-processing unit. Evaluate pepper and tomato varieties for their taste and adaptation to northern growing conditions. Tour a recently certified organic vegetable farm with chickens. Rehoboth Homestead is located on Rte 9, one mile south of its intersection with Rte 442 (Bear Swamp Rd).

September 5, Tuesday, 4-7 pm. Norwich Meadows Farm, Rte 23, Norwich, NY

Evaluate 32 varieties of sweet and storage onions as part of a project to develop better onion varieties for organic systems. Taste and compare peppers and tomatoes featured in the OSP varietal trials. Learn seed-saving and seed-cleaning techniques from experts of the Plant Genetic Resources Unit (USDA-ARS, Geneva) and bring seed to clean in the OSP mobile seed-processing unit. Tour a certified organic farm that specializes in intensive hoophouse production. Farm is located on Rte 23 just west of Norwich.

September 16, Saturday, 1-4 pm Peacework Organic Farm, Welcher Rd, Newark, NY

Take a tour of a diversified CSA farm to taste and evaluate experimental peppers and learn about lettuce varieties that can be grown all season long—even during the hottest months. Cornell breeders will be in hand to demonstrate breeding techniques as will the OSP mobile seed-processing unit. The event will begin with a tree identification walk and a tour of the farm’s medicinal herb production. The farm is located north of Newark at 2218 Welcher Rd.

October 21, Saturday, 1-4 pm. Poughkeepsie Farm Project, Poughkeepsie, NY

Tour a non-profit, urban vegetable farm that is working to improve access to healthy, locally grown food and to help local youth develop skills in growing food and seeds. Learn basic breeding, seed-saving, and seed-cleaning techniques from experts of the Plant Genetic Resources Unit (USDA-ARS, Geneva) and Cornell University breeders. Bring seed to clean in the OSP mobile seed-processing unit. OSP vegetable varieties (winter squash, pumpkins, lettuce, greens and more), contributed by local growers, will be available for tasting. The project is located on the Vassar College Farm close to the intersection of Raymond and Hooker Avenues in Poughkeepsie.

This event calendar is the result of collaboration between the Northeast Organic Farming Association of New York, the Plant Genetic Resources Unit, USDA-ARS, Geneva, NY, and the Cornell University Department of Plant Breeding. Funding, in part, is provided by grants from the USDA Organic Agriculture Research and Extension Initiative and NE SARE.