Category Archives: Community

At Pinevale: South Georgia Growing Local 2017

tractor New location with cooking facilities!

When: Saturday, January 21st 2017

Where: Pinevale Elementary School, 930 Lake Park Road, Valdosta GA.

Event: facebook

Thanks to Valdosta Board of Education for use of this facility at a reasonable rate.

See the web page, facebook event, or facebook community for updates.

Gretchen on Scott James 92.1 FM radio about Ham and Eggs show 7:00AM 2016-02-10

7AM Thursday morning, Gretchen Quarterman will be on the Scott James, 92.1 FM radio program along with Ray Ewing (President of Lowndes Improvement Association), to talk about a South Georgia cultural tradition, and one of only two left in the entire country: the 66th annual Ham and Eggs Auction 2016. You can bid on eggs, on a ham, and if you talk to Gretchen or Ray they can tell you how to get involved in the program and even how to get the whole hog!

noon at 2102 E Hill Ave, Valdosta, GA 31601 The Ham and Eggs Show will be noon Wednesday 17 February 2016 at the Lowndes County Extension Office, 2102 E Hill Ave, Valdosta, GA 31601 (facebook event).

If you are interested in entering eggs in the show Continue reading

Valdosta Farm Days –Gretchen on WALB

Gretchen is at the old Lowndes County Courthouse now, setting up for Valdosta Farm Days, 9AM to 1PM today.

By Colter Anstaetts reported from Okra Paradise Farms for WALB yesterday, Lowndes County farmers ready for “Farm Days”,

Lowndes County farmers will be at the courthouse in downtown Valdosta from 9 a.m.to 1 p.m. selling their crops. This is the fourth year for the “Farm Days” program, and Lowndes County farmers are looking forward to it.

“I’m definitely looking forward to Farm days,” said Gretchen Quarterman, a farmer in Hahira. “It’s an excellent opportunity for farmers, not only to sell but for local people to get local, fresh food. And, when we buy from local farmers we support the local economy.”

-jsq

Growing up Growing –Maria Arambula

Maria Arambula will speak at South Georgia Growing Local 2014:

Gardening is an essential skill that every child and adult should learn. How can we work in our families and communities to ensure that young people understand how our food is grown? This workshop will share creative ideas and resources for gardening with youth of all ages at home and in the community. Attendees will be encouraged to share their own experiences through a fun and collaborative workshop format.

Her conference bio: Continue reading

The five P’s of Grafting –Annie Barbas

Master Gardener Annie Barbas will speak at South Georgia Growing Local 2014:

The session will give an overview of planning, preparation, plant materials, tools and the process of various forms of grafting including some physical examples in differing stages of the process.

We will cover the the necessity of Planning, Preparation, Precision, Patience and Prayer needed for grafting success. We will not be grafting, but I will have some recently grafted material to view (last summer) as well as various grafting supplies that my husband and I use.

Her conference bio: Continue reading

For the Love of Herbs –O’Toole’s Herb Farm

Elizabeth (B) Fraleigh O’Toole, President of O’Toole’s Herb Farm will speak at South Georgia Growing Local 2014:

This presentation will touch on growing herbs for pleasure, growing herbs for the fresh cut market and growing herbs in greenhouse production for wholesale and retail sales. I will cover the joy and positive healing energy these plants give, the passion of growing and using them and how I got to this place.

Her farm was featured in the April-May, 2012, edition of Home & Design:

“A village is happening out here,” B said during a tour of her 114-acre farm’s greenhouses, gardens, retail shops and resident flock of sheep. “If you think Walmart, we’re absolutely the opposite. Small, local, knowledgeable, none of our plants genetically modified with man-made chemicals.”

Also on facebook.

Her conference bio: Continue reading

Proof Is in the Certification –Connie Hayes

Connie Hayes of Healthy Hollow Farms will speak at South Georgia Growing Local 2014,

How do we prove to customers that our products are free of genetically modified ingredients? while many homesteaders choose to be not certified or certified naturally grown, consumers are becoming more concerned with GMOs. We will offer practical tips for insuring consumers, as well as how to on certifications & non-GMO testing.

Here’s her conference bio:

Members of Coastal Organic Growers (COG), Connie & Jimmy Hayes own & operate Healthy Hollow Farms near Stilson, GA, which has been certified organic since 2007. They grow organic peanuts and raise Belted Galloway cattle. They are in the process of setting up an on-farm processing facility for their peanuts. Connie serves on the board of Georgia Organics and has trained under Jeffery Smith with The Institute for Responsible Technology to speak on GMOs.

Come to SOGALO2014 and hear Connie about getting certified organic!

-jsq

Online payment for South Georgia Growing Local 2014

You can register online for South Georgia Growing Local 2014.

Seed saving, composting, rain water collection, fruits, vegetables, textiles, goats, chickens, bees, and policy, plus Friday Farm Tours, dinner and a movie!

Continue reading

Early registration extended to January 15th! –South Georgia Growing Local 2014

Early registration extended to January 15th!

Update 2 January 2014: Or pay online.

You can sign up here to see the goats, bees, chickens, ham, eggs, fruits, seeds, textiles, rain, and sun, and let’s not forget the worms!

Continue reading

Florida Goats at South Georgia Growing Local 2014

It’s not just for south Georgia: from Madison County, Florida, Julia Shewchuk will talk about her goats of Serenity Acres Farm.

Here’s Wayne and Julia’s welcome to Serenity Acres Farm:

We are a small farm in Madison County Florida working toward the big goal of bringing you locally grown products and farm raised products without the use of major pesticides, hormones and genetically modified components.

Our philosophy is simple: Grow and raise it locally and then offer only the freshest and best of what we produce.

The goats appear about a minute into this video, with milking about 2 and a half minutes in: Continue reading