Tag Archives: Georgia

Speaker Schedule –South Georgia Growing Local 2014

Hello again,

We are now nearly at the conference and I can hardly tell you how excited I am. I had a final walk through of Pine Grove Middle School and Farm this week and got all the details for accessing their technologies and the Internet.

Friday Farm Tours

Farm Tours will be Friday, January 24th, including produce at Raisin’ Cane, door yard citrus at Loch Laurel Nursery, olive oil and trees at Georgia Olive Farms, and Katahdin sheep at Hound River Farm.

Saturday Talks

Conference talks will be Saturday, January 25th, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. (Doors open at 8 a.m.) at Pine Grove Middle School, 4159 River Rd, Valdosta, GA 31605. We will be able to tour the hydroponic green houses at the school that day! The preliminary schedule is posted.

Lodging

Most of our speakers are local (how lucky are we that we have this wealth of talent in our community) and a couple from out of the have indicated that they need a room. We have arranged a discounted rate at two local hotels.

Registration

There is still plenty of room, so by all means, please continue to invite those that you think will be interested in attending. The Pine Grove Middle School is a lovely facility and we are lucky to be able to use it.

Don’t forget to register!

-Gretchen

Katahdin sheep –Hound River Farm

Not for wool, for meat, they raise Katahdin sheep; we’ll visit Hound River Farm on our Friday Farm Tour at South Georgia Growing Local 2014.

We raise registered Katahdin Hair Sheep on 240 acres in the coastal plains region of South Georgia. We are approximately 30 miles north of the Georgia-Florida border with easy access from I-75. Our farm consists of Bermuda and Bahia pastures, woodlands, and wetlands. We harvest our own Continue reading →

First olives harvested east of the Mississippi since the 1800’s –Georgia Olive Farms

We’ll visit Georgia Olive Farms on our Friday Farm Tour at South Georgia Growing Local 2014.

Richard Villadoniga wrote for StAugustine.com 18 July 2012, Liguid gold rush,

There’s a new gold rush taking place in Georgia, and it’s not up in the mountains near Dahlonega as first happened back in 1828. This time around, people are buzzing with excitement over a liquid gold produced in Southern Georgia: extra virgin olive oil. You read that correctly — olive oil from Georgia. What was once an exclusively Mediterranean product is now being crafted with olives grown in Southern Georgia, and to a smaller extent, North Florida.

Georgia Olive Farms, a cooperative of about 10 regional olive growers, is based in Lakeland, Georgia, near Valdosta.

Jason Shaw, one of the company’s founders, comes Continue reading →

Multi-generational Growing –Gene Godfrey

Gene Godfrey will talk about Making Provisions From A Local Level at South Georgia Growing Local 2014 about:

Ways to get the church involved in gardening

Addressing challenges doing harvest time

Providing moments for show and tell

Supporting our mission throughout the year

Here’s his church website with additional information: Newsome Street Church of Christ in Hahira.

His church participates in Lowndes County Partnership for Health’s Gardens in the Community: Continue reading →

Door Yard Citrus at Loch Laurel Nursery

Update 2 Feb 2014: Citrus Resources.

In addition to many camelias, Loch Laurel Nursery has Door Yard Citrus:

Many gardners are not aware of the wonderful citrus that can be grown in North Florida and South Georgia. Loch Laurel Nursery is proud to offer varieties that are cold hardy and produce tasty fruit you would assume could only be grown in semi-tropical climates. In fact, many of our varieties that are well-suited to our region (USDA Zone 8b), produce inferior fruit in Central Florida.

Satsumas

—Mandarine Orange, The fruit is easily peeled and contains loose segments that are easily separated. They are sweet and a bright orange color when ripe and nearly seedless. Satsumas are believed to be native to southern China and are widely grown along the gulf coast of the US. Satsuma trees grow 10 to 15 feet tall. The most popular variety is Owari that ripens in mid to late November. Hardy to 20°F. The variety Miho, developed in Texas is much earlier ripening in early to mid-October. Grafted on trifoliate orange, (Poncirus trifoliata) for improved cold hardiness.

That same Loch Laurel Nursery web page also lists Continue reading →

Raisin’ Cane on Friday Farm Tour and in Growing Produce Magazine

We’ll visit Raisin’ Cane on our Friday Farm Tour at South Georgia Growing Local 2014:


Photo credit: Rosemary Gordon
Rosemary Gordon wrote for Growing Produce Magazine 13 January 2014, Ken Corbett Farms Knows How To Provide Customers With High-Quality Produce,

Ken Corbett doesn’t have to worry about succession planning. He knows who will lead his farm in the future: his sons, Justin, 26, who is the farm manager; Jared, 21, who is in charge of the packing shed; and Jessica Bolesta, 25, who has taken the reins of the family’s agritainment business, Raisin’ Cane….

The Corbett family wasn’t content to simply grow, pack, and ship bell pepper, eggplant, squash, zucchini, and cucumbers. In fact, it was Ken and Kim Corbett’s daughter, Jessica, who saw a need for an agritainment operation, and so Raisin’ Cane was started in the fall of 2013.

Located near Valdosta, GA, Raisin’ Cane features a corn maze, farm animals, hay rides, a playground, and a produce market and bakery. The Corbetts have already entertained numerous school field trips in the short time the operation has been open.

The plan is to have Continue reading →

Location, Location, Location –Christine Hagen from the Hagen Homestead

Christine Hagen will speak about her family’s CSA at South Georgia Growing Local 2014:

We started out going to a weekly organic farmer’s market over in Thomasville but transitioned to a CSA after 2 years. We will explain why and show you how our gardens have taken shape over these past few years. We are still a small operation after 4 years choosing to grow our business slowly. However, we have learned a great deal during these growing years. Plus we have gleaned much from other folks which we will be implementing over the next few years. We are grooming the farm as a business venture for our son, who does most of the labor.

Hagen Homestead’s website. Christine Hagen’s conference bio: Continue reading →

Water Conservation –Marilyn Dye

How to Lower Your Water Bill by Collecting Rain Water is the topic of Marilyn Dye’s presentation at South Georgia Growing Local 2014:

My presentation will include information on the limited water supply available globally, the amount of water used by households on a daily basis, and how we can decrease the amount of tap water we through water conservation and by collecting rainwater.

Her conference bio: Continue reading →