NOFA Mass Winter Conference! Early bird deadline tomorrow

[Nicole Belanger]

Early bird deadline is tomorrow! Hope to see many of you at this great conference!

NOFA/Mass Winter Conference January 16, 2016 Worcester State University Browse workshops, plan your experience  Our complete workshop schedule is online, with a wide ranging variety of 70 workshops on organic farming, gardening, health, beekeeping, animal care, homesteading, policy, education, skill building and more.  Catch this year's two-part intensives:  Beekeeping Intensive - Pt. 1: Overwintering Bees and Spring Management Beekeeping & Pt. 2: Working with Honey Bee Queens  (Almost) Everything You Want to Know About Accessing Land For Your Farm Enterprise Soil and Plant Science for Farmers/Gardeners Seminar, keynote and post conference dinner with family & cooperative farmer, Ben Burkett Ben Burkett is a Mississippi based, fourth generation, African American farmer and cooperative business advocate. He cooperatively farms with others in his area to ship produce together to markets, including some in Massachusetts. In his keynote address he will stress why family farmers matter in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement.  In his day-long seminar Cooperative Farming , Burkett will share lessons learned from personal experience, discussing many of the steps involved in setting up a profitable, managed cooperative using his own family farm and cooperative history as a model.  Extend your conference day, or register a la carte, to share an intimate, organic dinner post conference with Mr. Burkett and hear about his seven year carbon sequestration trials. Carbon farmers take note - this is a great opportunity! Early bird registration deadline ends at 11:59pm on Tuesday, December 15th! Included in registration is an all-organic, locally sourced lunch. Check out our scholarship and work exchange opportunities and carpool sign-up for creative ways to attend. Farmers, artisans, and local, regional and national organizations will be exhibiting to share information and goods with attendees. We're growing a new generation of farmers and nature enthusiasts Parents are encouraged to bring their children for fully supervised educational workshops for children 3-8, youth 9-12 and teens 13-17. Workshops include spinning wool, learning about animals and bees, making salves, cooking, opportunities to move around and be active, and more.  Angela Roell will lead the "Honeybee Hive Anatomy for Children and Teens" workshop. "One of my main goals is to dispel fear surrounding bees," said Roell, an avid beekeeper and educator based in western Massachusetts. "I hope to inspire a sense of fascination, wonder and love for honeybees at a young age. If you can capture the heart and imagination of a child, and plant the seeds of curiosity & inquiry in them - they will never forget it. Find out more and register at www.nofamass.org/events/wc! Winter Conference Sponsors For information about sponsoring the event, contact Bob Minnocci - b...@nofamass.org