Welcome to Cranky Puppy Farm!

This blog belongs to two Gen X-er's smackdab in downtown Kansas City where we've been renovating and decorating two old Victorians built in the 1890's. Our life is filled with 3 demanding Pomeranians (1 of them cranky, of course), honking cars, noisy neighbors and the hustle and bustle of city life but we dream of the day when we can move to our 40-acre farm and hear nothing but the wind and the cows next door. Until then, we're chronicling our triumphs and mishaps here as we try to garden and preserve on 2 city lots, raise chickens, and learn all those things we should have learned from our grandparents. Welcome to our world - we hope you'll stay awhile!

Upcoming Winter Webinars

Tuesday, January 06, 2015

If we're stuck inside, we might as well make good use of the time and learn something new, right?  The calendar is cranking back up with all kinds of events while we wait for Spring to arrive.  Here's a list of the upcoming webinars and events that I just added to the Events Calendar.  There's the usual local seed and plant exchanges, and so me great freebie classes offered through the library.  And some really good online webinar series as well. 

Lots of good stuff here, people! Here are just a few:

Weekly Webinar Series on Small Farms
The Small Farm Webinar Series is a weekly educational series for the small farm community and provides practical knowledge on emerging topics which advance local food production in Illinois. This series of online events is aimed at providing small farm producers with a look at how leading practices in production, management, and marketing enable operations to improve profitability and sustainability.

Webinars air live each Thursday at 1:00 – 2:30 pm and include a question and answer session. If you cannot attend, a link to the recorded webinars will be available to view at your convenience for all those who register.

Date Topic
Jan. 15, 2015 – No-till culture for Peppers & Tomatoes
Jan. 22, 2015 – Growing Hops for Market
Jan. 29, 2015 – Potato Production
Feb. 5, 2015 – Sweet Corn Production
Feb. 12, 2015 – Perennial Crops for Small Farms
Feb. 19, 2015 – Understanding Insecticides
Feb. 26, 2015 – Blueberry Production
Mar. 5, 2015 – Hydroponics
Mar. 12, 2015 – Effective Farmers Market Displays
Mar. 19, 2015 – Veggie Compass Record-Keeping Software
Mar. 26, 2015 – Variety Selection & Rootstocks for Establishing Apple Orchards

To register for each webinar, log onto http://go.illinois.edu/2015winterwebinars.  For any question contact Miki White, University of Illinois Extension, Small Farms/Local Foods Program Coordinator at 309-342-5108.


Free Webinar to Feature Urban Farmers Discussing Strategies for Managing Risk 
 
Urban farmers face many risks in producing safe and affordable food.  Some of the risks are common to all types of farming; however, many are unique to the urban setting, including zoning regulations, access to water, and managing contaminated soils.  While many cities in the U.S. are working to address some of the needs of urban farmers, profitability remains a challenge.
A free January 15 webinar, “Managing Risks on an Urban Farm,” will focus on the risk management strategies of two urban farms and how they have overcome several of the barriers facing urban farmers today. The webinar is being presented by the National Center for Appropriate Technology (NCAT) and NCAT's ATTRA program and is funded by the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture (USDA-NIFA), 2012-68006-30177.
 
Title: Managing Risks on an Urban Farm
Cost:  Free
Date: January 15, 2015
Time: 11 a.m. Central Standard Time
To Register:  Go online at https://attra.ncat.org/managing_risks/
 

 

1 comment:

  1. Okay, those are cool links. I'll check them out further tomorrow, as it looks like I may have another chance to garden out west this year :-)

    ReplyDelete

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...