TOGA

Michael Ableman Keynote Address

Michael Ableman is a farmer, author, and photographer and a recognized practitioner of sustainable agriculture and proponent of regional food systems. He has written several books and numerous essays and articles, and lectures extensively on food, culture, and sustainability worldwide. Michael is currently farming at the Foxglove Farm on Salt Spring Island in British Columbia, home of The Center for Arts, Ecology & Agriculture.

http://www.fieldsofplenty.com/

John Seaborn on Bees

John and his wife are members of the Nashville Area Beekeepers Association where he served as vice president for two years. They are also members of the Tennessee Beekeepers Association, the Columbia Beekeepers Association, and several other Tennessee bee clubs. He is currently serving as president of the Three Rivers Bee Club in Dickson. Due to the rising interest in the natural sized bees, he also gives lectures about the 4.9 bees and organic beekeeping practices at bee clubs throughout the state.

Cindy Shapton on Herbs

With more and more people wanting to grow organic food and medicine in their backyards, knowledge of herbs is essential.
From companion planting to compost tea to feeding chickens to seasoning dinner to insect bite relief, herbs are a gardener’s best friend.
Join Cindy as she shows you simple ways to incorporate herbs into your everyday life. www.cindyshapton.com

Cindy Shapton is a garden writer, speaker, blogger, designer and a contributing garden expert to Tractor Supply Company’s ‘Know How Central’. She is the former owner of Hyssop Hill Herb Farm in Franklin, TN and the past president of the Williamson County Master Gardeners.

Cindy is the author of “The Cracked Pot Herb Book” – Simple Ways to Incorporate Herbs into Everyday Life. Visit her website www.cindyshapton.com and her blog www.crackedpotgardener.blogspot.com

Alyce Dobyns and Megan Lightell - Gardening with Backyard Chickens

Now that backyard laying hens are legal in Nashville, it is time to start planning your flock! In this breakout session, we will discuss the basics of backyard hen care, choosing breeds, and designing a coop, with emphasis on the role of hens as pest reducers and compost helpers. Find out how hens can reduce your workload in the garden and become a part of your family.

Alice Dobyns is a Master Gardener and community activist with several years of experience raising hens as garden helpers. She has taught backyard chicken classes, exhibiting her chickens to children at the Adventure Science Museum, and has talked about her experiences to several Nashville organizations. She is a founding member of UCAN and currently acts as the project leader for educational, lecture, conference programs.

Megan Lightell is an artist and urban homesteader. Her family maintains a micro-flock of laying hens as a part of their 1/2 acre garden in Nashville, where they grow most of their own vegetables year-round. She volunteers with UCAN (Urban Chicken Advocates of Nashville) and is also involved with Plant the Seed, a garden-based education nonprofit.

Greg Brann - Building Soil with Plant and Animal Diversity

Build energy in the soil using holistic management techniques. Focus will be on building carbon in the soil through management of the Water Cycle, Mineral Cycle, Energy Flow and Community Dynamics. Plant diversity captures energy and water which is managed with animal diversity to return nutrients to the soil and to create disturbance and recovery of the plant community.

Greg Brann is the Grazing Lands Specialist for Tennessee with the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service:
→ B. S. Degree in Plant Science, The University of Tennessee, Knoxville
→ 33 years experience with Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS)
→ Certified Crop Advisor
→ Outstanding Young Men of America
→ Family Farm: 240 acre pasture, beef cows, stockers, goats, hair sheep, tobacco and Christmas trees

An Peischel - Goats: Practices that Sustain Livestock Well-Being

In this workshop you will learn from the best. Through An's expert knowledge, you will leave this session with information on:
→ Pastureland and woodland management
→ Herbal leys in pastures/Utilization of condensed tannin plants for natural deworming
→ Healthy soil – what they are and how to avoid erosion or decimation
→ Stress management for livestock
→ Environmental/Economic/Marketing

An Peishel has owned and managed Goats Unlimited for the past 26 years. Her goat meat has been featured at the famous Chez Panise and Oberon Restaurants in San Fransisco as well as other fine eating establishments throughout the U.S. An has always put animal well-being and quality of product above all else. Her sustainable agriculture practices allow for healthy meat goats and meat with exquisite flavor.

David Cook on Beneficial Insects

David is a University of Tennessee Extension agent in Davidson County. Before taking the position in 2005, he was the Senior Laboratory Technician for the University of Tennessee Plant and Pest Diagnostic Center. His work involved the identification of insects and spiders, plant diseases, lawn weeds, and nematode assays. As a Master Gardener, David is the Project Manager over the Davidson County Demonstration/Research Garden and teaches classes on insects, diseases and weeds for Davidson and other county’s Master Gardener programs.

David Lockwood on Brambles, Blueberries, Raspberries

Dr. David Lockwood received his Ph.D and M.S. degrees in Plant Sciences from the University of Georgia in 1974 and 1970, respectively. His received a B.S. degree in Horticulture from the University of Georgia in 1969 and an A.A.S. degree in Agricultural Engineering from Morrisville Ag & Tech College in 1965.
Dr. Lockwood joined the faculty of the Department of Plant and Soil Sciences in 1973 and currently works as Extension Fruit & Nut Crops Specialist.
Dr. Lockwood is an Extension Specialist specializing in tree fruits, nuts and wine.

Jeff Poppen - Compost: the Start for Healthy Soil

How plants grow, why compost helps, who are the beings in the heap, and what we add when we make a compost pile.

Jeff Poppen's (the "Barefoot Farmer") enthusiasm for composting, and the delicious result of real food and a healthy land stems from 35 years of organic farming and gardening. Now feeding hundreds of CSA members in his local community and in Nashville, this barefoot farmer knows the soil and its helpers, the microbes.

Ellen Polishuk

Back to Basics – The three legged stool of soil fertility and why it matters

All good farmers need to address all three aspects of healthy soil – biological, chemical and physical. Even organic growers can be out of balance. Let’s discuss aspects of each and measures you can take to bring your land to healthier state.

Organic Veggies – Tips and Tricks to Increasing Profitability

We will explore which activities on the farm contribute the most to the cost of production and what you can do to address them. Consider farm economics and refining growing practices as you attempt to coax more profits from your farm.

Ellen is one of three owners of Potomac Vegetable Farms (PVF). She has worked at PVF for 24 years. She co-managers the Loudoun County part of PVF with Stacey Carlberg and Casey Gustawarow. Eight acres of vegetables and herbs are grown there, using organic practices. PVF in total attends 6 farmers markets, runs two roadside stands and services a 550 member CSA in the Washington DC metropolitan area. Ellen is now a lecturer and advisor at the University of Maryland, College Park, working with the Institute for Applied Agriculture. She is heading up the new efforts to teach sustainable agriculture. She also has a consulting business, working with local growers and land owners to develop fertility and production systems. She represents Midwestern Bio Ag, and Advancing Eco Agriculture, handling their line of dry blended biological fertilizers and liquid fertility amendments.

Jason Adkins and David Wells on Urban Gardens

While inside the last decade more than half the world's population have come to live in cities, urban food production has surged as a pleasurable necessity. The advantages and challenges of growing in the city will be discussed and the unexpected gifts. Hear a very brief description of what is happening in some of our world's cities, and a survey of what is happening in Nashville. Following this, our session will become a working group. We will invite you to share your knowledge of city food projects in Nashville, discuss what is needed to further urban growing in Nashville, and attempt to create a stronger network of urban growers--gardeners, urban homesteaders, urban farmers, food preservers, urban orchardists, etc.

*Jason Adkins* is the Environmental Projects Coordinator at Trevecca Nazarene University and the leader of Trevecca Urban Farm which operates from a constellation of growing works on the campus and in the surrounding community, which suffers from employment and food access challenges. Jason is a professor in the Center for Social Justice and leads the Environmental Justice Program. In this capacity, he leads students in academic reflection and direct environmental action and advocacy. After completing studies at the University of Newcastle, UK, Jason began a program called Grace Farm, which was an organic farm for men in recovery addiction. Following this, he created and managed for five years a small educational farm called Sonfarm for at-risk boys. Since 2009, Jason has lived in Chestnut Hill, just south of downtown Nashville, where he works within a cooperative intentional community and other neighbors to create and maintain several community and school gardens throughout the neighborhood. On Trevecca’s campus, Jason oversees a greenhouse, a flock of 100 chickens, multiple gardens, a diverse orchard, a campus arboretum, a biodiesel operation, and an aquaponics system—growing fish (tilapia) and plants in tandem. Jason was a founding member of the Tennessee Organic Growers Association where he has served as vice-president from its inception.

Carl Sams on Organic Tomato Grafting

Jane Hardy on Backyard Chickens, Urban Chicken Activist Network