Over the past month, we were fortunate to work with our partners and two Virginia farms in continuing our series of Demystifying Organic workshops and farm tours. Here are a few high points:
In late September, as the high flows of the North River and damaging winds of Hurricane Helene were winding down, we held a farm tour and workshop at Hobbit Hill Blueberry Farm in Mt. Crawford, Virginia. Farmer Haley Coloso of Hobbit Hill led a tour of the blueberry field—with over 2,000 blueberry plants!—and discussed her management, succession planning and issues associated with raising organic blueberries, some of which were planted by her father decades ago! We heard from Gretchen Oat with Where Food Comes From, an organic certifier located in Colorado, about how farmers can set themselves up for a smooth transition to certified organic, no matter the size or breadth of the farm operation. Wren Frueh, TOPP Mentorship Coordinator with Pennsylvania Certified Organic (PCO), outlined the mentorship program within TOPP and discussed how PCO works to match farmers who are new to certified organic with organic farms who have been through the process and want to help others make the switch to organic.
Chris Lent, Sustainable Ag Specialist with the National Center for Appropriate Technology (NCAT), also joined us and provided a trove of resources for farmers and growers looking to improve soil health and make their farm systems more resilient and productive. Chris’ experience in high tunnel and organic production proved to be an excellent resource for attendees and he highlighted many of the programs NCAT offers across our region. Lunch was provided by our friends at Friendly City Food Coop in Harrisonburg and sponsored by American Farmland Trust (AFT) as part of our farmer networking session. AFT’s Mid-Atlantic Crop Specialist, Gabi Salazar, joined us for the workshop and provided information on upcoming programs and grant opportunities for farmers.
In mid-October, we visited the Randolph Farm at Virginia State University (VSU) and in coordination with the Small Farm Outreach Program (SFOP) and Dr. Sanjun Gu we enjoyed a classroom discussion of the TOPP program and resources for farmers in the eastern part of the Commonwealth. Meredith Morgan, Service and Support Manager with QCS organic certifiers, joined us for an overview of how QCS works with farmers to guide them through the transition process and answered lots of questions from attendees on the specifics of what it means to transition to certified organic. Amanda Cather, Mid-Atlantic Program Manager for AFT, highlighted more grant programs opening up this fall for farmers and had lots of great resources and cool schwag (more cowbell!!). A delicious lunch was prepared and served by the 
wonderful hospitality staff at VSU and we ended the day with our networking session and farm tour of the Randolph Farm facilities, including the aquaculture and high tunnel growing areas.
Special thanks to Haley at Hobbit Hill and Dr. Gu at VSU for hosting these events and to AFT for sponsoring the food and networking sessions to allow participating farmers to relax, enjoy some new information on the TOPP program and learn more about their options for making the transition to certified organic! We will be hosting one more TOPP Demystifying Organic workshop and AFT networking session this year and more to come next year, so stay tuned!
Brent Wills, VABF Program Manager
