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Caring for the Soil as a Living System

By VABF AdminMarch 31, 2018Articles and Research

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caringforthesoil

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vabfarming

VABF's mission is to educate about, advocate for, and promote organic and biological farming and gardening.
@vabfarming #vabf www.VABF.org

Celebrate National Soil Health Day next Wednesday,

Celebrate National Soil Health Day next Wednesday, June 23rd with the launch of the "4 the Soil" initiative!

Centered in Virginia and stewarded by VA Tech Co-operative Extension and the Virginia Soil Health Coalition, 4 the Soil will build awareness about the critical importance of soil and following four core principles of healthy soil management - in VA, regionally and across the country.

“Soil and water are the basis for all of life – human, animal, and plant,” said Danny Boyer of Four Winds Farm. “We need to sustain soil and water for ourselves and for future generations. Therefore, we all need to be 4 the Soil.”

Find more of their partner organizations and farms (including many VABF member farms) on their website, find resources for how to be 4 the Soil, and get on their Mailing List for updates: 4theSoil.org

IG @4thesoilva
FB 4 the Soil

VABF has been supporting local biological and orga

VABF has been supporting local biological and organic farming and gardening since 1978! VABF members include farmers, gardeners, homesteaders, students, teachers, researchers, and general supporters of local and sustainable food systems. We'd love to have you join us! https://vabf.org/join-or-renew/#join

This week, VABF members can enjoy free access to "Understanding your Finances" with C&F Bank and Foodshed Capital - find event details from Real Local RVA: https://reallocalrva.com/event/understanding-your-finances-a-virtual-workshop/

All VABF members also have access to our Partner Discount Code Page (on the VABF website). Right now, don't miss 7% from Seven Springs Farm Supply!

#organicfood #farming #localfood #VABF

Join us tomorrow for an exploration into building

Join us tomorrow for an exploration into building soil health through rotational grazing with Cedric Shannon of @weathertopfarm!

🍀🐄🌱🐖Soil Health from the Grazier's Perspective 🌿🐑☘️🐓
Thursday, April 8th · 12 noon - 1:30 pm · Webinar with live Q&A · Replay & slides will be shared after · $15 / $10 VABF Members
Register: https://bit.ly/Weathertopfarm
(Link to VABF Events Page in Bio)

We've partnered with @commongrainalliance to produ

We've partnered with @commongrainalliance to produce a series of free webinars about "Protecting Your Crops." The third and final webinar in the series will be April 13th with Charlie House of Earth and Sky Solutions about Flame Weeding! Charlie will discuss flame weeding for small and large scale operations, from gardens to market farms.
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Next week, we will be hosting another webinar - Soil Health From The Grazier's Perspective with Cedric Shannon of Weathertop Farm. This webinar is one of our paid webinars that directly support VABF ($15/$10 for VABF Members).
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Stay tuned to our newsletter and website for more webinars!
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*Link to all VABF Events in Bio*

This Friday join us for the next VABF Webinar: Bui

This Friday join us for the next VABF Webinar: Building Soil Health to Sustain Virginia's Farms and Protect Water Quality: an Organic Approach with Mark Schonbeck.

$15 / $10 VABF Members
Register to join: https://bit.ly/VABF_Mark

In addition to his work with the Organic Farming Research Foundation, Mark serves as VABF policy liaison with National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition of which VABF is a member group, and writes the policy update column for the monthly VABF newsletter.

In the past, Mark has led or participated in several on-farm research projects conducted by Virginia Association for Biological Farming, and collaborated with VABF and National Center for Appropriate Technology to help USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service programs better serve organic producers.

We're looking forward to learning more from Mark and hope to see you there!

Re-Open Woodson's Mill! Sign the Petition: http://

Re-Open Woodson's Mill!
Sign the Petition: http://bit.ly/Petition_CGA

From Common Grain Alliance (@commongrainalliance)
"Deep Roots Milling is a founding CGA member business and operates the historic Woodson’s Mill, the last commercially run water-powered mill in the state of Virginia and a cornerstone of Nelson County. In November, VDACS ordered Deep Roots Milling to cease operations because the historic mill did not comply with a new food safety regulation.

We believe this new regulation does not take into account the needs of the milling industry, or the preservation of a historic building.

Deep Roots Milling is a large buyer of Virginia-grown grain; its closure is a major setback to the emergent grain economy in Virginia.

Join us in asking Secretary Ring to allow Deep Roots Milling to resume operation until the new regulations can be amended to protect the milling industry and historical milling infrastructure.

Originally built in the 1790s, Woodson's Mill has been in continual operation throughout most of its history. It remains an integral part of the regional grain economy in Virginia today. As the mill’s current stewards, Deep Roots Milling is the primary producer of Virginia-grown grain products in the region, if not the entire state.

We have so much to share these days! The best way

We have so much to share these days! The best way to stay up to date is to sign up for our newsletter (link in bio).
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Today in the newsletter we sent out an #actionalert about the FDA's proposed traceability rule that could negatively affect small farms. Comments are needed from #farmers to urge the FDA to modify this rule and not place excessive traceability burdens on our small farms. The National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition & Carolina Farm Stewardship Association have shared guidance on how to send in your comments.
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If you were thinking about joining us for Pam Dawling's webinar on Feeding the Soil you still have a chance! The new date is next Thursday, 2/25. Just from peeking at the handout Pam has sent over we can already say this webinar will be worth joining! Topics covered will include growing and maintaining
healthy soils, crop rotations, cover crops, compost making, & organic mulches.
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We also have more webinars to share, including Yoga for Farmers (with VBFRC) and Building Soil Health with Mark Schonbeck.
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Go to VABF.org/events to register!

We invite you to join us next Thursday for the sec

We invite you to join us next Thursday for the second VABF-hosted webinar: Feeding the Soil with Pam Dawling, author of Sustainable Market Farming and The Year-Round Hoophouse.

In this workshop Pam will introduce ways to grow and maintain healthy soils, including:
·· how to develop a permanent crop rotation in 7 steps (and why your soil will benefit from this)
·· how to choose appropriate cover crops
·· how to make compost
·· how to benefit from using organic mulches

You can apply these principles from backyard to homestead and beyond.

Register today at VABF.org/events (link in bio) $15 / $10 VABF Members

With these webinars we hope to support VABF while highlighting some amazing teachers in the field of regenerative agriculture and biological farming.

This webinar will consist of Pam's presentation followed by a Live Q and A session. Audio recording with slides and notes will be emailed after the event to all who register.

Check out our story for some more great webinars and events we wish to share with you! #farmer #growfood #feedthesoil #VABF #soilhealth #biologicalfarming #farmingwebinar

Dan Kittredge, founder of the Bionutrient Food Ass

Dan Kittredge, founder of the Bionutrient Food Association, will be joining VABF tomorrow, February 2nd at 12 noon ET to teach us how to grow more nutrient dense food through practical applications and suggestions. There's still time to join, register on our website! https://bit.ly/VABF_DK
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If you're interested in continuing to learn about creating healthy soil to produce food with higher nutritional content, the BFA's 10th Annual Soil & Nutrition Conference begins this Thursday, February 4th. The Conference this year will be weekly web-based sessions every Thursday from 3-4:30pm ET from February to September. At checkout be sure to use code VABF to send $25 to directly support us!
Check out their website for more on this great conference! https://soilandnutrition.org/

Ira Wallace shares with us her tips on garden plan

Ira Wallace shares with us her tips on garden planning, her favorite tools for weeding, and which plants you should be starting right now. (Share your tips in the comments!)

You can find Ira's January Gardening Tips featured on the front page VABF's website! Direct link: https://vabf.org/january-2021-gardening-tips/

Here's a quote:
"Every warm day in January I am itching to start sowing seeds, but I know how important it is not to rush the season. Overgrown seedlings can be more stressed by transplanting and ultimately won’t produce any earlier than seedlings sown at the appropriate time. Check out SESEs article on what to sow in January for some oft-forgotten crops that actually should be sown this month, like rhubarb, asparagus, and bulbing onions, as well as a huge variety of greens."

Ira Wallace is a worker/owner of the cooperatively managed Southern Exposure Seed Exchange. Her latest book is "Grow Great Vegetables in Virginia."
Find more great tips, information, planning tools, and beautiful seeds at www.southernexposure.com

@southernexposureseed #southernexposureseedexchange
#virginianativeplants #organicseeds #seedsavers #gardeningtips

In lieu of our yearly conference we will be hostin

In lieu of our yearly conference we will be hosting a series of webinars from inspiring folks about farming, food, and related fields. We are thrilled to announce the first webinar in this series will featuring Dan Kittredge, Founder of the Bionutrient Food Association!
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February 2nd, 2021 12-1:30pm ·
$10 VABF Members / $15 Non-Members ·
Thank you for supporting VABF!
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Tickets for our Webinar with Dan Kittredge can be found on our website under Events, or by typing in this short link: bit.ly/VABF_DK
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From Dan: "Nutrient Dense crops are the byproducts of well functioning biological systems.
This workshop will cover a number of critical environmental conditions and management practices necessary for the production of these more flavorful, aromatic, nutritious, pest and disease resistant harvests.
The foundational paradigm of how plants have evolved to operate in relation to their environments will be covered, along with practical suggestions having to do with seed quality, mineralization, minimal soil disturbance, inoculation, in season monitoring, integrating cover crops, managing for soil aeration and hydration, and intention."

The webinar will consist of Dan's presentation followed by a Live Q&A session. Participants will be able to submit questions throughout the webinar which will be answered by Dan at the end of the presentation.

Sign up today! http://bit.ly/VABF_DK

Sign our letter and add your own comments! https:

Sign our letter and add your own comments!
https://actionnetwork.org/letters/re-classify-virginia-farmers-markets-as-essential-grocery-stores
#farmersmarketsaregrocerystores #vabfarming #vabf

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