Market Information

Hello all!

If you are looking for a Farmers Market in West Virginia, here is a great resource:

http://apps.ams.usda.gov/FarmersMarkets/

Another great resource is to look at the Buy Fresh Buy Local/West Virginia Farmers Market Association Website:

wvfarmers.org

The Community Garden Market featured in The InterMountain

Recently, the Community Garden Market was featured in a wonderful article in The InterMountain newspaper.

Here is the link:

http://www.theintermountain.com/page/content.detail/id/531021.html?nav=5014

This section really describes the market and it's place in the community:

"The garden market promotes the health and well-being of our community, not only from a nutritional standpoint, but economically, as well as socially," Hunt said. "It's not just a place to buy and sell fresh, local produce; it's also a place where people come together to share ideas, learn new growing or cooking techniques, support one another, and just catch up on community news. It provides an opportunity, too, for some of our local families to supplement their income. We've had several of our growers tell us that they depend on the income from the market to help pay high winter heating bills or cover medical expenses."

Traditional, or Modern, Agriculture

The other day I was listening to NPR in Michigan and they had a piece on the 'dead zone' in the Gulf of Mexico. The dead zone is a large area of water that is unable to support life due to extremely low levels of oxygen. Every year the area gets larger, and scientists believe that the oil spill will contribute to it. The point of the piece was to mention how the problem of the dead zone is being overshadowed by the spill in the Gulf, despite the latter's contribution to it.

The dead zone they believe is caused by chemical run-off from farms in the midwest. The fertilizers and chemicals from these farms all flow into the enormous watersheds that contribute to the Mississippi river. The Mississippi river then flows out into the Gulf of Mexico and causes reactions within the ecosystem, creating lots of dead organic matter, which when decomposing uses oxygen in the water, creating a dead zone.

This dead zone has been known about for years and has been monitored by various groups. The part of the broadcast that stuck out for me though was the word they used to describe the farms. The person being interviewed said that 'traditional agricultural' farms were contributing to the fertilizers and chemicals and runoff. I mainly found this interesting because if someone tells me something about 'traditional agriculture' I tend to think back to the days before large mono-cultured farms with hundreds, or even thousands of acres of one product. I think back to a small farmer with a homestead and maybe a few hundred acres to plant.

My question is more of a sociological one. When did modern agriculture become traditional? And if it never was, wouldn't the new 'organic' and poly-cultured farms count more as traditional, than the new stuff? Take for instance the beatniks. Would one say that they are a traditional culture? The use of the word would more or less imply something much older.

Modern agriculture in the form we know it now, has really been around for about 40-50 years. Slowly over the decades, the small farmer lost against large industrial agriculture that could afford to buy the latest seed, and all the chemicals needed to intensify and increase yield. Slowly but surely during the industrial revolution and beyond, people began to forget about utilizing nature's own devices to create a balance on the farm. Modern agriculture is really the exception rather than the rule in the course of human history. Everything that is happening now, would suggest almost a circling back to the older ways of doing things. Smaller production, fewer chemicals, etc.

The purpose of this post is just to ask the question and hopefully create discussion on this matter. What is traditional agriculture, and has modern agriculture turned into the tradition, or in other words the 'norm'?

USDA Grant creates opportunity for ecosystem-enhancing partnerships.

Through a partnership with National Wild Turkey Federation, The Forest Service, Tygarts Valley Conservation District, WVU Extension, and the Fish and Wildlife Service, WesMonTy will be working to implement conservation practices among farmers in the Gandy Creek, Laurel Fork and Dry creek watersheds in Randolph County.

The funds have been awarded for a three year program focusing on the improvement of natural resources on private agricultural and forested lands. The objectives are to control or eradicate the invasive plant species multiflora rosa, autumn olive, tyrol knapweed and other invasive species. These programs will also work to improve the soil quality and increase the diversity of plant species in the grazing lands. The program will partner with private farmers in addressing the goals of this program.

The methods used will include lime application, brush management, prescribed grazing, nutrient management, and forest stand improvement.

The photo is a good example of a hillside that is unevenly grazed.

Prescribed grazing is a concept that focuses more on natural, chemical free management of invasive species. It does this uniquely by using multi-species grazing on the pastures. It is a new concept that is thousands of years old.

By having several species of grazing animal in the pasture, this ensures a more even consumption of pasture plants. By using all these pasture plants more evenly, it helps to contribute to the overall health of the ecosystem.

Different animals have different preferences for plants. Cattle prefer grasses. In many instances when cattle exclusively graze a pasture, some species of plants will grow in abundance. By bringing in animals with different preferences, mainly a preference for the plants that cattle do not like, then it ensures equal consumption of the pasture. In North America two animals to bring in are sheep and goats. Sheep will eat more legumes, and some grasses that the cattle will not eat. The goats on the other hand will eat whatever the sheep and cattle do not eat. Another advantage of the sheep and goats is that they are more nimble than the cattle. They will be able access more of the hillsides that are common among the ranches in Randolph county.

An example of the hilly terrain common among farms in Randolph County.

By having an even consumption of the pasture land, the health of that system will be improved dramatically. The overall goal of the project is to increase the health of most lands in this area. After the initial three years, we hope similar programs will be encouraged throughout the state.

Keep coming back for more updates!

High Tunnel Projects in Michigan

We at WesMonTy came across an excellent article published by Michigan State University regarding some high-tunnel projects being done up there. They call them hoop-houses, but they are essentially the same thing.

Here is the link to the .pdf file.

http://www.mottgroup.msu.edu/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=NgeFE8B%2bsCY%3d&tabid=150

The article concerns the building of a hoop-house in Michigan for a test. The high-tunnel project is being done by David Conner. He is an established farmer and assistant professor with MSU. He also has an established network of buyers including a local farmers market, and some restaurants. He has taken the time to outline a business model of sorts, investigating the costs of the high-tunnel and the potential rewards.

He discusses the increases to his production, and he has even investigated the openness of his buyers to purchase certain foods in the winter. I recommend this article to anyone who is interested in building a high-tunnel.

This link to the C.S. Mott Group for Sustainable Food Systems at MSU is a great resource for anyone looking for information relating to sustainable projects they are thinking of implementing.

http://mottgroup.msu.edu/

They have several good resources on high-tunnels (hoop-houses), and some about raising animals, and growing certain crops.

This next link is for a document that has tips for people with high-tunnels.

http://mottgroup.msu.edu/portals/0/downloads/EatFresh.pdf

This website is a great resource for any grower, and we highly recommend it to the small farmers of West Virginia.

Keep checking back for more updates!

Earlier this year, WesMonTy donated a high tunnel to a family in the Chestnut Ridge community, just outside of Philippi.

For all who don't know, a high tunnel is basically an unheated greenhouse. Well, it is heated, but it uses the energy of the sun, instead of fuels. The purpose of the high tunnel is to extend the growing season both in the spring and in the fall. With increased temperatures earlier, you can produce crops like tomatoes earlier in the season. With increases temperatures later, you can also produce crops like leafy greens later in the season.

This picture is of the high tunnel frame being assembled. It looks like an airplane hangar, and when it is finished, it will have a special UV treated plastic over the sides. Like this:

This creates more of an isolated environment in which to grow food. It can help eliminate pests and diseases so the crops are healthier than their open-air cousins. The sides roll up and down for temperature and airflow control.

In this particular high tunnel, they have planted tomatoes, green peppers, and green beans.

These plants have been in the high tunnel for a little over a month now. The peppers are ready to harvest now. Another row of green peppers were planted outside the high tunnel. There is a noticeable difference between the two, with the ones outside lagging by several weeks and not ready to pick yet.

This is an example of the typical pepper inside the high tunnel. As you can see, they are large and ready to pick. Yum!

This is an example of the typical pepper outside of the high tunnel. They are not as far along as the peppers inside, but they look like they will be delicious!

Most of the irrigation for the high tunnel is provided through a water catchment system attached to the owners home. This allows them to irrigate for free. A solar powered pump allows for the pumping needed. They also have the option of city water, so they are still able to water the plants even during the recent dry spell.

Here is a picture of the storage tank they use for the water:

A drip irrigation system is used to water the plants as well. Lines buried in the ground ensure that water goes where it is needed and it increases efficiency by reducing the amount of water that is lost to evaporation.

For fertilizing, a injector system is in place in which the water-solubol fertilizers are injected into the water lines and go directly to the plant roots.

This project has a great potential to extend the growing season in this area. The expansion of these high tunnels throughout the area will help to increase access to healthful foods for everyone.

This particular plot will also act as a demonstration area for extension agents and people of the community to come in and learn new gardening and food growing techniques.

Thanks for keeping in touch!

The Community Garden Market, Downtown Philippi

Greetings everyone!
The Community Garden Market in Downtown Philippi has been open for over a month now, and things are really beginning to pick up! As you can see, the new shelving that was installed allows for much more room to house and attractively display all of the produce that is available.



Over these last two or three weeks, people have begun to harvest their produce and the market is on the verge of overflowing some days! We are beginning to see peppers, green beans, and even the first sweet corn of the season has come in!

Yum!
As always, there are homemade jams available as well as a variety of baked goods like pies and bread.


Small bags of herbs are available as well. A tall glass of mint flavored sweet-iced tea sounds great on a hot day!!


We even have some squash available and some leafy greens.


We all look forward to seeing you soon!