Make plans now to attend “EXPAND YOUR ZONE – EXTEND YOUR SEASON,” a season extension workshop led by one of the nation’s leading experts, Eliot Coleman, author of The New Organic Grower, Four Season Harvest, and Winter Harvest Manual. Eliot Coleman will discuss suitable crops, soils and fertility management, tunnels and tunnel construction, timing of plantings, yearly scheduling, growing crops not normally grown in northern zones, and much more. There will be plenty of time for discussion and questions.

The workshop will be held Thursday, January 15, 2009, 1:00 to 5:30 PM at the St. Cloud Civic Center. The $50 Registration Fee includes the workshop, afternoon break, and a copy of Eliot Coleman’s book, Winter Harvest Manual. Seating is limited. See the flyer for registration information.

The event is brought to you by the Minnesota Department of Agriculture and the University of Minnesota Southwest Research and Outreach Center with additional funding from: Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy Sow the Seeds Campaign, Minnesota Institute for Sustainable Agriculture, Wedge Co-op, Organic Valley, and UM Southeast Regional Sustainable Development Partnership.

The Farmers Advocating for Organics Fund (FAFO), which is a fund maintained by Organic Valley/CROPP Cooperative farmers to promote organic research and policy development, has provided two gifts to the University of Minnesota’s Southwest Research and Outreach Center (SWROC). Those gifts are helping the SWROC conduct research on organic no-till production and season extension using a high tunnel for organic vegetable production.

On September 12, 2008, Pauline Nickel, SWROC Head, and Jim Riddle, Organic Outreach Coordinator, presented Organic Valley management with a certificate welcoming Organic Valley to the University of Minnesota’s President’s Club.

The certificate read, as follow: “Through your generous support of the College of Food, Agricultural and Natural Resource Sciences, you help assure that the University of Minnesota remains vital and relevant in its mission of teaching and research, outreach and public service. With gratitude, we honor your philanthropic spirit.”

Doug Delling, FAFO Board member, and Jerry McGeorge, David Bruce, and Kate Shillin of Organic Valley graciously accepted the certificate and joined Pauline Nickel and Jim Riddle for an update on organic research and outreach activities being conducted by the University of Minnesota. They also discussed larger trends in the organic industry and future organic research opportunities.

Your invited to 2 days of the latest research and demonstration reports and grower interaction with high tunnels/season extension conference. This statewide conference will feature special guests Ted Carey – Kansas State University, and Kathy Demcheck – Penn Station University, as well as 6 University of Minnesota Extension staff presenting recent research with high tunnels. Growers will share results of their Minnesota Department of Agriculture Sustainable Ag grants with interplanting and solar soil heating. For those just getting started with high tunnel, there will be a beginning high tunnel session on December 4 from 9 am – 12 pm, just before the Minnesota statewide high tunnel conference.

This conference is limited to 100 participants. The cost is $100 per person which includes supper on December 4, breakfast and lunch on December 5, and all breaks and educational materials. For more information, please contact Jolene Pedersen or Terry Nennich at 888-241-0781. Print out a conference flyer which includes a registration form. This workshop is sponsored by University of Minnesota Extension, North Central SARE, Regional Sustainable Development Partnerships, Minnesota Department of Agriculture, and the University of Minnesota High Tunnel Research Project.