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Audio from the
2008 Tilth Producers Conference
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to Listen
Keynote
Address by Dr. Paul Hepperly, Research Director, Rodale
Institute - No Till, Organic
and Traditional Agriculture: They Can All Work Together
Organic no till farming offers the potential to
stimulate high crop yields, improve soil fertility and
structure without using agricultural inputs restricted
in certified organic agriculture and to confront
run-away climate change from greenhouse gas emissions
while improving soil productivity and health. See the
Rodale Institute website.
(1 hr. 3 min.; 7.2 MB)
Certified
Organic Greenhouse Vegetable Production
Blair McHenry, Executive
Director of the Canadian Organic Greenhouse Growers
Association, owns and operates both Dominion Organics, a
certified organic greenhouse operation, and Agroganic
Products, a commercial fertilizer production company
which specializes in certified organic fertility inputs.
Blair provides an overview of the conventional
hydroponic greenhouse vegetable production industry that
has developed in Holland, Canada and the United States,
and contrasts these "mega" high tech, capital-intensive
operations with the opportunities afforded the smaller,
low tech, local organic grower.
(1 hr. 12 min.; 8.34 MB)
Compost
Teas and Compost Extracts in the Era of Food Safety
Learn more about producing and
using compost, compost tea, and compost extracts in a
safe and effective manner. Become a proactive biological
farmer – inoculate your soil and plants with beneficial
microbes while keeping a safety net between your farm
and lawsuits. Steve Scheuerell, workshop presenter,
teaches sustainable agriculture at the Evergreen State
College in Olympia and has been an organic farmer and
researcher with Oregon State University and the USDA
Horticultural Crops Research Lab.
(1 hr. 17 min.; 8.85 MB)
Efficient
and Appropriate Use of Farm Equipment
Mike Peroni of Boistfort
Valley Farm says this about his session: “Keeping in
mind the scale and nature of Tilth members’ operations,
I am going to quell the urge to talk about the newest
latest equipment, most of which I cannot afford myself,
and concentrate on those pieces that our operation uses
the most and which are of greatest benefit to us ...
such as Planet Junior Seeders, Mechanical Transplanters,
John Deere 71 planters, and Farmall Super A’s.” Mike
takes you through the process of plant production to
harvest highlighting the equipment choices that have
worked well for his farm.
(1 hr. 31 min.; 10.5 MB)
Greenhouse
Propagation and Season Extension
Amy Sills, former greenhouse
and crop manager at Full Circle Farm in Carnation,
describes her methods of planning and growing organic
starts for a 260-acre organic farm operation. Jeff
Miller of Willie Green’s Organic Farm south of Monroe,
talks about season `extension practices for west of the
Cascades.
(1 hr. 14 min.; 8.51 MB)
Hay
and Pasture Management West of the Cascades
Chuck Timblin, resource
specialist with Whatcom Conservation District, and
farmer Hans Wolfesburg cover some of the main resource
management and environmental issues related to raising
livestock using pasture-based feeding in Western
Washington. They also address some of the economic
issues associated with livestock production and
introduce a proven method for improving pasture
production.
(1 hr. 5 min.; 7.43 MB)
Integrating
Organic Seed into a Diversified Farm
Micaela Colley of Organic Seed
Alliance and Nash Huber, of Nash’s Organic Produce in
Sequim discuss opportunities in organic seed production
such as grain production for local markets, on-farm
animal feed, cover crops and organic vegetable seed
production in compliance with the NOP regulations.
(1 hr. 9 min.; 7.92 MB)

Intern
Labor on Your Small Farm: Relationships and Agreements
This informal roundtable
discussion explores how to make apprenticeship
relationships work for both the farmer and the intern.
Blue Heron farmers Anne Schwartz and Jules Riske
facilitate, addressing several systems designed to help
both parties find their way through challenges
associated with these unique relationships.
(1 hr. 29 min.; 10.1 MB)
Local
Marketing: Two Multifaceted and Complimentary Business
Strategies
Rebecca Slattery (Persephone
Farm, Indianola, WA), John Eveland and Sally Brewer
(Gathering Together Farm, Philomath, Oregon) have been
learning the old fashioned way how to market the
products they grow. Some highlights include taking
biodiversity to the limit—selling “weeds” for decent
profit; branding without advertising; old-school
frugality (Reduce, Re-Use, Recycle), finding a niche in
overwintering crops, and always looking for ways to
stack functions.
(1 hr. 10 min.; 8.09 MB)

On-Farm
Composting -- Static Aerated Pile Method
Scott and Amy Turner of Blue Dog Farm in Carnation
describe how they recycle horse bedding from local
stables into composted material suitable for application
on organic blueberries and raspberries. They describe
the static aerated pile method they use and the
equipment required to operate it. You’ll also hear about
recordkeeping for the organic program, final product
testing, and how the compost is used in Blue Dog Farm’s
berry operation. (1 hr. 7 min.; 7.7 MB)
Organic
Potatoes
Learn how to grow great
potatoes...or at least pretty good ones. Tim Terpstra
has been growing potatoes for Ralph's Greenhouse in
Mount Vernon, Washington for the past five years,
facilitates this discussion on small-scale organic
potato production. Topics discussed include soil,
nutrient, weed, disease, and irrigation management. Tim
is joined by Laura Masterson from 47th Avenue Farm in
Portland for a discussion about the results of the
farmer-directed OSPUD project, a participatory learning
process focused on improving potato quality and
profitability through on-farm variety trials and
research.
(1 hr. 7 min.; 7.71 MB)
Organic
Standards – State, National and International Issues,
Opportunities for Organic Farmers in the New Farm Bill
Miles McEvoy, Director of
Washington State Department of Agriculture’s Organic
Food Program discusses organic standards from a local to
international level. Local issues include WSDA’s
farmers’ market surveillance inspections and enforcement
actions taken by the program to protect organic
integrity. National issues include new requirements for
livestock to have access to pasture and new requirements
on using organic seeds. International issues include
grower groups, Participatory Guarantee Systems, and the
work of the International Federation of Organic
Agriculture Movements (IFOAM) to support the full
diversity of organic agriculture around the world.
(1 hr. 17 min.; 8.88 MB)
Pest
Management of Slugs and Cabbage Maggots
Hear about the ecology,
behavior, life cycle, and preventative management tools
of two lovely Northwest pests, the cabbage maggot, Delia
radicum, and a non-insect terrestrial arthropod—the the
gray field slug, Deroceras reticulatum. Amy Dreves,
Applied Integrated Pest Management Researcher, Extension
and Education Specialist at Oregon State University.
(1 hr. 6 min.; 7.64 MB)
Plant
Disease Diagnosis Part One
Lindsey du Toit, vegetable
seed pathologist for Washington State University in
Mount Vernon, covers the basic principles of diagnosing
plant problems, including a systematic process to help
differentiate problems caused by biotic (living) agents
from those caused by abiotic (non-living) agents.
Further processes are demonstrated that help
differentiate among types of biotic plant problems (i.e.
insect pests vs. pathogenic diseases, and bacterial vs.
fungal vs. viral vs. nematode pathogens.
(1 hr. 16 min.; 8.77 MB)
Plant
Disease Diagnosis Part Two
(1 hr. 14 min.; 8.49 MB)
West
Side Orchard Insects: Identification, Control, and
Habitat for Beneficials
David Muehleisen, entomologist
and faculty member at The Evergreen State College,
offers this session on setting up and managing an
effective on-farm orchard Integrated Pest Management (IPM)
program for Western Washington. He covers the latest
sampling and biologically based insect pest population
management strategies for selected orchard pests of
apples, pears and cherries. David talks about how to
enhance orchard habitat to promote beneficial insect
populations, biological and bio-rational control agents
for each of the pests, and alternative sustainable
nontoxic strategies for managing pest populations.
(1 hr. 07 min.; 7.69 MB) |