Tag Archives: Okra Paradise Farms

Draft Schedule @ SOGALO15 2015-01-24

Here’s the current draft schedule for the conference, with all five tracks.

Bees, bugs, and oils; plants, planting, and soils!
Herbs, small fruits, and citrus; cooking, fermenting, and curing!
Goats, fish, and chickens; water, solar, and weaving!
Nutrition, seed saving, and permaculture!

The current updated schedule will always be in the main conference page.

Session Time Track 1 Track 2 Track 3 Track 4 Track 5
Welcome 9:00-9:15




Session 1 9:30-10:30 Local Cooking — Christine and Angela Hagen Soil Building — Julia Gaskins Small and Unusual Fruits and Vegetables — Dr. Bret Wagenhorst TBD Back Yard Hens — Dr. Claudia Dunkley
Session 2 10:45-11:45 Local Oils — Clay Oliver Planting by the Almanac — Terry Davis Invasive Plants — Karan Rawlins Permaculture and Sustainability — Stewart Douglas Bees — Raynae Jones
Lunch 12:00-1:00




Session 3 1:15-2:15 Herbs — TBD Fermenting — Janisse Ray Citrus — Mark Crawford Reducing Waste — Feeding America Goats — Bobbie Golden
Session 4 2:30-3:30 Nutrition — Karen Chapman Aquaponics — Dr. Pat Duncan Textiles — Lisa Smith Solar — Ron Jackson Curing Meats — Derrick Dawson
Session 5 3:45-4:45 Essential Oils — Mary Clement Bug Identification — David Riley Water Collection — John S. Quarterman Goat Milk Soaps — Tom Kuettner Hydroponic Greenhouses — Jeff Morgan and Tony Mallory
Wrap Up 4:50-5:00




Updated January 18

-gretchen

Building Healthy Soils –Julia W. Gaskin @ SOGALO15 2015-01-24

Crops need soils with organic matter, as a UGA soil specialist reminds us.

Healthy soils are fundamental to growing crops sustainably. The key to heathy soils is organic matter because organic matter is so important for microorganisms and the other soil creatures. Most of our agricultural soil have very low soil organic matter from years of farming. It can be a challenge to increase organic matter in South Georgia with its sandy soils and hot, humid climate, but it can be done. Come learn basic principles of soil management and strategies for you to improve your soil health.

Julia Gaskin is the Continue reading →

Essential Oils –Mary Clement @ SOGALO15 2015-01-24

Not all growing is for food, as Mary Clement of Four Seasons Oils (facebook) reminds us.

Learn all about essential oils!

Discover the benefits of therapeutic grade essential oils and how they can be used to improve your physical and emotional wellbeing. Learn about the different grades of oils, various applications for them and how these powerful resources can work as natural, chemical-free replacements for items you use every single day. Discover how simple it is to remove toxic products from your life with the aid of essential oils.

There will be Continue reading →

UGA Vegetable Growers Workshop 2015-01-30

300x225 2015 Cornucopia, in Vegetable Growers Workshop, by UGA Horticulture, for OkraParadiseFarms.com, 30 January 2015 How to grow your own vegetables for food and/or profit, according to UGA Griffin, at the end of this month. You can register by printing and mailing the PDF form, or through the event website. -jsq

University of Georgia Horticulture Presents:
Vegetable Growers Workshop

This program will cover many aspects of how to grow your own Continue reading →

Five tracks at South Georgia Growing Local @ SOGALO15 2015-01-24

300x225 Tracks, in Raccoon tracks., by John S. Quarterman, for OkraParadiseFarms.com, 10 May 2008 There are five tracks (final schedule coming soon) and several people have asked if it is possible to go to all of the talks at the conference. It is if you are 5 people.

The day will be something like this:

9-9:15Welcome
9:30 – 10:30Session I
10:45-11:45Session II
12-1 Lunch
1:15-2:15Session III
2:30-3:30Session IV
3:45-4:45Session V

So that’s five sessions, each of which (except the Welcome) will have five tracks.

Looking forward to seeing everyone on the 24th.

-gretchen

Small organic farms can (already) feed the world

Research, including studies presented at the conference in Istanbul, is showing that organic agriculture can deliver reliably high yields ”and that organic fields thrive in the face of disaster and duress, where chemical-reliant crops falter. Organic fields, for example, fare significantly better than chemically managed ones in the face of extreme weather, such as droughts or floods.

Anna Lappe, for takepart, 4 November 2014, Yes, Organic Farming Can Feed the World, Continue reading →

Resolve to come to South Georgia Growing Local in the new year @ SOGALO15 2015-01-24

Still thinking about what resolutions to make for the new year? Resolve to come to South Georgia Growing Local 2015 conference at Pine Grove Middle. You can register and pay on-line or mail a check and reserve your place now.

Website including registration.

facebook event and community, but remember to register, too!

-jsq

Basics for integrating vegetable and fish production in aquaponics –Pat Duncan @ SOGALO15 2015-01-24

Dr. Pat Duncan, director of the Georgia Center for Aquaculture Development, Fort Valley State University, Fort Valley, GA, will explain aquaculture.

300x377 Dr. Pat Duncan with tilapia, in Basics for integrating vegetable and fish production in aquaponics, by Pat Duncan, for OkraParadiseFarms.com, 22 December 2014 Safe local food movements are no longer a passing fad as consumers avoid the dangers and fears associated with processed industrialized food. Any number of associated causes drives concerns about GMO plants, pesticides, and other chemicals. With many options and systems designs available for cost effective ways of safe food production, one system with unique opportunities is aquaponics.

As with most food production systems, there are twists and turns on systems and designs to approach the development and management of an aquaponics system. Ranging from small do-it-yourself systems to elaborate automated commercial designs, each of these systems requires Continue reading →

Beekeeping: Backyard Hives or any size! –Raynae Jones @ SOGALO15 2015-01-24

You can sweeten your food experience with honeybees.

Anyone can be a beekeeper! From keeping a single hive in your backyard or 100 hives; learn how to get started. Beekeeping is a fun and important part of growing local. Raynae’ will share resources on how to get started with your own hive. Watch your own hive pollinate your garden and reward you with a sweet treat!

Who should attend: All ages interested in keeping bees!

Come hear Raynae at South Georgia Growing Local 2015, January 24th 2015, Pine Grove Middle School, near Valdosta, in Lowndes County Georgia.

-jsq

Spinning… because knitting isn’t weird enough –Lisa Smith @ SOGALO15 2015-01-24

How to make your own yarn.

I’ll be demonstrating how to prepare and spin natural fibers including different breeds of sheeps wool, angora and mohair into yarn using a spinning wheel. I’ll also show items that can be knitted or woven from your own handspun yarns.

Lisa Smith is an avid sock knitter who one day decided to learn to spin her own sock yarn. This adventure eventually led to the purchase of Smokey, her hillbilly French angora rabbit, numerous sheep fleeces and a houseful of fuzz. Her blog is www.lisathemom.com.

Come hear Lisa at South Georgia Growing Local 2015, January 24th 2015, Pine Grove Middle School, near Valdosta, in Lowndes County Georgia.

-jsq