News/Events - May 2014
28
2014
Upcoming Seed Saving Workshop
DIY Summer Workshop: Build Your Own Small Seed Winnower
Date: Wednesday August 27, 2014
Time: 1:00pm - 4:00pm
Location: The Cottage Gardener: Heirloom Seedhouse & Nursery (Newtonville, ON)
Cost: $65.00 per person (includes workshop materials)
Whether you are growing seed for sale or for on-farm use, one thing all seed producers have in common is the need for well-cleaned seed crops. With small seeds like brassicas, peppers, onions, herbs and flowers, removing chaff becomes more and more time-consuming as the quantity of seed is increased.
If you feel like you are past the point of hand-cleaning, and want to improve your efficiency, then join us for this hands-on workshop, where you'll build and take home your own small seed winnower.
Dan Brittain, of the Cottage Gardener, took an open-source design and has spent the last few years perfecting it. After several tweaks, the device has now improved the Brittain's production efficiency, and Dan would like to help other seed producers achieve the same results on their farms.
All the necessary materials will be included in the price of admission, with the exception of a simple hair-dryer, which can easily be added later. If you've already got one you'd like to use, bring it along so Dan can demonstrate how it fits into the design.
This workshop is being made possible thanks to the generous support of the Bauta Family Initiative on Canadian Seed Security. Pre-registration is required as space is limited to 15 people. If there is enough interest, a second session for the same day will be opened up. Ticket sales start this Friday, May 30 at www.DIYseedequipment.eventbrite.ca. If you are unable to register because the session is full, please contact Jay from Farms at Work.
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12
2014
A Taste of Honey
In conjunction with the Community Foundation of Greater Peterborough's 7 Days of Green, Farms at Work is hosting a honey tasting event, in celebration of the wonderful world of beekeeping.
Please join us at Black Honey as we smell, taste and examine over two dozen varieties of honey produced by members of the Central Ontario Beekeepers’ Association in bee yards all over the region. You’ll be amazed at all the different flavours, scents and colours we’ll encounter!
Like wine, the honey available from local beekeepers has “terroir”, a taste of place, which comes from where the hives are located. Much of today’s honey has gone through a process of blending and pasteurization, producing a homogenous, low-cost product that tastes the same every time. If we can appreciate the diversity of honey, we can also more fully appreciate the vital roles of honeybees and native pollinators in our food system.