Wash station rules for before and after washing to ensure safety.

The What to Wash and What Not to Wash signs are visual aides to assist farmers at the wash station in order to recognize which vegetables should be washed in water and those that should not be washed with water. This resource can be used by staff as a guide to teach farmers during a workshop on post-harvest handling, but then will stand alone as a large sign in a farm wash station area. Staff will use hands-on demonstration to show farmers how to utilize the wash station and follow food safety procedure; this is one piece of that education.

A Conversation with Lowcountry Local First and the Responsive Evolution of an Incubator and Apprenticeship Program presented by Brian Wheat, Lowcountry Local First, Friday, May 11th, 2018.

Join us for a conversation with Brian Wheat from Lowcountry Local First (https://lowcountrylocalfirst.org/). Their Good Farming initiative supports sustainable agriculture and is designed to grow and connect the local food system by training new farmers, supporting existing farm businesses and educating consumers. Additionally, they provide consulting services for private companies, municipal government, and anchor institutions to cultivate local farms and fill gaps in economic development activities. Lowcountry Local First has transitioned their farmer training program from an incubator farm model to an apprenticeship model that incorporates apprenticeships with local food businesses as well as farms, providing pathways to careers in food throughout the value chain. Learn about this transformation and participate in the discussion to see how their transition and lessons learned might be applicable to your farmer training program.

Marketing can help you decide what to grow or produce, choose where and how you want to sell it, differentiate yourself from other farmers, and make effective use of social media and other marketing tools. Learn the basics to doing your own marketing or supervising someone else. This series of 4 webinars is designed as a complete marketing class, but you can view each one as a stand alone course.

Webinar 4: Building Online Engagement to Market Your Farm
Websites, social media, email, and other types of digital marketing are great tools, but they can also be a huge waste of time. This session will cover basic dos and don’ts of websites, tips for getting found on the web through search engine optimization and online directories, and making the most of email and social media marketing.

About the Instructor:
Myrna Greenfield, founder and “Top Egg” at Good Egg Marketing, provides expert marketing for good food and good causes. Good Egg helps businesses increase sales and build customer loyalty through brand development, sales and marketing strategies, websites, and social media. Greenfield is a frequent speaker, trainer and workshop presenter. She holds an MBA from the Simmons School of Management and lives in Boston, Massachusetts.

Webinar recorded on June 20, 2018. 

Paperwork can be the bane of the certified-organic, GAPs-audited, and financially-aware farmer. Learn how to capture information, get on top of your paperwork, and wow your inspector, auditor, and banker. Chris Blanchard provides an overview of the basic techniques he and his crew used to gather information and keep it organized for easy access with a minimum of effort.

To help us continue to provide high quality programs and events, please fill out this brief evaluation after watching the webinar: http://www.tfaforms.com/377522

Marketing can help you decide what to grow or produce, choose where and how you want to sell it, differentiate yourself from other farmers, and make effective use of social media and other marketing tools. Learn the basics to doing your own marketing or supervising someone else. This series of 4 webinars is designed as a complete marketing class, but you can view each one as a stand alone course. 

Webinar 2: Create a Farm Marketing Plan to Achieve Your Sales Goals
Learn how to create a simple marketing plan that will help you reach your sales goals. We’ll review product, pricing, and distribution options and discuss the design, promotion, and people you’ll need to implement your plan.

About the Instructor:
Myrna Greenfield, founder and “Top Egg” at Good Egg Marketing, provides expert marketing for good food and good causes. Good Egg helps businesses increase sales and build customer loyalty through brand development, sales and marketing strategies, websites, and social media. Greenfield is a frequent speaker, trainer and workshop presenter. She holds an MBA from the Simmons School of Management and lives in Boston, Massachusetts.

Webinar recorded on June 6, 2018.

Marketing can help you decide what to grow or produce, choose where and how you want to sell it, differentiate yourself from other farmers, and make effective use of social media and other marketing tools. Learn the basics to doing your own marketing or supervising someone else. This series of 4 webinars is designed as a complete marketing class, but you can view each one as a stand alone course. 

Webinar 3: Creating a Strong Brand for Your Farm
Your farm brand consists of everything that you offer, say, or do, from the quality of your produce or meat to the color of your logo to the way you greet your customers. This session will explain how to creating a clear, consistent, and compelling brand that can help people remember your farm, build customer loyalty, and increase sales.

About the Instructor:
Myrna Greenfield, founder and “Top Egg” at Good Egg Marketing, provides expert marketing for good food and good causes. Good Egg helps businesses increase sales and build customer loyalty through brand development, sales and marketing strategies, websites, and social media. Greenfield is a frequent speaker, trainer and workshop presenter. She holds an MBA from the Simmons School of Management and lives in Boston, Massachusetts.

Webinar recorded on June 13, 2018.

Marketing can help you decide what to grow or produce, choose where and how you want to sell it, differentiate yourself from other farmers, and make effective use of social media and other marketing tools. Learn the basics of doing your own marketing or supervising someone else. This series of 4 webinars is designed as a complete marketing class, but you can view each one as a stand alone course. 

Webinar 1: Use Market Research to Guide Farm Business Decisions

If you want to grow your business, you need to sell more to your existing customers, sell to new customers, and/or expand the number of products or services you offer. Market research can help you generate new ideas and choose the best options. This session will show you how to use basic market research to assess market trends, understand your current or potential customers, and decide what products, prices and channels make sense for your farm. 

About the Instructor:

Myrna Greenfield, founder and “Top Egg” at Good Egg Marketing, provides expert marketing for good food and good causes. Good Egg helps businesses increase sales and build customer loyalty through brand development, sales and marketing strategies, websites, and social media. Greenfield is a frequent speaker, trainer and workshop presenter. She holds and MBA from the Simmons School of Management and lives in Boston, Massachusetts. 

Webinar recorded on May 30, 2018. 

Using this guide, farmers will learn about weeds, why it is important to manage them, and about different tools, techniques, and approaches for weed management they can use in their fields. They also review the effect of tilling on soil health. This teaching resource was developed by Global Gardens in Boise, Idaho in partnership with the Institute for Social and Economic Development (ISED Solutions). Refugee farmer training programs across the country provided feedback on this lesson, which is now integrated throughout the guide.