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Clackamas, Multnomah & Washington Counties
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Program Updates
February is here, and that 1-2 week break in the rain is here.
Now is a perfect time to seed spring cover crops that you were not able to get in late fall. Broadcasting small seeded cover crops like crimson clover works well in fields that are two wet to be worked. Late planting like this works best in fields that will be planted with a cash crop late in the growing season.
Check out Managing Cover Crops Profitably for all kinds of great info on cover crops
Please reach out with questions related to you small farms.
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Metro Small Farms Team
Heidi Noordijk
Outreach Program Coordinator
heidi.noordijk@oregonstate.edu
Clint Taylor
Education Program Assistant
clint.taylor@oregonstate.edu
Organic Vegetable Program
Nick Andrews
Professor of Practice
nick.andrews@oregonstate.edu
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| Julie Chávez Rodriguez is our opening speaker! She is a political rights activist and the Director of the White House Office of Intergovernmental Affairs. She grew up in California in a well-known family of American labor and civil rights activists, the granddaughter of American labor leader, César Chávez and American labor activist Helen Fabela Chávez. Rodriguez previously served Rodriguez worked as a Program Director at the Cesar Chavez Foundation, and several positions in the Obama administration, including Special Assistant to the President. |
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2022
OSU Small Farms
Conference
Details:
February 18th & 19th, 2022
9:30am to 4:00pm
Virtual Event
Attend from anywhere.
Registration $25 per person, deadline to register is 2/14/2022.
Sessions will be recorded and as a paid participant you will be able to view these recordings after the live event is complete through May 2022. These sessions will not be made available to non-registrants.
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NEW CLASS!
$25
Nutrient management is one of the most important aspects of managing a farm. This course is designed to improve farmers' nutrient management skills, to help them reach the production and profit goals they have set for their farm business. In this course, we use the word organic in its broadest sense to indicate an ecological, whole-system approach to nutrient management
This is an intermediate- to advanced-level course, so we also recommend that participants have at least four years of farming under their belts. Beginning farmers are welcome to join, but may find the material challenging.
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$FREE
Introduction to Pasture and Grazing Management is for any livestock producer seeking to improve their pasture management and create a more productive and sustainable forage-livestock system.
This course is based on the premise that as a livestock producer, you are actually a grass and legume farmer, using the forages that you grow as a feed source for your animals. From that perspective, the course guides you through a number of topics and key strategies.
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$10 (Limited-time price reduction)
Designed for fruit and vegetable farmers, this course will help you develop an ecologically-based integrated pest management plan for your farm. Using the PAMS framework—prevention, avoidance, monitoring and suppression—you will learn how to make pest management decisions from the perspective of a farm ecosystem manager.
With this foundational knowledge, and with experience, you will be able to utilize the PAMS strategies to address specific pest problems in your farming system.
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Upcoming Events:
Feb 23 – Living with your Well & Septic
FREE presentation designed for rural residents to learn the basics about groundwater used for their drinking water and septic systems.
Feb 24 - Mar 17 – Forage Planning Series
This educational program assists forage producers in making decisions on managing pastures and hayground. Topics include using maps to determine physical soil properties, estimate current and potential production, and form management units. This information is then used to take soil samples for fertility testing and to make agronomic, economic input decisions. Part of this process includes the option of selecting to focus work on your best field first.
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CSA Share Fair
February 27th10 am - 3 pmThe Redd
831 SE Salmon, Portland
Learn about Community Supported Agriculture
- Meet 45+ local farmers and ranchers
- Watch local chefs prepare CSA dishes
- Engage your kids with fun food activities
- Unlock your Food Citizen Superpowers!
- Find Your Farm with our Matchmakers and sign up for a CSA
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Farming on the Urban Edge Conference
CONFERENCE SESSION 4 (February 11th, 2022) Navigating Farm Production in Tight Quarters: Crops, Products, and Strategies for Farming on Limited Acreages and Operating Near Residential Communities
CONFERENCE SESSION 5 (March 11th, 2022) Navigating Competing Community Interests and Policies: Long-term Sustenance and Collective Support Strategies for Peri-urban Farmers and Agricultural Economies
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Horse Keeping and Land Management Masterclass Series
Join Tualatin and Clackamas Soil and Water Conservation Districts and Alayne Blickle of Horses for Clean Water for this free six-week Masterclass Series on Horse Keeping and Land Management!
Whether you’re new to horse keeping or have years of experience, this course will help you learn ways to simplify your horse keeping checklist while managing your property in a way that benefits the entire ecosystem. That means less time cursing your wheelbarrow and more time doing the things you enjoy with your horse, all year long.
Feb. 9th – Mud Management
Feb. 16th – Manure Management
Feb. 23rd – Pasture Management
March 2nd – Nature-Based Solutions
March 9th – Firewise for Horse Owners
March 16th – Equine Enrichment
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Now is the time to create your crop plans for 2022 and being ordering seeds. ATTRA has compiled crop planning resources that can help you along the way.
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Hiring Multiple Positions
We’re hiring three full time positions over here at Zenger Farm! Short descriptions below with the full position descriptions attached. If anyone has questions or wants to learn more about the organization please reach out! Final deadline to apply for all positions is Thursday, February 24th 5pm.
Farm Assistant Manager – The Farm Assistant Manager is an integral part of farm operations responsible for supervising the crew, supporting small-scale production farming at Zenger Farm and the Beginning Farmer Apprenticeship. Farm operations include four acres of annual and perennial crops grown for 180 weekly CSA shares and local restaurants. Our apprenticeship program trains four full season and eight short season interns in small scale organic farming production.
Director of Programs and Partnerships – This new position serves as an integral part of Zenger Farm’s leadership team and is responsible for researching, planning, developing, and implementing Zenger Farm programs and associated partnerships. The ideal candidate has longstanding partnerships within the food justice, youth education, and agricultural community and will continue strengthening and formalizing our existing partnerships to center BIPOC-led community organizations. They are a seasoned Program Director and can direct all aspects of Zenger Farm program strategies to support participatory, community-led program development and delivery. They will work to increase our visibility and participation in food justice movements to strengthen Zenger Farm’s connectedness and capacity. This position works to amplify the voices of those most impacted by injustice, with the goal of becoming a better nourished, healthier and more just community.
Outreach and Volunteer Coordinator – The Outreach and Volunteer Coordinator works closely with all Zenger Farm programs to support volunteerism, events, and creates an inclusive space to facilitate community connections. The position is responsible for coordinating volunteers and planning engagement opportunities, including community events at the farm to engage our neighbors and people experiencing food insecurity in order to build community capacity. The ideal candidate has strong administration skills and a passion for hospitality that makes people feel welcome and valuable. The objective of our community engagement strategy is to increase food access, elevate community voices, build support, and strengthen connectedness in our neighborhood.
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Hiring Multiple Positions
Farmers Market and Delivery Driver
part time May - December
The Farmers Market and Delivery Driver Position is a part time position starting in May 2022. Tasks include loading orders, delivering produce to local grocery stores, driving safely, working efficiently, and being courteous to our customers. This job requires an industrious and trustworthy person who can stay focused and alert. Driving experience and clean driving record are a big plus. This is a job for a responsible, independent person who likes to be on the road and isn't afraid of driving a box truck/delivery van in city traffic. The position is broken into two areas of responsibility, loading, and delivering restaurant orders on Tuesdays and Fridays and working the farmers market every other Saturday which includes loading the farmers market truck and driving to market, working a full farmers market shift and driving back to the farm to unload and clean up from the farmer’s market.
Assistant Crew Manager
Full time May-December
Seeking one passionate, hardworking, and detail-oriented person to join our farm crew for the 2022 season. Ideal candidates should enjoy physical labor, possess a strong interest in food and farming, have leadership or management experience and appreciate working as part of a team. The Assistant Crew Manager Position will work closely with the farm managers to lead the farm crew in daily farm tasks. This position will focus on harvest crew and field crew management, working on all aspects of harvest and post-harvest handling of the over 400 varieties of vegetables grown on the farm and general crop care (including planting, trellising, weeding, pest and disease management). Although this position is primarily focused on crew leadership there will be ample opportunities to tailor responsibilities to your strengths and interests during the season.
Livestock Manager
Full time March - December
Seeking one passionate and hardworking individual who can learn the best practices of our existing livestock systems while refining and adapting them to evolving farm needs. Ideal candidates should enjoy physical labor, possess a strong interest in food and farming, have pasture-based livestock experience and appreciate working as part of a team. The Livestock Manager Position will work closely with the farm managers to oversee all aspects of the livestock program including pasture raised chickens and pigs, a small herd of goats and care of our livestock guardian dog. This position will also include working on the organic vegetable side of the farm when not directly engaged with livestock work.
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Hiring Multiple Positions
TRACTOR operator/Farm Crew
We are hiring a full time tractor driver. While some farming experience is a big plus (and tractor experience an even bigger one), we are very happy and set up to train to the specifics of our farm and methods. This job is a good chance to be a central part of our farming year, see the farm from a tractor seat, and really learn an important farming skill. Some experience with tractors or similar machinery is preferred. Some farming experience is required.
Farm Crew:
As a whole, the farm crew is responsible for doing most of the hand work on the farm. You will have a part in clean up, seeding, transplanting, irrigation, harvest, post harvest, clearing out the fields, and just about everything we do on the farm. You might work by yourself with some direction at the beginning of the task or you might work with a crew to get a larger task done. We work every week day, how many and which days you work can be flexible.
Market Help:
We need help running our very large CSA and on farm market each week on Tuesdays and Wednesdays as well as our busy markets on Saturday (in the Hollywood neighborhood of Portland) and Sunday (Orenco Station in Hillsboro). This part of the job is working a farmers market booth (or even a catering event) - you'll help set up the tents, tables, and veggies and then keep tables stocked and help folks choose their veggies. The set up phase of this job is very physical - veggies are heavy and we sell a lot of them; you will need to get them in and out of a truck.
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The Metro Small Farms Program is based at the North Willamette Research and Extension Center (NWREC). Variety trials and small-scale workshops occur on our two-acre learning farm. There are many other programs at NWREC that serve farmers in our region. Watch this 7-minute video to learn more.
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COVID-19 Advisory. Metro OSU Extension is working to keep our communities safe. All Extension programming is being provided virtually, postponed or canceled. We are available via email, phone and web conference
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Oregon State University Extension Service prohibits discrimination in all its programs, services, activities, and materials on the basis of race, color, national origin, religion, sex, gender identity (including gender expression), sexual orientation, disability, age, marital status, familial/parental status, income derived from a public assistance program, political beliefs, genetic information, veteran’s status, reprisal or retaliation for prior civil rights activity. This publication will be made available in accessible formats upon request. Program accommodation requests related to a disability should be made by calling 503-373-3774.
Please help us to monitor the effectiveness of our civil rights and affirmative action efforts and fill out our anonymous survey.
El Servicio de Extensión de Oregon State University prohíbe la discriminación en todos sus programas, servicios, actividades y materiales en base a la raza, color, origen nacional, religión, sexo, identidad de género (incluyendo la expresión de género), orientación sexual, discapacidad, edad, estado civil, estatus de la familia/padres, ingresos derivados de un programa de asistencia pública, creencias políticas, información genética, estado de veterano, represalia o represalia por actividad previa de los derechos civiles.
Te invitamos a indicar voluntariamente tu origen étnico, raza, y género en este formulario para ayudarnos a monitorear la efectividad de nuestros esfuerzos en cuanto a derechos civiles y acción afirmativa. |
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