EVENTS CALENDAR

First Tuesday Every Month

NOFA-NH Monthly Board Meeting

7:30 - 9:30 PM from April through October and 7:00 - 9:00 PM from November through March. Meetings are held at NOFA's office at 4 Park Street, office #208 in Concord, across from the State House, next to the Episcopal Church. Board meetings are always open to members and interested non-members alike. Please join us!

Summer 2009 Organic Garden & Farm Tours

All are Welcome! Tours are held Rain or Shine (extreme weather will cancel)
A modest fee of $5 per adult will be charged, but no one will be turned away if unable to pay.
Pre-registration requested but not required - 224-5022 / info@nofanh.org
For Potlucks please bring a dish to share, your own plate, utensils, and chair or blanket

July 9

Thursday 6:00pm

Organic Vegetable, Berry & Flower Production and Marketing Farm Tour
Rosaly’s Garden, Peterborough, NH

Rosaly’s Garden is the oldest certified organic farm in NH, and one of the largest, with 17 acres under cultivation. Owner Rosaly Bass, Matt Gifford, Farm Manager, and Betsy Marshall, Flower, Herb and Greenhouse Manager will discuss the many aspects of their farm business including the bustling open air farmstand, surrounded by one acre of u-pick flowers, and three herb gardens that include a water garden and u-pick berries. We will see how weeds are controlled by annual rye grass and plastic mulch with drip lines underneath (which also heats the soil, and in some cases delays insect damage.)

We will look at new equipment that reduces tilling, improves soil prep and controls weeds, and a water wheel transplanter. We will tour their six greenhouses, used for bedding plants, growing tomatoes and 3-season farming. Rosaly’s Garden sells 90% of their produce at their farmstand; the rest is sold to grocery & natural food stores, a cooking school and several private schools. They also run a plant order business and sell bedding plants. Fourteen employees keep the place running, Snacks/beverages will be provided by Rosaly!

Directions: From the Jct of 101 and 202 in Peterborough: take 101 going East until you come to a blinking light; turn Right on Elm Hill Rd (Rte 123). Rosaly’s is a couple of hundred yards on the right. From East on 101, look for blinking light as you come down hill into Peterborough. Turn Left on Elm Hill Rd. (Rte 123). There are state signs on 101 for the farm.

July 16

Thursday 6:00pm

Community Farm Project
Farm Tour and Potluck, Beetle Hill Farm, Warner, NH

Beetle Hill Farm is the site of a pilot community farm, supported by a grant from the State Department of Agriculture, Division of Pesticide Control. Eight people participate and learn organic farming and integrated pest management, using biointensive and sustainable practices that promote healthy soil, good growing conditions and pest management without the use of pesticides. For the past 3 years Beetle Hill Farm has produced organic fruits, vegetables, and herbs for the Warner FM and Kearsarge Mt. CSA on its 3/4 acre area of 40 raised beds.

The group process and the hurdles and successes of operating a community farm will be covered. Changes to the operation include converting to green manures and cover crops for spring and fall, and interseeding cover crops with vegetable crops. We will hear about the farm’s mulching, composting, biochar and composting worm processes. Tips on companion planting, and other resources will be available.

Directions from the south: Take Interstate 89 north to exit 8. At end of ramp take a left until the road ends at Rt. 103. Take a right on Rt. 103 and go 1 mile to the center of Warner. You will pass a few stores on the right before seeing the brick Town Hall and the Sugar River Bank. Take the street on the right in between those two buildings; this is Kearsarge Mt. Rd. Go 5 mi. up road until you see Gore Rd. on left (dirt road with mailboxes). Farm is first driveway on right.

Directions from the north:

July 23

Thursday 6:00pm

Urban Gardening
Garden Tour and Potluck, Concord, NH

Five years ago Scott and Laura Morrison tore up a large portion of their lawn to grow organic vegetables. That first year was so productive and rewarding that they became hooked on vegetable gardening and continue to eliminate portions of their lawn to create more garden space for food. The Morrisons practice crop rotation, companion planting and are working to incorporate permaculture practices into their garden. Their ultimate goal is to create a mostly edible, visually beautiful landscape on their small 1/3 acre city plot.

The South End of Concord where they live is a heavily settled residential area. They first transformed their side lawn into a vegetable garden designed to look beautiful from the street. Bordered with flowers it contains four large vegetable beds. They’ve expanded along the back of the house and an asparagus patch was added this year. They learned about organic gardening through trial and error, by reading publications and attending the NOFA conference each year. This year, they formed an organic garden club in Concord. The Morrisons also rent a plot at the community garden to grow the three sisters: corn, dry beans and squashes/pumpkins.

Directions: Take 93 to 89 to exit 1 (Logging Hill Road). Turn left at bottom of exit. Drive about 1 mile to first 4-way stop. Continue straight through intersection. After the intersection, Jordan Street will be the first street on the right. Turn right, second house on the right: 4 Jordan Ave.

August 20

Thursday 5:15pm - 7:30pm

Small Fruit (Blueberry/Raspberry) and Veggie Twilight Meeting (free)
Co- sponsored by: UNH Coop Ext, Rockingham County, NOFA-NH, NRCS and NHDAMF
Blueberry Bay Farm, 38 Depot Road, Stratham, NH
2 pesticide re-certification credits approved by the NH Division of Pesticide Control, and there is no cost to attend this meeting.

Blueberry Bay Farm is a 12-acre, U-pick blueberry farm in the Seacoast town of Stratham. Besides the 1300 blueberry bushes, Ron and Lois Laurence grow cut flowers and herbs, mixed vegetables and raspberries. Their crops are grown "naturally" with no use of synthetic pesticides. They follow Integrated Pest Management (IPM) practices using different insect traps for monitoring pests. They are successfully deploying parasitic wasps to preclude the need for spraying the blueberries for cranberry fruit worm, and also using predatory nematodes to hopefully attack the blueberry maggot larva that drop to the ground at the end of the season.

Alan Eaton, Extension Entomology and IPM Specialist, Becky Grube, Extension Sustainable Horticulture Specialist, Cheryl Smith, Extension Plant Health Specialist, Nada Haddad Agriculture Extension Educator, Rockingham County and Janis Connor, Agriculture Inspector with the NHDAMF, will cover the following topics: IPM; soil preparation and cultural practices; update on insects, diseases on blueberries, raspberries and mixed vegetables; organic, natural pesticide and alternatives; biological control; bird and netting control; and transitioning to organic farming.

Directions: Please use MapQuest or Google Maps for directions.

August 22

Saturday 10:00am

Build Your Garden UP! Raised Bed Gardening
Garden Tour, Pittsfield, NH

Are you a lazy home gardener? Welcome to raised beds, self-watering containers, and berms, the easiest ways to grow healthy organic vegetables and flowers! Tour hosts Marie Shaffer and Jerry Foster will cover construction, filling, planting, and maintenance… all in inexpensive 18” raised beds, self-watering pots, and berms which can grow just about anything, even atop our rocky ledge. (Hint: soil makes the difference!) They’ll even give you their recipe for the least expensive organic fertilizer! Marie and Jerry are active homeowners interested in do-it-yourself low-impact sustainability, even under difficult conditions. Marie is a UNH Master Gardener. Marie and Jerry have spent 4 summers growing organic veggies/herbs; Marie has grown ornamentals for 25 years. They have 4 acres, most of it in woods, located on a rocky ledge hillside…. and they say that if they can grow veggies and flowers, ANYONE can! They don’t sell to the public, but grow enough produce and flowers for their own use, with plenty left over for winter storage and gifts to friends and family.

Directions: Please email info@nofanh.org for directions to the host's address.

August 27

Thursday 6:00pm

Growing Health in the Back Yard
Garden Tour and Potluck, Allenstown, NH

Maria Noel Groves, owner of Wintergreen Botanicals, LLC, and host of this tour believes the best health comes from nature-- in its myriad forms--and our best medicine comes from the backyard. Maria’s herbal practice is located at her home which is nestled on two acres in the pine forests of Bear Brook State Park. This is her third season of growing and though new to gardening, Maria has twelve years experience in plant medicine and is a certified clinical herbalist trained at the Southwest School of Botanical Medicine (AZ) as well as Sage Mountain (VT) and HeartSong (NH). Her small herbal business offers consultations, classes, and articles.

Many medicinal herbs have been "inherited" from the previous homeowners, and the garden is ever-expanding. The gardens are scattered across approximately 1/8 acre. They have been improving the soil quality with compost, leaf mulch, and organic fertilizers; weeds and invasives with mulching and hand-pulling; and pests with neem and manual removal. In spite of mediocre soil and a lot of shade, a wide variety of medicinal herbs is grown for personal and educational use including ginseng, bloodroot, ginkgo, bee balm, goldenseal, elecampane, valerian, comfrey, and many in the mint family.

Directions: Basic directions: if you can get to Bear Brook State Park, you can get to her house. She’s about a mile or so up the road from the main park entrance, first house on the left, just after you pass New Rye Road. Otherwise please email info@nofanh.org for a pdf of the directions with details.