Annies Project Greenhouse Management Class

Im currently taking a lecture series offered by Rutgers University as part of Annies Project, a project to educate women in farming (its open to guys too).  Its once a week in person for 3 hours (including a free dinner), and a 1-hour weekly webinar.  This years 6-week class is focused on greenhouse management, including creating a business plan, plant choice, pest control, etc.  The class is a great opportunity to network with other local growers and enthusiasts.  There are people in the class who have greenhouse facilities that they dont know how to take care of, others who dont have any property, but have a lot of knowledge or interest in farming, and others who are very experienced and already have a farm business.  Ive already met other doing urban farming, and aquaponic farming.  Some of the cool things Ive learned about from just the first class are AgPlan (a free Agricultural Business plan tool from the University of Minnesota), and performing SWOT analysis to consider your strengths and weaknesses.  This is a national organization, so check out Annies Project to see if they offer a program near you!





Heres a link to some archived class footage.

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Aquafarm Update from 23 Jan 2014

Back to the Roots sent me a new air pump to replace my original pump that died.  They also sent me more zym-bac beneficial bacteria, and a large bag of wheatgrass seeds.  They also sent some new instructions that say to place the air pump vertically next to the aquafarm and run the air tube into the aquarium.  After setting it up, the water is flowing much better now, and I seeded all 5 pots with wheatgrass.  Since my aquafarm doesnt get a lot of light (necessary to grow basil or lettuce), and I drink a lot of smoothies, I wanted to try to grow a bunch of wheatgrass to add to my fruit smoothies.  Im glad the water is flowing, and the bacteria will be cleaning the water again.  Ill keep updating with the results.

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