Community Scale Soil Health at Global Village at Tuck Away Farms:

Come learn how Global Village Farm's no-till practices are integral to their mission of building a more resilient community.

Throughout the day we will:

• Learn how Global Village Farm's no-till, cover crop, and community harvest practices are informed by their ancient Mayan/African diasporic agricultural values and practices.
• Learn how Global Village Farm's community and educational efforts are complemented and supported by no-till practices.
• Learn how Global Village Farm went from a meadow/sod field into a raised-bed, no-till system using all human power and hand scale tools.
• Discuss ways in which these management practices can nurture the soil and prevent and alleviate issues including soil compaction
• Learn about Global Village Farm's experiments with tarps, permanent beds, perennial and living cover crop, and intercropping.
• Learn about compost, vermicompost, biochar, compost tea and extracts and compost amendments mixes!

We will also:

• Enjoy lunch on the farm and mingle with other farmers.
• Learn several methods to assess soil health onsite with simple and inexpensive tools.

Cost:

Registration for this event is priced using an Equitable Sliding Scale, and ranges from $0 to $105 per ticket.  Please select the right option for you.

 Consider Paying More On The Scale If You:

• Own your home(s), have investments, retirement accounts, inherited money.
• Travel recreationally, work part-time by choice, have access to family money and resources in times of need.
• Have a relatively high degree of earning power due to level of education, gender and/or racial privilege, class background, etc. Even if you are not currently exercising your earning power, we ask you to recognize this as a choice.

Consider Paying Less On The Scale If You:

• Are supporting children or have other dependents.
• Have significant debt, have medical expenses not covered by insurance, have tuition/educational expenses.
• Receive public assistance.
• Have immigration-related expenses.  

Schedule/Agenda:

9:30 - 10:00am - Arrival and Blessing

10:00am - 12:00pm - Workshop station (1st Block)

12:00pm - Lunch (Culturally appropriate food provided by Activities at lunch tables for people to mingle.)

1:00 - 2:00pm - Discussion of NRCS services, Global Village Farm Tour (Jill, team) (2 or 4 teams)

2:00 - 4:00pm - Workshop station (2nd Block)

4:00pm - Wrap Up & Thank You

About Global Village Farm:

Global Village at Tuck Away Farm is a 52 acre farm with a 2.5 garden located in Grafton, MA, working to build a more resilient community through the integration of educational experiences, justice work, and regenerative agriculture. Global Village Farm was founded in 2018 and is a project with the social and spiritual mission based on the ancestral practices of “Buen Vivir”.

Informed by many ancient Mayan agriculture practices, Global Village @TAF uses a raised-bed no-till system, integrating cover crops, mulch, intercropping, and other practices that work to sequester carbon back into the soil. In addition, they run a beginner farmer peer program where people are invited to come to the fields and harvest food as they choose. Volunteers who will be helping to present at this NOFA/Mass event: (More info on Volunteers below.)

About the Instructors:

Ulum

Dania

Matt Feinstein (he/him) is Co-Director of Global Village Farms and is motivated to turn the compost piles weekly when his 2 year old son says “let’s dig and dump with the big green tractor”. He is also the Co-op Clinic Program Manager with the U.S. Federation of Worker Cooperatives and loves worker co-op development and movement building.

Jane Olsen

Jen Salinetti (she/her) co-owns a regenerative, no-till, biointensive vegetable farm, CSA and education center in the Berkshires.

She will do an introduction into Systems & Methods of Regenerative Farming. Learn the essentials of bed prep in a no-till, permanent bed system for both direct seeded crops and transplants. Dive deeper into our comprehensive system for successive crop production of lettuce to learn how to maximize yields while growing nutrient-dense and beautiful food.

Ruben Parilla (he/him) works as the Soil Tech Coordinator for NOFA/Mass where he is responsible for implementing and performing field sampling protocols. He has 15 years of experience in the Environmental Laboratory industry and is currently pursuing microscopy certification through Dr. Elaine’s™ Soil Food Web School. Ruben believes in the guiding principles of land stewardship and that we all share this responsibility. When he is not actively working the land, Ruben enjoys gathering forest medicine, fermentation and home gardening to name a few. Finalmente, Rubén es bilingüe y quiere saber de usted.

Monique Bosch (she/her) is trained in landscape design, horticulture and soil biology and she teaches microscopy, composting, and soil health. She operates Wiggle Room, a vermicomposting company, with her son Justin. She works as the Soil Health Lead for CT NOFA. She co-founded and ran Green Village Initiative, an urban farm and school garden non-profit in Bridgeport, CT. Monique will lead the soil biology presentation and training for this workshop.

Jill Ferreira

About Volunteers:

Global Village Farm volunteer program takes place on Sundays in the spring and fall, and runs during the summer as well. Volunteers help with every aspect of the farm and bring very important energy and enthusiasm to our project, including an array of social movements.

More Information:

Portions of our farm tour will cover uneven terrain. We want to make sure your accessibility needs are met during the event. Please share with us your needs regarding (but not limited to): physical accessibility, allergies, noise, scent, gender, intellectual accessibility, and any instructions or tips to help you fully participate.

Masks are not currently required at this location but are greatly appreciated and encouraged. If you don't feel fully healthy it is okay to stay at home. We will share a quick video recording of this event with registered attendees, followed by a separate online event with similar content.

Refund/Inclement Weather Policy:

For information on our refund and inclement weather policy, click here.

Capacity:

Capacity for this event is limited to 50 people. Please remember to abide by current MA state guidelines for group gatherings and travel to minimize the transmission of COVID-19. Register ahead of time to secure your space!

Questions?

Contact Dora Miller, NOFA/Mass Educational Events Coordinator, at dora@nofamass.org or 857-265-0598

Sponsors

Massachusetts Department of Agriculture (MDAR)