The Van Buren Conservation District is excited to announce that we are once again hosting a virtual Backyard Symposium! The series is called “Farming Big & Small” – exploring farm topics from large operations to personal gardens. This is an online speaker series hosted on Zoom in which folks have been invited to talk about a host of topics that connect people with the land and resources to grow and raise our food. Recordings will be edited and posted on our YouTube Channel after the week of live presentations.
Each day (Monday through Thursday) at 12:00 PM, our engaging speakers will cover topics about farming, from large operations to small gardens. Topics include: resources for farmers, gardeners, and livestock raisers in “Beginning Farmer Parts 1 and 2”, backyard poultry, and community gardens.
The schedule is:
- Monday, Feb. 5 | “Beginning Farmer Part 1”
Rachael Kidman (Farm Service Agency)
Lucas Hartman (Van Buren Conservation District/Natural Resource Conservation Service)
- Tuesday, Feb. 6 | “Beginning Farmer Part 2”
Alex Florian (SWxSW CISMA)
Kyle Mead (Michigan Agriculture Environmental Assurance Program)
Cheyenne Sloan (Michigan State University Extension)
- Wednesday, Feb. 7 | “Community Gardens” | Daywi Cook (Covert Township Supervisor)
- Thursday, Feb. 8 | “Backyard Poultry” | Gabriel Francisco (Van Buren Conservation District)
So, mark your calendars and plan to join us! Even if you cannot attend, register for the event and we will email out the link to the recordings of the presentations once they have been posted to our YouTube Channel.