August 31, 2023

There is a lot going on in

local food scene in southwest Iowa!

Dream to Farm

We are excited to announce our Dream to Farm class series. This is a revival of a class series that was offered by Golden Hills RC&D and Iowa Western Community College about 10 years ago. We've received feedback from past participants that the class was beneficial to getting their ideas off the ground and put into practice. We would love to help more people achieve their dream to farm. The series begins on September 14 and runs every Thursday evening, except Thanksgiving, until December 14th. This class is designed to help people expand basic horticulture and livestock raising skills, as well as develop a business plan that is relevant to their small farm business. Each week we will bring in teachers that are knowledgeable in that week's topic, including local vegetable and livestock producers. Instructors from Iowa Western's Small Business Development Center will be leading several classes and helping with business plan development. The cost of this class is $99.

Please click HERE to register, type Dream to Farm in the search box.

Seasonal Cookery Class Series and

Preserve the Harvest Class Series

Milk & Honey and Golden Hills continue to work together to offer classes on cooking and preservation skills in the form of two cooking series: Seasonal Cookery and Preserve the Harvest.

In July, Chef Jim shared a few tips about cooking with sweet corn and we made delicious cowboy caviar. The August class covered tomatoes, and in September the cooking class will feature apples.

The Preserve the Harvest Series has been well attended and fun. Be sure to check it out in October. The topic will be preserving with sugar. Stay tuned to Milk & Honey website, Facebook or Instagram for the latest info.

Southwest Iowa Local Food Summit

The Center for Rural Affairs with support from Golden Hills RC&D are excited to host the Southwest Iowa Local Foods Summit in downtown Avoca. This fun-filled and informative event is free of charge and will offer many sessions to choose from on various local food topics. More information, including session topics, will be available soon, but for now save the date, November 10th, 2023!

Questions: Angelyn Wang 402-870-1721, angelynw@cfra.org

Featured Farmer Series

We continue to work on our Featured Farmer Series. The following farms have been featured on the SWIFFI and Golden Hills Facebook pages, Instagram and on our website blog:

One Farm

Brun Ko

Hidden Hollow

Cottonwood Hills

Junge Farm Produce

Mud Ridge Ranch

Archer Aqua Farm

Flavor Country

If you would like to be a featured farm/farmer, please email Jamie at jamie.fowler@goldenhillsrcd.org.

Regenerative Agriculture opportunity

Golden Hills has received funding to help farmers in western Iowa implement regenerative agriculture practices. This includes conservation practices that protect and build soil health, diversify crop species, and integrate livestock. 

We are particularly targeting historically underserved farmers as defined by the USDA. This includes Beginning; Socially Disadvantaged; Veterans; and Limited Resource farmers.

If this interests you and you would like to find out more, email lance@goldenhillsrcd.org to learn more. 

Other Local Food Happenings in Southwest Iowa

Milk & Honey, the Museum of Danish America and Brun Ko Farm are teaming up for an evening of pizza, salads, s'mores and more. The protein and produce will be fresh from Brun Ko Farm. For more information, including the menu and tickets follow this link to Eventbrite.

The annual Avoca Main Street Longest Table dinner is September 16th, beginning at 5pm in downtown Avoca. Chefs James Calkins and Kaleb Darrington will be creating a delicious vegetarian feast with ingredients from the Avoca Main Street Market and other Iowa producers. Tickets will be available on Eventbrite beginning September 1st.

There's a new non-profit in southwest Iowa helping to improve access to local foods. Sycamore Ridge Small Farm LLC, Equality Farm and Foods, Garden of Paradise and Plot Twist Acres have joined forces to create the Local Iowa Food Empowerment 5b or L.I.F.E. 5b. Follow this link or check out their Facebook page to keep up to date with events that they're hosting or to find out how you can support their cause.

Contact: Jamie Fowler | Golden Hills RC&D | jamie.fowler@goldenhillsrcd.org