May 12, 2023

Farmers Market season is finally here! Golden Hills is planning on sharing information on social media about markets in southwest Iowa. If you are affiliated with a market, please check the listing and make sure that we have correct information. Corrections are appreciated and can be sent to jamie.fowler@goldenhillsrcd.org or text to Jamie at 712-246-8237.

Market Intern Position Open

Red Oak Farmers Market is seeking a Market Intern to help coordinate their twice-weekly market. The description of the market is as follows:

The position is part-time and runs from May 18 through October 14, 2023. The Coordinator or Intern will help with markets each Thursday, 4-6:30 pm, and Saturday, 9 am - Noon. The position offers great flexibility of hours and may not require attendance at all markets. Key job responsibilities include: creating and posting market information on Facebook & Instagram, confirming scheduled musicians, food trucks, and other community group participants, handling vendor inquiries, welcoming customers & visitors at the ROFM Welcome table. We are looking for someone who loves organizing events, supports the concept of building a local, healthy food movement, and is enthusiastic about Red Oak and community. The Coordinator or Intern will be mentored by current Market Manager Maggie McQuown and will be paid a weekly stipend.

If you know of someone that is interested in this opportunity please have them contact Maggie McQuown at mmcquown@visibleEDGE.com

SWIFFI Featured Farmer Series

We continue to work on our Featured Farmer Series. Our most recent featured farmer was Shad Swanson of Garden of Paradise, located southeast of Clarinda on the Taylor-Page county border. Visit the Golden Hills RC&D website to check out Garden of Paradise and other past featured farmers. If you would like to be a featured farmer please email Jamie at jamie.fowler@goldenhillsrcd.org.

Shad Swanson of Garden of Paradise stands in front of his newly planted garden in April 2023

Upcoming Events

A DIY Rain Barrel Workshop will take place at the Iowa Western Shenandoah Campus. Make a rain barrel and take it home. Click here to register.

Golden Hills, SWIFFI, the Center for Rural Affairs and Paradigm Pastures will be hosting a Farmer Meetup on Saturday, June 10th from 1-3pm at Paradigm Pastures. Paradigm Pastures is owned by Marine veterans, Quentin and Tiffany Carritt. They specialize in pastured poultry and care deeply about the health and well-being of the land, animals they raise, and the people they feed. This will be a fun networking and educational event. Snacks and beverages will be provided. Please RSVP to jamie.fowler@goldenhillsrcd.org.

Registration is open for the Community Food Systems + Farm to School and Early Care Conference taking place June 15-17 in Waukee. The theme is Growing a Culture of Celebration, celebrating food, collaboration and learning. The goal of this year's conference is to engage, support, and inspire individuals, organizations, and businesses in all areas of the food system. Register for a day, or for the entire conference. To register and for more information click here.

Other local food and ag happenings in southwest Iowa:

• Golden Hills RC&D is partnering with Center for Rural Affairs on new Farm to School programming in southwest Iowa. Congratulations to Carroll, Fremont-Mills, Logan-Magnolia, East Mills, and Stanton school districts for being selected to participate! Students and teachers have an opportunity to learn about agriculture and the importance of food production to promote access to healthy, delicious, locally grown foods. Learn more here.

• On May 20th, Rolling Acres Farm, near Atlantic, is hosting a Coffee & Pots workshop. Bring your favorite pot and fill it with beautiful flowers from their greenhouse. Cost is $35 and is based on a 15" pot, if your pot is larger, additional flowers and soil will be available for purchase. Visit the Rolling Acres Farm Facebook page for more information. This will be fun!

• Montgomery County Extension is hosting a Cooking with Kids Day Camp on June 8 from 8:30-noon. Fee is $15. Registration deadline is June 2. Visit the Montgomery County Extension Facebook page or call 712-623-2592.

• Montgomery County Extension is also hosting a Jam Making Workshop for Youth on Thursday, June 22, from 9-1:30pm. June 20 is the registration deadline. Spots are limited. Email Sadie at sagraham@iastate.edu or call 712-623-2592 to register.

• For those interested in beginning or improving their agritourism business, Shelby County is hosting two Agritourism Entrepreneurship Education tours on June 13 and July 25. The July 25 event features southwest Iowa sites: The Nie Grain Bin, Sawmill Hollow Farm and the Loess Hills Lavender Farm. For more information click here.

• Practical Farmers of Iowa have two upcoming field days in southwest Iowa. Rolling Acres Farm's Denise O'Brien and Larry Harris with Kent Morris will be Trying Out Tools and Talking About Farm Transition on Sunday July 23, from 2-5pm. Kevin Novak of Flavor County Farm will be discussing Mushroom Cultivation, Marketing and Tasting on Friday, October 6 from 1-4pm.

• The Practical Farmers of Iowa are hiring a Senior Horticulture and Local Foods Coordinator. Click here to learn about the position.

• Grow better broccoli! Three Iowa farms, along with the Practical Farmers of Iowa, with funding from the Ceres Trust, conducted research to determine how fertilizer practices on their farms affected broccoli production. To read about what fertilizers they used, and their subsequent findings click here.

• Eligible Iowa farm owners should apply for the 2023 Century and Heritage Farm Program now through June 1. The program was created by the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship and the Iowa Farrm Bureau Federation to recognize families who have owned their farms for 100 years and 150 years, respectively. To apply download the application here.

• Researchers with the Iowa State University Extension and Outreach have completed a three-year study of a soil amendment called biochar. To read more about biochar, the study and outcomes click here.

Funding Opportunities

• June 15 is the deadline to submit a proposal for the Composting and Food Waste Reduction Pilot Project offered by the USDA and NRCS. If you are part of a Native American Tribal Government, Native American Tribal Organization, School District, City or Township Government, Special District government, County Government, or Public Housing Authority and you are interested in developing and testing strategies for municipal compost and food waste reduction plans click here for more information.

• Enrollment for the 2023 beneficial insects cost-share is now open. Practical Farmers of Iowa and the Xerces Society are seeking urban farmers who would like to plant beneficial insect habitat on their urban farms. PFI will pay for native plants so you can create insectary strips or beetle banks. The goal is for farmers to use beneficial insects to increase natural predation and pollination on urban farms. If this interests you, click here for more information.

• The Practical Farmers of Iowa offer cover crop cost-share of $10 and acre. Participants must establish a fall cover crop that will proceed a corn or soybean crop the following spring. For more info click here.

• The Local Food Purchase Assistance Cooperative Agreement Program (LFPA) has been extended through May of 2025 and uses non-competitive cooperative agreements to purchase food produced within the state or within 400 miles of the delivery destination to help support local, regional and underserved producers. If you are a local producer in Iowa and are interested in getting involved, fill out the Producer Registration Form here. Value added producers that are using 51% of local goods in their products can also register. For more information about the LFPA, please follow this link.

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