On Saturday evening, following the first day of workshops, stick around to celebrate the resurgence of our local economy, agricultural heritage, and what's possible for our food system. First, join us for an intergenerational farmers happy hour to unite new and experienced agrarians. Then we open the doors to our broad-base of supporters from the Grange, GreenHorns, and Friends of Farmers for an evening of live music, good food, a community-history exhibit called Grange Future, the release of the Farmers Guild cookbook, and... a farmers exchange featuring products--jams, salsas, etc--fresh from your farm.

Grange Future is a community history project undertaken by The Greenhorns to investigate the Patrons of Husbandry, a 125 year old populist movement, and to showcase the Granges and Grange-like organizations continuing to work, and organize in this spirit. Is the Grange our best vessel for futurist, family-farm oriented community action, with a strong basis in economic theory, resistance and cooperation? Learn more here. 

From community gardens to WOOF’ing, agriculture today is attracting a whole new wave of passionate recruits. What often awaits them is a gaping chasm between that on-farm internship and the establishment of a successful agricultural business. For many, the allure of farming rarely entails hours at a desk grappling with spreadsheets. But ask the very best farmers and they'll all agree: success comes from managerial acumen as much as from a green thumb—and perfecting the former leaves more time to focus on the latter. 

This weekend-long series of workshops seeks to provide new and aspiring farmers with an interactive introduction to the entrepreneurial tools required to succeed, as a necessary supplement to their on-farm training. Workshops are not intended to be comprehensive, but will provide the basic tools, incentive, and community support to pursue further study, activities and structured preparation for their career or a new farm. By partnering with local Granges, organizations and local businesses, we'll keep costs at a minimum, making this training accessible to even those on a farm intern’s budget.

As The Farmers Guild does with all its programs, this entrepreneurial intensive is designed to be fun, interactive and community-driven, with non-business activities woven into the program and peer-to-peer farm stays for those from out of the county. And as part of the wider Farmers Guild network, the education received during this weekend will ripple out, as these new entrepreneurs will return to their respective Guild communities to share knowledge among their peers and keep each other on track. This program is specifically designed to be replicable by other groups, no matter their resources or local circumstances, be they other Farmers Guilds, local Granges or other partner organizations—the second of which is already scheduled to take place at the Grange Farm School in April.