What an inspiring event! I highly enjoyed the conference and learning more strategies for Farm to School, policy, community building, and edible mushroom cultivation.
I was happy to present my first poster, with Zach:
The trade show was interesting, and I met a lot of great people and exceptional businesses! My favorite three trade show exhibits were:
Sapphyre and Edmund and other farmers started Common Wealth Seed Growers cooperative about a year ago, and they specialize in breeding downy mildew resistant seeds. As you can see in the photo above, they grow beautiful gourds and pumpkins – that’s what attracted me to their exhibit! I brought home some of these to try:
I also had the great pleasure of meeting Tradd Cotter of Mushroom Mountain!
Tradd’s presentations were SO interesting and inspiring. It’s been a while since I grew my bag of oyster mushrooms, but I definitely feel empowered to give it another go after listening to his talks. I also highly recommend his new book, Organic Mushroom Farming and Micoremediation.
Finally, one of my favorite parts of the conference was the seed swap. I brought a variety things – okra, Seminole pumpkin, tulsi and some others. I met the folks from Sow True Seed there as well, and I was able to swap for some calendula, Corsican gourds and other goodies! It was a wonderful week, and I hope next time to see some new Florida seed companies!
Great post on the conference, Malory! It was great meeting you at the Sow True booth, I’m glad you had fun 🙂
Angie,
Great to meet you too! It was great, and I learned a friend of my friends did the artwork for your catalog cover! Small world! Happy growing. 🙂