Events

Events for Farmers, by Farmers

Sometimes a 20 minute conversation with someone who gets it can change the course of a season. Here are upcoming opportunities to have those conversations in the flesh with other small scale beginning farmers.

October 20, 2019 - Mad Farmers Collective + HYFC RSVP, Please!

Mad Farmers Collective and Hoosier Young Farmers Collective are partnering for a fall event that will include everything a weary farmer needs by the middle of October:

A tour of a highly productive urban farm (inspiration!),
Some focused and slightly nerdy discussion about best practices when it comes to washing greens (education!),
A review and close look at the MFC homemade greens bubbler (specific how-to info!),
And of course plenty of time to socialize and unpack the season over snacks and beers with other farmy types (physical and soul food!).

DonThe event is free and will be held onsite at the Mad Farmers' gorgeous urban farm, just a few miles south of downtown Indianapolis. Light supper fare will be provided thanks to MFC and a generous SARE grant.

We hope you can join us, and hope you'll take the time to RSVP so we can order food appropriately.

The afternoon will unfold like this:
3 pm - Gather and Welcome, quick tour of the 1.5 acre farm
3:30 - Greens Bubbler Review from the Mad Farmers. We'll post up at the wash/pack to hear about the research and process that went into building the greens bubbler and get a review of its performance and potential for increasing productivity and efficiency on a production farm. Lots of time for questions and hopefully a chance to hear from other attending farmers about their own greens washing procedures.
4:30 - Scott Monroe, Purdue Extension Specialist for Food Safety, will give a brief overview of his recent research into best practices for washing greens to eliminate contamination concerns.
5:00 - Eat and talk! Talk and eat! We'll provide light supper fare to enjoy while you ask a few follow up questions, catch up with folks you haven't seen all season, and hopefully meet lots of new folks.

We'll also have information available about joining the Hoosier Young Farmer Coaltion (it's free!) and about an exciting Fellowship opportunity (it includes money!) unfolding for the 2020 season.

Hope to see you October 20th! Don't forget to RSVP!

Summer Social: August 4, 2019 - Mavourneen Farm

Each summer, we host a farmer social. We think it's pretty excellent (though we may be biased). The idea is to host the social when we all are ready for a little fun - most plants are in the ground and growing, spring berries have been harvested, all of the animals are out grazing and rotating through pastures, but the fall harvest season isn't yet upon us.

Join the Hoosier Young Farmers Coalition at Mavourneen Farm in Bloomington for our Third Annual Summer Social.

Tour of the farm at 12:30. Good, old fashioned potluck lunch at 2pm. Swimming in the pond, volleyball, music and general hang out time until about 6pm.

Bring along:

Something to share for the potluck.
We'll have some beer and other drinks on hand, but BYO's are encouraged. We'll also have cups, plates, and the like. Bathroom accommodations are primitive and sustainable (read: composting toilet).
Swimsuit and towel for the pond!
Guitar, banjo, etc. to join in the music
A camp chair and a smile.
You, your farming friends, your partner, your kids, etc.

Please note:

Please leave the pets at home - there's not a lot of space for animals to run around.
We'll be guests at a community pond, and we'll want to respect their rules. Please plan to swim safely: Children need to be supervised by an adult at all times, people should wear a life jacket and stay inside the shallow area if they aren't strong swimmers, etc.

Can't wait to see you for fun, sun, and socializing!

Driving Details:

Address is 8745 S Rockport Road Bloomington, IN 47403

From Bloomington, follow South Rockport Road for about 12 miles. Just outside the tiny township of Kirksville, you will pass Rock East Road and then come down a very small hill. At the bottom, on the left you’ll see a gravel drive and a blue sign with lots of numbers on it. The sign says May Creek Farm on the top. Mavourneen Farm is located at May Creek—a farm within a farm. Follow the drive past the pine trees, there will be signs to direct parking. Call 812-322-8835 if you have any trouble finding the place.

Farm Crawl: Sunday, April 28 - Central Indiana

Plans are in motion for a Farm Crawl for our spring 2019 event!

Get a behind the scenes look at Teter Organic Farm, Full Hand Farm, and Free Folk Farm...

...that means we'll see an organic fruit and veggie farm (that's tied to a church's outreach), a four-season farm in year 8 of production, and an urban farm in Year 1, all in one day.

We'll add more details, but know that:
- We'll start at 1pm
- You'll have the chance to carpool with other farmers between the sites
- We'll share a potluck meal at the end of the tours

Follow us on Instagram and Facebook for more info.

Young Farmer After Party: Friday, March 1 - Black Swan Brewpub

We love the Indiana Small Farm Conference - and the chance to hang out afterwards.

We'll be at Black Swan Brew Pub in Plainfield after the conference (likely starting around 8pm).

We'll cover a few appetizers, and have space for all the young farmers who want to come! Grab yourself a brew and some dinner, and hang some excellent folks from across the state.

Young Farmer Workshops at the Indiana Small Farm Conference

This year, Purdue did something really neat - they invited proposals for the Indiana Small Farm Conference. The Hoosier Young Farmers Coalition pitched five workshops - things we thought that young farmers in Indiana needed.

The conference planning committee approved three of our ideas! They teamed us up with collaborators, and now we're helping host these workshops at the Indiana Small Farm Conference. Register for the conference today, and come find us at these sessions:

Saturday, March 2 - 8:45-9:45 AND 10-11 - Land Access 101 plus Accessing Farmland. We've teamed up with OEFFA and IU to bring you info about finding (and affording) farmland in Indiana. We'll present about FSA loans for beginning farmers and other key resources!
Saturday, March 2 - 1:15-2:45 - Advocating for Small Farms and Good Food. The Indiana Farmers Union is leading this great how-to session, and HYFC members are on the panel!
Saturday, March 2 - 3-4pm - Racial Equity and Diversity in Farming and Food Systems. We play a small role here. Come to hear from Karen Washington, Vivian Muhammad, and the Indiana Black Farmers Cooperative share their stories and insights. HYFC wants this conversation to happen - and we know we have a lot to learn. We'll just help facilitate the panel discussion - and listen, think, and learn.