Hartford-Area BFA Chapter Homepage

Harvesting Microbes with Nigel Palmer

On Wednesday, May 24, at The George Hall Farm in Simsbury, the Hartford Area CT BFA Chapter enjoyed a very informative talk by Nigel Palmer of The Institute of Sustainable Nutrition on how to capitalize on the ubiquitous supply of indigenous microbes that will boost our soil and plant health. Nigel talked about how critical it is to have a robust and diverse population of microbes and insects and worms in our soil. The diversity and number of life forms in the soil is the key to our Read more [...]

A Gardener’s Year by Kris McCue

Someone recently suggested that I post a calendar of sorts, what should be done and when during the gardener's year. I found something of this sort at Rodale's Organic Life, written by Amy Goldman in 2010, which I am going to reproduce here as an edited version. I am adding my own comments [in brackets with BFA first]. If you wish to see the original article go to http://www.rodalesorganiclife.com/garden/monthly-garden-calendar-northeastern-united-states First, because it is March and Read more [...]

Calendar of Events for 2017

This is a work in progress - we'll update as new events hit the calendar. January, 2017 11 Chapter Book Discussion Group - 6:30 - 8:30 PM South Windsor Public Library Title: Teaming With Microbes by Jeff Lowenfels 24 Chapter Meeting 6:00-8:00 PM Harrington's Organic Landcare, 70 Highland Park Drive, Bloomfield 6:00 for refreshments; 6:30-8:00 Microbiology Presentation 25 **2nd Chapter Book Discussion moved to February February, 2017 1 BFA Garden Seed Packaging for Read more [...]

Tour Tobacco Road Farm in Lebanon

Join us for a tour of Tobacco Road Farm in Lebanon with Brian O'Hara! Thursday, July 14, 2016 6:30 PM til dark 373 Tobacco Street, Lebanon, CT Fee: None, but a good-will donation would be lovely. 🙂 RSVP to hartfordbfachapter@regenerativeag.net Come and learn from an expert in No-till, biological growing! Brian practices regenerative farming and will share with us his knowledge of soil fertility and mineral balancing; self made foliar preparations and amendments; plant extracts Read more [...]

Tour Sweet Birch Farm in Meriden with Regenerative Farmer Jerry Travers

Tour of Sweet Birch Farm, Meriden, CT, next week on July 6th! Sign up today for the rare opportunity to enjoy a tour of Jerry Travers’ Sweet Birch Farm in Meriden! Jerry Travers is sharing the vast knowledge he has acquired on growing high quality, nutrient dense foods, grown biologically and regeneratively using methods he learned from one of the legends of biological agriculture, Carey Reams. Jerry was a student of Carey Reams. For those unfamiliar, Carey Reams is the creator of the Read more [...]

Hartford-Area Chapter’s 2016 Meeting Calendar

We have so many great plans in the works! We've got a list of topics and speakers we're working to bring in for our group. Be sure to join us! January 12 Chapter Meeting - location: Talcott Family Chiropractic Health Food Store, Farmington CT Topic #1 - Grass-Fed Bulk Discount Meat buying program at TFC Health Food Store by Dave Mendelson Topic #2 - SPIN Farming - presentation by Brenda Sullivan of Thompson Street Farm, S. Glastonbury Read more [...]

Search for Seed Quality and “Seed Test Weight”

I’ve been on a quest for the highest quality vegetable garden seeds that I can find among the seed companies I have patronized over the years. As recommended by David Forster at the first BFA meeting I attended in January 2015, and Nigel Palmer at our September 2015 BFA meeting, and also Dan Kittredge, BFA Founder, on multiple occasions, I have been contacting numerous seed companies to inquire about their “seed test weights”. I have had email and phone conversations with the following: Baker Read more [...]