Hello Fall Farming Friends
I hope your tomatoes are finally coming on and you are enjoying a little end of summer abundance in spite of drought. Harvest is a daily practice of picking, sorting and deciding whether to eat fresh, gift, dehydrate, can or freeze. Here in the North bay my dehydrator is running full time to preserve herbs, tomatoes and fruits and the cupboard is filling up with dried peaches, pears and tomatoes. Stacks of jam are hiding in closets and under tables, already preparing for our fab Winter Open House. Get your jam on September 19th with the last canning class for 2015—only 3 spots left! We’ll be learning what to do with fruit and tomatoes and how to make awesome vinegar pickles. In September we also invite you to check out our Hayward Farm Tours and a class on native pollinators. New-ish beekeepers can join me for Natural Beekeeping 3 and learn what to do with your bees now through the end of the year.

Hayward Farm Tour
September 12, 9am-3pm
Starting at THE HAZEL GARDEN Corner of Hazel & Main Streets Hayward
Please join us for another fabulous farm tour! Featuring the most excellent examples of urban farming we can find in the area, this tour of farms from Cherryland to Hayward to Castro Valley shows diverse options from a 9 acre hobby farm to a moderately sized homestead on a typical urban lot. you will see bees, chickens, goats, worm composting, vertical gardening, polycultures, waterwise gardens, pollinator habitat and creatve reuse. Ask questions, get inspiration and sample some of the bounty these farmers are producing. Advance ticket purchasers pick up their itinerary at our staging area the morning of the event. Some tickets will also be available at the door including a limited number of “pay what you like tickets." Once you have your itinerary you will drive yourself to the various sites. For those who wish it, we’ll try to arrange carpooling onsite by group the day of. Bring a picnic lunch to eat in the garden or purchase food from local cooks at our park-like staging area.

General Admission $30, kids $18,
Low Income Ticket $20 , kids $12
Half day Ticket $20
Friends of the Farm Tour Ticket $50 (includes a gift of farm fresh egg or honey from our farmers)
Patron of the Farm TourTicket $75 (Includes eggs or honey plus Ruby Blume's Book, Eveyday Cheesemaking
At the door: General Admission $35, Half day $25, Kids same as above. Pay What You Can Tickets available while they last.

Featured Sites

Faculty Profile & Internship Opportunity: Jim Montgomery & Groundswell Institute
IUH Faculty member Jim Montgomery, a longtime resident of Green Faerie Farm in Berkeley, has relocated to Mendocino county with his goats, rabbits,chickens and dog. He is founding member of the new queer eco-village, Groundswell. Located 30 miles from the coast on Highway 128 Groundswell is 190 acres of mixed forest and oak savannah grasslands. The property was formerly a kids summer camp and includes a commercial kitchen and 10 sleeping cabins. Less than a year old, the founding members are still working on infrastructure and creation of their non-profit, nevertheless they already have thriving livestock program. In addition to the animals that came from Berkeley, there is a herd of Alpacas, a flock of guinea hens, two pigs, 2 guardian llamas, a guardian livestock dog and a herding dog. Jim seeks to created an integrated system which minimizes waste and maximizes production. Whey from cheese making and leftovers from retreats go to the pigs, rotational grazing and tractoring prepare the way for the future vegetable garden and chickens do their part living off of spilled oat hay and fly larvae in the barn. IUH is hoping to partner with Groundswell to offer several residential workshops in 2016. In the meantime Jim is seeking livestock interns to live, learn and work with the critters and humans at Groundswell. Check out http://groundswell.institute/ or email Jim directly for more info: 2snake(at) lmi (dot) net

Fall Classes Online and Open for Registration
This fall we feature fabulous standards and some great additions to our curricula. We have fall sessions available of our popular Cheesemaking Intensive, Fermentation Intensive and Fowl Butchering classes. By popular demand we have added a session of Every Day Nut Milks and Cheeses and Home Soap Making (great holiday gifts!). Prepare for winter health with Local Medicine led by Maya Blow of Soulflower Farm, get the down-low on working with masa from Seth Peterson and don’t miss The Whole Lamb —our wonderful community meat buy and butchery series!