CANCELED

Monarch Meetup: McAlester

Have questions about gardening for pollinators? Want to meet others in your community who are helping save the monarchs? Then join this Monarch Meetup!

Local experts will be on hand to answer questions about how to plant and maintain your own monarch/pollinator garden. There will also be free seed packets for attendees. This free public education series is open to anyone to attend and is a casual come & go social. Bring your friends, family and anyone interested in helping save the monarchs.

This meetup is coordinated by Okies for Monarchs.

CANCELED

Discuss on-farm produce safety practices, considerations for your wash station, and how to comply with FSMA’s Produce Safety Rule.

The National Young Farmers Coalition, National Farmers Union (NFU), Heifer International and the Arkansas Young Farmers Coalition are partnering for this Wash & Pack Station Design Workshop and On-Farm Produce Safety Walkthrough at Heifer Ranch.

Wash and Pack Station Design Workshop:
Farmers are always looking to improve washing and packing spaces and to make them easier to clean, more pleasant to use, less wasteful in terms of time and movement, and improved for produce safety. After an introduction to FSMA’s Produce Safety Rule, this workshop will dive into the Rule’s requirements and suggestions related to washing and packing spaces. While the session will focus on food safety, it will also touch on increasing efficiency, body-saving innovations, cost-saving measures, and more. It will answer tricky on-farm food safety questions specifically, so come with questions about your own farm!
Homework: Come with a map, drawing, or photos of your wash/pack space.

Walkthrough:
The walkthrough will highlight Heifer Ranch’s various produce safety practices and discuss where contamination risks to produce may exist and actions farmers can take to reduce risk. Topics will include workers, soil amendments, wildlife/domesticated animals, water sources and usage, wash/pack station, and transportation. It will be conversational so feel free to come with questions!

The first part of the day will mostly be indoors and the second half of the day will be outside. Please wear clothing and shoes that you don’t mind getting dirty and consider bringing a water bottle.

These conversations will be led by Maggie Kaiser and Cara Fraver from the National Young Farmers Coalition.

Schedule of the day:
Workshop: 9am – 12:00pm
Lunch: 12:00pm – 2:00pm
Walkthrough: 2pm – 4pm

If you can make only the workshop or the walkthrough and would like to stay for lunch, please select the “Lunch add-on” when registering.

If you are in need of accommodations at Heifer Ranch prior to or following the workshops, contact Ian Peters: . Cost is $50/night.

CANCELED

Dr. Lou Anella, founder of the Oklahoma Proven program and the Director of The Botanic Garden (TBG) at OSU, will discuss plants that will succeed in your garden and what’s happening at TBG.

For more information or to register, visit the online event listing, or email Laura Payne. .

POSTPONED

Learn the whys and hows of prescribed fire, enjoy free food, and have fun!

• Learn about the benefits of prescribed fire.
• Receive basic information about how to plan and implement prescribed burns.
• Weather permitting, participants will have the opportunity to take part in a prescribed fire demonstration and tour the property to see lands actively managed with prescribed fire.
• Stick around afterwards for food and fellowship.

For more information or to RSVP, visit the online event listing or contact Corey Jager.

POSTPONED

Free conservation workshop and lunch. Topics covered will include grazing management, cover crops & no-till for soil health benefits, and USDA Farm Bill Updates. Host partners include the Tillman County and Kiowa County Conservation Districts, NRCS, OCC, OACD, OTCAC, and others.

For more information or to RSVP, contact Charles Winslett by email or phone (580-335-3921).