Northeastern Organic Farmers Assoc. 2009 NJ Annual Conference

Oh yes. I was there.  Hosted by the Ag School at Rutgers, which is beautifully set right off Route 1 in Central Jersey, it was a very informative meeting of the very diverse farmers in the Garden State.  WE are quite a motley bunch...and there seem to be a VAST preponderance handle-bar mustaches among NJ farmers, a trend I will continue to study from afar.  

While I was in sessions like "Integrated Systems for Vegetable Production" and "Planning Crop Rotation," I started thinking that with all the white collar laborers in the massive metropolis's surrounding NJ feeling insecure, we who are in the labor of the land should feel pretty damn good.  

Aside from pondering deep thoughts of doomsday food security, I met some very helpful and interesting farmers, like David Earling of Gravity Hill Farm and Hugh Williams of Threshold Farm.  The former is an ex-Wall Streeter who brought his family out to live the farm life, the latter is a gruff, Aussie Paul Newman-clone who runs a Biodynamic orchard - AWESOME! 

I also bought my official soil testing bag...wait there at the edge of your seat until I get the results back from the Rutgers Extension "Soil Testing Laboratory".