Connecticut Northeast Farming Association’s (CT NOFA) 36th Annual Winter Conference, OrganiConn, presented in cooperation with Western Connecticut State University and its Jane Goodall Center for Excellence in Environmental Studies, will take place on March 10 from 8am to 5pm.

  Farmers, landscapers, organic food vendors and connoisseurs, gardeners, advocates, families and community leaders are invited to attend the conference in Danbury to learn more about innovative organic food practices, share ideas and network with others striving to have an organic impact locally and nationally. More than 40 farm, garden, food and advocacy workshops will be offered at the event (CTNOFA.org/WinterConference). Dave Chapman, a founding member of the Vermont Organic Farmers and a greenhouse vegetable farmer specializing in tomatoes, will be the keynote speaker. 

The Winter Conference lunch menu, prepared by local restaurants and available as an add-on during registration, is carefully designed to include most dietary needs or preferences. More than 60 vendors and exhibitors will be showing their farm products, gifts, clothes, eco-friendly products and sustainable services as well.

Workshops include Composting 101: Garden Quality Compost in 6 Weeks; Lessons from Working with Forests; Trees and Beautiful Wood; Pollinators and Pesticides: An Update; Lactofermentation; The Medicinal Uses of Common Garden Plants, Herbs and Wild Weeds; Winemaking At Home; Soil Fertility; and more.

The event sponsors are Farm Credit East, Connecticut Department of Agriculture, U.S. Department of Agriculture: Natural Resources Conservation Service, New England Farmers Union, Valley Community Foundation and others. Natural Awakenings is proud to be a media sponsor for the event.

For more information, visit OrganiConn.squarespace.com. Location: Western CT State University, WCSU Midtown Campus, 181 White St, Berkshire Hall, Danbury. See ad, page 41.