I've spoken to small groups. But this was bigger and amazing. The energy: ENGAGEMENT.
I was deeply honored to be a two-feature presenter at a private event for a group of 300 homesteaders. It was three days of presentations, skills demos, networking, and inspiration to a group of intellectual curious, engaged, intelligent, educated, articulate future farmsteaders. If this is the future of small agriculture, we are going to change the food system in this country. No two people asked the same question, and they were all interesting!
The projector wasn't working for my first class, I shut my laptop, said a prayer and it just FLOWED.... It felt so natural. Since there was no screen, I was connecting directly with the audience.
My first seminar was Hair Sheep and Dairy Goats: Managing both these on the farmstead. I covered the Sheepness of Sheep, the Goatness of Goats, then dove into synergies contrasted to the unique needs in management, nutrition, social concerns, minerals, & general health concerns for both. We talked selection for breeding, managing rams, and more. I was peppered by questions from eager students and was so happy to see people taking notes. Overflow outside the pic.
The next day was the second seminar....
Due to previous success talking out of my head, I arrived with a single page outline and just rolled with it and the torrent of awesome questions. The crowd had exploded from previous day, word had spread. Nearly triple. The vibe continued and it was even more interactive.
This seminar was an educational overview of modern meat chickens, hybrid layers, and drilled down to focus on heritage dual purpose breeds. Then I talked about modern broadbreasted turkeys, wild turkeys, and the ones in between - heritage turkeys. Then we drilled down further and talked about joint species management when mixing flocks of these two subsets. I covered issues, synergies, health concerns and social benefits running these birds together. I dove into the psychology of raising animals with love and kindness with an intended purpose of harvesting them. The crowd responded positively to my urging pragmatic mindset and butchering tips. I was surrounded with people with more questions afterwards. Again, engaged. Curious. Articulate. In it to win it. Dedicated. Serious. Grateful. HUNGRY for this knowledge. Loved it.
Here's the tent, with center shots and overflows.
Privileged to speak, and connect with these fine people.
We camped out on the farm for full experience, accessibility to the other attendees, and to save bucks. When you attend these things, let me recommend: bring a top notch wingman or friend: resilient, flexible, and affable. And that's what I had. He kept me on point and on schedule. Pic for vibe below.
This is what happiness looks like. This work is feeding my soul and people's families. I'm finally doing what I wanted to do when I grew up. Here's to a bright future. I hope I can see you at an event like this in the future. Maybe it's your own event or business symposium.
Eat what you grow. Bloom in your community. Enjoy a life of abundance.
Love and peace, I'll see you in the field!
~Judith
Lead Ewe and Milkmaid at Fair Hill Farm
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