Farmer Training Convergence

Please join on August 30, for a variety of workshops and presentations geared toward landowners, community members, and farmers in Southwest Colorado. Register here to attend for the full day, or email ewwhittlesey@fortlewis.edu to register for the afternoon sessions (lunch not included). The cost is $35/day and includes lunch, or is free for the afternoon session.

Morning Sessions:

Pollinator Identification and Creating Habitat
Field and Facilities Tours at the Old Fort
Accessing USDA Programs
Updates from the Southwest Equitable Land Access Collaborative

Afternoon Sessions:
Promoting Land Access Pathways with Colorado Land Link

This workshop is designed for landholders and landseekers and will introduce the context and challenges of agricultural land access in Colorado. In this interactive session, landseekers and landowners will have the opportunity to share their questions, concerns, and experiences navigating paths to secure, affordable land access and hear tips for seeking and securing land tenure. The session will introduce Guidestone’s Colorado Land Link Program, the Colorado Land Access Database, and other resources for beginning, intermediate and advanced farmers and ranchers in Colorado.

Talk by Jennifer Jewell, author and podcast host

In her presentation, Jennifer Jewell will explore the philosophy of Cultivating Place based on the belief that gardens/gardeners are powerful agents and spaces for potentially positive change in our world, helping to address challenges as wide ranging as climate change, habitat loss, cultural polarization, and individual and communal health and being. She will explore how this power of gardens and gardeners is exemplified in her weekly program, but very specifically in her three books: The Earth in Her Hands (2020), focused on women in horticultural leadership roles; Under Western Skies; Visionary Gardens from the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific Coast (2021); and, What We Sow, On the Personal, Ecological, and Cultural Significance of Seeds (2023). All together, these resources, inspirations and Culture of Care are blue-prints guiding us in ways we can all grow our world better – and beautifully.