A weekend of workshops for beginning gardeners to advanced commercial growers, the 21st Annual Organic Growers School takes place Saturday and Sunday, March 8 & 9, 2014 at the University of North Carolina at Asheville (UNCA) in Asheville, NC. The event, which is open to the public, provides practical, region-appropriate organic growing and permaculture workshops, homesteading and rural living classes such as cooking and stonescaping, as well as a seed exchange, silent auction, and trade show. This year’s school offers 70 sessions each day with topics ranging from beginning gardening to commercial farming to urban homesteading. The schedule of workshops is designed with all levels of growers in mind: the professional farmer, the beginning commercial grower, and the home gardener.
Also offered at this years school is our 10th annual Children’s Program for kids ages 7 to 12, and a hands-on, on-the-farm session on Friday March 7th.
Now in its twenty-first year, The Organic Growers School has grown from a small gathering of 100 growing enthusiasts in 1994 to a regionally recognized conference drawing over 1700 attendees, exhibitors and speakers from 18 different states and Canada. One of the largest conferences of its type in the region, The Organic Growers School has served to reinforce Western North Carolina’s role as a regional leader in organic farming.
The cost for the all-day conference is $60 for Saturday and $55 for Sunday. Interested participants may register on-line at www.organicgrowersschool.org, register by phone at (828) 342-1849.
Contact Coordinator Meredith Leigh McKissick at meredith@organicgrowersschool.org or call (828) 668-2127.