VABF Conference report by Jason

At the urging of some close friends (one of whom is on the board of VABF…no conflict of interest there), we decided to finally cave to the gravity of the Virginia Association of Biological Farming, by which I mean Kali and I went to the conference.  I think I have known about the association since within a few years of its inception, since around that time is when I was spending an afternoon per week at Glen Eco Farm, and Marlin and Christine Burkholder have been members all along, so far as I know.

But I am not especially a joiner.  It is way too easy to get spread way too thin with involvements, and conferences are not cheap.  I have always thought it was a good idea to have a VABF.  Glad people are doing it.  But I wasn’t convinced our connecting to it would be important enough to either them or us for us to put the time and money into it.

Maybe that was right, and maybe it was stupid.  But whether we’re late on the draw or finally ready, I think the timing was good for connecting with the Association and some of its members, a few of whom I already knew.  I am not especially an online person, so although many of the connections and most of the information technically could be available other ways, I for one still believe there is no substitute for the person-to-person element.

I think I’ll just do a brief chronology of the three days, with maybe a comment or three as I deem it helpful for our family’s memory-keeping and anyone else’s getting a taste of the events.

We left home Monday the 9^th with a few bags and pillows and sleeping bags and a trunk full of chickens.  Oh, and a mandolin, just in case.

The chickens were bound for the home of some early-stage homesteading friends deep in the Allegheny Mountains of Highland County.  Appropriately enough, these were Allegheny chickens: one of my poultry (hopefully not paltry) inventions.  They were the last Alleghenies I had.  This sale represented the completed launch of the breed into its intended bioregion.  The delivery was a pleasure in itself; if the flocks of this breed serve their caretakers well and it flourishes, then any association I continue to have with it will involve trips to the Allegheny Mountains, and visits to farms and homesteads perched on mountainsides, tucked into hollows, or—as in the case of this one—both.  We spent an hour or a bit more getting the chickens settled, talking over their Mangalitsa pigs, and walking the lane and yard of the home these fine folks are working so hard to grow in a place so achingly beautiful you could forget to leave.  On the way back to our car, we discussed parenting, schooling, homeschooling, unschooling.  Chickens are the context or excuse for these kinds of contacts, but the substance is connection to land, home, family, others—a restoration of what industrialists and capitalists have buttered their bread by disrupting.  The image that sticks in my mind is the little group of us entering their tiny off-grid cabin (still under construction…they live elsewhere for the moment), coming in out of the 16 degree mountain evening that was pushing its cold right through our clothes.  I won’t say it was warm in there (though the buckets of water were not frozen…yay for passive solar design!), but compared to outside it was so welcome.  Their baby stopped fussing, we all relaxed our taught, stiff muscles a bit.  As we walked away back to their car, there was such a distinct impression of one definition of home:  a little spot you’ve made where you can find some relief from the cold.

Where was I?  Oh, yes, heading to the conference.

What a shock.  The conference was held at the Omni Homestead Resort in Hot Springs, VA (Bath County).  Our entire home, plus in-law quarters, would easily have fit into the lobby.  Twice.  Maybe four times by volume.  Not kidding.

Of course, we couldn’t get into the lobby right away.  First we had to turn down multiple offers of valet parking (we had been tipped off that tips are expected, and I only had eight bucks in my wallet) and find the overflow self-park lot.  After being nearly forcibly separated from our bags, we went in and figured out room stuff, the details of which might make entertaining writing if neither you nor I had anything better to you.  Let’s laugh about it over tea later.  I’ll just say funny things happen when you are crashing on the floor of a friend’s suite in a swanky resort.

Anyway, once getting our heads back on our shoulders by giggling with our friends about how silly it all was, Kali and M (Kali’s good bud) and I went to the pool.  I am not sure whether it was the water (we were staying at a hot springs, after all), but if so they added Chlorine in quantity.  But there was something about it that was different, since I was more buoyant than I can remember having ever been and I didn’t gain that much weight over Christmas.  So I’ll bet it was mineral water.  With bleach.

While there I taught the kids some classic splashing techniques, we did some contests, soaked, played sharks and minnows with two other conference families, etc.  It was a very luxurious pool, especially at the inlet, where bath-temperature water gushed from a semi-circular cascade.  It was fun at the pool to try to guess who was a regular swanky hotel guest and who was there with the conference.  The older couple that walked ahead of us to the pool suite had such a dignified affect, and seemed so at ease in the environment.  Bingo.  Rich folk.  Later I sat next to the husband at one of the sessions.  So much for that.  Maybe I deserved the water in my ear that bugged me as I went to sleep that night.

Other than water in my ear and some relaxing exercise, what I got out of the pool time was a possible gig at next year’s conference.  One of the sharks-and-minnows Dads, it turned out, was husband to the conference coordinator, who was soaking in the shallow end with some friends.  We made our acquaintance drying off at the poolside (awkward but disarming, I suppose, for a first contact), and I pitched my idea for a presentation then and there.  We were utterly without pens and paper at the time, but made more productive contact later.  It looks promising.  Topic:  bioregionally specific agriculture and food products as culture-builders and economic drivers.

In a way, that met my main goal for the conference, and I hadn’t even eaten the first continental breakfast!  The rest was gravy, man.

I would like to give a quick listing of all the sessions Kali and I attended together, for a record for us and a flavor sample for you.  Keep in mind this represents about one fifth of the total sessions offered:

The Big Food Talk—Meredith Leigh

Food philosophy and systemic patterns; where we are at this point in history. Perfect for me.

Winter Squash Breeding and Research—Edmund Frost

Involved a taste test!  We are selling spinach and onion seed through Edmund this year.

Pastured Poultry Production—Erica Hellen and Joel Slezak

Best technical session I attended.  Joel said they’d try some of our Shenandoahs!

Debt-Free Farmsteading—Hari and Karl Berzins

The 2008 crash stole their dreams and kicked them into the freedom we all need.

Sustainable Freshwater Aqua-Farming—Dr. Lynn Blackwood

Less applicable to us…wholly commercially focused.  Sustainable?  Maybe.

What is Biodynamic Agriculture?—Alex Tuchman

I didn’t know, and I was curious.  So I went.  Now I’m more curious.

Growing the Seed Garden—Ira Wallace

A few good tips, and a chance to watch Ira Wallace of SESE in action.  I admire her.

That’s it.  Then we went home.

But the in-between times: that is probably where the most action happened.  Based on things I said in Q and A forums a few people approached me about chickens or seeds.  I delivered seed for sale through Common Wealth Seed Growers, talked to soil experts and fellow agricultural nerds, bought a seed saving book, made a contact for another chicken workshop gig and even made a few new friends.  And Kali was there for the whole thing, and enjoying it.  I felt like a pretty lucky guy.

Many thanks to Janelle and her parents whose careful tending of people and animals made my attending and Kali’s a possibility.  I hope the payoff is rich for all of us.