Skip to content
  Previous Lesson

  Webinar Schedule and Participant Guide

Webinar Dates

Live instruction for 2023 has concluded. You are welcome to complete this course on a self-paced schedule and join our next live session in Fall 2024.​​ All webinars are recorded and posted in your online classroom to watch anytime. Once enrolled in this course, you will retain access to all materials indefinitely and may return to participate in future live offerings of the course as well. Please join us!

To access the webinars during our next live session, you will simply need to click on the webinar join link that is posted in the Weekly Resources section of this course. This link only works on the appointed day and time for the webinar, so while you can try clicking it sooner, it won't open the webinar meeting for you.

You may also join our webinars from a mobile device by installing the official Zoom app from your preferred app store. Then, when it's time for a webinar, simply open your Zoom app and enter the 9-digit meeting ID that will be posted along with the webinar link.

Weekly Topics

Our weekly webinars are designed to expose you to a wide range of farmers, farming styles, enterprises, and business models.

First webinar: Erica Frenay, Course Overview and Getting Started in Farming

Join course facilitator Erica Frenay for an intro to the course, course expectations, Plan Your Farm, history and modern-day context of US farming, overview of farming as a business and how to get started farming.

Second webinar: Erica Frenay, Shelterbelt Farm

Review of Week 1 homework and questions; then Erica will share Shelterbelt Farm's start-up process, focusing especially on how her family's values have shaped their decision-making and goal-setting.

Third webinar: Juliana Quaresma, Viva Acres Farm

Review of Week 2 homework and questions; then we will be joined by Juliana, owner of Viva Acres and also Executive Director of the Groundswell Center for Local Food and Farming in Ithaca, NY. Juliana has a very interesting story about how she solved the dilemma of not having enough resources to buy land, have a livable home, and fund farm infrastructure development. It's especially appropriate for this week of the course when we'll be focused on land access and evaluation. Juliana also has stories to share about what it's like to farm on your own, and some wisdom about mistakes to avoid.

Fourth webinar: Sarah and Ivana from Forts Ferry Farm

Review of the Week 3 homework and questions; then Sarah and Ivana will walk us through how they found a farm situation that enabled them to get started without a massive outlay of cash for land and infrastructure.

Fifth webinar: Guest presenter TBD

Review of Week 4 homework and questions; then we'll hear about the evolution of a successful farm model from a fabulous guest presenter.

Sixth webinar: Sean Dembrosky of Edible Acres + Student Presentations, Wrap-Up, and Next Steps

Last but certainly not least, we'll hear from Sean Dembrosky of Edible Acres (as long as his newborn has safely arrived - there is a chance Sean will need to cancel if things aren't ok on the home front!) So many of you have interest in permaculture principles, agroforestry, and plant propagation that I thought you might really enjoy hearing from Sean. Sean and his wife are a 2-person nursery operation and make their entire living from it. Sean is a master of creative resource use, and brilliant at harnessing nature's abundance to support his business.

We will also have a couple of brave volunteer students from this course share their farm start-up plan so far, and hopefully have a few minutes for a final Q&A at the end. This webinar may stretch a little longer than the previous weeks!

Zoom Participant's Guide

Zoom Participant’s Guide.pdf
Complete and Continue  
Return to top