Announcement: Monday, June 18, 2012 Mtg of SWFSFN in Ft. Myers

Hello members & supporters of the SW FL Small Farmer Network (SWFSFN)!   I am very pleased to send you this announcement and invitation to the next meeting of SWFSFN on Monday, June 18, 2012.  Following up our very successful April 23rd  meeting at Lynn Steward’s farm (Mr. Citrus Organics and Vegetables) in Arcadia, we are continuing to provide you another opportunity for an event to support your sustainable, small farming in SW FL.  This meeting will be held at the Umbuzi Farm & Dairy in Ft. Myers, FL.   We are very fortunate this time to being hosted by will be hosted by Larry Wood and Jim Ellis, owner and producer of Umbuzi Farm and Dairy.   For your information, Umbuzi is the name of the only licensed goat dairy in Florida.  You will be able to learn about the production, processing and marketing of dairy goats herds and products.  For a preview of this farm visit, see the photos on the websites http://umbuzifarm.com/Home_Page.html and http://pickmeyard.wordpress.com/tag/goat-cheese-in-southwest-florida/.  We are sure that you will find this tour very worthwhile for your continuing education about sustainable farming operations and alternative enterprises for SW FL. We are also sure that you will not want to miss this opportunity for social networking with your fellow small farmers in SW FL.  Come meet your fellow producers and purveyors who are making our local food systems a reality!   Remember to bring seeds to share for our Seed Swap activity and help promote such collective actions of SWFSFN members.  Finally, we are planning to have another spectacular pot lunch so bring your locally-grown foods prepared with you special recipes of your crops from the peak of our growing season! For your reference, here 's our meetings details and agenda:   Date:            Monday, June 18, 2012 Location:      Umbuzi Farm and Dairy, 13800 Brittain Oaks Dr., Fort Myers, FL. 33905 Directions:  see http://umbuzifarm.com/ Cost:            free RSVP:         yes, please, to rkluson@scgov.net Note:              please, bring your own eating utensils and a folding chair 9:30 to 10:00 am -                registration   10:00 am to 12:00 am -       welcome and presentation -       Overview of the dairy goat farming and processing operations -       Farm tour   12:00 to 1:00 pm -                pot luck lunch & seed swap   1:00 to 2:00 pm -                  growers meeting - introductions & announcements a)  news from attending county SWFSFN grower leaders                                            b)  growers sharing of events, issues, etc of interest to the small farming community   2:00 to 3:00 pm -               a ) Extension county agents announcements                                              b) update of June 29-30, 2012 Dairy Goat Conference in Arcadia (see http://www.fdga.org/)                                              c) update of July 27-29, 2012 FL Small Farms conference (see                                               http://www.conference.ifas.ufl.edu/smallfarms/index.html)   . . . please, feel free to pass along this announcement to your fellow small farmers who would be interested in our activities.  If they are not familiar with SWFSFN, please, refer them to both our webpage (see http://sarasota.ifas.ufl.edu/AG/swfsfn.shtml) and Yahoo Group (see http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/SW_FL_Small_Farms/) Thanks, Robert Robert A. Kluson, Ph.D. AG/NR Extension Agent UF/IFAS Sarasota County Extension 6700 Clark Road, Sarasota, FL  34241 (941) 232-3090; FAX (941) 861-9886 http://sarasota.ifas.ufl.edu   "There are those who look at things the way they are, and ask why... I dream of things that never were, and ask why not?” . . . Bobby Kennedy