A group of 25 ambitious farmers took part in the first of five new workshops focusing on livestock and poultry production. The New Entry Livestock Training Program is part of our long-term strategic plan, made possible through recent grants (See ‘New Entry Livestock Field School Series’ and ‘MPPU Training’ articles below).  We will be hiring a Livestock Coordinator to help manage these projects, so send us your resume if you are interested!

A number of low-income families from East Boston will enjoy World PEAS CSA shares, thanks to generous donations from individual shareholders of the 2009 World PEAS CSA. Contributions from shareholders have helped subsidize a total of nine World PEAS shares, for a value of almost $5,000 which will be distributed through the East Boston Neighborhood Health Care Center (See “Donations Impact East Boston Neighborhood”).

New Entry was honored by World Hunger Year (WHY) with a Harry Chapin Self-Reliance Award.  Project Director, Jennifer Hashley and farmer, Sinikiwe (Nikki) Makarutsa, recently attended the awards dinner in NYC to celebrate with other national organizations creating innovative solutions against poverty and hunger.

Taken together, these stories represent unprecendented new growth for New Entry. We take a moment to gratefully thank the farmers, grantors, partners, volunteers, interns, and individuals from the community who help enhance our education and outreach programs to serve the next generation of culturally diverse farmers and local food producers.

THANK YOU!

New Entry - What We Do

The mission of New Entry is to assist socially disadvantaged and other underserved individuals with agricultural backgrounds to successfully enter farming in Massachusetts. The broader goals of New Entry are to support the vitality and sustainability of the region’s agriculture, to build long term economic self-reliance and food security among participants and their communities, and to expand access to high-quality, culturally appropriate foods in underserved areas through production of locally-grown foods.

To learn more, please visit our website at [2] www.nesfp.org

New Entry Learning Opportunities

Explore Farming! - offered on a Rolling Basis Do you want to farm, but you’re not sure if starting a commercial farm business is right for you?  This free workshop will help you decide.  You will learn about:

 - Small-scale commercial farming opportunities in New England

 - Strategies that make successful farms and farmers

 - Ways the New Entry program helps new farmers

Explore Farming! workshops take place at the downtown Lowell office.  Please call New Entry at 978-654-6745, or e-mail Ellen at [3] nesfp@comteam.org to register.

New Entry Hands-On Field Trainings

New Entry will conduct over 15 practical skills training workshops on our incubator training farms this season.  Anyone can attend these workshops and the registration fee is $15 per workshop. Ask about a discount for the entire series.  New Entry graduates attend for free.  The schedule for trainings over the next three months is: Photo by Anne Fedrigo

- June 11th   4:00 - 6:00 PM -  Post Harvest Handling
- June 25th   4:00 - 6:00 PM -  Weed Management

- July 9th      4:00 - 6:00 PM -  Disease Management (Organic Pesticides II)

- July 23rd   4:00 - 6:00 PM -  Cover Cropping Field Trip   

Field trainings are held at New Entry training sites in Dracut.  If you would like to register for a field training, please call McKenzie at 978-654-6745, or email [4] mboekholder@comteam.org. Visit our website to see the [5] complete training schedule.

  Livestock Field Schools (New Offering!)  New Entry is now coordinating a [6] Livestock Field School Series.  The following hands-on and practical skills workshops will take place from 10:00 AM - 3:00 PM at the [7] Tufts University Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine in Grafton, MA. 

        o [8] Sheep School - Thurday, June 18th
o Poultry School -  Thursday, July 9th
        o Swine School - Saturday, August 22nd
        o Beef Cattle School - Saturday, October 17th  

The registration fee is $35 per workshop which includes lunch and resource materials.  Please send an e-mail to [9] NESFP@tufts.edu if you are interested in registering.