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Life is about learning and we have had some wonderful opportunities to expand our knowledge on farming, business, and life at Windcrest Farm. As the saying goes, "experience is the best teacher" but we certainly use the classroom and field trips (not to mention the wealth of knowledge available on the internet) to help us plan.

In this section of the album you will find photos of the several classroom and field trip opportunties we have had.

Seed Saving Seminar

On June 20, 2005 the Save Our Seed Project Workshop was held at the Central Carolina Community College (CCCC) campus in Pittsboro. This album section contains photos of the five-acre Land Lab and a demonstration on saving brassica seeds.

More information on the Save Our Seed Project is available at http://www.savingourseed.org/.

More information about the Sustainable Agriculture program at CCCC is available at http://www.cccc.edu/Programs/Sustainable_Agriculture.html

Blue Ridge Food Ventures Tour

In preparation for producing our Paradise Peppers product, I attended the Acifidied Foods Processing certification course conducted at Asheville-Buncombe Tech, Enka, NC on July 24 - 25, 2005. During the couse we took a tour of Blue Ridge Food Ventures (BRFV). BRFV is a shared-use value-added food processing center located in Asheville serving food entrepreneurs throughout the region. It provide services to those wishing to start or grow small businesses in the food industry, to local farmers who wish to add value to their products through processing, and to caterers and bakers needing a permitted kitchen to prepare foods for their clients. Steam kettles, convection ovens, juice pasteurizers, and bottling and labeling machines are available for use by clients in the almost 3,000 sq. feet of food processing areas. In addition, over 1,000 sq. feet of refrigerator and freezer space is available for rent.

For more information, email the Director of BRFV, Mary Lou Surgi at mlsurgi@awnc.org or call at 828-713-5722.

Field Trip to a East Coast Produce Distribution Terminal

Are you buying your produce directly from a farmer, or do you know what route your food has taken from the field to your kitchen? We were curious to see where all those tomatoes and watermeleons were coming from that were not locally grown, so we took a trip to a major East Coast produce distribution center to see.