On a related note, FSEP distributed, collected and aggregated this survey to Michigan farmers.   Check it out!

Looking for Ann Arbor grown organic vegetables this winter?

The Tilian CSA still has 7 spots available in their 2013 Winter Share!!

Three options to choose from:

16 weeks @ $600: for storage crop lovers who can’t get enough winter squash, potatoes, cabbage, onions, carrots, beets and rutabaga, this option runs every week January 10, 2013 through April 25^th.  The first 8 weeks of this share will include a majority of roots listed above with small offerings of hoop house greens before incorporating larger quantities of greens in March and April.

12 weeks @ $475: for families excited by the idea of eating in season for the Michigan winter but hesitant to take on squash and potatoes every week.  This option runs January 10^th and 24^th, February 7^th and 21^st and then once hoop house greens production is fully under way, every week March 7th through April 25^th.

8 weeks @ $325: for 2 person households who don’t need a full load of veggies every week.  This option runs every other week January 10th through April 25th.

All proceeds from share sales go to support beginning farmer programming here at Tilian.  Sign-up today!

Key Qualifications include: 

• Minimum of 5 years of farm management experience 
• Extensive knowledge of organic or ecological vegetable production 
• Extensive knowledge and experience in use of farm equipment 
• Demonstrated success at program development and implementation 
• Demonstrated ability to work well with people from a variety of backgrounds 
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills 
• Excellent computer skills 

We look forward to receiving your application.

Thank You & Good Luck !

With three successful farm businesses in transition and one more moving into the winter season at Tilian, the Steering Team is calling all farmers ready to launch their farm businesses in southeast Michigan to apply as a participant in the 2013-2015 cohort of the Farm Incubator Program!
Participants have the opportunity to launch their farm at 4400 Pontiac Trail, where in partner with the Food System Economic Partnership and Ann Arbor Township, Tilian provides access to land and infrastructure to lower the barriers to entry for new farmers. Farmers are able to establish accounts and earn revenue to support their transition onto their own land within a few years of beginning their business.

Candidates who are entrepreneurial, knowledgeable about the type of farming they plan to do, who are flexible, committed and financially prepared for the challenges of starting a business will be most successful at Tilian. While Tilian does not teach people how to farm, it is a highly community-oriented place. Farmers work together to ensure the maintenance of shared resources, encourage and support one another, tour neighbors and guests, and participate in one farm events.

We look forward to reading your application and hopefully meeting you in person. More information can be found in the application document itself. If at anytime you have questions, please contact tilianfdc@gmail.com. To get started, click on the link below!

Tilian Farm Incubator Program Application (2013-2015)

Thank you and Good Luck!

Seeley Farm has stretched plastic over a quick hoop house in the middle of their plot, transitioning from the shade cloth that kept lettuces alive in the summer heat. Change is the season, and along with reds and greens accenting the treeline along Warren Road, so are two farms who will be moving from 4400 Pontiac Trail to soil they are enriching across the road behind Tilian.  Mark & Alex of Seeley Farm are covering fields on the acres they  leasing with crops that will nourish the soil when tilled under come Spring.

Green Things farmers, Nathan & Jillian Lada are stretching their fingers into the soil of two farms as well, building storage and gaining access to water and electricity at their farm’s new home at the corner of Warren and Nixon Roads, while still growing Fall favorites for CSA members at Tilian. This is the busiest they have ever been as farmers: building their dream farm and maintaining their accounts and relationships established in their first growing season.

Deepening his roots as the call of Winter whistles through the frosty mornings, Bill Bass of Honest Eats Farm is expanding his volunteer base and increasing opportunity for a beautifully successful second season. He is preparing a 30′ x 144′ hoop house, built in the Spring, to fill with winter greens, primarily Spinach, and doling out the last of his hearty 2-handful red-yellow-orange patterned tomatoes.

Tilian’s Residency Farm’s expanse holds the attention of the onlooker as does the natural beauty of our favorite Pickerel Lake or the calm of the Leslie Park woods down the road. Brick-red okra edged with lime and olive, brassica leaves standing tall and reaching out to capture the shortened days’ sun reflect the dedication of the farmers crouching in the rows weeding, and harvesting, who from a distance are like flowers themselves, blessing the future food with tender care and love. The CSA distribution fills the barn on Thursday evenings, and children help their parents by selecting a favorite sweet red pepper and  recalling the warming of the chamomile tea made from the fresh white petaled flowers the week before.

On Sunday, October 7, from 1-4PM, at our Fall Open House, you can witness the serenity of summer fruits to the brisk call of cool that brings forth sweet kales and scrumptious squashes. You can walk the rows of the flowering farmer, and peak in the houses stretched with plastic and warming winter opportunities. We look forward to seeing you there!

Bring a few dollars, we hope to have some produce for sale, so you can make your memories last through suppertime, if not longer:)

Bending Sickle Community Farm, settling in Stockbridge, MI continues to serve the Ann Arbor Community. Be sure to “Like” them on Facebook, and sign up for a winter share (which begins in January 2013), at bendingsicklecommunityfarm.com

Tilian Farm Development Center’s fiscal partner, Food System Economic Partnership has decided to postpone their Farm to School Dinner. Keep your eyes peeled for a rescheduled evening in the Spring of 2013.

Do you want to learn more about new organically grown produce in Washtenaw County?

Are you an advocate for increased access to and production of fruits and vegetables in your community?

If so, you are in the right place, reading the right information, at the right time! Tilian Farm Development Center’s Farmer Residency Program provides new farmers with farm management experience and grows food for YOU available in our Tilian CSA (community supported agriculture) shares every week for 16 weeks at 4400 Pontiac Trail, just 5 miles north of downtown Ann Arbor.

Even in the rain, Rachel & Michael are hard at work weeding, seeding and harvesting!

Your purchase is not only an investment in the health of you and your family, it is also an investment in the movement to grow new farm businesses in your community. In the next few years, proceeds from the CSA shares will be invested in Tilian’s Farm Incubator Program working to build a comprehensive program that supports new farm business development. Farmers in the Incubator Program have 2 years at Tilian to launch their business connect with local markets, establish accounts and build some savings before moving onto leased or purchase land in southeast Michigan.
If you are interested in being a Tilian CSA member, visit the link below:

http://tiliancenter.wordpress.com/farmer-residency-program/about-our-csa/

Fall Shares have just begun August 23rd and continue through December 6th

Winter Shares [YES!, we have fresh green food for you all winter] run January 10th through April 25th

On Sunday, September 9, local singer, songwriter, and educator, Joe Reilly will engage us all in his meaningful, earth-friendly lyrics,  soothing and invigorating melodies! He brings peace, awareness and joy to the people and creation around him. It is our honor to share the farm with Joe:

Thanks to Ann Arbor Hands On Museum, you could win a Family Fun Pack of 4 tickets to this local creative, inspirational center for  kids and adults alike! bring an extra $1 to enter in the raffle on Sunday!!

 Your contribution will support the infrastructure and operations development for Tilian farmers

You may RSVP for this event on our facebook page. Please share this and the information on and our facebook page with your friends and family.

Joe is from Ann Arbor, Michigan and writes songs from his heart. Joe’s songs are playful, clever, engaging, joyful, and always have something meaningful to say. The core of his message is an invitation to heal our relationships with our selves, with each other, and with the earth. joereilly.org

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Can’t make the concert? Want to dig in the dirt? Join us the next day!

September 10 from 1-5PM is our next Volunteer Day at Tilian! Just show up! Community (all levels) Yoga to follow from 5:30-6:30.

If you arrive late, a phone number where you can reach Andrea Ridgard, Program Manager, will be written on a dry erase board in the barn.  Please be sure to touch base with a farmer or Andrea before venturing out into the fields.

Yoga is free for volunteers who spend an hour or more on the farm, and $5 to drop in.

Looking forward to seeing you on September 9 & 10!

***Online registration is now closed, but you are welcome to pay at the door.  See you at 6 !! ***

ON SATURDAY, AUGUST 18,

SAMPLE THE HARVEST OF ANN ARBOR’S NEWEST FARMS

Tilian Farm Development Center’s First Ever

TASTE OF TILIAN

Join us for a strolling dinner & a sweet serenade by The Understorey

Full Farm Tours @ 6; Strolling Dinner @ 7; Music @ 8

Wolverine State Brewing Dark Beer & A Variety of Wine from Arbor Farms will be available in the barn after dinner. Drink tickets can be purchased at the door for $5/each, limit 2 per guest over 21 years of age.

A Rosemary-Cantaloupe Spritzer, Roos Roast Coffee & water will be also be available in the barn

Each farm is paired with a chef in our community who will be preparing mouth- watering tapas from this year’s late summer harvest. Wander the farmland for a true taste of Tilian! 

Bending Sickle Community Farm & Debajo del Sol

Duck Egg “Tortilla” (Spanish Omelette) with Goat Cheese and Zucchini, Cherry Tomato-Basil Salad and Smokey Tomato Jam

Green Things Farm & Chef Maggie Long of The Jolly Pumpkin 

Hush Puppies Topped with Green Zebra-Tomato Jelly; Buckwheat Gnocchi with Cherry-Tomato Sauce

Honest Eats Farm & Chef Rebecca Wauldron 

Chocolate Beet Spice Cupcakes with Goat Cheese Frosting & Carrot-Cardamom Pudding

Seeley Farm & EAT Catering

Seasonal Salad with Artisanal Topping & Summer Dressing

Tilian Residency Farm & The Raven’s Club

Classic Gazpacho with Simmon’s Corn Chips &  Farm Biscuits with S. Serra Cheese!

You may also purchase your tickets for a slightly increased fee at the door (general admission $60; students and farmers $30)

$35 of full priced tickets and $10 of half-priced tickets is tax-deductible. Tilian will send you a thank you letter for your contribution that serve you in completing your taxes.

(Tilian Farm Development Center is a fiscal partner of Food System Economic Partnership & leases land from Ann Arbor Charter Township)

It’s open to everyone!

Yoga is FREE for those who volunteer an hour or more! Can’t Volunteer? Drop in for $5!!

July 9: Help Paint our new barn sign! Dig in the dirt with Meristem Farm! Yoga with Caitlin Joseph of Sun Moon Yoga!

August 13: Roll up your sleeces and sweat it out with the farmers at Tilian! Yoga with Natalie Berry from A2 Yoga!

September 10: Maybe we will harvest today! Yoga with Andi Ridgard of A2 Yoga!