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I am delighted to report that this morning New York Agri-Women held the first meeting of its Nassau County chapter, thanks largely to the efforts of Mary Callanan, the CSA Coordinator at Kaos Farms in Old Westbury. Thanks also to our host, Sally Ingraham of Ridgelands Farm, for her hospitality and delicious food — home-made goat cheese, goat milk and old-fashioned cornbread, among other delicacies!

In addition to Sally, Mary and Lynette Frey, also from Kaos Farms, we were joined by women from Fox Hollow Farm, Turtleback Farm, Youngs Farm, Restoration Farm, Crossroads Farm at Grossmann’s, Seedsower Farm, Four Season Farm and North Shore Land Alliance. We got off to a great start, with a lively discussion on diverse topics such as:

• formation of a small-farm purchasing cooperative for farm goods (cover crops, seed, hay, etc.) and services (marketing, etc.);
• land and other resources available to new farmers;
• education, mentorship, internship and job opportunities;
• grants available for women and small farmers:
• unique economic challenges faced by farmers;
• farm marketing and value-added products and revenues;
• use of social media, blogging, etc.

Our next meeting of the Nassau chapter will be held on Friday morning, April 27, at 9:30 am at Grossmann’s Farm in Malverne.   It will include a tour of the farm.  More details to follow….

This chapter will serve not just Nassau, but western parts of Suffolk as well as Queens and Brooklyn (at least until new chapters can be launched in those counties). We invite any of our Suffolk County members to attend this chapter’s meetings if they are more conveniently located, and apologize for any duplication of this email.

Thanks again to all of today’s participants, and I look forward to our next meeting!