The Northeast Organic Farming Association of New Jersey, or NOFA NJ, hosts its 34th annual winter conference under the theme “Connecting Communities of Practice” on Saturday, January 27, at Rutgers University’s Douglass Student Center, 100 George Street, in New Brunswick from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.
According to NOFA NJ’s website, nofanj.org, the Lambertville-based organization “has supported and advocated for organic farming and local food systems in the Garden State since 1985.” Its winter conference, though, “is not just for farmers and gardeners.”
“Our community and audience also includes students, educators, ag industry professionals, chefs, conservationists, foodies, brewers, and more. This year, we aim to galvanize our community in a time when cooperation is needed most, focusing on local connections and collaboration that carries on into the growing season,” the page continues.
The “premier organic food and agricultural event” promises more than 30 workshops on farming, homesteading, food systems, and more; an exhibitor hall featuring both agricultural industry professionals and affiliated organizations; film screenings, book signings, and networking opportunities; a post-conference social hour with a live band, open mic, and refreshments; and two local, organic meals — breakfast and lunch — included with registration.
Admission for NOFA NJ members is $100 per person, while tickets for the general public are $125 each. To register online, see the page for the event on the NOFA NJ website, nofanj.org/wc24.
Attendees must also register their vehicles prior to the event if they plan to park in either Lot 70 or the Douglass Parking Deck. For questions or more information, email NOFA NJ at nofainfo@nofanj.org.
The keynote speaker for NOFA NJ’s conference is Dr. William Brinton, the founder of Woods End Soil Laboratories, who is best known for developing the Solvita soil health test. According to the Woods End website, his 1994 invention “was developed to simplify respiration testing, making soil respiration more cost-effective for commercial soil labs.”
Brinton is now active through his nonprofit research institute, the WB Foundation, Inc., which is currently “exploring issues of carbon cycling in farming.” His upcoming address at NOFA NJ is titled “Sunlight into Organics: Tracing the Search for Authentic Food Production.”
The following conference speakers listed on the NOFA NJ website, nofanj.org/34wcpresenters, are locally based:
James Klett, together with his brother Alex, owns Fairgrown Farm in Pennington. According to his biography, Klett “began farming at age 17 with no familial history.” He graduated from Rutgers Business School, founded the farm, and eventually pioneered what is described as “the new ‘collaborative farm share’ model.”
This practice entails forming partnerships “with other local farmers to offer a diversity of fresh crops,” according to its website, fairgrownfarm.com, where people can access greater variety on a weekly basis while purchasing produce at the best price points and portions for their needs. His workshop is titled “Winter Work: Planning, Improving, and Selling in the Off-Season.”
Tomia MacQueen is the owner of Wildflower Farm in Pennington, which “sustainably produces organically and ethically raised pastured and free-range poultry, lamb, [and] vegetables with a truly unique focus on humane animal husbandry policies and conservation practices.”
As an educator, farmer, and Master Gardener who specializes in edible gardens, MacQueen is also a board member of NOFA NJ and the Friends of Hopewell Valley Open Space. She is currently the food systems literacy coordinator for Princeton Public Schools’ one-year pilot program, which began in April 2023 in collaboration with the Princeton School Gardens Cooperative to teach students how to utilize the district’s food, water, and land systems. Her two workshops are “Predator Control for Homesteads & Livestock Operations” and “Small Plot Intensive & Accessible Gardening.”
Ayesha Dolasa and Jacob Tulius are the husband-and-wife team behind Noble Mushrooms, where since 2017, the couple has sold “fresh organic mushrooms at farmers markets, direct to customers from the farm and to wholesale accounts.”
Two years later, the Hillsborough site “expanded from only producing fresh mushrooms into also providing mycological laboratory services,” including work such as studying “the isolation of mushroom mycelium from contaminants starting from tissue and spores, the expansion of the mycelium into spawn, and the inoculation of bulk substrate which is then sold to other mushroom farmers.” Their workshop is titled “Using Fungi to Connect NJ Farmers.”
Documentary filmmaker Jared Flesher and Hopewell farmer Charlize Katzenbach team up for “Maple Syrup and a Movie,” a film screening of Flesher’s 2023 title “Sugar House Yantra,” about Katzenbach’s 35 years of tapping maple trees on her Sweet Sourland Farm.
Flesher is the founder and creative director of Hundred Year Films, a video production company focused on environmental and conservation subjects in Central Jersey. His works include “Sourlands” (2012) about the Sourland Mountain region and “Pine Mud” (2021) about the Pinelands National Reserve, the latter of which won a 2022 Mid-Atlantic Emmy Award.
According to his biography, Flesher, who earned the title of “New Jersey’s leading environmental documentarian” from the New Jersey Society of Professional Journalists, was an editor at Edible Jersey magazine before he became a cinematographer. He is also a communications specialist with the Office of Sustainability at Princeton University.
Katzenbach, described as “New Jersey’s most knowledgeable maple syrup farmer,” co-owns Sweet Sourland Farm with her wife, Bru. Sweet Sourland sells “forest farm products including maple syrup, honey, goats, sheep,” and even lumber milled onsite.
Dr. Joseph Heckman is a Rutgers professor of soil science, an extension specialist in soil fertility, and the owner of Neshanic Pastures in Ringoes. His workshop is titled “Renewable Soil Fertility from Non-Commercial Nutrient Sources.”
Kristin Broderick, a licensed marriage and family therapist, is also the founder and director of wellbeing initiatives for the SHINE program at Dunwald Farm in Hopewell, described as a collective of “on-farm specialists passionate about nature and mental health.” Her workshop is titled “Redefining Mental Health: The Role of Farms and Nature-Based Approaches.”
Dr. Xenia K. Morin is a plant biochemist, the undergraduate program director for Rutgers University’s agriculture and food systems program, and an associate teaching professor in the plant biology department. She previously worked at Princeton University as a writing and environmental studies’ lecturer. Her workshop is a screening of the documentary “Fields of Devotion,” followed by a panel discussion.
Tess Stahl is the livestock and dairy extension specialist at Rutgers and an assistant professor in its department of animal sciences. She represents the Rutgers New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station, or the NJAES Cooperative Extension, with a workshop titled “Small Ruminant Nutrition for Grazers.”
Reuwai Hanewald is the daughter of Pam and Gary Mount, the owners of Terhune Orchards in Lawrence. She is an 11th-generation farmer who runs the family business with her parents and sister, Tannwen Mount. Hanewald graduated from Princeton University, where she studied ecology, evolutionary biology, and environmental science.
Hanewald hosts a workshop with Kristian Holmstrom, a member of the Rutgers NJAES Vegetable Working Group whose work focuses on both integrated pest management, or IPM, as well as pest mapping, called “IPM Programs for Diversified & Organic Farms.”
Lastly, Jess Niederer is the owner of Chickadee Creek Farm in Pennington, who, alongside Meredith Melendez, an Agriculture & Natural Resources County Agent II with the Rutgers Cooperative Extension of Mercer County, and Jen LaMonaca of Walking Bird Farm in Egg Harbor City, leads the session “Pathways to Engage in NJ Agricultural Policy.”
