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Developing Skills with New Food Entrepreneurs

Every business owner comes to their work with unique strengths. Some folks start with a solid background in planning and business, while others know kitchens and food safety well. One business owner might have building and design experience, while others are proficient at developing marketing materials and outreach. Each one of these skills and many more are required when running a food business. One aspect of my job as manager of the shared-use Harvest Kitchen at the Extension Learning Farm is offering technical assistance to food entrepreneurs. Part of the technical assistance equation is understanding  a person’s strongest foundational skills and filling in with supportive information and resources where needed.

This winter, based on the most common questions I was fielding throughout the year, I designed a 3-week class called Creating or Renting a Commercial Kitchen for Your Food Business for the Ag and Food Producers Academy. In January, the group met together online in the evenings for three sessions, and we all came together for a field trip at the close of the course. 19 businesses participated and had wide ranging business ideas including dehydrated products, baked goods, prepared foods, and more.

At the close of our month together, Extension asked the class participants which aspects of the course were most valuable for them as they move forward in diversifying an existing business or starting fresh with a new idea. We had so much fun together unraveling this important and complicated topic, I wanted to share some of their comments below alongside photos of the course experience.

1. Making Connections
“I gained some new friends and I learned what others are doing locally with commercial kitchens.”

group picture
During the field trip participants toured three different facilities of varying scale and use including Kent Family Growers in Lisbon, the Harvest Kitchen at the Extension Learning Farm in Canton, and Big Spoon Kitchen in Potsdam.

2. Learning about Recipe Approvals
“It really demystified the scheduled process for me and the whole process is much less daunting than I originally imagined.”

picture of sauerkraut
Many food products require approval before being produced for sale to the public. One aspect of the course was walking through that process, and the course participants got a chance to learn directly from a process authority at the Cornell Food Venture Center.

Read more Developing Skills with New Food Entrepreneurs

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Grafting apple trees with St. Lawrence Nurseries

It was a joy to partner with St. Lawrence Nursery (SLN) of Potsdam for the first time to offer an apple tree grafting workshop at the Extension Learning Farm. This year St. Lawrence Nurseries is celebrating its 100th anniversary of propagating and selling cold hardy fruit and nut trees.

During the workshop nursery owners, Conner and Alyssa Hardiman walked the eager participants through the “whip and tongue” grafting technique including photos from the nursery, a live demo, plenty of time to practice on twigs, and then the real thing!

Connor Hardiman demonstrates the "whip and tongue" grafting technique
Connor Hardiman demonstrates the “whip and tongue” grafting technique

Grafting is a propagation method that entails joining a scion (which becomes the fruiting part, or top of the tree) to a rootstock (which becomes the root of the tree). Grafting aligns the vascular tissue which allows the two parts to grow together and function as a single plant. While the rootstock influences the ultimate size and hardiness of the tree, the scion determines what kind of fruit the tree will yield.

Scion wood from St. Lawrence Nursery
This scion wood from St. Lawrence Nursery will form the fruiting portion of the apple tree.

Workshop participants left with five grafted trees of their own making. Each included the hardy rootstock Antonovka (originally from Russia) paired with the scion wood of their choice from the SLN orchard. Apple varieties on offer included Liberty, Rhuby, Atlas, Beacon, and MN-1734 (a russet cider apple). Read more Grafting apple trees with St. Lawrence Nurseries

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Meet Matthew Carney, Master Gardener Volunteer

With a new cohort of Master Gardener Volunteers beginning to serve their community, we’d like to introduce them (AND YOU!) to the group of MGVs who have sustained this program for the last several years. Meet Matthew Carney!

What sparked your interest in gardening, and what has sustained it?

Inspired by my father, I began gardening from a very young age and continued to do so as a college student and a Peace Corp Volunteer. While agriculture was not my main focus, my vegetable garden in Tonga became a source of interest for many and an inspiration for some during my years as a Peace Corp Volunteer. My Tongan friends and neighbors were surprised that luxuries such as tomatoes, peppers and squash etc. could be grown locally.

More recently, my wife Linda and I began the Peacock & Pony Farm where we sell and share our produce and flowers. We have also created and nurtured several perennial gardens at the Baker Woods Preserve (BWP) in Natural Bridge where we are the primary stewards.

Matt at the Baker Woods Preserve
The Baker Woods Preserve includes extensive river and wetland habitats, a red pine plantation in transition, and native coniferous and hardwood forests.

What benefits do you gain from gardening?

We enjoy the fruits of our labor. Nothing tastes as satisfying as home grown veggies and nothing satisfies my sense of aesthetics and environmental ethics more than our many perennial pollinator gardens. As a Master Gardener Volunteer, I continue to learn and to share knowledge and insight with fellow gardeners and conservationists.

How do you serve as a MGV?

Most significantly, I interact almost daily with visitors to the Baker Woods Preserve and enjoy sharing my knowledge of trees, shrubs, plants and perennials, both wild and cultivated, with individuals and groups of all ages.  Read more Meet Matthew Carney, Master Gardener Volunteer