Education Overview
Perhaps the most visible of Oregon Sustainable Agriculture Land Trust’s activities is a large and growing educational program for disseminating the knowledge and skills we all need to move ever closer to evolving sustainable societies. OSALT lands are an integral part of the educational activities of OSALT, and provide facilities for hands-on training over many seasons.
We conduct classes, workshops and tours on OSALT lands as well as presentations and classes in cooperation with community colleges, community schools, primary, middle and high schools, garden groups, environmental and professional organizations, and companies involved in agriculture in all its forms.
Programs for commercial growers include classroom and field training in the knowledge and skills of running an agricultural operation. The keystone educational series, "Successful Small Farming" has served growers from throughout Western Oregon and Washington. The series begins with finding and evaluating land, continues through developing a farm plan, site design, economics for growers, basic botany and plant physiology, soils, pest and disease control, seeds and seed saving, growing, harvesting and post-harvest handling, building trades for growers, tool and equipment maintenance, and marketing.
Additional workshops and classes cover such topics as "The Small Scale Duck Flock," "Soils and Composting," "Raising Fruit Without Pesticides," "Preserving Family Lands," "Growing From Seed to Table," "Seed Saving and Variety Selection", "Introduction to Permaculture", "Markets and Marketing", "Price, Cost and Staying in Business" and others. See our Events database for the latest classes.
Speakers and consulting services are available for individuals and groups of interested parties. An ongoing educational effort is focused on informing estate planners about OSALT's work and the need for protecting agricultural lands.
OSALT has also created a growing number of audio, video and print "How To" courses and educational materials. Contact us for details.