Environmental Educator Kim Bailey explains variations in flower types. Photo: Nancy Adamson
Back by popular demand, Organic Growers School Spring Conference is back on the UNC Asheville campus with more than 150 workshops on topics ranging from cooking to mushrooms to pollinators.
Bee City USA has partnered with Organic Growers School to offer a pollinator track with outstanding presenters:
Creating Monarch Habitats – Kim Bailey
Invite monarchs to lunch by growing milkweed and providing a succession of nectar plants throughout the season! Take an in-depth look at monarch natural history, migration, and habitat needs. Discuss pollinator plant propagation, techniques for rearing caterpillars indoors, and explore related citizen-science projects.
Enhancing Farm Diversity to Support Pollinators – Nancy Lee Adamson
Floral diversity on farms supports pollinators and many other insects that benefit our farms, gardens, and watersheds. Learn about some of our smaller farm heroes: the most common types of bees, wasps, flies, beetles, and other wildlife that help ensure healthy harvests.
Growing Native Plants from Seed – Pat Sommers
Discuss seed morphology, pollination and the importance of species plants in a highly hybridized world. You’ll plant two six-packs with a variety of native seeds while learning germination requirements and the what, how and why of growing them.
Integrating Pollinators into the Garden – Angie Lavezzo
Learn the benefits of attracting pollinators to your vegetable gardens for boosting natural pest control, increased yields, and overall beauty.
Meet the ‘Other’ Bees – Jill Sidebottom
Native bees were the New World’s pollinator work horses long before the honey bee was brought here from Europe. Discover the rich diversity of native bees in western NC, and learn how to recognize the most common groups and how to increase them in your garden or farm.
Plant-Pollinator Interactions – Tim Spira
Have you ever wondered why there is such an incredible diversity of flower shapes, sizes, colors, and fragrances in nature? Discover how plant-pollinator interactions have been a key force generating the diversity of flowers that we see in nature.
Who Pollinates Your Food? – Phyllis Stiles
Plants and their pollinators co-evolved over millions of years in mutually beneficial ways. Today three-quarters of the world’s crops benefit from pollinators, either for producing seeds or improving the quality and/or quantity of yields. Get ready to be amazed at how crafty flowers can be!
Half-Day Workshop: Beekeeping Basics – Sarah Eshan McKinney & Diane Almond
Learn what’s involved with the magic of honeybees: time, money, equipment, and management options and issues to enjoy and sustain healthy hives. Class will be taught through PowerPoint, beekeeping equipment, and handouts.
Moderating is a VERY IMPORTANT job. Moderators represent OGS and are OGS’ eyes and ears in the classrooms to ensure that everything is running smoothly. Contact Sera Deva if you are interested in volunteering for Organic Growers School.
Moderator Time Commitments:
Friday Moderator Training (all Sat/Sun moderators) at UNCA: 6:00pm-7:00pm in Karpen 244 (second floor, facing the quad) with Karin and Lee. The training will cover what we expect from our moderators, as well as a crash course in using a Smart Classroom.
Friday Pre-Conference Moderators: 9:15am-4:45pm
Saturday Moderators: 8:45am-12:30pm, 1:45pm-5:30pm
Sunday Moderators: 8:45am-12:30pm, 1:45pm-5:30pm
Moderator Jobs:
Door Monitor: Before your track begins, stand at the door and make sure that everyone entering has a wrist band. If someone does not have a wristband, please send them to Conference Headquarters.
Take Attendance: This is very important because it lets OGS know how popular the classes were. “Attendance” in this case just means counting all the people who came.
Classroom Setup, Management & Troubleshooting: You will manage the flow of chairs, people, and space. Make seating suggestions, move chairs around, and assure that the classroom is comfortable (in temperature and atmosphere as well). If there are AV issues or problems with light, sound, etc., please try to solve the problem or contact the Volunteer Coordinator.
FACILITATE during questioning for the speaker. Example: If four people raise their hands at the same time, you can “stack”, meaning, you will delegate who goes 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th. Many speakers will do this themselves, but sometimes it is helpful for you to assist. Check with the speaker to find out if they’d prefer to have questions throughout the class or a time towards the end specifically as a questions/answer session.
Time Management: Ask the teacher how they would prefer help with time management and give them appropriate signals at halfway, 30 minutes left, 10 minutes left and time.
Announcements: Welcome everyone to the Annual Spring Conference! This class is (state the exact name of the class so people can tell if they are in the right place). Make housekeeping announcements.
Complete an Evaluation Form FOR EACH CLASS: This is very important because it lets OGS know how popular the classes were. “Attendance” in this case just means counting all the people in the class about halfway through. Please be sure to return your moderator folder, with evaluations included, to OGS Headquarters. This is really important feedback for our future planning.
Cleanup: Please make sure the space is completely cleaned up or transitioned to the next class before you leave.
Photos (Optional): Please take some photos and send them to [email protected] to build OGS’ library of images.
Twitter (Optional): Are you a twitter user and/or Instagram user? Tweet/Post about the conference with hashtag #SpringConference17 or tag @organicgrowersschool!
Blog Write Up (Optional): OGS would love to publish a write up of the class you are attending in your name, which we’ll share through social media.
***Moderating is one of the most important jobs you can possibly have! Please know that the information you will be procuring for OGS and the services you will be providing are essential to the conference! We appreciate your time and willingness to help out!
