Sunday (1/28) Pre-Conference Sessions

**Register for these events within your regular conference registration** Can't make the whole conference? Choose the Pre-Conference Only registration option.

Events

Saturday & Sunday 1/27-28 - Profiting from Pastured Animals @ Green Bexar Farm, 9-5 PM - $20 Are you interested in selling your meat, eggs, milk, or other pastured animal products but unsure where to start? Already selling and want to increase your profits? Confused about label requirements? Then, join the Council for Healthy Food Systems in a two-day workshop at Green Bexar Farm as we explore these topics and more. We will cover marketing skills, sales and distribution, business structures, taxes and insurance, rules and regulations around animal product sales, and many other subjects that will help you grow your business. You will get to tour the farm, meet other farmers from your region, and participate in follow-up support as you implement these new skills. Lunch is included in both days. Green Bexar farm is located just outside San Antonio at 14997 FM 1346, St Hedwig, TX 78152.

Sunday 1/28- Cover Your Farm (CYF) with a Food Safety Plan Workshop - FREE, 9:00 AM - 12:00 PM This interactive workshop focuses on on-farm food safety for beginners and small farm operations who direct market their produce. Attendees will gain skills to develop their own food safety plan that meets the current needs for regulation and liability while also gaining an understanding of what is needed as the farm grows. This event is at La Estancia Hotel.

Sunday 1/28- Johnson-Su Bioreactor Compost Workshop Fun-Guy Compost Co - $20 12:30 - 1:30 PM Participants will learn how to build a John-Su Bioreactor which produces fungal dominant compost, a product developed by Dr. David Johnson from NM State University. Adding fungal dominant compost to soil creates an interaction between plants and soil using nature's own mechanisms to allow plants to make their own food, eliminating the need for harsh chemicals like fertilizers. Dr. Johnson's method centers around products developed using a static compost system (bioreactors) which are simple and cheap to build. By the end of this workshop you will know how to build a reactor with instructions for building the bioreactor and caring for the generation of fungal dominant compost. This event takes place at Eco Centro at 1802 N Main Ave, San Antonio, TX 78212

Sunday 1/28- Soil Food Web Microscopy Workshop w/Rhizos, Laurie Dixon, and Soil Again - $75, 2:00 PM - 5:00 PM What's living beneath your feet? Come along with certified Soil Food Web lab-techs on a deep dive into soil biology. There will be presentations on important soil food web concepts in cultivation, how to read a biological report, and practical guidance on the "when" and "what" of biological soil sampling. We will have microscopes set-up to explore what's living in an assortment of soils, composts, teas, and extracts. This event takes place at Eco Centro. Join us!

Farm tours

Sunday 1/28- Gardopia Gardens- $20, 1:00 - 2:30 PM Gardopia Gardens was formed in 2015 to address health disparities in a high-crime corridor on the near-Eastside of San Antonio. They implement crime prevention through environmental design (CRTED) as a methodology to reduce crime around an abandoned lot. The mission is to grow healthy communities through garden-based learning.

Sunday 1/28 - Behind the Oaks Farm in Schertz- $20, 2:00 - 4:00 PM Behind the Oaks Farm sells pasture-to-table grass-fed meat and eggs and pasture-raised chickens. This is the third generation to operate the farm, taking it from conventional to regenerative practices. They focus on the people, the land, and animals creating a healthy, strong community.

Sunday 1/28– @ Green Bexar Farm- $20, 3:00 - 4:30 PM- Green Bexar Farm is a regenerative farm operated by Cody and Natalie Scott. They will be showing their winter growing methods including low tunnels, high tunnels, and greenhouses. They will also discuss pecan orchard maintenance and pastured poultry application in their agroforestry setup. They are also open to discussing topics on growing, succession planting for their CSA, and nerdy details of difference heating options, solar compost tea bubbler and fertigation setup, and whatever else you all would like to discuss. 

Sunday 1/28 - Garcia Street Urban Farms- $20, 3:00 - 4:30 PM Garcia Street Urban Farm was formed as a partnership between the Alamo Colleges District and the San Antonio Housing Authority. They strive to create and maintain a thriving space at the intersection of education, food production, and community engagement.

Other Things to do While in San Antonio

When you’re planning your conference trip, come early and enjoy some of these free or low-cost things in the Alamo City.

•  "Gaining Ground: The Fight for Black Land" produced by Al Roker and John Deere- Wednesday January 24th @6pm at The Little Carver Theater. This film is about about the fight for land for Black Farmers and the importance of access and heirs property.
  
• "Common Ground" on Friday, January 26, 2024. $20 Doors open at 6, screening at 7 PM @ McAllister Auditorium. This documentary unveils a dark web of money, power, and politics behind our broken food system. The film reveals how unjust practices forged our current farm system in which farmers of all colors are literally dying to feed us. The film profiles a hopeful and uplifting movement of white, black, and indigenous farmers who are using regenerative models of agriculture that could balance the climate, save our health, and stabilize America's economy. Q & A session will follow the movie screening. Register here!
• The Alamo, of course, the little mission chapel and grounds tucked into downtown San Antonio. But there are four other Spanish missions (Concepcion, San Jose, Espada, and San Juan), with an expanded River Walk, the Mission Reach, nearby. The missions are operated by the National Park Service, and are a UNESCO World Heritage site. 
  
• Confluence Park is on the Mission Reach, with an innovative rain catchment system and beautiful native landscaping.
• King William, a restored historic district south of downtown, offers a scenic loop on the river, between Johnson and Nueva streets. Access near King William and Guenther Streets. Or stroll the streets to see the lovely old mansions. 
• North of downtown, the Museum Reach of the River Walk leads to the Lock and Dam and The Pearl dining and shopping district, an adaptive reuse of the historic brewery. And to the San Antonio Museum of Art also housed in a former brewery. Stop in at the historic VFW post for a beer (free, for veterans). 
• The San Antonio Botanical Garden is a showplace of variety, including areas representing all parts of the state. It serves as a 38 - acre living museum of plants, tranquil escape, living classroom, research and conservation facility, and more. General admission $18 Friday-Sunday; $16 Monday-Thursday. 
• A harvest day at Mission San Juan Capistrano will be happening Saturday, January 27. Volunteers welcome. Sign up here. 

**More Information on Registering for Pre-Conference Events:

To register for a pre-conference workshop and the TOFGA conference, for the registration page and follow the form. The pre-conference workshop will be a selection to add onto your conference registration.To register for only the pre-conference workshop **You will need to select the "Pre-conference workshops Only" option which is down toward the bottom of the registration types. The workshop you want will be an option in the list of pre-conference workshops, be sure to select the correct option as you move through the form.