8:00 AMtalk
Greeting
Bruce Cohen — President, East Lyme Giving Garden
Auditorium
January 8–10, 2027
Full program schedule
Explore talks, panels, five Saturday breakouts, meals, and networking. Choose a day and filter the agenda, or print the full schedule.
Choose your breakout session. Please note: Space is limited.
Showing 16 Saturday schedule items.
Saturday, January 9
8:10 AMtalk
Food Insecurity in Our Neighborhoods
Sally Uden — Vice President of the East Lyme Giving Garden
Annie Stockton — Vice President, Gemma E. Moran United Way/Labor Food Center
Auditorium
8:30 AMtalk
Organic Matter, Mineral Availability, Biological Diversity and Energy Gradients
Auditorium
To make decisions about amending or improving soils and plants, growers need a model of how the system works and how plants take up nutrients throughout the growing season. This session explores organic matter, mineral availability, biological diversity, and the gradients that continually change within the soil-plant ecosystem.
9:45 AMpanel
Compost Panel Discussion and Q&A
Craig Floyd, Nigel Palmer, Bryan O'Hara, Yoko Takemura, Koralee Lawrence
Auditorium
Building organic matter in our soils is a critical aspect of soil health. In addition to living plants injecting a diverse collection of exudates into the soil through their roots, compost can play a key role in building organic matter, help feed plants and soil biology and provide shelter for our insect friends during the winter. This panel discussion will provide a diverse perspective on how different growers manage their compost generation.
10:30 AMbreak
Break
—
10:45 AMtalk
Combining Basic Wisdoms in Starting a Garden
Auditorium
Every garden approach begins with soil. Craig will cover garden design, soil health, irrigation, foliar feeding, and practical choices for growers at every experience level.
12:00 PMmeal
Lunch and Socialize
Cafeteria
12:45 PMtalk
Preparing the Soil for Planting
Auditorium
We will cover the various methods of preparing the soil for the seeding or transplanting of a crop. Till and no-till approaches, plows, harrows, shovels, raking, rolling, tarping, composting, mulching. Which one, and when? We will look at the many options and seek to give an understanding of which is most appropriate for a given condition. Time permitting, we will also take a look at pre-plant fertilization. This presentation will be packed full of useful ideas and an enjoyable subject.
Simultaneous sessions
Choose your breakout session
These sessions take place at the same time. Select the one you would most like to attend. Please note: Space is limited.
2:15 PMbreakout
Maximizing Cover Crops in a Small Space Using No-Till Techniques
Room 1
Learn to integrate cover crops into a crop plan, sow and terminate them without tillage, select species for a season and goal, and maximize cover crops in a small space.
2:15 PMbreakout
The Hazy Nature of Water, Rain, Fog… Demystified?
Auditorium
This break-out session will be an advanced discussion drawing from the work of Gerald Pollack and Olivier Husson. Plants are electric and use minerals that are charged (ions). How do these charges move through plants? How are mist, fog and rain formed and how does humidity effect plant mineral availability? How do nutrients reach the top of a redwood tree and how does the earth get its negative charge? When is the best time to foliar spray and why? Seatbelts optional.
2:15 PMbreakout
What the Fungus Is Going on Down There? A Dive into Fungal Biology and Ecology
Room 2
A crash course in how fungi reproduce, eat, grow, and adapt ecologically, with examples ranging from forest mushrooms to symbiotic and decomposer fungi in fields and gardens.
2:15 PMbreakout
Integrated Pest Management
Room 3
How can growers manage pests in the garden without relying on insecticides?
2:15 PMbreakout
Growing Flowers Regeneratively
Room 4
Allyson shares the practices behind growing more than 250 varieties of flowers for CSA shares, farmers' markets, and events while maintaining diversity on a small family farm.
3:30 PMtalk
Preserving the Harvest: A Nutritionist's Perspective
Auditorium
Freezing, canning, salting, brining, fermenting, drying, and cold storage: What are the best ways to preserve the harvest while retaining as many of those healthy nutrients and flavors as possible? We will have hands-on demonstrations for some of the processes we discuss.
4:45 PMpanel
The Journey of Improving Soil Health and Food Quality: A Farmer's Perspective with Q&A
Craig Floyd, Bryan O'Hara, Yoko Takemura, Allyson Angelini, Mark McBrine, Cass Gilmore
Auditorium
Over 90% of the farms in the United States use conventional methods. The line between regenerative versus conventional growing practices is grey, and the specific practices that farmers must use to promote soil health depends greatly on their environmental circumstances. This panel of farmers has made the transition to regenerative growing practices. How they got there and what key hurdles they encountered along the way will be discussed.
6:00 PMmeal
Socialize and Dinner
Flanders Fish Market and Restaurant
All invited; pre-registration required. $37 USD per person. Capacity: 114 guests. Reservations close December 15, 2026, or earlier if capacity is reached.
Friday, January 8
5:30 PMnetworking
Meet and Greet DinnerOptional
Flanders Fish Market and Restaurant
All invited; pre-registration required. Order from the restaurant’s available menu and pay the restaurant directly. Menu selection varies with group size.
Saturday, January 9
8:00 AMtalk
Greeting
Bruce Cohen — President, East Lyme Giving Garden
Auditorium
8:10 AMtalk
Food Insecurity in Our Neighborhoods
Sally Uden — Vice President of the East Lyme Giving Garden
Annie Stockton — Vice President, Gemma E. Moran United Way/Labor Food Center
Auditorium
8:30 AMtalk
Organic Matter, Mineral Availability, Biological Diversity and Energy Gradients
Auditorium
To make decisions about amending or improving soils and plants, growers need a model of how the system works and how plants take up nutrients throughout the growing season. This session explores organic matter, mineral availability, biological diversity, and the gradients that continually change within the soil-plant ecosystem.
9:45 AMpanel
Compost Panel Discussion and Q&A
Craig Floyd, Nigel Palmer, Bryan O'Hara, Yoko Takemura, Koralee Lawrence
Auditorium
Building organic matter in our soils is a critical aspect of soil health. In addition to living plants injecting a diverse collection of exudates into the soil through their roots, compost can play a key role in building organic matter, help feed plants and soil biology and provide shelter for our insect friends during the winter. This panel discussion will provide a diverse perspective on how different growers manage their compost generation.
10:30 AMbreak
Break
—
10:45 AMtalk
Combining Basic Wisdoms in Starting a Garden
Auditorium
Every garden approach begins with soil. Craig will cover garden design, soil health, irrigation, foliar feeding, and practical choices for growers at every experience level.
12:00 PMmeal
Lunch and Socialize
Cafeteria
12:45 PMtalk
Preparing the Soil for Planting
Auditorium
We will cover the various methods of preparing the soil for the seeding or transplanting of a crop. Till and no-till approaches, plows, harrows, shovels, raking, rolling, tarping, composting, mulching. Which one, and when? We will look at the many options and seek to give an understanding of which is most appropriate for a given condition. Time permitting, we will also take a look at pre-plant fertilization. This presentation will be packed full of useful ideas and an enjoyable subject.
Simultaneous sessions
Choose your breakout session
These sessions take place at the same time. Select the one you would most like to attend. Please note: Space is limited.
2:15 PMbreakout
Maximizing Cover Crops in a Small Space Using No-Till Techniques
Room 1
Learn to integrate cover crops into a crop plan, sow and terminate them without tillage, select species for a season and goal, and maximize cover crops in a small space.
2:15 PMbreakout
The Hazy Nature of Water, Rain, Fog… Demystified?
Auditorium
This break-out session will be an advanced discussion drawing from the work of Gerald Pollack and Olivier Husson. Plants are electric and use minerals that are charged (ions). How do these charges move through plants? How are mist, fog and rain formed and how does humidity effect plant mineral availability? How do nutrients reach the top of a redwood tree and how does the earth get its negative charge? When is the best time to foliar spray and why? Seatbelts optional.
2:15 PMbreakout
What the Fungus Is Going on Down There? A Dive into Fungal Biology and Ecology
Room 2
A crash course in how fungi reproduce, eat, grow, and adapt ecologically, with examples ranging from forest mushrooms to symbiotic and decomposer fungi in fields and gardens.
2:15 PMbreakout
Integrated Pest Management
Room 3
How can growers manage pests in the garden without relying on insecticides?
2:15 PMbreakout
Growing Flowers Regeneratively
Room 4
Allyson shares the practices behind growing more than 250 varieties of flowers for CSA shares, farmers' markets, and events while maintaining diversity on a small family farm.
3:30 PMtalk
Preserving the Harvest: A Nutritionist's Perspective
Auditorium
Freezing, canning, salting, brining, fermenting, drying, and cold storage: What are the best ways to preserve the harvest while retaining as many of those healthy nutrients and flavors as possible? We will have hands-on demonstrations for some of the processes we discuss.
4:45 PMpanel
The Journey of Improving Soil Health and Food Quality: A Farmer's Perspective with Q&A
Craig Floyd, Bryan O'Hara, Yoko Takemura, Allyson Angelini, Mark McBrine, Cass Gilmore
Auditorium
Over 90% of the farms in the United States use conventional methods. The line between regenerative versus conventional growing practices is grey, and the specific practices that farmers must use to promote soil health depends greatly on their environmental circumstances. This panel of farmers has made the transition to regenerative growing practices. How they got there and what key hurdles they encountered along the way will be discussed.
6:00 PMmeal
Socialize and Dinner
Flanders Fish Market and Restaurant
All invited; pre-registration required. $37 USD per person. Capacity: 114 guests. Reservations close December 15, 2026, or earlier if capacity is reached.
Sunday, January 10
8:00 AMtalk
Greeting
Bruce Cohen — President, East Lyme Giving Garden
Jeff Newton — East Lyme Superintendent of Schools
Auditorium
8:05 AMtalk
How to Ask a Farmer About Their Growing Practices
Auditorium
Going to a farmers’ market to purchase “fresh” and “healthy” food depends upon how that food was grown. Did the farmer use pesticides or herbicides? Did the farmer grow pasture-raised chickens? What did the farmer feed their cows or chickens? The answers to these questions are important for the consumer to better understand the quality of the food being purchased. These are hard questions to ask a farmer when standing face-to-face at a farmers’ market. Bryan will help navigate that conversation with ease and respect.
8:30 AMtalk
Commercial Cranberry Transformation to Regenerative Growing
Auditorium
With the negative effects of conventional growing becoming clearer, the move to regenerative practices is becoming more attractive. Making the change is daunting for most farmers. In this session Cass will discuss his journey: the successes, cost savings, and empowerment of working with nature rather than trying to outsmart her on his 80-acre cranberry farm.
9:30 AMtalk
Wildcrafting Microbes for Pest Management
Auditorium
Explore Indigenous Predatory Microorganisms, a Korean natural-farming practice rooted in observation, local ecology, and biological pest regulation, including responsible on-farm evaluation.
10:45 AMdemonstration
Making Vinegar Extractions and Fermented Plant Juices - Their Application at Critical Points of Influence
Auditorium
Fermented plant juices and vinegar extractions produce amendment products with unique mineral profiles in plant available forms. Plants require different mineral concentrations during phases of development (germination, flowering, fruiting). We will demonstrate how to make fermented plant juices and vinegar extractions, review their mineral analysis results and discuss their use to facilitate phases of plant development.
11:55 AMceremony
12:00 PMmeal
Lunch and Poster Session
Auditorium Breezeway
1:15 PMtalk
The Underappreciated Importance of Seed Quality and Seed Saving
Auditorium
Kris will share her experience growing crops for seed alongside food crops. Learn how to avoid cross-pollination—or encourage it if you like an adventure—how to grow enough plants to preserve the genetics of your seeds, and the tools and tricks of the trade that can help you become a better seed saver.
2:30 PMpanel
Panel Discussion: Real Food? How Did Eating Get So Confusing?
Joan Palmer, Kathleen DiChiara, Mark McBrine
Auditorium
Trying to eat healthy spans a complex array of subjects, opinions and a huge diversity of “diet” options that can confuse anyone. What is healthy food? How is it grown? How does food influence mood and behavior? Processed foods, additives, health foods, organics, supplements, farm raised, prebiotics, probiotics—the list goes on—are all terms we see in the store, on TV and in all forms of mass media. How are we to process all this information? This panel will help navigate this complex topic using real-life experiences and common-sense thinking.
3:45 PMpanel
End of Conference Q&A
All speakers
Auditorium
4:45 PMnetworking
Socialize
Cafeteria