Exploring Low Tech Food Dehydration to Increase Profits on Small Farms

Tanya Tolchin will be Exploring Low Tech Food Dehydration to Increase Profits on Small Farms at the MOFFA Winter Meeting on February 15, 2014.

Tanya says,

 “One of the challenges we face on our farm is that we often grow more produce and flowers than we can market during the peak season. We are hopeful that dehydrating some of our fresh produce and creating new products like kale chips, dried tomatoes, dried herbs and dried f lowers, will help our farm be more profitable and resilient in the changing marketplace. In early 2013, we received a “Farmer Grant” from USDA’s Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education program (SARE) to build and test the two commercial scale dryers on our farm, one solar and one electric.”

Tanya is one of the newest member of the MOFFA board and the Vice Chair.  She stepped in because she has dreams of MOFFA growing into a bigger and more  powerful entity like the great Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association. She is hoping to help MOFFA win grants and attract a broader membership base. Tanya and her husband Scott Hertzberg grow vegetables and flowers at Jug Bay Market Garden just 20 miles from Washington DC and around the corner from Heron There Farm. She is a manager  of Israeli Harvest , a small business that supports farmers in Israel by selling organic olive oil and dates in the US. She writes about farming, parenting and Jewish life on her blog, On the Lettuce Edge, and else where. Prior to farming, she worked for Sierra Club in Washington DC for ten years on efforts to help protect national forests and build new strategic partnerships.

MOFFA, the Maryland Organic Food and Farming Association 23^rd Annual Winter Meeting, is on Saturday February 15, 2014, from 8 am to 5:00 pm, at the Maryland Department of Agriculture Building, 50 Harry S. Truman Parkway in Annapolis.

Registration is $20 for non-members and $5 for members. Membership is $25 for one year or $45 for two years. Registration is at the door.