The One Cow Revolution’s Beth and Shawn Dougherty Lecture in Asheville to Revive Independent Homesteads
Western North Carolina non-profits Living Web Farms and the Organic Growers School are collaborating to present a full-day event and additional lectures from two Ohio farmers who have spent over twenty years sustaining an independent homestead. Beth and Shawn Dougherty are also the authors of three books, and will visit Asheville, NC to present about their low-cash, high reward land-based lifestyle as featured speakers throughout the weekend of March 9-11, in conjunction with the 25th Organic Growers School Spring Conference.
Asheville, NC- Over a few short generations, we’ve seen significant decline in the home-grown American food community. How did farm families in the past provide nearly all their food needs directly from the farm? And how can we get there again? One family in Ohio purchased 24 acres deemed “unsuitable for agriculture” in 1996, and decided to find out. And on March 9th, 2018, Independent Farmstead authors Beth & Shawn Dougherty kick off a series of workshops in western NC about that farm, called “The Sow’s Ear”, and their experiment, called “The One Cow Revolution.” Their appearances start with a full day workshop at Living Web Farms on March 9th, and continue throughout the weekend as part of the 25th annual Organic Growers School Spring Conference. The March 9th full-day event, entitled Smart, Savvy, Scalable Land Stewardship, is designed for the forage-based, family-scale, food producer hoping to create a secure, and productive food system on small acreage.
The Dougherty’s principle is simple: that the dairy cow is the original solar battery. Their system is built around that one pastured dairy cow, and its ability to convert a small acreage of sun on grass into food. In their case, food for ten humans, eight to twelve calves, several dozen chickens, and a couple of hogs. Over the course of their March visit to WNC, their classes will assert that sky-high land costs, lack of capital, and limited farming experience need not be obstacles for those who wish to build an abundant, fertile, independent cottage farm.
The full day workshop on March 9th details the Dougherty’s land stewardship, as a model of the small-scale, dairy-centered farm which sustained the majority of the world for centuries and can do so again, especially in Appalachia. This model of self-sufficiency transforms the farmer from a purveyor of purchased grains to an ecologist who orchestrates the farm’s resources.
Local author, food consultant and Living Web Farms staffer Meredith Leigh does not plan to miss the event. “I think there is a lot of debate about the true sustainability and circularity of the modern homestead, and the Dougherty’s are both deeply knowledgeable and supremely down to earth, in every sense of the phrase, when it comes to the important questions of that debate.” She adds that she is particularly interested to hear “about the ways The Sow’s Ear has integrated plant and animal production on marginal land.”
In addition to technical advice, the Dougherty’s will be able to share quality of life testimonies about their homesteading lifestyle, and are dedicated to discussing economy and culture. They write, “Our study is to learn…just how many of our all-American, western-world assumptions—about money, food, time, technology and pleasure—we can get in back of and evaluate for ourselves.”
“With the resurgence of the small scale farming movement in our region, this independent farmstead model of production is really idea for the geography, culture, and growing conditions in the Southern Appalachians,” says Organic Growers School Executive Director Lee Warren “The five to ten acre homestead is what we’re seeing new farmers be able to afford and cultivate. We need to take these opportunities to learn from seasoned growers so we make fewer mistakes and get to profitable farming that much faster.”
A complete list of the Dougherty’s appearances from March 9th through 11th in the Asheville area can be found below. To register for the full-day Smart, Savvy, Scalable Land Stewardship at Living Web Farms, visit www.organicgrowersschool.org. Scholarships for the March 9th event are available via www.livingwebfarms.org.
The Independent Farmstead: Smart, Savvy, & Scalable Land Stewardship