Carl and I recently returned from the 2008 Georgia Organics conference:  Quantum Leap - Taking Food and Farms Back to the Future.  Here are some highlights and local resources from the conference:

- 675 people attended this years conference, 284 people attending for the first time.  A sure sign that Georgia is interested in the organic movement.

- The organic banquet was wonderful as usual, with George Siemon delivering the keynote address.  Siemon is an organic farmer and leads Organic Valley, a markeing stronghold that unites over 1,200 family farms into the largest organic cooperative in the country. 

- We attended the "Big Farm, Little Farm" tour to visit two CSA farms:  Riverview Farm, a 250-member CSA, and Etcetera Farms, a one-man market garden supplying a small CSA through the winter.  It's great to learn from successful farmers "in the field". 

- A notable session on Saturday was "Unleashing Your Self-Sustaining Landscape" with Lindsey Mann of Sustenance Design and Kyla Zaro-Moore of Oakhurst Community Gardening Project.  The session covered planning and design for an edible landscape, recommending The Complete Book of Edible Landscaping by Rosalind Creazy.  Some recommendations included hardy kiwi vine on trellises, upside down wine bottles to line beds and biodynamic flow forms for your garden.  Resources for edible plants and seeds:

Willis Orchards
Hidden Springs Nursery
Buck Jones Nursery, Grayson, GA
Turtle Tree Organic and Biodynamic Seeds
High Mowing Organic Seeds

- Here are a few more local resources from attendees and exhibitors at the conference:

-- Bioneers Southeast - A Gathering of Innovative Minds.  April 11-13, 2008.

-- The Farm and Ranch Freedom Alliance - The Voice of Independent Agriculture. 

-- Low Mercury List - lists fish that are low in contaminants and are eco-friendly. 

-- Off the Vine - Home Produce Delivery in the Atlanta area. 

-- Sleepy Hollow Farm - Apothecary & Soap Shoppe (very nice quality medicinal herb products).