The Conscious Harvest Cooperative; Gardening Guidebook for Morgantown, West Virginia

8/9/2019 The Conscious Harvest Cooperative; Gardening Guidebook for Morgantown, West Virginia

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CONSCIOUS HARVEST COOPERATIVE PLAN AND PROPOSAL

Summary

The Conscious Harvest Cooperative is a group of WVU students and residents of Morgantown

who have a vision for alternative food sourcing strategies in their city. Our purpose is to grow

food. There are three main goals driving us.

1. Grow food for local pantries who do not have access to fresh produce for their clients.

2. Give an opportunity to those who want to grow food for themselves but do not have the

land to do so.

3. Promote our vision for alternative food sourcing strategies through local markets.

We are organizing ourselves as a cooperative because this model provides the best framework

within which to develop this initiative. We strive to uphold the seven cooperative principles.

1. Membership:Conscious Harvest will have a two tiered membership structure. The first is a paid, the second

open and voluntary. Paying members, are recruited and the primary engine behind the project.

These members receive a small plot of land to farm, around the larger communal plot (see fig.

1). Open members, participate in the project during particular work days and share in the surplus

according to the time spent working on the project.

2. Democratic Member Control.

Dues paying members elect a board whose responsibility is to guide and further the work of the

cooperative. Currently, the conscious harvest is registered as a WVU student organization with a

president, vice-president, treasurer and secretary. Positions will be elected by March 15th, 2013,the beginning of our fiscal year. We will work toward registering the cooperative with the state of

West Virginia by March 15th, 2014.

3. Economic Participation by Members.

Dues paying members are responsible to inject the initial capital into the cooperative, and will

renew their membership on a yearly basis or free up a plot for another member. Currently

membership dues are set at $150 for the season. Members are also responsible for seeking

grant opportunities, monetary and in-kind donations to further the work of the cooperative. Open

members will be encouraged to participate economically as well, through in-kind donations, such

as labor, equipment use, transportation. Any profits from the operation activities of theConscious Harvest Cooperative, will be reinvested into the maintenance and possible expansion

of the cooperative into other areas of the city.

4. Autonomy and Independence.

The Conscious Harvest Cooperative is an autonomous community driven organization controlled

by its members. If we enter into any agreements with other organisations, including

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governments, or raise capital from external sources, we do so on terms that ensure democratic

control by our dues paying members.

5. Education, Training and Information:

The Conscious Harvest Cooperative will provide opportunities for people to learn about food

sovereignty (controlling food production and access) issues. While this will be specific toMorgantown, the principles learned will also be applicable to the rest of the county, state and

country as a whole. We will strive to work with WVU extension agents to run training sessions

for cooperative members. This initiative will also provide a platform to discuss important issues

pertaining to food security and hunger in Morgantown.

6. Cooperation among Cooperatives.

The Conscious Harvest Cooperative will work closely with the Mountain Peoples Food

Cooperative, both as an economic and educational resource. We will also strive to develop

relationships with other cooperatives in Monongalia county and beyond.

7. Concern for Community.

The Conscious Harvest Cooperatives main objective is to provide food to those who do not have

enough. This model seeks to provide an alternative to capitalist and profit driven models of

development, instead seeking to implement a communal and long term sustainable future for

Morgantowns foodscape.

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Business Plan

Concept Map

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Land

We expect to draft a memorandum of understanding between the landowner and conscious

harvest cooperative, which will govern our compensation for the land, care for the land, logistics

(parking, storage, irrigation, fencing...) and an exit strategy should the project fall through for any

reason.

Compensation

We hope that the relationship between the landowner and the Cooperative can be a symbiotic

one. While we do not have the cash flow necessary to pay for rent or tractor time, we would like

to compensate the owners for the use of land and equipment. Conscious Harvest Cooperative

members have agreed to contribute one hour of labor per week to any projects that are needed

around the farm approximating approximately 40 hours of labor/month during the growing

season. We will draft a work schedule when members are available for this compensation

labor and make it available to the landowner.

Set up

Land tilled over. acre plot and 12 individual plots on the remaining acre

We plan to enclose the entire acre with fencing

While we are exploring alternative irrigation plans, we plan to begin by pulling a hose from

the source on the farm to the Conscious Harvest Plot.

We will construct a locked toolbox on site to store necessary equipment.

Members who drive to the farm will park in the lot at 595 Greenbag Road.

Care for the Land

We have the resources to work within an organic framework. We will be not be using pesticidesbut instead implement an IPM (Integated Pest Management) system via crop rotation and

companion planting.

We have the means to acquire organic fertilizer and environmentally friendly soil mediums and

all of the seeds or seedlings that we plant will either be either organic, or heirloom, never

genetically modified.

We are envisioning composting our organic waste (grass/stalks/over-ripe) on site to use as

fertilizer in subsequent seasons.

Exit Strategy

While we are building this project with the hope of continuity in years to come, should we need to

dissolve it for any reason, all equipment purchased by the cooperative will be made available to

the landowners if they want it. We will remove any fixtures that the landowner no longer wants

and donate them to Habitat for Humanity RE-STORE.

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Capital

Member equity

There will be 10-12 member plots available.

All paying members working individual plots will contribute a one time yearly payment of

$150 Conscious Harvest will thus start with a working capital of $1,500 - $1,800 from member

fees.

Other Funding Sources

Members will seek to raise funds from family and friends interested in supporting this

project.

Kickstarter, an online fundraising tool for start-ups, will be used to reach out to wider

networks interested in contributing toward the success of this project.

We will join an Entrepreneur Cafe event in the summer months to present the project and

hope to raise additional capital. Entrepreneur Cafe is a program developed and hosted byVision Shared in Charleston, WV

We will reach out to the Mountain Peoples Food Co-op for financial and logistical

support. One of our members is on the board, and three of them are employees.

Tap into resources at the West Virginia Sustainable Communities Porgram (WVSC)

which provides a wide variety of assistance including help with grant writing, and

organizational sustainability.

Donations

We will reach out to local businesses for donations of tools, seeds and equipment for the

farm.

Schedule

Farm Plan

The following Farm plan is a work in progress and may still evolve. We have included it here to

demonstrate that we are actively thinking about project inputs and yields.

Plant/ Variety Estimated

Sow Date

Estimated

Harvest

Date

Projected

Yield

Notes

Potato/ CarolaRusset

April 7th-13th August 3rd 20-35lb/20galcan

Cucumber/Marketmore76

May 1st-4th June 22nd-Aug 3rd

Companion planting withradishes discouragescucumber beetles.+Plant on opposite side of

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potato area

Bush Bean/Contender

April 13-20+continuousplanting every

2 weeks thruMay.

June 9 -Early

August

+Direct Sow

SummerSquash/ EarlyProlificStraightneckand DarkGreenZucchini

April 20-27+continuousplanting every2 weeks thruJune

June 9 -Early

August

+Direct Sow

Snap Peas/Sugar Ann

March 30 - orASAP

May 19 - or56 days

+Direct Sow or Startindoors if possible

Tomato/ WV63

Transplantoutside April21-June 2nd

June 29th -Late August

+Particularly well suited tothis area. Seeds free fromWVU - started by TammyThorne

Tomato/SophiesChoice

Transplantoutside April 6- 13th

June 8 -Late July

-Small Plants, does betterin cooler climates/ seasons

Pepper/HotChili /Bell

Type

TransplantsOutside May

14 - 22

June 24 -Late August

-Sow indoors ASAP- Growing a hotter variety

will give us peppers to usenext year in pest repellents

Radish/Sparkler Top

March 10 - 30+Plant alsowithCucumbers

April 4 - May14th

+Direct Sow+Allow radishes plantedwith cucumbers to go toseed.

-More to come

-mid summer planting

-pest control options-cover crops and cold frames/ low tunnels

For further information about our planting schedule on the communal plot please do not hesitate

to contact [email protected].

Work Schedules

Our goal is to have at least one member of the conscious harvest cooperative on site every day

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of the week throughout the growing season. Work schedules are still being determined, but

when finalized will be made available to all those involved in the project.

Approximately once a month we will have volunteer days, where larger groups will come to the

farm to contribute their labor to the project.

Marketing

According to the USDAs Economic Research Service the past five years have seen food

insecure households in Monongalia County, WV grow by 3.4%. Today an estimated 14% of the

population struggles to put sufficient nutritious food on the table every day. Local religious

organizations and homeless shelters provide food for those who need it within the county. West

Virginia University's extension office and other local organizations are also attempting to assist in

the problems of food insecurity in the area. Moreover, there are thirteen registered food pantries

in Monongalia and many more working in smaller scales that are not registered. These pantries

are "in the trenches" so to speak of combating food insecurity and working with those that are leftin the gaps of the local food system.

The Conscious Harvest Cooperative seeks to become one of the stopgaps within this wider

system. Produce grown on the communal plot will be dedicated to local food pantries and

conversations have begun with St. Ursulas food pantry to figure out the logistics of delivering

and storing our surplus.

Produce from individual plots will either be consumed by the growers themselves or sold to the

cooperative. The cooperative will organize a farmers market stand in Morgantown once a month

to promote the project and seek to raise awareness and funds toward its longevity. The MountainPeoples Food Coop who has expressed an interest in selling our produce at their store. Finally

the Mountaineer Country Farmers Market (http://mountaineercountryfarmersmarket.com/) will

also be a potential outlet for the sale of our produce.

Any revenues from food sales will be directly reinvested into the project to improve the availability

of tools, irrigation systems, reimburse mileage and labor for logistical coordination.

If you have any further questions about the viability of this plan, please do not hesitate to contact

Joshua Lohnes at 818.212.0836 or by email:[email protected].

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Documents

The Conscious Harvest Cooperative; Gardening Guidebook for Morgantown, West Virginia