Attendance indicates resurgence of interest in home food production

Eighty-five people showed up at the Holiday Inn in Concord for a workshop entitled Raising Chickens in the Backyard, featuring Merrimack County Extension agricultural resources coordinator Dot Perkins and retired Extension poultry specialist Tom Danko.

"When we scheduled the event in late February, we planned on meeting at the Blue Seal feed store in Bow," says Perkins. "We thought we'd get a big crowd of 30 or 40 people. But after first-week registration topped 60, we moved it to the Holiday Inn."

Meanwhile up in Coos County, agricultural resources educator Steve Turaj says his three-session spring Victory Garden workshop "was oversubscribed, with 50 registrants within two weeks of sending out the announcement."

Food security, safety, self-reliance
"More people are raising chickens and growing vegetables because of the economy," Perkins says. "They want to feed their families fresh, healthy food and feel more secure about their food supply," "Food safety issues play into it too."

Turaj chocks it up to "a greater interest in overall self-reliance."

Perkins says, "They wanted to know about everything: from brooding chicks to broody hens, housing issues, disease management, pasturing chickens, slaughtering, breeds of chickens, predators, nutrition, proper egg handling, food safety issues, lighting requirements--you name it. We rambled a lot. They battered us with questions from 6:30 until 10:00 p.m. and even walked me out to my car."

Perkins has scheduled another talk for April 4 on backyard poultry and swine. By March 30, that workshop had 45 people registered. Turaj also scheduled another session to accommodate the overflow of people interested in basic vegetable gardening and green crops as alternative livestock feeds.

For basic information on any aspect of home food production, call Extension's Family, Home & Garden Education Center Info Line, 1-877-398-4769, Monday through Friday, 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.