Organic Intensives
Organic Intensives 2026
We invite you to join us on Saturday, January 10th, 2026 for a one-day in-depth learning experience. Organic Intensives are an opportunity to acquire practical, detailed information over the course of a day with fellow Michigan farmers and gardeners.
For 2026 we are offering the opportunity to learn from experienced experts and producers in the three topic areas below. Participants will choose one track and spend the entire day diving deep in:
- Medicinal Herbs
- Home Food Gardening
- Cut Flowers
Medicinal Herbs
Join Medicinal Herb speakers jim mcdonald of Herbcraft, Kaya DeerInWater of the American Indian Higher Education Consortium and Patti Travioli of Heartwood Forest Farm to dive deeply into each of their 5 favorite medicinal herbs. This session will also give several perspectives on:
- Wild harvesting with Kaya DeerInWater
- Growing Medicinal Herbs with Patti Travioli
- Herbal uses, wildcrafting and preparation with jim mcdonald
- A closer look at over a dozen healing plants, including nettles, raspberry/blackberry, violet, hawthorn, dandelion, echinacea, ashwagandha, tulsi (holy basil), chamomile, calendula, plantain, mullein, ragweed, vervain, catnip, marshmallow and other healing plants.
- Q & A Panel to ask questions with all 3 speakers.
- Make a salve and a tea blend to take home a small amount of what you made!
This should be a good day for experienced plant medicine practitioners and growers of herbs, as well as those new to the healing powers of plants.
Speakers:
Home Food Gardening
The Home Food Gardening session will provide both a broad overview and a foundation of specific information to support long term commitment and success for beginners, practitioners, and those desiring to help others grow food. The food garden perspective can range on a scale from a raised bed salad and herb patio patch to larger scale diverse homesteading plots capable of providing much of a complete annual diet. The morning program will consider the big picture of purpose, possibilities and principles of Michigan food gardening with an emphasis on personal health. The full range of crop choices (vegetables, herbs, small fruit, tree fruit and nuts, staples/survival) will be explored, followed by experienced based examples of selection and prioritization options. The morning will continue with a concise introduction to selected plant and soil science topics considered key to home food gardening success, but often not included in gardening education. The afternoon program will provide details of food gardening practices, perspectives and priorities with a focus on 12 topics including:1) knowing your geographic place, 2) planning methods and questions to address, 3) harvest, preservation and storage methods of food crops to consider prior to selecting crops to grow,, 4) crop protection strategies, 5) water management and irrigation, 6) soil and media management and amendments including practical use of composting and regenerative / living soil methods, 7) selecting and starting seeds and transplants (propagation), 8) plant spacing and rotation, 9) low, medium and high cost season extension methods, 10) constructed raised beds, containers and growing media for small spaces, 11) vertical gardening strategies, and 12) basic hand tools for efficiency. Over decades of presentations to students, farmers and gardeners, John has developed handouts and supporting documentation on each topic that will be compiled in a spiral-bound collection. “Mind Mapping” will be used to organize the many topics in visuals that will cultivate experimental and lifelong learning. John will share and integrate historical considerations from literature, academic perspectives, and practical gardening experience including what he has learned from decades of trial and error including doing what people say not to do.
Speakers:
Cut Flowers
Have you ever admired a beautiful bouquet of flowers at your local farmers market and wondered if you could create the same masterpiece?
Michigan’s cut flower industry is thriving—valued at an impressive $10.6 million, it ranks eighth in the nation for cut flower production.
Whether you’re dreaming of creating stunning floral arrangements or looking to turn your passion into profit, understanding the ins and outs of flower farming is key.
To grow high-quality flowers with excellent vase life, it’s essential to:
- Know the unique characteristics of each flower
- Harvest at the right time
- Follow consistent post-harvest handling practices
Plus, learning about the bloom cycles of annuals, perennials, and biennials can help extend your selling season and increase profitability.
🌸 In this session, you’ll learn how to:
- Produce high-quality, diverse blooms
- Optimize your sales channels and marketing strategies
- Handle and present your flowers for maximum impact
Join us for this inspiring and informative session to learn how to start—or grow—your own successful cut flower business.
Speakers:
Janie Case Beuthin of Twig End Farm
Pooh Stevenson of Owosso Organics
Organic Intensives Speakers
jim mcdonald, herbcraft
In 1994, jim mcdonald’s life changed when he drank tea from a wild plant he harvested from the land he lived upon. Since those first sips of strange tea, his life in the woods and meadows of southeast michigan has been centered on the plants & ecosystems of that land, and how he might share their virtues to restore wellness with those around him. jim’s approach to herbcraft is deeply rooted in the land he lives upon, and blends traditional european folk influences with 19th century eclectic and physiomedical vitalism, which he conveys with story, experience, humour, common sense and lore to students, clients, random passersby and readers of his website www.herbcraft.org. He’s taught classes throughout north america, is one of the organizers of the Great Lakes Herb Faire and is currently alternately writing “Foundational Herbcraft” and the “A Great Lakes Herbal”, in addition to articles for journals and other publications. In 2018, jim was granted the Christopher Hedley Memorial Award for significant contributions to herbal medicine. jim is a community herbalist, a manic wildcrafter and medicine maker, and has been an ardent student of the most learned teachers of herbcraft… the plants themselves.
Patti Travioli of Heartwood Forest Farm
Patti is a traditional herbalist, horticulturist, and steward of the land at Heartwood Forest Farm in Cedar, Michigan, where she specializes in cultivating culinary and medicinal herbs. With a deep connection to the land, she draws artistic inspiration from the diverse plants around her, using nature as her canvas. Patti is passionate about sharing the healing and creative potential of the natural world, encouraging others to step outside and immerse themselves in the beauty and wisdom nature has to offer.
John Biernbaum, PhD- Pear Tree Homestead Farm
John Biernbaum has been a passionate experimental gardener for over 5 decades. His focus has been gaining practical experience to complement and support his teaching and research efforts. John is also an emeritus professor of the MSU Horticulture Department where he served from 1981 through 2020. During that time John taught at least 15 different courses, advised 7 MS and 4 PhD graduate students, guided the start of the Year-Round Student Organic Farm, did research on a variety of topics including the use of passive solar greenhouses, transplant production, hot composting and vermicomposting methods, and provided outreach and extension programs for market garden organic farmers. Over the last 30 years, John, his wife Patricia, and sons Jake and Luke developed Pear Tree Homestead Farm on 10 precious acres in Haslett Michigan (zone 6/5b). The last 5 years full-time at home have included cleaning up past experiments, experimenting with more fruit and staple crops, fences to protect gardens, on-farm fertility, compost and cover crops, and preparing to teach on farm gardening/homesteading classes by developing 6 types of gardens including: 1) 1600 ft 2 patio container garden, 2) 900 ft 2 raised bed and container garden, 3) 1200 ft 2 passive solar greenhouse garden, 4) 2500 ft 2 unfenced cottage garden, 5) 5000+ ft 2 permanent bed/aisle garden, and 6) a 5000+ ft 2 permaculture / polyculture orchard (~1/3 acre total).
Kaya DeerInWater- Biocultural Restoration Specialist and Plant Ecologist at American Indian Higher Education Consortium
Kaya DeerInWater is from the Citizen Band of Potawatomi and lives in Wasétenak (Grand Rapids, Michigan) with his wife and three children. He is the Biocultural Restoration Specialist and Plant Ecologist for the American Indian Higher Education Consortium, where he works to support Tribal Colleges and Universities (TCUs) and tribal communities in the simultaneous restoration of land and culture, such that the ecosystem services contribute to cultural revitalization and the rekindling of culture strengthens ecological integrity. He strives to support Native communities in developing relationships with plants and the land through reconnection with place-based Indigenous knowledge of culturally significant plants.
Janie Case Beuthin of Twig End Farm
Janie Case Beuthin is the owner and operator of Twig End Farm, a small-scale cut flower farm in the heart of Flint, Michigan. At Twig End, she is dedicated to growing unique, seasonal, and sustainable blooms that bring beauty and connection to her community through flower subscriptions, custom orders, hands-on classes, and farm tours.
A graduate of Olivet Nazarene University and a member of the Floret Farmer-Florist Collective, Beuthin is also a recipient of the esteemed Floret Scholarship. She lives in a quirky, historic neighborhood with her husband, three children, and a lively household of cats (and garden cats!) in one of Michigan’s most resilient cities.
Pooh Stevenson of Owosso Organics
Owosso Organics is a family owned, certified 
organic vegetable and flower farm located 4 miles west of Owosso. They have been farming full time since 1999. From their humble beginnings ( starting with a postage stamp garden at their rental property in 1978 in the East Lansing area while they were finishing their degrees from MSU) Richard Bowie and Pooh Stevenson now farm over 6 acres of their 80 acre farm, along with 8 greenhouses of over 15,000 square feet. The farm has been certified organic since 1994, and are now certified with Global Alliance. Their mission is to provide specialty artisan produce and flowers grown with great care and impeccable service available locally to enrich the lives and pallets of all people who seek our business assisting in bridging urban and rural communities together.
Alex Cacciari of Seeley Farm
Since 2011, Seeley Farm has been growing 
exceptional food and flowers in Ann Arbor, MI. Alex owns and operates Seeley Farm, a small, diversified market farm. Her farm is preserved under the City of Ann Arbor Greenbelt program, and was certified organic for 9 years. Alex has been a vendor at the Ann Arbor Farmers Market for 14 years, and formerly served on the Public Market Advisory Commission for the city of Ann Arbor. She currently serves on the Ann Arbor Township Farmland and Open Space Preservation Board, working to preserve farmland in conservation easements. Alex founded the Michigan Flower Growers Cooperative, a farmer-owned marketing co-op for wholesale cut flowers.
Important Information
The event will take place on Saturday, January 10th, at the Plant and Soil Sciences building on the MSU campus in East Lansing.
Registration is $110 for MOFFA members and $140 for non-members. The registration fee covers six hours of learning, an organic lunch and snack breaks, all printed materials, and a great chance to network with fellow farmers and gardeners from across Michigan. Parking is free at the Plant and Soil Sciences Building. Scholarships are available; if interested please email a request for scholarship information to [email protected].
A block of rooms has been reserved at the TownePlace Suites Marriott, 2855 Hannah Blvd., East Lansing, MI 48823, just one mile from the Plant and Soil Sciences building. Room availability was only guaranteed through December 15th, but the conference rate of $109 per night continues to be in effect; mention MOFFA when you call. We suggest you contact the hotel as soon as possible at 517-203-1000 to be sure you get a room if you will need one.
Book your group rate for Michigan Organic Food & Farm Alliance (MOFFA)
Please help us publicize the event by downloading the brochure or flyer and distributing them in your community. If you’d like us to send you pre-printed brochures or flyers, please let us know.
Organic Intensives would not be possible without the sponsorship of companies and foundations who support our work. If you are interested in sponsoring Organic Intensives and our other activities, please see the Sponsorship page. We encourage you to think of these companies when you’re in the market for the products and services they provide, and thank them for their support of MOFFA.