Hello out there! 

A flexible farmer at the 2012 NOFA summer conference 

As you may have noticed I have been MIA for most of the month of August.  I have been very busy in the other two realms of my business: presenting body care and injury prevention workshops and being a massage therapist at my office in Hadley Massachusetts.  The biggest engagement this month was the NOFA Summer Conference in Amherst. Hundreds of farmers come for 3 days of workshops, vendors and networking. I had a blast at the conference and as a result of my chair massage booth I have been seeing more and more clients at my office.

Though this has caused me to miss quite a few Saturdays of posts, it has also been a great month of connecting with farmers and other trades people who had great questions, suggestions and stories about the physicality of their work.  Head over to my FaceBook page, http://www.facebook.com/theflexiblefarmer
for some great photos of my booth and some of the flexible farmers I met!

 In meeting, teaching and massaging farmers from all over New England I got to hear about the different aspects of farming that cause them to have aches and pains. This has given me lots of new ideas for what I can share with you so, I am glad to return to my blog.

The next few posts will be on a few areas of the body that I haven't covered such as, tips for the wrist, chest and the back of the legs.  I also will be posting on body care habits and helpful hints for different tasks on the farm like, how to make your morning on the tractor more bearable or what to do if it's hard on your knees to get up and down.  In this way I hope to address some of the common problems and mistakes that folks where asking about in my workshops.

If you have any ideas or questions you would like me to address in the up coming posts feel free to e-mail me at info@ theflexiblefarmer.com.
Hope your August was as great as mine and I look forward to a fall of wonderful posts!

NOFA Summer Conference!

Hi All!
I am going to be MIA this weekend due to the amazing NOFA Summer Conference! I am super excited to be a part of this event for the third year running.  I will have a booth in the exhibitors area selling chair massage, stickers, posters and more. I will also be presenting a workshop on body care and injury prevention for farmers. Bellow are the details of the event. Its going to be a blast!!

August 10-12, 2012

University of Massachusetts, Amherst

Keynote Speakers

Chellie Pingree, Congresswoman from Maine

Jeffrey Smith, Institute for Responsible Technology

Over 200 Workshops on Organic Gardening, Farming, Food Politics, Permaculture, Homesteading, Landscaping, Alternative Energy, Livestock, Cooking, and more! Hundreds of Vendors and Exhibitors

Live Entertainment

Children’s and Teen Conference

Country Fair

Featuring a pre-conference seminar on GMOs with Jeffrey Smith, and a pre-conference seminar on Natural Fruit with Lee Reich. 

To register: www.nofasummerconference.org

Email: info@nofasummerconference.org

Call: 413-362-2143

Get ready...for Saturday Stretches and Aches and Answers!

Hey all you working bodies out there!
This is just a quick post to let you know about two up coming series this blog will be featuring. As of now I am a "occasional" poster at best (the face I am making now is the one I'm sure you have seen on whoever forgot to take out the compost or close in the chickens...). But not for a lack of passion for the subject, more for a lack of structure and abundance of more in-my-face things to do.  So, I am giving myself that structure and putting the Body Care Blog on the top of my list.

The first series will be Saturday Stretches.  Pretty self explanatory, but allow me to elaborate. Every Saturday I will focus on a new area of the working body that deserves a little love. Starting with the areas most common to cause problems and pain (knees, low back and shoulders) and working my way to muscles some folks don't even know they have (like the piriformis, that I have a serious love/hate relationship with). I will talk stretches, strength, injury prevention and body care specific to that spot.

The next series will be based on questions from farmers (or anyone else with a hardworking body!) that I'm calling Aches and Answers. Think Car Talk but for your body (and with less wise cracks and Boston accents). So, if you are working away on fixing a fence and a weird pang happens in your neck write me a quick email.  Feel free to send questions, anecdotes or even things you have discovered about your working body that may help others. Send it over to info@theflexiblefarmer.com and I will do my best to address your aches and pains.

That's all for now, check back in tomorrow for the first of the Saturday posts...Knees!

Spring Workshop Deals and Finally Getting on the Twitter Train

Hello out there!
In today's post I would like to let every body know about some deals I am offering this spring.  As we had an early March thaw with steady warmth, it seams that plowing for spring is full speed ahead.  With that comes hours on the tractor, seeding in the greenhouse quickened to finish and all the countless stresses and strains of the season come early. So, in honor of all the farmers who have to risen to the occasion this weird weather has presented, I would like to offer a discounted/abbreviated workshop.

This beginning of the season special will be a 30 minute version of the injury prevention and body mechanics workshop. I have been working on rehashing my basic workshop so that it covers all the basis of good body mechanics and how to avoid injury in a efficient and speedy way.  This way the workshop can take less time out of the workday and leave more time for questions and demos of stretching/strengthening exercises. I am calling this workshop "Strong Roots" and am setting a price of $75 not including chair massage.  Visit my website www.theflexiblefarmer.com for more details!


In other news I have joined the world of Twitter and was delighted to find plenty of like minded farmy folks to "follow".  I am hoping this will be a good way to get my name out into the world and to make some friends. I also hope to start posting a tip or two on body mechanics for working bodies daily, so if you are a tweeter follow me @FlexibleFarmer.

All the best,
Lydia

Quickly into spring

Hello out there!
I am back to the Blog after a few months off and I have some great updates. But first, let me say it has been a strange winter here in New England.  Little in the way of freezing days and even fewer days of snow fall. It leaves me wondering how the spring seedings and plantings will go and if we are in for a summer of rain.  I have been hearing the birds singing spring songs and the trees are budding.  It looks to me that this years growing season will start early.

That said, I have sent out my first piece of advertising to Vally farms so they can book a workshop for their new crews!  I have been lucky to have an amazing graphic designer, Seth Gregory, helping me and the final product was amazing. Visit my website to see it, go to the Media Gallery page.
www.theflexiblefarmer.com 

The next update is that I will be presenting at the Northeast regional meeting of the Association of Specialty Cut Flower Growers in March.  This meeting will have a handful of workshops to for farmers who grow cut flowers. The topics range from; new tools just for their work, tractors, greenhouses, pest managent and injury prevention. I will be tailoring my Bodycare Workshop to the specific challenges that growing and harvesting flowers bring. I am so excited to be part of this meeting and also to be introduced to the folks that work so hard to make the bouquets that make our tables, parties and weddings beautiful!  

Last, but not least, I am working on an article on the importance of flexibility in overall health that I hope to get published.  I am looking at a verity of periodicals and magazines that are geared to the organic/small farmer.  If anyone has any ideas of publications that would be a good fit feel free to let me know!
All the best,
Lydia