Sustainability nonprofit Augusta Locally Grown (ALG) is taking a big step this year towards encouraging Augustans and other locals to cultivate self-sufficiency.
The inaugural Homesteading Conference, scheduled for the spring, will welcome those interested in cultivating a variety of skills to help develop and sustain a healthy and independent lifestyle, such as gardening and farming, preserving food and raising animals.
“People call them ‘skills that your grandma used to have,’” said Rebecca Van Loenen, executive director of ALG, noting a resurgence in the CSRA in homesteading and agricultural development. “Our area is pretty much one of the fastest developing areas for that, so we’re building upon that.”
The conference will draw on a series of homesteading classes the ALG has offered, such as basic knife skills, food dehydrating, home canning and fall gardening. It will also utilize funds from the $500,000 grant from the USDA awarded to ALG early last year, to help them develop urban agriculture in the Augusta area over three years.
Van Loenen observes the many greenspaces and rural patches throughout the CSRA, such as in Hephzibah, Harlem, Appling and Edgefield, ripe for small agricultural development.
“Then, in the last few years, then you have people who, because of the pandemic, wanted to learn these traditional skills,” she said, adding that the military community and retired veterans have also been taking a turn toward farming. “It’s a very interesting melting pot that the CSRA brings together. And it’s all coming together right now.”
The classes, based in the Harrisburg neighborhood, are at capacity at 30 people — which often balloon to 40, Van Loenen says, as many bring their spouses with them.
The 2024 Homesteading Conference is slated for March, but tickets to participate will be available starting on Jan. 12. For more information, visit https://www.augustalocallygrown.org/.
Skyler Q. Andrews is a staff reporter covering business for The Augusta Press. Reach him at skyler@theaugustapress.com.
