Ready for a great opportunity to learn from an innovative farmer with deep ties to the land? Join us on February 9, from 12:00-12:30 EST, as we talk with Thelonius Cook of Mighty Thundercloud Edible Forest farm.
Thelonius operates his farm from two locations, a half acre at his home in Hampton, Virginia and seven acres on the Eastern Shore in Birdnest, Virginia, where his father grew up. The permaculture term Edible Forest combined with his father’s nickname for himself, the Mighty Thundercloud, were Thelonius’s inspiration for the unique farm name.
He studied IT and became exposed to sustainable farming while living in Tanzania and Ethiopia with his first job after college. He then returned home and received his Master’s in Sustainable Development from JMU. Bringing that African culture to the states, Thelonius plants cultural niche products in addition to guilds of trees that will produce nuts, fruit and support pollinators. He produces in two high tunnels, and on 10 75’x75’ plots.
Thelonius works with NRCS to establish long term cover crops, rotates his crops, incorporating mushroom compost and fallow cover crop years, to build the soil. He currently has a thriving CSA, sells at farmers markets, and makes value added products like ginger Switchel and Thunderkraut that he sells to food distributors and at the markets he attends.
Register here.
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The goal of the Million Acre Challenge is to support farmers in building healthy soils on one million acres of Maryland agricultural land by 2030. By joining the Challenge, you show your commitment to putting your boots on the pathway to a profitable, resilient future for your farm with healthy soils as the foundation.