Amyrose Foll
Virginia Free Farm
Virginia Farm Consultants, Va. Dept. of Agriculture Equitable Food Oriented Distribution Taskforce, Women's Earth Alliance
Amyrose Foll, the founder of Virginia Free Farm, is a fervent advocate for food sovereignty, earth care, people care, and resource sharing. She works to live out the values of collectivism and community to ensure those around her can eat. She is a U.S. Army veteran and a former nurse who continues to protect and care for others through the farm.
Amyrose is speaking in Texas, Pennsylvania and is a contributor to Mother Earth News Fair Online.Workshops
Check It Out!
Traditional Indigenous Medicine for a Modern Life
Explore easy ways to integrate plant-based health into your busy life. Amyrose Foll (Abenaki/Penobscot) will discuss with you common remedies traditional to the Native People's North America. Follow along and explore simple ways to easily identify, sustainably harvest, and accurately utilize mother nature's medicine cabinet.
Natural Health Hands On
Speaking At:
Sugar Bush Site Assessment: Which trees to tap
Come along through the woods of Virginia as Amyrose Foll describes the decisions necessary when choosing the right area to tap trees. Identify which trees are suitable, what to wear while moving through your woodlot, the ideal canopy for successful sap flow and more.
Hands On Sustainable Agriculture
Speaking At:
Seeds for Preservation and Perseverance: Native American foodways
Food sovereignty is the right to choose what food to eat, where it comes from, and how it is grown. In the past five centuries, native foodways were used as control, a weapon to wage war on our population, and more recently as a blight on our health. By taking control of our seed, in some cases bringing varieties back from the brink of extinction, and growing our own fresh fruits and vegetables, we are not only preserving our cultural heritage and revitalizing our foodways, but becoming a testament to the resilience of our ancestor's legacy of farming. Native people have faced disassociation with their traditional foods by ways of environmental degradation, legislation preventing traditional harvesting, relocation to areas not familiar and different from traditional homelands, and climate change. Gardening can be a great way to connect back to your culture no matter where you come from or your walk of life.
Nature and Community Hands On
Speaking At:
Produce Berries Organically
Though it’s fast becoming the norm for berry growers to dedicate at least a portion of their farms to producing organically, the practice is “not for the faint of heart.” Let Amyrose Foll, founder of Virginia Free Farm, teach you how to merchandise correctly and enjoy up to a 230 percent higher margin over conventional growing.
Sustainable Agriculture
Speaking At:
Texas, Saturday 11:30-12:30 p.m., Organic Gardening Stage
Pennsylvania, Friday 12:30-1:30 p.m., Organic Gardening Stage
Process Sap into Syrup
Make a Plan for Woodlot Management
Managing your woodlot provides benefits that are aesthetic, economic, and logistical in nature. Founder of Virginia Free Farm Amyrose Foll shows you how to make a plan that integrates seemingly complicated objectives, such as timber harvesting, habitat enhancement for specific wildlife species, and recreational trails.
Sustainable Agriculture
Speaking At:
Texas, Sunday 11:30-12:30 p.m., Sustainable Agriculture Stage
Pennsylvania, Sunday 11:30-12:30 p.m., Grit Stage
Introduction to Maple Syrup Production
Maple syrup (or maple sugar) has a long history in North America, particularly among those indigenous to this land. Amyrose Foll delves into that history as well as different considerations for producing this sweet staple.
Hands On Real Food
Speaking At:
Pennsylvania, Friday 3:30-4:30 p.m., Sustainable Agriculture Stage
Indigenous Medicine: Violets for food and health
Walk with Amyrose Foll as she introduces you to our plant sister: violet. She gives us both food and medicine. She is an extremely versatile plant, prolific producer, and hardy perennial in North America. Violet is easy to identify and is a great edible to start your journey in foraging and gathering.
Natural Health Hands On
Speaking At:
Indigenous Medicine: Turkey tail mushrooms
Walk with Amyrose Foll as she introduces you to an easy to identify fungus: the turkey tail. It is abundant in North America and widely available most of the year. It has been studied at length by modern medicine, and has proven effective for immune health. It's easy to identify and is a great medicinal to start your journey in foraging and gathering.
Natural Health Hands On
Speaking At:
How to Tap Trees for Sap
Let Amyrose Foll show you how easy it really is to collect sap for maple syrup production. With a few simple tools and pieces of equipment, get enough sap from your trees to make syrup for yourself or to sell. Make the process a family affair as Amyrose does when she teaches her pre-teen son how to tap trees himself.
Hands On Sustainable Agriculture
Speaking At:
Finishing the Syrup Season
Create Maple Syrup Products
Advantages of Nixtamal
Nixtamal has several benefits over unprocessed grain: it’s more easily ground, its nutritional value is increased, its flavor and aroma are improved, and mycotoxins are reduced. Join founder of Virginia Free Farm Amyrose Foll to learn about nixtamal and what you can do with it.
Real Foods
Speaking At:
Texas, Sunday 3:30-4:30 p.m., Real Food Stage
Pennsylvania, Sunday 3:30-4:30 p.m., Real Food Stage
A Guide to Feeding Community: Lessons from Virginia Free Farm
Amyrose Foll is forever seeking to dismantle and transform the regional foodshed and create community-driven systems based on collectivism and respect for nature. She founded Virginia Free Farm at Spotted Pig Holler, which works to provide free nutrient-dense food assistance to those in need, as well as free plants and seeds to community gardens, schools, and community-based organizations. It is a hub for educating young people in the Richmond metro area about Indigenous agriculture and lifeways. Amyrose’s strong background in health care and her Native heritage (Penobscot/Abenaki) is what prompted her to begin advocating for food sovereignty, security, and preservation of Indigenous food culture through seed saving and distribution.
Amyrose is also a U.S. Army veteran, former firefighter-paramedic, and nurse! She has a background in biology and health care, in addition to a master’s in health information management and digital marketing. She holds certificates in viticulture and fruit tree production, poultry production, and woodlot management from Cornell University.
Keynote Sustainable Agriculture
Speaking At:
Texas, Saturday 2:00-3:00 p.m., Mother Earth News Stage
Pennsylvania, Saturday 11:30-12:30 p.m., Mother Earth News Stage