Barbara Wefing has been growing fruits and vegetables organically for nearly 60 years, ever since she kept most of the seed packets she was supposed to sell for her elementary school's fundraiser.
But despite decades of experience, the 65-year-old Morristown, N.J., woman readily acknowledges she still has plenty to learn as she looks forward to this weekend's Northeast Organic Farming Association conference in Amherst.
The three-day conference that starts Friday is expected to draw a record 1,500 people, continuing a pattern of growth that prompted the nonprofit organization to move the 35-year-old event from Hampshire College two years ago to the more spacious University of Massachusetts across town.
"Interest is fueled by economics, but more and more people are becoming aware of the issues of sustainability," said conference co-coordinator Julie Rawson.
This year's conference features more than 200 workshops on just about everything from growing crops and raising livestock, to setting up community-based farming co-ops, to marketing and selling produce.
"This is for anyone who has their hands in the dirt," Rawson said.
