permaculture hedonists presents (hands-on workshops)

Mmmm... kimchi [image: Wikipedia]

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Permaculture Hedonists Presents
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Hands-on workshops by Permaculture designers, educators and hedonists Andrew Faust and Adriana Magaña.

Who says you need a homestead to practice Permaculture? We'll show you how to live the good life by putting your hands and kitchen to work! We think our bodies deserve the best and as permaculture hedonists believe that what we create with our hands is far superior to anything you can buy on the shelves of any store.

Last year we ran this series of lactoferment classes along with a Handcrafted Beauty series to great success. Many sold out fast with our cap at 10 students for each class. We checked our busy teaching and parenting schedules and set aside some dates to present these learning opportunities once again. Join us for these three fermented foods classes that will increase your vitality as well as your self-sufficiency. Come learn why they are so incredibly nutritious and how they can fit into your life.

The Handmade Beauty series will take the mystery out of formulating your own safe and cheap beauty necessities. We will explore a host of different ingredients from ones found in your kitchen cupboard to exotic floral waxes found via the internet. This series will now include household cleaners as well. All of these will be great for gift giving!

Start crafting today and share your creations with friends and family!

Lactoferments
Wednesday, November 18
6:30- 8:30-pm $40

This workshop will walk you through making a variety of lactoferments including: kim chee, sauerkraut, ginger-carrots and other root crop lactoferments. Bring 2 wide mouth 1 pint glass mason jars with lids if you would like to take home jars of our finished products. Also bring a good cutting knife a cutting board and the Organic vegatables will be supplied. Handouts of recipes will be provided. IMPORTANT!!! Please register at least one day in advance so we can insure the correct amount of ingredients. This is sure to fill up fast!

Sourdough Bread
Wednesday, December 9th
6:30-8:30pm

In this, our second fermented food workshop, we will harvest Brooklyn’s wild yeasts to make bread rise into a fluffy loaf that is truly delicious! We will show you the ins and outs of making and baking sourdough bread so that you can get started with confidence! We will also cover sourdough pancakes. Delicious! Participants should bring a small jar to take home some sourdough starter.


Handcrafting Home Brews
Thursday, December 17th
6:30- 8:30 pm $40

This third workshop will cover: malting whole grains for superlative home brew beers and will include sources for organic whole grains; preparing herbal tonics and sacred beers with wild dandelion, yarrow, rosemary and others; culturing wild yeasts. Kombucha preparation will also be covered and kombucha “mothers” will be given away to make at home. Handouts of recipes will be provided.


Handmade Beauty Part 1 and 2
Saturday, December 19th
Part 1 - 12am-2pm $40
Sunday, December 20th
Part 2 - 4pm -6pm $40

In this class we will craft a variety of body care products made from ingredients easily found in your kitchen cabinet or local heath food store. You will expand your knowledge of herbs, save money and feel your beautiful best by making and using your own handmade beauty products. Are you spending wads of cash on eco-household cleaners? Well you can stop! We will be providing recipes and samples for some of the most often used cleaners. Bring small containers (washed take out condiment containers work great) if you'd like to take some samples home.

Part 1

For your Face...
*Face Cleanser *Face Scrub
*Herbal Face Toner *Moisturizer *Tinted Lip Balm

Plus Household Cleaners!

Part 2

*Herbal Shampoo *Herbal Hair Rinse
*Body Scrubs *Tooth Powder/Paste
*Mouthwash *Shaving Cream

Plus Household Cleaners!

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Handcrafting Herbal Tinctures, Salves and Extracts will be offered after the new year. So get ready!

All of these classes will take place in our small apartment so enrollment in limited to 10 people for each class. Allergic to pets? We have two cats and a dog FYI.

Please pre-register so we know how many people to expect dreikycaprice@gmail.com

We can and will offer these classes again so please inquire if the dates don't work out for you.

Be well,

Adriana and Andrew

P.S. We are accepting registration for our Permaculture Design Certification from March 27th through June 5th. Sign up early to get a discount and save your spot!
To register email Andrew@HomeBiome.com

--
The Center for Bioregional Living
Ellenville / Brooklyn, NY
www.homebiome.com

green books campaign: the raw milk revolution

This review is part of the Green Books campaign. Today 100 bloggers are reviewing 100 great books printed in an environmentally friendly way. Our goal is to encourage publishers to get greener and readers to take the environment into consideration when purchasing books. This campaign is organized by Eco-Libris, a a green company working to green up the book industry by promoting the adoption of green practices, balancing out books by planting trees, and supporting green books. A full list of participating blogs and links to their reviews is available on Eco-Libris website.



The Raw Milk Revolution: Behind America's Emerging Battle Over Food Rights
by David E. Gumpert
(with foreword by Joel Salatin)
Chelsea Green Publishing
Printed on recycled paper

What do government regulators have against raw milk?

The Raw Milk Revolution is an exploration of this and other relevant questions in a time when the entire industrialized food system is coming into question.

Based on his blog, The Complete Patient, David Gumpert provides a reasonable, balanced, and straightforward account of the pros and cons of raw milk consumption and the legal constraints placed on its production.

The book provides historic context of the dairy industry, from about the time of the Industrial Revolution to more recent regulatory history regarding food safety. It balances past events with the current trend toward consuming raw dairy, explaining both the purported risks and benefits of the product that comes unadulterated from the cow (or goat or sheep).

A taste of the past
Pasteurization was a response to the increasingly deplorable conditions and industrialization of dairy farming. As dairy operations crowded into cities and were coupled with distilleries for "efficient" use of grain (as cow feed, something cows do not naturally eat), cows became sicker, farms became a breeding ground for pathogens.

An emotionally charged debate
But is the method of pasteurization - slow on the uptake at the turn of the century, yet widely used today - still valid? Is it making us safer? The answer is somewhat unclear. The rates of raw-milk–related illness are debatable, depending on who you ask. According to some groups, like [grass-fed] raw-milk advocates the Weston A. Price Foundation, the rates are inflated, while state and federal agencies argue that raw milk carries an inherent risk to health. As do parents of children who may have become seriously ill from it.

Raw milk is outlawed in 28 out of 50 states. But the incidence of other food-borne illnesses is just as high, if not higher, than that of raw milk. Even pasteurized milk carries some risk. According to the Centers for Disease Control, the highest rates of listeria illness are due to deli meat. If deli meat is 10 times more likely to expose you to listeria illness than raw milk, why isn't it restricted or outlawed?

Another question I kept asking is: Why can't we just put a label on raw milk and let consumers decide whether they want to take the supposed risk? Or more to the point, why don't consumers have the right to choose their foods, raw or treated?

A question of rights
Joel Salatin, now famous farmer of Polyface Farms in Virginia, posits in the foreword,

The only reason the right to food choice was not guaranteed in the Bill of Rights is because the Founders of America could not have envisioned a day when selling a glass of raw milk or homemade pickles to a neighbor would be outlawed. At the time, such a thought was as strange as levitation.

Indeed, what good is the freedom to own guns, worship, or assemble if we don't have the freedom to eat the proper fuel to energize us to shoot, pray, and preach? Is not freedom to choose our food at least as fundamental a right as the freedom to worship?

Due to the current laws regarding the sale of raw milk, people who choose to produce it are putting themselves at risk of government crackdown in order to fulfill a growing demand. Something is compelling consumers to, in many cases, cross state lines to obtain raw milk. Often, these consumers are pregnant women and mothers. Why are people putting themselves and their families at risk of breaking the law in order to potentially put themselves at risk of illness?

Having tasted raw milk and, unknowingly, carrying it over state lines illegally, The Raw Milk Revolution left me wanting to take the risk again, maybe in order to prove that the benefits are worth the risks.

I think I now have more questions than answers regarding the raw milk debate, but perhaps this is the point - to keep the questions coming with regard to food and our right to choose what we consider healthful to eat.

For more on the raw milk debate, visit The Complete Patient.

Founded in 2007, Eco-Libris is a green company working to green up the book industry by promoting the adoption of green practices, balancing out books by planting trees, and supporting green books. To achieve this goal Eco-Libris is working with book readers, publishers, authors, bookstores and others in the book industry worldwide. Until now Eco-Libris balanced out over 110,000 books, which results in more than 120,000 new trees planted with its planting partners in developing countries.

milkweed and stinky piglets

Rainy days have their benefits. The first, most obvious benefit is the replenishment of available water for plant, animal, and human use. The second is that rain keeps people from enjoying outdoor activities. Why is that a benefit? Well, if you're visiting Stone Barns Center for Food & Agriculture and want to go on a vegetable tour, you may just be the only one on the tour on account of rain. And being the only ones (bf & I) on the tour last Sunday, we got special attention. Or at least that's how it seemed to me.

We went on a whim, despite the rain and forecast for more of it throughout the day. Looking at the clock, we realized we'd have just enough time to grab a bite from the cafe and go on the two o'clock tour. So up we went, to Pocantico Hills, just north of Tarrytown. It's lovely up there, just an hour's drive from Brooklyn, the leaves along the Saw Mill Parkway just starting to change into their autumnal habits. Here are some of the magical things we encountered on our tour of the educational, experimental, sustainable agricultural center:


A tasty lunch at the cafe


What's on today?


Selling the bounty at the farm market


Asclepias gomphocarpus, a type of milkweed, attracts butterflies


Happy bees on past-peak artichokes in the dooryard garden. These delicious thistles are apparently difficult to grow in the Northeast, but Stone Barns is figuring out how.


Go ahead, try one! Stone Barns encourages sampling


Super-juicy Asian pears growing in the main field are an experiment. A very tasty experiment.


Self-seeding sunflowers take over where the arugula leaves off


Purple brussel sprouts in the field...


...and yummy purple mustard greens in the greenhouse


The expansive greenhouse allows 4-season farming


Seedlings in custom compost are kept warm through water-filled, compost-heated tubes


Hoop houses on tracks also extend the seasons


Four kinds of compost are cultivated at Stone Barns


Berkshire pigs, right home in the forest mud


Hey little piggy


Sorry, we're too busy to look at your camera


Oh, hello there. These pigs sure are cute, but they were also a little stinky.

Stone Barns is a magical place where everything is grown for a reason, everything is harvested, nothing is sprayed with pesticides or grown in artificial fertilizers. And everything is repurposed, from food scraps to plastic tarps. You can visit Stone Barns for a tour, to volunteer, or to enjoy an 8-course meal at the amazing Blue Hill restaurant.

This Saturday, October 3, is their 6th Annual Harvest Festival. Get your tickets here.

Stone Barns Center for Food & Agriculture
630 Bedford Road
Pocantico Hills, NY
914.366.6200

fresh: the film

If you didn't get your fill from Food, Inc., Fresh looks like it takes the story of sustainable agriculture one step further. Featuring Will Allen (Growing Power), Michael Pollan (the man who needs no introduction), and Joel Salatin (Polyface Farms), Fresh looks at the solutions to the problems of our current food system.



Fresh will be screening at BAM, Tuesday, October 6, 7pm, followed by a panel discussion moderated by Gabrielle Langholtz (Editor of Edible Brooklyn) with the director/producer, Ana Sofia Joanes, plus Reverend Jackson of Brooklyn Rescue Mission, David Shea of Applewood Restaurant, and Letitia James, District 35 - Council Member.

Check out the official site.

the real dirt on farmer john

A farm isn't dreamed of, conceived, and born over night. Sometimes it takes a lifetime, even generations, for a farm to really hit its stride. And a farm cannot survive, cannot thrive, without the community behind it. And sometimes the right community has to be found before the farm can really come into its own.

This is the story of farmer John. Son of a hard-working couple, somewhat of an outcast in his own town. Struggling with his story, his life, his purpose. It is a powerfully touching and revealing look at one man's fight to hold onto his identity. And it also demonstrates the fragility of the land, the delicate balance of ownership, and the dedication that's required to keep people nourished.



If you haven't seen The Real Dirt on Farmer John, add it to your Netflix queue or pick it up at your local video store (if you've still got one).

Farmer John's even got a cookbook

The Real Dirt on Vegetables

brooklyn skillshare: a day of learning, making, sharing, doing

I just love learning new skills. How 'bout you?

In the last year I've taken classes on block-printing, jewelry making, and sewing, and taught myself crochet. I'm also learning about permaculture, and I've signed up for a lotion and soap-making class that starts this fall (oh yeah, Happy Autumnal Equinox!). I keep piling on learning upon learning, and I'm hoping there's room in my noggin to squeeze in some more new skills.

That's where Brooklyn Skillshare comes in. The Brooklyn Skillshare is a one-day event of learning, making, sharing, doing!

The best part is, it's free to the public with a suggested donation for participation. But in order for it to remain free, Brooklyn Skillshare needs your help. They have 18 days to reach their goal of $1200 to cover costs such as renting the venue for the event, paying a bike valet, supplies, food, and more.

It's shaping up to be an amazing event with the following groups sharing skills:

* Bags for the People - create sustainable alternatives to plastic bags using re-purposed materials
* Fiber Arts - knitting and felting using natural materials
* Treasure Everywhere! - glass bottles into cups, bowls, and vases
* Home audio production using Digital Performer
* Bicycle Mechanics 101
* How to brew kombucha
* Natural/organic metal casting and jewelry making
* Screen-printing basics & DIY techniques
* Taking care of yourself with massage basics
* DIY Electronics: Fun with LEDs, solder, sound, and the Arduino
* Basic Raw Food Preparation: the art of “uncooking”
* Party Favorites: infused liquor, homemade ginger ale & tasty snacks
* Make Your Own Butter and Ricotta (with Recipes and Ideas for Using Both)

It's an all day affair with 5 blocks of classes that are 1.5 hour long, and 3 classes happening per block. You can attend as many or as few classes as you wish, so make the most of it and attend the whole day!

Won't you help fund this incredible event? I just did. So far they've received $221 in funding. That means they only have $979 to go. You can pledge as little as $1. So after you pledge (click on the widget above or go here), go tell 978 of your friends to help out with this amazing day of skill sharing.

Oh, and here are the details for the event:

The First Annual Brooklyn Skillshare
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 10th, 2009
@ Gowanus Studio Space
119 8th street
Brooklyn, New York, 11215
Suite 202, Between 2nd and 3rd Avenues.

See you there!

even old new york was once new amsterdam

It's been 400 years since Hudson "discovered" what is now the great city of New York. And people are celebrating this historic occasion in varying ways. Here are a handful of interesting events happening now:

New Amsterdam Market



I got a taste of delicious local food at this open air market where the old Fulton Fish Market once called home. Pasture-raised dairy from farms like Hawthorne Valley, Painted Goat Farm, and Valley Shepherd Creamery; natural meats from Fleisher's and Dickson's; and other tasty treats from the like of Marlow & Sons, Stone Barns, Saltie, and Hot Bread Kitchen filled the stalls, doling out samples and food for purchase. A couple of newcomers included Maple Hill Creamery and Basis, a healthful/local/affordable food market coming soon to 14th Street in Manhattan.

Three more opportunities are coming up for you to get in on the scrumptious action: Sundays October 25, November 22, and December 20. Get the details.


(left: peppers from the Garlic Farm; right: olive oil cake from Saltie)


Pioneers of Change

Longing for a bit of the old world? Look no further than Governors Island this coming weekend:

A festival of Dutch design, fashion and architecture on New York’s Governors Island to celebrate a 400-year Dutch-American friendship

Conceived and curated by Renny Ramakers, co-founder and director of Droog, as part of the NY400 week celebrations, commemorating the 400th anniversary of the arrival of the Dutch to New York.

Pioneers of Change highlights a more responsible and sustainable approach to living by celebrating the blurring of low- and high-brow, establishing new collaborations, encouraging involvement, emphasizing sustainability and valuing handcraft and the local context.

Activities will take place in and around eleven officers' houses at Nolan Park, Governors Island, New York.

[via Droog]

Open: Fri 18 Sept, 10am - 4:30pm
Sat 19 Sept / Sun 20 Sept 10am - 6:30pm
Download Ferry schedule.

Get the full details here.


Enviromedia Mobile: Urban Trekkers' Summer Festival '09
Designated as an official Quadricentennial Ambassador by the State of New York.



I happened upon The Urban Divers Estuary Conservancy's Enviromedia Mobile Museum yesterday in Red Hook (after hopping on the free water taxi to Ikea). What an impressionable display complete with tepees, information on falconry, info about threats to native wildlife and health, and a live barn owl!

The Enviromedia Mobile Museum will be back at Erie Basin Park (next to Ikea, one of the sponsors) on October 10th. But if you can't wait that long, here's their full schedule.


(top: barn owl in tepee; bottom: info on PCBs)

i made a new friend

His name is Sanford.

Sanford may have been living in our vegetable drawer since Friday. Or maybe Saturday. Or maybe just yesterday. Those are all of the days we visited the farmers market in the past week. I say Friday, because I found Sanford sleeping on the cauliflower which we picked up that day.


I sequestered Sanford in this glass container.


He napped while I cooked.


I like escargot, but I'm glad Sanford didn't end up in the stir fry.


After dinner, we relocated Sanford to his new home. Prospect Park.


He was reluctant at first, but then made a break for it.


See ya later, Sanford.

the virtues of raising beef on the pasture

I came across this terrific video where cattle farmer Will Harris describes simply why he raises cows on the pasture. He started his career like most cattle farmers in this country, growing beef in a confined animal feeding operation (CAFO) where the animals are fed commodity corn and kept in pens – the fast and cheap way. He compares applying chemical fertilizers on grass to cocaine – it feels good at first, but then you become dependent on it. Everything he says makes complete sense to me. It's a bit long, but it's shorter than your average TV program and definitely worth a watch. Check it out and then let me know what you think.

CUD from Joe York on Vimeo.

now read this! a web roundup

Here's a collection of some of the information that's been shaping my world lately. It runs the gamut, so be prepared (and some of the titles have changed to suit my mood - so there!)

1.
"Old" SIGG reusable water bottles contain BPA [AlterNet]
Time to trade in for a Klean Kanteen! Even though SIGG has a trade-in program where you can return your old BPA-containing bottle for a new, improved BPA-free bottle, I'd rather support a company that was "klean" from the beginning (and didn't cover up the truth).

What's so bad about BPA (bisphenol A)?
= YES!

= NO!*

*Unless it was made after 2008. Check the article for a visual reference.


2.
Getting Real About the High Price of Cheap Food [Time]
If you haven't had a chance to read Omnivore's Dilemma or see Food, Inc., here's a relatively brief, yet in-depth look at the problems plaguing our industrialized food system.

3.
"Organic": Is It Healthier? [by Susun Weed]
Oh man, this article – part of my permaculture reading this week – made me laugh out loud. Susun has a great way of explaining the finer mechanisms of the world around us. She can make anything hysterical or completely logical just by the way she describes them. Here's a taste:

I live on an old quarry. When I went to the extension and said, "I'm looking to buy this piece of property," they pulled out the soil maps and they said, "Ah, there's no soil on your property, did you realize that?" I said, "Yeah, it's an old quarry." They said, "This place is useless. The only thing that you could possibly do there is raise goats or grow weeds. So I went to the people selling it, and I said, "It's a worthless piece of property, it will only grow weeds." I got it for a very good price.

She goes on to tell us that, yes, she grows a lot of weeds. Weeds that feed her rabbits and goats. Those rabbits and goats feed her. There are some other, more 'adult' things that made me laugh in this article, too. But I'll let you read those yourself!

4.
Why are we still using atrazine when 7 European countries have banned it? [Daily Kos]
The health and healthy presence of frogs are a good indicator of the health of an ecosystem, and therefore, the health of us. Well, hate to break it to y'all, but we're up sh*t's creek without a paddle, 'cause frogs are mutating and disappearing at alarming rates. Their permeable skin leaves them vulnerable to chemical contaminants like pesticides and herbicides – chemicals used in agriculture and on lawns like atrazine, methyl bromide, and chloropicrin (a nerve gas!) which end up in our drinking water, and in our bodies.

And just in case that wasn't enough to cheer you up, here's a related article [NY Times] about the legal allowable limits of atrazine in drinking water, and the detrimental effects of atrazine on women and children.

5.
Out of the Earth: Civilization and the Life of the Soil [by Daniel Hillel]
Soil is the skin of the earth. Yet we literally treat it like dirt. Some say it's our nation's biggest export (meaning it erodes away at a disturbingly steady rate). I've been really hot for this topic lately, and there's a chapter out of this book that made me melt. An excerpt:

Soil and water have a physical affinity. Dry soil is "thirsty," sucking up water the way an old-fashioned blotter sucked up ink. When the soil surface is wetted by rain, the suction force of the deeper soil layers, augmented by the force of gravity, draws the water downward. The soil drinks the rain in a process called "infiltration." The maximum rate at which the soil is able to absorb water applied to its surface is called the soil's infiltrability. It is greatest when the soil is dry, and diminishes gradually as the soil is wetted to progressively greater depth. Since the water permeating and seeping in the soil must make its way through the intricate labyrinthine passages between the irregularly shaped and oriented soil grains, it is obvious that a soil's infiltrability depends on the widths and tortuosities of these interstices, called pores...

Wow!



See also: i enjoyed a dirty movie today (my post about the film "Dirt")

blight bites!

This year, tomato growers & lovers on the East Coast were faced with the nasty disease known as "late blight," which rendered many tomato crops useless within a matter of days. (You can read more about late blight in this op-ed from the amazing Dan Barber).

If you're like me, lamenting the lacklusterness of this year's tomatoes, there's now a way to express your frustration. Introducing Blightee, Hudson Valley Seed Library's answer to the terrible blight. It's a t-shirt, it's an act of aggression, it's a way to say, "hey blight, you bite!" Get yours now, while supplies last.

Bite back by spore-ting this tee that says it all: Blight Bites! Each shirt features the "Blight Bites" image front and center with a very small Hudson Valley Seed Library logo on the sleeve. The American Apparel-brand natural-color shirts are made in America and woven from 100% organic cotton; the printing is done by Antilogy Designs in Tillson, New York. The logo is based on a design created by Michael Wilcock.

Shirts cost $16 each, or $14 for members (be sure to log in to receive your discount). To purchase a shirt, click on your desired size, then click "Add to Cart" on the following page. (Please note that the seed catalog remains closed until early November. Only t-shirts can be ordered at this time.)

lettuce eat local!

I mean Let Us Eat Local. It's a gala event for Just Food, advocates for healthful, sustainable food access for all. Check it!



Tickets are now available for our second annual Let Us Eat Local Gala and Award Ceremony, a fundraiser that helps support our programs. More than 30 chefs from NYC's finest restaurants will be serving up 100% local food paired with local craft beers. The McKinley Hightower-Beyah Awards will honor farmers, organizations, journalists, and gardeners who work to bring fresh, locally grown food to those who need it most.
Let Us Eat Local!

DATE: Wednesday, September 16, 2009
TIME: VIP hour begins 6 PM
General Admission begins 7 PM

LOCATION:
Prince George Hotel Ballroom
15 East 27th Street, NYC
Get Your Ticket!
$235 VIP (entrance to event, 6:00 PM)
$150 General Admission (entrance to event, 7:00 PM)
$135 Just Food Members (entrance to event, 7:00PM)
Purchase Tickets Online

Menu
Starters:
VIP Exclusive with an extra hour and special tastings

The Main Course
So much to savor, so little time. 30 Chefs. 40 Local Producers.

Perfectly Paired
Each tasting is paired with a local craft beer.
Orchestrated by NY Craft Beer Week.

A Celebration of Our Region's Finest
Journalist
Organization
Farmer
Gardener

Silent Auction
Featuring gardening and cooking gear, hand-crafted jewelry, cooking classes, and more!

Satisfaction:
100% of proceeds support our efforts to change the world through food.

Plus goody bags with delicious treats and cool items to take home!

august abundance

I recently started a habit of popping over to Union Square Farmers Market midweek after witnessing the great abundance on a whim a couple weeks back. I've been missing out on my own little neighborhood market lately because it's held on Saturday's (at Grand Army Plaza), which is the day I learn the wonders of permaculture.

The abundance of food and sunshine at Union Square is often overwhelming. Today I tried to take it slow by scanning the whole shebang to compare goods before making any hard and fast decisions. Here's what I came up with:


Escarole, dandelion, frisee, black & purple peppers, eggs, chanterelles, husk tomatoes, strawberries, blueberries, and a loaf of hazelnut sweet rye sourdough bread

Psst, thanks to Alison for inspiring this post, here's the bounty she brought home from the market:


(If you couldn't tell, Alison has a thing for peppers)

Subsequently, my sweetheart sent over these two videos from The Atlantic's new From Farm to Table series (not to be confused with Zach Cohen's Farm to Table blog & show). These really make farming look romantic (& the yield delicious). They also give us a sense of distinction between 'real' food and the stuff you'll find at the supermarket which has been picked many days (or weeks) ago and shipped many miles to get to your plate.





And then to round it all out, an article from, once again, The Atlantic about how 'organic' has grown too big for its britches. Here, I'd like to point out that the author is talking about big organic vs small scale locally distributed organic like you'd find at the farmers market.

Find a farmers market near you!

bk farmyards fundraiser: come & get it!

Howdy pardners! The dinner bell's ringin' and I'm hungry for some change. And by change I mean bringing some country to the city - that new ol' fangled thang called urban farming.

BK Farmyards is itchin' to grow food on your tiny parcel of city land. So mosey on down to this Saturday's fundraiser to support the cause (RSVP here). Then take a gander at my latest post about BK Farmyards on the Brooklyn Food Coalition blog. But before you leave this here page, check out this video on Stacey Murphy, the lady behind BK Farmyards:

NYC's Cool New Backyard Farms: Growing More Than Just Produce from SkeeterNYC on Vimeo.

Here's the info again in case you missed it:

AUGUST 22
BK FARMYARDS FUNDRAISER
3pm-12am
hosted @ COMPOUND brooklyn
1287 Atlantic Ave, near Nostrand
2 blocks Nostrand A stop;
2-3 blocks B44, B65 , B25;
LIRR Nostrand stop steps away

Please RSVP on Facebook

Live bands, original artworks, dance troupe, local food & drinks, growing display, cooking demonstrations, and games: Fun for all ages. Bring along a blanket to picnic on the grass. Suggested donation $5 at the door or pay what you can. All donations go toward creating more farmyards. We are currently working with developers on converting 3 acres to farm next year. Gift certificates for Get Fresh Table and Market, Ici, Franny’s, The Farm on Adderley, Brooklyn Kitchen, Edible Brooklyn, and more will be auctioned off.

Pass the word along! Help us build more farms!

growing & greeting & eating for a cause

Several sustainable food-type events of note are coming up -- from lessons on growing your own food to a peaceful protest against unhealthy school food.

Window Box and Container Gardening 101
Saturday, August 15, 2009
12:30 pm
Pershing Hall, Governors Island, NYC



Come check out featured speaker Bilen Berhanu, from Green Thumb NYC,
in an event sponsored by the CUNY Institute for Sustainable City's
Summer Speaker Series and Art and Science Exhibition on Governors
Island.

"Want to eat from your own garden, but think you don't have enough
space? Learn the design elements for a good container or window box-
the perfect solution when you're short on growing space-as well as
soil mixtures that work well, and tips for planting and maintaining
containers all year."

Transportation to Governors Island is free and easy! For more
information, including ferry schedules, check out govisland.com.

For more information on the CUNY Institute for Sustainable Cities and
our other events on Governors Island throughout the summer, check out http://cunysustainablecities.org or email ciscevents@gmail.com.

Check out our Art for Sustainability and Science Research Poster
Contests, exhibited every Saturday in Pershing Hall on Governors
Island from 10:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., all summer long from June 27 to
September 5 (except July 4).

The Welcome Table
Thursday, August 20
6:00 pm
Red Hook Community Farm
Free and open to all



This event is the culmination of Youth Leaders' work at Added Value. Teens have designed the layout, menu, and activities for the night that include an interactive culinary lesson led by teens as an appetizer and a prepared meal in collaboration with chefs and food professionals.

The night will begin with a Community Meal led by our young culinary wizards. You will experience first hand what your meal looks like from soil to salad and break bread with all hands who have helped prepare our food. In addition, we will share a meal of seasonal vegetables, locally raised meat, and other delicious treats prepared by a local chef and food professional. You will take home a full belly, how to make three winning dishes and good conversation with people in our community.

The night is supported by Partnership for Parks and the Added Value Welcome Table dinner series. The mission of the Welcome Table is to bring people from different backgrounds and communities together by gathering around tables of good food to learn and converse about topics and issues important to the work of Added Value. On August 20th, teens will be presenting how they have grown as individuals in the food movement and creating dialogue with guests about sustainability, growing and cooking your own food, and the mission of Added Value.

[via The Word on Columbia Street]

Time for Lunch Eat-In
Get Real Food In Schools
Labor Day, Monday, September 7
12:00 to 3:00 p.m.
Schoolyard of PS 9 Teunis G. Bergen School
80 Underhill Ave on St. Mark’s Ave

What: Potluck lunch, kids’ activities, speakers, conversation
Why: To send a clear message to Congress: It’s time to provide America’s children with real food at school.

We are asking participants to bring a dish to the Eat-In. But to really get the point across to budget-conscious administrators and politicians, we are issuing the following challenge.

Please try to bring a dish to share that:
• Is nutritious and uses whole, plant-based foods (not processed foods)
• Costs less than $20 to make
• Is delicious to kids

If you can, please also bring your own plates, cups, utensils, and non-alcoholic beverages.

Get more info and to RSVP

Other Eat-Ins are happening throughout Brooklyn. Find out where.

local food love: the bk farmyards fundraiser

Come one, come all to the BK Farmyards fundraiser event - our own little slice of local food heaven right here in Brooklyn. Guaranteed to be a good time with live bands, original artworks, dance, local food & drinks, cooking demonstrations, and games. Won't you join me?

CELEBRATE LOCAL FOOD



bk farmyards FUNDRAISER
hosted @ COMPOUND brooklyn
AUGUST 22, 2009, 2pm-12am

1287 Atlantic Ave, near Nostrand: 2 blocks Nostrand A stop; 2-3 blocks B44, B65 , B25; LIRR Nostrand stop steps away

RSVP on facebook

Live bands, original artworks, dance troupe, local food & drinks, growing display, cooking demonstrations, and games: Fun for all ages.

Bring along a blanket to picnic on the grass.

Suggested donation $5 at the door or pay what you can. All donations go toward creating more farmyards. We are currently working with developers on converting 3 acres to farm next year.

Gift certificates for Get Fresh Table and Market, Ici, Franny's, The Farm on Adderley, Brooklyn Kitchen, Edible Brooklyn, and more will be auctioned off.

Pass the word along! Help us build more farms!