Food & Farming

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Comment by Riley Hamilton on October 22, 2009 at 5:34pm

Has anybody else seen this book: Local Food, a Transition guide, it is sold out on Amazon. Would like to see if it contains some good ideas for meeting our Local Food goal.

Comment by Ecolocitizen on September 11, 2009 at 2:44pm

White House Farmers' Market Approved
Market will be open on Thursdays
By JIM IOVINO
NBCWashington.com, 2009 September 11



Updated 8:31 AM EDT, Fri, Sep 11, 2009

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AP

The White House farmers' market has been approved.

FRESHFARM Markets announced the opening via Twitter after getting approval by the city to close a block of Vermont Avenue for the market.

The farmers' market will be held from 3-7 p.m. Thursdays from Sept. 17-Oct. 29 in the 800 block of Vermont Avenue, NW, between H and I Streets. The block will be closed to traffic from 1-8 p.m. every Thursday.

The organizers said the market will have 18 farmers and producers selling "delicious, healthy food grown on small, local, sustainable farms in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed region." They said the market will include pasture-raised meats, artisan cheeses, milk, yogurt, fresh fruits and vegetables, breads, baked goods and fresh flowers.

FRESHFARM operates eight other farmers' markets in the Washington region, including Dupont Circle, Foggy Bottom, Penn Quarter and Silver Spring.

Comment by Ecolocitizen on September 10, 2009 at 11:29am

In all the brouhaha over health care reform, Michael Pollan reminds us of the fundamental importance of food and diet. This bring to mind the axiom "Let your food be your medicine, and your medicine food."

"No one disputes that the $2.3 trillion we devote to the health care industry is often spent unwisely, but the fact that the United States spends twice as much per person as most European countries on health care can be substantially explained, as a study released last month says, by our being fatter. Even the most efficient health care system that the administration could hope to devise would still confront a rising tide of chronic disease linked to diet."

"That’s why our success in bringing health care costs under control ultimately depends on whether Washington can summon the political will to take on and reform a second, even more powerful industry: the food industry."

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Comment by Ecolocitizen on August 9, 2009 at 11:20am

A cautionary tale which reinforces the value of permaculture and its polycultural, nature-mimicing practices:
You Say Tomato, I Say Agricultural Disaster
By DAN BARBER
Published: New York Times, August 8, 2009
Tarrytown, N.Y.

IF the hardship of growing vegetables and fruits in the Northeast has made anything clear, it’s that the list of what can go wrong in the field is a very long one.

We wait all year for warmer weather and longer days. Once we get them, it seems new problems for farmers rise to the surface every week: overnight temperatures plunging close to freezing, early disease, aphid attacks. Another day, another problem.

The latest trouble is the explosion of late blight, a plant disease that attacks potatoes and tomatoes. Late blight appears innocent enough at first — a few brown spots here, some lesions there — but it spreads fast. Although the fungus isn’t harmful to humans, it has devastating effects on tomatoes and potatoes grown outdoors. Plants that appear relatively healthy one day, with abundant fruit and vibrant stems, can turn toxic within a few days. (See the Irish potato famine, caused by a strain of the fungus.)

Most farmers in the Northeast, accustomed to variable conditions, have come to expect it in some form or another. Like a sunburn or a mosquito bite, you’ll probably be hit by late blight sooner or later, and while there are steps farmers can take to minimize its damage and even avoid it completely, the disease is almost always present, if not active.
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Comment by Ecolocitizen on June 17, 2009 at 2:12pm

Here's an opportunity to teach some skills and spread knowledge:

I am writing on behalf of Trinidad Concerned Citizens for Reform, Inc. (TCCR), a 501c3 established in 1994 and serving the Trinidad and Ivy City neighborhoods of Northeast, D.C. The co-founder and Executive Director (and 5-time Ward 5 ANC) Wilhelmina Lawson is also a member of the Trinidad garden club and has made it an integral part of TCCR's mission to engage environmental work as a foundation for creating sustainable communities. This summer we have 11-12 youth (aged 14-21) joining us for 9 weeks beginning Monday, June 22 as part of the Mayor's Green Summer Youth Employment Program and we would like to involve them in learning to install rain barrels and agricultural gardening. Is it possible to partner with you and your crew of volunteers for training?

If you prefer, please give me a call at your next convenience: (202) 387-0572.
www.TCCRinc.org.

Sincerely,
sia

Comment by Ecolocitizen on May 6, 2009 at 10:48pm

Representatives from Vanguard Ranch will be at the Transition meeting on 5/12 to discuss the CSA shares delivery. Vanguard Ranch is an organic farm that takes great pride in building their soil with natural fertilizer to provide maximum nutrients to plants. They are planting enough to feed 200 families this Spring and is offering shares as part of their CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) project. You can buy a season’s worth of fresh produce and receive a weekly “share” for $40 per week. There are more than 30 different types produce to choose from. Each share will be approximately the size of a conventional grocery paper bag. Satisfaction is guaranteed. Deliveries are planned to begin the last week in May, depending on the growing conditions and will extend for 16 weeks. ECAC will be a delivery point, and there will be a second point in SE DC. Delivery at the ECAC will be on Saturdays between 11am-12noon. You can pick up until 6pm on Saturday, but it is recommended that you come as close to the drop off time as possible to preserve the freshness of your food. Members will have to pay at least 8 weeks up front, and the rest before the 9th week. They accept credit and debit cards. For more information contact vanguardranch@cvalink.com or call (540) 967-9706.

Comment by Kacie on March 25, 2009 at 2:54pm

the washington youth garden has a new blog
http://washingtonyouthgarden.blogspot.com/

Comment by Ecolocitizen on March 24, 2009 at 2:57pm

If you have the space but can't or don't want to garden yourself, consider bringing in a garden service to plant, maintain and harvest for you. Check out My Organic Garden.
Contact Joshua Wenz
info@myorganicgardendc.com
202.368.9070

Comment by Ecolocitizen on March 19, 2009 at 11:37pm

And here's the New York Times on the subject.

Sam Kass, left, an assistant White House chef, and Dale Haney, a White House gardener, at the site of a new vegetable garden on the South Lawn.

WASHINGTON — On Friday, Michelle Obama will begin digging up a patch of White House lawn to plant a vegetable garden, the first since Eleanor Roosevelt’s victory garden in World War II. There will be no beets (the president doesn’t like them) but arugula will make the cut.

While the organic garden will provide food for the first family’s meals and formal dinners, its most important role, Mrs. Obama said, will be to educate children about healthful, locally grown fruit and vegetables at time when obesity has become a national concern.
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Comment by Ecolocitizen on March 19, 2009 at 11:25pm

Victory for Victory Garden, the Washington Post reports.
Thanks to the hard work of everyone who worked on this project, especially Daniel Bowman Simon and Casey Gustawarow of the WHO Farm project, and Roger Doiron of Eat The View, and to all of you who signed the petitions. It shows what we can accomplish when we are of one accord.

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