| Farm Loans, Composting, and Cold Frames! |
March 24, 2010 |
 |
Compost Bins for Sale!
Did you know that for only $35 you can purchase an Earth Machine Compost Bin? It’s a great way to make your own compost for your garden and way to reduce your waste. They are available for sale at:
Hood River Garbage
3440 Guignard Dr. - Hood River
The Dalles Disposal
1317 W. 1st St. – The Dalles
Mel’s Sanitary Service
Transfer Station
57590 Yew Dr. – Tygh Valley
|
|
|
|
GGFN Bulletin Board Highlights
Have you been using the fabulous feature – the bulletin board - on the Gorge Grown Food Network Website to advertise what you need or products and services you have to offer? If not, check it out and start using it today! Some examples of what’s on the site right now:
Farmers' market Manager
Posted 3/23/2010
The Dalles Farmers' Market is looking for a market manager. For the 2010 season. This is a part-time position.
Wanted: 5 gallon poultry waterer
Posted 3/20/2010
I'm looking for a used chicken waterer that works fine!
|
|
Secure your booth space at the Earth Day Celebration
Are you interested in having a booth space at the Earth Day Celebration on Saturday, April 17th? Now is the time to reserve a space! If you have a CSA and want to sell shares or want more exposure for your non-profit this is the perfect opportunity for you.
The celebration will take place in Hood River in the Saturday Market parking lot (across from Full Sail) on Saturday, April 17th from 10am to 2pm. Cost is $30 for non-profits and $50 for local businesses.
For more information contact: Amanda Lawrence at 541-490-3466 or amanda.lawrence@esd112.org
|
|
|
|
|
|
An Evening with Michael Ableman
FEEDING THE FUTURE: Stories and Images from the New Frontiers of Food and Agriculture
To kick off this spring's Farm Life exhibit, the Hood River County History Museum is pleased to host farmer, author and photographer Michael Ableman, whose book Fields of Plenty broadened people’s perception of farming and food sources.
Michael farms at the 120-acre Foxglove Farm in British Columbia, and he is the founder and executive director emeritus of the Center for Urban Agriculture at Fairview Gardens, a non profit organization based on one of the oldest and most diverse organic farms in southern California, where he farmed from 1981 to 2001. Foxglove Farm currently produces strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, asparagus, melons, greens, roots, and a wide range of annual Mediterranean vegetables. Diverse orchard plantings, grain production, and mixed livestock are in development.
The purpose of Michael's visit is to further the bigger discussion about agriculture in the Gorge, the United States, and the world - how can farmers succeed and communities eat well, now and into the future?
Co-sponsored by the Hood River Valley Residents Committee, Gorge Grown Food Network, and The Hood River County History Museum. Books will be available for purchase and signing at the end of the program.
------------------------------------------------------------
Reception at The History Museum – 5:30 – 6:30 PM
Program at The Columbia Center for the Arts – 7:00 – 8:30 PM
Tickets are $10 - Available at The History Museum and Waucoma Book Store in Hood River
|
|
Micro-Loans for Washington Farmers
The HumanLinks Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to systematic improvements in education, healthcare and sustainable agriculture, is offering a micro-loan program to sustainable farmers to help strengthen the Washington farming community.
As of March 2010, the Foundation, partnering with Banner Bank, will enable credit access to farmers who may not have been able to secure a loan through a more conventional bank. Administered by Banner Bank, the Foundation will give local, sustainable farmers the ability to borrow funds at a favorable interest rate (3%) for up to 2 years. The minimum loan size is $2,500 and the maximum loan size is $25,000.
This loan program will be available for the next three months. The application deadline is May 31, 2010.
|
|
Gorge Green Drinks: Solarize the Gorge!
Columbia Gorge Earth Center invites Gorge residents, business owners, government and nonprofits to Green Drinks, a monthly networking event for people interested in sustainability issues. This month, we'll discuss a bulk purchasing model being used across the country to help homeowners purchase solar panels for their homes.
Jaimes Valdez, Renewable Energy Specialist for the City of Portland and a memeber of the Earth Center board of directors, Tim O'Neal from SE Uplift, and Jonathan Cohen from ImaginEnergy will provide insight from their work on Solarize Portland 9 (www.solarizeportland.org) — which has helped Portland residents overcome the logistical hurdles of installing solar powered at home.
Thursday, March 25, 6 p.m.
Cebu Lounge, Hood River Inn
1109 E. Marina Way
|
|
2010 Summer Food and Afterschool Road Show
Building Strong and Sustainable Meal Programs for Oregon's Kids
Join us for a day of information sharing and networking to learn more about how to feed Oregon¹s children during the summer and afterschool.
Date: April 9, 2010
Time: 9:30 am-3:30 pm (lunch included)
Location: The River Center
3000 S. Santiam Hwy
Lebanon, OR 97355
Cost: FREE
Those encouraged to attend include:
· current summer food/afterschool sponsors and sites
· school districts
· parks and recreation departments
· libraries
· faith based organizations
· community leaders
· emergency food providers
· health and nutrition educators
· affordable housing managers
· funders
· county agencies
· anyone with a mission to serve children and families
To register:
Click here or copy and paste this address: https://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?formkey=dDdtc0NJTDdDUFBnSTZPWEtmNFMzZ0E6MA
|
|
|
|
Cold Storage Facilities Now Eligible For USDA Facility Loan Program
Secretary Tom Vilsack today said that the Farm Storage Facility Loan program has been amended to allow producers to build cold storage facilities to store their fresh fruits and vegetables. This program is part of USDA's 'Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food' initiative and uses discretionary authority provided by the 2008 Farm Bill authorizing the eligibility of cold storage facilities for fruits and vegetables.
To be eligible, cold storage facilities must have a useful life of 15 years and include:
- New structures suitable for a cold storage facility;
- New walk-in prefabricated permanently installed coolers suitable for storing fresh fruits and vegetables;
- New permanently affixed cooling, circulating and monitoring equipment;
- Electrical equipment integral to the proper operation of a cold storage facility; and must be
- An addition or modification to an existing storage facility.
USDA will not make cold storage facility loans for portable structures, portable handling and cooling equipment, used or pre-owned structures or cooling equipment or structures not suitable for a fresh fruits and vegetables' cold storage facility.
The maximum loan amount for a Farm Storage Facility loan is $500,000 per loan. One partial disbursement of up to half the anticipated total cost is available when that portion of the structure has been completed. The final disbursement will be made when the entire structure has been completed and inspected by a USDA representative.
All Farm Storage Facility Loans require a down payment of at least 15 percent. Applications must be approved before construction can begin. Loan terms of 7, 10 or 12 years are available depending on the amount of the loan.
For more information on this program or other FSA farm programs please contact your local FSA county office or http://www.fsa.usda.gov |
|
ARTICLE: The Town that Food Saved–At Last, A Thoughtful Look at Local Food Systems
By Barry Estabrook
March 20, 2010
sourced from PoliticsofthePlate.com
The words “local, seasonal, sustainable” have been repeated so often and with so little thought that they have become soothing background noise, feel-good mood-music for any socially conscious eater worth his or her naturally obtained organic sea salt. So it’s refreshing to encounter a book that treats the subject intelligently.
Was it Holden Caulfield who said that the measure of a good book was one that makes you want to call up the author on the phone?
Reading Ben Hewitt’s The Town That Food Saved impelled me to pay a visit to the author at his home, a raggedy farmstead at the end of a rutted, muddy, unmarked lane tucked among the folds and hollows of north-central Vermont. |
|
|
|
ARTICLE: Farmer Friendly Zone: Better School Food = More Local Farms
March 23rd, 2010
By Melissa Waldron Lehner
sourced from CivilEats.com
Last week, U.S. Senator Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark.), Chairman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry, unveiled the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010, which provides $4.5 billion in new child nutrition program funding over ten years. It says on Lincoln’s website: “This legislation will also mark the first time since the inception of the National School Lunch Program that Congress has dedicated this level of resources to increasing the program’s reimbursement rate.”
Currently, the National School Lunch Program feeds nearly 31 million students every day for $9.3 billion per year. At the end of February, President Barack Obama proposed a $1 billion a year increase ($10 billion over ten years) in funding for U.S. child nutrition programs including school lunches. Sounds like a lot. But $1 billion, it turns out, really only boils down to an extra twenty cents per school meal. Right now, the reimbursement rate per meal is $2.68, and less than a dollar of that goes towards actual food. The rest is spent on infrastructure. Many school food advocates believe that serving wholesome, nutritious meals for under $3 is just not possible and there has been a rallying cry for more – up to a $1 more per child’s meal.
Continue reading here
|
|
ARTICLE: Starting Seeds Under Protection
March 19th, 2010
By Doug Muller
sourced from CivilEats.com
This is part 2 of six-part a series on seed starting. Part 1 can be read here.
Starting seeds early, when done right, is one of the most satisfying aspects of gardening. To see young, green shoots perk up through the soil while winter carries on outside is incredibly gratifying. It’s as if spring begins as soon as the first cotyledons (first leaves) pop open. It’s also an essential part of growing tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, and other crops, which otherwise don’t have a long enough season in northern climates to mature much ripe fruit.
For the home gardener lacking a heated greenhouse, there are two main ways to start seeds under protection: indoors or in a cold frame. We’ll take a look at both strategies.
Continue reading here
|
|
|
|
|
|
ARTICLE: Speak Your Piece - From the Heart and Hip
03/22/2010
sourced from dailyyonder.com
It used to be that farm communities in Missouri and Iowa were vibrant. That was back when farmers received a fair price for their products. The lack of a true market for farm goods is strangling rural America, according to Missouri hog farmer Jim Foster.
By Jim Foster
Thank you, Secretary Vilsack, Attorney General Holder, Assist. Attorney General Anti-Trust Christine Varney for inviting me speak about my concerns regarding the hog industry in America at this historic event.
I am convinced, Mr. Secretary, that this is not a dog and pony show and that you are serious and I appreciate that.
I won’t bore you with the history of my 55 years of non-stop work in the hog business, but I will get to the message. I plan to speak from the heart and shoot from the hip about the serious trend we are in.
My concern is not for me but for my kids and grandkids. Making sure they can pursue the American Dream as my wife and I have. Believe me, hog production is real close to the poultry model whereby you participate by invitation only!
Continue reading here
|
|
|
|
|