Rain barrels provide a great way to capture rainwater from your roof, and store it for later use. Join us for an informative afternoon in exploring how to capture, store, and utilize this amazing resource. We’ll explore what features to look for in a rain barrel, and their proper maintenance throughout the year. Mary has three different types of rain barrels, and she will discuss her experiences with each of them. We’ll also discuss and how to set them up for the easiest use, whether your have gutters/downspouts or not.

Time permitting, we’ll walk through the process of setting up a drip irrigation systems from a rain barrel to your gardens, and look at how Mary uses her barrels to water her various gardens. By the end of the workshop, you will know what type of barrel is right for you, and whether purchasing, or building your own barrel (and how to do it) is the right choice for you.

The price for this workshop is on a sliding scale of $5-15, payable at the workshop.

Mary is a certified permaculture designer and University of Maine Master Gardener.  Mary has worked with municipalities and water districts to create rain barrel programs, and has spoken at numerous events promoting the use of rain barrels in both Maine and New Hampshire.  Her current collection of barrels resides at eight (although one technically belongs to her 7 year old son!).

For more information: www.meetup.com/GreaterSeacoastPermaculture

Come experience the excitement of the gardens and landscapes in a new camp just for young teens. Participants work with Strawbery Banke’s Curator of Historic Landscapes, horticulturists and other museum experts to learn the techniques for growing, harvesting and preserving heirloom plants. During the week, the group will explore nearly four centuries of historic gardens and use their bounties to learn methods of historic cooking, creating traditional medicinals, producing textiles and investigating how the natural world influenced many aspects of life in the past.

$250. members/$300. non-members, pre-registration is required for all programs. To register or request more information, please contact us: Email camps@strawberybanke.org, or phone (603) 422-7541

For more information: www.strawberybanke.org

39th Annual NOFA Summer Conference
Northeast Organic Farming Association
UMass/Amherst, MA
Friday – Sunday, August 9 – 11, 2013

Join NOFA for a weekend of learning, networking, and fun with people who are transforming the food system in the Northeast.In addition to hundreds of practical skills and farming workshops, the conference features live entertainment, children’s and teen conferences, a country fair, organic meals, 100 exhibitors and much more. The conference will take place August 9-11 on the University of Massachusetts, Amherst campus.

 Five half-day preconferences - Friday, August 9th
• “Farming Smarter, Not Harder” with Richard Wiswall
• “Honeybee Hive Products” with Ross Conrad
• “Growing with the Biological System” with Dan Kittredge
• “Homestead Poultry Flock” with Jim Adkins<
• “Growing and Marketing Cut Flowers” with Diana Doll

For more information: www.nofasummerconference.org

2nd Annual Grain Research Tour

We would like to invite you to join us for our 2nd Annual Grain Research Tour to be held on Thursday, June 27, 2013, 10am to 3pm, at Borderview Research Farm in Alburgh, Vermont.

Highlights include:
- the basics of on-farm variety trials and variety selection for wheat and other small grains led by Julie Dawson of Cornell University
- Researchers and farmers who have been participating in on-farm trials and selection will describe their experience and provide practical guidance
- a tour of the 1,000+ research trials of spring and winter wheat, heirloom wheat, spring and winter barley, flax and oats; as well as small grain trials on planting dates, weed control and organic fertility
- Come and taste breads made with wheat from our heirloom variety trials. Tasting will be led by Randy George of Red Hen Baking Company

RSVP by June 21, 2013. Registration is $15 per person and includes lunch from the NOFA-VT Pizza Oven.

View the field day flyer – 2013 Grain Research Tour

Register online at www.uvm.edu/extension/graintour

Feel free to contact myself, Heather Darby or Erica Cummings if you have any questions!

This course covers the fundamentals of HACCP (Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point) and the application in meat and poultry slaughter and processing operations. It provides the participant with hands-on experience in developing a HACCP plan, which is required for USDA inspection of meat and poultry products. This course meets US Department of Agriculture (USDA) requirements for HACCP training. Participants will receive an International HACCP Alliance certificate upon successful completion of the course.

Course Instructors: Dr. Todd Pritchard (UVM Nutrition and Food Sciences Department), Dr. Londa Nwadlike (UVM Extension Food Safety Specialist), Mr. Brian Norder (Food Safety Consultant)

Guest Speakers: (invited) Susan Isberg, Enforcement, Investigations and Analysis Officer, Food Safety Inspection Service, US Department of Agriculture

Registration: Pre-registration is required. The cost of registration is $325 per person and covers program costs, lunch on Wednesday and Thursday, continental breakfast on Thursday and Friday and breaks. Registration is limited to 20 people. Online registration will hold your space until payment is received. You can register and pay online by credit card or electronic check at: https://www.events.unh.edu/RegistrationForm.pm?event_id=14951.

Or you can register online and pay with a paper check made out to UNH Cooperative Extension. Send your paper check to UNHCE BSC, Meat and Poultry HACCP Training, Event #14951, 59 College Rd., Taylor Hall, Durham, NH 03824. Your registration is not confirmed until we have received payment. The registration fee is $355 after June 19, 2013.

Nose to Tail Pork Processing Workshop
MOFGA’s Common Ground Education Center, Unity, ME
Saturday – Monday, October 12 – 14, 2013

Sustainable agriculture doesn’t end at harvest. Efficient use of every crop component is an important part of sustainable production. This hands-on workshop will demonstrate how you can get the most and the best out of an organic, pasture-raised pig, from slaughter to sausage, using every part but the squeal.

The workshop will cover all the basic techniques of humane slaughter, carcass preparation, breakdown of the major components, and demonstrations of sanitary fresh and preservative processing using the entire animal.

The Nose to Tail Pork Processing Workshop will take place at MOFGA’s Common Ground Education Center in Unity. All equipment for the workshop will be provided. Participants are encouraged to bring own knives if they would prefer working with those. Lunch will be provided each day and will include a variety of fresh pork cuts.

2013 Registration fees: All Three Days: $200 per person. Fees cover materials, take home documentation, a light breakfast, and a delicious lunch each day.

Questions? Call MOFGA at 207-568-4142.

Registration opens June 15, 2013 — This event sells out very quickly. Each year we maintain a wait list to cover cancellations. Please note that by submitting your wait list fee you are not guaranteed a space in the course, but will be kept on the wait list for the next available space. The MOFGA office will contact you as soon as possible to let you know once a space opens. Wait list fee $50.

For more information: www.mofga.org

Gleaning is an ancient practice of gathering post-harvest fruits and vegetables from farmers fields, reducing the amount of produce that goes to waste. Gleaning, or harvesting surplus produce, is also one of the most significant ways we can provide fresh food to the needy families in our community. With the invitation of the property owner, farmer or gardener, volunteers will pick surplus vegetables and fruit and deliver them to the local food pantry, shelter or soup kitchen.

We will be organizing gleaning days through out the summer and fall, and will have more information soon.

Farm to Pantry: We will need volunteers to help us harvest foods on the farm, and transport foods to food pantrys.

Market to Pantry: We will also continue our Farmers’ Market Gleaning, where we invite patrons of the market and farmers to donate fresh foods to a local pantry. We will need a volunteer to help collect foods at the end of the market day, and deliver it to a local pantry.

Great Overview of Gleaning from NPR – Gleaning A Harvest For The Needy By Fighting Waste

If you are interested in becoming a gleaner and joining our volunteer email list, please email Snap@seacoasteatlocal.org.

Chard will always be there for you. Like a reliable friend, it is one of the greatest, and often least appreciated, of all the gifts from your local farmer.

Chard’s long, thick stalks have wide, glossy green leaves that may be smooth or curly, depending on the variety. The stalk comes in many colors, from white to green to brilliant red, yellow, and pink. At many farmers markets you’ll see the flashy Ruby Red and Bright Lights varieties. They are glamorous and hard to resist, but the old-fashioned varieties with white stems and green leaves are even tastier.

True Blue, Except it’s Green

Not only is chard giving, it’s forgiving too. It’s much more heat-resistant than spinach, grows well under most weather and soil conditions, and is disease resistant and bug resistant too. After harvesting, the inner leaves come back quickly, so you’ll see chard at farmers markets from early June clear through Thanksgiving. Because it’s always there, you might take it for granted, but, as with a good friend, you shouldn’t.

Easy, Tasty and Convenient

Chard is as close to perfect as a vegetable can get–a low-calorie, high-nutrition green with a mildly sweet, clean taste. It’s also a fast food. Tender young chard leaves can be eaten raw, adding a beet-like flavor to salads and sandwiches. Larger stalks and leaves can be blanched in boiling water, or sauteed up in a matter of minutes, quick and easy. Then toss the cooked chard into pasta with olive oil and garlic, add to omelets and frittatas, or use instead of spinach in your favorite recipe.

Swiss Chard Italian Style

Chard stalks and leaves are delicious, and there is no reason to discard the stems as many American recipes instruct. French or Italian recipes, on the other hand, often tell you to use just the stems and reserve the leaves for another purpose. That “other purpose” was revealed by the great food writer Richard Olney who wrote in Simple French Food (1977) that “the green leafy parts . . . are usually fed to the rabbits and the ducks.” I’m sure they make a fine treat for rabbits and ducks, but I recommend the obvious – eat the stems, leaves, and all!

Ingredients

2 pounds chard (2 or 3 bunches, any color), rinsed and coarsely chopped

4 cloves garlic

Sea salt and hot red pepper flakes

4 tablespoons olive oil, or 2 Tb butter and 2 Tb olive oil

Instructions

1. Place the chard in a large stockpot with plenty of water still clinging to it and set on medium-high heat. When it begins to sizzle, stir and cover. Reduce heat to medium and cook until chard is wilted but still has texture and the leaves have turned dark green, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat.
2. Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a skillet over medium-low heat. Add the garlic and cook until golden, about 5 minutes.
3. Add the chard to the skillet after squeezing out some of the liquid. Cook, stirring, until the chard has wilted and the garlic is cooked, about 10 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
4. Transfer to a warmed platter and drizzle with the remaining olive oil or dot with butter and serve. Serves 4.

© The Land Connection Foundation

Farm Fresh Now! is a project of The Land Connection, an educational nonprofit that preserves farmland, trains new farmers, and connects people with great locally-grown foods. This series is made possible with generous support from the Illinois Department of Agriculture.

Farm Sprouts Mini Camp
Community Roots
Coppal House Farm, 118 North River Rd, Lee, NH
Wednesdays, June 26 – August 14, 2013
9 am – 1 pm

Community Roots is excited to announce our weekly summer program for 4-8 year olds! The program will run every Wednesday, 9am-1pm, June 26-August 14. Each week is a different theme such as ponding and insects, farm art, and garden to table. Children will experience the farm through farm chores, meeting and caring for animals, planting and harvesting the garden, playing games and exploring, and most importantly being little kids, getting a bit dirty, and enjoying the natural world the way they should!

This is a drop off program. Pre-registration is required and space will be limited. $35 per session. Sign up for as many weeks as you’d like!

Farm Sprouts Mini Camp is a sneak peek at what we envision as week-long camps next summer with expanded age groups! Stay tuned for other exciting summer programs such as Family Campouts and Owl Prowls! As always, please share with your friends so their kids don’t miss out on all the farm fun!

Contact us for more information or to reserve a space! info@communityrootsnh.org or 603-303-1014

For more information: www.communityrootsnh.org