Community CROPS February 2010 Newsletter
February brings more cold and snowy weather, but with a promise of spring weather just around the corner. The winter is a time to plan for the growing season and for learning.
Recently, the CROPS staff attended the Healthy Farms Conference in Lincoln, co-sponsored by the Nebraska Sustainable Agriculture Society and UNL. There were many good speakers, but the best was Dr. John Ikerd, who describes himself as a Pioneer, Author, Advocate and Voice of Sustainable Agriculture. Dr. Ikerd's books are well-known treatises on our economy and small farms. His most recent book is Sustainable Capitalism: A Matter of Common Sense
In his keynote address, Dr. Ikerd presented facts such as Americans are now spending less than ten percent of their income on food, but 15-17% on health care, and how many people are spending more on health care in the last five to ten years of their life than they have earned in their entire career. These trends aren't sustainable. He also talked about the need for more small farmers, because we need more people who love the land, but each person can only care for so much land.
In Dr. Ikerd's recent article, Reclaiming the Heart and Soul of Organics, he writes: "Local has replaced organic as the most dynamic sector of the retail food market. Sales of local foods grew from $4 billion in 2002 to $5 billion in 2007 and are projected to reach $11 billion by 2011. Organic food sales are still larger, approaching $20 billion, but organic foods sales seem to be slowing while sales of local foods are accelerating. For many people, local has become the new organic. In fact, the word “locavore” was chosen by the New Oxford American Dictionary as their 2007 “word of the year.” The term was first associated with the “100-mile diet,” but is described more generally as someone who shows a strong preference for foods made with locally grown ingredients and takes advantage of seasonally available foodstuffs that can be bought and prepared without the need for extra preservatives. Some critics questioned the selection by Oxford, suggesting that local foods might be just a passing fad. To the contrary, the growing popularity of local foods is but the latest phase in a long-term trend that is fundamentally transforming the American food system."
Read more from this great writer and thinker.
For information on CROPS, call us at 474-9802 or e-mail us at info@communitycrops.org.
Growing Farmers Training Program
Last chance to sign up for the farm training program, and attend an excellent series of eight workshops all about starting a farm business. Learn from local farmers like Evrett Lunquist and Jamie Rhoda about what it is really like to run your own enterprise selling directly to the public. Learn from experts about business planning. Scholarships are still available, but registrations must be in by February 9, 2010. Registration information on the Farm Page.Community Garden Plots Now Available
Everyone interested in having a community garden plot in 2010 should fill out the registration form and sign up now. Garden plots are available at sixteen locations all over Lincoln. The Gardens Page has the registration forms for filling out on-line or which you can print and mail in.New Fee Structure for Garden Plots
After many long discussions, the Community CROPS staff decided to make some strategic changes to the fee structure for garden plots to make them more accessible to everyone in our community, particularly those who need the plots the most.We calculate that it costs CROPS approximately $250 per plot for everything we provide including seeds, plants, tools, water, classes and management of the gardens. Some of these costs are covered by community donations and grants, but many costs remain, and over the long term, grants aren't a reliable source of income. Therefore, those gardeners who can afford to pay more of the cost, have been asked to pay a fee based on the size of their plot. Small plots are $50, medium plots are $100 and larger sizes are $200 or $300, depending on their size.
While some of the community gardeners can afford to pay these fees in return for hundreds of pounds of food, we know that many cannot. Therefore, any gardener who receives public assistance or is below certain income levels is eligible for a free plot. For those who don't meet these guidelines, they also have the option to work in exchange for their plot, by helping with many tasks in the gardens.
In addition to changing plot fees, we clarified many of the policies of the community gardens to help everyone have a better experience growing their own food. Response to the policy and fee changes has been on the whole positive, and we continue to communicate with those who are concerned about the increased fees about why they were implemented and the alternatives to the fees.
With these changes, Community CROPS is looking forward to a fantastic year with more gardeners growing more food than ever before.
Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food: The CROPS CSA
Spring will be here before you know it, bringing a bounty of fresh vegetables. Need more than you can grow yourself? The Community CROPS CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) program is the answer!- Food grown by CROPS beginning farmer entrepreneurs
- Twenty week season, beginning May 24
- Two box sizes to choose from
- Fresh food harvested the day you receive it
- Weekly newsletter with cooking suggestions and recipes
- Nutritious vegetables that will boost your family's vegetable consumption and get you to try new foods
- Low-income shares available at a significantly reduced price
- Everything is grown naturally, and is free of chemicals
Backyard Beekeeping Workshop
Tuesday, February 16, 6:30pm, F Street Rec Center Join Charlie Simonds, owner of Honey Bee World, to learn the parts of the hive, the function of bees and other essential information on getting started with your own backyard bee hive. You will also be able to purchase supplies.Workshop is $5. Scholarships available.
Call 474-9802 or e-mail us at info@communitycrops.org to pre-register. Space is limited.
Year-round Growing
Nebraska's weather isn't suited to growing many plants all year. We just simply don't have enough sunlight to grow tomatoes in the winter, but that makes us appreciate the fresh ones all the more in the summer.
There are a lot of ways that you can grow food throughout the winter in our state. A simple cold frame like the one pictured to the left will protect many varieties of greens throughout the winter, such as lettuce, spinach, kale and mache. Many designs are available.
We add heat cables to our cold frame and use it in the spring for our warm season transplants such as peppers, tomatoes and basil.
You may have seen the CROPS hoophouse, pictured at left, located at Sunset Community Farm. A large version of the cold frame, it uses the soil to store heat during the day, which radiates back in the air at night. Recently seeded spinach is growing well in there right now, and we're busy planting many more spring crops to have ready for the first farmers' markets.
Cold frames and hoophouses don't use any fossil fuels, but are vulnerable to extreme cold temperatures. Another option that uses just a little energy is a greenhouse with a fan to push the hot air from the top of the greenhouse down into the soil. A local homeowner built his own small greenhouse this way, and it is now full of all sorts of delicious plants. He made use of many recycled materials from EcoStores.
The same technology is featured in this video, on a much larger scale.
See CROPS around the area
Community CROPS will have a booth at the Home and Garden Show this Thursday-Sunday.
The Social Impact Forum Omaha on Friday, February 26, will feature speakers including the director of Grameen America. A panel presentation will focus on local foods, including Ingrid Kirst, director of Community CROPS.
Keep in touch with CROPS
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