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Apply Now for Conference Scholarships!
Good news for female farmers! BRWIA is offering farmer scholarships to the 2012 Organic Growers School Conference. Please submit the attached application by 11:59PM on Wednesday, February 1, 2012 to be included in the lottery drawing.
Call for Proposals!
The purpose of the Sustainable Food and Agriculture Grant is to strengthen our local food system by supporting female farmers, ranchers, and processors who plan to create innovative, sustainable solutions to producing or marketing obstacles in the High Country. Proposals must be RECEIVED no later than March 1, 2012. Please see the attachment below for more information.
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BRWIA
P.O. Box 67
Boone, NC
28607
Does the flu get respect?
However, there are a few positive aspects. Thank you, Kevin. For stepping in 110% to take care of the kids, do the laundry, run carpool, take the kids to the doctor, manage Lucy's rescheduled birthday party, and oh yea, still run the shop.
The greatest was when Kevin pedaled his bike to B&B pharmacy to get my Tamiflu prescription filled. Thank god for that wonder drug. I never thought I'd feel this way about a medicine, but I think it pulled me out of the worst of the flu and brought me back to the land of the living. I went from crying on the couch asking for my mom to actually sitting upright on the couch and talking normally. Whew, what a difference 24 hours and some serious meds can make. I am grateful for and respect modern medicine.
Now I am dreaming of spring and perhaps, just maybe, a week without someone in the house being sick?
Thank you Betty!
I love to make things from scratch and pretend that I can do it all sometimes. But this was not one of those times. So the respect connection here is respect for myself and my time. I know my limits. And I bet the kids will still love the cupcakes even though they came from a box. Happy 100th day of Kindergarten Lucy!
Laziness or respect?
The first development was the creation of two self-serve snack stations. One for dry goods in the cupboard and one in the fridge. I stocked each station with mom-approved snacks in single serve portions. I was tired of answering the call of "Mom, I'm hungry! Can I have a snack?"
When I introduced the new system to my 6 year old Lucy, the look of thrill and anticipation was heartwarming. She was so excited -- and proud -- that she now had control over her snacks. And since they were all pre-approved, I didn't have to worry about what she was eating. She couldn't believe that she could get whatever she wanted, whenever she wanted. (There were a few parameters though. I discourage her snacking after about 4 o'clock when it could interfere with dinner. This is also helping on learning to tell time.)
And since there is a picture, I'll confess that I let some of my usual "envrio-standards" slide. Single serve fruit cups means a few more #5 plastic cups I save for painting or a trip to the recycling center at Greenlife. And packets of Cheez-Its, but man, they are good! The bottom line is she is proud of her independence and it buys me a few more minutes to do whatever I was doing instead of dishing up yet another snack. Respect connection: helping kids help themselves.
The second development was the creation of an activity jar. I've seen variations in other blogs, like The Artful Parent. But after days (or it seemed like weeks) of snow and simultaneously, a week of two kids with the flu, I needed help. So, I resurrected the idea of an activity jar. Lucy and I sat down and cut little strips of paper. As she named all the activities she would like to do, I wrote one on each slip of paper, folded it up, and put in the jar.
Some of the activities are: make a fairy house, play hide and seek, make up a song, bake cookies, do a science experiment with water, write a letter, color, and have a picnic and so on.
So with Daddy and and Gardner napping, now was my time to practice what I preach. Into the jar her little hand went. What was it going to be? Make a fairy house. She was thrilled, I was thinking, "Do I really have to bundle up and go outside? A second cup of coffee sounds better." But I rallied and we headed outside to build a fairy house. It was fantastic. We collected twigs and branches, flowers and berries. We constructed the main house, complete with a hammock for the fairies to nap in and a coat rack to hang their little acorn caps. We made a door out of woven vines and added a cranberry doorknob. She decorated it all with dried flowers and leaves and lavender (a bit frosty, but still good.) Lastly, there was the outdoor table for the fairies with a leaf umbrella from a hydrangea bush, just in case it rained. Lucy said it was the best day ever.
Then inside for yet another activity from the jar! We were on a roll. This time, it was bake cookies. Lucy suggested oatmeal chocolate chip. Sounded like a winner to me. We whipped up a batch and woke up Daddy with warm cookies. Gardner got to taste-test some too after his nap. I think they passed the test.
How does this connect to respect? For me, it's about letting Lucy lead the way and being willing to set aside what I wanted to do for just a brief moment. It turned out to be one of the best days I'd had with her in a long time. It felt great. For both of us.
Long time
So much of what we talk about has an undercurrent of respect. Or lack of respect. And right now, we are starting with listening and understanding. We recently finished up a listening project where we interviewed over 150 low-income people. After analyzing the data and reflecting on the stories, we are at a point where we are starting to share what we heard.
Yesterday I presented our findings to a group of of leaders in our community. What I was most proud of is that I upheld my commitment to the people we interviewed. They asked what we were going to do with their information and the stories they so openly and honestly shared. I said that part of the process would be to share their stories to people who have no idea about poverty. To educate others who don't deal with poverty or don't think about it on a regular basis. To start the conversation that we do have poverty in our community and here are real stories, from real people about what it's like to live on the edge. Or below the edge of poverty.
Their voices need to be heard and their stories need to be shared. For me, it was a moment of respect and I was proud to be a part of it. It's a start. A respect connection between different communities.
Community Gardens Of The Blue Ridge
Last year, the Watauga County Democratic Party canvassed in a number of areas around Watauga County, and identified a number of needs and concerns, the greatest of which was the need for self-sufficiency and sustainability. Several projects were suggested, but the one that resonated with the largest number of people was the idea of community gardens.
As Watauga county's population has grown and changed, family and subsistence farming has become a vanishing culture. Instead of small gardens dotting the local landscape, food production has become a faceless industry.
A community garden can serve an important role to change that, in both towns and rural areas. It provides a source of high quality food, as most community gardens require organic garden practices. It is a source of low-cost food for low income families and seniors on fixed incomes so they can have access to nutritional meals. It provides a sense of community as people join together to garden. And it helps children form a sense of where their food comes from and feel a connectedness to the land.
To these ends, Community Gardens of the Blue Ridge has committed to and already has possibilities for garden plots in several areas in Watauga County. Gardens in a Habitat for Humanity community and for senior citizens next to the Western Watauga Community Center are already in the works. The gardens would be permanent additions to these locations. We believe that these locations actively express our goals of self-sufficiency and sustainability.
While this project was a Democratic initiative, it has grown far beyond that. Indeed, our core committee is comprised of a wide-ranging spectrum of individuals from diverse religious, political and philosophical backgrounds, ages (students to seniors), and gardening experience (novices to professional gardeners), all working together to nourish bodies, souls and soil.
As with any fledgling project, Community Gardens of the Blue Ridge needs a great deal of help to start out on the right track. While the work of maintaining the gardens will be up to the recipients of the garden plots, our group is charged with providing tools, seeds, plants, wood for raised beds and all the other items that make for a successful garden, and we're asking for your help.
We are open to any suggestions, as well as offers of help.
Sincerely,
- Bob Gow
- Professional gardener, landscaper
- Jasmine ShoShanna
- Interim Director
Wish List -
- Garden Sponsorships @ $50, $75, $100
- Hoses
- Spades, forks, rakes, trowels
- Lockable sheds
- Wheel Barrows
- Chicken Wire for compost piles
- Mulch (straw, leaves, cardboard)
- Manure, especially horse, llama, goat & cow manure
Equipment we would like to borrow/ have donated or have you donate time and equipment -
- Tractor
- Roto tillers
Community Garden Mission Statement
- to create self-sufficient people who know how to provide their own food.
- to improve our environment via organic farming techniques.
- to improve our environment via the reduction of the transportation of food to our community.
- to reconnect people to the land.
- to reconnect people with people.
- to revive a vanishing culture.