The summer growing season has passed, but interest in local food seems to be heating up.
Much of this interest can be traced to the experience of New Albanians attending the recent Milwaukee leadership training, like Ted, who posts a video you need to watch: Growing Power Inc. Community Leadership Institute, the Power of Urban Farming.
Another attendee sent this link: Urban farms plant seeds of hope; Indy woman fights blight with garden on lot she bought for $500, by Dan McFeely (Indy Star). New Albany has plenty of patches like this one. If John M. is reading, how did the St. Marks garden work out the past summer?
Many of us were there for the grocery coop meeting: New Albany working toward grocery co-op (News and Tribune), and there's a Facebook page for the possibly emerging New Albany Grocery Coop movement.
Do we have any updates from the New Albany Farmers Market? I seem to recall hearing of a proposal to have a winter program of some variety.
I haven't been told of any type of winter program for the market. We're working on a new pavilion area to spruce up the market plaza area and to give much needed cover to all of the vendors. I should be meeting with Susan pretty soon to debrief for this past season and start working on some ideas for next.
ReplyDeleteThe Milwaukee Public Market was quite a nice model, too, as is Findlay Market in Cincinnati.
ReplyDeleteThe planned Farmer’s Market expansion will allow a portion of the new pavilion space to be enclosed (via a thick clear curtain) and heated during the winter use. I believe Susan is finishing up quotes/bids for the new pavilion space. I was very impressed with the architect’s drawings. Unfortunately we will not have a winter program this year.
ReplyDeleteFarm City: the Education of an Urban Farmer by Novella Carpenter is a great read. One of my recent favorites. Available, of course, at your local, independent bookseller.
ReplyDeleteIf you do a search for Novella Carpenter and Oakland you will find more info. The author is also a partner in a bio fuel filling station which is also very interesting.
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ReplyDeleteIf you’re interested in the Grocery Coop and you have not already signed the email list, please either join the Facebook group OR email NAcoop@mail.com. Thanks
ReplyDeleteOur garden did not work out very well. One person who was working it got hurt and we had some issues in the fact that the garden was really big and got hit by weeds and we really didn't anticipate the amount of help we would need. We were able to use some of the produce in the Soup Kitchen a couple of times but that's about it. If nothing else, we sure did learn a lot!
ReplyDeleteHopefully this will make it through, so glad someone is taking the lead on this. Our household has been doing this for almost twenty years but in the Louisville and Bloomington markets. Southern Indiana can support this. We have zero time to help, only money to spend on what it has to offer.
ReplyDeleteThank you,
Edward & Carolyn
I really appreciate the people who've taken the lead on this--I'll definitely support it with my $$$.
ReplyDelete