Posts filed under 'gardens'
November 19th, 2009
11/18/09
Community gardens, neighborhood gardens, Plant a Row for the Hungry gardens-all serve a similar purpose and maybe are just redundant names for the same thing. The common theme: a place-based effort to produce small fruits and vegetables for individuals, groups, or those less fortunate. The idea of sharing the labor, cost and tools for the sharing of the harvest is appealing to many who may not want to do the solitary garden thing in their backyards, but look instead to a social opportunity offered by a community garden.
Last spring, the Register Star’s Jenny Pollock contacted me for a list of community gardens in the area. I didn’t have one, and determined that one did not exist. We are looking to change that and have begun a process to map community gardening in our area. A survey form has been developed and is available on Extension’s website http://web.extension.uiuc.edu/winnebago. Those without internet access can request a copy from the office by calling 815-986-4357. Because there is such interest in community gardening in its many forms, we plan to compile a listing which can be accessed to find places to garden, types of projects, and other information. Driving this project is our desire to provide technical expertise, educational opportunities, and other assistance to groups. U of I Extension staff, Master Gardeners, Master Composters and other volunteers will be involved and lending their expertise and know-how as needed.
A partnership between Extension, Neighborhood Network, and the Rockford Department of Human Services was recently formed, and together we will be supporting “Roots Rock Community Gardening Program.” Last week an informational meeting was held and the 30 or so in attendance got to meet U of I Master Gardener Jeff White, the energy behind this program. Jeff told the audience “we want to help you establish your new garden or make your existing garden better. We will provide you with a series of workshops covering planning and planting the garden, weed and pest control, and finally, harvesting and preserving the bounty of the garden using safe food preservation techniques.” Through this program, we hope to see more neighborhood groups establish gardens, more families involved in gardening, and of course, more produce donated to those in need through the Plant a Row for the Hungry program.
Correction: The movie “Fresh” will be shown on Thursday, December 10 at 7 p.m. at the movie theater in the Rockford Museum Park (former Storefront Cinema).
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Margaret Larson is the Director of the U of I Extension Offices in Winnebago andStephenson
Counties. She has been active in supporting the local food system in the region and most recently began working with the Illinois Department of Ag to form a statewide Farmers Market Association in
Illinois.
August 27th, 2009
The Illinois Food Farms & Jobs Bill was passed on August 18, 2009.
This law creates the Illinois Local Food, Farms and Jobs Council, which will work with state agencies, Illinois businesses, organizations, and citizens to build a fully functioning local farm and food system in Illinois. It will open new avenues of entrepreneurship, and we are grateful for the opportunities. This legislation will begin a long overdue transformation of our communities. There are plenty of business opportunities to go around.
Believe it or not, an estimated $46 billion of our money flows out of our state for food each year. Even if the number is off a bit, that’s no small potatoes. Currently, Illinois produces approximately 4% of the food we consume. The goal is to increase that to 10% by 2020 and 20% by 2030. The greatest natural resource in Illinois is our soil. It’s among the best in the world, and is absolutely irreplaceable.
People are needed to grow specialty crops, and workers will be needed to harvest and process the products. Engineers are needed to design and build equipment for those specialty crops. There will be an endless need for modern, reasonably priced, small scale equipment, and people to weld, paint, repair, and sell it.
Distribution hubs are also desperately needed. These will have to be built, furnished, and staffed. Other needs include farm co-ops that meet the needs of diversified growers; specialty crop advisors; and Illinois-specific seed and plant production, plus plant breeding work.
Value-added product development for the local food industry will offer quite a bit of work, including labeling, packaging, publicizing, and marketing these products. Suppliers of soil amendments will find an up tick in work. This could even be the start of diverting some of the organic material that ends up in our landfills, back to farms.
Financial advisors specializing in the local foods industry will be needed. And don’t forget all those farmers who will need to add infrastructure like buildings, storage, and equipment to their farms in order to diversify their cropping systems.
Different industries are specifically mentioned in the legislation, including agri-tourisim, which is already popular in some parts of America and abroad. People want to visit farms to connect with the source of their food. One area farmer, David Cleverdon of Kinnickinnick Farm, is already trying to do this.
The cosmetic/healthcare industry is on the list, along with dairy products and eggs. The fiber industry could see innovations in sustainable fabrics, dye, design, and production. Fish and forestry products include Christmas trees, wood, syrup, mushrooms, and nuts. Fifteen different grains are listed, plus herbs, honey, meat, ornamental plants, recreation, and renewable energy. How about some beer made with local grain?
To read the legislation, visit www.foodfarmsjobs.org. I think this may be the road back to the land of milk and honey, bread and roses.
June 26th, 2009
If you missed the Openfields Dinner at the Celtic Thistle on Sunday night, you missed a lovely evening. It was filled with the most mouthwatering steaks I’ve seen in years, thanks to Tom Eickman of Eickman’s Processing in Seward. And the dessert was to die for, with strawberries picked lovingly from Harrison Market Garden by Jill and Bill Beyer. Succulent jewels ladled over a puff of meringue.
If you weren’t in attendance, don’t fret, as there will be more opportunities. The next Openfields dinner featuring local foods will be on July 18 at Pine Row Farm in Roscoe, with catering by Kiki B’s and A Movable Feast. Other local foods dinners will be held on July 23 at Octane and August 6 at Brio, plus more opportunities to finish out the summer and head into fall. All of these dinners are being planned to take advantage of the bounty of what is in season.
An Openfields dinner is as much about enjoying the company of kindred spirits as it is about the mouthwatering local food. It is an opportunity to meet new people, and exchange ideas and philosophies, as well as recipes. It is an ancient ritual repeated in a modern world. Bread and wine shared amongst a diverse and growing clan.
Now that we’ve considered the wine, on to the weather! Rain, rain, rain, and more rain. There are springs seeping upward through the earth in my fields. More springs than anyone can remember, and it is a good thing that hope springs eternal, as well. We keep planting, while some things grow and thrive and others rot in the rich dark soil that had been so productive in previous years. Ah, the life of a farmer!
The beauty of local food is that it is the tie that binds. It binds the farmer to the community, and it binds the community back to the earth. Those ties have been severed for decades and we have the ability to respond…responsibility… to recreate those frayed threads. To create anew a system that will sustain and nourish not just our bodies, but, our minds and our souls.
Raise your glass to a new paradigm, and join us as we celebrate a new understanding. To make reservations to join us at future Openfields dinners, visit web.extension.uiuc.edu/winnebago or phone the University of Illinois Extension Winnebago County office at (815) 986-4357. Andrea Hazzard is the Farmer at Hazzard Free Farm, partner in First Hand Harvest CSA and the Local Food Systems Coordinator for Winnebago County
June 17th, 2009
Gardens are starting to produce these lovely , fresh vegetables and many people are visiting the local farmers markets. There is an increased interest in preserving some of those foods to enjoy this winter. Supporting local agriculture helps all of us in the Northern Illinois area. It’s good to know how the food you eat is being produced, and buying locally directly from a farmer or at the farmers market helps our local farmers.
Home canning and freezing is not a complicated process, however, strict guidelines need to be followed in order to keep the food safe. Be sure to follow the USDA research based recommendations and do not rely on old family recipes or any recipe book prior to 2006.
The two most common forms of food preservation are canning and freezing.
Freezing: Freezing is an easier and quicker way of preserving food. It costs between 38 and 50 cents a year to maintain a freezer for one pound of food, not including the cost of the produce. A couple of very important things to remember are: Use the proper packaging to protect flavor, color, moisture content and nutritional value from the dry conditions of the home freezer. Also, for vegetables, be sure to blanch for the recommended time. Blanching stops the action of the enzymes that cause loss of flavor, color and texture.
Canning: This method of preservation may be a less expensive way of storing produce, but more time and energy are spent to prepare and process the foods. Canning some foods can be difficult for beginners and it requires preserving foods by using methods that keep the food safe when stored at room temperatures. A pressure canner is needed to ensure safe low-acid canned foods. There are no safe boiling water canning options for vegetables, meats and seafood, soups and some other mixtures of foods.
Use up-to-date canning recommendations: Always use tested recipes and directions form a reliable source. Ignoring the recommended procedures can result in home canned products that may make you or your family members ill. Following are some recommended resources.
Two recommended resource recipe books:
USDA Complete Guide to Home Canning, available from National Home Food Preservation
“The Ball Blue Book, available at most local stores that provide home canning supplies
Questions about Specific Canners:
National Presto Industries: 800-877-0441 (Parts and Service)
Mirro: 800-527-7727
Questions about specific canning products:
Mrs. Wages: 800-647-8170
Sure-Jell: 877-535-5666
Splenda: 800-777.5363
Local University of Illinois Extension Offices also offer classes and help with Home Food Preservation.
With knowledge and reliable resources your home canning experience will be fun and successful.
