Weekly Update for the week of March 8, 2010
Weekly update for week of Monday, March 8, 2010
Happy day!
"What we plant in the soil of contemplation,
we shall reap in the harvest of action."
~ Meister Eckhart
Check out our year in review! http://cskdetroit.org/EWG/docs/Earthworks%20Year%20in%20Review%202009.pdf
I. Volunteer Opportunities:
Tuesday, 5-7pm: Youth Farm Stand. For information on volunteering with our YFS, please email Charles at cdobey@cskdetroit.org.
Wednesday 9am-12:30pm Regular Volunteer Hours: Please join us after working in the gardens for lunch in the soup kitchen.
Thursday 5-7pm: Growing Healthy Kids. For more information on volunteering with GHK, please email Charles at cdobey@cskdetroit.org.
II. Announcements:
1. This Wednesday!! Believe all people should have access to good healthy safe food? Want to cook dinner in community with others? This Wednesday! March 10, 5-7pm will be Food Justice Potluck. We will be cooking a succotash recipe shared by our neighbor, Daryl. Please bring a dish to share if you are able!
2.. 4-Day Suburban-Urban Permaculture Training with Bill Wilson of Midwest Permaculture
April 8th, 9th, 10th, and 11th
9AM to 6PM leaners Food Bank 2131 Beaufait Detroit, MI
This 4-day permaculture training is an educational intensive that will cover a variety of permaculture philosophies and applications. The intent of the training is for students to come away with the skills and know-how necessary to pursue opportunities to implement permaculture projects in urban or suburban landscape or settings.
Price & Registration: Before March 1st (extended to March 8 so register today!): $400 After March 1st: $450
Registration includes lunch for the 4 days and the course text: ‘Gaia’s Garden’.(The price of this training has been partially underwritten by The Greening of Detroit and the Southeastern Michigan Permaculture Guild.)
Please mail, fax, or drop off your registration form to Kido Pielack at the Greening of Detroit, 1418 Michigan Avenue, Detroit, MI 48216.
Click Here for Registration Form (back of brochure)
Questions?: Kido@GreeningofDetroit.com, or 313-285-1256 For more information on the content of the training visit: http://www.midwestpermaculture.com/suburban-urban%20intensive.php#c
4. The National Farm to Cafeteria Conference is coming to Detroit May 17-19, 2010! Visit http://www.farmtocafeteriaconference.org/ for more details!!
5. Professor Kami Pothukuchi’s seminar series has been updated, please click for the new schedule: http://www.clas.wayne.edu/multimedia/usercontent/File/SEED/2010%20Seminar%20Series030110.pdf
III. Update from Patrick
and now for the update
The warmer weather has been lifting most everyone's spirits. I conducted at least three meetings in the greenhouse this last week – just so I could soak up some vitamin D. I wore my sunblock, I always forget the power of the sun on these first sunny days after so much time with cloud cover.
This week in the greenhouse we pricked out kale, and more collards, and started some lettuce and even some cut flowers. The scallions and leeks for the Garden Resource Program are starting to come up, as well as leeks for us.
Most of the snow has melted off, enough so that we could get some work done outdoors. Gwen and I started to tackle the giant pile of brush trying to get it cut down to size, and give her a little practice with the chainsaw. I think she took to it pretty well. Rumor has it that Gleaners may have hired someone to haul the pile away, so that may be another chore off our list. The high tunnel is cleaned up, the carrots and mache harvested, I got a little taste of mache and volunteers got a little to take home with them. We were able to move some compost that was sifted last fall into the high tunnel to thaw so we can spread it inside this week, plenty of little worms wriggling around as we shoveled the compost. The unsifted compost pile is still pretty well frozen, but it looks to stay warmer over the next week or so, I'm thinking if we cover it with some plastic it may warm up enough to be sifted.
Youth Farm Stand made pancakes with maple syrup this last week – in anticipation of taping the sugar maples at the environmental interpretive center out in Dearborn this week. Every year I plan to get a chance to go out with them to help empty the pails collecting sap from the maple trees, spending a little time pretending to be Scott Nearing just like in The Good Life, but once again this year it doesn't look like it's not going to happen. Youth Farm Stand also had their first Friday work session during which they worked on constructing some small greenhouse type structures to go over the raised beds in the gardens.
Growing Healthy Kids had a low-key international food night making blintzes and all kinds of tasty fillings.
We were excited to welcome Marilyn this last week to Earthworks, she will be coordinating the Earthworks agriculture training program (E.A.T.) that we are starting this year. I know she is going to do a wonderful job. We began the process of accepting applications, and we have some really strong candidates.
This week looks to continue to be warmer, with plenty of rain in the later part of the week. We have some greenhouse work to do, some bed prep and planting in the high tunnel, and of course compost to pick up. It feels good to have turned that corner from the darkest days of winter and look forward some sunshine. Still plenty of cold left in the year, and likely some snow, but what a difference a little sun makes.