A New Farmers Market in East Clark County

Conveniently serving our east county residents and providing a much needed east side outlet for our local farmers and producers, I am pleased to introduce the newly established Camas Farmers Market! Thanks Carren!

Announcing: The Inaugural Season for the Camas Farmers Market

Camas Farmers Market invites prospective vendors for a tour of the downtown on April 8th, 2008. Lunch will be provided at Around the Table. Come be our guest and see how Camas Farmers Market can be a part of your marketing plan in 2008. Please RSVP to Carren Senn Walker at 360.838.1032. We are seeking vendors who grow produce in a sustainable fashion, individuals who produce food products from the farm, and individuals who produce sustainable fish, meat, and cheese. We are also considering a few concessioners who support the goals of the market.

We are seeking farmers to join our market for the 2008 season. The market opens May 17th and runs through October 4th. Each Saturday the market will be open from 9am to 1pm. The market will feature music, chef demonstrations, and full marketing support. This market will be agriculturally based and designed to meet the needs of farmers. For years citizens of Camas have been asking for a local market. The vital and pleasant shopping district of downtown Camas provides perfect ambience for a thriving market.

Applications are available at camasfarmersmarket.org

By the Bottle is Turning Two!!

Get on out and taste some great beer, say howdy to Dave and Arlene, and check out the BEST selection of craft brews around. I'm proud to say that I've been a loyal customer since the day they opened. Happy Birthday Numero Dos and best wishes for many, many more!!

Here's the scoop:

By the Bottle is very happy to announce our 2nd Anniversary as Vancouver's premier bottle shop. Come and celebrate with us at a special Belgian beer tasting event and experience some of the world's most distinguished beers.

When: Saturday, March 15, 2008
Where: By the Bottle, 104 W. Evergreen Blvd, Vancouver, WA 98660, 360-696-0012
Time: 5pm to 8pm
Tasting Fee: $5.00 Cash only, please
Parking: Free, ok to park in the lot across the street
Must be 21 years old to sample, valid photo ID required

By the Bottle opened on March 17, 2006 with only 99 different brands available...true story. Even with such a limited offering, there still wasn't any other place in town with any meaningful selections of local, regional and imported beer. It was clear from day one, that local residents needed a bottle shop of their very own.

Today, over 1,000 different brands have been available for your tasting pleasure. THANK YOU so very much for your continued support of our efforts to supply you with your favorites and new finds. It's been our pleasure to serve you for the past two years and we look forward to more beer adventures in 2008.

Web Site

Vancouver Food Co-op March Newsletter

http://vancouverfood.coop/weblog/2008/02/vfc_newsletter_009_march_2008.html

"Meet the Farmers" Event

Local Food Choices in Southwest Washington

Please join us for this free event at:

7-8:30 pm
Thursday, March 27, 2008
WSU Extension Clark County
11104 NE 149th St
Brush Prairie, WA 98606

Help to create a prosperous local agricultural community
Reduce your "food miles" and help create a green future
Find out about the Vancouver Food Co-op
Learn about the Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) concept, and how you can join.
Learn where to purchase local meats, eggs, produce, herbs, flowers and more
Browse informational tables
Discussion panel with local CSA farmers
Q&A Session

Questions?Contact either of the following:

Sunrise O'Mahoney, (360) 694-FOOD
Luisa DePaiva, (360) 256-8658

Sponsored by: the Vancouver Food Co-op, Southwest Washington CSA Farmer, and WSU Extension Clark County

I'm Baaaaaaaaaack!

So we've been busy enjoying the joys of parenthood and neglecting most of the non-family related activities in our life for a while now. However, I received an e-mail from a nice fella (Thanks Chris!) the other day who reminded me that I had a blog and that is was horribly out of date. Mea culpa, mea culpa. Apologies aside, I just wanted to get a quick post in to get the ball rolling again.

First order of business is urban gardening. Have you seen the price of food in your local grocery store lately? Unbelievable. Shouldn't come as a surprise to any of you folks who have been preaching the errors of relying on a petrochemical fueled, corporate agribusiness model of food supply. So what are you going to do about it? How about planting a garden? There are a multitude of innovative citizens who have come up with any number of novel ideas to maximize gardening space and food production in their regular old urban lots and you can too. At our place, we've got five 4' x 8' raised beds, twelve apple trees just planted using the Belgian Fence espalier method, and as usual, we'll be squeezing whatever won't fit in the raised beds into any little sunny spot we can find in the yard. And this is all happening on a five thousand sq. foot urban lot. Need more inspiration? Check these folks out from the Dervaes Institute! They've turned their standard, urban lot into an income producing farm and doing it in ways that you have to see to believe.

http://www.pathtofreedom.com/

Along the same lines, read about how our federal government is making it harder for small farmers who want to supply their communities with good, safe food in this NY Times article written by Jack Hedin, a small, organic farmer from Minnesota.

My Forbidden Fruits (and Vegetables)

On a parting note, I'd like to throw my two cents in on the subject of bio fuel. I know it's a big, complicated issue, so I'll keep it short. Converting productive farmland to growing gasoline isn't doing a damn thing to improve the security of our national food system. In fact, it's quite the opposite. I wonder if they'll label the gas pumps with "Genetically Modified" stickers? I'm holding my breath waiting for the first Powered by Monsanto eco-vehicle to roll off the line in Detroit.

Alright, enough bitching and moaning. Now get out there and play in the dirt, support your local farmers, tell your local politicians to support initiatives that will preserve local farms, and don't let your neighbor with the F350 convince you that he's doing anyone any favors by filling that hog with bio diesel to get to the McBurger joint...