Meet the Farmers and New Series of Classes at Preserve

Happy New Year everyone! I'm back after a short holiday break and I have a couple of really exciting upcoming events to tell you about.

The first is the 3rd Annual Meet the Farmers Event:

Sponsored by:

The Vancouver Food Co-op, SW WA CSA Farmers, WSU Vancouver Public Affairs Department, WSU Small Farms Team

Details:

7:00 to 8:30 pm
January 21st, 2009
WSU Vancouver
Firstenburg Student Commons
14204 NE Salmon Creek Ave

The Vancouver Food Coop in cooperation with Washington State University Vancouver and the WSU Small Farms Team will host the Southwest Washington Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) Farms for Meet the Farmers on Wednesday January 21, 2009. The event will feature local CSA farms from southwest Washington and a speaker from the WSU Small Farms Team. WSU Small Farms Team staff and the SW WA CSA Farms will provide information to participants on what a CSA is, how to determine if a CSA is right for you, and questions to ask farmers to find the right CSA for you and your family. A Vancouver Food Co-op (VFC) board member will be present to speak briefly about VFC and their role with local farms.

There are a record number of CSAs in SW WA this year we are up to 18, that is from only around 3 a few years ago.

Come join others to meet many of the CSA farmers in person and sign up for CSA shares before the season begins.

“We are excited to be partnering with the CSAs for this event; we are proud to support local agriculture,” says Sunrise O’Mahoney of the Vancouver Food Coop.

For more information please call the Vancouver Food Coop at 360-694-8094 or check their website at http://www.vancouverfood.coop/. SW WA CSA Farms website: http://www.swwa-csafarms.com

The next is a phenomenal series of classes being offered by local home economics heroine and proprietor of the amazing Preserve, Harriet Fasenfest. The classes will span the better portion of the local growing season and will take you on a journey from pre-season garden planning all the way through preserving the harvest. This will definitely be one of the best home economics educational opportunities offered by anyone in our region this year and it's a bargain too. Sign up soon, because this will be a for sure sell out. For more details, please click this link:

The Householding Series: From Seed to Pantry

And for the Cliff Notes version, here's what Harriet has to say:

The Householding Series:
From Seed to Pantry

What is House Holding?

House Holding suggests a commitment and year-round process of tending our gardens, home, psyche and pantry in accordance to the logic, systems and bounty of the natural world. It supplants the full-throttle acceptance of the market economy as the engine of our survival as well as the ferocious consumer culture that fuels it. In essence, house-holding is about skills, values and processes that not only bring our own needs back to earth, but those of the planet’s as well. When combined, the information in this series will give you not only an efficient system for creating your own “stores” but, too, a sound economical one that brings the notion of local and sustainable to a whole new level. New systems need new thinking - not just smart packaging!

Series Summary

Taught once a month over the nine-month growing and preserving season, this series is intended to offer concrete tools for creating new patterns of food production, direct-farm purchase, preservation and meal planning.

Appropriate for all levels of experience but suggested for those truly committed to the process. Some previous knowledge helpful but not necessary.

The series will be presented by a number of instructors experienced in their field but who, together, offer a systematic approach to living, growing and cooking within the seasons.

This year is looking like it will be a stellar one for local agriculture, supporting the local economy, and revitalizing the art of keeping a good, healthy home. Don't let the media get you down with all of the stories of gloom and doom. As a caring, concerned community, we can and will work together to weather any storm. And we are truly blessed to have wonderful resources in our area to help us figure out how to do it.

Love your family, hug a farmer, and start planning your gardens. Talk to y'all soon.