Ken Meter
- Speaking tomorrow 12-1 in the CABIN!
- our posters say "Ken Meter is known as one of the most experienced food system analysts in the United States. His work integrates market analysis, business development, systems thinking, and social concerns. As president of Crossroads Resource center, Meter holds 39 years experience in inner-city and rural community capacity building."
Earth Day Festivities
- Foodlums have a table for the Earth Day festivities that are actually going on Thursday of this week from 10:30 -2 on campus mall.
- Stop by the Foodlums table if you have time during those hours and help power the table with good foodie energy.
Bees
- Our buzzing friends were welcomed into their happy hive in the grassy knoll this week with a hearty homecoming parade mostly made up of Dr. Hupy's class.
- Ellen told the theatrical tale in which she slammed a box of bees on the ground and almost lost the queen under Dr. Hupy's instruction while learning to introduce the bees into the hive. As a bonus she had the privilege of being excused from her exam until later in the day to lead the bee introduction.
- As a conclusion to our Friday meeting those in attendance moseyed over to the bees' grassy knoll to welcome them in a more low-key fashion. Turns out that grassy knoll is a secret garden. Remnants of an ancient garden were discovered as curious Foodlums surveyed the area to ensure that the bees were in safe surroundings. A compost box, bricks, boards. Secret garden.
-Of course, upon considering the space further, it was decided that the grassy knoll would also be a fantastic location to erect a hoop house! Which could double as a model beehive for instructional use during the summer. It could be the Foodlums hive! Kinda like a club house for foodies.
Raised Beds
-Ellen and Dane cruised over to Menard's to pick up lumber for building raised beds. Dr. Hupy had suggested a plastic, hollow lumber to ensure a long life for lumber that didn't need to be treated. Because the plastic lumber was especially wide and not ideal for several other reasons, they decided to get cedar which came highly recommended by Ellen's drumming circle leader who also happens to work at Menard's. (His raised beds are made of cedar and have lasted 8 years with no problems)
- Considering the budget, raised beds will be 1- 1 1/2 ft. high.
- Straw needs to be collected to fill the bottom of the beds for straw-bale gardening.
- Grounds says that we can use their compost to fill our raised beds as well. Horray!
- Jenna has spare lumber back home that she can bring back for the corner support pieces of the raise beds.
- A lumber-cutting party took place on Jenna's screened porch on Saturday morning. Dr. Hupy's saw was used to cut all of our lumber down to size-- 8ft x 3ft 10in. for 8x4 raised beds. Cold but productive.
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
Foodlums Minutes 4/8/11
Our meeting this week was mostly a work day with informal discussion of upcoming events happening during the work time. Foodlums broke into teams. One team painted the bee hives and one team started some seeds in the cold frame in the garden.
Seeds Started
- Since some seeds have been started and are in the cold frame(peppers, buttercup squash, a few different kinds of tomatoes, and radishes) we will need to water them daily.
- You can help by watering the seeds!
- The hose key is now where to be found. Does anyone know where it is? For now we can fill a clean bucket in the bathroom (there is one in our stuff pile with a spade in it). Take care not to bring dirt into the building and bathroom. When we have some water in the bucket, we can use the spade to gently water the plants.
-If you water the seeds, check off the box for the day on the piece of paper in the cold frame so others won't water also.
Bee Hives
- The hives are now painted
- The piantings are BEAUTIFUL! There are pictures of bees and dogs and flowers that our bees are sure to love.
- It was mentioned that these bees better be hippy bees otherwise they might be unhappy with the decorations on their home.
- Frames and other hive materials are HERE! WHEW!
- Bees should be arriving within the next week. HORRAY!
Other Items That Were Mentioned in Our Informal Discussions
Ken Meter
- Will be speaking Monday April 18th at 12 noon in the Cabin!
- So EXCITING! He will be speaking on sustainable food systems. A perfect beginning to earth week.
- Check out his organization, Crossroads Resource Center, to get a better idea of what he's all about http://www.crcworks.org/?submit=about
Seeds
-Seeds will be ordered this week.
-When considering seeds this year, things we are considering include edible landscaping, foods that will be used and come into season when students are back, foods that we will use, and foods that can be stored for some time.
- The list generated at our meeting included: tomatoes, bell peppers, hot peppers, buttercup squash, butternut squash, black beans (climbers), beets, sweet potatoes, regular potatoes, kale, lettuce, parsley, cilantro, lavendar, lemon balm, mint, broccoli, cucumbers.
- If you have any other requests, let us know.
Seed Sorting
- A group of people in a conservation biology class, former Foodlums vice president David Hon included, were looking for people to help sort seeds on Sunday.
- They were helping the River Country RC&D with their bulk prairie seed sale by bagging and weighing out some seed this weekend.
Earth Day on Campus Mall
- The EEC (Envrionmental Endeavors Commission) has reserved campus mall on Thursday April 21st in honor of Earth Day
- Many environmentally minded organizations will be there.
- Foodlums will also be there! 10:30-2.
- We have yet to decide what food we will be handing out.
CSAs
- It can be hard to get a share with a CSA, but some still have spaces available.
- The link near the top of the foodlums website titled "Community Supported Agriculture" has links to several CSAs in the area.
- Founding Foodlums VP, Trevor Peterson, says that Slow Crow Farm near Menomonie still has shares available and can offer student-sized shares. They even have an egg share!
- Their website is http://www.slowcrowfarms.com/
Raised Beds
- Money has been requested for raised beds materials.
- If the money order goes through quickly, we can start work on raised beds at our next meeting! WHEE!!
Spring means time to work! Hooray!
Seeds Started
- Since some seeds have been started and are in the cold frame(peppers, buttercup squash, a few different kinds of tomatoes, and radishes) we will need to water them daily.
- You can help by watering the seeds!
- The hose key is now where to be found. Does anyone know where it is? For now we can fill a clean bucket in the bathroom (there is one in our stuff pile with a spade in it). Take care not to bring dirt into the building and bathroom. When we have some water in the bucket, we can use the spade to gently water the plants.
-If you water the seeds, check off the box for the day on the piece of paper in the cold frame so others won't water also.
Bee Hives
- The hives are now painted
- The piantings are BEAUTIFUL! There are pictures of bees and dogs and flowers that our bees are sure to love.
- It was mentioned that these bees better be hippy bees otherwise they might be unhappy with the decorations on their home.
- Frames and other hive materials are HERE! WHEW!
- Bees should be arriving within the next week. HORRAY!
Other Items That Were Mentioned in Our Informal Discussions
Ken Meter
- Will be speaking Monday April 18th at 12 noon in the Cabin!
- So EXCITING! He will be speaking on sustainable food systems. A perfect beginning to earth week.
- Check out his organization, Crossroads Resource Center, to get a better idea of what he's all about http://www.crcworks.org/?submit=about
Seeds
-Seeds will be ordered this week.
-When considering seeds this year, things we are considering include edible landscaping, foods that will be used and come into season when students are back, foods that we will use, and foods that can be stored for some time.
- The list generated at our meeting included: tomatoes, bell peppers, hot peppers, buttercup squash, butternut squash, black beans (climbers), beets, sweet potatoes, regular potatoes, kale, lettuce, parsley, cilantro, lavendar, lemon balm, mint, broccoli, cucumbers.
- If you have any other requests, let us know.
Seed Sorting
- A group of people in a conservation biology class, former Foodlums vice president David Hon included, were looking for people to help sort seeds on Sunday.
- They were helping the River Country RC&D with their bulk prairie seed sale by bagging and weighing out some seed this weekend.
Earth Day on Campus Mall
- The EEC (Envrionmental Endeavors Commission) has reserved campus mall on Thursday April 21st in honor of Earth Day
- Many environmentally minded organizations will be there.
- Foodlums will also be there! 10:30-2.
- We have yet to decide what food we will be handing out.
CSAs
- It can be hard to get a share with a CSA, but some still have spaces available.
- The link near the top of the foodlums website titled "Community Supported Agriculture" has links to several CSAs in the area.
- Founding Foodlums VP, Trevor Peterson, says that Slow Crow Farm near Menomonie still has shares available and can offer student-sized shares. They even have an egg share!
- Their website is http://www.slowcrowfarms.com/
Raised Beds
- Money has been requested for raised beds materials.
- If the money order goes through quickly, we can start work on raised beds at our next meeting! WHEE!!
Spring means time to work! Hooray!
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
Foodlums Minutes 4/1/11
"Lead me, Follow me, or Get the H out of my way"
- One of the two most important pearls of wisdom for farmers according to a fantastic old farmer of authentic food at the Sustainability in Agriculture Conference this weekend at Lawrence University
Ken Meter
- Can come speak on Monday, April 18th but needs to be back in the cities by 5:30
- We will have a brown bag lunch for his talk.
- The Cabin was suggested as a place that would be central and might attract extra people to hear him speak.
- Visit this link for a quick bio on Ken Meter and to learn more about his organization, Crossroads Resource Center http://www.crcworks.org/?submit=about
Raised Beds
- Dr. Hupy is hooking us up with the lumber for raised beds
- We need to build the raised beds-- there might be a work day for the next meeting. Check your mailboxes for further updates this week.
- Dane had a cool idea for a design for our raised beds involving an octogonally-shaped bed. We will need to meet with Daria, the University's Landscape professional, this week to get her input based on her knowledge of landscaping.
BEEEEEZZZZZZZZ
- Ellen and Chris spent their spring breaks building bee hives under the careful watch and mentorship of our masterful bee-keeping advisor Dr. Hupy.
- Now the hives have been primed and just need to be painted-- white (so the bees feel comfortable). If we insist on making them awesome looking with pretty designs and pictures, he says we can use light, pastel colors.
- Foodlums have been waiting for the money requested for bee hives from the Green fund but the money seems to be lost in the complex bureaucracy of our University System. Hopefully funds will be recieved... now... so we can express order bee-hive parts that our happy hive makers weren't able to construct.
- Painting of the hives will be a project for our next meeting. We need to get ready for the grand arrival of our Queen and her BEEZZZ the following week! YEAY!
Progressive Film Festival Food Films
- Two food-related films were shown on Saturday "Tapped" about bottled water, and "The End of the Line" about the decline of Newfoundland Fisheries. If you were able to attend either of these films, please come to the next meeting so you can tell everyone about them!
- "Bananas!" is being shows on Monday at 7:30 in Hibbard 102
- The description given in the PFF brochure is : "On behalf of twelve Nicaraguan banana workers, he is tackling Dole Food in a ground-breaking legal battle for their use of a banned pesticide that was known by the company to cause sterility"
- WHOA! Hope everyone can make that one!
Sustainability in Agriculture Conference
-Ellen and Briana went to a conference about sustainability in agriculture at Lawrence University this weekend
- They will be bubbling over to tell you all the cool things they learned and inspiration they got, so don't miss our next meeting.
UW- Milwaukee Food Conference
- UW- Milwaukee is hosting a food conference the weekend of April 15th
- The focus is more on food culture and cooking and looks AWESOME!
- PLEASE! Someone go!
- Drool over the savory menu of speakers and topics by clicking on the link below
http://www4.uwm.edu/cie/research/conferences/food/program.html
This video was shared at a meeting a few weeks back and now will be shared with everyone on the listserv as a little end-of-minutes treat. Bon Appetit!
http://www.npr.org/2011/02/27/134069431/soaring-food-prices-hit-poor-countries-spur-farmers
Get ready to work!
-Briana
- One of the two most important pearls of wisdom for farmers according to a fantastic old farmer of authentic food at the Sustainability in Agriculture Conference this weekend at Lawrence University
Ken Meter
- Can come speak on Monday, April 18th but needs to be back in the cities by 5:30
- We will have a brown bag lunch for his talk.
- The Cabin was suggested as a place that would be central and might attract extra people to hear him speak.
- Visit this link for a quick bio on Ken Meter and to learn more about his organization, Crossroads Resource Center http://www.crcworks.org/?submit=about
Raised Beds
- Dr. Hupy is hooking us up with the lumber for raised beds
- We need to build the raised beds-- there might be a work day for the next meeting. Check your mailboxes for further updates this week.
- Dane had a cool idea for a design for our raised beds involving an octogonally-shaped bed. We will need to meet with Daria, the University's Landscape professional, this week to get her input based on her knowledge of landscaping.
BEEEEEZZZZZZZZ
- Ellen and Chris spent their spring breaks building bee hives under the careful watch and mentorship of our masterful bee-keeping advisor Dr. Hupy.
- Now the hives have been primed and just need to be painted-- white (so the bees feel comfortable). If we insist on making them awesome looking with pretty designs and pictures, he says we can use light, pastel colors.
- Foodlums have been waiting for the money requested for bee hives from the Green fund but the money seems to be lost in the complex bureaucracy of our University System. Hopefully funds will be recieved... now... so we can express order bee-hive parts that our happy hive makers weren't able to construct.
- Painting of the hives will be a project for our next meeting. We need to get ready for the grand arrival of our Queen and her BEEZZZ the following week! YEAY!
Progressive Film Festival Food Films
- Two food-related films were shown on Saturday "Tapped" about bottled water, and "The End of the Line" about the decline of Newfoundland Fisheries. If you were able to attend either of these films, please come to the next meeting so you can tell everyone about them!
- "Bananas!" is being shows on Monday at 7:30 in Hibbard 102
- The description given in the PFF brochure is : "On behalf of twelve Nicaraguan banana workers, he is tackling Dole Food in a ground-breaking legal battle for their use of a banned pesticide that was known by the company to cause sterility"
- WHOA! Hope everyone can make that one!
Sustainability in Agriculture Conference
-Ellen and Briana went to a conference about sustainability in agriculture at Lawrence University this weekend
- They will be bubbling over to tell you all the cool things they learned and inspiration they got, so don't miss our next meeting.
UW- Milwaukee Food Conference
- UW- Milwaukee is hosting a food conference the weekend of April 15th
- The focus is more on food culture and cooking and looks AWESOME!
- PLEASE! Someone go!
- Drool over the savory menu of speakers and topics by clicking on the link below
http://www4.uwm.edu/cie/research/conferences/food/program.html
This video was shared at a meeting a few weeks back and now will be shared with everyone on the listserv as a little end-of-minutes treat. Bon Appetit!
http://www.npr.org/2011/02/27/134069431/soaring-food-prices-hit-poor-countries-spur-farmers
Get ready to work!
-Briana
Sunday, April 3, 2011
Foodlums Minutes 3/4/11
Local Independence Showcase
- making the food and selling it at the event was really fun
- the menu was barley vegetable soup (all ingredients local except for spices and onions) and local hot dogs.
- over-estimating the number of people at the event lead to a negative income-- we lost money
-good to support the local movement!
Garden Manager
- Those who are interested in the garden manager position should contact Randy Palmer (palmerri@uwec.edu), the head of facilities and maintenance, to get more information about the application process.
Environmental Endeavors Commission Funding
- Briana and Dr. Kaldjian went to a meeting to learn how to get access to the money in our green fund grant.
A Return to Weavers
- Interest was expressed in going for another trip to Weavers
- Some wanted to leave the meeting immediately to load up on bulk goodies, others thought it best to wait until the morning.
- It was decided that a car load of foodlums would make the voyage to Fall Creek at 10am the next day (saturday, which already passed. sorry you missed it)
- As a bonus, the Weavers Pilgrims would stop at Farm and Fleet to look at different portable shed options for the garden. SCORE CITY!
Ideas for Spring activities (aside from obvious garden projects)
- Bringing a speaker to campus. Ken Meter is a speaker who came a few years ago and was contacted again to see if he would make a return visit to Eau Claire. To learn more about his organization, Crossroads Resource Center follow this link: http://www.crcworks.org/?submit=economies
- Farm tour. in an informal conversation that Katelyn had with someone from the Holm family, we were invited to visit their farm again (the organic valley dairy farm that we toured last spring)
Jenna gives a nice review of Turks head Coffee
- Jenna visited Turks Head Coffee on Barstow for the first time on Friday and was very excited about her turkish coffee experience
- When she was there, her new friend Mike (owner of Turks Head) told her that they would be giving out free cookie samples as part of a new event in which downtown businesses stay open until 9pm the first Friday of every month for fun night. The cookies he described included ingredients like lavender and coriander. yum.
Rock On Foodlums
-Briana
- making the food and selling it at the event was really fun
- the menu was barley vegetable soup (all ingredients local except for spices and onions) and local hot dogs.
- over-estimating the number of people at the event lead to a negative income-- we lost money
-good to support the local movement!
Garden Manager
- Those who are interested in the garden manager position should contact Randy Palmer (palmerri@uwec.edu), the head of facilities and maintenance, to get more information about the application process.
Environmental Endeavors Commission Funding
- Briana and Dr. Kaldjian went to a meeting to learn how to get access to the money in our green fund grant.
A Return to Weavers
- Interest was expressed in going for another trip to Weavers
- Some wanted to leave the meeting immediately to load up on bulk goodies, others thought it best to wait until the morning.
- It was decided that a car load of foodlums would make the voyage to Fall Creek at 10am the next day (saturday, which already passed. sorry you missed it)
- As a bonus, the Weavers Pilgrims would stop at Farm and Fleet to look at different portable shed options for the garden. SCORE CITY!
Ideas for Spring activities (aside from obvious garden projects)
- Bringing a speaker to campus. Ken Meter is a speaker who came a few years ago and was contacted again to see if he would make a return visit to Eau Claire. To learn more about his organization, Crossroads Resource Center follow this link: http://www.crcworks.org/?submit=economies
- Farm tour. in an informal conversation that Katelyn had with someone from the Holm family, we were invited to visit their farm again (the organic valley dairy farm that we toured last spring)
Jenna gives a nice review of Turks head Coffee
- Jenna visited Turks Head Coffee on Barstow for the first time on Friday and was very excited about her turkish coffee experience
- When she was there, her new friend Mike (owner of Turks Head) told her that they would be giving out free cookie samples as part of a new event in which downtown businesses stay open until 9pm the first Friday of every month for fun night. The cookies he described included ingredients like lavender and coriander. yum.
Rock On Foodlums
-Briana
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)