August 14, 2007
--DON'T MISS the last of the Rural Vermont Ice Cream Socials
--Local Food Celebration!
--Efficiency Vermont can help farmers!
--Office Space for Rent!
--Other Upcoming Events
**RURAL VERMONT ICE CREAM SOCIALS**
August is your last opportunity to catch up with Rural Vermont at an Ice Cream
Social! We’ll be visiting central and northern Vermont throughout August, and
hope you’ll join us at the social nearest you! The homemade Farm Fresh ice
cream has gotten rave reviews and the local toppings couldn’t be sweeter!
Listen to guest speakers offer their perspectives on family-scale agriculture
in Vermont. Celebrate Rural Vermont’s recent success, hear what’s planned
for the future, and find out how you can help us achieve our vision of living
soils, thriving farms, and healthy communities! Become a member of Rural
Vermont at a social, and take home Farm Fresh Milk recipe cards and be entered
to win Barbara Kingsolver’s new book Animal, Vegetable, Miracle! And don’t
forget to place your pre-order for Rural Vermont’s Local Foods Cookbook,
featuring recipes collected from all of you! Also, door prizes, kids’
activities, and social time with friends – old and new!
Please pass this invitation along to everyone you know! We’ll see you at an
Ice Cream Social!
-- ELMORE: Wednesday, August 15th, Elmore Roots Nursery, 631 Symonds Mill Rd.
-- ALBURGH SPRINGS: Tuesday, August 21st, Claire's Country Garden, 27
Greenwoods Rd.
-- JOHNSON: Wednesday, August 22nd, Groovin' Beans, 38 Lower Main West
-- MILTON: Thursday, August 23rd, the Milton Grange, 135 River St. (Route 7)
-- COVENTRY: Thursday, August 30th, Coventry Valley Farm, 862 Heermanville Rd.
***LOCAL FOODS CELEBRATION IN MONTPELIER***
Don't miss a Local Foods Summit & Celebration on
Sunday, August 26th from 5 - 7 pm
at the North Branch Nature Center,
located at 713 Elm St. in Montpelier!
In collaboration with the Montpelier Community Gardens, Central Vermont
Localvores, and the Local Foods Committee of the Montpelier Energy Team, Rural
Vermont is hosting a late afternoon potluck celebration and discussion of farm
fresh foods! Please bring plates and utensils, a blanket or chair, and of
course, a dish to share ... To celebrate the recent passage of H.522 "the
Chicken Bill", we're encouraging folks who can to purchase a local chicken at
the farmers' market, and bring a prepared chicken dish! The farm fresh dinner
will be followed by a discussion led by several leaders in the local foods
movement, including Rural Vermont director Amy Shollenberger! For more
information, call Shelby at 223-7222 or email shelby@ruralvermont.org
**EFFICIENCY VT CAN HELP FARMERS!***
Farm incentives from Efficiency VT -- Efficiency VT has been working with farms
for quite a while to help them use less energy, with a focus on electric
savings. Towards that goal, they look at ventilation, lighting, refrigeration,
the vacuum and milk transfer pumps on milking systems, and plate coolers. They
have also secured grant money to promote and provide incentives for using heat
from the refrigeration condenser to heat water for use by the clean in place
system after milking. Please see their Agricultural Rebate form for farmers at:
http://www.efficiencyvermont.com/pages/Business/RebateCenter/
For more information contact: George Lawrence, Market Coordinator Business
Energy Services Efficiency Vermont 255 S. Champlain St S. Burlington VT
05401-4894 Tel (888) 921-5990 x 1082 Fax (802) 658-1643
**OFFICE SPACE FOR RENT**
Sublet an office space in Rural Vermont's suite above Angeleno's on Barre
Street in Montpelier. Rural Vermont is leasing a 12'x15' room to Carl Etnier of
Peak Oil Awareness, and he is looking for someone to share the room and the
rent with. The corner room is well lit and spacious. $200/month, including all
utilities and high-speed internet. Telephone not included. For more
information, call Carl at 802-498-4443.
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UPCOMING EVENTS
********************
Burlington, VT - August 15th: Wednesday night at 7 PM at Champlain College’s
Alumni Auditorium, 163 South Willard St., Burlington, VT 05401. Suggested
Donation: $10.00. For more information contact Essie Howe at 802 363 8293. For
more info, go to: www.whatawaytogomovie.com
VisionQuest Pictures presents a Storkboy Declaration
WHAT A WAY TO GO LIFE AT THE END OF EMPIRE
A middle class white guy comes to grips with Peak Oil, Climate
Change, Mass Extinction, Population Overshoot and the demise of the
American Lifestyle.
Wednesday, August 15th - Panel & Discussion: Local Foods and the End of Hunger,
5:30 - 7:00 pm Come learn about, and discuss, the role of a strong local food
system in fighting hunger in Vermont. Panelists include representatives from
Food Works at Two Rivers Center, the Vermont Foodbank, and Salvation Farms. The
event takes place at Food Works farm off of Rte 2. Coming from Montpelier, the
turn is after the branch to Rte 302 and before Agway, on your right. You'll see
the Cabot sign. Event is free and open to the public. Donations accepted in the
form of a 100% local dish for the snacks table
NOFA SUMMER WORKSHOP SERIES...How do you start an organic garden? Keep a
tractor in working order? Use cover crops to improve soil nutrition? Limit
energy use on a farm? Grow medicinal herbs? And create an attractive display at
a farm stand? The NOFA-VT annual Summer Workshop series is here again to answer
all of these questions and many, many more, providing everyone from the
beginning back-yard gardener to the experienced organic farmer with the tools
and information for successful organic growing. For descriptions and
directions, please visit the NOFA-VT website, www.nofavt.org. All workshops are
held rain or shine. Workshops are $8 for NOFA members, $12 for non-members
unless otherwise indicated. Pre-registration is required for workshops marked
by an *. To pre-register call the NOFA-VT office at 802-434-4122 or email
info@nofavt.org.
Tues. August 21
Whole Farm Approach to Selling Raw Goat Milk and Goat Nutrition
9:45am 3pm
Berle Farm, Hoosick, NY (right over the VT boarder)
Pre-registration required for this workshop. Please call NOFA-VT to register
(802-434-4122). www.nofavt.org.
Berle Farm is a 500-acre OCIA-certified organic farm located in Hoosick, NY,
near the Vermont, New York, and Massachusetts borders. They produce raw goat
milk, goat cheese, as well as organic beef. All animal feed is grown on the
farm, including hay, corn, oats, rye, wheat, and buckwheat. The herd of goats
consists of 40 does, with 25 milking at one time. Carol Delaney, UVM Small
Ruminant Dairy Specialist, will help lead this workshop along with farmers
Beatrice Berle and Jim Buckley. The first = of this workshop will focus on
producing and selling raw goat milk. The second = will emphasize goat
nutrition for farm health and milk quality. Directions: From Bennington, take
Route 279 West (Bennington by-pass) until you cross into NY (will become NY Rte
7). Right on Farmers Inn Rd. Make a left onto Bayer Rd. Right onto Beechwood.
Go 2 miles, look for sign on left. Co-sponsored by the Small Ruminant Dairy
Project at the UVM Center for Sustainable Agriculture and the Vermont Sheep and
Goat Association.
Northeast Animal-Power Field Days Trade Fair & Conference
September 29-30, 2007, Fair-Grounds, Tunbridge, VT
The Field Days will be promoting conservation, stewardship, small farms,
healthy forests and the roles they play in vital communities. The weekend
activities will include presentations, panel discussions, vendor exhibits,
working animal presentations, field demonstrations of animal-powered farming
and logging equipment, plus an equipment auction. Workshop topics will include
grazing management, composting, CSA/Market Gardening, and working with draft
animals on the farm and in the woods. For information, or to reserve exhibit
space, contact; Carl Russell or Lisa McCrory, Earthwise Farm & Forest, 341
MacIntosh Hill Rd., Randolph, VT 05060. Phone: 802-234-5524, Email:
lmccrory@together.net. For directions and lodging, go to:
www.tunbridgefair.com.
SAVE THE DATE
7th Annual Cultural Awareness Workshop
Wednesday, November 7, 2007
7:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.
Billings Building on the UVM Campus
Title of Workshop: Recognizing Health Issues for Vermont Farm Workers
Brochure and registration information to follow in September.
Presented by the Department of Family Medicine, College of Medicine, University
of Vermont
Contacts: Emira.Smailagic@uvm.edu or Penilee.Saulnier@uvm.edu
If you have any questions about this email or if you want to subscribe to or unsubscribe from Rural Vermont's Farm Policy Network e-alert list, contact amybeth@together.net.