Happy 2006, friends of RTC! Here?s wishing you a new year full of hope and possibility. We look forward to continuing to share with you the many inspiring projects and people we come across. Please share yours with us as well!

"I think right now we're juggling about eight different businesses here at Crones' Cradle Conserve," Jeri Baldwin says with a smile. From workshops to market gardening, from retreat facilities to value-added products, Jeri's vision as owner and manager of the Conserve is to be an ongoing "demonstration project," exemplifying how business can merge caring for the land, community and connecting people with quality food sources and education.

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Prairie's Edge Sustainable Woods Cooperative
Decorah, Iowa

Healthy profits from healthy forests: ?We can have both,? according to northeast Iowa landowners who have formed the Prairie?s Edge Sustainable Woods Cooperative. It?s an old concept with a new twist. Individuals pool their ideas and assets to pursue a group venture that might overwhelm one person.

Several tree farmers launched the cooperative idea in 2001, after becoming frustrated with the complexities of marketing timber from small tracts of land. They also hoped to promote woodland protection and restoration. In two years, the coop grew to seventy-seven members with more than eight thousand acres of woodlands.

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Announcing: the release of the 2006 Renewing the Countryside, National Capital Region calendar! For the second year in a row, we?ve worked with our partners on the east coast to bring together inspiring examples of rural entrepreneurship and stewardship from the region surrounding Washington DC.

If you?ve never checked out the bustling Takoma Park Farmers' Market, or driven the back roads of Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania, you might be surprised to find out that within a couple hours of the capitol, rural America is alive and continuing to innovate.

These calendars are available for free (plus five bucks for shipping and handling) through our web store (store.rtcmarket.org).

A Handy New Guide to Local Foods

Recently published by the Minnesota Institute for Sustainable Agriculture (MISA), ?Local Food: Where to Find It, How to Buy It? is a 30-page booklet for Minnesotans who want to support their local producers, but don?t know quite where to start. The book is packed with information about every step in the process?from finding a farmers? market to canning the leftovers. To get a copy, download it from MISA's website or contact MISA at (612) 625-8235 or misamail@umn.edu.

Of course, similar guides exist for other regions of the country. For Appalachia, be sure to check out the Local Food Guide created by the Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project. And for other areas, localharvest.org is a great start; it's a national site with a surprising wealth of information about how to obtain local food, wherever you are. If you know of Local Food Guides in your area, please let us know!

Special Discount on "Values of Agrarian Landscapes"

For readers of our newsletter, we're offering our recent book comparing North American and European agricultural landscapes for only $25! The book has been called "a breakthrough in global consciousness-raising"--it makes a great gift, or just a treat for yourself. Inquire about bulk discounts for board members and other supporters.

To receive the special price*, enter "January" in the "referral" box on your online order form, or call us at 1-(888)-378-0587. *This discount will be be reflected on your credit card bill and in the receipt you'll receive with the book, but will not appear in the online RTC store shopping cart.

Buy Agrarian Landscapes for only $25 at the RTC store!

STI?s website, www.sustainabletravelinternational.org, is packed with resources: from an ?Eco-directory? of accommodations, eco-tours, and ?voluntourism? opportunities, to MyClimate, a program that encourages plane and automobile travelers to ?offset? their emissions by supporting carbon-positive initiatives. We also highly recommend their monthly newsletter, a useful and engaging guide to current events and opportunities in sustainable tourism.

Go to their website!

They are also responsible for "Growing Minds," an educational program that uses a garden setting to teach K-5 students a variety of subjects, from science and math to nutrition and health, all the while providing garden-fresh nourishment for their growing minds.

ASAP is one of our partners on a 2007 Renewing the Countryside: Appalachia calendar that is in the works.

Find out more about ASAP...

In addition to doing the show, Wanda Urbanska and her partner Frank Levering are prolific writers and this month?s recommended reading is their 1999 book, ?Simple Living: One Couple?s Search for a Better Life.? Like the television show, it offers a unique blend of practical advice and creative insight into the increasingly necessary shift from consumptive, to simple lifestyles. The book is based on the couple?s personal experience moving away from L.A. to revive a struggling family orchard in Virginia?s Blue Ridge Mountains. Last month, we got the chance to meet up with Wanda and Frank Levering, and we look forward to collaborating with them in the near future.

Buy the book!

Visit their website: www.simplelivingtv.net

At Justin Trails Resort, owners Donna and Don Justin dish up more than hearty fare at their breakfasts. Justin Trails Resort provides a buffet of rural recreational opportunities blended with luxury amenities like cozy fireplaces and hot tubs. Located on over 200 acres in Sparta, Wisconsin, Justin Trails Resort garners well-deserved accolades for their recreation-based resort and a regular flow of guests year round ? both couples seeking a romantic getaway and families with kids yearning to do some sledding on inner tubes in the winter or playing a game of disc golf in the summer.

Besides the main farmhouse for guests, Justin Trails Resort offers three other accommodation options, a converted granary cottage and two stand-alone log cabins, ?Little House? and ?Paul Bunyan.? A machine shed was upgraded to a commercial kitchen and lodge, providing space and facilities to cater to family reunions, retreats, special events and day-trippers on bus tours as well as B&B guests? breakfasts, often prepared with ingredients from the Justins' gardens.

Four seasons of fun await visitors. Eight miles of cross- country winter ski, as well as snowshoeing trails and hills for snowtubing, turn into prime hiking spots during the summer. Beautifully landscaped gardens as well as open areas for softball or volleyball inspire guests to linger the grounds and reconnect with family and friends. And there are some farm animals, too, along with a two-story wooden children?s playhouse for the kids.

Justin Trails Resort, 7452 Kathryn Ave., Sparta, WI 54656, Phone: (608) 269-4522, Email: info@justintrails.com

Visit their website: www.justintrails.com

As always, you can support our work by purchasing books from the Renewing the Countryside store. We're grateful to the Beim Foundation, the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, the Emma B. Howe Fund of The Minneapolis Foundation, the Bush Foundation, and North Central SARE, for contributing to our work.

Find out more about Renewing the Countryside...