|
|
Pennypack Pickings
|
March 19, 2013
Volume 11, Issue 4
|
|
|
CSA Shares
Going...Going...Fast
|
But a few shares left... HURRY
Few shares still available
at both sites.
|
|
Mark Your Calendars
What's Goin' On
| |
Mark your calendars, the CSA season is just around the Corner.
What's Goin' On Orientations:
The Highlands Orientation
Tuesday May 14th, 6:30pm or Wednesday May 22, 6:30pm
This year we ask all members to attend one of the sessions. The Highlands is a new location and many of the pickup procedures will be different... Meet your farmers... workshares are asked to attend as well.
Horsham site Orientation
Sunday May 19, 10am or 1pm or
Tuesday May 21, 6:30pm
Meet Devin Barto, the new farm manager at Horsham. All new members must attend.
|
Sustainability Film Series
|
Please join us for our final film, Ingredients, on Tuesday, April 9
at the Ambler Theater.  American food is in a state of crisis, but a movement to put good food back onto the table is emerging. What began 30 years ago with chefs demanding better flavor, has inspired consumers to seek relationships with nearby farmers. Narrated by Bebe Neuwirth, this feature-length documentary takes us across the United States in a journey that reveals the people who are trying to bring good food back to our tables. |
|
Join Pennypack Farm & Education Center
in the Fight Against Hunger
April 13, 2013, Saturday | Philadelphia Museum of Art
Visit: www.hungerwalk.org
 On Saturday, April 13, PFEC's farmers and board members will be walking to put an end to hunger in the Philadelphia region by walking in the Stroehmann's Walk+Run Against Hunger. Please help us! Here's what you can do:
- Walk or Run with us on April 13, along the Schuylkill River in Philadelphia
- Make a donation to a walker/runner at http://www.hungercoalition.org/hungerwalk/ (be sure to select team Pennypack Farm from the list of teams)
All proceeds raised by Team Pennypack come back to the farm to support our own efforts to provide local, organic, non-processed food to low income families through subsidized shares. Last year funds raised through the event supported 12 families with food directly from Pennypack Farm.
You'll be hearing more about the walk in the coming weeks. However, if you would like to walk with the farm team, please tell us and we'll help you get started. Contact Kristy at nativeplantfamily@comcast.net.
|
Work Share Member Positions Available!
We are now accepting applications for new work share members at both the Horsham and Highlands site. Work share members work side by side with the farmers in the field harvesting vegetables, or assist shareholders with their pick up and keep the shelves stocked with produce. In exchange for spending a few hours each week of the season helping on the farm, work shares receive a small share of vegetables. If you have a couple hours a week and would like to get involved on the farm in a meaningful way, now is the time! Please contact Andy at 215-970-6540 or pennpackfarm@gmail.com for more information or to sign up.
|
HERBS - Easy Share Duty Option
Watering & Weeding During Your Foodshare Pick-up
We are looking for individuals who would like to fulfill their Horsham pick-up share duty time by helping to care for the herb beds in front of the greenhouse. EXPECTATIONS: For one month each week (i.e. at most four times)
- Set up a sprinkler for two to three 20 minute sweeps of beds, and relocate it as appropriate
- Weed the beds for a few minutes while you are there, as you have time
- Return all equipment to where you found it
Most people choose to do this during the time of their food share pick-up. Bonus: If it rains the day before or on the day of your pick-up, you get that day off! Tools, gloves and weed buckets will be available, along with hose, sprinkler, and instructions. All months and pick-up days available -- first come first served: If interested, call or email Susan Curry: 215-591-1551 or suscurry@comcast.net. Leave your name, phone and email address, indicate your pick-up day, and preferred month. Susan will get back to you.
|
Philly Farm & Food Fest - Sunday, April 14
Visit the Pennypack Farm & Education Center booth
 Tickets: $15 in advance; $20 at the door (children 12 and under are free)
Buy tickets now: www.phillyfarmfest.org
Fair Food and PASA are teaming up to bring you the
2nd Annual Philly Farm & Food Fest! Sunday, April 14 from 11:00am to 4:00pm at the
Pennsylvania Convention Center Annex
A Festive, Fresh and Delicious One Day Marketplace with over 115 farmers, food artisans & sustainable business owners. Join us for a day of sampling and shopping at the region's largest gathering of local farmers, food artisans and sustainable businesses. Family friendly activities, a Local Libations Lounge and delicious food demos by acclaimed farm-to-table chefs will all be part of the fun!
|
|
|
|
Notes from the Edible Classroom
by Diane
It's Sunday afternoon and we're having a gentle rain. Perfect for the compost I spread this morning in the Edible Classroom around many of the perennials and on a few of the annual beds. Do you remember the blackberries on the far fence? Earlier in the week, I thinned the wall of canes, cleaned the debris from the  base of the plants and I think they look ready for Spring! I have fond memories of kids and adults visiting the EC last summer, picking and eating handfuls of the bursting berries - can't wait for those berries to start growing.
I love Spring cleaning in the garden. Pulling back mulch to uncover little green shoots - nothing quite like it. Removing kale and broccoli roots with earthworms popping out of the soiling still clinging to the plant - very cool. And raking leaves from the base of the figs, wondering if I'll find injured or sound bark - good news, the bark looked great. For me, getting the garden ready for a new season is like visiting with an old friend; comfortable, reassuring and sometimes a bit surprising. While Spring has sprung in the EC at Horsham, the EC at The Highlands is at the starting line, waiting for the fencing to be installed. Once the fencing is up, we can start laying out the beds, digging the discovery pond and getting some veggies into the soil! So how will we make those beds? Well, once we have the perimeter set by the split-rail fence, we can lay out the beds, much as you would lay out flower or vegetable beds at home - using a field tape measure and stakes, we will orient the beds within the EC. Then the fun part - creating the actual bed by using a machine called a Grillo. A Grillo is a specialized tiller with a shield covering the tines. Check out this YouTube Video of a Grillo, ours is a bit different, but you can get the idea. The Highlands' EC won't be disked and plowed like the rest of the farm, only the beds will be tilled. This way, we will have the existing grass between the beds and that grass will help reduce erosion and give us a nice underfooting. We will have to dig some of the wood perennials that have established themselves over the years. If you'd like to come help, please let me know and we can work out a time and a project! To stay up-to-date on what's happening at each location, check out our facebook page. I post photos a few times a week and will be introducing new farm folks in the next few weeks. Take care and please try and make it to our last film, Ingredients. The screening will be Tuesday, April 9 at The Ambler Theater - check the website for details and keep voting in the IKEA Challenge. You can vote with all your email accounts - every day. We are trying to win $10,000 worth of IKEA furnishings and storage equipment. Thanks and have a good week.
|
 Calendar
Sustainability Film Series
Ingredients - Tuesday, April 9
Sponsor Expo with beer and cheese tasting - 6:00pm
Film Screening - 7:30pm Panel Discussion following the movie
Purchase tickets at Ambler Theater website
 Vegetable Garden Planning with Andy Andrews
Thursday, April 18, 7:00-8:30pm
Cost: $18; PASA Members pay $15
Join Pennypack's Andy Andrews, Farming Director, for an evening of browsing seed catelogs and learning what plants are best suited for your home vegetable garden. Get a gallon of the farm's great potting soil! Registration and Details
 Lip Balm, Salve & Herbal Oils Making Class with Mary Himmer
Thursday, April 25, 7:00-8:30pm
Resurrection Lutheran Church, 630 Welsh Road, Horsham, PA
Cost: $20, plus a materials fee of $5, payable at the class
Join us for this hands-on class! We will learn to make wonderful skin care products from herbs and flowers you can grow in your own garden. Registration and Details  Glorious Greens - Cooking the CSA Way with Patti Lombardi Tuesday, May 7, 7:00-8:30pm Cost: $15 Participants will learn to select, store and prepare 5 recipes featuring the bounty of this season's harvest. As always Patti's class will have lots of food to try and all recipes are included. Registration and Details  "Wildman" Steve - Foraging Walks June 2 - Pennypack Ecological Trust August 11 - The Highland Site October 6 - Pennypack Ecological Trust All walks are 1:00-3:00pm and cost is $20. Registration and Details
|
Hosted by the College Settlement of Philadelphia
|
|
|
