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ACORN's mission is to cultivate connections that promote the production and use of healthy local food in Addison County, Vermont
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Send events & items of interest for the newsletter to Annie@acornvt.org
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ACORN Welcomes Lindsey Berk as our communications manager! Look for more updates on FB, stay tuned
while we sign up for Instagram where you will see the Bounty of the County in pictures
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Here's some interesting info:
Studies from Baylor (TX), Tufts (MA, illustrated in this graphic) and Virginia Tech(VA) confirm that lunches brought from home rarely meet the tough nutrition standards now required in all USDA school meals programs. Many processed foods marketed to kids and bought by parents contain ingredients high in sugar and salt. Our school lunch programs in Addison County meet and exceed the quality mandated by the USDA.
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Join us on Facebook
Increasing local food sales through a strong network that includes ACORN
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VT FEED seeks information about any farm to school project (or student projects) that address the issues of migrant farm workers in Vermont. The Folklife Center produced and documented the Golden Cage as a tool to help frame some of the dairy labor issues. Contact Betsy at FEED for more info on sharing student projects.
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 FARMERS TAKE NOTE!NOFA workshops for the emerging grease monkey. Learn the basics of deisel, electricity and pumps. These workshops are starting this week
Sanitizer Workshop: Learn how to best wash your greens!
October 20 in Plainfield, NH
Find the details here on this workshop with Vermont Extension
specialists Chris Callahan, Ginger Nickerson and Hans Estrin
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 GROWERS mark your Calendar!
"Six Figure Farming for Small Plots"
Saturday November 7th, 2015; 9am-4pm, full day intensive workshop
Learn essential tools and techniques for successful market gardening from Jean-Martin Fortier, one of Canada's most recognized and influential organic growers. Reserve your spot now!
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Signs of the Times!
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There is a new currency circulating through farmers markets in Vermont. Crop Cash is the coupon incentive program that doubles the purchasing power of 3 SquaresVT benefits for fresh fruits and vegetables at participating farmers markets. It's new, and it's gaining popularity as a great way to stretch food budgets, while at the same time supporting your local farmers. Watch the video on it from WPTZ
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It's time to drink the season! Find the Bounty of the County at fine stores, restaurants and beverage outlets
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Addison County IS Farm to School!
What is better than students growing their own food? How about eating it! To celebrate the abundance, Bristol hosted a harvest festival where the community joined together for a feast. Mean while up on Lincoln, Lea, food service manager roasted up freshly dug potatoes and served them up to eager students.
The Lincoln and Bristol schools as part of ANESU Food Service Cooperative purchases Addison County products significantly impacting our local producers while keeping the money locally. This is the new normal and is done while juggling complex USDA regulations. Each of our supervisory unions have farm to school in classrooms and cafeterias influencing our local communities to a cultural shift where healthy local food is encouraged. Just look at the pictures from Addison County, they tell a fine story!
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ACORN Hosted Two Workshops
ACORN and Mary Johnson Childcare Center teamed up for a Fermentation Workshop at Foot Print Farm. A wonderful evening devoted to our early childcare educators with a farm tour, fresh produce tasting, hands-on fermentation workshop and a child's perspective on compost. This was a wonderful partnership and one that will continue to grow.
VT Community Garden Network and ACORN partnered in a school garden workshop promoting tools and enthusiasm. Noted gardener Charlie Nardozzi led the charge to teach techniques to produce fresh produce in our schools and communities. Networking the network...its what we do!
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Harvest of the Month: Cauliflower & Broccoli
Schools, farmers, retailers, chefs and YOU as consumer: Check out
Harvest of the Month's wonderful recipes and ideas to promote fresh produce at your schools, farm stands, markets, in your CSA shares or at your stores. There are great marketing and classroom materials to help you promote healthy eating. Join the campaign by serving up tons of broccoli this month at home. Real Simple has some family friendly recipes to consider
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Tour de Farms: A Ride to Remember
This year's feedback from the farmers & riders has been the best to date yet. Riders, were exceptionally interested in each farm and purchased CSA shares, produce, jams etc. Many folks came to the five towns that had never visited let alone explored through our unique event. So many thanks are extended to our farmers, food producers and stellar restaurants to help make the food incredibly fantastic!
We make safety our top priority. We urge riders to ride single file and to obey the rules of the road on our website, with signage at registration and all along the route with volunteer bike-safety Marshals. That being said, there were riders not following the rules of the road. Next year the food will be incredible, the safety enhanced and the weather...just as perfect!
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There is Still Time to
Pick for Your Neighbor
Apple season is still going strong! During apple harvest individuals, civic groups and companies are encouraged to visit a participating orchard to pick and purchase extra apples for donation to the Vermont Foodbank. Pick for your Neighbor and Addison County orchards work the logistics to make sure the apples are delivered to the Foodbank in a timely manner. Thanks to Addison County's Woodchuck Cider for underwriting this annual appeal.
Consider spending a day at one of Vermont's orchards this coming season and Pick for Your Neighbor!
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Farmers & Gardeners:
Mineralize Your Soil This Fall
Tom Vannacore of Rock Dust Local , has some sound advice apply minerals in the fall. WHY?
1) Assimilation and chelation by microbial populations will continue throughout the fall and spring, transforming the largely insoluble minerals into bio available nutrients for plant uptake. That's a good thing.
2) Apply during fall cover cropping, planting bed preparation, new composting windrows (add the minerals to compost packs) 3) Rock Dust Local is the first company in North America specializing in local sourcing and delivery of the BEST (Broad Elemental Spectrum Tectonic) rock dusts for remineralization. They offer fall discounts on super sacks of 2015 warehouse inventory to make way for new materials for the Spring.
Area Growers: Check out the online catalog for product details to purchase loose bulk 22 ton and 32 ton loads of regional rock dust delivered to your farm.
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Nutrient Management Workshops
Using recent soil tests to formulate a Nutrient Management Plan (NMP) will be essential to comply with pending regulations--and it's also likely to save you money on fertilizer and to improve your crop yields. It is particularly important to have recent soil tests on hand to stay ahead of pending regulations resulting from the Water Quality Act (Act 64), which passed the VT legislature this summer.
UVM Extension has funding to offer veg and berry farmers assistance in creating a Nutrient Management Plan. Here are just a few activities to keep your eyes peeled for over the course of the next few months:
Nutrient management workshops in collaboration with NOFA, RAFFL, and the VVGBA. The first of these is a two-day series "Practical Soil Science for Farmers" organized by NOFA and VTC. Other workshop dates and locations TBA. These workshops will be most useful if you have a recent soil test.
Nutrient management templates and fertilizer calculators will be available on the VVGBA website later this winter. These documents will help you create your own NMP.
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Events, Opportunities & Jobs
October 14; 1-5 Green MT College Poultney
Oct 15: 1-2:00 this is an online meeting
Oct 19; 9-4:00 VTC Randolph
Financing the Working Landscape NEW location
Demystifying Sanitizers
Feeding Food Scraps to Laying Hens
Oct 21; 10-2:30 Greensboro Bend
Oct 28; 10-3:30 VTC in Randolph
ACEDC: Marketing Bootcamp for Small Businesses
Oct 28; 8:30-11:30
Hunger Free Vermont: Three Squares VT Training
To help ensure that students have access to fresh,local foods at school
Oct 28; 10-12
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 Thanks to all of you for sharing links and information. Keep me posted of things of interest to relocalization and Addison County.
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