Archive for the 'Farming' Category

Wendell Berry is speaking at Stetson Monday Feb 1

Published on January 31, 2010 in Culture, Event, Farming, History and Local. 2 Comments Tags: , , , , .

What what what ….. Wendell Berry is in Florida?

Yes my friends it is true.  Wendell Berry one of my favorite authors is speaking at Stetson University in a free lecture series Monday night the 1st of February.  I’m heading up to attend the lecture and I can’t even express how excited I am.  Berry’s non-fiction writing has played a pivotal role in developing many of my beliefs.  Through his writing I’ve come to appreciate the importance of nurturing of our local community, that the good life is more than consuming and that working with the earth, even in the middle of a modern city, is vitally important to the health and well-being of my family.

The lecture is sponsored by the university’s Values Council. His talk, “Simple Solutions and Package Deals,” is based on the council’s theme for the year, “How Shall We Live?”.  Berry will be discussing the impact of economic globalization on the way we live and it’s sure to be lecture chock-full of thought provoking ideas.

According to Berry, the good life includes sustainable agriculture, appropriate technologies, healthy rural communities, connection to place, the pleasures of good food, husbandry, good work, local economics, the miracle of life, fidelity, frugality, reverence, and the interconnectedness of life (via wiki).

Here are the details of the lecture: Stetson University at 7:30 p.m. Monday, Feb. 1, in the Lee Chapel of Elizabeth Hall, 421 N. Woodland Blvd.  The event is free and the public is invited to attend.

Hope to see you there.

Winter Park Community Garden Workday at DePugh: Volunteers Needed

Published on January 15, 2010 in Culture, Event, Farming and Local. 0 Comments

CommunityGardenVerticleFor those of you who didn’t know, the Winter Park Health Foundation has awarded a grant for several community gardens to be constructed in our city.  The first garden was installed behind Winter Park Presbyterian on Lakemont Ave and now a second garden site is being prepared.

Volunteers are needed tomorrow Saturday January 16th from 8-10 am to help clear the area where the Spring garden will be planted behind the DePugh Center in Winter Park.

Anyone can participate and you are encouraged to bring any work tools you may have as well as bringing your own gloves and water.  We may be clearing away an old chain link fence as well so please bring any tools specific to that job.

The Center is located at 550 West Morse Blvd, Winter Park.
If you have any questions about the garden or if you would like to donate a monetary contribution or donate material items for the building of the garden, please contact Denise Riccio at 407-246-2212.  Any assistance is greatly appreciated!  You can also get more info at Our Whole Community’s website.

Eat Local Week January 25th – 31st – A Slow Food Orlando Event

Published on December 22, 2009 in Event, Farming, Local, Locavore, Markets, food and orlando. 1 Comment Tags: , , , , , , , , .

SFLogoIf you follow me on Twitter or have checked into any of my blogs over the last few years you would undoubtedly have heard me championing the work of Slow Food Orlando.  Back in 2007 when I filmed a documentary about the burgeoning Local Food movement in Central Florida, I had the good fortune to cross pas with Slow Food Orlando’s Vice President Rebecca Reise-Miller.  You can catch her segment of the documentary at the 20 minute mark.

FruitsSince meeting Rebecca, Kamrin and I have made an effort to both attend Slow Food events as well as incorporate many of its tenants into our family’s food practices.  We now have a 300 Sft vegetable garden where we grow our own produce organically and with heirloom varieties.  We also have made an effort to buy from artisan and locally sourced food producers like Big Wheel Provisions, Olde Hearth Bakery, Wild Ocean Seafood, Lake Meadow Naturals, Winter Park Dairy, Winter Park Honey and others.

EggsEating locally is more than just buying food that is at the peak of freshness and not shipped cross country from California, more importantly it is about supporting our local food economy, its community and its unique culture.  By doing so it becomes normal to know your producers, to build relationship with the local farmers who supply your free-range eggs and organically grown produce and to know that you are getting the highest quality food for your food dollar. By supporting the “local” farmer’s markets like Audubon Park Community Market you are strengthening the bonds that connect each of us to the land from which our food comes and to the caring hands that provided these food stuffs for our consumption.

EatLocalWeekLogoSlow Food in an effort to champion this vital connection is sponsoring an Eat Local Week January 25th – 31st.  Below is an excerpt from their promotional materials for this event.  You can be sure Kamrin and I will be fully supporting this week long event and you can expect to see a few write ups and videos on our site about it.  So take a look at the excerpt below and let us know in the comments what you are doing to participate in Eat Local Week.  Following an excerpt is a video of the mother of America’s Slow Food movement Alice Waters to give you a bit more insight into what Slow Food is all about.

EAT LOCAL WEEK -  January 25th – 31st

Participate in a week-long celebration promoting connection, community, culture and cuisine in Central Florida.  Grab your family, friends and neighbors and head to participating dining establishments during the last week of January, 2010
Continue reading ‘Eat Local Week January 25th – 31st – A Slow Food Orlando Event’

Farm to Table Retrospective – Central Flrorida Locavores FTW

Published on November 18, 2009 in Event, Farming, Local, Locavore, Markets, Ourlando and Video. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , .

What an exciting time to be a Locavore in Central Florida.  It appears that during our baby hiatus the movement has grown real roots.  There is no better example of this than at last Sunday’s Farm to Table event at the Enzian.

The excellent people over at Ourlando cooked up this idea of showing a thought provoking film like “Food Fight” (Which was excellent BTW) and paring it with the outstanding locally sourced kitchen creations of Chef Josh Oakley.  I want to say a few things about the event  but I figure the best place to start is with Lance Turner’s opening words before the “Food Fight” film.  So poignant!  I love this guy’s passion!

We particularly salivated over the pulled pork sandwich.  Turns out the pork came from Jim Wood’s happy pigs at Palmetto Creek Farms.  As Kamrin and I are part of the omnivore contingent championing of our local food scene it was refreshing to meet Jim after the movie and see that being a Locavore doesn’t necessarily mean becoming a vegetarian.  In addition to ethically raise pork, Kam would like to mention that when she stepped out with our daughter during the film and she talked with Trish at Deep Creek farm.  They are out of Deland and offer grass fed and finished beef and lamb.

We were more than happy to wash down our lunch with a Blonde Ale from Orlando Brewing and a glass of delicious herbal tea from Dandelion CommuniTEA cafe.  Also sipping on some Austin’s fair trade coffee afterward was a nice pick-me-up after leaving the sleepy darkness of the theater.

It was also great talking to some of the other family farmers among the tents and tables wrapped around the Enzian.  We had fun hanging with the Green Flamingo Farms community and talking about small scale sustainable farming.  Also loved their homemade business cards made out of the backs of cereal boxes.

Finally got to catch up with the peeps over at Lake Meadow Naturals our source for Cage Free, Free Range, Free Roaming and Locally produced eggs.  We picked up a flyer and are sure to get out there with our camera a vlog about it soon.  Until then you can check out the video posted on Big Wheel’s site.  Oh yeah we talked with Tony from Big Wheel Provisions too.  Oh let me mention that I just got their e-mail about their offerings at tonight’s Audubon Park Community market and I can’t wait to pick up some of their lentil soup made with their proprietary local vegetable stock and herbs.

So much more to say.  But that’s enough when I have a research paper due this evening.  Procrastination how I love and hate you.  Grrrrrr.

Oh oh I also want to mention Gus with My Yard Farms.  These guys take the typical grass covered lawns and convert them into edible landscapes.  Awesome.

Ok back to work John.  Seriously…..