SOLE of Buffalo's Urban Agricultural Series - #2 Winter Sowing

On Saturday, February 9th, SOLE of Buffalo held it's second in a series of four urban agricultural events focusing on easy ways to grow in small areas, particularly for city dwellers. This class focused on starting seeds for a healing garden, though students also had the choice to start a vegetable garden too.


Using clean milk jugs, students cut them in half, filled them with soil and selected five types of seeds to plant. They were shown an easy way to label, and were advised when they young plants would be ready to be transplanted.

There were a total of fifteen people who planted seeds such as milk thistle, butternut squash, fennel in an organic blend of compost, soil, and perlite.

The next class will take place Saturday, May 11th. SOLE of Buffalo will be teaching how to make seed bombs and how to handle first harvests and preparing for second plantings.



If you are interested in coming to this class, contact Annie Levay-Krause via email and keep an eye out for more information on SOLE's main website or through their Facebook presence.
Although many of the seeds came from Annie's garden, seeds were also provided by The Sample Seed Shop. This local company provides high quality seeds for reasonable prices. Check out Remy's Facebook presence for seasonal updates.


The classes take place at the Foundry, the epicenter for indie artisans and crafters. Check them out!

Buffalo Eats - Eat It Up: Episode 54

I was interviewed by Donnie Burtless recently. We laughed over Paula Donuts, bemoaned the loss of Grant Street's B. Ferrante's, got grossed out over margarine, marveled over prepping for International Dinners and nerded out over Portal Cake and Nyan Cat Poptarts.

NOFA-NY Locavore Challenge - Doubling Up

This year  I will be posting articles on Buffalo's Locavore Challenge on Mondays and Fridays only.

One - Mondays will talk about what can be done to increase our impact on the local community's economy.




Two - Fridays will be a list of locally sourced foods I used during the week and will include helpful information like where I found them, links, prices and recipe suggestions.

After each article, I will include a list of fellow food justice blogger's articles, websites focused on different food movements, and ways you can engage in the conversation on food in small but meaningful ways.

I look forward to hearing from you over the next month about your local adventures!

Apologies to all of my readers...

This heat and drought has left me making smoothies and grilling and that's not all that interesting to write about. One can only say so much about, "Throw eight fruits and a fistful of kale in a blender and blend on high speed till it's green and smooth". Meh...

But I will be talking about other people and their scrumptiousness!

Look for a write up on Lucy's Ethiopian Cuisine.

A tour of Community Beer Works!

A shout out to JJ's Jams and a recipe using their jelly. A brand new West Side business, created by canning duo, Jackie McGee and Jean Doerr. Their rhubarb jelly is stupefying!

Lastly, a NEWS FLASH concerning NOFA-NY's CSA Fund as well as their 3rd Annual Locavore Challenge that I will be captaining again this September, potluck and all.

So be patient and in the meantime check out some of my easy peasy summer time recipes from last year. Last year was the Year of the Long Wing, looks like this year is the Year of Grilled Fish...so stay tuned!

GrowWNY Blog Post - Local Food: For Economy, Health, and Environment

Article featured on GrowWNY

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Western New York is a unique place to live when it comes to food. Tucked in the northeastern edge of Lake Erie and southern shores of Lake Ontario, its soil is classified as Type 1 by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), meaning that over 58% of its land is prime farmland; a resource that few other states can equal. The majority of the prime soil falls in five counties, Erie, Genesee, Wyoming, Chautauqua, and Monroe, and it is here that we are so blessed with opportunities to participate in the sustainable, organic, local and ethical (SOLE) food movement.

Local food is fresher and tastes better than food that has been shipped in from thousands of miles away. The difference between lettuce picked yesterday and lettuce picked last week, factory-washed, and sealed in plastic is profound. Eating locally also means eating seasonally, with all the pleasure that accompanies not having it out-of-season. Fresh corn in season tastes best when you haven't eaten it in months.

Food grown on small, local farms often means it was picked at its peak, sometimes the day you purchase it. Not only does it taste better, but it is also still packed full of nutrients that haven't degraded by the time it arrives after traveling as much as 1,500 miles from it's source. That's a large carbon footprint for a head of romaine. Farmers, Community Supported Agriculture (CSAs) programs, or cooperative grocery stores that support organic and sustainable growing practices and renewable energy minimize your food's environmental impact.

The fewer steps there are between your food's source and your table, the less chance there is of contamination. When you know where your food comes from and who grows it, you know a lot more about food safety. Transparency in the line of distribution provides fewer opportunities for food contamination to occur and leads to a healthier food community.

By purchasing food grown and raised closer to where you live, you also help maintain the vivacity of farmland in your area, particularly land cared for by small farmers; custodians of your green space.

Locally grown food also leads to greater variety of food available. Farmers who run community-supported agriculture programs, sell at farmers' markets and provide local restaurants creating a demand and providing support for raising more types of produce and livestock. Small local farms generally practice crop rotation, which creates a more nutrient dense soil. Those same small, local growers generally follow more organic farming practices than larger corporate farms. That means less herbicides, pesticides and fertilizers in our soil, in our water, and in our bodies.

Money spent with local farmers, food artisans and restaurants all stays close to home, working to build your local economy instead of being handed over to a corporation in another city, state, or country. To make the biggest local economic impact with your food budget, look for producers who pay their workers a fair wage and practice social justice in their business.

By purchasing your foods seasonally, locally, organically, and ethically you are supporting your community, reducing energy usage, maintaining a healthier way of living, lowering your food costs, and insuring the health of your environment.

For more information about accessing food grown locally, visit NOFA-NY where the Northeast Organic Farming Association can connect you to local resources.

Resources:

• USDA Natural Resource Conservation Services
• U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
• Federal Drug and Food Administration
• Fair Trade Labeling Organization International
• Blake, Joan Salge - Blog: Nutrition and You
• Elliott, Renee and Eric Treuille - Organic Cookbook: Naturally Good Food
• Cox, Jeff - The Organic Food Shopper's Guide
• Jones, Bridget - The Farmers' Market Guide to Vegetables
• Levay-Krause, Annie - Blog: The Land of Peapodriot
• Levay-Krause, Annie - Facebook Page: SOLE of Buffalo
• Levay-Krause, Annie - Website: Growing My Ethical Garden