02/08/2022
๐๐ฒ๐ฏ๐ฟ๐๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ ๐ฒ๐ก๐ฒ๐๐ ๐ณ๐ฟ๐ผ๐บ ๐๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ป๐ฆ๐ต๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ:
We Want YOU to Design on Our Local Food Guide Cover!
GardenShare produces an annual Local Food Guide that includes listings of St. Lawrence County farm stands, u-picks, farmers markets, restaurants and other outlets that offer locally grown food. Each year this guide has a unique cover. We are calling all artists to submit original pieces that illustrate the variety of local food available in the region for the cover of the guide.
Artwork may include photography or any two-dimensional piece that can be reprinted. Participants are encouraged to use images of the Farm-to-Table Initiative led by Cornell Cooperative Extension of St. Lawrence County. In order to access the photos, click here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdVLHY0pLEZplscadUfziPGLOr89mEh7ZUwfY4mbZsOIWfOQA/viewform.
Remember submission should illustrate the variety of local food available in the region. To enter, send a high resolution file to info@gardenshare.org by March 9, 2022.
๐ก๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป๐ฎ๐น ๐๐ฆ๐ ๐ช๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ธ ๐ถ๐ ๐๐ฒ๐ฏ๐ฟ๐๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ ๐ฎ๐ฌ-๐ฎ๐ฒ, ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐ฎ!
Think of it as the freshest, most local subscription box around! CSA is a farm membership system that allows consumers to sign up for a share and receive a seasonโs worth of a farmโs products. From February 20-26, we are joining with farmers from across the country to celebrate CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) Week… You should join us!
Why is there a CSA week in February?
According to national CSA research, the last week of February is the most popular week of the year to sign up for a CSA farm membership. While you don’t have to make a decision in February, you do need to sign up for a share ahead of the growing season so your farmer(s) have time to plan how much of each crop they need to grow.
Check out GardenShare’s Facebook and Instagram all through CSA week to learn more about some of the CSA farms right here in St. Lawrence County (and featured in our Local Food Guide), and make sure you sign up!
๐ฆ๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐๐ผ ๐ฆ๐๐ฝ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐๐ ๐๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ธ
Want to grow healthy food for your household? Seed to Supper is a series of six FREE gardening classes, tailored to low-income adults who are motivated to learn to grow food on a limited budget. Participants who complete the course will receive gardening kits! From planning to planting, cultivating to harvesting, this class will cover the basics for increasing your food security by growing your own healthy produce. Check out bit.ly/S2S-SLC for more information, and contact Erica at ENL2@cornell.edu with questions!
๐ข๐ฝ๐ฝ๐ผ๐ฟ๐๐๐ป๐ถ๐๐ถ๐ฒ๐ ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐๐ผ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐น ๐๐ฎ๐ฟ๐บ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐
Get in the Guide!
In the coming week, local producers and restaurants will be hearing from us! Why? Because it’s almost time to “Get in the Guide”!
GardenShare’s Local Food Guide is open to all farmers in St. Lawrence County* (SLC) and any SLC restaurants and retail locations that showcase food produced in SLC.
Paper listing request forms will be arriving in your mailboxes soon, but if you’re eager to reserve your spot, keep an eye out for the information and online forms on our website!
*Again this year, we’re reaching outside St. Lawrence County (SLC) for the Local Food Guide. SLC residents shop beyond the county line when it is closer for them. Local food products that are grown or produced within 15 miles of the SLC border are invited to be part of our the Local Food Guide.
๐๐ฒ๐ ๐๐ฆ๐ ๐๐ฎ๐ฟ๐บ๐… ๐ฆ๐ถ๐ด๐ป ๐จ๐ฝ ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐๐ผ๐ป๐๐ ๐๐๐ฐ๐ธ๐!
Have you heard of GardenShare’s Bonus Bucks program? It offers a cost sharing arrangement as a partnership with income-eligible SLC residents to participate in a CSA Share or to purchase local food at one of the SLC farmers markets.
The 2022 Bonus Bucks application will be launching soon and we want to make sure that we’re partnering with any CSA farm that may be interested! We work directly with farmers to make sure they are paid in full for the shares and help connect program participants choose the share that is best for them.
If you are a CSA farm that was not part of the Bonus Bucks program in 2021 but are interested in joining, send us an email at info@gardenshare.org. Contact us by Friday, February 11, 2022.
๐๐ฟ๐ผ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ข๐๐ฟ ๐ ๐ถ๐ป๐ฑ๐
Daryl Minton 45 Triple J Farm in Windsor NY Courtesy of NCPR
In honor of Black History Month, this month’s recommended listen is a piece from NCPR called “‘Make Farmers Black Again’: African Americans Fight Discrimination To Own Farmland”. This interview sheds light on why rates of farm ownership among people of color has decreased, and what some Black leaders are doing to reverse the trend.
Excerpt: “At the start of the 20th century, one in seven farmers in the United States was Black. In the decades that followed, however, Black Americans were dispossessed of an estimated 13 million acres of land. Many descendants of Black farmers moved north to seek jobs in other industries, removed from familial agricultural backgrounds.”
We hope that this powerful and thought provoking piece will help us all think about how we can transform our food system right here in St. Lawrence County.
