03/02/2024
โข ๐ ๐ก๐ผ๐๐ฒ ๐ณ๐ฟ๐ผ๐บ ๐๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ป๐ฆ๐ต๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ’๐ ๐ก๐ฒ๐ ๐ฃ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ด๐ฟ๐ฎ๐บ ๐๐ผ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ป๐ฎ๐๐ผ๐ฟ
Hello (new) friends,
I hope at this moment you are sitting in your favorite spot, warm and cozy while you dream of Spring and warmer days. In the coming weeks, as Spring renewal becomes more evident, may you find yourself planning your garden or eager to taste the produce from for favorite local farm.
My name is Erin Cuseo and I am thrilled to be the new GardenShare’s new Program Coordinator. Over the last 15 years I have managed small diversified farming operations in Washington State, Colorado, and Missouri. My focus has been on vegetables, but for the last 7 years I have co-operated a Water Buffalo meat and dairy operation. Over the years I have been actively involved in Farmers Markets, both as a vendor and as a board member. I am excited to finally set down roots in St. Lawrence County.
For me, the best part about being a farmer has always been the farmers market. The connection with the consumer, whether through education or excitement, has always been the highlight of farming. During my tenure as a farmer, I partnered directly with multiple nonprofits with the goal of addressing food insecurity and increasing food access at farmers markets.
As someone who has spent most of her adult life in agriculture, I am passionate about shopping locally and providing equitable space for farmers to sell their products. I am committed to developing a local economy and I believe in the right for our customers to shop without judgment.
I look forward to meeting everyone, whether farmer, maker, or customer.
With gratitude, Erin Cuseo
โข ๐ง๐ต๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฒ’๐ ๐๐๐ถ๐น๐น ๐๐ถ๐บ๐ฒ ๐๐ผ ๐๐ฒ๐ ๐ถ๐ป ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐๐ถ๐ฑ๐ฒ!
We are extending our initial deadline of March 1st to March 15th! You still have two weeks to get your forms in to us to make sure you business or ad is in this year’s Local Food Guide!
Fillable PDF forms can be found at gardenshare.org/get-in-the-guide/ and can be emailed to annabelle@gardenshare.org!
โข ๐๐ฝ๐ฝ๐น๐ถ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป๐ ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ข๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ป! Bonus Bucks
GardenShare is excited to announce that 2024 Bonus Bucks applications are open!
Bonus Bucks allows shoppers to stretch their food dollars, support their local farmer,s and take advantage of the great local food we have right here in St. Lawrence County.Itโs a win-win for everyone!
GardenShareโs Bonus Bucks program offers a cost-sharing arrangement with income-eligible St. Lawrence County residents to participate in a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) Share or to purchase at any of the following five St. Lawrence County farmers markets: Canton, Potsdam, Massena, Gouverneur, and Hammond.
If you, or someone you know, would like to take advantage of the bounty of local food that St. Lawrence County has to offer, but find it hard to stretch your food dollars to purchase, we may be able to help! Click the button above to get started!
This year’s Bonus Bucks program was made possible by the generous support of the Arconic Foundation.
โข ๐ฆ๐ถ๐ด๐ป ๐๐ฝ ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐ฎ ๐๐ฆ๐ ๐ง๐ผ๐ฑ๐ฎ๐!
Have you considered signing up for a CSA for this coming growing season? While it might feel a little early many farms rely on their pre-season CSA sales to help them prepare for the coming growing season. CSA shares fill up fast so don’t waste any time! Find local CSAs with GardenShare’s Online Food Guide at GardenShare.org/food-guide.
For those interested in the history of CSAs Glynwood has a fantastic article about Booker T. Whatley, the black agriculturalist, writer, and professor who was one of the pioneers of the CSA structure through his “Clientele Membership Club”. Whatley’s contributions to small-scale farming practices in the 1960s and 1970s can’t be other stated. Read the article here.
โข ๐๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ป๐ฆ๐ต๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐๐ป๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ป ๐ฆ๐ฝ๐ผ๐๐น๐ถ๐ด๐ต๐
๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ฃ๐๐๐๐ข๐๐ง
Hometown and Current town of residence: Delmar, New York. Currently lives at St. Lawrence University
๐๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐จ ๐ช๐ด ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ช๐ฏ๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฏ๐ด๐ฉ๐ช๐ฑ?: Spring Semester 2024
๐๐ฉ๐บ ๐ ๐ฅ๐ฐ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ ๐ฅ๐ฐ (๐ข๐ต ๐๐ข๐ณ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐๐ฉ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ): As a CBL (Community Based Learning) intern, my role is to assist GardenShare and learn about their connection with the environment and community. I am excited to be apart of education on food insecurity and have a direct impact on the Canton Community.
๐๐ฐ๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต๐ด๐ช๐ฅ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐๐ข๐ณ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐๐ฉ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ: I am a Business and English major studying at St. Lawrence University. I am the President of Kappa Delta Sigma sorority at SLU. We are a local sorority whoโs philanthropy is GardenShare, so I am excited to work closely with GardenShare this semester.
๐๐ฐ๐ฃ๐ฃ๐ช๐ฆ๐ด: Reading, watching Greyโs Anatomy, hanging out with friends, playing ice hockey.
๐๐ฐ๐ด๐ต ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ค๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต ๐ข๐ค๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ช๐ด๐ฉ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต: Being elected the President of my sorority.
๐๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ฉ๐ข๐ด ๐ค๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ๐จ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ด๐ต ๐ช๐ฏ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ต๐ช๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ฐ๐ณ๐ต๐ฉ ๐๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ต๐ณ๐บ?: My connection to Canton as a whole. Through local philanthropy and meeting community members, I truly consider Canton to be my second home. I do think since my freshman year, the winters have gotten warmer!
๐๐ฉ๐ข๐ต’๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ณ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ด๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ’๐ท๐ฆ ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ๐ฏ ๐ข๐ต ๐๐ข๐ณ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐๐ฉ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ?: I think being faced with the facts of our community, and that there are many struggling when it comes to food, but I enjoy learning about how we can make positive changes, and alleviate the struggles involved with food insecurity.
๐๐ข๐ท๐ฐ๐ณ๐ช๐ต๐ฆ ๐ด๐ฐ๐ฏ๐จ, ๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฌ, ๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ท๐ช๐ฆ?: my favorite song is Iris by the Goo Goo Dolls, favorite book is Me Before You by Jojo Moyes, favorite movie is Bedtime Stories.
๐๐ง ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ณ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฆ ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ข๐ค๐ฆ๐ด ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐ข๐ฏ๐บ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ข ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฌ, ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฐ ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ๐ฅ ๐ช๐ต ๐ฃ๐ฆ? ๐๐ฉ๐บ?: I would trade places with my dog, ruby. She gets to be cozy in my house all day long, run outside, and gets endless hugs and kisses!
โข ๐ง๐ผ๐๐ฎ๐น ๐๐ฐ๐น๐ถ๐ฝ๐๐ฒ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐ป๐ต๐ผ๐น๐ฒ ๐ง๐ผ๐๐ฟ๐ป๐ฎ๐บ๐ฒ๐ป๐
We are excited to announce our upcoming Total Eclipse of the Cornhole Tournament on Sunday, April 7th! Teams will consist of 2 players and will compete in a Double Elimination Bracket for prizes from an assortment of local businesses!
There will also be a door prize raffle for a local product gift basket. Donation of shelf-stable food will support the Colton Food Pantry. Each donation is one entry towards the door prize raffle.
Apple Buds, Canton Apples Image courtesy of the Farm-to-Table Initiative led by Cornell Cooperative Extension of St. Lawrence County.
