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The 2011 Farmers’ Market Promotions Program Grants have been announced and Virginia received 6 awards totaling $450,984! We are pleased to announce that one of the awards was for the establishment of a Virginia Farmers Market Managers Association. This award grew out of the input we received from Virginia Farmers Market Managers. VDACS partnered with Virginia State University on the grant to establish resources, educational materials and a dedicated website for Farmers’ Markets in Virginia. We look forward to working together to advance the future success of Farmers Markets in Virginia. Congratulations to all the award winners! For more information visit: http://www.ams.usda.gov/AMSv1.0/FMPP
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This is a link to Chef Ellie’s blog and her review of the first night of WBCH Chefs R4 Kids her review "teach them when they're young, and they'll never forget." http://chefellieruns.blogspot.com/2010/07/mens-sana-in-corpore-sano.html
This is a link to the Richmond.com article that includes our Byrd House Farmlet as a production farm for our kids and community Urban Farms: Cultivating Change - http://www2.richmond.com/content/2010/jul/01/urban-farms-cultivating-change/
This is a link to our first day of harvesting for a “CSA” for the first 10 of our Early Childhood families – donations from Shalom Farms helped augment our harvest of chard, peppers and squash for the produce bags for our EC families. This Friday we will have some help from Shalom Farms and several church groups for our next “CSA”. http://www.facebook.com/pages/Richmond-VA/Byrd-House-Market/102635361385?ref=ts&__a=26&#%21/album.php?aid=193057&id=102635361385
We Won! Thanks to our Shutter Buddies kids, Byrd House Market won the Va Grown Farmers Market Photo Contest for Most Submissions! And their pictures were beautiful to boot!
Times Dispatch covers Shutter Buddies photography program at WBCH.
WBCH has been in the magazines this month:Richmond Family has a story called Cookin' in the Classroom that mentions the wonderful parent/child cooking class series conducted through the Chefs to Schools program and last Sunday's Discover Richmond, on page 67, has a story called "Core Mission: Transforming Lives, Building Self-Sufficiency" that features a photo of the the kids and staff on the White House Garden lawn with Bo the Dog, and describes all our programming including the market and community garden.
Richmond Magazine online uses photo of BHM vendor in feature listing 2011 Farmers Markets
Remember When: We got great coverage during 5pm First Warning Weather segment on Renegade Market Day Jan. 19, 2010: Check it out. Thanks to Andrew Freiden and Matt Boyce.
EXCELLENT Links on Food Preservation
Farmers’ Market patrons are very excited to buy fresh produce, but what do they do with the leftovers? Preserving and safe storage:
- Virginia Cooperative Extension (VCE) Offices (find a local nutrition expert):http://www.ext.vt.edu/offices/index.html
- Food Storage Guidelines For Consumers: http://pubs.ext.vt.edu/348/348-960/348-960.html
- Freezing Fruits and Vegetables: http://pubs.ext.vt.edu/348/348-596/348-596.html
- Using Dehydration to Preserve Fruits, Vegetables, and Meats: http://pubs.ext.vt.edu/348/348-597/348-597.html
- Boiling Water Bath Canning: http://pubs.ext.vt.edu/348/348-594/348-594.html
- National Center for Food Preservation: http://www.uga.edu/nchfp/
- University of GA publications: http://www.uga.edu/nchfp/publications/publications_uga.html
- Freezing fruit: http://www.uga.edu/nchfp/publications/uga/uga_freeze_fruit.pdf
- Freezing veggies: http://www.uga.edu/nchfp/publications/uga/uga_freeze_veg.pdf
ARTICLE: Darwinian Gastronomy: Why We Use Spices - Spices taste good because they're good for us... by Paul W Sherman; Jennifer Billing / Bioscience; Jun 1999; 49, 6; Research Library, pg. 45
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2010 SEASON
Dominion Volunteers Gain a New Perspective on Community Service Day
Meechie puts his oar in ... and gets a cracker!
August 31, 2010 at Byrd House Market
Approximately 5:00 pm
Basil provided by Byrd House Farmlet and CityGarden
Garlic provided by Bill's Produce
Olive Oil, Parmesano Cheese, Walnuts and Crackers provided by Patty & Caroline
Skills provided by Caroline, Gerry & Jessica and The Mighty Helpers
Seemingly endless sampling possibilities... and of course the yum factor was high High HIGH...
Bountiful Days in the Market
Opening Day in May
Bunny Luv in March
Growing in the garden
June 21: 3rd Tuesday Jam with host Patricia Stansbury
June 5: Sub Rosa Bread's 2nd Anniversary Party
Jan 24-Feb 2, 2011: Sebougou, Segou MALI
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| From Gardens and Farms |
My trip to Mali was a wonderful five week sojourn to new experiences, warm friendships and plans. I look forward to sharing what my experiences and observations. Above is a panorama of the community garden (or farmlet, if you will) that belongs to the family of Segou-based sculptor Amaghire Dolo, but that is tended and shared with the local families of this former village of Sebougou - now absorbed as a kind of suburb or quarter of the greater municipality of Segou. To the far left you can see the blue door to Dolo's atelier (French for arts studio/business/building) which he graciously opens up for the international artists' workshop for the annual and spectacular 6-day music & cultural arts Festival Sur Le Niger. Your market manager was lucky enough to be one of the 6 participating artists this year. Learn more at visitingmali.blogspot.com. I look forward to scheduling a presentation at WBCH on my encounters with food - farms, gardens, cuisine, nutrition, environmental concerns - in Mali during my five week stay.
In case you hadn't heard there is a Facebook page for folks interested in the Grace Arents Community Garden and Byrd House Farmlet. Keep up with the growth and be a Friend.
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| From BHM622-Shalom Euclid Vols |
Volunteers from Shalom Farms in Euclid, Ohio, clean out the garden on June 22 - fantastic spirits with great energy. So lovely was the job that the Wine Tasting with Grayhaven and Barboursville Wineries was a smooth success. A little less heat will make next month's event even better.
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| From BHM622-Winetasting |
The kids are hard at work...weeding and harvesting kale for Kale Chips.
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| From KG-06_04_10 |
