Spring Kick-Off Events

The last week has been busy with farm and garden kick-off events in/around Rochester, NY. Below are a few quick digital photos from the last week.

Sunday Farm Drop-off Turns into Impromptu Farm Market, 4/18/10
Attendees stand in line for pre-ordered eggs and vegetables from Clearview Farm:

Garlic greens from Fraser's Garlic Farm:

The next drop-off/farm market will be this coming Sunday, 5/1, in the parking lot of the Cornell Cooperative Extension, 249 Highland Ave. You can contact me for additional information, or check out the Rochester Farm Connection: http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/RochesterFarm/ for postings.

RIT Community Garden Kick-Off, 4/22/10



Volunteers work in the Rochester Roots Franklin Greenhouse, 4/22/10



Onion Planting Party at Mud Creek Farm, 4/24/10



GVOCSA Spring Kick-Off, 4/25/10
A walk in the woods, Kraai Preserve:

This Week in Rochester (and beyond)

Food, Photography, and Farm events this week........

Dirt! The Movie Airs Tuesday, April 20, 10PM EST on PBS
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Photographer Lauren Greenfield to speak at Rochester Institute of Technology

Date: Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Time: 7-8PM
Location: Liberal Arts Bldg (6), Room A205
Cost: Free

Additional information available at RIT's School of Photographic Arts and Sciences Facebook event page.
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FYI: Thursday, April 22 is Earth Day.
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RIT Community Garden Kick-Off

Date: Thursday April 22, 2010
Time: 11AM - 1PM
Location: Southside of U-Lot near the tennis courts

All RIT community members are invited to come and look, visit with current garden members, ask questions, get your hands dirty digging, pulling or tilling, and its not to late to join!
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University of Rochester: Earth Week

Check out the earth week link, to see a variety of fun activities at U of R this week, including a Local Foods Dinner and a screening of Fresh.
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GVOCSA Spring Kick-Off

Date: Sunday, April 25, 2010, rain or shine
Time: 2PM
Location: 2231 Welcher Road, Newark, NY

Festivities will begin at the Maypole (near the farm parking lot) followed by a wildflower walk led by Local CSA member Leona Lauster along the trail on the Kraai Preserve. Leona is an avid birder so bring binoculars. Tours of the farm will be available. The celebration concludes with a potluck supper. Please bring a dish to share and your own place settings. The farm will provide beverages.
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Do you know about any additional upcoming events? Post below!

Elizabeth Henderson Visits RIT

Rochester's "local legend" Elizabeth Henderson, author of Sharing the Harvest: A Guide to Community Supported Agriculture and co-founder of the Genesee Valley Organic CSA (GVOCSA), visited RIT's Anthropology Global Econ class last Wednesday. Professor Kray was kind enough to invite me to sit in on the class. (See my previous post with information and photos from the GVOCSA's Peacework Farm.) Elizabeth presented a slideshow of images from Peacework Farm, provided students with an historical context to community supported agriculture, and discussed the logistics of starting and maintaining an organic farm. In response to a question about cost comparison between a retail grocer's produce and a year-long CSA membership, Elizabeth stated, "if you cook yourself, you'll spend less money. If you eat better, you'll be saving money on health problems later in life." As is shown in the photo above, Elizabeth highly recommended Shannon Hayes' book Radical Homemakers: Reclaiming Domesticity from a Consumer Culture. This was my first introduction to the book, so I look forward to checking it out.

Rochester locals can sign up for GVOCSA membership at an upcoming meeting on Saturday, March 6, from 2-4 PM, at the James P. B. Duffy School 12, 999 South Avenue, in Rochester. See the website for additional information.