FarmTraveler
September-October 2011
Urban Farming Takes Root in Buffalo
In Buffalo, NY where there’s an abundance of vacant lots, many adjacent to each other and interspersed among existing housing the use of this land to provide food, flowers, and tree seedlings has long seemed an obvious choice. But outdated zoning regulations and misconceptions about urban farming have made farming in the city difficult. In spite of the obstacles urban farmers have made headway and policymakers are open to remaking the zoning code and designating land within the city limits as allowable for farming.
Continued Click Here
EVENT
Buffalo Food Policy Summit - Growing Local Economy
Mark your Calendars for Tuesday, September 20, and Wednesday. September 21. This Summit will bring together residents, business owners, policy makers, public official and staff to promote sustainable economic development through the food system.
Tuesday Sept 20, 5:30 - 7:00 pm:
Economic Development and the Food System, Ideas for the Future.
Karples Manuscript Library, Porter Ave Buffalo
Wednesday Sept 21 2:30- 4:00 pm
REbuilding Community Food Systems: Opportunities for Multidisciplinary Research
Harriman Hall- UB South Campus
Tuesday Sept 20, 5:30 - 7:00 pm:
Economic Development and the Food System, Ideas for the Future.
Karples Manuscript Library, Porter Ave Buffalo
Wednesday Sept 21 2:30- 4:00 pm
REbuilding Community Food Systems: Opportunities for Multidisciplinary Research
Harriman Hall- UB South Campus
EVENT
Special Screening
Vanishing of the Bee's
September 18 Noon
CAO of Erie County
70 Harvard Place Buffalo
See this Award winning documentary that helps to reveal the real reasons why the honeybee's are in such trouble. Collony Collapse Disorder is just a tip of the iceberg.
Click Here to go to the Vanishing of the Bee's Website
Click Here to go to the Vanishing of the Bee's Website
Vanishing of the Bee's Trailer
Vanishing Bees
Everyone Should Be Concerned
By Judy Einach and Jay Burney
Judy Einach is the executive director of NYSAWG (New York Sustainable Agriculture Working Group) and Jay Burney is the founder of The Learning Sustainability Campaign and GreenWatch. NYSAWG and the Learning Sustainability Campaign are sponsoring screenings of the new documentary The Vanishing of the Bee’s this fall. More information will be announced as soon as we have a schedule. If you would like to participate contact us at : nysawg@gmail.com
Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) is the name of the stunning and frightening decline of honeybees around the world. First noticed in North America in 2006, colony collapse is being reported worldwide. According to the USDA Agricultural Research Service (USDA ARS) in 2009, for the fourth year in a row, more than 1/3 of U.S. honeybee hives failed to survive the winter. Some northeast beekeepers reported as much as 2/3 of their pollinator population failed to survive between May 2009 and April of this year. Other American beekeepers have reported losses of 100%. This is a crisis.
To see the full article click here
Sponsors and Partners of FarmTraveler
FarmTraveler
is a project of the
Learning Sustainability Campaign
and GreenWatch
Find GreenWatch on Facebook
FarmTraveler
is brought to you in part
by the
New York Sustainable Agriculture Working Group (NYSAWG)
with support from the
USDA Risk Management Agency
Community Outreach an Assistance Partnership Program
For More Information
www.rma.usda.gov
is brought to you in part
by the
New York Sustainable Agriculture Working Group (NYSAWG)
with support from the
USDA Risk Management Agency
Community Outreach an Assistance Partnership Program
For More Information
www.rma.usda.gov
FarmTraveler
is Published by Protection Farm Media Services
Pollinators and Pesticides Symposium Poster
| pollinators_pesticides_poster.pdf |
Supporting Our Local Farmers
and Our Communities
To Go To The NYSAWG Homepage, Click Image
by
Judy Einach
Executive Director
New York Sustainable Agricultural Working Group (NYSAWG)
Aspects of all cultures know this season to be the beginning of a new year – the agricultural year. We call this new year “Spring”. It is a time of transition, of change. At times of transition we tend to reflect on what’s important and to commit to living more closely in line with our values.
NYSAWG likes to maintain a positive attitude by offering programs to support NY’s small farmers. NYSAWG’s people worry about some possible outcomes in the years ahead and that motivates us to do what we do. We want to see agricultural systems that contribute to strengthening local economies and meeting the needs of the people who live in regions throughout the state.
Growing and consuming the products of WNY’s farmers is one of the smartest things we here in WNY can continue to do. There is no end to what could result if we value the significance of local agriculture in our larger local economy. Our farmers, our farms, the products of our farms are not just key in a vibrant local economy but they are key if we are to manage risk inherent in the larger food production and distribution system.
Food is a big part of the world of agriculture. WNY can potentially feed itself. If we save our farms and continue to support our farmers they will produce most of the food the people of WNY will need to sustain themselves. Not all regions of NY State will be able to have this security. Not all communities have the resources to say, we have what we need to feed ourselves and benefit from all the other products agriculture gives us. In WNY we can commit now to building a stronger local economy by maximizing the relationship between WNY farmers and WNY consumers.
Paid Advertisement
A Strawberry Story
By Jay Burney
(First Published June 2008)
With the late spring and summer comes the strawberries, and our region is usually lucky to have an abundant crop. Many years bring weather challenges, but the strawberries are out there and you can find them. Prices ranging from about $2 a quart basket for self picked, up to as much as $4.25-$5.50 at roadside stands.
The history of strawberry cultivation is fascinating. We have all seen and probably tasted the delicious wild strawberries that grow commonly in our fields and yards. These delicious, sweet, juicy, and tiny morsels of goodness have inspired humans to joy and exultation probably since the beginning.
The legends, lore and stories of how the strawberry became so popular is interesting, complex, and echoes the social, economic, and agricultural history of the spread of human culture.
There are a many species of wild strawberries worldwide, with at least two that can be found locally. The Common Strawberry ( Fragaria virginiana) is what we find in our fields and yards. The herbaceous plant has a small white five petaled flower, a three parted leaf, and the familiar tiny red fruit hanging below the leaves. The Wood Strawberry (Fragaria vesca) is somewhat taller and the fruit is often held above the leaves. Both of these are members of the Rose Family of plants (Rosaceae). The flowers open early to mid spring and the fruit can be found in early summer. The plants produce fruits throughout the summer.
One of the earliest written references to strawberries was by Pliny, the Roman naturalist and writer. He mentions that the ground strawberry is different from the tree strawberry. There is not reference to eating the fruit.
The Roman poet Virgil author of the Aeneid, wrote warning children to avoid strawberries because of “serpents that lurk in the grass.”
The strawberry is a symbol for Venus, the Goddess of Love, because of its heart shapes and red color.
The Strawberry was used by medieval stone masons to symbolize perfection and righteousness. Often strawberry inspired designs were carved into altars and around the tops of pillars in churches and cathedrals.
In the 12th Century, it was a common custom in Europe to avoid eating strawberries. Saint Hildegard von Binger declared strawberries unfit for consumption because “they grew along the ground where snakes and toads most liked crawled up them.” This admonition became a popular trend in European for most of that century. Because of their color, shape, and juicy plumpness and because of their connection to the ancient goddess of love, Venus, eating strawberries the delicious fruits was considered wicked in certain quarters.
Sporadic efforts of strawberry cultivation began in the 1300’s with plantings of the wild fruits in home gardens. In 1368 King Charles V of France planted his Parisian gardens at the Louvre with 1200 strawberry plants. In the fifteenth century the strawberry was first illustrated in a German botanical volume called “Herbarius Latinus Moguntiae, The Herbal Mainz”. In the book the wild plant is described as a medicine, and not as a food. It is said to help with the appetite and with digestion.
Native Americans were enjoying wild strawberries when Europeans first arrived on the shores of North America. They introduced a bread to Europeans which was baked with cornmeal and crushed berries.
(First Published June 2008)
With the late spring and summer comes the strawberries, and our region is usually lucky to have an abundant crop. Many years bring weather challenges, but the strawberries are out there and you can find them. Prices ranging from about $2 a quart basket for self picked, up to as much as $4.25-$5.50 at roadside stands.
The legends, lore and stories of how the strawberry became so popular is interesting, complex, and echoes the social, economic, and agricultural history of the spread of human culture.
There are a many species of wild strawberries worldwide, with at least two that can be found locally. The Common Strawberry ( Fragaria virginiana) is what we find in our fields and yards. The herbaceous plant has a small white five petaled flower, a three parted leaf, and the familiar tiny red fruit hanging below the leaves. The Wood Strawberry (Fragaria vesca) is somewhat taller and the fruit is often held above the leaves. Both of these are members of the Rose Family of plants (Rosaceae). The flowers open early to mid spring and the fruit can be found in early summer. The plants produce fruits throughout the summer.
One of the earliest written references to strawberries was by Pliny, the Roman naturalist and writer. He mentions that the ground strawberry is different from the tree strawberry. There is not reference to eating the fruit.
The Roman poet Virgil author of the Aeneid, wrote warning children to avoid strawberries because of “serpents that lurk in the grass.”
The strawberry is a symbol for Venus, the Goddess of Love, because of its heart shapes and red color.
The Strawberry was used by medieval stone masons to symbolize perfection and righteousness. Often strawberry inspired designs were carved into altars and around the tops of pillars in churches and cathedrals.
In the 12th Century, it was a common custom in Europe to avoid eating strawberries. Saint Hildegard von Binger declared strawberries unfit for consumption because “they grew along the ground where snakes and toads most liked crawled up them.” This admonition became a popular trend in European for most of that century. Because of their color, shape, and juicy plumpness and because of their connection to the ancient goddess of love, Venus, eating strawberries the delicious fruits was considered wicked in certain quarters.
Sporadic efforts of strawberry cultivation began in the 1300’s with plantings of the wild fruits in home gardens. In 1368 King Charles V of France planted his Parisian gardens at the Louvre with 1200 strawberry plants. In the fifteenth century the strawberry was first illustrated in a German botanical volume called “Herbarius Latinus Moguntiae, The Herbal Mainz”. In the book the wild plant is described as a medicine, and not as a food. It is said to help with the appetite and with digestion.
Jacques Cartier traveled to North America in 1534 and wrote about the “vast patches of strawberries” along the St Lawrence River in Quebec. He and his crew learned to eat a lot of wild plants from the natives of the area including white-cedar tea which at one point saved many of their lives. The crew had become famously malnourished and suffered from scurvy, a vitamin C deficiency. A grateful Cartier named the cedar plant (Thuja occidentalis) “arbor de vie” or “arbor vitae”, the “Tree of Life.”
One of the first settlements in North America, now called Portsmouth N.H. was originally called “Strawberry Bankes” because of its abundance of the wild fruit. Settlers in 1630 sailed up the Piscataqua River and built a “Great House” adjacent to a large patch of berries.
English explorer Thomas Hariot found the wild strawberries in Virginia to be larger and more flavorful that the European varieties that he was familiar with and brought plant specimens back to London.
By 1560 the physician to King Henry IB noted that the English ladies enjoyed their strawberries and cream so much that they began planting the strawberries in their own gardens. Today, strawberries and cream are an established English tradition and are famously celebrated at the Wimbledon Tennis Tournament.
Today, in certain parts of Bavaria, country folk still practice the annual rite each spring of tying small baskets of wild strawberry to the horns of their cattle as an offering to the elves. They believe that the elves, who are thought to be passionately fond of strawberries, will help to produce healthy calves and an abundance of milk in return.
One of the first settlements in North America, now called Portsmouth N.H. was originally called “Strawberry Bankes” because of its abundance of the wild fruit. Settlers in 1630 sailed up the Piscataqua River and built a “Great House” adjacent to a large patch of berries.
English explorer Thomas Hariot found the wild strawberries in Virginia to be larger and more flavorful that the European varieties that he was familiar with and brought plant specimens back to London.
By 1560 the physician to King Henry IB noted that the English ladies enjoyed their strawberries and cream so much that they began planting the strawberries in their own gardens. Today, strawberries and cream are an established English tradition and are famously celebrated at the Wimbledon Tennis Tournament.
Today, in certain parts of Bavaria, country folk still practice the annual rite each spring of tying small baskets of wild strawberry to the horns of their cattle as an offering to the elves. They believe that the elves, who are thought to be passionately fond of strawberries, will help to produce healthy calves and an abundance of milk in return.
Modern Cultivation
Strawberry cultivation and hybridization really took root in the 17th and 18th Century. Wild species with large fruits were discovered in Chile in 1712. Amedee Francois Frezier, a French Navel Engineer described the Chiliean berries as “Large as eggs”. He brought them back to Paris. Eventually a Virginia specimen was bred with the Chilean specimen and the rest is history.
The first hybrid strawberry “Hudson” was introduced into the United States in 1780.
The Name “Strawberry”
According to a variety of sources, the name came about because straw was used freely to mulch the plants during the winter. This practice discourages weeds and lifts the berries up from the soil. When it came time to harvest the berries children would pick them and string the on a blade of straw. At the London markets the children would sell “Straws of Berries”
Don’t forget to support your local growers and roadside stands. Go out today and get some delicious strawberries during this preciously short season.
Visit Your Local Farmers Market for Fresh, Local, Produce and Other Products
Inside the City
Community Action Organization of Erie County (CAO)
Green Entrepreneurial Program Plans to Help Take Vacant Land and Put it Back on the Tax Rolls
Just in case you haven’t noticed there is a lot of gardening going on in Buffalo. The last couple of years have witnessed a surge of the ‘greening” of vacant lots which includes the creation of community oriented mini parks and the overall beautification of neighborhoods. Grassroots Gardens, an organization working mostly in Buffalo’s west side and in partnership with a number of local organizations and groups has lead the resurgence that is transforming neighborhoods with flower and tree plantings, benches, and the occasional corner gazebo. Buffalo’s Garden walks, for many years a local sensation, have hit the national radar. This year, Buffalo will host the National Garden Festival. This is all good.
There is another gardening movement that is beginning to emerge. This is centered on the concept of urban farming. According to the CAO’s staff horticulturist Mike Lee, who is helping to establish working urban farms in Buffalo, “Urban farms are about private ownership, commercial production, jobs, and economic development strategies that could impact both the local fresh food and cut flower supply. Commercial urban farms could be a big part of Buffalo’s future.”
Mr. Lee is running a demonstration project at the 70 Harvard Place headquarters of the CAO. He and his associates have constructed compost bins, and a “Hoop House” green house, which has already had a harvest this spring. He is also in the process of building several dozen 4’ x 8’raised bed gardens. We know that it is expensive and almost impossible to remediate contaminated urban soil in order to grow food”, he said. “Working in unremediated soil is dangerous for workers.” “The best solution is to create our own soil out of compost, place it in the raised beds, or to grow crops inside the hoop house with our own soils.” “We are doing that!” When asked about the small looking gardening beds he told us, “You would be really surprised at how much we produce. We practice a very intensive form of urban agriculture. We call it “square inch gardening”. It is cost effective.” The CAO project also plans to include aquaculture including the raising of Tilapia, carp, and bullheads in the Hoop houses. They also plan to have a produce stand at Harvard Place that will sell their own home grown stuff including greens, beans, rhubarb, various herbs, asparagus, and fruit such as strawberries and blueberries. Our first crop, which we harvested in early April, was sold to a local restaurant (Merge). We think that we can produce inexpensive and good food for our community. In fact we anticipate that we will be a certified organic grower in the not too distant future.
CAO is also offering community garden space to people at the Harvard Place location. For more information on any of the CAO urban farming project contact Mike Lee at 716-818-5073 or email him at mlee@caoec.org
Mike Lee inside the CAO Hoop House on Harvard Place
Hoop House and Compost at CAO Headquarters
Making Maple Syrup Inside the Arcade Farms Sugar Shack
Free listings available sponsored by NYSAWG for small sustainable farm and farm products businesses in several categories. for more information check the print version or the page sections/menu at top left. For more info: profarmmedia@aol.com
Check out our Special Section of FarmTraveler
"Alpaca, Llama, and Fiber"
click here
The WNYTraveler/FarmTraveler Edition and Farmtraveleronline are sponsored in part by the New York Sustainable Agriculture Working Group (NYSAWG) in conjunction with JProtection Farm Media Services, publisher. THE WNY TRAVELER and Protection Farm Media Services
Click on the Poster above to go to the NYSAWG website
CONTACT INFORMATION
THIS SITE IS UNDER CONSTRUCTION
Please be patient as we build.
For listings information, if you would like to be in our free listings, paid advertising or any other information regarding FarmTraveler, FarmTraveleronline.com, or The WNY Traveler
Jay Burney email:profarmmedia@aol.com
Click on the Poster above to go to the NYSAWG website
CONTACT INFORMATION
THIS SITE IS UNDER CONSTRUCTION
Please be patient as we build.
For listings information, if you would like to be in our free listings, paid advertising or any other information regarding FarmTraveler, FarmTraveleronline.com, or The WNY Traveler
Jay Burney email:profarmmedia@aol.com
Complete Holiday Issue
click on the Image above to go to the Holiday Issue
October November Issue
THE WNYTraveler is a publication with a focus on bringing local sustainable business in WNY closer to consumers. WNY has a vibrant locally owned and operated economic community with many travel destinations, events, attractions, accommodations, restaurants, bistros, shops, services, family farms and farm businesses. We believe that supporting a local economy makes us all stronger. We support "buy local" and encourage our readers and advertisers to "think like a region in a globalized world".
Please support our advertisers and our locally owned and operated businesses.
Please support our advertisers and our locally owned and operated businesses.
More Coming Soon- See www.thewnytraveler.com
For information contact Jay Burney: profarmmedia@aol.com
