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2009 - May 6th

 

  April showers have brought May flowers! 

Send any relevant event information or resources along to share!

 

Link of the week:

From the Organic Agricultural College of Canada - a comprehensive collection of current and relevant  research on all things organic!

http://www.organicagcentre.ca/ResearchDatabase/res_welcome.asp

 

 

Postings Summary

ACTION ALERT: Keep Terminator Seed out of Canada -

Member of Parliament Alex Atamanenko (NDP) has reintroduced his Private Members Bill (C-343) to ban the release, sale, importation and use of Terminator technology.  Read more and get involved

 Free Apple Trees - Yep - Organic too - Click for more for details!

 Last chance to get your New Farmer Calendar!  - Click here for details

 A lawyer has approached us who has offerred to do pro-bono work for new farmers - Send a summary of your needs if you are interested to growingfarmers@everdale.org

 

Events Summary

Thursday May 8th - Hoop House Webinar

Thursday May 21st - 7 pm - New Farmers Panel and Presentation at the Big Carrot, Toronto

Field Trip Toronto Begins! - Offering Farm Tours to Folks Interested in Connecting with the source of their food

Selected Events from the EFAO's list - if you haven't joined yet you can today!  www.efao.ca

 

 

Postings

 

ACTION ALERT: Keep Terminator Seed out of Canada -
Bill to Ban Terminator Re-introduced! Ask the Prime Minister to support Bill C-353 "Terminator Seed Ban Act"

What is Terminator? Terminator Technology genetically engineers plants to produce sterile seeds at harvest. It was developed by the multinational seed/agrochemical industry and the US government to prevent farmers from re-planting harvested seed and force farmers to buy seed each season instead. Terminator seeds have not yet been field-tested or commercialized. In 2006, Monsanto bought the company (Delta & Pine Land) that owned Terminator. Terminator is sometimes called Genetic Use Restriction Technology (GURTs) - the broad term that refers to the use of an external chemical inducer to control the expression of a plant's genetic traits.

Member of Parliament Alex Atamanenko (NDP) has reintroduced his Private Members Bill (C-343) to ban the release, sale, importation and use of Terminator technology.

Actions you can take:
1. Send an instant email at http://www.cban.ca/terminatoraction.
2. Organizations can endorse the call for a ban: go to http://www.banterminator.org/endorse
3. Write a personalized letter. Remember: postage is free to your elected officials! You can use your postal code to search for your MP at http://www.parl.gc.ca (Note: The New Democratic Party and the Bloc Québécois already support a Ban on Terminator in Canada.) For more information see http://www.cban.ca/terminator
4. Distribute Ban Terminator postcards in your community! To order postcards email btpostcards@usc-canada.org
5. Donate to support the campaign -- the Canadian Biotechnology Action Network implements the Canadian strategy of the International Ban Terminator Campaign http://www.cban.ca/donate
6. Sign up to Ban Terminator news http://www.banterminator.org/subscribe
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, K2P 0R5
Phone: 613 241 2267 ext.5
coordinator@cban.ca, www.cban.ca
Free Apple Tree

Update: These trees will be pulled in the fall.  A small fee may be asked for by the farmer to replace topsoil.   For now, if you are interested send an email to growingfarmers@everdale.org with 'apple' as the subject and I will send updates as the fall nears. FGF needs a volunteer to coordinate interest and logistics of people interested in taking the trees. Please contact Harris if you would like to take this on.    Updates will be sent out through FGF as we get closer to the fall.

Hi Lauren,                                                   
Hope you and your beautiful family are all well and enjoying this fabulous spring weather.   

I am emailing you because Steve and I were at his cottage last weekend and speaking to Ralph their local contractor who  has been growing organic apples for the last 5 years.                   

He informed us that he is going to pull out 3500 apple trees  because there is a govt agency that will pay him money to take his trees out. They say there is too many apple orchards in Ontario?? I find that hard to believe but it's true.

Ralph said that if anyone wants some or all of the trees they can have them for FREE!       

Steve and I will probably take around 30 for our farm, but I thought maybe you or Cam might have an idea of some group or organization that might want these trees. In my romantic mind I see a couple apple trees in every school yard in Toronto. I don't know if that is possible but what a great dream.                                                       
He is planning on pulling them in the early fall which is also a good time to replant. The varieties that he has is: Jersey Mac, SpurMac, Mac Imperial, Courtland, Lobo, Spys, Empire, Russets,  Delicious red.                       
Let me know if there is anything you or Cam or anyone you know can do to say these trees. BTY they are organic as well.                                                       
Have a great day,                                                       
Karen                                                       
PS: hopefully see you all @ Eloise's 60th                                                       

*********************************                                                       
 

Events

Thursday May 8th - Hoop House Webinar

Thursday May 21st - 7 pm - New Farmers Panel and Presentation at the Big Carrot, Toronto

Field Trip Toronto Begins! - Offering Farm Tours to Folks Interested in Connecting with the source of their food

Selected Events from the EFAO's list - if you haven't joined yet you can today!  www.efao.ca

 

Thursday May 21st - 7 pm - New Farmers Panel and Presentation at the Big Carrot, Toronto

 New Farmer's Forum!


Have you ever been curious about what it's like to have your own farm, grow your own produce or raise your own animals?  Find out just what it takes to do this and prosper by meeting three local farmers and graduates of Farmer's Growing Farmers (FGF). Learn about Community Supported Agriculture (CSA), near-urban farming and what challenges and inspires these passionate growers. Find out how you can become more involved in your local food economy. Our forum includes Kris Dimnik of Heartwood Farm CSA , Tony Neale of Wheelbarrow Farm and Yehuda Nestel of Whole Village Farm as well as Wally Seccombe of Everdale Organic Farm and Environmental Learning Centre who will provide an overview of Agriculture in Canada.

 

 

Thursday May 8th - Hoop House Webinar

You're invited to a free webinar on Hoop Houses for Extending Your
Growing Season!

Register now (http://www.attra.ncat.org/webinars2009/hoophouses)

Hoop houses can help small-scale farmers grow more and extend their
season, bringing a higher price for crops and developing loyal
customers. Find out how hoop houses might benefit your crops in a
FREE 60-minute webinar from ATTRA -- National Sustainable Agriculture
Information Service.

Plan on attending Hoop Houses for Extending Your Growing Season to
learn why farmers across the country are already using hoop houses,
and if this low-cost tool will work for you. Crops grown in hoop
houses often produce larger yields and are of a higher quality than
field-grown crops. Crops can be ready for the market earlier,
capturing a higher price and building a customer base. Hoop houses
can also extend growing seasons, creating a yearlong crop in some
situations.

In the webinar, we'll cover:
- The uses and benefits of hoop houses, including increases in crop
quality and yields
- Different types of hoop houses
- Construction, materials and cost estimates
- Management of crops, soil fertility, pests and weeds
- The economics and marketing of crops

There will also be time to have your questions answered.

Your presenters for this webinar are NCAT horticulture specialists
Tammy Hinman and Andy Pressman. Hinman holds a Bachelor's degree from
Colorado State University in horticulture food crops and entomology
and a Master's degree in food system studies from Antioch University.
Pressman has a Master's in sustainable systems from Slippery Rock
University. He is a certified permaculture designer. Hinman and
Pressman both have market farming experience as well as experience
building and growing in hoop houses.

This free webinar will be held May 7 at 11 a.m. MDT. Please register
in advance at:
http://www.attra.ncat.org/webinars2009/hoophouses

TITLE: Hoop Houses for Extending Your Growing Season
WHEN:    Thursday, May 7, 11 a.m. MTD
WHERE:  http://www.attra.ncat.org/webinars2009/hoophouses

ATTRA - National Sustainable Agriculture Information Service is
managed by the National Center for Appropriate Technology (NCAT) and
is funded under a grant from the United States Department of
Agriculture's Rural Business-Cooperative Service

Forward email
http://ui.constantcontact.com/sa/fwtf.jsp?m=1011223551022&ea=davidwild%40rogers.com&a=1102553009441

 

Field Trip Toronto Begins! - Offerring Farm Tours to Folks Interested in Connecting with the source of their food 

For dates and more information check out: www.fieldtriptoronto.ca

Field Trip is an opportunity for 'city folk' to get out of the city and into the fields. 
It's an opportunity to get to know where our food is grown and who is growing it.

Field Trip is an opportunity for farmers to show + explain how food is grown and raised.
It's an opportunity for them to talk with + listen to their urban consumers.

Field Trip is a way for open dialogue to exist between consumer + producer so that we can all benefit from the growing season + our local agriculture.

 

 Selected Events from the EFAO's list - if you haven't joined yet you can today!  www.efao.ca
2. Edible Forest Planting Workshop -Chatsworth

May 9th (Saturday) - 9:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. at Aisling Keep Farm, in Chatsworth.
Learn how to design and plant small or large Forest Gardens in this one-day workshop, as instructor Brad Peterson discusses site design and soil preparation techniques, and participants learn best plant spacing, pollination and pest management practices through hands-on experience. Cost: $80.00 Registration: contact Stacie Constantine at (519) 599-3451 or halibut_hill@yahoo.ca www.bradpeterson.ca/events.
://www.attra.ncat.org/webinars2009/hoophouses

3. A Pasture Walk with Jack Kyle and Joel Bagg, OMAFRA - Warkworth

May 21st (Thursday)- 7:00 pm Come prepared for the weather!
Rain date: May 28th (Thursday) - 7:00 pm only in the event of torrential rain or lighteningat Scott Honey’s Farm 127 Honey Line, North of Warkworth, east 1 km on Honey Line off of Highway 25.
See first hand Scott’s success with his intensive rotational grazing system and hear about the improvements in both health and productivity of his 85 head beef cow-calf herd. Scott has successfully extended grazing days and reduced production costs by planting a variety of crops in his pasture. Jack Kyle and Scott will lead us on a tour of the pasture system and review the technical aspects of a successful rotational grazing system. At sunset we’ll join Joel Bagg in the driveshed to enjoy local, farm fresh, food and drink and take part in a an open discussion on forage production and improving the bottom line your farm’s ‘green acres’.

For more information contact: Carolyn Geer, 705-340-0970 or carolyn.geer@sympatico.ca.