Bountiful Baskets! What a Deal!

I’m always hearing how expensive it is to buy local, farm fresh produce. Is that really true? Here’s “Part 2” of my fact finding mission!  (click here to read "Part 1")

Here’s what I did…

On September 10, 2013, I picked up my weekly delivery of local, farm fresh produce from Live Power Farm’s CSA and catalogued what was in my basket. The basket was overflowing this week with summertime treats!… There were Lambkin and Tasty Bite melons, 3 ears of corn, 2 cucumbers, 1.5# potatoes, 1 eggplant, 2 sweet peppers, 3 summer squash, 1 large head of lettuce, 6 stems of chard, 3 radishes, a small bunch of arugula, a small bunch of Asian greens (tatsoi), 2# of slicing tomatoes, 2 spicy peppers, 1 basket of cherry tomatoes, and a head of garlic. 

With this list in hand, I then headed out to our local grocery store, Ukiah Natural Foods Co-op. This store has beautiful, organic produce… though only some is LOCAL produce. Here are a few notes about my procedure: 1) I didn’t find exactly the same items at the Co-op as were in my CSA basket. For example, they did not have Lambkin or Tasty Bite melons, only Honeydew. 2) The Co-op did not have any corn on the cob or Asian greens, though they were in my Live Power CSA basket… I just estimated that 3 ears of corn would be about $1.00 on sale at a big grocery… I simply left out the Asian greens. And 3) I did my best to check for size and weight that matched up with what was in my CSA basket.

And now… check out the results of my point-in-time price comparison survey.

Fresh Produce	Ukiah Natural Foods Co-op
Lambkin melon	4.87
Tasty Bite melon	4.87
Corn	1.00*
Cucumbers	2.00
Potatoes	.65
Eggplant	2.30
Sweet peppers	1.40
Summer squash	2.00
Green Leaf lettuce	1.85
Chard	2.29
Radishes	.50
Arugula	.15
Tatsoi (Asian greens)	*
Tomatoes	8.38
Spicy peppers	.75
Cherry tomatoes	5.00
Garlic	.78
TOTAL for Live Power CSA  $22.66	TOTAL for Co-op  $38.79

I have to say that I am pleased to be eating local, farm fresh, AFFORDABLE produce from Live Power Farm’s CSA. I even saved $16.13 buying from a CSA! Plus, I enjoy knowing exactly where my food is coming from and to be in a relationship with local farmers.

Are you interested in joining a CSA? Check out the complete listing of Mendocino County CSA’s in the Local Food Guide.

Follow the BEET!

Did you see our team walking in the Human Race Event on May 4^th? In case you missed us, we were the ones wearing fruit and vegetable shirts and hats!

Our team raised over $4500!!! for the Farmers’ Market Food Stamp Match Program… a program that encourages families to use their CalFresh/EBT funds to purchase fruits, vegetables, meat, and plant starts at the farmers’market… by matching their EBT charges with up to $15 in “farmers’ market bucks”… great for family’s health and great for supporting our local farm businesses!

Our fundraising team was a huge collaboration between local businesses (like local farm vendors, the Westside Renaissance Market, and Parducci Winery), local healthcare clinics and staff (like Hillside Health Clinic and ARCH’s Healthcorps Navigators), local agencies (like NCO and the Planning and Prevention Unit at Mendocino County’s Public Health Dept.), as well as individuals from across the community.

Want to learn more about this program? Interested in donating? Check it out on the Farmers’ Market Food Stamp Match Program webpage.

First Annual Farmers Convergence Destined to Be a Repeat Event

 

Something special happened on Friday, March 1: farmers and the people who work with them came from all over the North Coast to spend a day together. It wasn't a meeting. It wasn't a conference. It was a convergence – of people, ideas, and inspiration.

The First Annual North Coast Farmers Convergence was hosted by North Coast Opportunities, with many community sponsors including Barra Winery in Redwood Valley where the event was held.

"We didn't want this to be just another meeting," said Miles Gorden, Gardens Project Coordinator. "We knew that the experts would be the folks in the room, and the real value was in getting them to talk to each other."

The idea struck a chord, with so many people registering for the free event that there was a waiting list to attend. In all, 150 people from Mendocino, Lake, Napa, Sonoma, and Humboldt counties came together to exchange ideas and talk about the future of farming in Northern California. The day ended with live music, local beer and wine, and a delicious "farm to table" dinner prepared by Tamara Frey Catering. 

Connections were made throughout the day among farmers, suppliers, and organizations such as Community Alliance with Family Farmers. Several people commented that they met people they'd heard about or wanted to meet for years. In one case, a year-old dispute was resolved when it was discovered that the root of the problem was a simple miscommunication between two people who had never met in person before.

According to Farm to Fork Coordinator, Susan Lightfoot, "This turned out better than anything we could have imagined." The sentiment was echoed across the board by participants. "I've never been to such a well-organized event," said one participant. "They really hit it out of the park."

Another participant commented on the immediate benefits of the convergence: "I met so many fabulous people and felt inspired and energized. Plus, I got a new client!"

It might have been ambitious to call this a "first annual" event, but the organizers took a leap of faith and landed on solid ground. Throughout the day, participants were buzzing about how to build on the day's success: whether they could do quarterly convergences, or replicate the event in another county, or even create multi-day retreats around the same concept.

A repeating theme that came up in discussion throughout the day was that farmers need to work cooperatively instead of competitively. With a growing emphasis in modern society on both eating locally and building community, the First Annual Farmers Convergence is sure to be just that: the first in a series of inspired events that bring North Coast farmers together. 

A huge thank you to all who contributed:

-Shamrock Artisan Goat Cheese

-Ocean Harvest Seaweed

-Bohemian Creamery

-Gowans Apples

-Lagunitas Brewery

-Mendocino Brewing Company

-Mendocino Organics

-Magruder Ranch

- Mendo Lake Credit Union

 -Savings Bank

-  Ukiah Natural Foods

-West Side Renaissance Market

-West Company
-Community Alliance with Family Farmers

Click here read more!

Click here to see pictures from the event!

Garden Leaders On The Rise! Pt. III

The Leadership Council of local garden leaders is growing in strength, knowledge, and abilities.  In the third session of our Garden Leadership training series, our 20 plus garden leaders joined together to share strategies and practice their skills at Effective Leadership - focusing on conflict resolution, organizing and running effective meetings, and organizing work parties at their gardens.

Since the Leadership series began in January, many of these Garden Leaders have taken over the tasks of The Gardens Project staff and organized and lead their first garden meetings, organized and lead garden clean up days, solicited donations and volunteer recruitment, practiced their hands at being listeners, problem solvers, and conflict resolvers.  Go gardeners!  Their homework between now and our July 18th meeting - organize and hold a new work party in your garden!

Additionally, these leaders have begun a PhotoVoice project where they will document their experiences by taking photos in the gardens and of their community members at work in the gardens.   These photos, with their interpretations will be presented at the end of the training series and used to advance the movement of creating greater access to land for more gardens throughout our region.

Up next in the training series:  Market Opportunities.  Our Garden Leaders will meet at a community, commercial kitchen, learn how to use it for preservation, and the safety and labeling requirements for sales at Farmer's Markets and retail outlets.  For more information on the Garden Leadership Training series, see our previous posts under Garden Leadership Training.