Conventional Farming isn't the problem, conventional thinking is...

Big Ol' Mess, just keeps gettin Bigger!
Massive Land Grab: Africa! Returns...
http://ping.fm/TXsip

Calling all young farmers!

The Movement is gaining traction...http://ping.fm/2SQ4G

Beet pong

Next time you have a big blow out, here's a good way to put all those lovely red cups back into commission: http://ping.fm/dQtHI

Howl at the Moon...

For the 1st time in 372 yrs this lunar eclipse will coincide w/ the Solstice! Geez, do I feel lucky...http://ping.fm/CDYGj

Uh oh...

Even Golden Boy's policy falls short on the issue of GMO's (prob b/c it remains largely a nat'l security issue): http://ping.fm/5QQOC

Mushrooms help make Meatless Mondays

Soon "Local" will join the ranks of "Natural", "Organic", and "Green" on our labels: http://ping.fm/gcUG3

The word on Inner City Farms

Great article on Food in Underserved Communities! Had a lil something to say about it: http://ping.fm/6QP73 farm garden grow

Support a good cause!

Please take out a minute to vote for your favorite finalist on the Scared Panda website (I'm partial to Growing Home...) http://ping.fm/rayal

Not too sure many can even say they knew about brtthe food crisis before this - in 2008...http://ping.fm/8Nryr

Enterprising Kitchen is closing!

An amazing organization that has served the area for nearly 15 yrs: http://ping.fm/lVrga

fresh

to death

Snowed in...can't wait till Spring...

A Green Celebration today @ Academy for Global Citizenship! 10-2p WeFarm will be there representing worms & the garden! http://bit.ly/ehp3JW

Check out Sara Gasbarra at Prairie Fire tonite! This is a GREAT program at Green City Market. Should be fun too! http://on.fb.me/hFV7f6

Much appreciation to the brave souls that made it last night to EverGreen! Great fun!
Stay tuned for future events: Jan - Fermentation Fest

Don't miss Growing a Party: EverGreen this Sat 12/4 at Grand St Gardens! RSVP now!
http://ping.fm/QFgGq

Some notes from the 1st annual Black Farmers and Urban Gardeners Conference in NYC: http://bit.ly/hDu9rW

13 things you might not have known about foods you LOVE and/or should LOVE: http://huff.to/dTiq9i

rootsforchristmas.com
HANDS DOWN, BEST IDEA FOR THE HOLIDAYS!
What better way celebrate LIFE...Let's hope this spreads around the nation

FYI Stargazers: TONIGHT ~2-3a http://ping.fm/M5cX3

"Urbanization is here to stay"
Hope not...
If so, we MUST do a MUCH better job!
http://bit.ly/9qmKT5

PLEASE DO THIS RIGHT NOW, THE VOTE IS TODAY

11/17 I've asked Senator Dick Durbin(202) 224-2152 and Senator Roland Burris(202) 224-2854 to support the Tester–Hagan Amendment and the Manager’s Amendment to the Food Safety Modernization Bill (S.510). This comes up for vote today or tomorrow. These amendments will help protect small & organic farmers that aren't the source of food safety problems in the first place! http://bit.ly/alnofP

THIS IS ONE OF THE BEST GUIDES I'VE SEEN FOR KICKING AMERICA'S MOST COMMON ADDICTION: SUGARS http://huff.to/9ULkZk

Besides hiding in most kitchen cabinets as a veggie quick-fix, BPA-filled cans overrun donations & community food banks http://bit.ly/9jeLUS

I triple dog dare ya: http://bit.ly/cOA1lS (5 foods you should avoid in 2010)

Kudos Ann Cooper! The Salad Bar in Every School Initiative application deadline is in 4 days! Please SPREAD THE WORD!
http://bit.ly/dm0nSD

Breanne Heath will be hosting a cold frame workshop this saturday 12p (5814 S. Wood St.)
You MUST RSVP! See ya there!
http://on.fb.me

PLEASE SPREAD THE WORD! Black Urban Farmer/Gardener Conf in NYC 11/18-20. May organize a caravan...Interested? http://bit.ly/coYRNm

Vegetables are the NEW meat! http://bit.ly/d5BweI

I give up:
Twinkie diet helps nutrition professor lose 27 pounds http://bit.ly/cre763

Next stop: ChiTown!
http://bit.ly/9vl904

Movie Nite at Growing Home!

Join us at Growing Home's Wood St. Urban Farm for a screening of the film "The Garden" (http://ping.fm/Zt0R1) this Wed 11/3 at 4p. A short discussion of the film will follow.

This FREE event is a community potluck so please bring a healthy and tasty dish!

Growing Home provides job training for homeless and low-income individuals in Chicago through a social enterprise business based on organic agriculture. Our program provides experiential learning opportunities and employment in the horticulture field as well as a unique job readiness curriculum that helps reintroduces participants back into the workforce.

We look forward to seeing you there!

http://ping.fm/bOJpQ

Ever wonder why only a HANDFUL of animal species actually live anywhere near large groups of humans? BIODIVERSITY NOW! http://bit.ly/a9c1ZX

WORLD VEGAN DAY! Ya don't have to BE one to try it! What do you prefer in cake: Chicken Embryo or Applsauce? Just sayin http://bit.ly/csYDrd

Time for 4-Season Gardening...

WHITNEY YOUNG HS DOING BIG THINGS!!

http://bit.ly/a0S5du

BEST TED TALK I'VE SEEN: The roots of plant intelligence (THANKS THETIS!) http://bit.ly/9lOgnU

RT @Thetis Sammons: "To save our U.S. and global economy we must invest more in the tradables sector. Fresh perishable food is not considered tradables and it relies on strong local infrastructure to prosper. But process, extract, preserve and package and voila!!! you have a tradables commodity... people can swap and gamble on. See where this is headed." http://bit.ly/d1yrDQ

Analyses have revealed that between 25% and 60% of the final price of food stocks are transportation costs. For decades the government has only invested in the non-tradable sector concentrated in cities, while the rural sector was only inv...ested in to be export oriented with large scale factory farms growing commodities to be processed and traded upon by Wall Street and the world trading houses.
The expansion of municipal infrastructure in now empty convention centers and unused baseball parks to the exclusion of rural development has left us with a crippled sub performing local economy, with food deserts, continual waste and loss of valuable resources and effort due to dilapidated infrastructure and lack of government and community support.
Small farms and local businesses rely on government spending and locally provided infrastructure and services to make up for the lack of overall investment in their businesses over the last 40 years by the economy at large.
To say we need to again repeat the mistakes that brought us to our knees and shrink government spending at the local level, and rewrite the same old policies to yet again reinvest in the tradables sector is serving the mistakes of the past baked in a pie.
Human beings are designed to eat fresh, naturally grown "perishable" food that is full of live enzymes, vitamins, minerals, saponins, flavonoids, plant esters that can't be made in a lab, and a host of other elements, and believe it or not, coated in healthy residual soil fungi and bacteria.
Chemically adulterating and exponentially changing the world food supply so it can be made into non-perishable, tradeable commodities to create artificial, non-sustainable economies has lead to poorer health, declining mental and moral capacity of the human race, and social, cultural and ethno bankruptcy.

WeFarm @ Orozco Academy

A couple of weeks ago, WeFarm began installation of 15 garden beds at Orozco Community Academy in Pilsen (on 18th and Damen). We began by installing 4 raised beds in the front of the school. During the following three workdays, we undertook the more arduous task of installing 11 trapezoidal raised beds on a small hill behind the school. This endeavor marks the first time that WeFarm has built terraced AND trapezoidal raised beds. Impressed? The project attracted a lot of positive attention from the community and passersby during our various, sweltering work days; we even made a few friends who were impressed by our work. However, the principal at Orozco said it best: the end result was “shocking”.

Here are a few pictures to give you a glimpse of how the project developed (sorry for any sweat on the lens!)

Our first day with the kids at Orozco: Seneca asks the kids to puttheir hands and plants in during a pre-build pep talk.

Spacing out the front beds. WeFarmers and Elev8ers rummaged through the neighbors' recycling for discarded boxes. WeFarm recycles the cardboard to make a biodegradable weed barrier for the bottom of every bed.

.

Plantingwas definitely the kids' favorite activity: shoveling soil and pushing wheelbarrows...not so much. Here, we have some lessons in transplanting heirloom tomato and pepper varieties. It was refreshing to see such enthusiasm from these six graders.

Finished product: planted, seeded, and watered. A few marigold seeds here and there...and that rounded out Day 1.

Who's idea was it to put garden beds on an incline? Fortunately, we had a steady supply of eager students begging for us to put a shovel in their hand. Here: students are leveling out the soil, getting the bed ready for some veggies. Majority of these trapezoidal beds had a regional vegetable theme (ex: African, Asian, and Latin American).

Strategic planning/planting with a smile.

End of Day 4. All that awaits our garden is a top layer of mulch and a lot of love over the summer months.

In the coming weeks we will see the installation of a rain catchment system. Funds permitting, the school will also get an irrigation system to ensure that their new crops are well tended throughout the scorching summer. Keep your hands in the soil...

A New Day

It starts today.
We must pledge to take a stand.
Change doesn't come.
It is made.
Plant the seed(s).

The growing season has arrived....


"This is your world. Shape it or someone else will."
Gary Lew