Plant give away through the Hunger Coalition response was extremely enthusiastic!

As mentioned in the last newsletter, members of Moving to Conservers gathered recently to pot plant starts donated by Gaia Herbs and the Transylvania Master Gardeners. This past Thursday we had the pleasure of giving out the plants at the Hunger Coalition’s weekly food distribution. Plants ready for delivery After receiving their food boxes, each driver was asked if they would like some plant starts so they could begin growing their own food. The response was extremely enthusiastic! Everyone was delighted to receive a choice of tomatoes, squash, zucchini, peppers, swiss chard, and/or herbs. In many cases, the recipients had garden space so were excited to receive some plants to start their own garden. For those that didn’t have a place to plant, we provided larger containers for them to transfer their plants. It was a great partnership between Moving to Conservers, Gaia Herbs, the Hunger Coalition, Roosterhead Plantation, and the Transylvania Master Gardeners. Our hope is that more people will begin to grow their own [...]

MASKS available!

Thanks to our Gail, I found cloth masks in Brevard: The Sew Shop, across from Food Matters, has them with ear loops and pockets to put old but cleaned N95s, coffee filters or dust filter masks from your garden shed. $10. See photo. Gravy, on Main Street, has tie-ons that avoid ear abrasion but the masks have no pockets. $8.95, benefit to C. Platt Girls and Boys Club. https://www.facebook.com/groups/WeAreBrevardNC/permalink/2946669858749431/ takes you direct to local mask makers. Some of them list attributes of their masks. Some donate to local charities. Cotton cloth masks HELP keep your germs to yourself, others’ germs from you, along with social distancing. They are improved by adding filtering material: those clean old N95 pieces, list filters, coffee filters. They do NOT stop corona virus germs, although they do add significant protection with your social distancing helps. On-line, a 15 minute search yields LOTS of options, some with additional filtering protection built in, often part of sale benefits corona-related charities. I searched under “ masks [...]

By |2020-05-23T14:05:34-04:00May 23rd, 2020|Categories: Help a Neighbor, Moving to Zero-waste, Zero-waste tips|

Compost Happens

Written by John Wiseman If you are wanting to grow wholesome food, beautiful pollinators, or trees and shrubs, they all need nourishment that in turn will nourish our bodies and souls. Lets think a bit longer term and start composting. It’s easy! We all have the ingredients around our abodes. They are: carbon, nitrogen, air, and water. Compost is a keystone building block to vital soil. Let’s just try getting the ingredients in good proportions and let the composting critters do 90% of the labor. Oh, the other 10% is up to us. The simplest composting starts with a layered pile of our ingredients. Start with a layer of cardboard, (worms love cardboard) scatter a few small diameter sticks on next, (to help with airflow) now start layering more carbon and nitrogen-rich materials to an approximate ratio of 25:1 – 30:1 carbon to nitrogen. The carbon content (other than the cardboard and sticks) are dry leaves, sawdust, or even shredded newspaper, the nitrogen content is our food scraps [...]

By |2020-05-25T13:40:20-04:00May 20th, 2020|Categories: Composting, Growing food, Moving to Zero-waste, Use Food Scraps, Zero-waste tips|

Honoring my Lebanese heritage: Harvesting grape leaves, remembering grandma and grandpa

My grandpa Coram was born in Lebanon. His family moved to the United States when he was an infant. Grandma’s family moved from Lebanon and settled in Jackson, Ohio, where she was born. Grandma always told people grandpa was born in Camel, West Virginia. When I asked her why she said their courthouse had burned down and all the records were lost. She feared he may be deported someday if folks knew where he was born, even though he was a legal resident. I thought she was being ridiculous. I don’t think that anymore, sadly. Anyone who knew them assumed their wedding was arranged. Grandpa was a practical joker. He lived life with joy. He was a great man. I have so much love for him I took his last name after my divorce. Grandma approached life differently. Some of my greatest life lessons came from my close relationship with her. I miss them both deeply and feel their presence at interesting times. My mother took on more [...]

By |2020-05-25T13:15:23-04:00May 20th, 2020|Categories: Food preservation, Growing food, Moving to Zero-waste|

Transylvania Shares Virtual Grand Opening scheduled for June 21st. Have stuff you want to share?

Transylvania Shares has scheduled its virtual grand opening for June 21st.  The board is working to get the website updated with items we have taken in and we are excited to share.  We are accepting donations and loans of items folks would like to contribute to the lending library.  If you have items you would like to share, please fill out this form and we will contact you:  https://movingtoconservers.com/have-an-item-you-would-like-to-donate-or-loan-to-transylvania-shares-let-us-know/ We look forward to hearing from you and sharing more stuff with the community.

By |2020-05-18T16:25:20-04:00May 18th, 2020|Categories: Help a Neighbor, Moving to Zero-waste, Sharing Club|

Logo coming soon. Would you like to help?

John Lawson recently contacted us and asked if he could design a logo for us.  He joined us on our last phone call and pitched the idea for the group and there was enthusiastic support for the idea.  John needs input from folks and asked for those interested in helping to contact him at [email protected] Please feel free to contact him and let's create a logo.  Thanks so much John for the offer.

By |2020-05-18T16:18:21-04:00May 18th, 2020|Categories: Help a Neighbor|

Plants ready for Hunger Coalition’s distribution this Thursday. Way to go!

Sunday, ten of us met at Rooster Head Plantation with masks and gloves to pot plants to be given away at this week's Hunger Coalition's food distribution.  We tracked our numbers to ensure we stayed within the Governor's guidelines for gatherings. Thanks to donations from Gaia Herbs, Master Gardeners, Moving to Conservers members, Rooster Head Plantation and others, we were able to plant over 50 plants to be given to those who are interested in growing their own food.  We used a lot of locally-made compost to fill the pots.  How super fantastic is that! We received an amazing assortment of herbs and vegetables.  We also received a large assortment of pots and plants to share those with folks who do not have a place to plant. While programs like this have been done in the past, their success is limited without encouragement and follow through.  We are working on that in hopes of building relationships and expanding the amount of food grown locally.  Bart of our local [...]

By |2020-05-18T17:04:21-04:00May 18th, 2020|Categories: Composting, Gatherings, Growing food, Help a Neighbor, Use Food Scraps|

Hunger Coalition food distribution dates

The Hunger Coalition of Transylvania County is continuing to provide food to those in need in the community.  We assemble food boxes using food from Manna as well as additional items purchased from grocery stores.  Donated funds from several organizations and local individuals have enabled us to supplement the boxes with additional fresh vegetables and fruits, as well as eggs and some dry goods.  Please help us get the word out to those who might need assistance now.  There are no questions asked regarding financial need.  Food recipients remain in their car and the food is loaded into the car for them. Upcoming COVID-19 Distribution dates: Thursday, May 14: Brevard Community Church 3:00 Thursday, May 14: Champion Pool in Rosman 3:00 Thursday, May 21: Brevard Community Church 3:00 Thursday, May 28: Brevard Community Church 3:00 Thursday, June 4: Brevard Community Church 3:00

By |2020-05-11T13:31:11-04:00May 11th, 2020|Categories: Help a Neighbor|

Moving to Conservers is looking for vegetable seedling donations. Join us Thursday for a conference call at 5:30 pm!

Our last gathering, via conference call, was absolutely fantastic.  Thanks to those who dialed in and shared your love and thoughts for our community.  An initiative that continues our work in the community was born and we are moving full speed ahead.  We are having another call this Thursday if you would like to join in the fun.  Here is a note Maureen sent out regarding the project.  Let us know if you would like to help! Moving to Conservers, a grassroots organization committed to community, sustainability and zero-waste, is working on an initiative to help people learn/start to grow their own food. If anyone has extra vegetable plant seedlings that you don't need the Conservers are looking for plant donations. These would be collected and then given to people interested in starting to grow their own food. If you have seedling donations let me know and we'll coordinate! We are hosting a conference call this Thursday at 5:30 pm. No internet is needed, just a telephone. We [...]

By |2020-05-11T12:45:02-04:00May 11th, 2020|Categories: Composting, Gatherings, Growing food, Help a Neighbor, Moving to Zero-waste, Use Food Scraps|
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