Growing food – Page 5 – Moving to Conservers

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

Composting, Gatherings, Growing food, Help a Neighbor, Use Food Scraps

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

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

Composting, Gatherings, Growing food, Help a Neighbor, Moving to Zero-waste, Use Food Scraps

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

Home composting tips shared
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Home composting tips shared

Composting, Growing food, Help a Neighbor, Moving to Zero-waste, Use Food Scraps

Home composting tips shared

One of our members shared a link about home composting that is mighty impressive. She thought others might enjoy the information and asked if we could pass it on so here it is: https://ilsr.org/home-composting/ I hope you find it helpful. We have plenty of local experts in Conservers if you are interested in starting your own. Let us know by emailing [email protected]. Thanks!

By Kim Coram|2020-05-11T12:26:29-04:00May 11th, 2020|Categories: Composting, Growing food, Help a Neighbor, Moving to Zero-waste, Use Food Scraps|

Virus Victory Garden videos by our local extension agent
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Virus Victory Garden videos by our local extension agent

Growing food

Virus Victory Garden videos by our local extension agent

Bart Renner, our local extension agent was kind enough to spend a few moments on the phone with me recently. I was reaching out to see if he had any more worms for sale as someone in our community was looking for a supply. Bart told me he has been busy with Victory Garden questions and started a library of videos to share in response. He shared the link to the videos and I wanted to pass it along. Thanks Bart! https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLcmAd0zG3Xuq8eELYWBJ-rII7fpGiSsdg Bart Renner Transylvania County Extension Director North Carolina Cooperative Extension NC State University 828-884-3109 http://transylvania.ces.ncsu.edu

By Kim Coram|2020-05-11T13:22:23-04:00May 11th, 2020|Categories: Growing food|

Celebrate Earth Day by making a commitment to keep food out of the landfill. Go team!
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Celebrate Earth Day by making a commitment to keep food out of the landfill. Go team!

Compost Drop-off Location, Composting, Growing food, Help a Neighbor, Moving to Zero-waste, Use Food Scraps

Celebrate Earth Day by making a commitment to keep food out of the landfill. Go team!

Happy Earth Day! I hope everyone is finding a way to celebrate Earth Day. This is certainly different than the Earth Day we had planned. Our phone has been ringing a lot and we are excited by the energy in our community to care for each other. We have also heard the dire projections of hunger that may be in the world's future. What can one person do? Here is a suggestion. Use your food scraps to help grow more food locally. It is a great start and can have a huge impact. It is estimated 25 - 40 percent of our landfill is food. Imagine if we diverted that food locally to feed livestock and make soil so that we can grow more food for our community. If you can start a compost bin in your own space, that is great. Need help? Let us know by giving us a call at 828-966-5367. Don't have space to create your own? There are drop off stations in our [...]

By Kim Coram|2020-04-22T17:01:54-04:00April 22nd, 2020|Categories: Compost Drop-off Location, Composting, Growing food, Help a Neighbor, Moving to Zero-waste, Use Food Scraps|

Family fun and education
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Family fun and education

Connecting with nature, Gatherings, Growing food, Help a Neighbor, Moving to Zero-waste

Family fun and education

With social distancing being our new normal and having our grandchildren for 7 days we have taken this opportunity to teach them a few things in between their online schooling. We worked with them as we planted potatoes, asparagus, onions, and rhubarb. We have a trail in our yard and they have hiked and biked it and recently we took them rock climbing for the first time on a small ledge in our yard. We live on the continental divide and it is a wondrous place. It backs up to Mountain Bridge Wilderness and it is wild. They have learned to make homemade noodles and pizza in our wood-fired pizza oven. It is a joy to mentor them and spend time with them. We have also spent a lot of time on the phone checking in on neighbors and family. It is nice to have conversations instead of text and emails, which we get occasionally when we drive to wifi access. I am deeply touched by the amount [...]

By Kim Coram|2020-03-24T15:00:58-04:00March 24th, 2020|Categories: Connecting with nature, Gatherings, Growing food, Help a Neighbor, Moving to Zero-waste|

Growing soil, feeding our community family
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Growing soil, feeding our community family

Compost Drop-off Location, Composting, Food preservation, Growing food, Help a Neighbor, Moving to Zero-waste, Use Food Scraps

Growing soil, feeding our community family

Five years ago at this time, John and I were not cutting seed potatoes getting them ready to plant on St. Patrick's Day. We were not adding coffee grounds from the local cafe to our compost facility. We did have a small compost pile but we were not working it. Now it is a part-time job for John. Well, maybe not but my husband makes a darn good soil, something I would not have appreciated five years ago. I didn’t think much about soil. I have gardened for years but didn’t understand the value of good soil. I do now. Almost 3 years ago we started having zero-waste potlucks with 8 or so friends and studied the Post Carbon Institute’s online video course Think Resilience. It focused on life after fossil fuels. It was thought-provoking. As part of the study, the course had the group answer the question, “What do you wish you would have learned to do in school?” Almost all of us said we wanted to [...]

By Kim Coram|2020-03-18T12:55:05-04:00March 18th, 2020|Categories: Compost Drop-off Location, Composting, Food preservation, Growing food, Help a Neighbor, Moving to Zero-waste, Use Food Scraps|

A gathering and brainstorming at Davidson River School
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A gathering and brainstorming at Davidson River School

Compost Drop-off Location, Composting, Gatherings, Growing food, Help a Neighbor, Moving to Zero-waste, Use Food Scraps, Zero-waste tips

A gathering and brainstorming at Davidson River School

On November 7, 2019, a dozen or so of us enjoyed a potluck dinner with Barbara Grimm, principal of Davidson River School, at the school. Barb worked with us on our Use Food Scraps Symposium in March and recently reached out and asked us to visit the school to help them find ways to reduce their waste. What a beautiful school. There were definitely some conversations about how nice it is. As always, we enjoyed a wonderful meal. As always, we brought our own non-disposable place settings and left no clean-up for our host. We enjoyed listening to Barb as she explained the climate change curriculum the school was teaching in December. She asked us for help and ideas for next steps towards waste reduction. Our members were full of great ideas. The school recently received a grant for a greenhouse and we discussed ways they could divert their food scraps to a compost facility, we could help them construct. We have done a few in the community [...]

By Kim Coram|2019-11-10T13:46:21-05:00November 10th, 2019|Categories: Compost Drop-off Location, Composting, Gatherings, Growing food, Help a Neighbor, Moving to Zero-waste, Use Food Scraps, Zero-waste tips|

Not everything should be convenient
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Not everything should be convenient

Connecting with nature, Gatherings, Growing food, Help a Neighbor, Moving to Zero-waste, Sharing Club

Not everything should be convenient

A friend recently mentioned a book she read, Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer. I have made a goal to read more so I went to the library and checked it out. Robin is a scientist, a Distinguished Teaching Professional of Environmental Biology and a member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation. The book compares the scientific communities views on biology to those of her nation. It talks about the community between plants and humans and how they have evolved. It talks about the honor and gratitude they have for each other. She talks about going out in the Spring to harvest leeks. She uses a hand trowel instead of a shovel. While a shovel would make quick work of the harvest it would also shorten her time in the woods. She says, “Not everything should be convenient.” Indeed. In our convenience economy that is a soothing message to hear, more as a form of reinforcement than a new message for me. My husband John and I have changed [...]

By Kim Coram|2019-10-07T14:10:23-04:00October 7th, 2019|Categories: Connecting with nature, Gatherings, Growing food, Help a Neighbor, Moving to Zero-waste, Sharing Club|

Waste Less. Save More. Poster Unveiled!
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Waste Less. Save More. Poster Unveiled!

Composting, Food preservation, Growing food, Help a Neighbor, Moving to Zero-waste, Use Food Scraps

Waste Less. Save More. Poster Unveiled!

Thank you everyone who shared their ideas in our Use Food Scraps Essay Contest. Thanks to Althea for analyzing the essays (she said she teared up when reading them) and creating this fantastic poster AND presenting it to the Transylvania Natural Resource Council today. Thanks to Jinx for funding the printing! What an amazing community we have and how awesome it is when we come together and share our love.

By Kim Coram|2019-09-13T15:20:30-04:00September 13th, 2019|Categories: Composting, Food preservation, Growing food, Help a Neighbor, Moving to Zero-waste, Use Food Scraps|