Growing food – Page 6 – Moving to Conservers

Use Food Scraps Poster Unveil is this Friday at the TNRC meeting!
Gallery
Use Food Scraps Poster Unveil is this Friday at the TNRC meeting!

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

Use Food Scraps Poster Unveil is this Friday at the TNRC meeting!

In March, we hosted the Use Food Scraps symposium. A part of the event was an essay contest where members of our community gave suggestions for keeping food out of our landfill. Those suggestions have been used to create a community poster! We received a $100 donation to print the posters and the poster will be unveiled during our presentation to the Transylvania Natural Resource Council this Friday. Many thanks to everyone who made this possible and to Thea for using her skills to analyze these essays and bring them together as a community asset!

By Kim Coram|2019-09-10T12:51:44-04:00September 10th, 2019|Categories: Compost Drop-off Location, Composting, Connecting with nature, Food preservation, Growing food, Help a Neighbor, Moving to Zero-waste, Use Food Scraps|

Our gathering at Cup and Saucer was exciting!
Gallery
Our gathering at Cup and Saucer was exciting!

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

Our gathering at Cup and Saucer was exciting!

What a fantastic gathering at Cup and Saucer September 5th! Thanks to Gail for organizing our visit with them and thanks to Gail for purchasing a sampling of goodies for us to try. I know I am sold after trying their food. We enjoyed meeting Elisabeth, one of the owners. She explained all they do to reduce their waste and asked for input from us. We shared a few ideas and a joint event may be in the works! Pretty excited about it. We will announce more as it develops. Elisabeth shared they use Rooster Head Plantation's compost drop off for their food waste! Woo hoo! A few of us stepped up to take some of their compost. John and I are always looking for food scraps and coffee grounds to help with our soil production. Many thanks to all who made this possible and who shared the gift of community. It makes our world a better place.

By Kim Coram|2019-09-10T11:37:46-04:00September 10th, 2019|Categories: Compost Drop-off Location, Composting, Gatherings, Growing food, Help a Neighbor, Moving to Zero-waste, Use Food Scraps|

Rooster Head Plantation asked for help. We helped.
Gallery
Rooster Head Plantation asked for help. We helped.

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

Rooster Head Plantation asked for help. We helped.

Last week, Jacqui of Rooster Head Plantation asked if we could help with their community compost drop-off facility. "Sure" I said, "how can we help?" She told us some of the issues she was facing and we recommended signage and some gates to keep the compost in the bin, especially when the chickens work to mix it up. After enjoying a wonderful dinner, we headed to the compost drop-off site and got to work. James prepared to hang more signs James brought wood painted and ready to make signs and some giant markers. He also brought a drill and screws. We asked who had good hand writing and Justin stepped up and grabbed a marker and got to work making signs to help guide contributors to add wood chips to their donation. Su and Ed got to work turning the compost and soon a chicken joined in and started scratching around the pile. We had the site fixed-up in no time and Jacqui took some [...]

By Kim Coram|2019-08-12T14:58:04-04:00August 12th, 2019|Categories: Compost Drop-off Location, Composting, Gatherings, Growing food, Help a Neighbor, Moving to Zero-waste, Use Food Scraps, Zero-waste tips|

Making biochar at Mountain Speak Outpost and learning as a community how to use this incredible soil additive.
Gallery
Making biochar at Mountain Speak Outpost and learning as a community how to use this incredible soil additive.

Composting, Gatherings, Growing food, Moving to Zero-waste, Use Food Scraps, Zero-waste tips

Making biochar at Mountain Speak Outpost and learning as a community how to use this incredible soil additive.

Thanks to Mountain Speak Outpost for hosting our class on making biochar. Thanks to John for sharing his knowledge on making biochar. Biochar is a charcoal that is easily made. It is carbon-negative and has increased our garden’s yield. It also helps us reduce the amount of trash our household produces. We have created ½ bag of trash so far this year. Thanks to everyone who attended and thanks to Althea for sharing these photos! It was a wonderful evening.

By Kim Coram|2019-07-29T12:08:19-04:00July 29th, 2019|Categories: Composting, Gatherings, Growing food, Moving to Zero-waste, Use Food Scraps, Zero-waste tips|

On-Farm Composting Handbook
Gallery
On-Farm Composting Handbook

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

On-Farm Composting Handbook

Thanks Kenn Webb, the Transylvania County Solid Waste Director, for sharing this manual on composting! It is quite extensive. Farm Compost manual

By Kim Coram|2019-06-07T11:32:19-04:00June 7th, 2019|Categories: Composting, Growing food, Moving to Zero-waste, Use Food Scraps|

Garden Tours
Gallery
Garden Tours

Gatherings, Growing food, Moving to Zero-waste, Use Food Scraps

Garden Tours

A few years ago John and I started a garden. Now growing our own food takes an immense amount of our day and we love it. We learn every day. It is so rewarding to harvest and eat a meal from our yard. We have organized 2 garden tours this year, the first at our home and the second at Eagle Nest Academy. Torry has approached us about a garden tour at his home in August. I learn so much at the tours and have even scored some plants! Interested in hosting a tour? We can do some work for you while there or just stroll and learn. Let us know if you would like to host us for a gathering at your garden.

By Kim Coram|2019-06-03T15:37:15-04:00June 3rd, 2019|Categories: Gatherings, Growing food, Moving to Zero-waste, Use Food Scraps|

Moving to a zero-waste home
Gallery
Moving to a zero-waste home

Growing food, Moving to Zero-waste, Use Food Scraps

Moving to a zero-waste home

A little over 2 years ago, John and I decided to move towards being a zero-waste home. We had seen first hand the destruction fracking did to our community and learned that a lot of the drilling was done to get gas to crack to make plastic. I never gave using plastic a thought because we took it to the recycling center. We learned that since China stopped taking our plastic, there isn’t much of a market for it so it tends to go in the landfill or into the ocean. The more we studied, we started wondering where “away” was and what disposable meant. When we threw something away we realized it just left our presence and went to someone else’s, usually around minority communities. We concluded that nothing is disposable. Landfills are lined and capped with rubber so items don’t decay in them. It started to seem barbaric to send our trash somewhere to be covered and buried. That is civilized, we asked ourselves? So we [...]

By Kim Coram|2019-05-29T16:14:40-04:00May 29th, 2019|Categories: Growing food, Moving to Zero-waste, Use Food Scraps|

Eagle’s Nest Academy Garden Tour
Gallery
Eagle’s Nest Academy Garden Tour

Growing food

Eagle’s Nest Academy Garden Tour

Many thanks to Bella for taking us on a tour of the Eagle's Nest Academy garden. I learned so much. I saw plants and techniques I had read about in practice. I saw one technique I had never heard of which included burying a tree and planting on top of it. As it rots, it creates a rich community below it. Bella explained that perennial rows were planted in between annual planning areas to enhance soil stability. There was an immense amount of food planted. It was fascinating. Thanks to Bella for giving us the tour and sharing her knowledge.

By Kim Coram|2019-05-12T18:09:53-04:00May 9th, 2019|Categories: Growing food|