Branching out into the world…

by

In The News: The Goatscaping Company

How goats are boldly going where no one has gone before…

Elaine Philbrick and Jim Cormier made the news with their local business, The Goatscaping Company, which keeps their herd of goats at Colchester Neighborhood Farm.  The story behind the business, some great photos, and even a video!

Read more: http://www.wickedlocal.com/plymouth/news/x980103332/NEW-BUSINESS-The-Goatscaping-Company#ixzz2hVxwgomL

by

The Goatscaping Company

Volunteers Elaine and Jim have created their own company… using their alpines that live at Colchester.

Their tagline for “The Goatscaping Company” is:

Goatscaping is just what it sounds like!
Why wreck equipment, risk injuries or blast your brush with chemicals when nimble adorable goats can do all the work for you?

581358_226090737533242_1290382096_n
Mission

We strive to provide the simplest turn-key goat clearing you’ll find!  Our goat-wranglers will make sure your clearing project goes ahead quickly and efficiently.  Goatscaping means a green and fun solution to managing invasives, tough inclines, poison ivy, woody brush and overgrown areas.

Description

Let us convince you that goatscaping is effective and customizable to any job or space.  Our goats are lively and personable.  We understand the aesthetic needs of your business, club or community.  Goatscaping is green and draws interest!

View pictures, comments, and more at https://www.facebook.com/goatscaping
by

South Shore Locavores

People have mentioned frequently that they would like to eat more organic food but that it is too expensive… the following may help…

The next session of the South Shore Locavores seeries is coming right up on Thursday, January 17th, at the Beal House, 222 Main Street, Kingston.  This session is “Going Organic on a Budget, with Kristi Marsh.”

This month we hear from popular speaker Kristi Marsh about ways to move toward an organic lifestyle without breaking your budget.  Kristi is the author of Little Changes: tales of a reluctant home eco-momics pioneer.

Kristi says of her organization Choose Wiser:  “The good news is that the Choose Wiser philosophy is about little changes (not guilt).  Pick one or two places to start selecting simpler products and find healthier, kinder options.  Celebrate your progress, pat yourself on the back.  Replace, celebrate, repeat.  Any movement forward is worth celebrating.“

Copies of Kristi’s book will be available for purchase. As always, great door prizes, too!

Love to cook? Please feel free to bring a dish to share to any of the gatherings.  There will be time at the beginning and end of each meeting for Munching and Mingling.  Coffee is provided courtesy of Jim’s Organic Coffee in Wareham.  Cider is provided courtesy of South Shore Locavores.  

TEAM UP AGAINST HUNGER: In an effort to help fight hunger on the South Shore, we will be collecting non-perishable foods at the beginning of each gathering to donate to the Greater Plymouth Food Warehouse.  If you can, please bring a can.

The gatherings are free.  However, if you are able, a donation of $5 will be gratefully accepted to help cover expenses.  Any surplus will be used towards library book purchases.  South Shore Locavores is a collaboration between the Kingston Public Library and edible South Shore magazine.

by

The Cornucopia Institute

It may be too late for people to make the requested donations but at least be aware of this organization!
Dear Cornucopia friends,
I’m writing to ask for your support and to tell you a story.
Do you remember when your farming transition to organics began, or when you decided that eating better food was vitally important to your family’s well-being?  And do you remember what event brought you to The Cornucopia Institute?  Perhaps it was learning about factory farms producing “organic” milk, deceiving consumers in the marketplace and placing farmers at a competitive disadvantage?  Maybe it was discovering brands like Kashi or Silk (owned by Kellogg’s and Dean Foods/WhiteWave respectively) were scamming customers by using conventional and/or genetically engineered ingredients in their “natural” products or importing commodity ingredients from China?  Or perhaps it was our namebrand scorecards helping you patronize brands that support the true heroes in this business: family-scale organic farmers?
Bill and Essie Welsh
I know what brought my good friend Bill Welsh to Cornucopia’s Board of Directors.  And I want to tell you his story (sadly, he passed away in 2011 so he can’t do it himself).  Bill’s roots were deep in the soil surrounding Lansing, Iowa.  Decades ago, before he made the switch to organics, almost all of his cattle experienced a health crisis and then suddenly died.  It turned out that the animals had eaten hay contaminated with a minute amount of a common pesticide.  When he researched the material he found out it was one of the same chemicals he studied in biological warfare school during the Korean War!  He swore he would never bring toxic poisons onto his farm again.
Bill went on to help found the CROPP cooperative (Organic Valley) and serve as a charter member of the USDA’s National Organic Standards Board (NOSB). Bill knew organics.  And I’ve never met a more ethical farmer.
So why did he join our board?  When I asked him he said he didn’t understand some of the leaders of organic businesses anymore.  “It’s all about market share.”  And then he went on to say, “What we’re doing at Cornucopia is so darn important …. because no one else is doing it.”
I miss Bill.  He was not just a friend, he was a mentor.  A true organic pioneer.  His words still guide us and his son, Gary, carries on his farming ethic on the land he loved in Iowa.
We’ve taken a lot of heat over the years from the Organic Trade Association (OTA), the lobby group for corporate organics, and a number of the agribusinesses that benefit from the USDA looking the other way in terms of enforcement of federal organic regulations.  We’ve even been criticized by some other nonprofits (many of whom receive donations from the same corporations that control the OTA), telling us to sit down, shut up and clap louder . It seems that some in this industry would rather maintain their lucrative revenue stream rather than fight for organic integrity.  And although some have even threatened to sue us, they’ve never found anything untrue in our research.  And every step of the way, Bill Welsh and thousands of other organic farmers stood with Cornucopia in our mission.  Whatever power we have comes not only from our farmer members but from our urban-allies: those customers of healthful, nutrient-dense food, who stand with us as well.
As we near the end of 2012, please make a gift today to help us continue to protect the integrity of the good food movement.  A gift of any size helps!
Wishing you and your family a happy and healthy 2013,
Image Mark Kastel Codirector – The Cornucopia Institute
P.S. — For those of you who have already made a year-end gift to The Cornucopia Institute, we thank you and ask that you please forward this message to a friend. The more people we have in our camp, the stronger we’ll be in the fight to protect the integrity of the organic, local, and sustainable food movement.
The Cornucopia Institute is recognized by the IRS as a tax-exempt 501(c)(3) public interest group.  Donations are tax-deductible to the full extent of law.
P.O. Box 126 Cornucopia, Wisconsin 54827 www.cornucopia.org
by

Village Connections

Your online update from New England Village.

Colchester Neighborhood Farm
Colchester Neighborhood Farm
We’re learning that there’s truth to the statement “a farmer’s work is never done!”
Click here to see what’s been happening out at our farm so far this spring.
 
Colchester Neighborhood Farm participants
 
 
 
Want to show your support for NEV’s Colchester Neighborhood Farm?
Click here for CSA information and tax-deductible membership opportunities.
by

New England Village Partners With Colchester Neighborhood Farm

The front page of today’s Halifax–Plympton Reporter features our newly created partnership with New England Village.

As the warm weather of spring approaches work on Plympton’s Colchester Neighborhood Farm intensifies. But this year it is a little different.

Jan. 1, New England Village, a human-service agency based in Pembroke that supports adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities, signed a lease agreement with the owner to take over the 8-acre Baystate Organic Certified Farm. In addition, New England Village retained Kingston resident and farm manager Connie Maribett, who has been operating the farm with her husband, Ron, since 2000.

Click HERE to read the entire article and view photos!

by

Arcadian Fields Job Opportunity

Arcadian Fields, a smallish organic veggie farm, is looking for one
very part time EXPERIENCED helper to wreak havoc in the fields and get
a lot of things done –  fun, fast, perfectly!  The pay is not bad and
I’ll give you veggies too.

Founded in 1998, Arcadian Fields is a 4 acre farm run by Diana Kushner.

94 Blitzkrieg Trail
Hope Valley, RI

Email Diana – djkushner4@gmail.com

***
Lands Jobs Stuff – RI/MA
Subscribe/archives: http://groups.google.com/group/landsjobstuff/

by

Herb Study ~ Intern Opportunity in Ohio ~ Spring & Fall 2012

Spring Session: Spring session will run April 30 through June 22, 2012 (application deadline April 15th).  The Spring Session will be split into two 4-week sessions.  You can apply for the first 4-week session or the second 4-week session or the full 8-weeks.

Fall Session: Fall session will run for 6-weeks, from September 3 through October 12, 2012 (application deadline August 1st).

Hard Working?  Motivated to learn about medicinal plants?  Want an opportunity to live and work on United Plant Savers’ 360-acre Goldenseal Botanical Sanctuary in Ohio?

Interns work 30 hours/week doing a variety of medicinal plant conservation and cultivation projects.  Interns will be expected to work 28 – 30 hours a week doing:

  •  medicinal plant conservation and cultivation work
  • building and maintaining the medicine trails
  • doing greenhouse work
  • planting and maintaining a vegetable garden
  • maintaining and improving the Sanctuary landscape
  • assisting in the development of Sanctuary interpretive materials and much more all under the supervision of UpS Sanctuary staff
  • Much of the work is physically strenuous and interns will be expected to be self-motivated. 

In addition, interns will learn medicinal plant identification, sustainable wild harvesting principals and practices, medicine making and participate in classes and conferences at the Sanctuary and at neighboring herbal centers.  Interns will have the opportunity to work on and help design interpretive materials for the “Talking Forest Trail Project” that will add lasting value to the Sanctuary.  Interns will also have weekly educational presentations from local herbal experts as well as opportunities to attend related presentations and events such as the Ohio Pawpaw Festival as they occur.

The cost for the spring session is $400.00 for 4-weeks or $800.00 for 8-weeks and the fall program is $600.00 for the 6-weeks payable before program begins.  In addition, interns will be responsible for all expenses (i.e. transportation, food).  We will be accepting 6 – 8 interns for each session.  Shared rooms are available, as is camping space, toilets, hot showers, cooking and eating facilities.  This is a unique opportunity for intensive learning and we expect this program will fill quickly.  Interns must be at least 18 years of age.

Betzy Bancroft
Office Manager
United Plant Savers
802-476-6467
office@unitedplantsavers.org

by

South Shore Locavores: Know Your CSA Farmers

Tuesday February 28, 2012
7:00pm to 8:30pm
Beal House
222 Main Street
Kingston, MA  02364 

The next session of South Shore Locavores is coming right up on Tuesday February 28th.  This session will feature farmers in our area who offer memberships in their CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) farms, a popular and effective way of supporting local agriculture while ensuring a reliable supply of fresh produce from a local source. 

Rise and Shine Farm in Marshfield, Colchester Farm in Plympton, Sawchuk Farm in Plympton, Weir River Farm in Hingham, Norwell Farms, and South Shore Organics in Duxbury will all be represented. There will also be information about Community Supported Fisheries (CSFs) and grain cooperatives.

Anyone who signs up for a CSA membership at the event will receive a copy of the Edible Cookbook, a $30 value, while supplies last. 

Our South Shore Locavores Swap Table was introduced at your suggestion at the end of the last season. This month the theme is “Kitchen Gadgets and Utensils.” 

Love to cook? Please feel free to bring a dish to share to any of the gatherings. There will be time at the beginning and end of each meeting for Munching and Mingling.  Coffee is provided courtesy of Jim’s Organic Coffee in Wareham.  Cider is provided courtesy of South Shore Locavores. 

TEAM UP AGAINST HUNGER: In an effort to help fight hunger on the South Shore, we will be collecting non-perishable foods at the beginning of each gathering to donate to the Greater Plymouth Food Warehouse.  If you can, please bring a can.  This is a critical time of year and the need is great. 

The gatherings are free.  However, if you are able, a donation of $5 will be gratefully accepted to help cover expenses.  Any surplus will be used towards library book purchases.  South Shore Locavores is a collaboration between the Kingston Public Library and edible South Shore magazine.

by

Soule Homestead February Vacation Week Program

SOULE HOMESTEAD EDUCATION CENTER
February Vacation Week Program Planned
Tuesday, February 21st – Friday, February 24th
9:30am – 12 noon
46 Soule St. Middleboro, MA  02346.

Get your children outside having fun while still learning about our natural environment. 

The Soule Homestead Education Center is now enrolling children ages 5 -10, for the environmental based outdoor February Vacation Week Program.  Children will learn to use binoculars and magnifying glasses to explore the fields of the 120 acre organic farm looking for signs of winter animals and bugs.  Adventures unfold as children hike Soule’s ¾ mile nature trail.  Inside programs include hands-on activities.

Pre-registration is highly recommended by calling the Children’s Educator, Laurie Amberman at 508-947-6744. 

More info at www.soulehomestead.org

by

Bridgewater State University Center for Sustainability

Take a look at Ron on YouTube talking about Organic Farming…
lights, camera, action!!

Bridgewater State University has an entire series hosted by Dr. Deniz Zeynep Leuenberger about the facets of developing and maintaining a sustainable community.  Below is the entire set of interviews including one by James Hayes-Bohanan who is a Colchester member.

Dr. Ed Brush
http://www.youtube.com/watch Ed Brush

Ronald Maribett
http://www.youtube.com/watch Ronald Maribett

James Hayes-Bohanan
http://www.youtube.com/watch James Hayes-Bohanan

Alex Houtzager
http://www.youtube.com/watch Alex Houtzager