CT Green Scene

CT NOFA's 31st Annual Winter Conference

2 March 2013

8:30 AM-5:00 PM

Registration Fee Depends on Status

Wilton High School

Wilton, CT

Join the Connecticut Northeast Organic Farming Association as they celebrate 31 years of growing better together! There will be over fifty vendors providing fresh local food, crafts, and books as well as a raffle that includes offerings such as a basket of gardening supplies. Lunch will be Included for an extra fee, but it is worth the price. During the lunch break, attendees have the opportunity to taste delicious local flavors concocted by chefs involved in Fairfield County's farm-to-restaurant program. The New Connecticut Farming alliance will also meet during this time to discuss news and share information. 

    Guests may select from a wide variety of workshops to attend. There is no need to register for your desired workshop, you may simply show up at the allotted classroom. A program will be handed out to you upon registration that looks exactly like the link provided above. Parents and families are welcome to participate in children's workshops as well. There will also be a screenings of the GMO documentary "Genetic Roulette" throughout the afternoon, where Elaine Titus of GMO Free CT and GMO Free Moms will be available to answer any questions. 

Schedule for the Day                                                               Registration Fees

8:30-9:30 : Registration (pre-register at this link)                  Non-Member:      $60
9:30-10:45: Workshop I                                                          Member:           $50
11:00-12:30: Opening announcements and Keynote               Student/Senior:    $35
12:30-2:00: Lunch                                                                  Children:           FREE
2:15: 3:30: Workshop II                                                      *Lunch is optional: an extra $15 for adults
3:45 to 5:00 ~ Workshop II                                                  and $8 for children

2013 Conference Program: http://www.ctnofa.org/winterconference/2013%20WC%20programOPT.pdf

Register at: http://www.ctnofa.org/winterconference/2013WC_registration.html

If you forget to register for lunch: http://www.ctnofa.org/winterconference/winterconference_lunch_registration.html

For more Information: http://www.ctnofa.org/winterconference/index.html

Learn about Organic Garden @ Flanders Nature Center with One of Connecticut's Leading Experts, Bill Duesing

Spring is around the corner!

Learn about Organic Gardening from Bill Duesing, Executive Director of the Connecticut Northeast Organic Farmer’s Association (CTNOFA), just in time for the 2013 growing season! Bill is one of the leaders of the local, organic food movement and has devoted his work to promoting greater local food sufficiency through education, lectures, writings, media and community outreach for over 3 decades. A graduate of Yale University, Bill is also an accomplished writer and the author of, “Living on the Earth: Eclectic Essays for a Sustainable and Joyful Future”. He is also the owner of the Old Solar Farm in Oxford.

When: Tuesday, March 26th @ 7:30 PM

Where: Flanders Nature Center & Land Trust | 5 Church Hill Rd., Woodbury, CT 06798

Cost: $12 members/ $15 non-members

Summertime Work, Blues? Bring Nature Inside!

By Heather Burns

With the summer foliage and associated bioactivity in full swing, being cooped up in an office for 40 hours a week can be difficult for even the most dedicated employee. Personally, I head outside at regular intervals for strolls, and while it’s true that my most creative thinking takes place outdoors, it’s nice to see that my urge isn’t just a personality quirk, but is firmly rooted in science.

Harvard University biologist, Edward O. Wilson and introducer of the biophilia hypothesis concluded, “There is an instinctive bond between human beings and other living systems. That is, we have a natural urge to affiliate with other forms of life.

Bruce Crowle, co-owner of Atria, Inc, a Connecticut-based interiorscape design and maintenance company, has built a successful business on the concept of biophilia, while helping clients to realize the bottom line benefits of bringing nature to work™.

Crowle says, “In the mid eighties I was invited to Washington and had the distinct pleasure of meeting Dr. Bill Wolverton. He had just concluded his studies for NASA that proved tropical plants could be helpful during prolonged space exploration. His research discovered that plants and their roots and the surrounding soil (a plant system) absorbed volatile organic compounds (VOC’s), such as formaldehyde, benzenes, carbon monoxide and others, and returned oxygen to the environment.”

Likewise, a study by Herman Miller reviewed the degree to which direct exposure to natural elements might impact employees. They were able to find significant productivity gains, less absenteeism, less health problems, and a better sense of well-being as reported by the individuals who participated.

In fact, a wide range of industry experts recognizes the health and environmental benefits of incorporating plants into the workplace. The United States Green Building Council includes dozens of varieties of plants as options to improving indoor air quality, and assigns corresponding points toward LEED certification.

A growing trend (pun intended) in the interiorscape industry is green walls. Also known as vertical planting systems, vertical gardens or biowalls, these visually stunning creations produce a supply of fresh air, naturally cooling buildings in the summer and humidifying in the winter.  

In 2010, Atria was proud to become the first “Platinum” rated Green Earth—Green Plants® certified interior plantscape business. “The process to gather and submit the data to earn Platinum certification was certainly a team effort,” Crowle says.

But the company’s leadership and ongoing dedication to sustainable business practices – and to promoting green business practices to their clients – is evident in all that they do. Partnerships with local growers and the use of integrative pest management are just two of the many reasons why bringing nature to work with Atria makes good business sense.

 

 

The Seeds of Spring!

By Elizabeth Conrad

An unusually warm winter has turned into an early spring, and lately I find myself day-dreaming about warm sunny days, deck parties with friends, and swimming in cool Maine waters. At our house, my husband is the gardener AND the cook, and over the past year, his interest has piqued regarding heirloom varieties. Our commitment to preserving food diversity and security drove us to seek out as many resources as we could. In fact, we found so many great on-line and print catalog sources for organic and heritage seeds and plants - complete with instructions - we thought it nice to share with our readers. 

One of our best discoveries this year was purely accidental. Last weekend a Sunday drive led us to Old Weathersfield, Connecticut - an amazing place that has been producing seeds for New England gardeners since 1811.  Comstock, Ferre & Co. offers 250 varieties of open pollinated non-GMO seeds. The floors were old wide plank with rows and rows of paper seed packets.  I think there must have been 50 different varieties of tomato seed alone - and we came home with enough seeds to keep us in vegetables for ten years!

In addition to Comstock Ferre & Co. , we have a surprising number of great resources are right here in New England including the High Mowing Seeds located in Wolcott, Vermont  and Fedco Seeds  of Waterville, Maine.   Another Maine based seed company, Johnny’s Selected Seeds, has a large selection of heirloom and organic seeds available. 

igI am sure that I have missed many other worthy enterprises here in our region, so look around and see what might be available right in your community! 

Check www.permacultureactivist.net/seeds/SeedResrcs.htm for an excellent list of heritage and open pollinated seed companies. In addition, the Seed Savers Exchange in Iowa is an excellent resource for anyone interested in the preservation of our seed heritage. Happy planting!

 

Elizaebth Conrad is co-founder of Common Good Market, a New England (Virtual) Town Square Market for the 21st Century offering an outstanding selection of high quality sustainable and eco-friendly products for the home made by New England artisans and crafts-people. Common Good Market believes that buying locally made products helps build more resilient local economies, leads to improved environmental outcomes for our region, and a better future for our children. Visit Elizabeth's blog to read more. 

The Cross that Matt Built

by Eileen Weber

Sometimes we forget that nature can be its own spiritual experience. We are so absorbed in our own technological lives, texting away with reckless abandon. But taking the time to be in a natural setting can make all the difference to your health and your mental well-being. And whatever your personal or spiritual beliefs are, no one can dismiss that when you see plants and flowers grow that something greater than us is at work.

Matt Calkins, the pastor at St. Timothy’s Church in the Greenfield Hill section of Fairfield, thinks nature is what brings us closer to God. “We are connected to the Earth and we have a responsibility as humans to care for it,” he said. “When a branch breaks from the vine, it dies. Just as we do when we break from God.”

Calkins, along with some help from parishioners and the local Boy Scout troop, designed and built an open-air log chapel, a meditation labyrinth, a pergola and picnic area, and an organic teaching garden. All of the materials were either reused or made from felled trees when the group cleared the land. The garden functions as a teaching tool for the Small to Tall nursery school within the parish as well as a CSA for the parishioners. Calkins said the first 10% of the crops will go to the Connecticut Food Bank.

Operation Trashdown: The Benefits and Ease of Composting

by Ilene Moyher

Welcome to Operation Trashdown, a concept for creating a cleaner earth. Everyone can help by adopting the "less trash" mindset in their shopping and daily routines. Considering what's in landfills and in our oceans (read interesting facts about The Great Pacific Garbage Patch), here are some ways each person can help reduce the amount of trash created and save money, too!

Composting of household trash– it’s easy to get started and maintain, can reduce the amount of household garbage by one-half (it did in my house), and creates great soil for garden use. It may seem ‘icky’ at first, but in reality composting creates less messy garbage and is as simple as throwing food and paper scraps into a container then adding them to a pile in the backyard.

Raising Animals or Tending Your Vegetable Garden: the Importance of Thinking Ecologically

Have you been wondering about your own food purchases in the grocery store?  Do you have questions about organic farming, or how to farm your own vegetable garden as organically as possible?  Would you like to spend an evening that can inform your own choices? Come and hear Mr. Bill Duesing who has a passion for organic farming and is concerned about the state of agriculture around the world-- our food supply.

As part of the Libraries town-wide read of the book Eating Animals, Mr. Bill Duesing, the Executive Director of the Connecticut chapter of the Northeast Organic Farming Association of Connecticut, will speak on Tuesday, March 15 at 7:00 PM about the need to think ecologically about our food supply. He will give an illustrated talk and show some of the healthy connections growers and consumers are creating in Connecticut and beyond. He will also talk about animal agriculture and its effects in Connecticut and throughout the country.

Both organic farmer and author, Mr. Duesing has been raising animals in Oxford, CT since 1972 and exploring how to eat since long before that. In addition to his position at NOFA, Mr. Duesing also serves as the President of the Community Farm of Simsbury and is a Board Member of the Connecticut Farmland Trust. Mr. Duesing is a graduate of Yale University.

In an interview Mr. Duesing said, “I will provide a middle ground between the vegan view and existing industrial agriculture. I've thought a lot about animals … have raised goats and cows, pigs, turkeys and chickens for eggs and meat on my farm in Oxford.  I agree that most of the animal agriculture practiced in this country is horrendous. It is very bad for the environment, for the farmers, for the animals and for human health. However, animals are a part of nature and most ecosystems and are also a part of many sustainable and organic farms.”  

Bound to be both an informative and interesting evening, all are invited to attend. Please call the Fairfield Public Library at (203) 256-3160 to register, or you can register online at the Library’s website:  www.fairfieldpubliclibrary.org.

Image courtesy of VictoryVegetableGardens.com.

Practical Green Remodeling, by CT Author Barry Katz

Long time Connecticut resident, (and occasional CT Green Scene contributor) Barry Katz, has just published an informative new book: PRACTICAL GREEN REMODELING: Down-to-Earth Solutions for Everyday Homes.

Published by Taunton Press, the book offers a compelling argument for remodeling green, guiding readers through process with over 200 color photographs of green remodeling projects from across the country.

What sets this book apart from the many how-to books on the subject is the author's emphasis on the "what to" and the "why to" of going green at home.

Asked what inspired him to write this book, Katz said, "I wanted not only to show readers what is possible, and often easy, to achieve in terms of creating energy efficient, environmentally friendly, and healthy living environments, but to provide a clear explanation of the complex and interconnected issues that make going green such a compelling choice for a growing number of people around the world."

Excerpts from the book can be found on the author's blog, The Future is Green. You can also follow him on Twitter at http://twitter.com/FutureGreen

 

Visit a Dig In! Near You

by Eileen Weber

If you happen to be in the New Haven area on Saturday, you may want to stop by the lot next to Chabaso Bakery on James Street. Volunteers and staffers from the Fair Haven Community Health Center (FHCHC) will be participating in the Slow Food USA movement called Dig In! While there are events like this happening all over the country on Saturday, this is the only event of its kind in Connecticut.



The whole point of a Dig In! project is to share in the joys of working together as a community to grow food and then break bread afterward. From school gardens to backyard harvest to wherever local projects unite a community, Slow Food wants people to act like a community locally on a nation-wide scale. Much like the events sponsored by 350.org, this is Slow Food USA’s “day of action.” The FHCHC members along with staff from the bakery will join together to paint a mural, plant perennial flowers, and share in a delicious potluck meal.


Going Local

by Abbie Walston, founder of the Farmer’s Daughter blog

Abigail Rose Walston is mother to Joshua, wife to Ed, an environmentalist, teacher, and blogger. She was raised on her family’s 300 year old farm in Connecticut, where she learned to love animals and nature. She holds both a BS and MS in Biology and Secondary Education, and has taught Biology, Environmental Science, Botany and Forensic Science at the high school level for the last eight years. She’s adjusting to her new role as a nursing mother who also works. She supports sustainable living, shops from local farms, cooks from scratch, gardens, reads, writes, and crafts in her spare time, and blogs about it on her web site.

As part of the 12th generation on my family’s tercentennial farm in North Branford, I’ve been a supporter of Connecticut agriculture since I was a child. Now as an adult, I source food as locally as I can, from growing a victory garden to visiting farms and farmer’s markets. My family’s farm still supplies a lot of our produce, and my husband’s family raises most of our meat. But don’t worry, you don’t have to live on a farm or have agricultural roots to enjoy seasonal, locally grown foods.

Eating locally is good for your family, the local economy and the environment.  One of the best things you can do to provide healthy food for your family and connect with your food and the seasons is to start a garden.  It may be mid-July, but it’s not too late! Here in Connecticut, you can harvest cold-weather crops as late as November without any additional equipment! I’ve had success with peas, spinach, lettuces, scallions and carrots when I planted them in late August, and you can also try parsnips, broccoli, kale or radishes.  If they have a chance to start growing when it’s still hot and the days are long, their growth will slow as the days get shorter and you’ll have a great fall garden!  For garden help, the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station is a wealth of information and advice, from identifying insects and testing soil to tips on varieties of tomatoes to grow. You can also visit the Connecticut Community Gardening Association to learn about community gardening, if you want to start a garden but don’t have the space.

GVI

by Eileen Weber

Have you heard? There’s a food revolution going on and it’s happening right here in Connecticut. Three towns in Fairfield County have all started their own GVIs. For those that can’t crack the alphabetical code, GVI stands for Green Village Initiative. That means organic school and community gardens. It means films and lecture series about sustainable living. It’s about renewable energy, not using harsh chemicals, and recycling. It’s everything “green” stands for and then some.

So how did this happen? One man: Dan Levinson. A Westport resident, business owner, and green entrepreneur, Levinson saw a way to bring his strong sense of environmentalism into the mainstream while simultaneously bringing his community together. And he’s brought it not only to Westport, but also to Ridgefield and most recently Fairfield.

“The act of completing a project creates a buzz,” Levinson said today at a GVI meeting at the Westport Library, “It’s what sets us apart.”

Fresh Hope

by Eileen Weber

Last summer, I wrote an article about a group of Fairfield residents who came together to grow an organic garden for Operation Hope. The idea was hatched by Eleanor Fraser, a petite Scottish woman with a shy smile and a whole lot of ambition. Her mission, should she choose to accept it, was to feed the hungry, one fresh vegetable at a time.

When she pitched the idea to Operation Hope, she said “they loved it.” With her wide-brimmed hat in hand, Fraser went to the town to secure a plot of land in one of their community areas. After more than a little bureaucratic red tape, she was assigned a plot on Warde Terrace.

“She’s been amazing,” said Michelle Stearns, Operation Hope’s Volunteer Coordinator, of last year’s efforts. “It was such a hard time getting a plot. There was all that rain. The garden started late. But she persevered and got it off the ground.”

Eileen Noel, a garden volunteer who is returning this year with her daughter Hanna, agrees that Fraser has been the garden’s foot soldier, fighting for its existence. “I think the community garden concept is such an important thing and I was shocked that no one I have talked to knew about it,” she said. “The more I learn about the way plots are assigned, the more important it seems that the town needs some type of committee to oversee it and run it more efficiently. They might look to neighboring towns to see what works and doesn't.”

The Dandelion: Unlikely Gastronomy from the Suburban Jungle

by: James Simpkins

As a former chef I suspect I have fielded the question “What’s your favorite food?” more than most people, and by and large the answer is always peanut butter. It really is my favorite food and has been since I can remember. This past week I re-discovered an item that may have never been the answer to that question for anyone: dandelion greens. This much-eschewed weed and its flower (Taraxacum officinale) that you, o’ dauntless suburbanite yard-tender, have spent uncountable hours trying to get rid of, is an edible and nutritious-not to mention plentiful- food source. I can personally attest to its abundance after taking a tour of my yard this past weekend--the things are everywhere. I can also tell you that even I, o' dedicated food-guy, did not think of them as food. That is until now--but with a disclaimer that I will share later. Part of the chicory family, the soft, soothing murmur of its name is even overlooked; in old French, it was le dent-de-lion, or “the tooth of the lion”. With such a great name, something must have been lost in translation: How did this ancient yellow flower become a New World nuisance?  

Looking into the history of this lawn-loitering green I kept finding Old World style recipes: Chopped, boiled, then sautéed in olive oil; blanched, then chopped and mixed with olive oil; chopped then mixed with other greens for a salad with olive oil dressing. See a pattern? However, it turns out all the chopping and olive oil is not without merit.

Art of Bee Wrangling

by Melissa Waldron Lehner
Fertile Ground USA

Bees have been seein' red these days. Well, actually they can't see the color red, Ted Jones explains, they only see black. But they have been getting pretty ornery from all the rain here in Connecticut. While picking up some eggs, I had the pleasure of running into Ted, expert bee-wrangler, owner of Jones’ Apiaries in Farmington, Connecticut, and president of Connecticut Beekeepers who was at Hard Rain Farm in Burlington with his son to smoke out some bees. Hard Rain Farm rents 10 of his hives to pollinate the myriad of apples, kale, eggplant, herbs and other vegetables and fruits that grow on the 4 acres of well managed farmland.

Today, father and son were out to collect the honey. A thunderstorm had just come through and the sky was bluish-black. Tom eyed the sky and held out his hand for rain, not a welcome thing for bees. “Bees don’t like the rain too much, it’s best to stay away from them.” That’s why Ted was sending in his son to check on the hives. His son, dutifully suited up for what looked like a trip to the moon, had a long-nosed smoker by his side. The smoke apparently sedates the bees and reduces the chance of being stung. Ted explained that a bee’s behavior is triggered by pheromones, or rather, chemical signals which then elicit a response from the bee, a response like stinging for example. “Another thing is, you don’t ever want to go near a beehive with a banana, you know,” says Ted dryly, as if there was a punch line coming. The only punch line is for the poor sucker who peels one back while standing in front of a hive - even one lone bee can wreak havoc. Bananas have an aroma which set off the alarm response and can cause quite a stir of stingers directed at said banana holder. “It could be ugly,” he grimaced.

Only 10% of honeybees remain in the wild. Tom says his business has really picked up nowadays and he has hardly had a day off. “It used to be that you just dropped off the hives at the beginning of the season and then you come to pick them up at the end. But no more.” Now Ted needs to visit the hives every two to three weeks to make sure all is well. “Some get wiped out when farmers spray their crops with all those pesticides, others have been wiped out by disease.”

You Gonna Eat That?

by Eileen Weber

Ever feel like there are just too many tomatoes and not enough time? Come August, there will be plenty of backyard gardeners who would agree with that statement. And that’s where food trading comes in. Home growers are sharing their produce in a free trade system online and in communities across the country. 

According to an article in The New York Times on June 10th, there are a growing number of participants in food trading. The concept is based on the fact that “it’s a shame to let fruit go to waste” and “neighborhood fruit tastes best when it’s free.” Well, really, doesn’t everything taste better when it’s free?

Among others, the article listed web sites like VeggieTrader.com and NeighborhoodFruit.com as a place for traders to post what they have in exchange for what they want.

If you, like the founders of Veggie Trader, had excess lemons from your lemon tree, wouldn’t it be nice to see someone else make use of them? You could trade those lemons for, say, herbs or zucchini. You get to give what you have more of and take what you have less of. It’s a win-win.

In the New England area, Brian Alcorn, Founder of the Vermont Garden Exchange, wrote that many times a gardener has too much to use himself and doesn’t have the time to preserve the excess.

“The idea is to open it up so that you can trade anything,” said Alcorn, who founded the site with his wife. “You could even trade a cord of wood if that’s what you had. I just don’t want it to become an online grocery store. That’s not what it’s about.”

Lynn Seigel-Boettner, Founder and Organizer of the Santa Barbara Food Not Lawns chapters, agrees. “It’s more than just sharing food. It’s about bringing a community together and connecting people. We’ve forgotten how to do that.”

Organic Lawn Care

by Eileen Weber

Spring is in the air and homeowners everywhere are watching their lawns turn from muddy brown to lush green. Every year, garden centers are overrun with a rush of consumers picking up grass seed, fertilizer and weed killers. But for many, grabbing the first pesticide off the shelf is not their idea of a healthy lawn.

For Jay Feldman, Executive Director and Co-Founder of Beyond Pesticides, and Chip Osborne, President of Osborne Organics, organic lawn care is the best method to obtain the sometimes elusive American dream: A velvet carpet of green grass.

Last night, the two men spoke at a free lecture open to the public at Southport Congregational Church. The lecture, “Going Green In Your Own Backyard”, was sponsored by the Fairfield and Sasqua Garden clubs. It focused on how to manage your lawn or garden organically and the impact pesticide use has on our environment.

Feldman spoke vehemently against the use of pesticides. He showed a 1950s advertisement with the tag line “DDT Is Good For Me.” He even quoted the notable biologist Rachel Carson when she said, “Can anyone believe it is possible to lay down such a barrage of poisons on the surface of the earth without making it unfit for all life?”

“You can’t go anywhere without people talking about being green,” he said. “But how do we incorporate that into our lives? It is time to shatter the myth that we need to use pesticides.”

Obamas to Plant White House Vegetable Garden

March 19, 2009
The New York Times
By MARIAN BURROS
WASHINGTON — On Friday, Michelle Obama will begin digging up a patch of White House lawn to plant a vegetable garden, the first since Eleanor Roosevelt’s victory garden in World War II. There will be no beets (the president doesn’t like them) but arugula will make the cut.

While the organic garden will provide food for the first family’s meals and formal dinners, its most important role, Mrs. Obama said, will be to educate children about healthful, locally grown fruit and vegetables at time when obesity has become a national concern.

In an interview in her office, Mrs. Obama said, “My hope is that through children, they will begin to educate their families and that will, in turn, begin to educate our communities.”

Twenty-three fifth graders from Bancroft Elementary School in Washington will help her dig up the soil for the 1,100-square-foot plot in a spot visible to passers-by on E Street. (It’s just below the Obama girls’ swing set.) Students from the school, which has had a garden since 2001, will also help plant, harvest and cook the vegetables, berries and herbs.

Edible School Gardens

by Eileen Weber

We have an epidemic. No, it doesn’t involve an incurable virus or Dustin Hoffman in a Hazmat suit à la Outbreak. However, it does involve kids, their parents, and the schools they attend.

Edible school gardens are growing at a rapid pace. Increasingly, school districts are making the gardens part of their curriculum. The Edible School Gardens Workshop at the Unitarian Church in Westport, sponsored in part by the Westport Green Village Initiative in partnership with Amy Kalafa, founder of Two Angry Moms, featured an expert panel of school garden organizers. With a room filled almost to capacity this morning, parents, farmers, gardeners, and school officials alike listened intently about how to start one in their own school system.

Dorothy Mullen, founder of the Riverside Elementary School gardens in Princeton, NJ, discussed how she got the project underway in her district. Only a few weeks post-9/11 in November 2001, she wanted to make a change in the school lunch system by introducing fresh food.

She noted how nutrition positively or negatively affects the body. “The brain is the most sensitive organ to poor nutrition,” she said. At the very least, kids can have a loss in concentration that prevents learning. “When the brain is out fuel,” she said, “we can’t learn correctly.”

Mullen, who is also an addiction counselor, said she started small by taking kids on a walking tour to her backyard garden. Then, the concept grew. She wanted to take it to the school. This was one way to instill the benefits of nutrition. She pointed out that, with a garden, there is a teaching opportunity for other subjects: science, math, food and nutrition, and art. From an environmental perspective, conservation in composting and water usage is a valuable lesson as well.

TerraCycle Fights Back!

Check out their website and share your support: http://www.terracycle.net/

Hey, You Gonna Eat That?

Food waste composted into nutrient rich soil

By News Channel 8's Chris Velardi
Posted September 18, 2008
4:55 PM

Northford (WTNH) -- One company is collecting food waste and composting it into a nutrient rich soil to sell it to farmers around the state.

It's time for the weekly pick-up at Choate Rosemary Hall in Wallingford. A truck is coming for a specific type of trash -- the 'food waste' from Choate's cafeteria.

"We measured it for a couple of meals and we said, okay, one meal was 170 pounds of food," Katrina Linthorst Homan, of Choate Rosemary Hall, said. "And what does that mean if it's all year long?"

It means the school throws out about a ton of food a week.

"For a lifetime, it's been trash," Andy Bozzuto, of Global Environmental Services, said. "But, to be quite honest with you, we could look at it as commodities in the mix -- that's all."

It is a commodity to Andy Bozzuto who's been in the trash business for 45 years.

His company -- Global Environmental Services -- picks up the food waste from schools like Choate, Yale University, and others. And, it takes it to a plant in New Milford where it's 'composted' -- turning the trash into a type of treasure.

It's becomes a nutrient-rich soil favored by organic farmers.

"Because of the food waste, that's composted and the process that they take to do it, it becomes high in nutrients," Bozzuto said.

So how does a guy who's been a lifelong trash hauler know so much about nutrient-rich soil? Why does he care so much? Well, it turns out that Bozzuto, and his brothers, also have a family farm.

Bozzuto says it's a better way of looking at trash -- recycling coming full-circle.

"We're pulling this food waste out of the waste stream. We're composting it into a product that's needed for the organic farming side of it," Bozzuto said. And, being a little more green in the process.

The New Milford company that composts the food waste is currently the only facility that is licensed to do that in Connecticut.

No Emission Lawn Mower--Powered by the Sun

Right out of some high society sci-fi movie, this solar-powered lawn mower, made by Husqvarna, is a home owners' dream! No carbon emissions to feel guilty about, and it's powered by the sun and automatic--so you can sit back and relax as this gadget does the work for you.

That's a good thing, too, since this article from the Associated Press found that: "The air in hundreds (345 to be exact) of U.S. counties is simply too dirty to breathe, the government said Wednesday, ordering a multibillion-dollar expansion of efforts to clean up smog in cities and towns nationwide."

So where can you get one of these magic lawn buddies? Butler Power in CT can help!

Demand Grows for Farmers' Markets

Via CT Environmental Headlines
EVERTON BAILEY Jr.

Connecticut Post: 07/05/2008 11:23:52 PM EDT

With summer officially under way, the 2008 Connecticut Farmers Market season is yielding a bumper crop of new markets around the state — with more and more people demanding locally grown products in the face of rising food prices.

Rick Macsuga, marketing representative for the state Department of Agriculture, said there has been a significant increase in requests by towns and cities to offer farmers' markets.

"Town involvement has definitely increased over the years," he said. "Before, we would kind of have to reach out to towns in order to hold a farmers' market. But nowadays, more towns have been reaching out to us and demanding more and more farmers' markets.

"With more and more town support, it definitely makes this process a lot smoother and easier," he said.

Macsuga said 21 new farmers' markets will debut this season, bringing the total statewide to "a little over 100," with 320 farmers contributing fresh fruits, vegetables, meats, dairy and other produce. However, farmers are not the only suppliers to these markets. Fishermen, bakers and florists also participate, adding variety to the markets.

The draw of the farmers' market is "the fact that it is local," Macsuga said, "that the money spent here stays here. There is less of a carbon footprint and the food travels less miles in order to get here."

Customers at the Fairfield Farmers Market at Greenfield Hills agreed.

"I like the whole ambiance of the farmers' market," said Fairfield resident Art Beagan.

Some just want to help support hometown goods. "I like the idea of buying local, homegrown products," said P.J. Calyne, of Fairfield, who was shopping with his wife, April, and two children, Abigail and Alexandra.

Others have another agenda.

"I like the cookies," said Abigail with a giggle.

Vendors say they most enjoy the one-on-one contact when dealing with buyers of their crops.

Natural Pesticides that Work

EarthTalkTM
From the Editors of E/The Environmental Magazine

Dear EarthTalk: What green-friendly lawn and garden pesticides are available today? I’m particularly interested in options that won’t harm my cats.     -- Nancy Blanchard, via e-mail

Pesticides have greatly boosted agricultural yields over the last half century, so it is no wonder, given the commercial availability of many of these synthetic chemicals, that American homeowners apply 100 million pounds of the stuff each year to make their own gardens grow bigger and faster, too.

But the downside of using such chemicals is that they can poison people and pets as well as backyard wildlife: “Common insecticide ingredients such as 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D), atrazine and dicamba have been shown to harm mouse embryos at times equivalent to the first week after conception in humans,” says Erica Glasener of The Green Guide. Due to such revelations, home gardeners are fast discovering the benefits of avoiding chemicals in favor of natural, less toxic alternatives.

But before thinking about applying pesticides, gardeners can design (or re-design) their gardens to make the most of native plants that have evolved over eons to thrive in local conditions without synthetic aid or lots of water. Choosing native plants appropriate to your elevation, soil type, drainage and sun exposure will naturally repel many common pests and also reduce the propagation of invasive exotic species.

Similarly, embedding your plants in healthy soil replete with beneficial insects and worms can also help reduce the need for pesticides. Laura Moran of Mainstreet.com suggests that home gardeners compost their vegetable food waste—which is chock full of nutrients that plants love—and mix it into existing soil to give the garden a healthy boost. “Aside from stimulating healthy root development,” she writes, “the addition of rich compost also improves soil texture, aeration and water retention.” It also provides a nice home, she says, for the beneficial bugs that are destroyed along with the bad ones by chemical pesticides.

If pesticides are necessary, there are a handful of organic varieties available. Bacillus thuringiensis (“Bt”) is a naturally occurring bacterium that is lethal to most leaf-eating caterpillars on trees, shrubs, flowers and vegetables. According to gardening writer Jeff Ball, it is harmless to all other insects, animals and humans. It comes in a powder form for use as a dust, or, when diluted with water, as a spray. Organic chemists have formulated varieties of Bt to kill mosquitoes or potato beetles as well.

The Bee Crisis

by Patricia Gilbanks

I can’t wait to get out in the garden this year after an interminable lead-up to spring and hit my local AGWAY store in Danbury to price flower boxes and composted manure. Walked a 20-foot aisle of every kind of soil amendment with a new eye as I am reading The Omnivore’s Dilemma by Michael Pollan and have a whole new understanding of the dark history of fertilizers and pesticides. (This book is a must read if you are like me and need to know both the why and the wherefore.)

I was in the store with three other customers. Each of us had to ask specifically for natural gardening supplies and the sales person really had to dig around to find stuff not already laced with fertilizer and pesticides. But what really brought me up short was an overheard conversation.

“I need clover seed for my horse pasture as 75% of it has died. There are no bees.”

I follow him to the checkout. He tells me he has lots of hornets but no bees. We talk a bit about the impact of the bee crisis on agriculture. (The pollination work carried out by bees is responsible for every third bite of food you eat.)

I mentioned I’d recently heard that one pesticide in particular has been identified as the culprit; he tells me he heard it’s cell phones. So what is the latest on this issue and what can I do as a gardener this year to enhance my little urban plot and create a welcoming haven for  the local bee population?

Markets Galore

By Chris Gallagher

Spring is nearly here, and it's time to get the garden ready.  Composting is key and here is a great resource from our fine state government.  For the stuff you can't grow on your own we are lucky enough to have a plethora of local farmers here in Connecticut and some great farmer's markets to choose from.

Fiddleheads in New London has a market every Saturday now, with another every Wednesday starting on March 26.  CitySeed in New Haven has kept their market open monthly throughout the winter and come May it's back to a weekly event.  On May 22 Billings Forge Farmer's Market will start up in Hartford and you will be able to find amazing produce and other local vendors on both Mondays and Thursdays. Fairfield Market is held every Saturday rain or shine, and often draws a few hundred people. Another cool market is the Oak Street Market in New Britain. It's urban and fun and has some of the best greens around. To locate the organic farmers markets near you, click here.

Of course the best thing about a market is the food: amazing greens, organic eggs, still-dirty potatoes and seafood dripping with salt water, all of which I want to rush home and devour.  There's more to it, though.  I love that it is such a neighborhoody event.  It is a great place to have random, interesting conversations, make new friends, learn a few things about what I'm eating, stroll the streets of my town, breathe the fresh air and reconnect with the community.

The dinner we craft in the evening is just the bonus.  We already feel great after a market day.

From Brownfield to Green Urban, Organic Farm

Oak Street in New Britain may seem a unique location for a working, organic farm that practices sustainable agriculture and produces fresh produce—and it is.

The nonprofit farm has been an urban revitalization success story since 1999, when organic farmers Tony Norris and Mike Kandefer made Urban Oaks Organic Farm a reality by mobilizing environmental clean-up funds, grants and volunteers to re-mediate the former Sandelli Greenhouse property and create a working city farm. The restoration of 15,000 square feet of greenhouses has allowed the farm to offer fresh greens and produce year-round.

Today, the presence of Urban Oaks is a positive force and a community place where city residents and students can learn about sustainable and environmentally friendly farming.

The farm supplies restaurants from Hartford to Stamford, and is open to the public on Fridays from 3 to 6 p.m. year-round, and on Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. through the end of October. Customers can pre-order via e-mail, or just stop by.

Contact:
225 Oak St. New Britain, CT
(860) 223-6200
Email: urbanoaks@earthlink.net

The Dressing Room's Michel Nischan

For those of you who attended the latest Green Drinks at the Westport Arts Center, you're familiar with this guy, Michel Nischan. We just wanted to extend a special thanks to him for his inspirational talk about sustainable living.

Quite a few of you know about Michel and his team's work, but in case you don't, here's a few details. Michel is the co-owner and operator of The Dressing Room in Westport, which is located next to the playhouse. He is also the author of two award-winning cookbooks, and he travels and speaks often and regularly about sustainable and culturally significant food.

Additionally, Michel is the founder of Wholesome Wave, a not-for-profit that currently is the home of two outstanding programs. The first is Wholesome Wave Farm Markets, or as you may know them, the Westport Farmers Market and the Fairfield Winter Market. These markets are run by Katherine Dyer, a regular at Green Drinks and a real inspiration to what one person can accomplish with a lot of patience and hard work.

Wholesome Wave also is home to the Green Wave Program, a farm-to-college, whole and natural food program run by Lila Gault, which is launching a movement to get real food, grown by local farmers and processed minimally, on the tables at major colleges and universities.

If you have any questions for Michel, you can contact him via his website at michelnischan.com

Cost Effective and Earth-friendly Landscaping

EARTH TALK
From the Editors of E/The Environmental Magazine

Dear EarthTalk: Is it possible to landscape my property in a green-friendly way? I would like to create a more natural and wildlife-friendly backyard, but I don’t want to break the bank doing it. Are there any tax incentives for completing such projects?     -- Michal Avraham, Olive Branch, MS

One common misperception about adopting green practices around the home is that doing so will cost more money. But this may be true only in the short run. There are certainly some up-front outlays to converting a conventional backyard into a more environmentally friendly space (like any landscaping job), but homeowners should be able to make their money back within a few years through savings on their water and yard service bills alone.

Landscapes designed with the principles of nature and wildlife habitat in mind are often referred to as
“ naturescapes” (or “xeriscapes” when they also require little water to maintain). They usually replace most lawn grass and instead populate space with native plants that are attractive to wildlife for food or shelter.

According to the nonprofit PlantNative, maintaining a green backyard can cost up to 90 percent less than keeping up a traditional lawn-based landscape. “Since naturescapes effectively take care of themselves, there is little or no maintenance and hence little or no maintenance cost,” says the group. The average American lawn costs about $700 yearly to maintain, says PlantNative, which also points out that the average household lawnmower is used upwards of 40 hours a year, the equivalent of a full work week.

B-Greener Tips for the BIRDS!

I love listening to and watching the birds that come and visit my yard. If you want to attract more birds, as well as do your part to conserve dwindling wild bird populations, read these tips offered by Partners in Flight.

And if you don't get past this intro, at least stop using chemical pesticides on your lawn--each year, 4 million tons of pesticides are applied in the U.S. exposing 672 million birds to the harmful effects of these chemicals. One-tenth of those exposed, or 67 million birds, are estimated to die as an immediate result!

Get Invloved!

NOFA (Northeast Organic Farming Association CT) makes it easy to get involved in raising awareness about the importance of organic farming and supporting Connecticut-grown organic farmers. Visit the NOFA website to donate or join, or browse the list below for ways to make a difference.

Source: CT NOFA

Carbon Neutral and Guilt-Free

By Heather Burns-DeMelo

A few weeks ago I read an article in the Danbury News Times about a man named Dr. Herster Barres whose program, Reforest the Tropics, partners with farmers in Costa Rica to plant and manage trees in order to offset personal and corporate CO2 emissions.

While working for the United Nations and as Director of the applied research program, Reforest the Tropics, Dr. Barres has studied the fastest growing and best carbon-gulping tree species in order to sequestor 25 tons of CO2 per year, per 2.5 acres. To date, 54 New England emitters have sponsored 263 acres of new forests in Costa Rica.

Carbon offsets are a hot topic these days, especially with corporations frantically trying to "green" their image. Credit companies like GE are offering card holders the opportunity to purchase carbon offsets, but as this Yahoo! article points out, the carbon offset market isn't regulated, so there's no way to be certain if your carbon is truly being offset. That is, of course, unless you purchase your credits from Reforest the Tropics, where a real person answers your questions, addresses your concerns, and they work hard to keep each sponsor in touch with their forests.

Another Connecticut Town Goes Organic

PLAINVILLE - Plainville is getting "greener" all the time, thanks to the efforts of the Plainville Conservation Commission. The 11-member commission has worked hard to ensure that about 167 acres of town properties will remain free of pesticides and free of synthetic fertilizers. The Town Council voted unanimously last month to accept the commission's request to keep the town-owned properties free of pesticides and synthetic fertilizers. Plainville is the second town in the state to pass a voluntary resolution to not use pesticides on its properties, according to Jason Rupaka, vice chairman of the Plainville Conservation Commission. Rupaka said Milford was the first in the state to adopt the resolution.

Plainville also is home to the pesticide-free Paderewski Park, one of only nine in the nation that does not use any pesticides, Rupaka said. "We've come a long way," Rupaka said. "Connecticut was the first state in the country to ban pesticides on its elementary school properties and our Board of Education has already asked the Town Council to look into other types of lawn care on the rest of its school properties. I am very happy with what we've been able to do," Rupaka said. "Our state is the most progressive and Plainville is one of the most progressive towns in the state to have a voluntary nonuse of pesticides." Town manager Robert Lee said the town's voluntary program is designed to reduce the amount of pollution that goes into the Pequabuck and Quinnipiac rivers in town. Lee said the commission has asked the town to stop using pesticides on six town properties. Rupaka told the council that 49 homeowners have committed more than 16 acres as pesticide free so far as part of the commission's Clean Rivers Project. Source: By Jennette Brodeur, Herald Correspondent 01/11/2007.

Reasons to Eat Locally

By Keyra Scovill

As we continue to hear about leafy greens like spinach and lettuce that’s been tainted by microscopic bacterial life forms, it seems foolish not to ask, what can we do to ensure that the food we eat doesn’t make us roll over tomorrow morning, ill?

For one thing, we can avoid factory farming. Factory farming means that animals raised, primarily for slaughter, are penned extremely small spaces.  Besides the bounty of animal rights violations committed, there is also the issue of hoarding animal waste. Such waste, according to an article by the EPA,  “… must include stricter construction requirements for wastewater lagoons…regular inspections… [and]… the re-use of properly managed animal waste as fertilizer and other agricultural applications”. While the recommendation is there, the action is not.

In fact most of the time, the animal waste and chemical fertilizers and pesticides contained in the water from factory farm disposal sites makes its way into nearby groundwater that's then used to irrigate crops, or into stormwater runoff.

The good news is, we don't have to worry about our food making us sick when we buy locally or participate in a food Co-op. When we get to know who is growing our food we can answer, Where is my food coming from? What practices is the farmer using to grow the food I'm about to eat? Instead, we can sit back, relax and enjoy.

To Do or Not to Do, That Is NOT the Question

I came across this video clip while reading the latest post on Colin Beaven's No Impact Man blog. It's an interesting argument and I'd love to hear what all of you out there think.

Make Your Neighbors Green with Envy

By Heather Burns-DeMelo

Home composting is a cheap and effective way to make your garden flourish, recycle food scraps and lawn waste, and cut down on the amount of trash that ends up in our bursting-at-the-seams landfills. To find out how, read this step-by-step guide.

Think it's too time consuming? That's what I thought too, until I saw how much time it saved me with not having to fertilize, weed, or water my plants as much or as often. If you're still not convinced to do it yourself, check out this list of places to buy locally produced compost.

Organic Farmers Markets in CT

For a complete, county-by-county list of where to purchase fresh, organic, locally grown fruits, vegetables, eggs, cheese, flowers, and more visit NOFA.