Stanley Market Garden 2010: Updates

The Stanley Market Garden is up and running (or "growing" is a better term). So far we have planted 56 tomatoes, many heirloom, grown from certified organic seeds, including "mortgage lifter" varieties, "brandywine", and "cherokee purple". Over 76 pepper seedlings that were grown by the group were planted, of green, yellow, orange and red varieties. Lettuce, spinach, and swiss chard are taking off, as well as corn, muskmelon, and "blacktail watermelon". Seeds have been sown for the remaining produce, with help from some young adult volunteers who have been assisting in planting and watering. This year we plan on increasing our partnerships and involvement in the community, with CSA (community supported agriculture) shares still available (either hours for food, or monetary shares), and offer freshly grown produce to local restaurants, and excess donated locally to those in need of food. The Stanley Garden is a Not for Profit venture, where we grow food in a healthy way for people and the environment, only seeking to retain funding to keep the garden going from to year, support and educate the local community and businesses, while we learn in the process, as well. Our next goal at the garden is to establish a "green manure" or "compost" garden, where crops are grown and used as living mulch to return organic material back into the soil, with the ultimate goal of "no tilling required" and no inputs from outside of the garden. Basically a "self-fertile garden". We thank many people in the community for all their assistance. This year a big thank you goes to the "Shenandoah Resource Conservation and Development Council" for approving a grant proposal for a Garden Coordinator Position - to assist in our efforts to involve and educate the community by providing a living example of the benefits of sustainable agricultural practices.

Our Booth & Festival of Spring - Luray, Virginia

Here are photos of our booth at this years (2010) Festival of Spring. We sold organically grown seedlings as a fundraiser for our educational programs and handed out information on sustainable agriculture and gardening. It was great fun, very windy, and thanks to Deanne and Casey for the loan of the canopy.......and our neighbors in the near bye booth that loaned us weights to keep the canopy (and us trying to hold it down) from taking flight. Look for us again next year, we had lots of suggestions on additional varieties and types of seedlings which we will incorporate into our seedling sales for next year.

Sustainable Shenandoah’s Stanley Garden 2010 Work Exchange and CSA Shares

Sustainable Shenandoah’s Stanley Garden 2010
Work Exchange and CSA Shares

Offering:

Fun for food (we can’t quite call it work!) Three hours per week buys you a share (one half bushel plus seasonal melons and pumpkins) of garden yummies!! Ask for your signup sheet today!! Susan Guest 540-244-7164.

CSA Shares – Community Supported Agriculture - brings the garden to community, and the community to the garden!! We are offering full and half shares of noncertified organic, ecologically sound, biodynamic produce!! A full share is a bushel of food each week for 18 weeks. Our exact start date is weather dependent but is expected to be the first week of June, and to run through the middle of October.

The price of a full share is $600 and is nonrefundable. Half shares are $300. Checks are payable to Sustainable Shenandoah and are due by May 1, 2010.

Our sample harvest schedule follows:

Spring / Early Summer Harvest

Spinach
Baby salad mix
Arugula
Radishes
Beets
Peas
Swiss chard
Red, green, and savoy cabbages
Kale
Collards
Broccoli
Cauliflower

Summer Harvest

One bunch cut flowers
Fresh herbs: dill, cilantro, basil, parsley
Tomatoes
Onions
Broccoli
Cauliflower
Peppers – green, red, yellow, jalepeno, habenero
Cucumbers
Summer Squash – Patty Pan, yellow, zucchini
Lettuce
Beans
Eggplant
Melons – watermelon, cantelope
Tomatillos
Potatoes

Fall Harvest

Pumpkins
Winter squash – butternut, acorn
Onions
Collards
Kale
Sweet potatoes
Beets
Cabbages
Cauliflower
Broccoli
Brussell sprouts
Flowers
Herbs

Sustainable Shenandoah’s Stanley Garden began in 2009 with a group of people who wanted to learn, and show, by doing. Our common interests were sustainable, organic gardening, low impact living, and resource conservation. The majority of us had no knowledge of how to grow in an organic, ecologically sound manner, and thus began our Great Experiment. One member donated the land and a trailer and another member donated solar electric fencing, seeds and the use of a tractor. Other members of the community of Page County donated organic compost and heavy equipment to break the pasture which had been untreated by any chemical for twenty years. And everyone else donated labor in exchange for food and fun! Many of the harvests culminated in potluck dinners in the garden or nearby yurt, or Pickle Parties where we all learned to make bread and butter and dill pickles. We were also at the Page County Farmer’s Market after our harvest came in in earnest.

We ended up with a garden that astounded even the most experienced among us. Our final ‘fall’ crop harvest was on March 27th 2010, and the garden still has living broccoli, collards, and kale that survived the most severe winter in Virginia in years.

This year, in addition to the harvest and canning adventures and Farmer’s Market, we intend to host several educational events in the garden with the Girl Scouts troops, the high schools, and will donate garden excess to Page One. We will also sell to local restaurants and Bed and Breakfasts. Check our blog at http://sustainableshenandoah.blogspot.com/




Stanley Garden Workshare Signup Sheet



NAME: _________________________________________________

ADDRESS: _________________________________________________

PHONE: _________________________________________________

EMAIL: _________________________________________________


TIMEBLOCK AVAILABLE:

FIRST CHOICE: ___________________________________________

SECOND: ___________________________________________

THIRD: ___________________________________________



Sustainable Shenandoah Stanley Garden CSA Agreement and Guidelines

To enroll in our CSA, please complete this form and mail it along with your check to our mailing address below. Please review the CSA Guidelines on page two and retain a copy for your records. Payment for the 2010 CSA is due in full by May 1, 2010.

Make checks payable to: Sustainable Shenandoah

Mail completed agreement to:

Sustainable Shenandoah
143 Lakewood Road
Luray, VA 22835

NAME: _______________________________________________

ADDRESS: _______________________________________________

_______________________________________________

PHONE: _______________________________________________

EMAIL: _______________________________________________



I would like to enroll in:


_________ Full Share - $600. Weekly bushel of vegetables, herbs, and cut flowers for 18 weeks running approximately June 1 – October 15, 2010.


__________ Half Share - $300. Weekly half bushel.

Pickup at the Stanley Garden every TUESDAY between 5 and 8PM. ADVANCE ARRANGEMENTS FOR PICKUP AT THE FARMER’S MARKET ON SATURDAYS ARE AVAILABLE BY CALLING 540-244-7164.

I understand that my payment is nonrefundable. I have read and understand the attached CSA Guidelines.


Signature Date


STANLEY GARDEN CSA GUIDELINES

1. The duration of our CSA is 18 weeks. The exact start date is weather dependent but is expected to be the first week of June. We will notify you via email and telephone of the exact start date. Once the CSA begins, weekly pickups will continue for 18 consecutive weeks. In addition to our 18 week CSA, we expect to be able to offer a Fall CSA share for another 6 weeks, which will again be weather dependent.

2. Payment for the 18 week CSA is due by May 1, 2010.


3. Pickup day is TUESDAYS between 5 and 8PM at the Garden in Stanley (646 Shuler Lane, Stanley, VA.) If you miss Tuesday call us no later than Thursday of the same week and we will arrange to have your share available for pickup at the Saturday Farmer’s Market. If you miss that, it will be donated to Page One.

4. Vacation policy: one per 18 week season. With prior notification, we will give you two shares the week BEFORE your vacation, or two shares AFTER you return.


5. All shares not picked up either every Tuesday, or, with prior arrangement, Saturday at the Farmer’s market, will be donated to Page One.

6. You are responsible for returning your produce box(es) each week. Half shares will be packaged in one half bushel produce box, and full shares will receive two. When you pick up your weekly share, please remember to return the boxes from the previous week.


7. Produce Quantity: We package all CSA shares in the same size box and with the same quantity of produce. On most weeks, we will have additional produce available to you that you can swap out if you don’t like something in the box. Additional items will be available for purchase if you would like some for canning or a special event. Our retail prices will be competitive with organic produce prices, and we will do bulk pricing if you let us know in advance.

8. Your CSA share includes vegetables, herbs, and cut flowers only. We will have plenty of melons and pumpkins as the season progresses for an extra charge (they take up too much room in the bushel boxes) and will let you know availability and pricing via email and on our blog. You can order them ahead of your scheduled pickup and we will have them ready with your regular CSA share. Exact change is VERY appreciated.



Please feel free to call Susan Guest on 540-244-7164 if you have any questions!! Thank you!!

Sustainable Shenandoah Meetings Through April 2010

We meet every Wednesday at Rainbow Hill - 6PM for dinner and social time, and our meetings start at 7PM. Schedule:

March 31 - 'Super Size Me' film screening: "Super Size Me" is one man's journey into the world of weight gain, health problems and fast food. It's an examination of the American way of life and how we are eating ourselves to death. Filmmaker Morgan Spurlock unravels the American obesity epidemic by interviewing experts nationwide and by subjecting himself to a 'McDonald's only' diet for thirty days straight. His Sundance award-winning feature is as entertaining as it horrifying as it dives into corporate responsibility, nutritional education, school lunch programs and how we as a nation are eating ourselves to death.

April 7 - project updates: Earth Day, Garden grant, garden plan, May Fest booth - donations, 'manning' etc.

April 14 - 'Troubled Waters' Film Screening:

A small town in northern Argentina is being poisoned by the very substance it needs to live. Discoveries have shown San Antonio de Los Cobres’ drinking water to be contaminated with arsenic levels 25 times higher than the World Health Organization’s accepted levels. Troubled Waters is a documentary film that will show the discovery of a poison being consumed daily by the people of Argentina and how nothing has been done about this crisis; until now. A determined group of people have brought together their resources and abilities to fight this global epidemic by providing a solution for the people of San Antonio de Los Cobres.

April 21 - 'Architecture To Zucchini' Film Screening: Essentially a teaching tool but inspiring to anyone interested in these issues, Architecture to Zucchini offers 12 case studies of "sustainability pioneers" — leaders in industries from wood processing plants to pizza joints that operate on sustainability principles, all based in and around the Portland, Oregon area. There are plenty of statistics here — 2.7 billion people in the world lack sanitation; 1 billion lack clean water; 20 percent of the population consumes 86 percent of the world's resources. These figures provide important background, but the real story here is that of pioneering businesspeople who are making their business work in tandem with sustainability principles.

April 28 - 'Farm of the Future' Film Screening

Updated Film Screening Events for December 2009

Film Screening Events for the Month of December
Sponsored by Sustainable Shenandoah

December 2nd
Screening of: “Food, Inc.”

Where does your food really come from?
In Food, Inc., Award winning film maker Robert Kenner lifts the veil on the U.S. food industry – an industry that has often put profit ahead of consumer health, the livelihoods of American farmers, the safety of workers and our own environment

Reviews of: Food, Inc.
“Average people are getting concerned. Amazingly, Wal-Mart signed up with the eco-conscious Stonyfield Farms, due to consumer demand….3½ stars” Roger Ebert
"Don't take another bite till you see Food, Inc., an essential, indelible documentary." - Peter Travers, Rolling Stone
"Essential Viewing” - Gary Goldstein, Los Angeles Times
"See it. Bring your kids if you have them. Bring someone else's kids if you don't." - David Edelstein, New York Magazine

December 16th - Sustainable Guest Speaker

Sustainable Shenandoah is delighted to host Mr. Charles Stephens of Portland, Oregon, as our guest speaker. Charlie and I ‘met’ on the internet four years ago when I found his brilliant presentation entitled ‘Peak Oil and Finite Resources’ and graciously gave quite generously of his time in helping me understand the possible global and local ramifications of finite resources, on a finite planet. Charlie’s involvement and successes with the Portland Peak Oil Task Force provided inspiration for many community localization efforts, including our own, and he joins us next Wednesday to share his experiences, particularly with respect to engaging the various agencies, groups, and local government in Page County.

Charlie will provide an overview of Pacific Northwest efforts to create a more sustainable bioregion of thriving communities, in spite of the looming triple threat of declining fossil fuel supplies, global climate change and world financial system meltdown. This will be followed by a conversation about how the lessons learned in the Pacific Northwest might be applied in the Shenandoah bioregion and its communities, with a focus on working in local partnerships to create the changes we need on the ground.
http://www.portlandonline.com/bps/index.cfm?c=42894
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Biography: Charlie graduated from Dartmouth College in 1973 and Thayer School of Engineering in 1974. His graduate work in energy systems and renewable energy was done at the University of Colorado in Boulder in 1986 and 1987. Charlie is also a retired Navy Commander with 22 years of active and reserve service.

Charlie is currently a consultant and advisor to people who wish to create high performance, sustainable homes and small commercial buildings. He is also a senior associate in the Energy Services Group at the Cadmus Group, a research and analytics firm with practice areas in Water, Energy Services, Social Marketing and Communications, Green Building, Corporate Social Responsibility and Sustainability, Strategic Environmental Management, and International Development.

He recently completed 17 years of service at the Oregon Department of Energy. His focus areas there were residential energy efficiency and renewable energy applications, new technology development, sustainable building and community development, and energy policy for the State of Oregon. In 1999 he created the first U.S. incentive program for green building, Oregon’s Sustainable Building Tax Credit Program, and was a design team member for a significant number of sustainable building projects. In 2001, he began the Department’s work on high performance homes, designed to generate as much energy annually as they use.of Energy’s Advisory Committee on Appliance Energy Efficiency Standards.
Other areas of current work involve sustainable community development, the regional, national and international energy future, the economic impacts of energy use, the relationship between energy and food, prospects for various alternatives to fossil fuels, and the relationship between energy and American foreign policy.

More information contact 540-244-7164

Sustainable Shenandoah Garden 2009

It’s been a busy year for Sustainable Shenandoah. group members participated in establishing a sustainable garden on land a local landowner generously allowed the group to farm. The first year was a great success and learning experience. Producing lots of goodies for group members and to sell at the local farmers market. The watermelons were amazingly delicious, as was everything else! Here’s a summary of how it was done:

Our Garden in Stanley – Spring/Summer garden 2009

The Members of Sustainable Shenandoah decided to show by example (and learn by doing!) the results of striving for sustainability through growing a garden together.

Our garden: Was ‘green manured’ through the turning in of cover crop
Organic horse manure worked in Fertile flood plain soil placed around seeds and seedlings for the best start in the clay we had to work with
Non chemically treated straw used for mulch
Burlap sacks for pathways
Labor donated in exchange for food every week
Veggies and value added organic products sold weekly at the Page County Farmer’s Market
Heirloom non-hybrid seeds used in order to preserve genetic purity and save for the following year
Biodynamic preps used throughout the year following Rudolph Steiner’s Biodynamic Agriculture principles
NO chemicals, pesticides, herbicides. NO chemical fertilizers or soil enhancements. BEYOND ORGANIC!!

The Garden in Stanley – FALL GARDEN 2009

In addition, the group planted a fabulous fall garden, with brussel sprouts, 3 varieties of cabbage, cauliflower and broccoli starting on 8/19 and 9/4/2009, Totaling 597 plants. Then on September 19th collard greens and 2 varieties of kale were planted, bringing the total up to 885 Plants!

Cover crops were planted beginning of October to enrich the soil for next year. Forage radishes with deep roots were planted to alleviate soil compaction as well as and a large broadcasting of cereal rye seed. The book “Managing Cover crops Profitably” describes Cereal Rye as “Inexpensive and easy to establish and it out-performs all other cover crops on infertile and acidic soil.” The purpose of any cover crop is to reduce erosion, provide organic matter, act as a weed suppressor and take up nutrients that may otherwise be leached from the soil. Those nutrients then become available for next years crops.

TOTALLY sustainable! Check out the photos of the fall garden!

What is Sustainable Agriculture?

Sustainability seems to be the new buzzword of late, much like 'organic' and 'green' have been for the past few years. Now that the term ‘sustainable agriculture’ can be heard all over the airwaves courtesy of a Monsanto ad that began running a few months ago, I thought it would be illuminating to review some definitions of sustainability, and what sustainable agriculture means to those who have been practicing it for millennia.

Sustainability is a term that was only coined 40-45 years ago in response to the challenges our civilization faced such as a burgeoning population, massive industrialization, and migration to the cities. But its roots go back thousands of years and can be found in the teachings of nearly every spiritual tradition.

The frog does not drink up the pond in which it lives.
--Native American proverb

In every deliberation, we must consider the impact of our decision on the next seven generations.
~Great Law of the Haude no saunee (Iroquois Nation)

According to Judeo Christian teachings, God brought Adam to the Garden of Eden and said: “Behold my works! See how beautiful they are, how excellent! All that I have created for your sake did I create it. See to it that you do not corrupt and destroy my world; for if you do, there will be no one to repair it after you.
~ Ecclesiastes Rabba7.13

There is no one best definition of sustainability. Each one has its own essence.

To achieve sustainability, a system must be ecologically sound, economically viable, socially just and humane (embodying our highest values--how we treat animals, people and the Earth)
~ Alliance for Sustainability , Manna, 1984

Sustainable development meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs.
~ U.N. World Commission on Environment & Development, Our Common Future, 1987

Here are some ‘official’ definitions of sustainable agriculture, with their sources.

From the National Safety Council:

sustainable agriculture: Environmentally friendly methods of farming that allow the production of crops or livestock without damage to the farm as an ecosystem, including effects on soil, water supplies, biodiversity, or other surrounding natural resources. The concept of sustainable agriculture is an “intergenerational” one in which we pass on a conserved or improved natural resource base instead of one which has been depleted or polluted. Terms often associated with farms or ranches that are self-sustaining include “low-input,” organic, “ecological,” “biodynamic,” and “permaculture.”
www.nsc.org/ehc/glossar2.html

Legal Definition of Sustainable Agriculture

The term ''sustainable agriculture'' (U.S. Code Title 7, Section 3103) means an integrated system of plant and animal production practices having a site-specific application that will over the long-term:

* Satisfy human food and fiber needs.
* Enhance environmental quality and the natural resource base upon which the agriculture economy depends.
* Make the most efficient use of nonrenewable resources and on-farm resources and integrate, where appropriate, natural biological cycles and controls.
* Sustain the economic viability of farm operations.
* Enhance the quality of life for farmers and society as a whole.

Taking all of the above into consideration, it seems that sustainable agriculture would be geographically limited in order to reduce reliance on products that are shipped in / not locally available. Inputs and outputs would be renewable, as is found in seed saving through the use of heirloom nonhybrid seeds. They would not use chemical pesticides, herbicides, fertilizers, or soil amendments, manufactured far away and trucked in and ecologically unsound. This would preclude the use of genetically modified seeds which are also trucked in, require the use of a multiplicity of chemicals, and cannot be saved from the current harvest but must be bought again from a distant corporation as all inputs must for subsequent harvests. The use of chemicals affects the land and water base, as well as the crop, which affects both the current generation NOT using these chemicals because of our shared resource base, as well as those as far away as the Chesapeake…as well as future generations.

True sustainable agriculture therefore would employ the use of heirloom non hybrid seed purchased one time and saved each season for the next.

Only organic compost would be used to improve the soil – green cover crops turned in and composted manure from organically raised species, crop rotation, and companion planting.

Humans coexisted in natural ecosystems since they first arrived on the planet. It was only after World Wars in which munitions waste was turned into fertilizers and chemicals that the oxymoronic ‘green’ revolution was spawned…along with industrial monocropping and its extreme reliance on petroleum and natural gas derived chemical additives. So like the term ‘green revolution’ could not be any further from the truth, so it is with the term ‘conventional’ farming.

To find TRUE ‘conventional’ farming one need only go back to remembering how our grandparents – nearly all of them – lived. Not at all coincidentally this was also before widespread obesity, diabetes, heart disease, and cancer.

And so Sustainable Shenandoah is building a completely sustainable, organic and biodynamic garden in Page County, Virginia, as a group of concerned citizens who want to eat well, and want to stop traveling to Charlottesville or Northern Virginia for sustainable, organic food. (NOT very sustainable, that drive, lol!)

We CLEARLY understand that this is a learning process - or rather, a relearning process. It is our thinking that the best way to show ‘it can be done’ is by example...and that one success can build on another.

Rainbow Hill Music Gala and Sustainable Shenandoah's Great Unleashing!!

Solar Powered Rainbow Hill Music Gala
Saturday, June 6th, 2009
1PM to 9:30PM
2547 US Highway 211 West
Luray, Virginia 22835

Powered by Sunrnr ('Sunrunner') and cosponsored by Sustainable Shenandoah,
FirkinGood.com, SUNRNR, and Rainbow Hill. Free to the public, donations
for the bands welcome.

Come hear seven local bands perform eclectic rock and roll powered by the sun, learn what our sponsors have to offer the local community, and enjoy great food and the best beer and wine selection in Page County! Bands being presented are Book of Kills,
SLeePFeeDeR, Dead Kings Rising, Buck Gooter, PeZJacket, The Furs, and Time---all local and regional bands.

SUNRNR manufactures portable solar generators in Page County, Virginia and is harnessing the Power of the Sun to energize this music
extravaganza!

Sustainable Shenandoah advocates the sustainable relocalization of the Shenandoah Valley…’the way it used to be, only better’…through building community, supporting one another in small business endeavors, and teaching by example and educational offerings how to conserve our natural resources in anticipation of a low energy, financially volatile future.