Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Open Garden Tour, local food course, forest hearing

The next open garden tour will be a week from Saturday, April 25, from 2-4 PM at three locations: Pat Kenschaft, 56 Gordonhurst Ave. (with displays in the front yard), Renae Baker, 68 Beverly Rd. (one block away on the corner of Grove Street -- a front yard garden), and Mary Szumski, 166 Alexander Ave. (a first year garden)

Next I forward an announcement for an ambitious course somewhat south of here that may be worth the travel for those wanting to learn lots this year about growing and preserving local food. Below that is an announcement of another hearing about cutting forests at Seton Hall next Thursday evening.

Pat

The Northeast Organic Farming Association of New Jersey (NOFA-NJ) will present a series of four workshops on organic vegetable gardening and how to preserve fresh ruits and vegetables. Participants in the workshop series will learn how, for a small capital investment, they can grow and store healthy, nutritious produce for an entire year while enjoying the fresh air, sunshine and good exercise!
This series is designed for novice and
seasoned gardeners, as well as anyone who wants to learn more about how to preserve fresh produce, and offers a variety of discussions and demonstrations of interest.

On Sunday, May 3, from 2:00 to 4:00 pm, NOFA-NJ Vice President Stephanie Harris and Pam Flory, farmer and educator, will present "Planning and Creating Your Organic Victory Garden" at Duke Farms, 80 Rt. 206 South, Hillsborough, N.J. The admission fee is $15 for NOFA-NJ members, $18 for non-members. Pre-registration by Tuesday, April 28 is required. To register, call NOFA-NJ at
(908) 371-1111 x 101, or send a check to
NOFA-NJ, 334 River Road, Hillsborough, N.J, 08844. For directions to Duke Farms, visit their website at www.dukefarms.org.

Princeton Day School, 650 Great Road, Princeton, NJ is sponsoring the remaining three workshops. All programs at Princeton Day School will begin at 1:00 and end at 3:00pm.

  1. On Saturday, May 30, Mike McGrath of NPR's You Bet Your
    Garden, will
    talk about Problem Solving in the Garden.
  2. On Saturday, July 11, there will be a demonstration of
    how to
    preserve fresh fruits by canning, freezing and
    drying.
  3. The final workshop in the series on Saturday July 25 will
    show
    participants how to preserve fresh vegetables by
    canning, freezing,
    drying or creating a root cellar.

Please come and show your love of trees to the West Orange Zoning Board on April 23rd. 66 Main Street, West Orange. Please take a look at the drawing attached. This is the latest proposal by SHP to the Zoning Board. Its oversized for the site and the school, cuts 1400 trees, and does not have enough parking as required for 700 cars, only 350 or so. Imagine the homeless 350 cars looking for parking spaces
all around the
neighborhood off of Prospect Ave? Come hear how SHP will try to explain away these problems with the plan and go for approval anyway. Our oversight will insure a fair hearing at the Zoning Board.

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