“Central PA Farmers” – New Farmers’ Market Website Launched
(From Louisa Smith) – “I’m the person running the website and newsletter for the central marketing effort for all of the county’s producer-only farmers’ markets, Central Pennsylvania Farmers. This is the first year all of the markets have banded together to provide a central information point and pool our advertising dollars for greater exposure. We hope it’ll really cut down on consumer confusion and help people find the markets that are most convenient for them. Check out our website and sign up for our twice-monthly email newsletter by clicking here.”
- Boalsburg Farmers Market – Tuesdays 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. at the PA Military Museum
- State College Downtown Farmers Market – Tuesdays 11:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. on Locust Lane
- State College Downtown Farmers Market – Fridays 11:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. on Locust Lane
- Lemont Farmers Market- Wednesdays 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the Granary.
- North Atherton Farmers Market - Saturdays 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Home Depot Parking Lot
- Bellefonte Farmers Market – Saturdays 8 a.m. to noon at the Gamble Mill parking lot
- Millheim Farmers Market - Saturdays 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the American Legion Pavilion
Reminder – Centre County Buy Fresh Buy Local
For another great resource for information about local farmers and farms, and ways to eat local, check out Centre County Buy Fresh Buy Local (scroll down to sign up for the weekly e-newsletter).
Centre County BFBL is also on Facebook.
Act 106 – New Farmers Market Safety Rules in PA
Overview document from Eat Safe PA. Compliance – and cost-of-compliance – concerns rank high among local farmers’ market manager and vendor priorities.
News from Way Fruit Farm
Hello and Happy Spring to everyone! We enjoyed seeing so many of you at the farm for our annual Apple Blossom Festival last weekend. We were fortunate that the rain held off most of the day so you could enjoy a dry wagon ride through the orchard.
Polish Pottery is 10% off now through May 19. Just in time for Mother’s Day, this annual sale will help you get more for your money with these beautiful collectibles.
Currently, in our farm store, we still have our own apples (Red Delicious, Golden Delicious & Ida Red) and fresh-pressed cider, California citrus and fresh bananas for sale. Also, stop by today to see what’s cookin’ in the Way Cafe and Bakery. Our soups are always available by the quart and make a great, quick dinner when paired with fresh-baked bread from our bakery. Don’t forget dessert to take home too! Try a fresh-baked fruit pie, half-dozen cookies or some homemade sticky buns today! Hand-dipped ice cream is also available year-round. Why not bring out friends, family or the Little League team to enjoy some ice cream this weekend?
Can’t make it out to the farm? Don’t forget to stop by and see us at the Boalsburg Farmer’s Market, every Tuesday, year-round, from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. We have just made the move back outside and you can find us in the Boalsburg Military Museum parking lot throughout the summer! There is a great selection of local goods, musical entertainment and more every Tuesday. Hope to see you there!
FracTracker Newsletter – Edition 13
Interesting information about municipal anti-fracking movements in New York State, our upstream neighbors to the North.
Also, “FracTracker and the Keystone Trails Association are proud to launch “Trail Logbook: Reporting Gas Industry Impacts on Pennsylvania Trail Experiences” – an effort to collect information from hikers and other trail users who have had negative or hazardous encounters while recreating in PA.” More information via links at the FracTracker newsletter.
Silkscapes & Relics – Art Show at Schlow
(From Linna Muschlitz) - I hope you have the opportunity to drop by Schlow Library during the month of May to check out the artworks in the Betsy Allen Gallery, on the first floor between the elevator and the community room. As guest artist for May, I am exhibiting clay relics, fired in the Raku process, and interpretations of flowers painted on silks using French dyes and the serti technique.
If you live near State College, another opportunity is the 2012 Images at the Robeson Gallery downstairs in the HUB. The reception is Friday, June 8 beginning at 5:30 pm. A good number of Centre County artists have been accepted into this show, and I am one of them.
One more opportunity to see clay artwork: over Mother’s Day weekend, the Potters Guild will be hosting a show and sale to raise money for a new gas kiln. Gallery pieces and functional clay ware, including small votives, will be for sale to help raise money for our new gas kiln at 818 South Pike Street in Lemont. The Art Alliance will be hosting a plant sale at the same time. 50% of all sales go to the kiln fund. Hope you can visit some of these events.
New Transition Group Forming in Bloomsburg – Kickoff Meeting May 3
(From Corwin Rockwood (age 14); Jill Lashmett (age 31) and Wade Wright (age 65) – Dear Susquehanna Valley neighbor: Where would you get food if the grocery store was closed? What will we do when gas costs $8/gallon? What will our communities look like when oil becomes even more expensive and less available? Is our community resilient enough to weather this inevitable change? Do you think we can be far less dependent on fossil fuels and maintain a good quality of life?
We are three people who are excited about a social movement that seeks to find answers to these questions, and has exploded all around the world, and want to invite you to join a steering committee in Columbia County to make it happen here. The movement is called Transition, and will invite everyone in our community to join in building a secure, more vibrant, more connected and fulfilling future for ourselves, our children, our community and the world. There are over 400 such initiatives around the world, and their energy and action is truly inspiring.
- Transition Primer (30 pages)
- Transition 1.0: (video, 50 minutes)
- Transition US website
If you are interested give one of us a call or email. We have scheduled an initial informational meeting for interested folks to meet one another and as a springboard for those who want to start work on this initiative: Thursday, May 3, 2012, 7:00 pm at the Moose Exchange, 203 W. Main St., Bloomsburg?
- Corwin Rockwood—570-784-8456; 9ofamber@gmail.com
- Jill Lashmett— 570-387-8938; jlashmett@gmail.com
- Wade Wright—570-925-5708; w9a8d7e6w@epix.net
News & Action Alert from Clearwater Conservancy
Spring Creek Festival and 5K - ClearWater Conservancy will hold its annual celebration of Spring Creek June 2 at Millbrook Marsh Nature Center, 548 Puddintown Road, State College. The day begins with a 5K run at 8:30 a.m. The festival runs from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. with a host of educational events, conservation displays, programs, food and music for all ages. The festival is a free, rain or shine event.
Activities for children include a sing-along, a scavenger hunt, arts and crafts, an aquatic bug hunt, giant bunnies, ambulance tours, animal tracking, rocks and minerals and more. New this year will be a rubber duck race, a display of American Indian artifacts from Centre County, fly casting lessons for adults and children and indoor presentations by local educators.
Lobby Harrisburg for Conservation Funding (More info) – ”…Governor Corbett’s budget savages the Keystone Fund and farmland preservation…Permanently redirects Keystone’s recreation, park and conservation funds to general state operations. This includes eliminating the only funding source that directs money specifically to land trust and community park and recreation projects….Permanently redirects the farmland preservation funding share of the Cigarette Tax to general state operations. For 2012 and 2013, cigarette tax revenue would be “replaced” with bond money that otherwise would have been used for Growing Greener projects (like farmland preservation). Even if one were to find this trade acceptable, it still leaves a gaping problem: After use of two years of bond money, farmland preservation will have no funding. Its connection to the cigarette tax will be gone…”
- Call or write your legislators. RIGHT NOW. Tell them to: (a) keep the Keystone Fund intact so that it can deliver another two decades of conservation excellence and (b) oppose cutting farmland preservation’s connection to the cigarette tax.
- Get the word out to your members, colleagues and friends.
Essay at Peak Oil Blues: “Where Will the Grandkids Live?”
“…So where do I think my grandchildren will live when they are 40 (ages today 10, 14, and 21)? I think they will live in a world very similar to the first decade of the last century. There will be some electricity available, mostly in the cities I think, but it will be intermittent. Those who are lucky enough still to have a land line will maintain some communication ability. There will be limited use of airplanes, but not for air travel. Medicine and medical supplies will be limited and not available in the variety that we have today. Anything plastic will be a curiosity, and not currently available. Radio, TV and Internet will become things of the past…”
