Fresh Abundance Weekly News - July 26, 2009

Fresh Abundance - Bringing Local Food to Local People
Boxes
Jacque's Blog
PEACH Blog - For the latest Fresh Abundance & Peach news Including recent farm movies.

PEACH on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube

Summer - The Heart Of Local Produce Season
This summer is speeding right along, launching us into the heart of the local produce season. It is an amazing dance to serve our local farmers. To make this all come together takes multiple phone calls to communicate what the farm will have and how we can help them move their perishable produce in a timely manner. Then their harvest must get to us so we can get it in the boxes all five days we deliver each week. You can then multiply that by 50 farmers and wow what a juggling act. Over the last five years we have built a dynamic network to serve our local farmers and get their food to your table.

Local Growers Get Good Price - Healthier & Better Taste - Cuts Out Wasteful Long Haul Trucking
We give the local grower a good price and get you a good deal as we cut out the long haul trucking, warehousing, and middle men of the current industrial food chain. Local small farm grown farm goods still cost more than the industrially produced foods from large chain grocery stores. Our government subsidizes industrial agriculture and these subsidies do not trickle down to the small local farmer. None of the local small farms we work with are getting rich from the prices they charge and many of them barely get by. While you pay more for this local food you also get more as the food tastes better and is grown on healthy soil, which produces healthier produce. Buying local strengthens community health and connects us to the people who produce the foods we thrive on. As you purchase from Fresh Abundance you keep these local farms in business ensuring accessibility to the freshest safely grown produce, meats and dairy for years to come.

LOCAL Organic Lapin Cherries on sale - 20 pound case for $50
This week one of our local farmers needed to move cherries. We have 20 pound cases of LOCAL Organic Lapin Cherries on sale for $50. These sweet cherries are perfect for drying, canning, preserving, or simply eating and are available now at the division store.

LOCAL Egg and Fresh Chicken Update
We are currently working with a couple of farms that have young laying chickens and meat birds we hope that some time this fall we will finally again have fresh local chickens and eggs at Fresh Abundance.

p.e.a.c.h. Farm Update
The sugar snap peas are finished and the pea plants are now being readied for saving pea seeds. We are also collecting calendula and nasturtium seeds this week. We are harvesting the first of the peppers, tomatoes and cucumbers. We had our first work crew from the Department of Corrections come out and pull lots of weeds. The teens from juvenile justice are still trickling in and we have several teens and young adults from the next generation summer jobs youth program helping grow food. Remember you can buy produce from the p.e.a.ch. farm at Community Roots Market on Sundays 11-4. Donations we are currently seeking are rain gutters to put in a rainwater catchment system, a tractor, and a van for hauling produce to farm stands.

p.e.a.c.h. Red Barn Soiree - September 26th
We are working hard on the Red Barn Soiree, our annual p.e.a.c.h. fundraising dinner and evening of fun that will happen on the p.e.a.c.h. farm on September 26th. In a couple of weeks we will begin to sell tickets and gather auction items for the silent auction. We are currently looking for local businesses that will underwrite the event. If you know of a local business that is a good candidate to underwrite our event please send an email to Brightspirit@freshabundance.com

Community Roots Market
Remember Community Roots Market is every Sunday 11-4

Bicycle
If you were out on Saturday evening in downtown Spokane did you see the 200 bicyclist riding together have a whooping good time? I am so happy to see Spokane move to being a bicycle lively town.

Till next week stay local.
Brightspirit

Fresh Abundance Weekly News - July 18, 2009

Fresh Abundance - Bringing Local Food to Local People
Boxes
Jacque's Blog
PEACH Blog - For the latest Fresh Abundance & Peach news Including recent farm movies.

PEACH on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube

You might have noticed that I did not send out the news last week. Between harvesting and teaching on the p.e.a.c.h. farm, running Community Roots Market and riding my bicycle, I lost track of time.

For most of my younger life I ran many miles several times a week but about three years ago I started having knee and hip pain so I stopped running. Rheumatoid arthritis runs in my family. I was sad to give up running, but I had no choice. So for three years I kept thinking that I would take up bicycle riding. Working a rigorous schedule and my fear of creating pain worse than I already had kept me from getting started. This year during bicycle to work week I started riding five miles a day. To my delight my knee and hip pain went away. This is not what I expected at all. Now I have been riding for a couple of months: some days riding forty miles, most days riding five to ten miles. I am pain free for the first time in three years.

I do my best everyday to take charge of my health and I am constantly hearing from many Fresh Abundance members that you are trying to do the same. I believe this is a turning point in human health where we have come to terms with the fact that there are no easy answers and no pills that FIX the diseases nearly everyone has these days. I get frequent requests for information on health issues and I believe we can each be a powerful force for changing our own health.

On Thursday evening July 30 from 6pm-8pm I am launching a Lecture series called Take Charge of Your Health. The first lecture focuses on The Biology of Dairy, Soy Milk & Dairy Alternatives and will cover the following topics:
- History of dairy
- Pasteurized milk
- Raw milk
- Goat milk
- Powdered milk
- Pasteurization
- Dairy cows
- Hormones & antibiotics
- Dairy feed then and now
- Kefir Grains
- Soy milk, rice milk, nut milk
- Calcium
- Vitamin D

This lecture is about the facts. This is a non-judgmental lecture with the goal of giving you real answers so you can make real decisions about your health. This lecture is open to the public for $25 per person or at a reduced rate of $20 for current Fresh Abundance members who pre-register.

You can pre-register by mailing a check for $20 made out to Eden B. Hendrix to:Fresh Abundance
Attn: Brightspirit
2015 N. Division
Spokane, WA 99205

Hey did you notice the big article on Fresh Abundance/p.e.a.c.h. in the food section on Wednesday in the Spokesman? There have been a lot of new faces in the store checking out the great local food system work we are doing. It is exciting to have this level of recognition after working on local food issues for so many years. Every purchase from Fresh Abundance is a vote for our local farmers. Together we are doing our part to get more local food consumed right here in river city!

With the recent rain and hot sun the weeds are out of control on the p.e.a.c.h. farm. If anyone is interested in getting their hands in the dirt to support local food please contact brightspirit@freshabundance.com

Brightspirit

Volunteer at p.e.a.c.h. Permaculture Farm

Hey all,

I hope you are having a great summer. I know we are enjoying life out at the valley permaculture farm.

Right now there are peas, salad, arugula, kale, chard, basil, parsley, dill, and more to harvest.

There are hops and flowers to transplant, an arbor and planters to build, and weeds to pull. At the rate things are growing, it can be hard to get ahead. If we ever do get ahead I have plans for two more herb spiral hills, a worm farm, and a chicken coop.

Anybody interested in any of these things, please give me a call or come on out. I will be working Monday through Thursday this week, daylight 'till dark. And somebody else will probably be here for the weekend.

If anybody has access to a rototiller or a weed eater which we could use for a couple of days, that would be much appreciated too.

You can email me back at nextleveld@gmail.com or call anytime (509) 368-0864.

Thank you,
p.e.a.c.h. Farmer
Dave Weber, a.k.a. davoo

Fresh Abundance Weekly News - July 5th, 2009

Fresh Abundance - Bringing Local Food to Local People
Boxes
Jacque's Blog
PEACH Blog - For the latest Fresh Abundance & Peach news Including recent farm movies.

PEACH on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube

Happy Birthday to Fresh Abundance! 

We turned five years old this week. We are here to stay to build our community food supply, and for the first time ever we will harvest an item or two for the weekly box from the p.e.a.c.h. farm.

It is exciting to support local farmers, and to become yet another farm bringing food to local plates. You will now find p.e.a.c.h. farm produce at Fresh Abundance stores, and at Community Roots Market each Sunday 11-4 located at 2015 N Division.

Every time you shop at Fresh Abundance or buy from the p.e.a.c.h. farm you support the following p.e.a.c.h. programs and projects.


p.e.a.c.h. Programs and Projects

PEACH Permaculture Farm Apprentice Program
This program trains apprentices into farmers and then matches them with land from the Abundant Harvest Farmland Trust. We select folks for the program who are committed to staying in our Spokane community and working on our local food system These farmers will become trusted, skilled food producers enabling the fresh future and well being of our community.

Farm HANDS
This program brings a diversity of hands to the land to grow local food. Farm Hands will be provided by teens and adults doing community service, folks on public assistance, service learning students from universities and public schools, selected inmates on work release, and local volunteers. Farm hands provide a positive contribution to our local food system while they acquire valuable skills and inspiration for growing their own food.

GEO-Thermal Greenhouse
We are constructing a prototype of a small food growing structure that will allow a family to grow some of their fresh food year round in our cold climate without using grid power.

Annual Tomato Plant Give-Away
In the spring we grow several thousand tomato plants on our p.e.a.c.h. Permaculture Farm. We give these plants to low income families with a goal of encouraging these folks to grow their own food. We select seeds that can be easily saved and we pass this information along with the gift of these plants.

LOCAL Safe Farmer Certification 
Our program privately certifies local farmers that are using organic methods and sustainable farming practices. This certification gives local consumers confidence and allows these producers access to the vast Fresh Abundance marketing network.

Abundant Harvest Farmland Trust 
We actively acquire land through purchase via grant funding, willed estates, generous gifts and fundraising. This property is maintained by the p.e.a.c.h. Farmland Trust, which protects it from development and preserves it as an agricultural resource.

Community Roots Market
We run a year round, indoor/outdoor, buy-local farmers market. This venue provides access to low cost vending for local farmers, back yard gardeners, artists, and crafters.

Till next week - BUY LOCAL, Brightspirit

p.e.a.c.h. Class 02, Part 1 of 3 - Spelt, Emmer, Camelina by René Featherstone

Spelt, Emmer, Camelina Part 1 of 3 - Heritage Grain & Oil Seed Trends In Europe. René Featherstone, agricultural journalist and partner in Lents Spelt Farms of Marlin, Washington, in early 2009 spent a month traveling around Germany to interview growers, chefs, researchers, marketers, and retailers about the ancient grains; spelt, emmer farro, and oil seed camelina. Presented at Community Roots Market.

p.e.a.c.h. Class 02, Part 2 of 3 - Spelt, Emmer, Camelina by René Featherstone

Spelt, Emmer, Camelina Part 2 of 3 - Heritage Grain & Oil Seed Trends In Europe by René Featherstone

p.e.a.c.h. Class 02, Part 3 of 3 - Spelt, Emmer, Camelina by René Featherstone

Spelt, Emmer, Camelina Part 3 of 3 - Heritage Grain & Oil Seed Trends In Europe by René Featherstone