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Author: Livia N

Urban Farming

So I’ve been reading a fairly dry report of urban/community farming in Philadelphia

And reading to the end pays off with this gem:

Beyond these instances, no other community gardeners reported selling their harvest – with the notable exception of the neighbor children who garden at the Fair Hill Burial Ground, who set up an occasional vegetable stand at 9th and Indiana, a corner formerly notorious for its heroin market (though they were part of a youth program run by Friends of Fair Hill Burial Ground).

We met some gardeners who described bartering relationships in which they and fellow gardeners trade vegetables for other goods and services on a very informal basis. One gardener boasted he traded food for the affections of women, and we don’t think he was joking.

Earlier, however, was an isolated mention about the decline of community farming in the ’80s in the area where I’ve been looking to move, specifically because of the abundance of available plots of land:

The interaction of these two trends – the aging of gardeners and the decline of support programs – was sometimes as important as each of these factors individually. Some of this predated the funding cuts, as the spread of drug activity and related crime drove gardeners off the land in Mantua, Belmont, and other neighborhoods. Crack addicts stealing cabbages and collards discouraged gardeners, and street-level drug gangs intimidated them.

Mer.

urban farming

So I’ve been reading a fairly dry report of urban/community farming in Philadelphia

And reading to the end pays off with this gem:

Beyond these instances, no other community gardeners reported selling their harvest – with the notable exception of the neighbor children who garden at the Fair Hill Burial Ground, who set up an occasional vegetable stand at 9th and Indiana, a corner formerly notorious for its heroin market (though they were part of a youth program run by Friends of Fair Hill Burial Ground).

We met some gardeners who described bartering relationships in which they and fellow gardeners trade vegetables for other goods and services on a very informal basis. One gardener boasted he traded food for the affections of women, and we don’t think he was joking.

Earlier, however, was an isolated mention about the decline of community farming in the ’80s in the area where I’ve been looking to move, specifically because of the abundance of available plots of land:

The interaction of these two trends – the aging of gardeners and the decline of support programs – was sometimes as important as each of these factors individually. Some of this predated the funding cuts, as the spread of drug activity and related crime drove gardeners off the land in Mantua, Belmont, and other neighborhoods. Crack addicts stealing cabbages and collards discouraged gardeners, and street-level drug gangs intimidated them.

Mer.

Charities

I’m putting together a list of charities I like so I can narrow down the ones I’d donate to for the end of the year and/or my birthday.

And I’ve noticed that I don’t have any environmental organizations.

These days, most of the work I’ve been supporting that worries about sustainability and the environment is food-oriented.

So who is helping the trees?

I’m not looking for the Sierra Club. I’m looking for organizations that are smaller and more agile, where more than 50% of their income goes toward the work they are doing, rather than organizational expenses. I want a watchdog for industry. Someone working locally. Doing something specific that makes a difference.

Oh! Just typing this up has reminded me of one! Philadelphia’a Pedal Co-op. I should totally support them.

Any other suggestions?

ETA:ational but good –

Environmental Working Group – lobbyists and nonprofit activists working to change policy – ewg.org

Trust for Public Land – lobbying and holders of large and small scale sizes of land for conservation tpl.org

10,000 friends – http://10000friends.org/ have national and local (PA specific) plans to promote smart growth in urban development (meaning conservation is part of the larger picture instead of piecemeal)

Center for Health Environment and Justice- started by Lois Gibbs (love canal lady) around keeping communities healthy and safe and advocating for their wellbeing

Home

(those are the biggies, here are the grassrootsy ones with a greater need for your money)
http://www.ciw-online.org/ Coalition for Imokolee Workers – migrant farmers organizing for rights

Native peoples organizing around environment and climate change (maybe sara has an opinion on them) http://www.ienearth.org/

Rhizome Collective – http://www.rhizomecollective.org/ doing great work anarchist style

Growing power – www.growingpower.org. will allen (macarthur fellow) saves the day by making compost, giving people green jobs, and growing produce in rust belt cities.

Local (PA)-

Any conservation easement organization (means they put farmland or other productive land into sustainably managed forestry, foraging, etc)-
Natural Lands Trust www.naturallandstrust.org
Pennypack Ecological Trust http://www.pennypacktrust.org/

PASA – PA sustainable agriculture www.pasafarming.org

Even more local (Philly)-

Clean Air Council – doing good work around air emissions and pollution http://www.cleanair.org/

Bicycle Coalition – http://www.bicyclecoalition.org/

Community Environmental Defense Fund – http://www.celdf.org/ Really awesome legal services around environmental movements for communities that can’t afford it

UNI – urban nutrition initiative http://www.urbannutrition.org/

Chester County Environmental Justice group – http://energyjustice.ning.com/ or http://www.ejnet.org/chester/ but I don’t know how organized they are

Fair Food Philly – http://fairfoodphilly.org/

Pennsylvania Horticultural Society – http://www.pennsylvaniahorticulturalsociety.org/home/index.html

If you’re looking for super specific things, a fun website is www.kickstarter.com (like Kiva.org but for whatever and whomever wants to sign up)

I’d love a site redesign

Okay, so I love my food blog, and it’s coming up on its one year anniversary.

But I’ve been reluctant to post in it lately (partly from not wanting to write up the terrible University City Dining Days restaurant and partly because I just don’t like the template anymore – it’s all dark and oppressive, but it was the best of the templates I saw). (ETA: have since ported the missing months from my private journal over to this one – still looking for a site redesign as of 11/25/09)

I crave to have my own identity – my own, individually designed, style which is mine all mine.

And just as I was thinking that, one of the bloggers I read announced that she had just gotten her site professionally redesigned by nifty people. And I pined… so I shot them an email talking about what I wanted, and they sent me back their price list. And OMG – I am not paying $1200 to make my site look better. Because I am so much less professional than she.

Especially not when I have friends. Friends who are good at design and (in some cases) under employed.

So I propose to pay $300 for a quick, pretty WordPress template. I promise I’m easy to please.

So here’s the deal. You say you want to do the job. I give you specifics and 2 weeks to produce a rough draft. If there is a rough draft (whether I like it or not – done is good), I will pay you $50. If there is no rough draft, then I’ll give two weeks to the next person who responded. And then you have a month for a final draft – at which point I will give you $250.

Fair?

If you are interested, let me know.

ETA: Is that a fair offer? Let me know, if I am way out of line.

comments screened

More food

Made mushroom risotto this morning, using the last of the vegetable stock I had made.

And then I finished and strained a new batch of stock. Whee!

I’m working on a pot of red beans and pork, but after several hours of cooking over two days, it’s still not coming together right. I think that’s because this is my first time trying to use canned beans instead of dried. I don’t know – I’ve just had an urge to use up my canned goods lately. Eh, even if it doesn’t develop the proper gravy-ish base, it’s still coming out with the right taste.

Tonight, I need to develop a plan for the broccoli rabe (rapini).

And then I’ll just have the copious amounts of winter squash to figure out. I think I’ll break into the sweet roasting squash first – mainly because it’s big, and I have no place to store it. I’m thinking cutting it in half and roasting it with some butter – then I’ll eat some right away with cinnamon and sugar. Make soup out of most of it. And then reserve some to make ravioli with the thai basil and then cook it in a browned butter sauce.

That’s the plan, at least.