6/6/12
March Newsletter! View in your browser
E-News Monthly
FOLLOW US ON TWITTER:
FRIEND US ON FACEBOOK:
A Special Thanks to Ann del Campo and her daughter Laura for a fantastic Community Forum on Wednesday, May 9th at Stonybrook Meadows. It was a wonderful evening discussion and potluck around organic farming in New Jersey. Issues discussed were the Farm Bill, raw milk, hydro-fracking, municipality ordinances, and member-happenings highlights. More on the evenings events to come!
NOFA-NJ Urban Homestead Tour and Film Screening
For April's end NOFA-NJ's newest board member and Rutgers Cooperative Extension Professor www.nofanj.org/CampaignProcess.aspx?A=View&VID=14540219&KID=172576
1/7
6/6/12
March Newsletter! For April's end NOFA-NJ's newest board member and Rutgers Cooperative Extension Professor of Soil Science, Doctor Jospeh Heckman, hosted an Urban Homestead Tour & Film Screening of Farmageddon for NOFA-NJ members. If you missed movie, the DVD is now available: http://farmageddonmovie.com/. Doctor Heckman has been a long standing proponent on the subject of informed choice in respect to raw milk, hosting a wealth of relevant historical information on the subject within the state of New Jersey, and the use of soil sciences to improve the health of farms organically. Participants for the evenings events where a diverse audience; a meeting of the minds including some familiar faces and long standing members and some new beginning farmers as well. Doctor Heckman began by sharing his homestead experience touring his personal urban oasis. His property backs up to the Manalapin river with two close neighbors on each side and a busy front street. His plot is narrow and long but beautifully packed. Even though it is a small property by most standards it was clear that he promotes a diverse aspect of organic homesteading, growing wheat to feed his 12 chickens and practicing sustainability by saving seed for the next season. Joe calculates he saves 10% in food consumption by allowing his chickens to have access to grass grazing using his self-made chicken grazer.This is essentially a movable fenced in coop made from PVC piping and wiring. Generally is this way chickens are kept in one area for approximately 24 hours happily pecking and scratching before they are moved again. As Joe picked up the grazer to demonstrate moving them to a new location members could see they were eager and thrilled to keep moving forward! After the grazer was moved to a new location the coop was brought up to meet it. When it comes time to mow the lawn all of the grass clippings are left for the lawn to re-compost on its own, also thereby improving the strength of his grass to be more water resilient. Clover is left in the back of the house mixed-in with the grass, no treatment is ever needed on his lawn. While the fruit, wheat, and grasses are not interspersed on Doctor Heckman's homestead they easily could be if one so desired. Despite Doctor Heckman's urban limitations he is also able to successfully grow vegetables to feed his family and neighbors, in addition to nut and fruit trees including: black walnut, paw paws, pecans, hickory, hazelnuts, and permission. To date he has so many fruits and nuts that he has gone beyond his ability to personally consume their harvest. And, as with any good homesteading operation, Joe has two large compost piles with his own organic materials and that of his neighbors which he collects as well. Not only are the neighbors recycling their compost materials through Dr. Heckman's urban homestead but he is also able to collect all the wood from their down trees or branches, crafting them into new windows for his barn, a new chicken coop, and fencing using his saw mill. Locust trees make wonderful organic garden production fencing because it is untreated wood that can be used as posts or cut but they stay in fine condition for an extended period of time. All of these projects are completely feasible and are within town ordinances. All you have to do is check with your town ordinances, gauge your egg consumption and your available space to house chickens! At the end of the tour there was a wonderful Q&A around maintenance and practical questions. Following the tour there was a presentation in the barn about NOFA-NJ and additional books and resources were made available to individuals interested in renting them out. The film Farmageddon continued the theme of the evenings discussions around our food systems and our rights to try and provide the best possible nutrition for our families. Homesteading is the way is has been done for centuries but through subversive dishonest tactics those opportunities are being taken away from many. What would otherwise be considered a less than ideal environment in an urban landscape was redefined in this demonstration of small scale urban homesteading. The possibilities really are endless from small fruit bearing shrubs, nut trees, and backyard chickens you too can do it all, and NOFA-NJ is here to help! For more information on pastured > http://njaes.rutgers.edu/pubs/soilprofile/sp-v19.pdf
poultry
please
visit
*********************************************************************** Raising American Truffles Rodale's Organic Gardening, October 1987 by Larry Korn You can grow these European delicacies in your own Backyard . Nearly everyone has heard of truffles—the flavorful, underground fungi popular as a gourmet food in Europe for centuries. Few Americans have ever tasted these small potato-like fruits because they are simply unavailable, or at about $400 a pound they might as well be. Even in France, the highly sought Perigord truffle is rare and very expensive. But now truffle species have been found in several parts of the United States. In addition, truffle hunters and commercial growers are developing ways to raise the delicate fungi all across the country. Truffles are the fruiting bodies of certain mycorrhizal fungi—fungi that live partly in the soil and partly in the roots of specific plants. They grow in many shapes, but most are small round objects resembling dirty golf balls. Because truffles sprout below the ground, it is not easy to find them growing in the wild. In France, pigs and dogs are trained to sniff out the pungent fruits lying beneath the forest floor.
www.nofanj.org/CampaignProcess.aspx?A=View&VID=14540219&KID=172576
2/7
6/6/12
March Newsletter! Although researchers have known of the existence of native truffles in North America since the turn of the century, only in the past 10 years has amateur truffle-hunting caught on. The North American Truffling Society (NATS) of Corvallis, Ore., conducts forays to the mountains in search of these flavorful delicacies. Some of the rare specimens collected are listed in the NATS newsletter, including the scientific name and the conditions where the truffles were found. Large concentrations of truffles have been found in the mountains of Washington, Oregon, California, and British Columbia. Native truffles have also been discovered in Texas, Colorado, Michigan, Tennessee and at higher elevations in New England. In fact, many people have truffles growing in their wooded backyards right now and don’t even know it. Amateur collectors have also begun scouring the mountains for commercial harvests of chanterelles and other wild mushrooms. The rapid increase of foraging for wild mushrooms, however, has alarmed environmentalists, who worry about depleting the forest of these important fungi and also about the damage uncontrolled harvesting may cause. Gary Menser, a former mushroom broker now working at Oregon State University, is trying to help solve this growing problem in an innovative way—by developing home production of truffles here in the United States. Menser believes truffles can be successfully produced in many parts of the country. Menser’s truffle knowledge was developed in France, where he learned the newly developed methods for inoculating tree and shrub seedlings with truffles. He has since installed several large plantings in the Pacific Northwest, including a 10,000-tree orchard near Aberdeen, Wash. The trees are Douglas fir inoculated with a native Northwestern truffle, Tuber gibbosum. He also planted 1,000 trees—which he lugged from Europe—in the hill country of Texas near Austin and San Antonio, since the area’s soil and climate are similar to that of southeastern France. Another group, Agri-truffle, working in the same region of Texas, has planted some 40 acres of trees inoculated with the black Perigord truffle, Tuber melanosporum. They used wild hazelnut, California oak and native Texas oak trees. The truffles take six to twelve years to begin fruiting. Since the oldest planting is only four years old, yield data is not yet available. But the method has worked reliably in Italy and France. According to early reports, the trees planted in this country are thriving. These initial plantings will help determine the best soil conditions and techniques for growing truffles in America. Due to these new developments, many American gardeners can plant their own truffle orchards. Once established, the truffle orchard requires little water or maintenance, no fertilizer and only a light annual tilling. The French truffle grower prefers a poor, shallow, gravelly soil that is slightly alkaline. In that kind of soil, the truffle’s root system develops horizontally, close to the surface, and the necessary root-fungus relationship is firmly established. If you plant inoculated hazels, in several years you could be harvesting a forage crop of nuts from above the ground and truffles from below. To get started, clear an area of competing brush and trees, and add lime if the soil is acid. Menser has found that it is best to plant at least 20 trees in grid rows 10 to 12 feet apart. “Plant perennial rye as a ground cover or intercrop with vegetables and flowers while the trees are maturing,” he suggests. “For example, the French grow rows of lavender in young orchards. After a few years the truffles will send out a compound that inhibits the growth of other plants. A brulee, or burnedlooking area, develops near the base of the trees. Then the truffles sprout every fall and winter. How many are produced depends a lot on the weather. Drought and extreme cold inhibit fruiting, but the truffles are insulated from the weather, to some extent, by the soil that covers them.” No one is sure how long it will be before truffles are as common in the United States as the white Agaricus mushroom, but better methods for growing truffles and inoculated seedling stock are already available. The lucky Americans who establish truffle orchards will be able to enjoy the finest French cuisine right from their own backyards. ********************************************************************** Garlic You Only Plant Once Rodale's Organic Gardening, April 1987 by Larry Korn There’s a way to grow garlic without replanting each year. A Washington gardener explains how. Joe Capriotti doesn’t plant garlic, but every year he harvests hundreds of pounds from his backyard in Montesano, Wash. His technique goes against the common practice of planting and harvesting garlic each year as if it were an annual plant. Most people don’t realize that garlic can be grown as a perennial. Capriotti, who once worked as a chef and as a logger in the forests of the Pacific Northwest, developed his technique over many years of experimenting on his 1-acre homestead. Now, at 80, he proudly displays the fruits of his research. When I visited his place in western Washington, I found Capriotti to be an active man with a sharp wit and a delightful sense of humor. His other experiments have ranged from testing apple, peach, plum and pear varieties to new techniques for growing strawberries and potatoes. But his real love is garlic.
“This patch of elephant garlic hasn’t been planted or plowed for more than 20 years,” Capriotti says, leading me to a 25-by-40-foot area where healthy garlic tops of various sizes grow without apparent order. “When the plants are about 2 feet tall, seed buds will form. Be sure to pinch off the www.nofanj.org/CampaignProcess.aspx?A=View&VID=14540219&KID=172576
3/7
6/6/12
March Newsletter! apparent order. “When the plants are about 2 feet tall, seed buds will form. Be sure to pinch off the buds or you won’t get any garlic. The large plants will form cloves. The other, smaller plants will die back, but will come up again the following year. Did you ever dig clams? Well, the small holes the young garlic tops leave after they die back look like little clam holes all over the soil.” In August Capriotti pulls up the largest plants that have been pinched. “I just pull ‘em out of the ground by hand or use a garden trowel if they won’t come,” he says. “I have never weighed how many pounds have come out of this bed, but it’s 200 pounds or more.” Capriotti also inter-plants garlic with berries and young fruit trees. Volunteers may be found almost anywhere in the garden. After harvesting, Capriotti uses a hand-push cultivator to lightly till the surface and uproot weeds that are already growing. He waters the bed to cause the weed seeds to germinate, then cultivates the surface to eliminate those young weeds. In September the area looks bare and abandoned. “My neighbors used to look at it and ask, ‘Hey Joe, aren’t you going to plant garlic this year?’ “ he says. “ ‘No,’ I’d answer, ‘I never plant garlic. It’s already in there.’ “ In October, Capriotti spreads a 3- to 4-inch mulch of cherry and apple leaves. The mulch keeps any more weeds from sprouting and would prevent the garlic from coming up, too, if it weren’t for the timely arrival of the wood thrush, or winter robin, from the local forest. These birds, which move to the open lowlands with the first cold weather, eat insects that live under the leaves. They turn the mulch, disturbing it enough for the garlic to sprout through. Last year, for some reason, not many thrushes came, but robins took over and did the job nearly as well. Capriotti has built bird boxes all around his house and watering ponds nearby to attract birds of all kinds. Besides turning the garlic mulch, the thrushes, robins and warblers effectively control insects throughout the garden. By spring most of the mulch is gone. Night crawlers and microorganisms have turned it into rich compost. “Don’t dig manure into the soil when you start the bed, Capriotti suggests. “I tried that one year when I was trying to get huge cloves just for show. The plants grew big enough, but they were only the leaves—no cloves. If you want to fertilize, spread 1 inch of well-rotted manure on top of the ground. After a patch has had no fertilizer for many years, it is necessary to do this. By not plowing, and by spreading a little manure once in a while and a mulch of leaves every fall, I get elephant garlic bulbs of all sizes — some weigh over 1 pound. The shopkeepers I sell to don’t like it when they get that big. It’s too weird — the customers have never seen anything like it.” Garlic likes full sun and grows well in most soil conditions, but the soil should not be too heavy and it must have good drainage. “Garlic hates to have its feet wet and will rot in boggy areas,” Capriotti says. “Don’t water in the summer, especially with an overhead sprinkler. I don’t even sprinkle my strawberries or raspberries nearby because I’m afraid some of the water might get on the garlic. If it rains heavily after the Fourth of July, it rots some of the plants and you get a lot of culls. I replant the culls later in areas that look kind of sparse.” This way of growing garlic has emerged from a lifetime of living and working close to nature. It requires no machinery or chemicals — only a hand cultivator and a garden trowel. “You have to have the right soil conditions,” Capriotti says, “and you have to be aware of everything going on in the garden.” The technique is simple yet sophisticated, and closely follows the natural cycle of garlic, a perennial plant. Capriotti is proud of his way with garlic and loves to remind his many visitors, “I don’t plant garlic — I only harvest it.”
MAY 2012
Farmland owners invited to attend informational meetings on leasing (HILLSBOROUGH, NJ) – Despite New Jersey’s dense population and heavy development pressure, communities have rallied around farmland preservation – with more than 25% of the state’s 733,450 farmland acres preserved. Many farmland owners, however, are not actively farming but actively looking for farmers. While it sounds like a simple and advantageous relationship, there are potential pitfalls for landowners and farmers alike when either lacks leasing or farming experience. “Finding available land, with the right features and conditions for your operation, is difficult to begin with – add a leasing arrangement and things can get hairy,” says Eve Minson, Northeast Organic Farming Association of New Jersey’s (NOFA-NJ) Beginning Farmer Program Manager. “Farmers are looking for a guarantee – a reason to invest into land that is not their own and will never be theirs – while landowners are looking for a tenant that will fulfill their own, separate set of expectations.” NOFA-NJ and the State Agriculture Development Committee (SADC), the administrators of NJ’s Farmland Preservation Program, are teaming up to address this issue. . The SADC operates the Farm Link Program, which has an online listing that helps to connect farm owners with farmers seeking access to farmland and farming opportunities. David Kimmel, Agricultural Resource Specialist with the SADC, recognizes that the program’s linking service isn’t enough. “Leasing arrangements can be tricky, especially for landowners who may not have prior experience with farming and all of the activity that surrounds a farming business. We are developing a model lease guidebook and arranging informational meetings to introduce landowners to leasing resources and opportunities, plus give them a chance to speak with farmers who are involved in successful leasing arrangements,” Kimmel explained. The SADC and NOFA-NJ are sponsoring three regional meetings for landowners, from 7 pm to 8:30 pm, on June 4 (Genesis Farm – Blairstown, NJ), June 6 (Rutgers Cooperative Extension in Salem County – Woodstown, NJ) and June 14 (Rutgers Cooperative Extension in Mercer County – Lawrenceville, NJ) to discuss these topics. Landowners will learn about the access-to-land issues faced by farmers and hear from farmers who have been in leasing arrangements. There will also be an opportunity for landowners to provide feedback to help shape the SADC’s development of new leasing resources. A fourth meeting for nonprofit,
www.nofanj.org/CampaignProcess.aspx?A=View&VID=14540219&KID=172576
Events Calendar NOFA-NJ Highlights: Mushroom Cultivation- Workshop Saturday, June 9th Shiitake Mushrooms have long been recognized for their health promoting properties and have in recent years become a favorite addition to American cuisine. Consumers are becoming increasing aware of the importance of “eating local”, and shiitake mushrooms can be one of the most sustainable foods in your diet – you can grow them at home! Attend a Mushroom Cultivation Workshop at Back-to-Nature Home & Garden Center in Basking Ridge on Saturday, June 9th at 10:30 AM. Registration is required. 2012 Permaculture Design Course July 19-22 & August 9-12 Instructor Wayne Weiseman, Director of the Permaculture Project LLC, teaches 8 days of experiential and hands-on Permaculture training; it is about designing ecological human habitats and food production systems to attain a working understanding in ecologically-based planning, site design and management. Sign-up today to take advantage of our best Early Bird Discounts! Farmland owners invited to attend informational meetings on leasing NOFA-NJ and the State Agriculture
4/7
6/6/12
March Newsletter!
shape the SADC’s development of new leasing resources. A fourth meeting for nonprofit, land-trust and public-entity landowners is scheduled for Thursday, June 12, from 2 pm to 4 pm at D&R Greenway in Princeton, NJ. These programs are sponsored in part by the Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program of the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, USDA, Grant # 2011-4940030739. Genesis Farm, Rutgers Cooperative Extension, and D&R Greenway are also helping sponsor the meetings. Additional details and registration information is available at http://nj.gov/agriculture/sadc/ and http://www.nofanj.org/.
*********************************************************************** * Be Sure You Don't Miss Out on NOFA-NJ's Member-to-Member Discounts
***************************************************************************************************************** * Classifieds Highlight of the month: { Gravity Hill Farm } Position starts in May and will go through October. 18 hours a week with occasional opportunities to fill in for weekend market staff. Compensation starts at $10/hour plus personal produce. This position does not include housing. Please send a letter ofinterest and resume to Amy Scott at amyelisabethscott@gmail.com. Description of Farm/Type of Farm Sought: Gravity Hill Farm, located in Titusville, New Jersey is seeking one part time farm staff for the 2012 growing season. For more information about our farm, visit our website www.gravityhillfarm.com. Skills: Applicant must be available to assist with harvest and packing for markets on Thursdays and Fridays. Majority of work will be harvest and packing with occasional involvement in other tasks. Applicants must be physically able and willing to work hard inall weather. Some tasks are repetitive and require heavy lifting. ****************************************************************************************************************** * Meet Our Members: The Faces of NOFA-NJ { Sunset Vista }
Location: Andover Township Owner & Founder: Linda Grinthal Scale: 20 acres Operational Staff: 40 Volunteers What's Growing: At least three varieties of Heirloom Tomatoes, Cukes, Peppers, Lettuce, Green Beans, Zukes, Radish, and a host of other things In Operation: 2010 - Present Website: www.sunsetvista.org Sunset Vista provides small scale organic agriculture and self-sufficiency instruction to individuals and groups to deepen their understanding of food, its source and its relationship to health while preserving the environment, to inspire others to recreate those principles in their own home a nd community environments. From programs like Farm to Table and Beyond, Botany on Your Plate, Investigating the Plants We Eat, Community
www.nofanj.org/CampaignProcess.aspx?A=View&VID=14540219&KID=172576
Development Committee (SADC), the administrators of NJ’s Farmland Preservation Program, are teaming up to address this issue. The SADC operates the Farm Link Program, an online listing that helps to connect farm owners with farmers seeking access to farmland and farming opportunities. Attend A Meeting In Your Region! NOFA-NJ Membership Highlights: May 19th, 2012 Two Pond Farm Workshop Series: Vegetable Gardening & Raising Chickens The morning session will be dedicated to organic vegetable gardening. We will go out into the garden and see 'up close and personal' the organic vegetable gardening methods used at Two Pond Farm, including techniques for growing onions and potatoes, transplanting, soil management, and weed, disease and pest control. We will explore an alternative method of weed control: eat them! You will learn how to identify, harvest, and enjoy the edible weeds on our farm. Late in the morning, we will have an open 'ask the farmer and gardener' question and answer session. The morning workshop is appropriate for all novice and intermediate vegetable gardeners who are interested in organic gardening methods. The techniques you will learn can be used in any garden worked mostly with hand tools - from a small back yard plot, to a community garden, to a large garden for a farm stand. The afternoon session will be all about raising chickens on a small scale - from selecting the breed, to housing, feed, and flock management (for flock health, manure management, and profitability). We will discuss raising chickens for eggs and for meat. Much of this session will be held in the chicken coop. This session is appropriate for any one who is interested in raising chickens (from only two or three to up to 100), or anyone who is just curious about what it takes to put an egg or a roast chicken on your table. For more details, see the attached brochure or our web site: twopond.com. Advanced registration is required. May 18 ~ 19, 2012 4th Annual Medicine Wheel Celebration at Lusscroft Farms in Wantage. Saturday: fundraising Plant Sale. There will be raffles and 50/50's all weekend. All of this years garden plans will be initiated.Paul who anchors our Horticultural development begins a Wikitipi near the Medicine Wheel Garden. On the other side of the road we introduce Nancy who will install one garden in front of managers dwelling and bring her Floricultural touch to the side yard as well. Our feature garden will be the Sussex County Master Gardeners. Saturday continues with workshops beginning with planning a successful Organic Farm or Garden with Brian, Bees and Honey with Roman, Forestry and Woodlot Management Frank, Equine program with Janice and Dick, Trails of Lusscroft Kevin and Justin. Mushroom growing with Ian. Orchard Design and Maintenance with Pete Tischler. Workshop Fees may apply, inquire. Donations for all are suggested but the general event is free. There will be community demonstration of Mosaic Art led by Newark Museum Educator Fran.Tai Chi Sonya and Jim's group. Spirit Hoopers with Jessie. Free Hand Chain Saw Art featuring Bret and Sean.Attendees will have choices, plenty of things to do as Farm Craft and Food will be center stage. A community dialogue will unfold in the Barn at noon. Panelist will include Dr. William Thomas, MSU's NJSOC at Stokes, Sister Miriam MacGillis, Dir.Genesis Farm. Eric Derby, Edible NJ,
5/7
6/6/12
March Newsletter! to Table and Beyond, Botany on Your Plate, Investigating the Plants We Eat, Community Supported Garden Plots, Composting, Canning, Herb Drying, Survival Gardening and more Sunset Vista has become a home for celebrating and exploring all of the adventures that lay hidden deep beneath the garden dirt.
Dir.Genesis Farm. Eric Derby, Edible NJ, Transition Newton, Eric Olsen,Skylands Project Manager The Nature Conservancy and Brian Hennessey Ag-Ed Chair, H and AA.
See the full article on The Faces of NOFA-NJ
Marafani Drum Dance Song will ship in from MA to lead a drum circle followed by open mike with Music, Poetry and Spoken Word will carry on till dusk.
****************************************************************************************************************** Other Related News Bites Around Ecology: NOFA 38th Annual Summer Conference 2012 - Camping, Music, Education, & Fun. August 10~12, 2012 2012 North American Biodynamic Conference "Just Food". The 25th Anniversary Celebration Conference. August 24 ~ 26, 2012
of
The
New
RECIPE
re-Fresh Summer Salad
England
Women’s
Herbal
NRCS High Tunnel Initiative: Sign up by June 30th ****************************************************************************************************************** Local Farmers Markets Are Back Outdoors! Check out a full listing near you! {Princeton Farmers Market} http://www.princetonfarmersmarket.com/ {Long Valley Green Market} http://longvalleygreenmarket.com/ {Sparta Farmers Market} http://www.spartafarmersmarket.org/
Y ou will need: 1 Mango 1 Av acado Fresh Field/spring Greens sprouts of y our choice 4 tbsp sunflower oil 1 lime sea salt
Dice fruit + av acado mix with greens + sprouts
for dressing: in a small dish combine juice from lime, oil + sea salt to taste. whisk with a fork + mix in to salad
a refreshing (raw) favorite!
NOFA-NJ 334 River Road Hillsborough, NJ 08844 (908) 371-1111
www.nofanj.org/CampaignProcess.aspx?A=View&VID=14540219&KID=172576
6/7
6/6/12
March Newsletter! Send to a Friend Unsubscribe Unsubscribe
www.nofanj.org/CampaignProcess.aspx?A=View&VID=14540219&KID=172576
7/7