tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10466449897229604362024-02-20T21:26:44.064-05:00GardenGreenAngels A chatter about planning and growing gardens and sustainable programs.
Moments and events to treasure nature. Local Foods, Local Agriculture, School Gardens, Community Gardens and Nature Outside the Classroom Window.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger400125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1046644989722960436.post-77913860028486054712020-03-26T12:07:00.001-04:002020-03-26T12:07:10.961-04:00Home with Kids? 250 Hands-on Activities for School<br />
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-size: x-large;">250 Hands-on Activities and Curriculum Ideas</span></h2>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; letter-spacing: 0.48px; line-height: 25.6px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Green Schoolyards America and the International School Grounds Alliance collaborate to produce a set of free, digital schoolyard </span><em style="background-color: white; color: #444444; letter-spacing: 0.48px; line-height: 25.6px; white-space: pre-wrap; word-wrap: break-word;">Activity Guides</em><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; letter-spacing: 0.48px; line-height: 25.6px; white-space: pre-wrap;">, designed to provide a wide range of outdoor activity ideas for schools that work with children between the ages of 3 and 18 years old.</span></span></h3>
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<span style="background-color: white; letter-spacing: 0.48px; line-height: 25.6px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">http://www.greenschoolyards.org/guides</span></span></h4>
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<span style="background-color: white; letter-spacing: 0.48px; line-height: 25.6px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9xpoSD4a3XQkNOfEFcw_YkLq1d2sB8QD6420xzqgAG7pAo5MmQ67Gey1Oe6kVQYcUcW3fB3A7RpO2pWnv2nzAvRkcdIP0Bzs8oJTZvY73bu4Df8dLEF3CsyexaB4e04NVx_VsMmp5sqY/s1600/LSYMguide-USA-2017_cover-sm.png" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9xpoSD4a3XQkNOfEFcw_YkLq1d2sB8QD6420xzqgAG7pAo5MmQ67Gey1Oe6kVQYcUcW3fB3A7RpO2pWnv2nzAvRkcdIP0Bzs8oJTZvY73bu4Df8dLEF3CsyexaB4e04NVx_VsMmp5sqY/s320/LSYMguide-USA-2017_cover-sm.png" width="246" /></a></span></span></h4>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Need activities for school at home at this time? Here is an example of the projects and studies in Green Schoolyards America and they are free. Look to their projects using natural materials as teaching tools for math games.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Children and youth can play with math concepts while they enjoy the richness of the natural world close to home with eight creative math lessons and games for all ages. This activity set begins with counting and symmetry, suitable for preschoolers. Activities for older children explore multiplication and division, ratios, math vocabulary, and more complex calculations used to discover the amount of rain that can be captured from a rooftop, and whether a blue whale would fit in your yard! </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; letter-spacing: 0.48px; line-height: 25.6px; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://www.greenschoolyards.org/news/2020/3/24/math-in-your-backyard</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">You can also read the Activity Guide in Chinese, Czech and Spanish.</span><br />
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<div class="blogger-post-footer">Join as we plan and grow gardens and investigate the natural world. Our outdoor classroom highlights nature for children and families.
Discover and observe nature with us.</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1046644989722960436.post-55654471337372067072020-01-21T10:29:00.000-05:002020-01-21T10:29:17.182-05:00School Garden Support Organizations (SGSO) from across the nation for a SGSO Best Practices Webinar Series<div style="background-color: white;">
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<span style="color: #274e13; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Join School Garden Support Organizations (SGSO) from across the nation for a</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="color: windowtext;"><b>Classroom Management in the Garden </b></span><b style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="color: black;">– January 28th, 2020, 12:00pm PST/3:00pm EST <a href="https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/1976024009843184397" rel="nofollow" style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0) !important;" target="_blank">Register Here</a></span></b></span></h3>
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<span style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Employing solid classroom management techniques is a key factor for educational success. In this webinar, we will explore classroom management strategies specifically in the garden setting and the importance they play in creating a successful and sustainable school garden program. Topics covered will include how to create consistent routines, organize equipment, involve volunteers, utilize garden stations, and more!</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Presenters will include:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">National Curriculum Manager Dianna Zeegers from Big Green</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Community Manager Russell Sterten from the Edible Schoolyard Project</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Education Specialist Sarah Pounders from KidsGardening</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Brought to you by a learning community of school garden support professionals<span style="font-size: x-large;">.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">"The idea of a national dialogue for school garden support professionals was proposed at an Open Space Session of the 2012 Farm to Cafeteria Conference in Burlington Vermont. Since that time we have developed this simple website, forum, and are creating dialogue at national gatherings.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">There is no "one way" to sustain school gardening programs. By sharing resources and dialogue we hope to eliminate redundancy and help facilitate regional-based school garden program development."</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 13.3333px;">National School Garden Network</span></span></div>
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<div class="blogger-post-footer">Join as we plan and grow gardens and investigate the natural world. Our outdoor classroom highlights nature for children and families.
Discover and observe nature with us.</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1046644989722960436.post-71664278140623047442019-01-18T08:37:00.000-05:002019-01-18T08:37:24.770-05:00Kids Gardening Milk Carton Contest<div class="hfeed site" id="page" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: inherit; color: #5a5d60; font-family: Lato, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">
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<img class="so-widget-image" height="180" scale="0" sizes="(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" src="https://kidsgardening.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/C2G_logoH-RGB-WEB.png" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; display: block; height: auto; max-width: 100%; width: inherit;" width="300" /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-weight: 700;">ENTRY FORMS DUE BY:</span><span style="background-color: transparent;">March 25, 2019</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: inherit; font-weight: 700;">Winners ANNOUNCED ON: April</span><span style="background-color: transparent;"> 22, 2019</span></div>
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<figure class="wp-caption alignright" id="attachment_7922" style="background: rgb(246, 246, 247); border-radius: 3px; box-sizing: inherit; display: inline; float: right; margin: 0px 0px 1.78571em 1.78571em; max-width: 100%; padding: 0.89286em; width: 300px;"><a class="cboxElement" href="https://kidsgardening.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/tigerden1.jpg" rel="lightbox[7921]" style="background-color: transparent; border: none; box-sizing: inherit; color: #0896fe; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.3s ease 0s;" title="2018-2019 Carton 2 Garden Contest"><img alt="" class="size-medium wp-image-7922" height="200" sizes="(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" src="https://kidsgardening.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/tigerden1-300x200.jpg" srcset="https://kidsgardening.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/tigerden1-300x200.jpg 300w, https://kidsgardening.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/tigerden1-768x512.jpg 768w, https://kidsgardening.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/tigerden1-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https://kidsgardening.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/tigerden1-600x400.jpg 600w, https://kidsgardening.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/tigerden1-272x182.jpg 272w" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; display: block; height: auto; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; max-width: 100%;" width="300" /></a><figcaption class="wp-caption-text" style="box-sizing: inherit; font-size: 0.85714rem; line-height: 2.08333em; padding: 0.89286em 0px 0px; text-align: center;">Hyde Park Elementary School Carton 2 Garden contest in process.</figcaption></figure><div style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: 1.78571em;">
Evergreen Packaging and KidsGardening.org are proud to present our fifth annual national <a href="http://carton2garden.com/" rel="noopener" style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom: 1px dotted rgb(8, 150, 254); box-sizing: inherit; color: #0896fe; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.3s ease 0s;" target="_blank">Carton 2 Garden Contest</a>! Open to public and private schools, contest winners will be selected based on their implementation of an innovative garden creation featuring creative and sustainable uses for repurposed milk and juice cartons.</div>
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Your school can get started by collecting at least 100 empty cartons from your home, community, or cafeteria. After gathering cartons, it’s time to design and construct purposeful garden items and structures using them. Looking for ideas? Check out <a href="http://carton2garden.com/inspiration/contest-winners/" rel="noopener" style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom: 1px dotted rgb(8, 150, 254); box-sizing: inherit; color: #0896fe; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.3s ease 0s;" target="_blank">last year’s winners</a> for inspiration and visit us on <a href="https://www.facebook.com/KidsGardening.org" rel="noopener" style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom: 1px dotted rgb(8, 150, 254); box-sizing: inherit; color: #0896fe; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.3s ease 0s;" target="_blank">Facebook</a>, and <a href="https://twitter.com/Kids_Gardening" rel="noopener" style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom: 1px dotted rgb(8, 150, 254); box-sizing: inherit; color: #0896fe; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.3s ease 0s;" target="_blank">Twitter</a> for tips, activities, and lessons.</div>
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<span style="box-sizing: inherit; font-weight: 700;"><u style="box-sizing: inherit;"><a href="http://carton2garden.com/" rel="noopener" style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom: 1px dotted rgb(8, 150, 254); box-sizing: inherit; color: #0896fe; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.3s ease 0s;" target="_blank">Click here to for more contest details.</a></u></span></div>
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REGISTRATION</h4>
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Register your interest in participating in the 2018-2019 Carton 2 Garden Contest to access a special collection of online lesson plans inspired by previous Carton 2 Garden winners. By registering, you will also receive periodic tips and reminders from KidsGardening to help keep your project on track.</div>
<figure class="wp-caption alignright" id="attachment_7923" style="background: rgb(246, 246, 247); border-radius: 3px; box-sizing: inherit; display: inline; float: right; margin: 0px 0px 1.78571em 1.78571em; max-width: 100%; padding: 0.89286em; width: 300px;"><a class="cboxElement" href="https://kidsgardening.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/tigerden2.jpg" rel="lightbox[7921]" style="background-color: transparent; border: none; box-sizing: inherit; color: #0896fe; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.3s ease 0s;" title="2018-2019 Carton 2 Garden Contest"><img alt="" class="size-medium wp-image-7923" height="200" sizes="(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" src="https://kidsgardening.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/tigerden2-300x200.jpg" srcset="https://kidsgardening.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/tigerden2-300x200.jpg 300w, https://kidsgardening.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/tigerden2-768x512.jpg 768w, https://kidsgardening.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/tigerden2-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https://kidsgardening.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/tigerden2-600x400.jpg 600w, https://kidsgardening.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/tigerden2-272x182.jpg 272w" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; display: block; height: auto; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; max-width: 100%;" width="300" /></a><figcaption class="wp-caption-text" style="box-sizing: inherit; font-size: 0.85714rem; line-height: 2.08333em; padding: 0.89286em 0px 0px; text-align: center;">Completed project!</figcaption></figure><div style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: 1.78571em;">
Carton 2 Garden is open to all K-12 public and private schools in the United States. Your school does not need a garden to participate. Pre-K classes located at schools serving additional elementary, middle and or high school grade levels may also enter the contest.</div>
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Discover and observe nature with us.</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1046644989722960436.post-74039495387713954492019-01-06T10:07:00.001-05:002019-01-06T10:07:32.117-05:00In the Weeds<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="270" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/IYurDLnsDOM" width="480"></iframe><div class="blogger-post-footer">Join as we plan and grow gardens and investigate the natural world. Our outdoor classroom highlights nature for children and families.
Discover and observe nature with us.</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1046644989722960436.post-41803063929680377222018-10-08T07:02:00.000-04:002018-10-08T07:03:46.259-04:0030 Years of Good Garden Advice<div class="a-row a-spacing-none" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "Amazon Ember", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin-bottom: 0px !important; width: 332px;">
<span style="color: #38761d;">U</span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d;">The New Organic Grower</span>: A Master's Manual of Tools and Techniques for the Home and Market Gardener,</h1>
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<span style="color: #38761d;"><span class="a-size-small a-color-secondary a-text-bold" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 1.3rem !important; font-weight: 700 !important; line-height: 1.4 !important;">ISBN-13:</span> <span class="a-size-small a-color-secondary" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 1.3rem !important; line-height: 1.4 !important;">978-1603588171,</span> <span class="a-size-small a-color-secondary a-text-bold" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 1.3rem !important; font-weight: 700 !important; line-height: 1.4 !important;">ISBN-10:</span> <span class="a-size-small a-color-secondary" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 1.3rem !important; line-height: 1.4 !important;">1603588175</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d;"> Edition<span class="a-size-medium a-color-secondary a-text-normal" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 1.8rem !important; font-weight: 400 !important; line-height: 1.25 !important; text-rendering: auto;"></span></span></h1>
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<span style="color: #38761d;"><span class="a-size-small a-color-secondary a-text-bold" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 1.3rem !important; font-weight: 700 !important; line-height: 1.4 !important;">ISBN-13:</span> <span class="a-size-small a-color-secondary" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 1.3rem !important; line-height: 1.4 !important;">978-1603588171,</span> <span class="a-size-small a-color-secondary a-text-bold" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 1.3rem !important; font-weight: 700 !important; line-height: 1.4 !important;">ISBN-10:</span> <span class="a-size-small a-color-secondary" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 1.3rem !important; line-height: 1.4 !important;">1603#588175</span></span></div>
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<div class="blogger-post-footer">Join as we plan and grow gardens and investigate the natural world. Our outdoor classroom highlights nature for children and families.
Discover and observe nature with us.</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1046644989722960436.post-9505510756591721322018-02-15T18:14:00.001-05:002018-02-15T18:17:08.628-05:00Water Challenge age 13-22<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br /><br class="Apple-interchange-newline" />Water Challenge Ambassadors</h1>
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The EarthEcho Water Challenge Ambassadors are young environmental leaders ages 13-22 from across the United States. Through their role, Ambassadors will have the opportunity to expand their knowledge of water quality and lead members of their community through the water quality monitoring process. Ambassadors will impact the EarthEcho Water Challenge by expanding the program into their community and increasing awareness of the importance of water quality testing and water conservation. The EarthEcho Water Challenge Ambassadors is an initiative coordinated by <a href="http://earthecho.org/programs/youth-leadership-council" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #e07013; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">EarthEcho International’s Youth Leadership Council (YLC)</a> and sponsored by Xylem.</div>
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In 2018, EarthEcho will select the inaugural class of EarthEcho Water Challenge Ambassadors through a competitive application process. Applications for the Program will be accepted through February 19, 2018. All applicants for the program should:</div>
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<li style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #005983; font-family: futura-pt, sans-serif; font-size: 24px; line-height: 38px; margin-bottom: 16px; margin-top: 16px;">be between the ages of 13-22 at the time of application</li>
<li style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #005983; font-family: futura-pt, sans-serif; font-size: 24px; line-height: 38px; margin-bottom: 16px; margin-top: 16px;">be a resident of the United States</li>
<li style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #005983; font-family: futura-pt, sans-serif; font-size: 24px; line-height: 38px; margin-bottom: 16px; margin-top: 16px;">demonstrate an interest in water quality and youth leadership</li>
<li style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #005983; font-family: futura-pt, sans-serif; font-size: 24px; line-height: 38px; margin-bottom: 16px; margin-top: 16px;">have some experience working collaboratively with youth and adults</li>
<li style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #005983; font-family: futura-pt, sans-serif; font-size: 24px; line-height: 38px; margin-bottom: 16px; margin-top: 16px;">desire to participate in the EarthEcho Water Challenge and lead water monitoring events in their own community</li>
<li style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #005983; font-family: futura-pt, sans-serif; font-size: 24px; line-height: 38px; margin-bottom: 16px; margin-top: 16px;">have strong written and verbal communication skills in the English language.</li>
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<a href="http://monitorwater.org/ambassadors?utm_source=EarthEcho&utm_campaign=c976554a9d-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2018_02_13&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_3c394b0f9f-c976554a9d-108143269" target="_blank">Ready to Become a Water Ambassador?</a><div class="blogger-post-footer">Join as we plan and grow gardens and investigate the natural world. Our outdoor classroom highlights nature for children and families.
Discover and observe nature with us.</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1046644989722960436.post-86600860716999076302017-05-25T09:50:00.000-04:002017-05-25T09:50:15.153-04:00Mission and Ministry in their Yards: Community Gardens<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9FvwZQcdhIvOGq2n2eQ_GdUU_4OiExsh9KNU30GL0QSCOlfEUt4wnCb7slv0K4kf1de4geFYYPQaAs_ZpBOb5CnUkXK_qO4GCpovvJdVVKEQ0f4kIQeRtSo52c4fAOa1A09yuD4QdKAg/s1600/content.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9FvwZQcdhIvOGq2n2eQ_GdUU_4OiExsh9KNU30GL0QSCOlfEUt4wnCb7slv0K4kf1de4geFYYPQaAs_ZpBOb5CnUkXK_qO4GCpovvJdVVKEQ0f4kIQeRtSo52c4fAOa1A09yuD4QdKAg/s200/content.jpg" width="132" /></a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: HelveticaNeue, Helvetica; line-height: 28px;"><i></i></span><br />
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<i><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b style="color: #38761d;">'Sellers-Petersen whets our appetite</b> <b style="background-color: transparent; color: #38761d;">for food, beauty, and justice.'</b></span></i></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 28px;"><b><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-large;">M</span></b><span style="font-family: HelveticaNeue, Helvetica;"><span style="font-size: large;">any congregations, schools, and organizations are reaching out into their neighborhoods to share the story of creation's abundance by establishing community gardens, beehive colonies, and other agricultural initiatives. They are creatively using their land and property; providing training, inspiration, and cross-cultural experiences for all ages; while at the same time feeding the hungry and building community relationships. Too often food banks only take non-perishables loaded with preservatives and sodium. Church entities involved in agricultural ministries are able to provide healthy food from their gardens to feeding programs, food pantries, and others in need.</span></span></span></h2>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; font-family: HelveticaNeue, Helvetica; line-height: 28px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: HelveticaNeue, Helvetica; line-height: 28px;">This book tells the tale of 25 such communities in story and image. An inspiration for others to develop such projects, food and faith can go hand-in-hand as to get your hands dirty while learning more,</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: HelveticaNeue, Helvetica; line-height: 28px;"> o</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: HelveticaNeue, Helvetica; line-height: 28px;">ffering specific examples of success stories of faith communities involved in the faith + food movement.</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: HelveticaNeue, Helvetica; font-size: 17px; line-height: 28px;">• Engaging stories with photos in local communities and neighborhoods. </span><div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-size: 17px; line-height: 28px;"><span style="font-family: HelveticaNeue, Helvetica;"><a href="https://www.churchpublishing.org/siteassets/pdf/harvesting-abundance/harvestingabundance_excerpt.pdf" target="_blank">Read an excerpt here.</a></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; font-family: HelveticaNeue, Helvetica; font-size: 17px; font-weight: 700; line-height: 28px;">Brian Sellers-Petersen</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: HelveticaNeue, Helvetica; font-size: 17px; line-height: 28px;">, co-founder of the Episcopal Food, Farming, and Faith Network, is an avid gardener at home and office (St. Mark's Cathedral, Seattle) and a consultant to Seattle Tilth Food and Faith Initiative. He has worked with Episcopal Relief & Development (ERD) for the past 15 years in a variety of capacities, including as the creator/developer of Episcopal Relief & Development's Abundant Life Garden Project curriculum, a leader of pilgrimages to sustainable agriculture programs in Ghana and Central America, senior advisor to the president of ERD, former Director of Church Engagement, and former Western Regional Director. He is on the advisory council of the Beecken Center at Sewanee, and previously worked for World Vision and with Bread for World. In addition, he has worked with All Saints Pasadena; the Anglican Diocese of Port Elizabeth, South Africa; and the Student Christian Movement of South Africa. He currently lives in Covington, Washington.</span></div>
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<i><span style="background-color: white; font-family: HelveticaNeue, Helvetica; line-height: 28px;">"Sellers-Petersen whets our appetite for food, beauty, and justice, and presents a cornucopia of incarnate examples. This is a great opportunity to pray that ancient collect "read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest..." in a new context, in the fertile scripture of creation: read and grow, read and eat, read and share, and know that the earth in which we all have our origins is the stuff of divine creativity and abundant life."</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; font-family: HelveticaNeue, Helvetica; line-height: 28px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: HelveticaNeue, Helvetica; line-height: 28px;">––Katharine Jefferts Schori, 26th Presiding Bishop and Primate of The Episcopal Church</span></i></div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer">Join as we plan and grow gardens and investigate the natural world. Our outdoor classroom highlights nature for children and families.
Discover and observe nature with us.</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1046644989722960436.post-32054412834124740042017-03-31T11:31:00.000-04:002017-03-31T11:31:00.006-04:00NOAA TEACHES WATER AND WEATHER FOR KIDS<br />
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<br /><i><span style="color: #274e13; font-size: x-large;"><b>E</b></span></i><span style="font-size: large;">stuaries are invaluable resources for coastal dwellers, whether of fin, fur, or feather. For people, these ecosystems offer protection, recreation, and a wealth of learning opportunities. On the new NOAA website parents, familioes and educators and estuary enthusiasts will find a variety of resources, including specially info, <a href="https://coast.noaa.gov/estuaries/videos/index.html">videos</a><a href="https://coast.noaa.gov/estuaries/teachers-on-the-estuary/index.html"> training workshops</a>, <a href="http://cdmo.baruch.sc.edu/mobile/">real-time data</a>, and <a href="https://coast.noaa.gov/estuaries/news/volunteer.html">opportunities to volunteer</a> at a local reserve. This information will help share the wonders of estuaries.</span><br /><br />
<span style="color: #274e13; font-size: large;"><b>N</b>OAA's Estuary Education website has a new look and many new features that will help you, as a parent, teacher or community educator find and teach about coastal and estuary topics. Don’t miss an opportunity to use all the resources in the website! The website offers you lots of ways to engage in estuary research through interactive activities and user-friendly real time water quality and weather data exercises. Videos, simulations, activity downloads, and interactive maps are all available to further help visualize the inner workings of an estuary. Bookmark our new website at:<a href="https://coast.noaa.gov/estuaries/">https://coast.noaa.gov/estuaries/</a></span><br />
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FEATURED RESOURCES</i></u></span></h2>
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<span style="color: #274e13;"><i><u>
ESTUARIES 101</u></i></span></h2>
Estuaries 101 is a series of curricular resources designed using estuaries as the vehicle to help educators bring Earth System Science, Life Science and Chemistry concepts into the classroom. These resources feature hands-on learning, experiments, fieldwork, and data explorations that are bundled with all the necessary tools and resources to aid with classroom implementation. <br />
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<i><u><span style="color: #274e13;">
GRAPHING WITH YOUR STUDENTS</span></u></i></h2>
The System-wide Monitoring Program, or SWMP (pronounced “swamp”), Graphing Tool, provides educators and students with access to weather and water quality data. The new website offers educators SWMP scenarios that explore real events using the SWMP graphing tool or you can create your own. <br />
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<span style="color: #274e13;"><i><u>
ESTUARY VIDEO GALLERY</u></i></span></h2>
Check out our online library of estuary related videos, which can be a complimentary resource to an Estuaries 101 lesson or used independently as a supplement. Videos are anywhere from 1-3 minutes in length and can be searched by topic, state or grade level.<br />
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Lots more to see and do:<br />
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<a href="https://coast.noaa.gov/estuaries/videos/all-about-oysters.html" target="_blank">All-about-oysters video</a><br />
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<a href="https://coast.noaa.gov/nerrs/" target="_blank">Visit the Estuarine Reserves</a><br />
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<br /><div class="blogger-post-footer">Join as we plan and grow gardens and investigate the natural world. Our outdoor classroom highlights nature for children and families.
Discover and observe nature with us.</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1046644989722960436.post-48660175572690788052017-03-15T12:07:00.002-04:002017-03-15T12:07:51.590-04:00Smart Lawns<h2 style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #18453b; font-family: proxima-nova, sans-serif; line-height: 1.2em; margin: 0px 0px 0.9375em; padding: 0px;">
Smart lawn alternatives to protect pollinators</h2>
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Love the Michigan State Extension. Everyday is a wonderful inspiration with them!</div>
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Create pollinator-friendly lawns that are inviting to bees and other pollinators.</h3>
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Posted on <strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">February 10, 2017</strong> by <strong style="box-sizing: border-box;"><a class="related-expert" href="http://msue.anr.msu.edu/experts/abi_saeed" style="background: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #18453b; line-height: 1.2em;">Abi Saeed</a></strong>, and Rebecca Krans, Michigan State University Extension</div>
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<img alt="Photo: Rebecca Finneran, MSU Extension" class="in-article" src="http://msue.anr.msu.edu/uploads/news/_in_article/Bee_on_Sedum_Dazzleberry.jpg" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; height: auto; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; padding: 0px; vertical-align: middle; width: 400px;" /><div class="caption" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #2b6832; font-family: proxima-nova-condensed, sans-serif; font-size: 0.875em; font-weight: 700; line-height: 1.4; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em;">
Photo: Rebecca Finneran, MSU Extension</div>
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<img alt="Smart Gardening Logo" height="89" src="http://msue.anr.msu.edu/uploads/images/Plant%20Ag/SmartGardLogo_Small.jpg" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; float: left; height: auto; margin: 4px 12px; max-width: 100%; padding: 0px; vertical-align: middle;" width="150" /></div>
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Pollinators, especially bees, provide us with valuable services by pollinating plants that contribute to food production and beautify our landscape. Disturbingly, there is increasing evidence that many important pollinator species are in decline. As people develop more and more land, the amount of habitat where bees and other pollinators can nest and find flower resources (food) is shrinking. This is especially true in urban and suburban areas where farmland or natural habitats have been replaced by subdivisions and parking lots. Lawns that are aesthetically pleasing to most people create a dense, green carpet with almost nothing to offer pollinators and other beneficial organisms.</div>
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Smart gardeners can make a difference by taking steps to be thoughtful about how they maintain their lawn. Look to reduce and minimize the impact of gardening practices on bees. Lawns with a few weeds can provide food and habitat for hundreds of bee species. Your lawn can act as critical stepping stones for these beneficial insects by bridging gaps between remnants of natural habitat.</div>
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<strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">Lawn alternatives to encourage pollinators</strong></h3>
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The types of alternative lawns are only limited by your imagination. For a more grass-like lawn that requires fewer inputs, you can choose plants such as Liriope to replace a traditional lawn on either flat or steep areas. This hardy perennial can be mowed several times a year for a more lawn-like appearance or left alone. Other grassy perennials such as sedges and fescues can replace lawn in wet or dry areas that are difficult to maintain.</div>
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<img alt="Sedge border" height="267" src="http://msue.anr.msu.edu/uploads/images/Plant%20Ag/SedgeBorder.jpg" style="border: 1px solid black; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; height: auto; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; padding: 0px; vertical-align: middle;" width="400" /></div>
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Sedge (<em style="box-sizing: border-box;">Carex pensylvanica</em>) forms a grasslike border along a slate walkway. Photo: Jeff Epping, Olbrich Botanical Gardens</div>
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If you want to reduce turf areas, consider using groundcovers including creeping thyme, a low-growing plant that produces lots of flowers and requires minimal maintenance. Other groundcovers include <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">Ajuga</em>, bearberry or <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">Pachysandra</em>. Low-growing clover like white or Dutch micro-clover, is a thrifty lawn alternative which provides nectar and pollen for bees.</div>
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For a more natural look, turn your lawn into a low maintenance prairie filled with native plants of varying heights and textures. For example, <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">Helenium</em> (sneeze weed), Globe thistle and <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">Asclepias </em>(milkweed) will create a diverse, colorful and eye-catching landscape all year round. You can gradually reduce the amount of turfgrass area within your current lawn and replace it with native flowerbeds or expand your ornamental plantings.</div>
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<img alt="Liriope ground cover" height="300" src="http://msue.anr.msu.edu/uploads/images/Plant%20Ag/Liriope_Ground_Cover.jpg" style="border: 1px solid black; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; height: auto; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; padding: 0px; vertical-align: middle;" width="400" /></div>
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Liriope covers a sloping area. Photo: Rebecca Finneran, <abbr style="border-bottom-style: dotted; border-bottom-width: 1px; box-sizing: border-box; cursor: help;" title="Michigan State University">MSU</abbr> Extension</div>
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<img alt="Ajuga" height="323" src="http://msue.anr.msu.edu/uploads/images/Plant%20Ag/Ajuga.jpg" style="border: 1px solid black; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; height: auto; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; padding: 0px; vertical-align: middle;" width="400" /></div>
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Ajuga forms a welcoming groundcover for pollinators. Photo: EnLorax, Wikimedia Commons</div>
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<strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">Weeds can add flowers for bees</strong></h3>
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Although dandelions are considered unsightly by some, they are a great resource for hungry pollinators. By leaving a few of these flowering plants, you will encourage visiting pollinators throughout the growing season. Research shows lawn weeds like clover and dandelion are one of the largest and most important food resources for bees in urban areas. Consider incorporating short flowering plants such as clover, micro-clover, trefoil, self-heal/heal all (<em style="box-sizing: border-box;">Prunella</em>), creeping thyme and small bulbs such as crocus.</div>
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<strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">Not all pollinators sting</strong></h3>
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Pollinators investigating flowering plants in your lawn are not likely to sting you. They are only interested in the food and habitat in your lawn and garden, and not interested in bothering you. As you look to make your yard more friendly for pollinators, remember to reduce the amount of chemicals you use in your gardens, never spray any flowering plants in bloom or bare soil, and always read and follow label directions. Reimagine (bee-imagine) your idea of a perfect lawn. Does it need to be a picture-perfect turf landscape, or a perfect paradise for you and pollinators?</div>
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A field guide, “<a class="external_link" href="http://shop.msu.edu/product_p/bulletin-e3282.htm" style="background-attachment: initial !important; background-clip: initial !important; background-color: initial !important; background-image: url("http://expeng.anr.msu.edu/images/sitewide/external-link-icon.png") !important; background-origin: initial !important; background-position: 100% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat !important; background-size: initial !important; box-sizing: border-box; color: #18453b; display: inline !important; line-height: 1.2em; padding-right: 15px !important;">Bees of the Great Lakes region and wildflowers to support them</a>,” is for sale at the <a href="http://msue.anr.msu.edu/" style="background: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #18453b; line-height: 1.2em;">Michigan State University Extension</a> <a class="external_link" href="http://shop.msu.edu/category_s/345.htm" style="background-attachment: initial !important; background-clip: initial !important; background-color: initial !important; background-image: url("http://expeng.anr.msu.edu/images/sitewide/external-link-icon.png") !important; background-origin: initial !important; background-position: 100% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat !important; background-size: initial !important; box-sizing: border-box; color: #18453b; display: inline !important; line-height: 1.2em; padding-right: 15px !important;">Bookstore</a> if you want to learn more.</div>
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The importance of pollinators</h3>
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Many of our fruit, vegetable and fiber crops require pollination by insects. These pollinators also pollinate more than 85 percent of the world’s flowering plants and are ultimately responsible for the seeds and fruits that humans, songbirds and even black bears consume. Since learning that the number of pollinators is significantly declining, many gardeners are learning how to make positive contributions towards their conservation. Understanding habitat needs and food sources while adjusting our garden maintenance routine is a step forward in pollinator conservation. Many of us quickly think of the honey bee as a pollinator, but over 450 species of native bees live in Michigan. Native bees come in many shapes and sizes, and are often adapted to prefer native trees, shrubs and herbaceous plants, but will also work a widely diverse garden plant palette. Although bees are the most important pollinators, there are several other groups of insects, birds, mammals and even reptiles that play their part in pollinating specific plants. Beneficial insects also make up the world’s hardest-working workforce by keeping pest insects in check. A diverse selection of native and non-native plants, judicious reduction of pesticide use and observant gardeners can form a successful strategy for preserving bees and other “good bugs” in our landscapes and gardens.</div>
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<strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">Download tip sheet version of this article: </strong><a href="http://msue.anr.msu.edu/uploads/resources/pdfs/Lawns_for_pollinators.pdf" style="background: url("http://expeng.anr.msu.edu/images/sitewide/file_extensions/pdf.png") 0px 0px no-repeat scroll transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #18453b; line-height: 1.2em; padding-left: 18px;">Smart lawn alternatives to protect pollinators</a></div>
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For more information on a wide variety of Smart Gardening topics, visit the <a href="http://msue.anr.msu.edu/topic/info/home_gardening" style="background: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #18453b; line-height: 1.2em;">Gardening in Michigan</a> website or call <abbr style="border-bottom-style: dotted; border-bottom-width: 1px; box-sizing: border-box; cursor: help;" title="Michigan State University">MSU</abbr>Extension’s Lawn and Garden Hotline at 1-888-678-3464.</div>
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This article was published by <a href="http://www.msue.msu.edu/" style="background: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #18453b; line-height: 1.2em;" title="Michigan State University Extension"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">Michigan State University Extension</strong></a>. For more information, visit <a href="http://www.msue.msu.edu/" style="background: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #18453b; line-height: 1.2em;">http://www.msue.msu.edu</a>. To have a digest of information delivered straight to your email inbox, visit <a href="http://www.msue.msu.edu/newsletters" style="background: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #18453b; line-height: 1.2em;">http://www.msue.msu.edu/newsletters</a>. To contact an expert in your area, visit <a href="http://expert.msue.msu.edu/" style="background: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #18453b; line-height: 1.2em;">http://expert.msue.msu.edu</a>, or call 888-MSUE4MI (888-678-3464).</div>
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<div class="blogger-post-footer">Join as we plan and grow gardens and investigate the natural world. Our outdoor classroom highlights nature for children and families.
Discover and observe nature with us.</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1046644989722960436.post-13071128551832316882017-01-11T10:00:00.000-05:002017-01-11T10:00:20.096-05:00<h1 style="background-color: white; border-top-color: rgb(108, 179, 63); border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 5px; color: #6cb33f; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 44px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">
As retold From EarthShare:<em style="color: #434343; font-size: 11px; line-height: 15px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Guest post by Suzanne Shoemaker, Founder and President of <a href="https://owlmoon.org/" style="color: #006699; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Owl Moon Raptor Center</a>, an EarthShare Mid-Atlantic member charity</span></em></h1>
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A Heroic Osprey Rescue</h1>
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<span style="font-size: 10pt; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><a class="asset-img-link" href="http://earthshare.typepad.com/.a/6a00e554936bef883401b8d20bd282970c-pi" style="color: #006699; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;"><img alt="Osprey" class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a00e554936bef883401b8d20bd282970c img-responsive" src="https://earthshare.typepad.com/.a/6a00e554936bef883401b8d20bd282970c-450wi" style="border: none; display: block; margin: 0px auto; padding: 0px; width: 450px;" title="Osprey" /></a></span></div>
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<i>Guest post by Suzanne Shoemaker, Founder and President of <a href="https://owlmoon.org/">Owl Moon Raptor Center</a>, an EarthShare Mid-Atlantic member charity.</i><br />
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The Warner family was excited, but a little concerned, when their osprey pair returned at the end of March to nest on a utility pole on their property in Pasadena, MD. For years, they had enjoyed watching this pair construct a nest, hatch two or three chicks, and then catch fish and return to the nest with them and feed their growing offspring. <br />
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This year was a little different because the utility pole had been replaced, and the power company had not yet returned to reinstall the nesting platform. The osprey pair was not deterred, however, and went ahead with nest construction on the pole just above the wires and transformer. Their brood of three chicks was nearly fledged, flapping their wings and beginning to take short flights from the nest.<br />
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Then, on the night of June 23rd, Shari and her husband John awoke after midnight to the frantic alarm calls of the adult osprey. They looked out their window and discovered the osprey nest was ablaze! Flames were coming off the nest and burning sticks were falling to the ground.<br />
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The Warners dialed 911 and then immediately began rescue efforts while they waited for the fire trucks to arrive. The adults were flying overhead, and two of the chicks jumped from the nest shortly after the fire erupted. Shari and John, and their neighbors Mark and Stacey Warner, who had also awoken to the ruckus, kept the grounded chicks wet with the garden hose, while also trying to knock the third chick off the nest with the spray. After what seemed like an eternity (but was in fact only minutes), Anne Arundel County Fire Department arrived, followed shortly by BGE personnel, and the fire was extinguished.<br />
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Anne Arundel Animal Control Officers were called in to rescue the chicks. The chick that remained on the nest was retrieved, and all were taken to Anne Arundel Animal Emergency Clinic in Annapolis where they were admitted at 4 am. Dr. Mary Rawlings examined the chicks and provided emergency care.<br />
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The next day, Anne Arundel Animal Control Officer Christina Williford called Owl Moon, and we met to transfer the three chicks to our rescue and rehabilitation center. We learned that all three chicks were suffering from smoke inhalation, but the chick that had not jumped was in the worst condition, his breathing loud and raspy as he struggled to get air. The feathers of both wings were burned so badly that, if he survived his severe respiratory condition, he would require long term care until the feathers would molt and regrow, a full year or more. He would miss his fall migration to South America, where juvenile osprey normally spend their first full year, before returning the following spring for their first breeding season at age two.<br />
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We determined that this bird’s prognosis for survival and a normal, healthy life was too poor to prolong his suffering. We made the difficult decision to euthanize. The two chicks that jumped were in far better shape. Their respiratory condition was surmountable with non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDS) and antibiotics, their feathers were only lightly singed, and one had minor, treatable burns on its feet and legs. Both were dehydrated from their ordeal and required fluid therapy, which we began immediately, along with NSAIDs. We cleaned, dressed and bandaged the burns.<br />
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At the same time, we made contact with Shari Warner, who helped us to reach out to BGE, their power company to determine the feasibility of returning the osprey chicks to the care of their parents. All were onboard, and anxious to help. BGE was glad to install a new nest platform on the utility pole, and we were ready with two of our “artificial nests”, made using a laundry basket and lots of sticks, to attach to the new platform.<br />
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Meanwhile, Steve Hult and his neighbor, Mike Martin, rescued another, slightly younger osprey chick that fell from its nest into the Chesapeake Bay in Edgewater, MD. They brought it to Owl Moon Raptor Center. The nest was inaccessible even by boat, so we were unable to return this baby to his parents. The next best thing was to find a foster family with space for another chick. It made perfect sense to foster this chick into the nest we were replacing in Pasadena.<br />
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By June 30th, all was in place for us to go forward with the plan. The two fire victims were healed and healthy, and growing restless in their cage. The younger chick was rested, and all were eating well. The BGE team installed the new platform, added some nest material, and then wired the nest baskets on.<br />
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<a href="http://earthshare.typepad.com/.a/6a00e554936bef883401b8d20bd3da970c-pi"><img src="https://earthshare.typepad.com/.a/6a00e554936bef883401b8d20bd3da970c-450wi" /></a><br />
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Finally, after offering a brief tutorial on handling birds of prey, we loaded the chicks into insulated bags for the journey home. With the adults flying overhead and watching their every move, the BGE team raised the three chicks up and carefully placed them in their new nest. The two fire victims were a week older now, and began flapping their wings as soon as they were placed on the platform. One even flew after several minutes (he later returned).<br />
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When all was quiet, the adults landed on the platform and resumed parental duties. Since then, the Warner family has enjoyed watching the osprey family from their front porch. The parents, and now all three chicks, are flying about. The adults continue to provide food while they teach their youngsters how to catch fish for themselves. This process will take weeks, which is just fine with the Warners, who know how lucky they are to have a front row seat. We at Owl Moon are happy to hear their updates. We are grateful to all who were involved in this rescue effort. Sometimes it really does take a village!<br />
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Email: <a href="mailto:info@earthshare.org">info@earthshare.org</a><div class="blogger-post-footer">Join as we plan and grow gardens and investigate the natural world. Our outdoor classroom highlights nature for children and families.
Discover and observe nature with us.</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1046644989722960436.post-14892543058087603792016-11-27T17:23:00.002-05:002016-11-27T17:23:53.754-05:00Workshop for Intensive Growing Vegetables in New England<span style="font-size: large;">If you want to learn intensive growing, no-till growing of vegetables for year round production, why wouldn't you want to learn from the Organic Farmer of the Year here in New England. Add to that a beautiful spot along Narragansett, Rhode Island on a Sunday, and you have a perfect early December weekend.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Contact <a href="http://nofari.org/">nofari.org</a> to learn more about the workshop. There is a fee and you do need to bring a little bit of potluck goodness for lunch, but isn't half the fun of these workshops sharing anyway?</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0eDnBQTAz2szH4HHfVlMu86PdYp5MoLiOmL4saw58lrKA80vDjfRp69RMHyjKQlEt3ENCollhU7rINOGXULpG7OTlhhdI_kDFVthKj1oaH7X99ILOh4jMeLeboSyWq8bWIQzarTwnKDU/s1600/bryan+ohara+JPEG.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0eDnBQTAz2szH4HHfVlMu86PdYp5MoLiOmL4saw58lrKA80vDjfRp69RMHyjKQlEt3ENCollhU7rINOGXULpG7OTlhhdI_kDFVthKj1oaH7X99ILOh4jMeLeboSyWq8bWIQzarTwnKDU/s640/bryan+ohara+JPEG.jpg" width="412" /></a><div class="blogger-post-footer">Join as we plan and grow gardens and investigate the natural world. Our outdoor classroom highlights nature for children and families.
Discover and observe nature with us.</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1046644989722960436.post-74465937761894929482016-10-25T08:28:00.000-04:002016-10-25T08:28:09.689-04:00Growing Youth Leaders in Philly<h2 style="background-color: #f3f7f6; box-sizing: border-box; color: #284039; font-family: museo-sans, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 30px; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; line-height: 1.2; margin: 0px 0px 15px; orphans: 2; padding: 0px; widows: 2;">
Growing youth leaders in Philly</h2>
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<span style="font-size: large;">By Aunnalea Grove, Get HYPE Philly! Program Manager, The Food Trust<br /><br />For the Get HYPE Philly! initiative, 10 nonprofit partners, led by <a href="http://thefoodtrust.org/">The Food Trust</a>, have come together to empower 1,000 youth leaders to improve the health of their schools and communities with a goal of reaching over 50,000 Philadelphia youth in 100 schools by January 2018. Through urban agriculture, physical fitness, nutrition education and work readiness, <a href="http://www.gethypephilly.org/">Get HYPE Philly!</a> is helping to ensure that Philadelphia’s young people play a key role in building healthier communities and creating a healthier generation. This has created a true movement, with young people at the forefront as agents for healthy change in their communities.</span><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-size: large; text-align: start;">Many of Get HYPE Philly!’s youth leaders are actively involved in improving access to local, fresh foods in their schools and communities. Students involved in the school wellness clubs known as HYPE (Healthy You. Positive Energy.) have the opportunity to visit local farms, start school gardens and advocate for healthy food sales in their schools. Youth leaders also support farm to school efforts by encouraging their peers to try local foods through marketing and taste tests in their schools. As one student said, “I joined HYPE because I wanted to help my friends make healthy food choices.” Youth leaders take lessons about healthy eating home to their families, too. HYPE student Priscilla says she has been able to influence her family with “more water, no soda in my refrigerator, whole wheat bread. My sister is a soda lover, so at first she was upset - but now she loves water.” After several visits to urban farms and farmers markets, Priscilla wants to continue to see change in her community: “We need at least one farmers market around my community.”</span></div>
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<br /><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><br />Through Get HYPE Philly! partners The Village of Arts and Humanities, Norris Square Neighborhood Project and Greener Partners, young people are learning about urban agriculture by growing their own fruits and vegetables and using them to teach peers how to cook healthy meals. Youth leaders run neighborhood farm stands, increasing access to healthy foods in low-income neighborhoods in North Philadelphia. They also donate the food they grow by running a free, CSA-style delivery program for senior community members and lead a community cooking classes at a local shelter. <br /><br /><br />In addition to working within their own schools and neighborhoods, Get HYPE Philly! has a Youth Leadership Council made up of a cohort of students from across the city whose goal is to promote healthy living and the development of sustainably healthy communities. These students advise on Get HYPE Philly! Collective programming, serve as youth philanthropists and advocate for policy change. In Get HYPE Philly!’s first year, the Youth Leadership Council chose to focus on urban gardening and healthy food access, and with funding from GSK, had the opportunity to award 18 local nonprofit organizations with a total of $51,000 in mini grants, many of which went toward supporting other youth-led urban farming programs. <br /><br />Get HYPE Philly! brings people and organizations together to reach a common goal, empowering young people to lead healthier lives. For more information on Get HYPE Philly! or how to get involved, visit <a href="http://www.gethypephilly.org/">www.gethypephilly.org</a>.</span><br /><div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">
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<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Connecting and strengthening the farm to school movement</span></span></div>
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The National Farm to School Network is an information, advocacy and networking hub for communities working to bring local food sourcing and food and agriculture education into school systems and early care and education environments.</h3>
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Farm to school enriches the connection communities have with fresh, healthy food and local food producers by changing food purchasing and education practices at schools and early care and education settings. Students gain access to healthy, local foods as well as education opportunities such as school gardens, cooking lessons and farm field trips. Farm to school empowers children and their families to make informed food choices while strengthening the local economy and contributing to vibrant communities.</div>
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<a href="http://www.farmtoschool.org/resources" target="_blank">More Information on Farm to School resources and programs</a> </div>
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<div class="blogger-post-footer">Join as we plan and grow gardens and investigate the natural world. Our outdoor classroom highlights nature for children and families.
Discover and observe nature with us.</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1046644989722960436.post-83480587010794130922016-08-30T10:00:00.000-04:002016-08-30T10:00:25.315-04:00Tackling Wicked Problems in Food Systems<div class="block block-blockify branding-block-logo first odd" id="block-blockify-blockify-logo" style="background-color: white; color: #515151; font-family: open-sans, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px 40.4375px; text-align: center;">
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<span class="site-slogan" style="font-family: ff-market-web, cursive;">Northeast Sustainable Agriculture Working Group</span></div>
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THE REGION'S FOOD AND FARM NETWORK</div>
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<b>Earlybird registration for NESAWG's 2016 It Takes a Region Conference is now open. The Conference, now in its 23rd year, brings together practitioners and professionals from across the Northeast to explore ideas that move us towards a more sustainable and just farm and food system. This year's conference theme is Tackling Wicked Problems in Food Systems. </b></div>
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<a href="http://nefood.us1.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=bb48b205b6fe3405667baf495&id=aedce1cdbb&e=50a3e56d44" style="background-color: white; color: forestgreen; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14px; orphans: 2; text-align: center; widows: 2;" target="_blank"><img align="none" height="145" src="https://gallery.mailchimp.com/bb48b205b6fe3405667baf495/images/e1e5c523-bf87-47ee-ab93-bbe157d10b2f.png" style="border: 0px; display: inline; height: 145px; line-height: 14px; margin: 0px; outline: none; text-decoration: none; width: 580px;" width="580" /></a></div>
<br style="background-color: white; color: #505050; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 24px; orphans: 2; text-align: center; widows: 2;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #cc6600; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 24px; orphans: 2; text-align: center; widows: 2;"><span style="font-size: 26px;"><strong><span style="font-family: arial, 'helvetica neue', helvetica, sans-serif;">Youth Leading Youth at #NESAWG2016!</span></strong></span><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #505050; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 24px; orphans: 2; text-align: center; widows: 2;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 18px;"><strong>Calling all youth food justice advocates! </strong>You are invited to help plan and participate in <a href="http://nefood.us1.list-manage.com/track/click?u=bb48b205b6fe3405667baf495&id=2d0895ed24&e=50a3e56d44" style="color: forestgreen;" target="_blank">NESAWG's 2016 <em>It Takes a Region</em> Conference</a>.<br /><br />For the first time <em>ever</em>, the conference will feature workshops <strong>for youth </strong>led <strong>by youth </strong>showcasing all the amazing ways young people contribute to a just and sustainable food system.<br /><br />Want to lead a session at the conference? Submit your ideas through our Request for Proposals. <strong>Session proposals are due by September 21, 2016.</strong></span><br />
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The #NESAWG2016 Conference is tackling #WickedProblems in #FoodSystems - Nov 10-12, 2016, Hartford, CT <a href="http://bit.ly/NESAWG16" style="-webkit-transition: color 0.5s ease; color: #fa9a11; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; transition: color 0.5s ease;">http://bit.ly/NESAWG16</a></div>
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<strong><em>Main Conference Page</em></strong><br /><a href="http://nesawg.org/our-work/conference" style="-webkit-transition: color 0.5s ease; color: #fa9a11; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; transition: color 0.5s ease;" target="_blank">nesawg.org/our-work/conference</a><br /><a href="http://bit.ly/NESAWG16" style="-webkit-transition: color 0.5s ease; color: #fa9a11; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; transition: color 0.5s ease;" target="_blank">bit.ly/NESAWG16</a></div>
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<div class="blogger-post-footer">Join as we plan and grow gardens and investigate the natural world. Our outdoor classroom highlights nature for children and families.
Discover and observe nature with us.</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBoston, MA, USA42.3600825 -71.0588801000000142.1722125 -71.3816036 42.547952499999994 -70.736156600000015tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1046644989722960436.post-35441902493033151342016-06-21T11:53:00.000-04:002016-07-22T22:40:23.109-04:00Still Bringing the Call of Rachel Carson to Environmental Conservation<div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">A Sense of Wonder, written and performed by Kaiulani Lee, has been touring the United States for 22 years. The play has been the centerpiece of regional and national conferences on conservation, education, journalism, and the environment. She has performed it at over one hundred universities, dozens of high schools, the Smithsonian Institute, the Albert Schweitzer Conference at the United Nations, at the Department of the Interior's 150th anniversary, and in 2007 performed on Capitol Hill, bringing Miss Carson’s voice once again to the halls of Congress. A Sense of Wonder has played in every Provence of Canada, in England, Italy, India, and Japan. </span></div>
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"For 15 years, Kaiulani Lee has been touring around the country with the play she wrote and performs called A Sense Oo Wonder, a one-woman show in which Ms. Lee embodies biologist Rachel Carson circa 1963, just as her book 'Silent Spring' begins to get significant public attention." - WGBH Frontline <br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">The play is the story of one woman's love for the natural world and her fight to defend it. It is the story of the extremely private Rachel Carson thrust into the role of controversial public figure.<br /><br />A Sense of Wonder has been created with the help and guidance of many of Miss Carson's friends and colleagues and with permission from the Rachel Carson estate.</span></div>
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“...What Lee achieves in barely an hour is something rare and almost spiritual. She merges herself with Carson’s spirit. Chin jutting forward, she leans toward us, reminiscing, lecturing, pleading. Fire comes into her eyes...I felt flashes of transcendence, the stage disappearing into a living authentic presence.”<br />
-Christopher Rawson, Drama Critic, Pittsburgh Post Gazette<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /><a href="http://www.loe.org/shows/shows.html?programID=05-P13-00016">LISTEN: Lee performs excerpts from her play, "A Sense of Wonder." as heard on NPR's Living on Earth. (05:30) NPR</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">The Documentary Film </span><span style="font-size: x-large;">A</span><span style="font-size: x-large;"> Sense of Wonder</span></span></h2>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Rachel Carson's love for the natural world and her fight to defend the environment are depicted in this film.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br />"When pioneering environmentalist Rachel Carson published <i>Silent Spring</i> in 1962, the backlash from her critics thrust her into the center of a political maelstrom. Despite her private persona, her convictions about the risks posed by chemical pesticides forced her into the role of controversial public figure."<br /><br />Using many of Miss Carson's own words, actress Kaiulani Lee embodies this extraordinary woman in a documentary style film which depicts Carson in the final year of her life. Struggling with cancer, Carson recounts with both humor and anger the attacks by the chemical industry, the government and the press as she focuses her limited energy to get her message to Congress and the American people.<br /><br />Beautifully shot in HD by Academy Award®-winning cinematographer, Haskell Wexler, at Carson's cottage in Maine, the film is an intimate and poignant portrait of Carson's life as she emerges as America's most successful advocate for the natural world. Based on Kaiulani Lee's popular play of the same name.</span><br />
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This DVD includes many bonus features including LESSONS FROM CARSON, a 28-minute film in which contemporary environmental leaders reflect on Carson's life and the challenges ahead -- featuring geneticist and "Nature of Things" host, Dr. David Suzuki; leading expert on the health effects of pollution Dr. Theo Colborn; "Last Child in the Woods" author, Richard Louv; the Center for Food Safety's Andrew Kimbrell; Jay Feldman of Beyond Pesticides; and NRDC co-founder and Dean of the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies, Gus Speth.' <br />
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Directed by Christopher Monger<br />
Produced by Karen Montgomery, Sense of Wonder Productions LLC<br />
Executive Producer: Kaiulani Lee<br />
Director of Photography: Haskell Wexler, ASC<br />
Editor: Tamara M. Maloney<br />
Sound: Rob Sylvan<br />
Starring Kaiulani Lee as Rachel Carson</div>
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http://kaiulanilee.weebly.com/a-sense-of-wonder-film.html</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">A clip of <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kHRaChbrG8A"> Documentary film A Sense Of Wonder Rachel Carson's love for the natural world and her fight to defend it.</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><em style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Crimson Text'; line-height: 22px; position: relative;">Rachel Carson has been called the "Patron Saint of the Environmental Movement." She was a marine biologist and zoologist best known for her book Silent Spring, which alerted the world to the dangers of chemical pesticides and launched our modern environmental movement.<br /><br />Less known is that Miss Carson was one of America's great poets of natural world. In her earlier works she brought alive the beauty and mystery of the seas and its creatures to millions of readers.<br /><br />In their purest form the poet and the scientist are one and the same. They are the seekers after truth. Through the power of her knowledge and the beauty of her language, Rachel Carson became one of the great champions of the living world.</em></span><br />
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<div class="blogger-post-footer">Join as we plan and grow gardens and investigate the natural world. Our outdoor classroom highlights nature for children and families.
Discover and observe nature with us.</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1046644989722960436.post-20429065210630055432016-06-20T17:53:00.000-04:002016-06-20T17:53:06.674-04:00Food Connections and Rising Stars<h1 class="documentFirstHeading" id="parent-fieldname-title" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; color: #612f14; letter-spacing: 0.01em; line-height: 1.5em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: center; text-transform: uppercase;">
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40 Under 40: The Rising Stars in New York City Food Policy (Class of 2016)</h2>
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<a href="http://nycfoodpolicy.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/logo_nyc_food_policy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" height="127" src="http://nycfoodpolicy.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/logo_nyc_food_policy.jpg" width="320" /></a>"<span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">The </span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">New York City Food Policy Center at Hunter College has released its inaugural class of New York City’s 40 under 40 who are working to transform the food system. The New York City Food Policy Center at Hunter College honorees include policymakers, educators, community advocates, farmers and innovators who are making significant strides to create healthier, more sustainable food environments, and who use food to promote community and economic development.</span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">"</span><br />
<span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">In New York Food Policy Center announcement,each </span>'rising star' mentions what they had for breakfast and their favorite food hangout, with contact information for their organization and more. Each has an inspirational endeavor and an adventure in the Hew York area, with backgrounds as varied and dispersed geographically as imaginable. I admite I was somewhat surprised at the healthy breakfasts of each under 40 mentioned. Is there more to this than we realize….? The kale for breakfast?</div>
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New York City Food Policy Center at Hunter College’s 40 under 40 inaugural class reflects the Center’s broad perspective around food policy: food policies are not simply regulations imposed by governmental bodies; we believe that food policy impacts millions of New Yorkers every day, at home and at work and in our community. Food policy is not just about what we eat, it impacts our relationships, social equity, the environment, and even employment.<a href="http://www.nycfoodpolicy.org/40-under-40/" target="_blank">For the full list of New York City Food Policy's 40 under 40.</a><br />
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Another Great Resource to find school garden and food programs: Growing Food Connections </h5>
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The Growing Food Connections Policy Database is a searchable collection of local public policies that explicitly <img alt="upper_logo" class="alignright wp-image-3874" height="84" src="http://nycfoodpolicy.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/upper_logo.png" style="border: 1px solid black; display: inline; float: right; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; height: auto; margin: 10px; max-width: 100%; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" width="250" />support community food systems. This database provides policymakers, government staff, and others interested in food policy with concrete examples of local public policies that have been adopted to address a range of food systems issues: rural and urban food production, farmland protection, transfer of development rights, food aggregation and distribution infrastructure, local food purchasing and procurement, healthy food access, food policy councils, food policy coordination, food system metrics, tax reductions and exemptions for food infrastructure, and much more. </div>
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<a href="http://growingfoodconnections.org/" target="_blank">Growing Food Connections</a></div>
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<div class="blogger-post-footer">Join as we plan and grow gardens and investigate the natural world. Our outdoor classroom highlights nature for children and families.
Discover and observe nature with us.</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1046644989722960436.post-19788388036471643982016-05-03T12:28:00.000-04:002016-05-03T12:28:28.523-04:00Special Gardens for All Students; Creating Space and Details<h2 style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #284039; font-family: museo-sans, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 30px; line-height: 1.2; margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px;">
Making school gardens accessible</h2>
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<span style="background-color: #d5dedc; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; font-size: 0.75em; margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 5px 10px; text-shadow: none;">NFSN Staff</span> From <strong style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; widows: 2;">www.farmtoschool.org</strong></div>
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<span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 700; margin-bottom: 0px !important; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding: 0px;"><em style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 0px !important; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding: 0px;">By Anna Mullen, Digital Media Associate</em></span></div>
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<a href="http://www.farmtoschool.org/Resources/School_Gardens_Fact_Sheet.pdf" style="-webkit-transition: color 0.35s; box-sizing: border-box; color: #c61a21; font-weight: 700; margin-bottom: 0px !important; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; transition: color 0.35s;" target="_blank">School gardens</a> are one of the three core elements of farm to school programs, and the benefits of these green spaces are endless. Gardens create positive learning environments, increase children’s willingness to try new fruits and vegetables, and serve as a valuable tool for engaging students in a number of academic subjects. </div>
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Moreover, school gardens can be engaging learning spaces for <em style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 0px !important; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding: 0px;">all </em>students. They function as interdisciplinary classrooms that welcome every type of learner, regardless of age or ability. Unlike traditional classrooms, school gardens help level the playing field for students with physical disabilities, learning and behavior challenges, and other special classroom needs by empowering everyone to contribute to the process of growing food from seed to harvest. </div>
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But accessibility in the garden doesn’t only mean wider paths and raised beds. Designing your school garden as a space of exploration and learning for all students means paying attention to the details. Whether your school garden is well established or just in the planning phase, there are easy ways to make sure these green growing spaces are learning places for every student. </div>
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We recently spotted <a href="http://www.kidsgardening.org/node/12190" style="-webkit-transition: color 0.35s; box-sizing: border-box; color: #c61a21; font-weight: 700; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; transition: color 0.35s;" target="_blank">this list</a> of tips for creating accessible school gardens and garden activities on the National Gardening Association’s resource website, <a href="http://www.kidsgardening.org/" style="-webkit-transition: color 0.35s; box-sizing: border-box; color: #c61a21; font-weight: 700; margin-bottom: 0px !important; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; transition: color 0.35s;" target="_blank">KidsGardening.org</a>. Here are three of our favorite ideas that can be implemented at any stage of your school garden’s growth: </div>
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<li style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 0px !important; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 700; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Consider all five senses</span><br style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 0px !important; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding: 0px;" />Tasty garden treats and visual beauty are top factors when picking out plants for any garden. But more of our senses can be engaged! Activate students’ sense of smell by planting edible flowers and highly fragrant herbs. Want students to experience the garden through touch? Incorporate a variety of plant textures – smooth, hairy, delicate, woody. And, don’t forget sounds! Add a wind chime, water feature or feeder to attract singing birds. </li>
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<li style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 0px !important; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 700; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Adapt garden tools</span><br style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 0px !important; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding: 0px;" />Be intentional in making a variety of garden tools available for all body types and ability levels so that every student can contribute and learn in your school’s garden. Have tools of different lengths and sizes, of varying weights, and kneeling pads stocked in your shed. KidsGardening.org recommends having Velcro straps handy to secure tools to students’ arms, which can help distribute the weight and steady tools in their hands. </li>
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<li style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 0px !important; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 700; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Go vertical </span><br style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 0px !important; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding: 0px;" />For some students, reaching up may be easier than stretching out. There are lots of designs for vertical gardens that make the most of your available square footage on the ground and may be easier for some students to reach than traditional garden beds. Try vertical trellises for vining plants like cucumbers and squash, or plant a wall of leafy greens out of discarded wooden pallets. </li>
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To learn more about starting and maintaining school gardens or incorporating school gardens into the classroom with lesson plans, check out the great resources available from our partners at <a href="http://gardens.slowfoodusa.org/resources~" style="-webkit-transition: color 0.35s; box-sizing: border-box; color: #c61a21; font-weight: 700; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; transition: color 0.35s;" target="_blank">SlowFood USA </a> and <a href="http://edibleschoolyard.org/resources-tools" style="-webkit-transition: color 0.35s; box-sizing: border-box; color: #c61a21; font-weight: 700; margin-bottom: 0px !important; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; transition: color 0.35s;" target="_blank">The Edible Schoolyard Project</a>. </div>
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<div class="blogger-post-footer">Join as we plan and grow gardens and investigate the natural world. Our outdoor classroom highlights nature for children and families.
Discover and observe nature with us.</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1046644989722960436.post-1142678471437188542016-02-04T11:56:00.002-05:002016-02-04T12:44:13.434-05:00Nature Reads of Inspiration<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Call it what you will, either 'cabin fever' or 'blizzard buys', there's no delight like a book, a blanket and a little time to read, dream and plan. So to get inspired, we at Garden Green Angels have picked up on a few books out there that might peak your green interests. Join in the nature and beauty that might not be so apparent on snow covered or winter's day or evening under the covers. Just a wee bit too cold to work outside. Just a wee bit too snuggled in this weekend to get out from under that Hudson Bay blanket? Here are some excuses to stay under cover and read:</span></h2>
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<a href="http://email.chelseagreen.com/t/l?ssid=22789&subscriber_id=albfqajftevjtpocyyfjedptigqqbep&delivery_id=aqibangcfdfaflbpbddqkcrxpguibhe&td=nlRKX6tynAVFQuINKf13swv-VaUK7nFeaoguH-b5NA0eQYSleaGoRp9knQVjK70Hj3GgZNp4-mrUwbe0Cq2dtMJw8nxdAso0u6uaqMiKxXAgmqPfqGMKXvWB4MQxVc_hyEavO_6zxuTemqwtEQ4acV1ClungTojXB0l8L8l4QcjwAhEni06sg7nWcqOOZv_aRQ1AYC6bFuhJi67SaYNqMRh_hJ3nt6EKL1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank" title="An Unlikely Vineyard"><img align="middle" alt="An Unlikely Vineyard" border="0" src="http://www.chelseagreen.com/cache//content/57/4257.jpg" height="400" hspace="5" style="border: 1px solid rgb(211, 211, 211);" title="An Unlikely Vineyard" vspace="10" width="280" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #444444;">Need to think about vineyards? Whether you are on the North Fork of Long Island, the Finger Lakes of New York State , Oregon or the coast of California, this compilation of a field into vineyard, will offer you a winter's tale to grab on to. Ranked as one of the best wine books of 2014. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://email.chelseagreen.com/t/l?ssid=22789&subscriber_id=albfqajftevjtpocyyfjedptigqqbep&delivery_id=aqibangcfdfaflbpbddqkcrxpguibhe&td=nlRKX6tynAVFQuINKf13swbQJP98DkawL8guH-b5NA0eQYSleaGoRp9knQVjK70Hj3GgZNp4-mrUxX1IgMTl56Gd1h0rsa5bibVdZp09oEo0T4Rb5airDwg-eFEv1_akVd5Kjy7RukYmmP09sQJV-X-pjr304OpL7DVRagosktGmlfoTn2rgjGT2n-Sz2FV9SMGLWnf3SLdJFIeM_wirII2ae5_6beDd5m">An Unlikely Vineyard</a> by Deirdre Heekin<br />Ranked one of the best wine books of 2014 by The New York Times, An Unlikely Vineyard tells the evolutionary story of Deirdre Heekin’s farm from overgrown fields to a fertile, productive, and beautiful landscape that melds with its natural environment. Accompanied throughout by lush photography, this gentle narrative will appeal to anyone who loves food, farms, and living well. <a href="http://www.chelseagreen.com/">Winter Books </a></span><br />
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<strong style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">The Low-Tech, No-Grow-Lights Approach to Abundant Harvest</strong></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><em style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Year-Round Indoor Salad Gardening</em> offers good news: with nothing more than a cupboard and a windowsill, you can grow all the fresh salad greens you need for the winter months (or throughout the entire year) with no lights, no pumps, and no greenhouse.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Longtime gardener Peter Burke was tired of the growing season ending with the first frost, but due to his busy work schedule and family life, didn’t have the time or interest in high-input grow lights or greenhouses. Most techniques for growing what are commonly referred to as “microgreens” left him feeling overwhelmed and uninterested. There had to be a simpler way to grow greens for his family indoors. After some research and diligent experimenting, Burke discovered he was right—there was a way! And it was even easier than he ever could have hoped, and the greens more nutrient packed. He didn’t even need a south-facing window, and he already had most of the needed supplies just sitting in his pantry. The result: healthy, homegrown salad greens at a fraction of the cost of buying them at the market. The secret: start them in the dark.<a href="http://www.chelseagreen.com/year-round-indoor-salad-gardening" target="_blank">Year Round Indoor Salad Greens</a></span></div>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "calluna" , "droid sans" , "arial" , "sans"; line-height: 25px;"><span style="font-size: large;">- See more at: http://www.chelseagreen.com/year-round-indoor-salad-gardening#sthash.wW9UNeeY.dpuf</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Thinking of Beekeeping?<br />Here's some suggestion from </span><u style="background-color: #fafafa; color: #656565; font-family: 'lucida sans unicode', 'lucida grande', sans-serif; line-height: 20.8px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://beethinking.us2.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=96e56710eb1af4bef265f7232&id=cb29ccfd26&e=566bf29545" style="color: #656565;" target="_blank">www.beethinking.com</a> in Portland, Oregon:</span></u></h3>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Optima-Regular; text-align: right;">The Rooftop Beekeeper is the first handbook to explore the ease and charm of keeping bees in an urban environment. This useful manual— at once a good read and a pretty object—features a relatable first-person narrative, checklists, numbered how-tos, beautiful illustrations and 75 color photographs. Covering all aspects of urban beekeeping, this book also provides readers with plenty of sweet recipes for delicious treats, tonics, and beauty products to make with</span><br style="font-family: Optima-Regular; text-align: right;" /><span style="font-family: Optima-Regular; text-align: right;">home-harvested honey.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Optima-Regular; text-align: right;">Bee thinking's 4 bestselling books,collected in an essential group for informed beekeepers, new and old. Recommend to all beekeepers working with top bar hives, Warre hives, or foundationless Langstroth hives. </span><br style="font-family: Optima-Regular; text-align: right;" /><br style="font-family: Optima-Regular; text-align: right;" /><span style="font-family: Optima-Regular; text-align: right;">Includes the following books:</span><br style="font-family: Optima-Regular; text-align: right;" /><a href="http://beethinking.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=96e56710eb1af4bef265f7232&id=f9f84bcf7f&e=566bf29545" style="font-family: Optima-Regular; text-align: right;">The Complete Idiot's Guide to Beekeeping</a><span style="font-family: Optima-Regular; text-align: right;"> by Dean Stiglitz</span><br style="font-family: Optima-Regular; text-align: right;" /><a href="http://beethinking.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=96e56710eb1af4bef265f7232&id=4e90e704b5&e=566bf29545" style="font-family: Optima-Regular; text-align: right;">Honeybee Democracy</a><span style="font-family: Optima-Regular; text-align: right;"> by Dr. Thomas Seeley</span><br style="font-family: Optima-Regular; text-align: right;" /><a href="http://beethinking.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=96e56710eb1af4bef265f7232&id=d042d4ac72&e=566bf29545" style="font-family: Optima-Regular; text-align: right;">Top Bar Beekeeping</a><span style="font-family: Optima-Regular; text-align: right;"> by Les Crowder</span><br style="font-family: Optima-Regular; text-align: right;" /><a href="http://beethinking.us2.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=96e56710eb1af4bef265f7232&id=cb05ae0e00&e=566bf29545" style="font-family: Optima-Regular; text-align: right;">Natural Beekeeping with the Warre Hive</a><span style="font-family: Optima-Regular; text-align: right;"> by Dr. David Heaf</span></span><br />
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<div class="blogger-post-footer">Join as we plan and grow gardens and investigate the natural world. Our outdoor classroom highlights nature for children and families.
Discover and observe nature with us.</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1046644989722960436.post-27578820508338615802015-10-15T17:04:00.001-04:002015-10-15T17:04:27.615-04:00Road Trippin’ for the Planet — ecoRI News<a href="http://www.ecori.org/green-groups/2015/10/6/road-trippin-for-the-planet#.ViAUrrlzkrc.blogger">Road Trippin’ for the Planet — ecoRI News</a><div class="blogger-post-footer">Join as we plan and grow gardens and investigate the natural world. Our outdoor classroom highlights nature for children and families.
Discover and observe nature with us.</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1046644989722960436.post-12724571756549478702015-10-01T14:44:00.001-04:002015-10-01T14:45:34.640-04:00Connecting Students to Farms<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="http://www.farmtoschool.org/our-work/farm-to-school-month" style="background-color: #f3f7f6; box-sizing: border-box; color: #c61a21; font-family: museo-sans, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 21.999px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; transition: color 0.35s;" target="_blank"><b><span style="font-size: x-large;">National Farm to School Month</span></b></a><span style="background-color: #f3f7f6; color: #284039; font-family: museo-sans, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 21.999px;"><span style="font-size: 15px;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: large;">has arrived! And there couldn’t be a better time to lift up the connections students are making to local food and farmers across the country. This annual celebration of food education, school gardens and lunch trays filled with healthy, local ingredients was brought to life by Congress in 2010 in order to raise awareness of the importance of farm to school as a means to improve child nutrition, support local economies and educate communities about the origin of their food. <br /><br />Since 2010, Farm to School Month has brought together thousands of kids, teachers, parents, farmers, food enthusiasts, business owners, school lunch professionals and advocates from diverse sectors who believe in the power of farm to school to benefit people, planet and profit. <br /><br />What do these people have in common? They know that <a href="http://www.farmtoschool.org/news-and-articles/healthy-kids-are-common-sense-not-a-trend">farm to school works</a> to improve child nutrition and solve many of the challenges schools face in the lunchroom, while at the same time creating economic opportunities for farmers and communities. Students who are properly introduced to new foods through farm to school are more likely to adopt long-term healthy eating habits, participate in their school’s meal plan and are less likely to waste food, which results in a better bottom line for schools and healthier kids.</span><span style="font-size: large;"><br />This year, Farm to School Month is more than just a celebration – it is a time for action. Yesterday, Congress missed its deadline to pass a new version of the <a href="http://www.farmtoschool.org/cnr2015">Child Nutrition Act Reauthorization</a> (CNR), the bill that funds the USDA Farm to School Program and many other important programs for kids. Now more than ever, Congress needs to hear from you about why farm to school is important to your kids, your farmers and your community to ensure that these federal programs can meet the needs of schools and farmers nationwide.</span><br />
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<span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 700; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">1. Webinar: National Farm to School Network</span><br />
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<a href="https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/1007190403541885441" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #c61a21; font-weight: 700; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; transition: color 0.35s;">Farm to School 101</a><br />
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<em style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Tuesday, Oct. 13, 12-12:30pm CT</em><br />
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Mark your calendar for a Farm to School 101 webinar! On Tuesday, October 13 we’ll discuss the basics of the farm to school movement, its core elements, and how it is working to connect 23.5 million children to local food in schools all over the country. <a href="https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/1007190403541885441" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #c61a21; font-weight: 700; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; transition: color 0.35s;">Register here</a>. <br />
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<span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 700; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">2. Webinar: NOFA-VT</span><br />
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<a href="http://nesawg.org/events/put-your-money-where-your-values-are-institutional-procurement-tools-regional-food-buying" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #c61a21; font-weight: 700; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; transition: color 0.35s;">Put your money where your values are: Institutional procurement tools for regional food buying</a><br />
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<em style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">October 15, 1pm ET</em><br />
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Does your organization or institution need a template to assist with articulating your goals for buying local? In this webinar, NOFA-VT staff will provide an overview of research on how institutions incorporate values in their local and regional purchasing programs and show the tools they created. Please join this webinar from your computer, tablet or smartphone: <a href="https://global.gotomeeting.com/join/228327701" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #c61a21; font-weight: 700; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; transition: color 0.35s;">https://global.gotomeeting.com/join/228327701</a> You can also dial in using your phone: (872) 240-3212, Access Code: 228-327-701 <a href="http://nesawg.org/events/put-your-money-where-your-values-are-institutional-procurement-tools-regional-food-buying" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #c61a21; font-weight: 700; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; transition: color 0.35s;">Learn more here</a>. <br />
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<span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 700; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">3. Webinar recording: Georgetown University’s National Center for Cultural Competence </span><br />
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<a href="http://www.asphn.org/resource_read.php?resource_id=705&sid=31f91bb27a90c5&order=&move=&start=&realm_to_search=2&search_results_flag=1&origin=" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #c61a21; font-weight: 700; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; transition: color 0.35s;">Community Engagement to Address Cultural Competence</a><br />
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Cultural competence and linguistic competence are widely recognized by policy makers, researchers, educators, and providers as fundamental aspects of quality in health care – particularly for diverse patient populations. A key feature of the Public Health Accreditation Board’s Standards and Measures is partnership and collaboration with communities and populations that are impacted by the strategies and actions implemented. This type of community engagement is a cornerstone of creating culturally and linguistically competent public health policies, programs and services. <a href="http://www.asphn.org/resource_read.php?resource_id=705&sid=31f91bb27a90c5&order=&move=&start=&realm_to_search=2&search_results_flag=1&origin=" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #c61a21; font-weight: 700; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; transition: color 0.35s;">Watch the webinar here</a>.<br />
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<span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 700; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">4. NESAWG's 2015 Conference - Putting MOVE in the Movement, Nov 13-14, Saratoga Spring, NY</span><br />
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Civil rights, labor, women’s rights—the movements that transformed our world can give us insight on ways to accelerate food systems change. What can we learn from leaders past and present? How can we better organize our work, our networks, our message, our media? At this year’s Northeast Sustainable Agriculture Working Group’s conference, Nov 13-14 in Saratoga Spring, NY, learn and strategize with farm and food systems practitioners across the region—from farmers to researchers to policymakers—as we work to build a movement and realize the change we want to see. Check out the <a href="http://nesawg.org/our-work/conference" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #c61a21; font-weight: 700; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; transition: color 0.35s;">conference website</a> to learn more about the conference and register.<br />
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<span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 700; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">5. Save the Date: 2016 National Farm to Cafeteria Conference</span><br />
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Save the date for the 2016 <a href="http://www.farmtoschool.org/our-work/farm-to-school-cafeteria-conference" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #c61a21; font-weight: 700; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; transition: color 0.35s;">National Farm to Cafeteria Conference</a>, to be held June 1-4, 2016 in Madison, Wisconsin. The National Farm to Cafeteria Conference is a biennial event that convenes a diverse group of stakeholders from across the farm to cafeteria movement who are working to source local food for institutional cafeterias and foster a culture of food and agricultural literacy across America. The conference is hosted by the National Farm to School Network, in partnership with local host organizations. More information to come soon.<br />
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<span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 700; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">6. Green Schools Conference & Expo, March 31-April 1, 2016, Pittsburgh, PA</span><br />
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Mark your calendars for the Green Schools Conference & Expo, March 31-April 1, 2016. The events brings together green schools thought-leaders and champions, connecting educators, school administrators, non-profit and corporate partners, and elected officials to advance the shared mission of green schools for all within this generation. Do you believe that all students deserve to learn and play in environments that are healthy, safe and resource-efficient? Are you looking for new ideas to start or expand your school’s sustainability goals? Learn more about the 2016 Green Schools Conference & Expo <a href="http://greenschoolsconference.org/" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #c61a21; font-weight: 700; margin-bottom: 0px !important; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; transition: color 0.35s;">here</a>. </div>
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<span style="background-color: #f3f7f6; box-sizing: border-box; color: #284039; font-family: museo-sans, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-weight: 700; line-height: 21.999px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 0px !important; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: underline;"><i><span style="font-size: large;">Policy & Action</span></i></span></span><span style="background-color: #f3f7f6; color: #284039; font-family: museo-sans, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21.999px;"></span><br />
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<span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 700; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">1. Tell Congress you support the Farm to School Act of 2015 </span><br />
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Tell Congress you support the Farm to School Act of 2015 by <a href="http://salsa.wiredforchange.com/o/5735/p/dia/action3/common/public/?action_KEY=10969&tag=nfsn" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #c61a21; font-weight: 700; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; transition: color 0.35s;" target="_blank">signing a letter of support as an individual</a> or on behalf of your <a href="https://docs.google.com/a/farmtoschool.org/forms/d/1ceRa2dcxqGc-QW6vwqC2z9ZqyAojx8nBKLc_R3AuD8o/viewform" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #c61a21; font-weight: 700; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; transition: color 0.35s;" target="_blank">organization</a>. The <a href="http://www.farmtoschool.org/cnr2015" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #c61a21; font-weight: 700; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; transition: color 0.35s;" target="_blank">Farm to School Act of 2015 </a>builds on the success of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 by proposing an increase in funding from $5 million to $15 million for the <a href="http://www.fns.usda.gov/farmtoschool/farm-school-grant-program" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #c61a21; font-weight: 700; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; transition: color 0.35s;" target="_blank">USDA Farm to School Grant Program</a>. The bill would also ensure that the grant program fully includes preschools, summer food service sites, after school programs, and tribal schools and producers while improving program participation from beginning, veteran and socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers. To learn more, download this <a href="http://www.farmtoschool.org/resources-main/child-nutrition-act-reauthorization-2015-fact-sheet" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #c61a21; font-weight: 700; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; transition: color 0.35s;" target="_blank">fact sheet</a> or visit <a href="http://farmtoschool.org/cnr2015" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #c61a21; font-weight: 700; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; transition: color 0.35s;" target="_blank">farmtoschool.org/cnr2015</a><wbr style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 0px !important; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding: 0px;"></wbr>. </div>
<a href="http://www.farmtoschool.org/news-and-articles" target="_blank">More Information on<b> #farmtoschool and #F2SMonth</b> </a>at The Farm to School website, FarmtoSchool.org</div>
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Great inspiration comes from the Sustainable Food Center in Austin Texas.<br />
Celebrate Farm to School with us!<a href="http://sustainablefoodcenter.org/about/who-we-are" target="_blank">Sustainable Food Center Austin!</a></div>
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<!-- Blogger automated replacement: "https://images-blogger-opensocial.googleusercontent.com/gadgets/proxy?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.farmtoschool.org%2Fimages%2Fblog%2FDCGreens1.jpg&container=blogger&gadget=a&rewriteMime=image%2F*" with "https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/proxy/AVvXsEjCKJOid2P7_BtNBbhEMBRzNvVOvJtiB605XWA1NOX6-C7CR7hwY95lqzcFglbiJ_NLP-TIMKJCmPSS5xnqc26TNyouRdDToqNItFxON9M3GeRheBJWJAfnP1nWKKfbetUnnd9SdINB4EnW7xVvkVzA9wLG8HA=" --><div class="blogger-post-footer">Join as we plan and grow gardens and investigate the natural world. Our outdoor classroom highlights nature for children and families.
Discover and observe nature with us.</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1046644989722960436.post-29551059822483556272015-08-19T13:56:00.001-04:002015-09-10T09:15:05.906-04:00School Gardens,Pens,Paper and Garden Tools<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #274e13; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-large;"><b>Considering all </b></span><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-large;"><b>Five Senses </b></span><b style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="color: #274e13; font-size: x-large;">in the Children's Garden</span></b></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKyOEX-3cKiGcrKJU5K8kAbfaRrAifh6pJKAwUyw63dW9Mw1ynxTocK6aRNCiiRnYXG32hEApQtrbvvO3KaS64k9KhhnSqFAIjQzA_u_iBwy6iFA65QpDmuE9rE8PyOkBMVsPtPoaZ5H4/s1600/IMG_0290.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKyOEX-3cKiGcrKJU5K8kAbfaRrAifh6pJKAwUyw63dW9Mw1ynxTocK6aRNCiiRnYXG32hEApQtrbvvO3KaS64k9KhhnSqFAIjQzA_u_iBwy6iFA65QpDmuE9rE8PyOkBMVsPtPoaZ5H4/s400/IMG_0290.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: right;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Photo by Rein</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>From <a href="http://www.farmtoschool.org/news-and-articles/making-school-gardens-accessible">Farm to School Network</a>: </i></span><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>Recently spotted <a href="http://www.kidsgardening.org/node/12190">this list</a> of tips for creating accessible school gardens and garden activities on the National Gardening Association’s resource website, </i></span><i style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><a href="http://www.kidsgardening.org/">KidsGardening.org</a>. </i><br />
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<span style="color: #274e13; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-large;"><b>T</b></span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">asty garden treats and visual beauty are top factors when picking out plants for any garden. But more of our senses can be engaged! Activate students’ sense of smell by planting edible flowers and highly fragrant herbs. Want students to experience the garden through touch? </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><u><i><b><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Incorporate a variety of plant textures </span></b></i></u></span></div>
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Plant have an incredible variety of surfaces that entice children to explore. Smooth, hairy, delicate, woody- each texture offers youngsters an opportunity to get up close and see the natural world in the plant world. And, don’t forget sounds! Add a wind chime, water feature or feeder to attract singing birds. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i style="color: #274e13; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b><u>Adapt garden tools</u></b></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Be intentional in making a variety of garden tools available for all body types and ability levels so that every student can contribute and learn in your school’s garden. Have tools of different lengths and sizes, of varying weights, and kneeling pads stocked in your shed. KidsGardening.org recommends having Velcro straps handy to secure tools to students’ arms, which can help distribute the weight and steady tools in their hands. </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJAT5Pks6n9ytmaF1J-oz_9G3Em3exO1Da3cKryBuAoXApJXeM4BArrsdj7skJ_8p-R9J2Pl5uJeTEzPZpsbv7Irql3arxE-lnEhYMVeGKpEMKf6NsKm7MsJz9gfNJc3YWSRFGAuyokrY/s1600/IMG_0185.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJAT5Pks6n9ytmaF1J-oz_9G3Em3exO1Da3cKryBuAoXApJXeM4BArrsdj7skJ_8p-R9J2Pl5uJeTEzPZpsbv7Irql3arxE-lnEhYMVeGKpEMKf6NsKm7MsJz9gfNJc3YWSRFGAuyokrY/s400/IMG_0185.jpg" title="Photo by Rein" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: right;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Photo by Rein</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><u style="color: #274e13; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i><b>Go vertical</b></i></u></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">For some students, reaching up may be easier than stretching out. There are lots of designs for vertical gardens that make the most of your available square footage on the ground and may be easier for some students to reach than traditional garden beds. Try vertical trellises for vining plants like cucumbers and squash, or plant a wall of leafy greens out of discarded wooden pallets. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: #274e13; font-size: x-large;">T</span></b><span style="font-size: large;">o learn more about starting and maintaining school gardens or incorporating school gardens into the classroom with lesson plans, check out the great resources available at </span></span><a href="http://gardens.slowfoodusa.org/resources~" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">SlowFood USA </a><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> and </span><a href="http://edibleschoolyard.org/resources-tools" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">The Edible Schoolyard Project</a><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">http://www.farmtoschool.org/news-and-articles/making-school-gardens-accessible</span><br />
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<span style="color: #274e13; font-size: x-large;"><b>Heading Back to School</b></span></div>
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<a href="http://shop.kidsgardening.org/products/books-in-bloom" style="clear: right; color: #0c343d; float: right; font-size: x-large; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img src="http://www.kidsgardening.org/sites/www.kidsgardening.org/files/images/Books%20in%20Bloom_0.small.jpg" height="400" width="320" /></a><b><span style="color: #274e13; font-size: x-large;">B</span></b><span style="font-size: large;">ring the garden in</span><span style="font-size: large;">to the classroom by connecting science with great children’s literature. </span><a href="http://shop.kidsgardening.org/products/books-in-bloom" style="font-size: x-large;">Books in Bloom</a><span style="font-size: large;"> invites children to learn about science while experiencing a great story. Suitable for grades PreK-5, each chapter features a popular children's book that's perfect for families, classrooms, after-school programs, anyone who gardens with children. Compact lesson ideas, hands-on activities, and full lesson plans are included, along with reference icons that clearly identify appropriate grade levels, related titles for alternative reading levels, and connections to Common Core State Standards and Next Generation Science Standards.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Enjoy these last weeks of summertime sun and fun -- but remember to start planning ahead for an exciting new season of learning that will strengthen your childrens' observation skills and enhance their connection to the natural world!</span></div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer">Join as we plan and grow gardens and investigate the natural world. Our outdoor classroom highlights nature for children and families.
Discover and observe nature with us.</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1046644989722960436.post-31825688816130221492015-06-19T14:17:00.000-04:002015-07-30T23:38:50.028-04:00The Pope Embraces Mother Earth and Food for Thought<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Updated: The more I read about the Pope and his environmental stance, the more hope and faith I have. As I watched thousands of menhaden fish dying this past weekend in the rivers near Providence, Rhode Island, I was dismayed at the steps forward and backwards we continue to make in our country's struggle with industries, expansion and development mistakes. Wonderful new pollution control is in place in Providence, but runoff from fertilizer and who really knows what else still makes our waters' oxygen level too low for fish to survive. How disturbing to watch the rowers slap their paddles through gulping and dead fish. But, at the same moment, the environmental management team in Rhode Island was trying to decipher the cause. And if reports are correct, the fish could not leave the rivers for better waters because of the resurgence in the population of bluefish at the mouth of the rivers waiting to eat the menhaden.<br />
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Some more interesting news on the intersection of faith and food, on feeding the masses and finding mass that feeds the soul!<br />
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"<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Tahoma; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; widows: 2;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Tahoma; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; widows: 2;">Slow Food founder and president Carlo Petrini was surprised last year when he picked up his phone and find Pope Francis on the other end. That conversation, about their own mothers' excellent cooking, lead to Carlo Petrini writing the reading guide to Pope Francis' unprecedented, official statement (papal encyclical) released last month. The Pope urges everyone - regardless of faith - to understand the moral imperative to recognize and address climate change. These outspoken, charismatic, and unconventional global leaders seem to have nothing and everything in common. Yeah, this could be the start of a remarkable friendship."</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: small;">Here's a snippet of <a href="http://www.slowfood.com/international/food-for-thought/focus/277211/download-carlo-petrinis-reading-guide-to-papal-encyclical/q=E26057" target="_blank">Papa Carlo's take on Pope Francis's encyclical</a>: "though the premises are harrowing, it is joy that prevails: the joy of believing in revolutionary change..</span></div>
<span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: #274e13;">"What kind of world do we want to leave to those who come after us, to children who are now growing up?”</span> </span><span style="font-size: large;">is the question put forth boldly in the Pope's words.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br />The Pope's encyclical letter, Laudato Si': On the Care for Our Common Home, was released with concern for nature, water, environmental education, justice for the poor, commitment to society, and interior peace. <br /><br />“The Encyclical takes its name from the invocation of Saint Francis, “Praise be to you, my Lord”, in his Canticle of the Creatures. It reminds us that the earth, our common home “is like a sister with whom we share our life and a beautiful mother who opens her arms to embrace us” (1). We have forgotten that “we ourselves are dust of the earth (cf. Gen 2:7); our very bodies are made up of her elements, we breathe her air and we receive life and refreshment from her waters.” (2). <br /><br />"Several main themes run through the text that are addressed from a variety of different perspectives, : <br /><br />*the intimate relationship between the poor and the fragility of the planet,<br /><br />*the conviction that everything in the world is connected,<br /><br />*the critique of new paradigms and forms of power derived from technology,<br /><br />*the call to seek other ways of understanding the economy and progress,<br /><br />*the value proper to each creature,<br /><br />*the human meaning of ecology,<br /><br />*the need for forthright and honest debate,<br /><br />*the serious responsibility of international and local policies,<br /><br />*the throwaway culture and the proposal of a new lifestyle ."</span><br />
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<a href="http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2015/06/18/laudato_si%E2%80%99_a_press_guide_to_the_new_encyclical/1152352" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">(These excerpts are from </a><a href="http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2015/06/18/laudato_si%E2%80%99_a_press_guide_to_the_new_encyclical/1152352" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Vatican Radio</a><a href="http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2015/06/18/laudato_si%E2%80%99_a_press_guide_to_the_new_encyclical/1152352" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">)</a></div>
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<span style="color: #274e13; font-size: x-large;"><i>Garden Green Angels was inspired to see the mention of environmental education as a key component of this conviction.</i></span><br />
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<span style="color: #274e13; font-size: x-large;"><i>We thought we would close up shop for the summer months here, but maybe we still have nature and garden calling!</i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #274e13; font-size: x-large;"><i> Welcome to summer!</i></span></div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer">Join as we plan and grow gardens and investigate the natural world. Our outdoor classroom highlights nature for children and families.
Discover and observe nature with us.</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1046644989722960436.post-45305161103242600732015-06-15T12:00:00.000-04:002015-06-15T12:00:55.238-04:00Three Dynamic Days of Garden Education, Nature Field Trips, and Garden Tours<span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /><span style="color: #274e13;"><b>The National Children and Youth Garden Symposium </b></span>will start in July in Austin, Texas. If you have never attended, it is an exciting program that offers time to acquire and inspire knowledge, tools and ideas for food, garden and nutrition projects and programs that connect kids to nature.Join in Austin, Texas July 9-11 for the 2015 National Children & Youth Garden Symposium (NCYGS), with local co-hosts the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center and the International Junior Master Gardener Program.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large; text-align: start;">NCYGS is the only national event of its kind where you can network with like-minded teachers, garden designers, community leaders, program coordinators, and others involved with connecting kids to the natural world. NCYGS 2015 attendees will be able to:</span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">Explore topics ranging from curriculum to program management to garden design & maintenance during three dynamic days of educational sessions, field trips, and expert keynote presentations.<br />Experience <a href="http://www.wildflower.org/">Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center</a> including the recently opened <a href="http://www.wildflower.org/family_garden/">Luci and Ian Family Garden</a>, a native plant garden for families and a pilot project of the <a href="http://www.sustainablesites.org/">Sustainable SITES Initiative</a>.<br />Learn about the newly released <a href="http://jmgkids.us/">International Junior Master Gardener Program’s</a> “Learn, Grow, Eat, & GO!” curriculum and research program.<br />Enjoy Austin, <a href="http://www.austintexas.org/">"Live Music Capital of the World"</a>, and its booming arts, culture, and local foods scenes.<br />Share ideas, success stories, and inspiration with like-minded colleagues from across the nation.<br /><br />In between annual symposia, keep up with the latest in youth gardening when you subscribe to our free, daily, international, online newspaper, <a href="http://paper.li/AHS_NCYGS/1404763592">The Youth Gardening Gazette</a>.<br /><br />NCYGS 2015 attendees will be able to:<br />Explore topics ranging from curriculum to program management to garden design & maintenance during three dynamic days of educational sessions, field trips, and expert keynote presentations.<br />Experience <a href="http://www.wildflower.org/">Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center</a> including the recently opened <a href="http://www.wildflower.org/family_garden/">Luci and Ian Family Garden</a>, a native plant garden for families and a pilot project of the <a href="http://www.sustainablesites.org/">Sustainable SITES Initiative</a>.<br />Learn about the newly released <a href="http://jmgkids.us/">International Junior Master Gardener Program’s</a> “Learn, Grow, Eat, & GO!” curriculum and research program.<br />Enjoy Austin, <a href="http://www.austintexas.org/">"Live Music Capital of the World"</a>, and its booming arts, culture, and local foods scenes.<br />Share ideas, success stories, and inspiration with like-minded colleagues from across the nation.<br /><br />In between annual symposia, keep up with the latest in youth gardening when you subscribe to our free, daily, international, online newspaper, <a href="http://paper.li/AHS_NCYGS/1404763592">The Youth Gardening Gazette</a>.</span><span style="font-size: large; text-align: start;"><br />Email <a href="mailto:education@ahs.org">education@ahs.org</a> or call (703) 768-5700 ext. 121 with questions. And watch highlights in the video below from the 2014 Symposium held in Columbus, Ohio with local host Franklin Park Conservatory and Botanical Gardens.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #274e13;">Among the wonderful side programs featured:</span> </span><div>
<span style="font-size: large;">Staff from the </span><a href="http://sustainablefoodcenter.org/">Sustainable Food Center’s</a><span style="font-size: large;"> Grow Local program will lead attendees on a tour of school and community gardens they’re involved with as part of the program’s work to offer local residents the knowledge and resources necessary to grow their own food-part of the SFC’s larger work toward a food-secure community where all children and adults grow, share, and prepare healthy, local food. We’ll start at the J.P.’s Peace, Love, and Happiness Foundation Teaching Garden, SFC’s home garden for classes, student field trips, and tours. Then visits to Blackshear Elementary School Garden, Kealing Middle School Garden, and Festival Beach Community Garden will highlight more of the exciting and inspiring local growing projects sprouting up all over Austin like </span><a href="http://blackshearbridge.org/">Blackshear Bridge</a><span style="font-size: large;">, the unique neighborhood-school partnership that is building a food hub with the public elementary school, local historically African-American university, and nearby city housing community, and Festival Beach’s collaboration with the Multicultural Refugee Coalition to provide refugee families with garden plots at no cost.</span><div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">To register for the National Children and Youth Garden Symposium <a href="http://www.ahs.org/uploads/pdfs/2015_NCYGS_Registration_Form.pdf" target="_blank">Click here to register and tell them you were reading GardenGreenAngels.blogspot.com</a></span><br /></div>
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<div class="blogger-post-footer">Join as we plan and grow gardens and investigate the natural world. Our outdoor classroom highlights nature for children and families.
Discover and observe nature with us.</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1046644989722960436.post-53921431836820565172015-06-04T15:57:00.000-04:002015-06-06T08:27:45.601-04:00Edible Spring Greens in the Garden and Secret Trellis Projects<span style="color: #38761d; font-size: x-large;"><b>H</b></span><span style="font-size: large;">ow many glorious hours of sunshine are there in a day? Wish there could be 20 hours of light and warmth because of all the catching up these New England plants have to do in the next few weeks.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #38761d;"><i>Up close and green. The garden is full of spring flavor to try.</i></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #274e13;">We've got a plethora of cilantro, sorrel, lovage, rhubarb in the garden. </span>The 'glorious greens' we like to call them. One of the first recipes from the spring garden is the use of garlic greens, the tops of the garlic bul that's growing underneath the soil. </span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">J<i>ust pick some spring herbs from the garden, mix in a food processor with a little olive oil and salt and celebrate 'spring' on toast or pasta.</i></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large;">This week, just as we were planning our recipe for the school garden, the New York Times published a yummy recipe for <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/03/dining/green-garlic-toast-offers-a-hint-of-springtime.html?_r=0" target="_blank">garlic greens toast</a>. The students loved the idea of picking the greens, crushing the leaves with rolling pins and mixing it all together with olive oil and butter. We smeared it on loaves of french bread and used a panini press to sizzle and crunch the bread.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">A wonderful reward for their hard work.</span></div>
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<a href="https://gallery.mailchimp.com/b1edc3714dafb26ddd235db42/images/95ff12c7-9ac5-4af2-8523-7ab874a5e309.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img alt="A-frame trellis made from cattle panels" border="0" class="columnImage" height="200" src="https://gallery.mailchimp.com/b1edc3714dafb26ddd235db42/images/95ff12c7-9ac5-4af2-8523-7ab874a5e309.jpg" style="border: 0px; display: inline; height: auto; line-height: 100%; margin-top: 0px; max-width: 260px; outline: none; padding: 0px;" width="0" /></span></a><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Now, as we begin to plan for a vertical garden for small space areas, I received an email with great ideas for using an old garden standby. The cattle fence, which is a sturdy framed wire square of sixteen feet lengths, can be use to bolster any gardens output. It works as a giant trellis or can be bent for framing. The <a href="http://bonnieplants.com/library/cattle-panels/?utm_source=Bonnie+Newsletter&utm_campaign=2aee9d324e-What_s_Wrong_With_My_Tomato_6_1_2015&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_a422bae720-2aee9d324e-57845" target="_blank">great ideas for cattle panels</a> from Bonnie plants will be a sculptural addition to the climbing garden.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption">Courtesy of Bonnie Plants<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><i style="background-color: white;">The Arch Trellis:</i><span style="color: #38761d;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: large;">Create extra garden space putting this support over a garden path. Each arch is made from a single cattle panel that has been bent, anchored, and attached to four 4-foot pieces of rebar, one on each corner. The trellis holds plants up to capture the sunlight while the gardener stands below to pick the produce.</span></td></tr>
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<strong style="box-sizing: border-box; color: white; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 15.199999809265137px;">The Vertical Tre</strong><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Courtesy of Bonnie Plants</span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><i style="background-color: white;">The Vertical Trellis</i> By getting plants off the ground and onto a trellis, you leave room for other plants, meaning you can grow more in a small garden bed. Be sure to place the trellis on the north (or east) side of the bed so it does not shade shorter plants.</span></td></tr>
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<div class="blogger-post-footer">Join as we plan and grow gardens and investigate the natural world. Our outdoor classroom highlights nature for children and families.
Discover and observe nature with us.</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1046644989722960436.post-90531972890029883812015-02-02T17:49:00.001-05:002015-02-02T17:49:37.577-05:00New England Snowy Dreams of Seedlings<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dreaming of the Garden on a Snowy Bay Day</td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large;">The snow is swirling outside, covering my tracks out to the chicken house as quickly as I step out of them. I have covered the Southern Magnolia 'tree-lings' (baby 1-year old trees) with an old wheel barrow, trudged out to the compost with way too many days of peels, skins and eggshells in my trusty coffee can container. (Oh what do those k-cup users do without a big old coffee can for their compost?)</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Now is the time to order all our seeds and tubers. I have been lucky to be remembered by pals who sent me the local university seed sharing program. Through donations from local vendors, they are able to offs non profits and schools seed packets from the previous season. They are still plenty viable and offer communities a good chance to try out some new seeds that they normally couldn't afford. Check out your local Agriculture college for seed bargains.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Time to plant them is a ways off, but be on the lookout for good planting containers. Yes, again those coffee cans, plastic pastry and salad containers, cookie and cake containers from the big box stores like BJ's and Sam's. The ones with the clear cheap plastic tops are perfect 'greenhouses for seedlings.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ah, I saved this pepper plant from the cold winter and it is rewarding me with flowers and peppers every day this winter</td></tr>
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<div class="blogger-post-footer">Join as we plan and grow gardens and investigate the natural world. Our outdoor classroom highlights nature for children and families.
Discover and observe nature with us.</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1046644989722960436.post-75381458353770356042015-01-15T10:23:00.001-05:002015-01-15T10:23:13.236-05:00Providence Children's Film Festival<div class="flexslider-festival" style="box-sizing: border-box; word-wrap: break-word;">
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The Providence Children’s Film Festival (PCFF) returns this February for its sixth year, February 12 to 22, showcasing 18 feature films including both a USA and Rhode Island premiere, over 50 shorts from around the world and the 2nd Annual Youth Filmmaker Showcase. The Festival presents the highest quality independent films for ages 3-18, with compelling stories and worldwide adventures. The festival also offers an ever expanding variety of film talks and presentations to deepen the movie-watching experience.<br />
The festival has forged a new community partnership this year with the Providence Public Library/Providence Community Library. Free movie screenings, post-film discussions and workshops will be offered during school vacation week at four libraries in Providence, Rhode Island.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Song of the Sea featured at Providence Children's Film Festival</td></tr>
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This year’s international programming brings a wide range of storytelling and experiences from around the globe, including France, The Netherlands, China, Brazil, U.K., Sweden, Denmark, Japan, and Germany. The program also include a wide variety of genres and forms—classic cinema, live action, animation, and documentary—paired with an expanded offering of “Film Talks,” PCFF’s own brand of post-screening discussions that aim to deepen understanding of subject matter and foster critical watching skills.<br />
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2nd ANNUAL YOUTH FILMMAKER SHOWCASE<br />
The festival nurtures the work of young “amateur” filmmakers showcases films from Rhode Island and around the world by providing an opportunity for young filmmakers to talk about both the fun and the challenges they face during the creative process. These screenings are developed to encourage up-and-coming young filmmakers This special screening includes a Q&A and discussion with those filmmakers who are able to attend plus a group workshop reel created by students whom attended the PCFF filmmaking workshops.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Finn, a family feature featured film<br /> at the Providence Children's Film Festival</td></tr>
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Some highlights of the 2015 Festival:<br />
THE OKEE DOKEE BROTHERS Through the Woods: An Appalachian Adventure (Music Documentary) – All ages.<br />
GRAMMY® Award-winning Americana Folk musicians, the Okee Dokee Brothers, composed the songs for Through the Woods while hiking sections of the Appalachian Trail. Join them on their journey in the wilderness as they hike, camp and compose some foot stomping, knee slapping music. <br />
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ANTBOY (Comic book super hero comes to life.) – Ages 8 and up.<br />
A young boy bitten by a very special ant is suddenly endowed with incredible powers, and learns that with great power comes great responsibility. <br />
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BELLE AND SEBASTIAN (1960’s TV series turned feature film) Ages 8 and up.<br />
Set during WWII in the Snowy Alps, a young boy and a giant mountain sheepdog become friends and have their loyalty to each other and their village put to the test. <br />
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ON THE WAY TO SCHOOL (Cesar Award 2014 – Best Documentary) Ages 8 and up.<br />
Follow four incredibly inspired young students from four different countries as they display heroic effort and overcome physical obstacles to get themselves to school on time each day. This award- winning documentary travels through Kenya, Patagonia, Morocco and India and leaves you in a state of awe.<br />
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• FINN (Family Feature Film) Ages 10 and up.<br />
A young boy mourning the loss of his mother finds solace and a passion for music while his father insists he play soccer. Why?! The answer to this mystery will make you want to watch again.<br />
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For more information, visit http://pcffri.org.<br />
Visit the <a href="http://pcffri.org/films/?wpv_paged_preload_reach=1&wpv_view_count=1&wpv_post_id=348&wpv-festival_year=2015&wpv-film_type=0&wpv-film_category=0&wpv-film_ages=0&wpv_post_search&wpv_filter_submit=Search">2015 Film Directory</a> for a complete list of films screening at the 2015 Festival.<br />
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<br /><div class="blogger-post-footer">Join as we plan and grow gardens and investigate the natural world. Our outdoor classroom highlights nature for children and families.
Discover and observe nature with us.</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com