Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Special Announcement: GreenDrinks and Food Inc, This Week

We're starting a GreenDrinks for Northern Westchester! Apologies for the late notice, I've been away. More on that in a minute.

FIRST: come out and join Seth Leitman and GreenDrinks Westchester, and KatonahGreen on Wednesday July 29th at the Flying Pig on Lexington Restaurant in Mt Kisco, NY. Get to know people who are working to build a greener future for Northern Westchester!

Free hors douvers & great organic wines, vodka and great scene! The Flying Pig on Lexington is Northern Westchester' s standard bearer for local, natural, farm-to-table foods. With a menu that showcases farm-fresh foods from the Hudson Valley and beyond, we capture the vibrancy of seasonal flavors.

SECOND: If you still haven't seen Food, Inc- here's your chance:

Food, Inc.

In Food, Inc., filmmaker Robert Kenner talks to best-selling authors Eric Schlosser (Fast Food Nation) and Michael Pollan (Omnivore's Dilemma) to lift the veil on our nation's food industry—a nexus of mechanized farms, engineered food, and unhealthy practices that's been effectively hidden from American consumers by slick public relations and slack government regulation. This eye-opening documentary explains how unfettered corporations exploited laws and subsidies to create wholesale monopolies, and explores how modern developments in food production pose grave risks to our health and environment.

Robert Kenner. 2008. 94 m. NR. US. Magnolia Pictures.

Official Website / Trailer | Entertainment Weekly review

Tue, July 28 9:15
Sat, August 1 12:05
Sun, August 2 12:00

LASTLY:
The reason I've been away is that my grandmother Marion passed away on July 20th. I am so very lucky to have spent her last afternoon with her looking at flowers and singing and left her having her last cup of green tea. She passed in her sleep that evening. Her name is Marion von Geldern, and to her I owe my love of gardening, organic food, caring about the welfare of animals and my love of cooking. Marion was one of the most loving, non-judgemental, optimistic and caring people I've ever met. This is a bit personal, but here is short video that I was able to make on that last afternoon. If I had known she would pass on that evening, I would have stayed with her for her last 2 hours, but am deeply grateful that I had what I had. Marion, I'll be loving you, always. Here's the link.

Thursday, July 16, 2009

Raw Foodies Gone Wild, July 25th, 26th

Gathering of the Raw Foodies II
"Raw Foodies Gone Wild"
Is set & ready to RAWK!
July 25th &/or 26th
at the beautiful CLEARPOINT CENTER
in Stafford Springs CT
Glen Colello Lisa Storch, Del Orloske,
Gina & Steven Law and featured guest DANIEL VITALIS

More details visit www.clearpointadvantage.com

Overnight indoor & tenting available
Sunday only includes a Raw Lunch & Dinner and a wild walk
with Daniel & Del on spring water, mushrooms and wild edibles.

Nature Hike at Bylane With Tait Johansson, Wed, July 22nd

Nature Hike at Bylane With Tait Johansson
Wednesday, July 22, 10 a.m.–noon
Our eminent resident naturalist will focus his walk on birds, butterflies, dragonflies and damselflies, all abundant in Bylane’s meadows and woods in mid summer. Wildflowers will be present as well. Bring insect repellent, a sun hat, and plenty of water. Degree of Difficulty: Easy
Register with Joan E. Becker by e-mail or by telephone at (914) 232-4806.

Monday, July 13, 2009

Seeds of Solidarity School Gardens, Aug 14th, Orange, MA

Grow Food Everywhere! School Gardens and Greenhouses Thursday August 14, 3-6 PM Seeds of Solidarity Farm
This popular back to school workshop features school garden and greenhouse techniques, curriculum connections, and community partnerships. Geared toward educators, all are welcome. PDPs available. $15 covers materials and refreshments. Call or email to reserve your spot.

This event is in Massachussetts, a little outside our area, but is run by Ricky Baruc, son John Baruc who founded the Westchester Horse Council. The Fall Garlic Festival at the Seeds of Solidarity Farm is the largest in the country! It will be a beautiful drive and promises to be a great opportunity to learn from people who have implemented really successful school garden projects. Email editor [@] katonahgreen.com if you want to arrange carpooling.

165 Chestnut Hill Road Orange, MA 01364 • 978-544-9023

http://www.seedsofsolidarity.org/about.html

Mark your calendar for this fall event!

11h Annual North Quabbin Garlic and Arts Festival ‘The Festival that Stinks’ Saturday and Sunday October 3 and 4 10 AM to 5PM Forster’s Farm, Orange Orange is the new Green!
Over 100 amazing art, regional agriculture, and glorious garlic food vendors, renewable energy workshops, and great entertainment on two solar powered stages. At our booths, enjoy garlic-growing workshops then choose from 16 varieties to plant or eat. Savor farm fresh cuisine served by our SOL Garden teens. Festival composting results in only 3 bags of trash for 12,000 folks! Admission: Adults $5/day or $8 for the weekend, kids under 12 free. Hike, bike, or ride the shuttle for great raffle prizes. www.garlicandarts.org

Monday, July 6, 2009

MEETUP! Friday Night Green, July 10th, 7pm

FRIDAY NIGHT GREEN is intended to provide a social setting for you to hang out with like-minded people and have fun!

We'll be meeting at Valerie and Peter Lynch's place an organic potluck dinner and drinks in South Salem. Valerie is a local artist who has created fantastic artwork to support the awareness of solar energy! We'll see some art, and see the home that was featured in several news sources last year for it's awesome green renovation.

There isn't much parking there, so we'll need to organize carpools. Email me at editor[@]katonahgreen.com if you want to organize a carpool. (the brackets help protect me from spambots, so please remove them before trying to email me!)

Here's an excerpt from the local paper on the Lynch's solar installation: "Peter and Valerie Lynch of South Salem recently completed a project that should take them entirely off the grid: a 5.46-kilowatt photovoltaic solar panel system that is expected to supply close to 100% of the electricity to their house, one of the first of its kind in Lewisboro..."

Note: since I've had reports of the paypal or amazon payments thing being a little difficult to use, I'm going to ask for a $3 donation for potlucks to cover costs of printing flyers, and buying extra supplies for those who forget to bring their own!

RSVP REQUIRED: please follow this link:
http://www.meetup.com/Katonah-Green-and-Beyond/calendar/10792165/

Hunt for Wild Wineberries at Ryder Farm


with naturalist/author "Wildman" Steve Brill


At 10 AM, Tuesday, July 21, naturalist/author "Wildman" Steve Brill will give a talk and lead one of his world-famous foraging tours of Ryder Farm, in Brewster, NY. The grounds of this long-standing organic farm are loaded with wild foods, and on this tour of this beautiful locale, we could be finding anything.

Fruit and berries are spectacular at this time of year. Wineberries will be at their peak. These Asian raspberries, which are easy to collect in quantity, are much more flavorful than their wimpy commercial counterparts. These juicy, sweet-and-sour berries are in season from mid-July to mid-August, and they grow in abundance in thickets throughout the northeast.

Blackberries are just coming into season. One of the most flavorful is the dewberry, an early-season species that trails the ground. We may also find the first ripe elderberries of the summer. They're not sweet, and they must be cooked, but they're great, sweetened, in pancakes, muffins, and breads.

Black cherries will also be in season. These native bittersweet fruits, with the flavors of cherry and grapefruit, are great raw, and superb cooked with a thickener and sweetener in all the standard puréed fruit desserts.

Plenty of herbs and greens are in season all summer. On this tour, we'll be looking for lamb's-quarters, purslane, wood sorrel, sheep sorrel, poor man's pepper, burdock, sassafras, jewelweed, and Asiatic dayflower, among others.

With lots of rain and a bit of luck, we could find gourmet mushroom species such as chicken mushrooms, chanterelles, boletes, and russulas.

The 30-minute talk followed by a 60-minute walking tour begins at 10 AM, Tuesday, July 21, at Ryder Farm, 400 Starr Ridge Rd., in Brewster, NY. The suggested donation is $15/adult, $10/child under 12. Please call (914) 835-2153 at least 24 hours in advance to reserve a place.

For "Wildman's" 2009 tour calendar and additional info, visit http://www.wildmanstevebrill.com

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Contact: "Wildman" Steve Brill, (914) 835-2153 wildman@wildmanstevebrill.com, http://www.wildmanstevebrill.com