Seacoast Eat Local

Local strawberries are beginning to make their way into Seacoast farmers’ markets and farm stands. Early season varieties are particularly suited to preserving — take advantage of their arrival and learn basic canning skills while making strawberry jam at this upcoming workshop sponsored by New Eden Collaborative in Newbury, MA:

Strawberry Preserve Workshop

New Eden Collaborative of First Parish Church

20 High Road – Route 1A, Newbury, MA 01951

Saturday, June 18, 2011

10 a.m. – 12 p.m.

Join us in the kitchen for an introduction to food preservation with Strawberries!

 

There’s nothing that compares to the taste of ripe June strawberries, except your own strawberry preserves in January. Participants will learn how to save the flavor bounty of summer fruits using the simple hot water bath canning method. All will take home a jar of strawberry jam, the recipe, and a list of resources for further food preservation fun. Note: this workshop might run past noon.

 

Fee: $23 per person or $28 per couple taking home 1 jar of jam with online registration; $25 per single or $30 per couple the day of the event.

 

Workshop leader Charlotte Dion is a Permaculture designer, organic gardener, hen herder and suburban homesteader. She is a consultant to Transition Newburyport, the New Eden Community Gardens, and The Green Artists League. She teaches a variety of workshops on regenerative solutions around the North Shore and Boston. Charlotte is also the founder and organizer of the North Shore Permaculture organization.

For more information: http://www.newedengarden.org/workshops/

Roger Doiron of Kitchen Gardeners International, a Maine-based nonprofit involved in persuading the White House to plant a vegetable garden, created a graphic of what that garden would look like if planted according to farm subsidies. As Doiron writes, “In a nutshell, I was really inspired by the diversity and nutritiousness of the crops planted in the White House kitchen garden this spring and thought it would be eye-opening—not to mention jaw-dropping—to see what the White House garden would look like if it were planted to reflect the relative importance of the crops that our tax dollars are actually supporting.”

The graphic is based on information compiled from the Environmental Working Group’s farm subsidy database. Click on graphic to enlarge:

Now in its second year, Living Innovations in Greenland is offering space for those interested in participating in a community garden. From Seacoastonline.com:

Living Innovations seeks gardeners for its Greenland parcels

 

GREENLAND — A local provider of services to the elderly and disabled is seeking volunteers to help form a community garden.

 

Living Innovations, a provider of both in-home and community-based services, is requesting local gardeners to tend its parcels of land at its corporate headquarters at 47 Tide Mill Road off Route 33.

 

“Living Innovations will provide the land, fencing, water and use of restrooms during our regular business hours,” said Neal Ouellett, president of Living Innovations. “One of the sections of the garden will be reserved for a group of active seniors who belong to Wentworth Connections, a membership organization and senior center on Parrott Avenue in Portsmouth. The other plots will be available to Greenland and other Seacoast residents on a first-come basis.”

 

Living Innovations also has guidebooks from successful projects in other communities that can be used for inspiration. The organization has 11 offices throughout New England and serves communities from Massachusetts to Maine. It provides support for seniors, people with long-term illnesses or developmental disabilities, and children with health and behavioral needs.

 

Those interested are asked to call Veronica Polak at 422-7308.

For more information about finding a community garden near you, check our resource page for Community Gardens >