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Youth Gardening Club at Baxter Community Center

Sep20
The YMCA is starting a Youth Gardening Club at Baxter Community Center. Kids will learn about plant science, enjoy a healthy snack and explore Baxter’s greenhouse and garden. Kids will learn about plant science, get a healthy snack, and explore Baxter’s greenhouse and garden.
  • Who: Kids ages 5 through 12
  • Where: Baxter Community Center, 935 Baxter St SE, Grand Rapids, MI 49506. In the Child Development Center school-aged classroom.
  • When: Wednesdays from 3 to 5 p.m. from now through the winter.
You may sign your child up any time. To learn more or sign up, contact Danielle. Feel free to pass this on to other families you may know are interested!

OKT shares Seed Freedom information as part of Eastown Streetfair Peace Festival

Sep16

logoOn Saturday September 14, Our Kitchen Table participated in the  Peace Festival, which took place as part of the Eastown Streetfair. Sheri Munsell hosted our table for the day. This is the third year in a row that OKT has taken part in this annual event. To celebrate OKT’s theme for the day, “Respect Nature,” we created a kids’ zine about the dangers of GMO seeds based on Vandana Shiva’s international Act for Seed Freedom and Food Freedom call to action. Children visiting the OKT table also made stick puppets with characters from the zine, Bee, Butterfly, Earthworm, a Mad Scientist and, of course, Ms. Shiva. To download a copy of the zine, click here.

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Free webinar, Sustainable Biomaterials: Criteria, Benefits, Challenges and Market-Based Tools”

Sep13

3 p.m. Thursday, September 19, 2013

Brenda Platt, Program Director, Waste to Wealth and Sustainable Plastics,
Co-Director Institute for Local Self Reliance

Plastics derived from fossil fuels are nonrenewable, may leach toxic chemicals, harm marine life, and increase reliance on imported fossil-fuel-based feedstocks.  The developoment of bioplastics and other biobased materials hold great promise to mitigate many of these problems by offering the potential for renewability, biodegradation, and path away from harmful chemicals.They are not, however, an automatic panacea. As the interest in biomaterials grows, concerns regarding sourcing and end-of-life issues surrounding these materials follow, such as food competition, GMOs, and compostibility vs. recyclability.The Sustainable Biomaterials Collaborative (SBC) has developed tools to help producers, purchasers, and consumers  navigate the maze of biobased materials  entering the marketplace. Its purchasing specifications, for instance, are designed to promote products that are sustainable from cradle to cradle: from field and manufacturing to recovery.In this webinar presentation, Brenda Platt, co-chair of the Sustainable Biomaterials Collaborative, will discuss the SBC’s efforts to promote market-based tools such as purchasing guidelines and Working Landscape Certificates, an innovative program that allows buyers of biobased products to support sustainable agricultural practices.

In addition to co-chairing the Sustainable Biomaterials Collaborative, Brenda Platt is the co-director of the nonprofit Institute for Local Self-Reliance, based in Washington, DC, and heads up its Sustainable Plastics Project.  She has worked 26 years on waste reduction, recycling and composting issues

Space is limited.
Reserve your Webinar seat now at:
https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/182650512

OKT September events include Cook, Eat & Talk and Bike Tour this Saturday

Sep11

10 a.m. to noon, Saturday Sept 14: Cook, Eat & Talk  Back to School Recipes for Kids. Several Peer Chefs  share garden fresh snack and meal ideas. At Sherman Street Church, 1000 Sherman Street SE, Grand Rapids.

 3 to 5 p.m. Saturday Sept 14: Bicycle Tour of Fruit and Nut Trees Learn to identify trees in your neighborhood bearing edible fruits, nuts and leaves with OKT Urban Forester, Laura Casaletto. Meet at Garfield Park, Burton and Madison SE. 

Going to the Eastown Street Fair? Stop by the OKT booth at the IGE Peace Festival. 

September Southeast Area Farmers’ Market Activities

 ·         September 14, Grand Rapids Police Department officers will meet and greet neighbors and share children’s activities.

·         September 20 and 21, Grand Rapids Fire Department will provide free smoke alarms to neighborhood households and invite kids to tour a fire truck. Safe Link will sign up qualifying neighbors for free cell phone service.

·         September 27, Community Advancement will provide free pre-diabetes screening; Project Red will share HIV and AIDS resources.

  •  September 28, Community Advancement will provide free pre-diabetes screening and the market will host a healthy kids snacks cooking demo.

 

Kent Conservation District Fall 2013 Tree, Shrub and Plant Sale

Sep5

Don’t put your shovels away yet! Kent Conservation District’s Fall 2013 Native Tree, Shrub and Plant Sale catalog is now available! Orders will be taken until September 16 for trees and shrubs and September 27 for native plants. Support our pollinators, birds and butterflies by planting the native species that make West Michigan a wonderful place to live. The pickup date and Browse N Buy extras sale is on October 5. Kent Conservation District is involved in many new efforts and we would love your support. For details about our sale and new programs at the District, follow this link. Tree, Shrub and Plant Sale for Fall 2013. Then order your choices by printing, mailing, faxing or emailing in the Order Forms.

To help with your selections, see this Helpful Guide. Please note the source of this information, it is a wonderful book. For even more help, register for the workshop with our grower, Vern Stephens, presenting on “Gardening with Native Plants” on September 25 from 6:00-8pm. RSVP by phone or email if you would like to attend, seats are limited and there is a nominal $5 fee. Bring your order form and check those you would like to order and bring home to your landscape. Vern is a great resource for any questions you may have.

Gardeners can help provide food, shelter and the sense of place that our unique Michigan soils and climate have made. Consider using Michigan Natives for your next planting. Doug Tallamy, author of Bringing Nature Home, urges gardeners to begin work on “Homegrown National Park” – a landscape linking urban, suburban and rural areas with resource corridors that provide food and shelter for insects, birds and all wildlife. It is a vision of healthy, active, buzzing life. Please do what you can by using Michigan Native Plants!

Our Native Plant Sales are Kent Conservation District’s largest fundraiser. We hope, with your help, to maintain a focus on conservation and a presence in Kent County. We need your help financially, and can also use your donation of time to volunteer! Thank you so much.

E-mail us your contact information.

Southeast Area Farmers’ Market Upcoming Events

Sep3

SEAFM 8-30-13Kids going back to school herald the end of summer, but not the end of the farmers’ market season. The Southeast Area Farmers’ Market has fresh local produce and market activities that support your family’s good health.

Calling all artists!
On Saturday September 7, the Southeast Area Farmers’ Market hosts Art at the Market, a showcase of local talent. If you draw, paint, sculpt or create in any other medium, we invite you to join us. Contact Our Kitchen Table for more details, OKTable1@gmail.com or 616-206-3641.

Healthy meals and snacks!
Do you ever wonder what to do with all those fresh veggies you just bought at the market? On September 28, the market will host cooking demos featuring easy recipes made with in-season, fresh produce.

Double your buying power!
Like many others farmers’ markets in town, the Southeast Area Farmers’ Market participates in the Double Up Food Bucks program. Patrons shopping with a Bridge Card (SNAP) receive $2 for every $2 spent on Michigan produce, up to $20 in free Michigan produce each time you visit. The market also accepts WIC Project Fresh, Cash Value Benefits, Summer EBT and Kent County Health Department coupons.

The Southeast Area Farmers’ Market takes place Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Gerald R Ford School. The Friday Farm Stand at Garfield Park is open 3 to 7 p.m.

Market vendor a veteran, former baseball pro and great grandfather

Aug23
The Price is right! Mr. Price selling Watkins at the farmers’ market.

The Price is right! Mr. Price selling Watkins at the farmers’ market.

The Southeast Area Farmers’ Market is open to more than only food vendors. On any given market day, you might find handcrafted aprons and jump ropes, local artisan-made body care products or hand-crafted jewelry. One of this year’s new vendors, Roscoe Price, fills his market tables with Watkins products, including spices, extracts, oils, and seasonings. If you have shopped the Fulton Street farmers’ market, you may have seen him as he has been vending there for the past 20 years. In addition to selling Watkins, Mr. Price calls bingo at the senior living community where he and his wife now live.

Originally from Louisville, Kentucky, Mr. Price moved to Michigan more than 50 years ago to play baseball after a stint in the Marine Corps. He has been married to the same lovely woman for 60 years and counts six children, eight grandchildren and eight great grandchildren as special blessings.

Mr. Price has much wisdom and many amazing stories to tell. Next time you are at the market, be sure to stop by his table and strike up a conversation. Now that the Michigan growing season is in full swing, you will also find a greater variety of fresh, locally grown produce at the Southeast Area Farmers’ Market.

Market hours are Saturdays 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Gerald R Ford Middle School and Friday Farm Stand 3 to 7 p.m. at Garfield Park. The market welcomes Debit Card, WIC Project Fresh, Cash Value Benefits, Summer EBT and Bridge Cards/SNAP. The market also participates in the Double Up Food Bucks program. When you buy your Michigan produce with your Bridge Card, you can receive $2 in purchase tokens for every $1 you spend, up to $20 each time you visit a farmers’ market.