Here at Gorge Grown we get asked about once a week:  What do you do in the winter?

The answer is:  LOTS! Life doesn't slow down a whole lot in the winter at Gorge Grown. We are hard at work behind the scenes, working to grow and expand our projects for next year and launch several new ones. Just as farmers are already thumbing through this year's seed catalogs, we too are thinking ahead to sunny days and what the seasons will bring.

This summer will see the return of our Thursday Gorge Grown Farmers' Market, of course, and a continually growing and evolving Mobile Farmers' Market. With funding from USDA, we are also working this year with all of the farmers' markets in the Gorge to provide manager and vendor training, regional coordination, and increased access opportunities for low income folks across the region. We'll publish the 2010 Who's Your Farmer? guide in May too.

We're in the beginning planning phases for a regional Food Forum in May to present our regional Community Food Assessment work and seek the input and energy of folks like you to help us take the next big leap in growing our regional food system. We'll also be holding smaller county-wide presentations across the region in April in preparation for the Food Forum - look for more information soon!

And we are extremely pleased to announce that Gorge Grown has been awarded a Meyer Memorial Trust Grassroots Grant to pilot a brand new program this winter and spring 2010! The Community Food Leaders program will work with pilot teams in The Dalles and Stevenson to learn valuable leadership skills paired with food systems education, thanks to our partnership with WSU Horizons and its LeadershipPlenty trainers. Other partners include WSU Extension Skamania County and Oregon Food Bank. Want to learn more or sign up? Click here.

And this is just part of the picture - there's a few more projects a-brewing behind the scenes... stay tuned!

Many of you received an annual report and end-of-year from us in late December - thanks so much to those who have contributed already. Your financial support is crucial to the work we do. If you did not receive the letter and annual report, you can visit our donation page to see them both.

Looking to share your time or expertise? We have LOTS of volunteer opportunities coming up this winter, spring, and summer for every project mentioned above:  if you have a little time and want to get more involved, just give us a call (541-490-6420) or email and we'll get you started. For more volunteer info, visit our volunteer page.

In closing, thanks to all of you for everything you do to support our regional food system. We couldn't do it without you!

Sarah Hackney, Gorge Grown Executive Director

Todd Dierker, Market Manager

Kate Stoysich, Project Manager

and the Gorge Grown Board of Directors

Want to learn more about food and farms in the Gorge?

Looking to start a community garden or farm to school project in your neighborhood?

Want to meet other like-minded folks who care about where their food comes from?

We have heard from residents all over the Gorge that they want to help rebuild our regional food system – and that they want the knowledge and skills to be able to take action locally. This training is an opportunity to do just that with your peers in The Dalles and Stevenson.

This FREE two-month training program, run by Gorge Grown in partnership with Oregon Food Bank and WSU Horizons and funded in part by the Meyer Memorial Trust, will teach you how to move from talk to action and make positive change in your community. This winter, the training is available for residents of The Dalles, OR and Stevenson, WA. Evening classes will be held at local sites separately and weekend classes will be held jointly at a central location to facilitate regional resource sharing. Topics to be covered include:

Food Systems 101:  Who, What, How, Why
Moving from Talk to Action
Making Meetings Work
How to Plan and Execute a Community Food Project
Building Community Partnerships
… and more!

The course covers 9 weeks for a total of 36 hours of training – 7 3-hour weeknight evening sessions and 3 5-hour Saturday sessions. Travel stipends and childcare are available, and snacks and meals will be provided. Participants who complete the entire course of training earn the designation Community Food Leader!

Course Schedule: March 6 – April 24 – full schedule available online. Learn more and download an application here:  http://gorgegrown.com/project/CFL.cfm

Looking to start - or improve - a small farm enterprise in the Gorge?

ONLY TWO CLASSES LEFT!

Washington State University Extension and the Oregon State University Extension Service announce an upcoming educational program called the "Mid-Columbia Farm Enterprise Investigation Series." This program is designed for experienced agricultural producers interested in changing, adding or expanding their enterprise(s) as well as new landowners interested in investigating agricultural production options for their property. At the conclusion of the series, participants will have produced a farm enterprise plan and be able to make a decision about viability of the enterprise they are considering.

The series will be conducted at the Mountain View Grange, 1085 Main St. in White Salmon, WA on Nov. 14, Nov. 21, Dec. 5, Dec. 12, Jan. 9 and Jan. 23. Topics to be addressed include Developing a Farm Plan; Sustainability Concepts; Farm Resource Evaluation and Financing; Enterprise Assessment; Equipment and Facilities; Sustainable Crop Production; Soil Properties and Management; Pest and Weed Management; Sustainable Animal Production; Sustainable Grazing Management; Direct Marketing; E-Commerce; Developing a Marketing Plan; Enterprise Budgets and Financial Viability; and Tools for Success. Local and regional presenters will include experienced farmers, agency representatives, Extension educators and other experts. Each session will include time for questions and answers, networking and discussion.

Feb 6 = Sustainable Crop Production, Legal water issues

Featured speakers: Dr. Carol Miles, TBA

Feb 13 = Sustainable Livestock Production & Sustainable Grazing

Featured Speakers: Dr. Susan Kerr, Tip Hudson, Lorrie Conway

New Price: $10 per family or $5 per person; need-based scholarships are available.

Visit http://skamania.wsu.edu/MCFEIS.html for class announcements.

This program is sponsored in part by the Western Center for Risk Management Education, WSU Extension-Skamania and Klickitat Counties, the OSU-Wasco County Extension Service and Gorge Grown Food Network.

Interested in learning more about permaculture practices?

Free back issues of the quarterly Permaculture Magazine are available from Theresa for those interested:  call 541-386-4074 or email roryjasper@yahoo.com.

Linda Short, coordinator of Hood River County Community Education's Country Living Series, is seeking instructors for 2010 spring courses, including:

Seed collecting (basic to intermediate levels)
Planting for Fall/Winter Crops Garlic Braiding
Green Manure Crops
Flower Gardening
Berries 101
Herbs - Growing and Uses
Food Drying
Preparing for Harvest
Food Preservation (canning/pressure canning/smoking)
Jams & Jellies
Irrigation for Home / Small Farms
Tool Sharpening / Chainsaw Maintenance   

Print deadline is February 15, so please contact Linda ASAP if you are interested in helping teach any of the above courses!

Contact: Linda Short (541.386.02038 / Lshort@gorge.net)

COAL COUNTRY is a dramatic look at modern coal mining. We get to know working miners along with activists who are battling coal companies in Appalachia. We hear from miners and coal company officials, who are concerned about jobs and the economy and believe they are acting responsibly in bringing power to the American people. Both sides in this conflict claim that history is on their side. Families have lived in the region for generations, and most have ancestors who worked in the mines. Everyone shares a deep love for the land, but MTR (Mountain Top Removal mining which has leveled over 500 Appalachian mountains) is tearing them apart. We need to understand the meaning behind promises of “cheap energy” and “clean coal.” Are they achievable? At what cost? Are there alternatives to our energy future?
 

Tuesday, Jan. 26

Doors at 6:30, film at 7 PM

Springhouse Cellars

13 Railroad Ave Hood River OR

2010 OSU Small Farms Conference
February 27, 2010
LaSells Stewart Center
Corvallis, OR

Keynote Speaker - David Mas Masumoto - a third generation farmer and writer working with his family on their 80-acre organic farm near Fresno, CA. Author of several books, Epitaph for a Peach, Four Seasons in Five Senses, and his latest entitled Wisdom of the Last Farmer: Harvesting Legacies from the Land.

Invited Capnote - Congressman Kurt Schrader was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2008 representing Oregon’s 5th District. Congressman Schrader currently serves as a member of the House Committee on Agriculture. He is a veterinarian and farmer who lives with his wife Martha on their Three Rivers Farm in Canby.

The conference includes these sessions, covering a range of topics of interest to growers, market managers, and community food advocates.

• Enroll for the Fresh and Frozen Fruit & Veggie Voucher Program
• Creating Successful Farm Internships
• Agri-tourism as a Value-Added Enterprise on Your Farm
• Alternative Poultry Feeds Part II
• The Business of Farmers Markets.
• Funding Successful Energy Improvement Projects
• New Tools for Marketing your Products
• Small Scale Grain Production
• SNAP/EBT Management
• Farmers as Writers
• Farmers’ Market - Public Health Partnerships: Solutions for Healthy Eating
• Alternative Meat Marketing Strategies
• Cover Crops for Soil Fertility & the Bottom Line

Sponsored by OSU Extension Service Small Farms Program, Oregon Department of Human Services, Oregon WIC Program, Western Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education.

Register online here:  http://smallfarms.oregonstate.edu/2010SFC

A secure future, a farm for future generations. It’s everything a farm family wants. “You can learn to secure your farm’s future and protect your family’s legacy by enrolling now in an online course just for farm families,” said Barbara O’Neill, Extension specialist in Financial Resource Management at Rutgers Cooperative Extension. “Investing for Farm Families provides the information you need to make strategic decisions while weaving together farm and personal investments.”

The 8-lesson course helps farm families plan for a financially stable future that meets their long-term needs. Developed by a team of Extension educators from several states, farm families can work at their own pace while taking the course.“You can learn to increase your future financial security, identify investment strategies, know asset allocation basics, evaluate investment production alternatives to agriculture business risks, and invest for retirement and farm succession planning,” said O’Neill. O'Neill noted that farm families have unique investing needs, which the course addresses.

Investing for Farm Families can help farmers to diversify their investments. O’Neill and Eggers along with several Extension staff from around the nation developed the course through the Online Investment Education (OIE) project, which was created to reach farm families nationwide with investment information relevant to their needs. It was funded with a two-year grant to the eXtension Foundation from the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) Investor Education Foundation.

For more information or to enroll in the course, go to

http://www.extension.org/pages/InvestingforFarmFamilies

Do you want to: learn how to reduce waste?

Conserve natural resources?

Motivate others to change their habits?

Make a difference in your community?

You can get the formal training you need to do all this and more by becoming a Master Recycler...an opportunity from the TriCounty Hazardous Waste & Recycling Program serving Wasco, Sherman
and Hood River counties. Similar to the OSU Extension Service's popular Master Gardener program, participants will attend a series of classes and field trips, and be required to volunteer at least 30
"payback" hours in their communities. The mission of the Master Recycler program is to "bridge the gap between awareness and action by motivating people to reduce solid waste in homes and workplaces."

The classes are offered free of charge to residents of Wasco, Sherman and Hood River counties. The Master Recycler class is limited to 30 participants, with acceptance on a "first come first serve" basis.

The Spring 2010 Master Recycler class will be held Tuesday evenings during March and April at the Mosier Creek Terrace in Mosier. For more information, call Cindy Brown of the TriCounty program at
541-506-2636 or visit www.tricountyrecycle.com and click on "Master Recycler". Applications are taken on-line.

Is Local Food More Expensive?

Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture

Researchers at Iowa State take a look pound by pound.

Read the findings here.

 King County Pushes For Healthy Corner Stores

KUOW News

Good ideas from Washington State:  "Most people go to a grocery store or supermarket for food. But for many residents in South King County, the convenience store is where they shop. Without a car or adequate bus service going to the grocery store is a challenge. So their options are narrowed down to fast food restaurants or convenience stores. King County health officials are trying to change that. A corner store in West Seattle's Delridge neighborhood could be a model for giving residents healthier food choices."

Read the full article here.

The Need for Custom Slaughter

The Atlantic

"In an era when Food and Water Watch, an environmental group, reports that four giant corporations—Tyson, Cargill, Swift, and National Beef Packing—process 84 percent of this country's cattle, the scene in that snow-covered field in Vermont is increasingly rare: an animal was about to be humanely slaughtered on the very farm where it had been raised.

Winship and his old, lever-action rifle represent the polar opposite of the huge, 5,000-animal-per-day meatpacking plants that were so graphically brought to the country's attention in Eric Schlosser's Fast Food Nation. "There aren't many of us left," said Winship, who is in his fifties. "When I was a kid, every town had someone doing this job."

In the jargon of the meat business, Winship's work is considered "custom slaughter." He is a freelancer, traveling from farm to farm, killing cattle and hogs and transporting their gutted carcasses to a nearby facility to be cut into parts, wrapped, and frozen. As a means for converting a living steer into meat, the practice has a lot going for it. For one thing, it is as humane as killing an animal can be."

Read the full article here.