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Photo Credit: Vermont Farmers Food Center
Today at the Farmer’s Market we were just about to walk out the door when I spotted it…the table selling seeds. (Must be my gardener’s instinct). Lots and lots of different kinds of seeds. When I walked over and spoke to the mom that was with the kids at this table I learned a lot and thought that I would share for a very good cause.
The table belongs to a group of Shrewsbury homeschool kids that are conducting a fundraiser for the Vermont Farmers Food Center (a/k/a The Farmer’s Market) selling Fedco seeds. These kids –Silas Hamilton, Seamus and Avery Martin, Cedelle and Emmett Sirjane, and Manolo Zelkin with the help of parents, Licia Gambino Hamilton and Martha Sirjane are hoping to raise $3,500 to donate to the Center.
Since I’m not writing for the Rutland Express anymore (since they stopped publication) and I miss that ability to connect the cool things and people that I come across with people that might not know about them, I thought that I would post here about this group and their efforts in the hopes that folks in the area who plant their own seeds would take advantage of this fundraiser and help these kids with their goal. These kids are selling a variety of Fedco seeds (over 30 different types) to raise money for the Farmer’s Market to help with the work that remains to be done in and around the building and grounds. The kids have a table at the market and have set up and designed their own website
http://seedsworthsowing.webs.com/
and Facebook page where they can be found at Seeds Worth Sowing. They’ve even hand stamped (in multi color, mind you) each and every one of their seed packets. Making a very delightful display as you can see.
You can purchase your seeds in person at the Farmer’s Market, or you can order them by mail and you can pick up an order farm locally from Pierce’s Store or Mount Holly Library. You can also download an order form while in your pajamas from the comfort of your own living room from their website (for my very lazy friends). If you mail in your order form, you can pick up your seeds from Pierce’s Store on March 21 from 3-6 p.m. or at the Mount Holly Library on March 24th from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. or at the Rutland Farmer’s Market on March 16th or April 6th from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. For the charge of mailing ($1.95 to $15 = $3.95 shipping fee; $16 & up = $5.95 shipping fee) they will even be happy to mail your seeds to you so you can just walk to the mailbox for your seeds. So, friends of mine that are not in Vermont and want seeds, go to their website, download the form, mail it in with your payment and wait for your seeds to arrive via the postal service from our lovely little state of Vermont.
The group extended its original order deadline to March 31st — so I encourage you to take advantage of getting some good seeds to get that garden started and help out an industrious group of kids with their ambitious (and totally doable) goal of raising $3,500. After all, any of us that shop at the Farmer’s Market will benefit from their hard work in raising these funds.
Related articles
- What Kind of Seed Are You Sowing? (phenum01.wordpress.com)
- sowing seeds (balconyberlin.wordpress.com)
- What to do in March (digginwivdebb.wordpress.com)
- GARDENING: Winter seed sowing can be started now (cindyhelens.wordpress.com)
- Ladies and Gentlemen, Time to Start Seeds (prweb.com)
- 10 Easiest Vegetables to Grow from Seed this Spring (prweb.com)
While I enjoy taking pictures, one of my sons has an eye for it. He has “guest photographed” on my site a few times where he has gotten photo credit for his work from me. He has a gift and can compose things just right. My camera in his hands (which is nothing special) turns a ho-hum picture into something blog-worthy.
He just put up his own blog here at wordpress.com and I would ask that you check it out and give him your feedback. You can find him at
http://tylerheffvt.wordpress.com/
A few weeks ago, when I was picking up my veggies at the CSA, I saw a poster for local poultry. Turns out that it’s my fellow book clubber, Robin Gordon Taft and her husband Scott that are selling fresh chickens, ducks and turkeys. Yesterday we bought two fresh killed chickens from Pine Hollow Poultry in North Clarendon. We brought them home, one went into the freezer and the other we dutifully brined and set to rest in the fridge according to Scott’s directions. Tonight, we had some of the most delicious chicken we have had in a very, very long time. As we were savoring the chicken for dinner, we were discussing the broth that this would make tomorrow and how much we really liked their birds. I must admit that I immediately remembered my grandmother and how when I was little she and my grandfather would go and get fresh killed chicken. I remember sitting at the table watching her cut up the fresh chicken to freeze it or make it for dinner that night. This chicken not only tasted delicious but also brought back some very fond memories of growing up and my grandparents.
Nostalgia aside, I highly recommend checking out their website. Scott and Robin told us that they always have frozen birds for sale, but on Saturday, we ran into her at the farmer’s market and Robin said that Scott was butchering birds that day, so if we stopped by later, we could have fresh birds. They will be selling soon at the Rutland Farmer’s Market.
I think that I have an idea where our Thanksgiving turkey is going to be coming from…….
Related articles
I just wrote my article for next week’s Rutland County Express on the amazing work that the Conservation Commission and volunteers have done on the hiking trails throughout the park.
In order to do my job properly (with pictures and all) I had to stop there and hike around. It is so neat. Tim came with me and we especially liked the boardwalk and the really cool steps that they made leading from there onto the rest of the trail. Amazing to believe all the hard work to lug the lumber into the bog area to construct the 100 foot boardwalk. There are marked trails and lots of educational signs posted throughout with information on the local flora, fauna and creatures.
If you are in or near Wallingford — or if you come for a visit– head on over. Then you can always go swimming at Elfin Lake!
A word of warning though — the mosquitos are quite hungry, so bug protection is in order!
Thanks to the folks at the Wallingford Conservation Commission and the volunteers who made this all possible with their hard work!
I just saw this over at afreshwhisper.tumblr.com and thought immediately of my boys. They will want this, I must admit it is quite ingenious, especially the binder ring part.
Photo: afreshwhisper.tumblr.com
I was pleasantly surprised this morning to find a couple messages with questions about blogging and learn that my sister-in-law started her own blog. Her Blog, thoughtsofanotsocitygirldotcom is now online. I do hope that you all will welcome her with open arms and stop in often to say hello and encourage her along.
I remember how excited I was when I began to get comments from people that were not related to me (those strangers that I now call my friends) and every day (sometimes more than once) checked to see how other people reacted and responded to what I had written. The input has always been welcome, encouraging, funny and sympathetic. You have made me laugh and smile when I’ve had a not-so-good-day and made me feel that what I had written was important enough for you to read. You have showed encouragement when I needed it and sympathy.
I hope that you extend the same generous spirit to Liliana and make her see how wonderful blogging can be.
Happy Sunday!
I hope that all of you readers out there of my blog will extend a warm welcome to Liliana and make her feel as welcome as I have felt.
Selin Jessa poster from positiveposters.com
I was about to head upstairs to bed when I found this….a good way to look at things. Artist Selin Jessa from Canada entered this into the Positive Posters contest on the topic of Perspectives. Her perspective is certainly something to keep in mind. The Description included really sums it up well:
Description:
Consider that technically, the glass is completely full – half of air and half of water. Just as you can perceive a glass of water in different ways, I think we need to take a moment and look at our lives from a different perspective – a more optimistic one. Our lives right now may seem too stressful, too hard or too busy but we can make every day better for ourselves and for one another. A positive, optimistic attitude is more than seeing the bright side of a situation, it’s believing in a brighter future.
Wonderfully stated Selin. A great outlook on life.
Photo: Craftzine
I came across this and it is just so darn cool, I had to share.
Craftzine has a post on a completely knitted skeleton created by fiber artist, Ben Cuevas. If you go on over to his site you can see some of the finer detail of this work of art. Truly amazing stuff.
My hat totally goes off to him, ’cause you can ask Tom, the words that can come out of my mouth when I’m knitting socks can be pretty aweful, imagine knitting a whole human (skeleton)!
There’s this twitter feed that I subscribe to, Tiny Budda which is pretty darn awesome and I suggest that you check it out. Sometimes, it gives one inspiration for the day or just something neat to think about when you’re sitting there thinking about nothing in particular. Today on their blog, they list “25 Awesome Things that We Take for Granted”. I thought that I would share the list here since it gives you a pretty down-to-earth perspective on the little things that we all take for granted, which aren’t all that little at all really.
Personally, there are some days where #1 on this list is enough to be thankful for but if you need something else, #25 is pretty darn cool too.
- You woke up breathing. No matter what happens in the hours ahead, you can come back to your breath for a sense of peace and presence.
- You have the freedom to choose what you’ll do today, even if you have some limitations. Sometimes we take it for granted, but what we do on a daily basis truly is our choice.
- You had a bed to sleep in. Even if you didn’t get as much sleep as you’d like to, you had the opportunity to rest somewhere relatively peaceful.
- There isn’t a hurricane, tornado, typhoon or other natural disaster going on outside your door.
- You have the means to eat three meals today, even if one of them is Top Ramen (or spam and rice, as my boyfriend made on our first night in our new place).
- Your roof isn’t leaking copious amounts of water directly on your head.
- Your significant other is alive and healthy, albeit a loud snorer, an off-key shower singer, or a consistent maker of ridiculously strong coffee.
- Your shower works—with hot water—meaning you don’t have to go to work with bed-head or skin that smells like night sweat.
- If you don’t have work to go to, you have endless possibilities for your future. Right now might be a little uncomfortable, but your future is completely open, ready to be seized and enjoyed.
- The sun is shining, giving you all those feel-good brain chemicals (the sun actually increases serotonin production—it’s a natural mood lifter!)
- You don’t have Wicked Witch of the West syndrome, meaning that if it’s raining, you likely won’t melt.
- Your closet didn’t catch fire overnight, meaning you don’t have to go to work naked or fashion an outfit out of hefty bags.
- Your iPod works, so you can listen to your favorite tunes during your commute.
- If you don’t have an iPod, you probably have access to music somehow—radio, streaming music online, your mom’s old 8-tracks. Music is such a powerful mood lifter that we can access any time.
- If you drive, your favorite morning radio show is on and it’s so funny you almost don’t care about the gridlock traffic.
- As for that gridlock traffic, the fact that you’re in it means you have a working car.
- Your computer works, meaning you won’t need IT guys to come help you, disrupting your usual flow.
- You have a cell phone, even if it isn’t an iPhone, Droid, or Blackberry. (Mine is none of the above.) Even a bulky, old-school cell phone that can’t connect to the Internet can make life world’s easier.
- You have an office or workspace, even if it’s shared, meaning you can get things done relatively efficiently allowing for free time later this evening.
- If you’re like me and don’t have an office or workspace, you have the freedom to work wherever you want. Go work under a tree for a while—you can!
- You received some type of email that lets you know someone cares about you, even if it’s one of those chain emails your grandmother sends to the special people in her life.
- If you didn’t get one of those emails, you have the capacity to send one (mass-emailed or personalized) to make a meaningful difference in someone else’s day.
- You got a call or voicemail from someone you miss, giving you the opportunity for connection and even a little shared nostalgia.
- If you didn’t get that call, you have access to a phone, meaning you can make one. Any day you connect meaningfully with someone else has the potential to be a great day.
- Someone somewhere loves you, so no matter what happens in the day ahead, you’ll get through it with the support of people who care.
My friend and fellow blogger, Patty over at Where did the time go? is dedicating her blog this month to her relative Jocelyn Heberts’ 273 mile Long Trail hike through Vermont in support of Parkinson’s awareness. According to Patty, Jocelyn’s father suffered from and died of Parkinson’s Disease. This month, Jocelyn has embarked on a 273 mile hike through Vermont’s Long Trail to raise awareness of Parkinson’s Disease and help in finding a cure.
Jocelyn has a website up called Peaks for Parkinson’s and is maintaining a trail blog which can be found here.
Feel free to poke in on Jocelyn’s hike, either figuratively by following her blog or literally by joining her on the Long Trail.
Best of luck to Jocelyn as she embarks on her journey – godspeed!
Photo: Doodle4Google
A little girl from Christ the King School in Rutland was one of the regional finalists in the Google Doodle competition to find a new doodle for its search page. The 9-year-old Esa Anderson doodled an awesome picture which is representative of our wonderful state. To read more about this little girl and what’s behind the doodle click here. I think that we should get behind her and vote, vote, vote for this wonderful doodle. Voting is open from May 18th through May 25th. She is the regional finalist in the K-3 age group. The winner will receive their doodle on google.com on May 27th, 2010. The National winner also receives a $15,000 college scholarship, a laptop computer, a trip to Google’s office in NYC for the May 26th winner announcement, a Wacon digital tablet and a t-shirt with their design printed on it. Oh, and the winner’s school receives a $25,000 technology grant.
Three National Finalists each win Laptop Computers and a trip to the Google NYC office for the May 26th event, in addition to a Wacom digital design table and their own design on a t-shirt.
Each of the 40 Regional Finalists will win a trip to the Google New York office for an event on May 26, 2010 and a t-shirt printed with their doodles on it. All 40 Regional Finalists will also have their doodle displayed in a public exhibit at the Smithsonian’s, Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum for 6 weeks after the announcement event.
In the Grade 7-9 division, another Vermonter has taken the title of regional finalist. A 13-year-old from Essex, Vermont won with this doodle.
Please go to the Doodle 4 Google website and cast your vote. You can cast one vote in each age division.
and lots of other cute things can be found at Nathan W. Pyle’s website. This one, showing where cursors come from made me smile.
And any mom (worth her salt) knows how this one ends up…..
