It’s May In The Gardens and Kitchens!
If you haven’t heard, we are slowly building a treasure trove of videos of various pieces and parts of our local food system on our YouTube Channel called “On The Road With Butte County Local Food Network.” Past installments include interviews with farmers and restauranteurs.
The videos are most artfully created by Dan Carter and Chef Anika Hillin. In their day to day lives, Dan is an instructor of videography at CSUC and does tons of other filming for all sorts of organizations.
Anika is a premier Vegan Chef, well known and loved for her amazing Baklava and other tasty delights. We recently asked her to do a video on what she does in that part of her life so we could introduce you to her. She did an amazing job with the video (as she always does) and we were so excited to get a glimpse of what she looks like when she isn’t holding a camera or pulling weeds at Vecino Victory Garden!
We are so grateful and excited to be able to announce that we got a grant from the North Valley Community Foundation, Sierra Nevada and the Aaron Rogers Fund to do a Local Food Assessment for Butte County.
You might ask what IS a Local Food Assessment and why do one?
As ya’ll know, we are all about creating a stronger local food system. This will require lots of effort on all of our parts both small and huge. Some projects will require lots of funding as we create more infrastructure to create more food security…like a Food Hub; multiple community refrigeration units around the county; an educational campaign to help folks understand why a stronger local food economy benefits us all; create more community gardens and hopefully, maybe even consider creating land trusts to support farmers. The sky is the limit with our creative energies and local brain trust.
But doing all that requires data.
We are excited to partner with Maria Giovanni, a Nutrition Science Professor at CSU Chico to do this research then write the report that will provide a current snapshot of the state of our local food security. The report can be used by all local organizations and agencies to get outside funding pointing our way, create private and business partnerships and develop a unified action plan to become more food secure.
If you have an interest in this project, we invite your participation. Watch for job descriptions for a few research positions for student interns and special consultants soon and/or reply to this email for more information. We aim to have the report done by August 31 this year then present it to the community! Lots to do!
Angel Card Applications Open Again For The Farmers Marketmobile
The Farmers Marketmobile is going strong in both Magalia and Concow. We have opened up applications for our Angel Card Program again.
What are Angel Cards? The provide the means for folks who were impacted by the fires to get FREE food from the Farmers Marketmobile. If you live in the Burn Scar, we encourage you to apply for a card to be used at the market. We also take Cash, credit/debit and EBT so all your bases are covered. The Angel Card Program is a project made possible by the North Valley Community Foundation and the Butte Strong Fund.
The money is there for food for those who need it. Let’s honor the gifts we have been given and get support for your family if you need food. (Have you noticed the prices of food over the past year? They have increased and are slated to rise lots more this year…yikes!!).
Local Foodie Events And Happenings
—May 5-August: Kentfield Garden: Butte County Art On Wheels Summer Program-Calling All Kentfield Farm Kids!
Begins May 5 and runs through August.
We are welcoming Jess Mercer and Paradise Rec to Kentfield Garden. They are bringing something incredible to you kids. This is an art enrichment program for the summer. Like everything we do, it’s FREE, but we have a signup program due to limited space. Every single session will include an art project that you can take home and every week is a new project.
Contact Jenny for more information or to sign up. text 530-513-7638, email fromthegroundup2013@hotmail.com .
—Sundays at Vecino-
oin us at 1535 Laburnum Ave in Chico most Sundays from 9am to noonish (changing to 8-11 soon when it gets hot). Come see the new gazebo courtesy of a Garden Infrastructure Grant from the T. Colin Campbell Center for Nutrition Studies, pull some weeds, stir some compost (heck, BRING some compost!) and enjoy the tribe-making that magically happens there.
—May 23: Vecino Victory Garden- Creating Food Independence in Butte County
This popular monthly series of small workshops resumes with a talk on Natural Dyes.
Find out what common plants in your garden & the food scraps in your kitchen make permanent or semi-permanent natural dyes
Rachel Haight has studied textile design & has been teaching natural dye workshops in the Bay Area for the past several years. She has recently moved back from a hiatus in the Bay Area for a number of years. Let’s welcome her back and learn about what we can use to substitute toxic dyes.
Please bring a chair if you have one, a mask and your lovely self.
Join us at Vecino Victory Garden from 9-11 to work in the garden, then stay and enjoy the talk, 1535 Laburnum Ave in Chico from 11-12:30 on Sunday, May 23. Find out more here.
—Tuesday, May 25 4-6PM- Verbena Fields: TEK Wildtending Days-
Join us each month at Verbena Fields (Address is 1550 E. 1st Ave in Chico) to learn about keystone native plants and how to help restore them to revive native ecosystem habitats.
Event Details: Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) refers to the generations of observations, learning, and wisdom that indigenous peoples have about their lands and ecosystems. Ali Meders-Knight, a local Mechoopda Tribal member and Master Traditional Ecological Practitioner, is partnering up with Raphael DiGenova and Camp Fire Restoration Project, to bring you a monthly TEK Wildtending Plant walk. Come learn about TEK, the 10 year indigenous-led restoration project at Verbena Fields, native plants and their cycles throughout the year, and how we can be better stewards of these plants and these lands. The event will be held the last Tuesday of the month from 4-6pm. Times may change with the season.
Participants are encouraged to bring water, gloves, hat, close-toed shoes, notebook, and pen. Please note there are no bathrooms on site. You are also encouraged to volunteer with Ali at Verbena Fields every Friday from 10am-1pm to support the continued restoration of that land.
Events and happenings coming soon so keep an eye out for them!
Fall 2021 Garden BLITZ in September- once again, we’ll be installing gardens in back yards and will need trucks, backs, hearts and hands to make it happen!
Another County Wide Celebration of Community Gardens in Butte County in June or July
Creating Food Independence Talks – Do you have a skill of any kind related to local food and/or gardening, cooking, preserving, etc., and want to be a part of our Creating Food Independence in Butte County series? We did one of these events every month preCOVID and would love to do them that often again. Contact Pamm at pamm@bclocalfood.org to set something up.
That’s it for now….Thanks for being a Community That Grows Food Together!
The crew at BCLFN
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