Astoria CSA

Call for Site Buddy Volunteers

stacey — Fri, 09 May 2008 20:26:30 +0000

Dear Astoria CSA members,

We are looking for members who would like to volunteer as site “buddies.” Some of our new members are unfamiliar with the concept of CSA and we would love some site buddies to be on-hand for a few initial distributions to familiarize them with the process, our group, and offerings. We are looking especially for volunteers who speak Spanish. This would more than cover your 4 hours of required volunteer work for the CSA. Enthusiastic new members are welcome to apply, we’ll give you a explanation if you’re unclear on anything.

If you are interested, please contact Kristy at kristybredin (at) yahoo (dot) com or 718-274-5279.

Thanks in advance for your help. We are sure that this will be a great experience for all involved as we broaden our community reach.

CSA Pasture Orders Due May 5

stacey — Sun, 04 May 2008 16:45:22 +0000

From CSA Pasture, our meat and dairy providers. News about new products, rising fuel costs, the farm co-op and more.

The next order deadline is next Monday, May 5th at midnight, and delivery is on Saturday, May 10th. Pick up at ARROW begins in June. May location will be sent with your final order summary a few days before pick up.

May News at the Farm

The days are whipping by faster and faster. With one delivery completed on Tuesday, another is looming large on the calendar. In between we are receiving a new batch of processed pork and beef, completing the move from the old barn and milk house at the Waites farm to the new north barn facility at the Lewis farm, and preparing for an AG Summit Luncheon meeting with a wide variety of farmers, producers, and agricultural-related business folks in Washington to see how the community can work better together, strategize on ideas for new projects or cooperative efforts to improve the viability and sustainability of the farms in our region. This year Alan is the chairman of the Agriculture, Planning, Tourism & Community Development committee of the county government. As the supervisor of our town of Jackson, he also participates in the county affairs as a legislator. Alan wants to make sure that some agricultural promotion or new project or new idea comes to fruition. A number of people will be meeting next Monday to see what we can dream-up. So between trips to move freezers, packing materials, tables and boxes, we are planning the luncheon to stimulate conversation from local foods for about 30 people.
The cows have started to graze and roam the pastures eating the short beginnings of the grass growth. They seem to eat up a whole pasture area in one day. The rain we had Monday and Tuesday has really perked up the growth of the forage. Their winter coats are beginning to be shed and they are starting to look glossier than in the winter cold. The pigs are rooting everywhere and are patiently waiting for us to build the new pig pasture where they will have another 5 acres to explore, eat and lounge. The planning stages are in full swing but the number of hands-on-deck are too few right now to really get started.

I have planted a number of cool weather rows in the garden. We have lettuce, spinach, arugula, turnips, radishes, kale, brussel sprouts, broccoli, peas, cabbage, and mustard greens seeds planted and sprouted under the row cover to keep them warmer. We had a frost the last two nights but everything looks fine. The rhubarb is ready to harvest a few stalks and we have been eating the Egyptian walking onions for about 3 weeks now. The greenhouse still has the tender plants like tomatoes and the small transplants that are not big enough to set outside yet. We finally pruned the raspberry patch two weeks ago and they all look great now leafing out. The blueberry bushes and pear tree are all in bloom – they beat the lilacs that are not open quite yet. Each morning we look out our bedroom window at the asparagus patch to see if we have any new shoots yet.

More big news is the new baby in the farm family. Joe, our new part-time farm helper, and Nicole had a baby boy on Monday night!! Bradley Joseph was born in the evening, 8 lbs and 12 oz and Mom and son and Dad are all doing fine.

This is also the time of year when we consider our price structure and tally the balance of supply and demand in the cash flow department. Between this month and next we will be adjusting our prices. We are experiencing, as you all are too, higher fuel costs. We have higher transportation costs of our product to and from the farm. We also use fuel for compost building and spreading, raking, baling and storing the hay grown here and on nearby farms, fence maintenance, and heating our packing and shipping room. The steel products we use for fencing and equipment repair parts are increasing in cost. Real estate taxes increase every year and when you own 450 acres – it really adds up. This is another reason that Alan wants to be part of the town and county governments, to help remind them all to spend less and keep better track of our tax dollars! Feed costs for the pigs have more than doubled in the last year thanks to the crazy idea we should grow corn to make “bio-fuel”. So we must make some changes to our prices and these changes will be made over the next two months.

The other farms have also had price increases this month. Consider Bardwell Farm, Rudi’s Lakeside Garden, and 3 Corner Field Farm have given us their changes. And we will see what the future brings with the economy and the spiraling costs of food everywhere.

We were reminded at the Just Food mini-conference that as we communicate with the CSAs each month, we could help to spread the advocacy issues for agriculture to a wide ranging audience. I’d like to start small this month. We recognize that this next month the core groups and members will be planning for the beginning of the vegetable season and the delights of the first distributions. We would like to ask if it might be possible to arrange for a parking space for the farmers that would allow easy access to your site, easy unloading capability and a reduced threat of parking tickets! Please help us this year to make the deliveries easy and smooth. We appreciate your support of our farms and hope you find everything delicious.

Our other farms are still offering their products:

Delicious Bread baked at Rock Hill Bakehouse shown under Bread, European style..

Hand made artisan cheeses from 3 Corner Field Farm - Cheese, Sheep’s Milk and Yogurt and from Consider Bardwell Farm – Cheese, Goat and Cow’s Milk and West River Creamery – Cheese, Cow’s Milk and Goat’s Milk. Gillis Acres Farm raises Alpine goats and offers their farm made dairy items under the Cheese, Goat’s Milk category. They make chevre in 4 flavors, tomme, feta, blue cheese, aged cheese, cottage cheese, kefir, yogurt in 3 flavors and bottle pasteurized goat milk.

All Natural Chicken, Duck and Turkey - whole or parts of chicken, whole duck, and small whole or ground turkey from KNK Poultry under the categories, Chicken All Natural KNK, Duck All Natural, Turkey All Natural KNK. This farm and processor is NY State certified.

Large whole turkeys are also offered by Stonewood Farm, certified by the State of Vermont and are found under the Turkey All Natural Stonewood category.

We are now offering many more Stonewood Farm turkey products!! Both Dark meat Ground Turkey and ½ White meat/ ½ Dark meat ground turkey, Boneless Turkey breast in 2 sizes with only 1.7 grams of fat per 4 oz serving and Smoked Turkey Breast with no preservatives or nitrates/nitrites. Also, a marvelous variety of turkey sausages – Cajun, Hot Italian, Mild Breakfast and Sweet Italian. All with only 3.5 grams of fat per 4 oz serving. Stonewood Farm can be found under the Turkey All Natural Stonewood category.

Our natural Eggs collected by Cornell Farms. The chickens and their feed are raised at the farm are shown under the Eggs, fresh and free-range category.

All Natural Goat and Kid is offered by 2 farms Manx Station Farm and Consider Bardwell Farm. These items are offered under the category for Kid, Goat and Goat, Kid respectively.

USDA processed Lamb is offered by two farms. 3 Corner Field Farm lamb eats a small amount of grain as a supplement to the grasses and hay and can be found under the Lamb, Grass-Fed category. Argyllshire Farm lamb eats only grasses and hay and is found under the Lamb, Grass fed & finished category. We are sorry the selection of lamb is dwindling this time of year, but it seems that everyone is beginning to “buy local”.

Our home made Jams and Sauces are home grown or hand picked by Rudi’s Lakeside Garden and can be found under the Jams ands Sauces category.

USDA processed Beef and Pork are raised by Lewis Waite Farm. The beef is 100% grass and hay fed with trace minerals from kelp and salt. The pigs have a pasture too but are fed with corn, soybeans, hay and kelp (especially in winter). These items can be found under the Beef, Grass Fed Grass Finished and the Pork, All Natural, Pastured.

We are proud of the 12 farm network we have created to provide you some of our regions fresh and family grown products. We hope you enjoy then all and we also hope to expand our offering as time goes by and we get better at our coordination with everyone

Please remember to place your orders on time as late orders can be a disruption to all of the farms involved

We wish you a well and Happy Spring,
Nancy and Alan

Alan & Nancy Brown
135 Lewis Hill Lane
Town of Jackson
Greenwich, NY 12834

Lewis Waite Farm
Grass-Fed Grass-Finished Beef
Natural Pork

www.csapasturedmeatandpoultry.com
www.lewiswaitefarm.com
518-692-3120 or 518-692-9208

Community Garden Potluck- May 24

stacey — Fri, 02 May 2008 14:38:43 +0000

Garden & Grub Potluck Picnic
Bring your family, friends, and favorite vegetarian dish. Let’s picnic and help beautify the largest community garden in Astoria.

Saturday, May 24th 12:00 – 2:00 pm
Location: Two Coves Garden/Triangle at 30th Ave., 8th St., & Astoria Blvd (Click the map at left for a closer look)

Learn about indoor and outdoor composting

Want a garden? Plots still available contact twocovesgarden@yahoo.com for info.

Co Sponsor: Two Coves Garden Association
Triple R Events: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
www.3R-events.blogspot.com
queensisgreen@gmail.com

April 29 News Flash

stacey — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 02:41:10 +0000

To Astoria CSA Members,

In this News Flash:

1) Payments Due
2) Volunteer Hours
3) May 4 Farm Visit
4) Beer Share- please respond if interested
5) Donations
6) CSA Meat/ Dairy Orders
7) First Delivery June
8) Other News
1) 2008 Season Payments due THIS THURSDAY May 1
Thank you to those of you who have already responded to our reminder emails about making final payments. Full payments are due May 1– This coming Thursday! Please remember to finish making your payments. Return to the membership page to keep up your payment cycle. Thank you to those who have made payments. All money we’ve received is already at the farm!

2) Sign up for your Volunteer Hours
Now that you’re a full-fledged member of Astoria CSA, don’t forget to sign up for your volunteer hours. Please email volunteer@astoriacsa.com to arrange your dates!

3) Farm Visit: Spring Walking Tour, Sunday, May 4, 2-3:30 PM
Rain or shine! Dress warm it gets chilly out there! Our farmers are hosting their annual Spring Walking Tour! Open to all members, friends, family and potential members. Spend a day on the Golden Earthworm Farm and see your vegetables grow, talk to your farmer and meet other CSA members! GEF is located on the north fork of Long Island (with all the Long Island vineyards). Directions are posted on the blog (www.astoriacsa.com). There is no need to RSVP for the visit. Please email us if you are interested in organizing and driving group transport for the trip: info@astoriacsa.com.

4) Beer? Local Low-Carbon Beer
As many of us try to reduce our carbon footprint in different parts of our lives, we have decided this year to attempt a low-carbon, local beer delivery in partnership with Bierkraft in Park Slope, Brooklyn. Deliveries of beer “growlers” (4 pint jugs) eliminate the waste of glass and would bring us local, super fresh, artisanal, small craft beer unavailable in stores, from as close as Red Hook, Brooklyn! Please email info@astoriacsa.com so we can see what interest there is. Orders would be placed and paid online and Bierkraft would distribute weekly at our regular Thursday deliveries. Growler deposits are $4 per jug and must be washed and returned every week in exchange for a new full jug. More details will be worked out if Bierkraft thinks there is enough demand. See their website for more info and let us know if you’d like some beer!

5) Donations! Donations! Donations!
Our donation feature is up and running on the website. Please consider helping us keep low-income shares thriving, whether it is $1 or $1,000! Log into your account (use the main shareholder’s email address) on the membership page (http://www.astoriacsa.com/join.php) and find the donation information at bottom. All money received goes towards supporting low-income shares.

6) CSA Pastures Meat/ Dairy Orders
May 3 is the last day to place orders for the May 10th delivery of CSA Pastures, our grass-fed/ pastured meat, egg, cheese, jam, honey and organic bread co-op upstate. Starting in June, deliveries will begin once a month on Thursdays, during pick up. If you need sign-in information, head to your membership page (use the main shareholder’s email address): http://www.astoriacsa.com/join.php.

7) Save the Date: June 5
First delivery of our 2008 season!

8) Other News
** Steinway Food Pantry has agreed to be our fiscal sponsor (meaning they will act as our 501(c)3). We are meeting with them this week to discuss the possibility of accepting food stamps in the CSA and applying for grants.

** We are applying for discretionary funds/ general funding from Astoria Councilman Vallone, Assembly Member Gianaris, Congresswoman Malloney and Queens Borough Pres. Helen Marshall. We are seeking money to support Food and Nutrition Workshops taking place this season at ARROW for all CSA members, transportation for Farm Visits and support for our low-income shares for the 2009 season. Keep your fingers crossed, we’re notified in July.

May 4 Farm Visit

stacey — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 19:18:50 +0000

Rain or Shine! Join us for this fabulous event and see your food as it grows (that’s James at left working the fields)!

Sunday, May 4th is our first Farm Visit of the season to the Golden Earthworm Farm (of course, you are welcome at the farm any time of the year). There is no need to RSVP for the visit, just show up. Please dress appropriately, the farm grounds are muddy and temperatures in the fields at this time of year are a bit chilly. It is okay to show up a little early and enjoy lunch on the grounds. There isn’t too much in terms of food options in the area (other than fast food) so we suggest you pack a lunch or snacks! Details:

WHAT Spring Farm Walking Tour
WHEN Sunday, May 4th 2008 from 2pm to 3:30pm
WHERE The Golden Earthworm Organic Farm Map & Directions
WHO This event is open to all current and prospective CSA members.

MEET the farmers, SEE our farm fields and busy greenhouse in action, LEARN how we grow your food, ASK your questions, TALK with other CSA members, WALK the fields, VISIT with our beautiful rare breed animals.

MUNCHIES We will provide organic coffee, tea, juice and cookies. You are welcome to bring your own picnic.

Need wheels?
The LIRR (to Riverhead) is an option, but the train gets in early and leaves late. Have a day (maybe at some vineyards) planned. This would be a lovely option if you bring your bike with you (otherwise be prepared to taxi)!

Want to organize transport?
If you are a member interested in organizing a van for the group, please email info@astoriacsa.com (you must be willing to drive or find someone who is). We usually ask adults to contribute $10-$15 towards van rental and the CSA will cover the remainder, plus gas.

Have your own wheels?
If you have extra room in your car and would be willing to drive others, please leave a comment in this post (or if you’re looking for transport).
DRIVING DIRECTIONS TO GOLDEN EARTHWORM: (also see here)
From New York City and points west:
Take the LIE (495) east to the last exit (Exit 73). Continue to head east on Route 58. At the traffic circle in Riverhead, stay on Route 58 (go straight). Cross over Route 105, and continue east (go straight) on Route 25 for about 2 miles into Jamesport. Make a right on Washington Avenue. (Just past Jamesport True Value Hardware on your right.) Go over railroad tracks and make a right at the first stop sign onto Peconic Bay Blvd. We are just about a mile down the road on the right. There is a long tree-lined driveway.

From Orient, Greenport and points east:
Take Route 25 (also known as Main Road) approximately 20 miles west of Greenport Village. Make a left on Washington Avenue and follow directions above.

New LIC CSA

stacey — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 21:20:57 +0000

A new CSA is starting up in Long Island City supplied by the Farm at Miller’s Crossing. The distribution point will either be Sage American Kitchen on Jackson Ave or The Jacob A Riis Neighborhood Settlement in Queensbridge House.

As we have reached capacity, potential members may want to check LIC CSA out. They have 60 open shares and offer low-income shares, scholarships and accept food stamps.

Contact Danielle at Hunger Action Network (dseidita (at) hungeractionnys (dot) org)

April 10 News Flash: Membership Closed

stacey — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 13:52:13 +0000

To Astoria CSA Members,

Full cost membership is now closed. We are currently accepting applications for our need-based shares and will send word out to qualified applicants by early May.

*** 2008 Season Payments due May 1
Full payments are due May 1– just 3 weeks away! Please remember to finish making your payments. Return to the membership page to keep up your payment cycle. Thank you to those who have made payments. All money we’ve received is already at the farm!

***Reminder: CSA Pastures Meat/ Dairy Orders
If you placed an order for this month’s delivery pick up is at Aaron and Sandy’s house this coming Saturday, April 12. The address will go out in an email with your final bill (sometime today/ tomorrow) from webmaster@csapasture.com.

***Save the Date: May 4
Mark your calendars! Our farmers are hosting their annual Spring Walking Tour! Spend a day on the Golden Earthworm Farm! GEF is located on the north fork of Long Island (along with all the Long Island vineyards!). Astoria CSA organized transportation and a vineyard tour before heading over to the farm last year. Please email us if you are interested in organizing/ driving group transport for the trip: info@astoriacsa.com. If you have your own transportation there is no need to RSVP for the visit, but if you have open space in your car please leave a comment in this post for folks looking for transport.

***Save the Date: June 5
First delivery of our 2008 season!

***Other Happenings?
We are applying for discretionary funds from Astoria Councilman Vallone. We are seeking money to support our low-income shares for our 2009 season, Food and Nutrition Workshops taking place this season at ARROW, as well as transportation for Farm Visits. Keep your fingers crossed, we’re notified in July.

——————————————————–
For queries about our newsletter, email newsletter@astoriacsa.com.
General questions regarding Astoria CSA should be emailed to info@astoriacsa.com
If you have any other questions regarding this list, send them to: news-owner@astoriacsa.com.

From CSA Pasture…

stacey — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 20:06:52 +0000

Dear Members, CSA order reminder for April 12th,

We are writing this reminder for our delivery coming up on Saturday, April 12th. The order deadline is on Monday, April 7th at midnight. We thank you for indulging us these days for preparation of the orders as the number of farms we coordinate with has increased and the number of orders has increased. Thank you for your support, we love our farm life, as busy as it can be at times!

News from the farms…March

In like a lion….. snow, rain, snow, rain… The greenhouse filled up with water for hopefully the last time this year. All the humidity seemed to help the leek seeds sprout in their pots. The cabbages and spinach are slowly pushing up from the chill of the soil. The lettuces and tomatoes are still too cold to show their leaves. Each day we keep thinking that the temperature will be above freezing – and then it creeps to 36! Hopefully this is a sign that this year will be a great maple syrup season. We are beginning to be glad to see the snow receding into the woods and the shady nooks. It still coats the upper pastures on the north side of the hills. The great ruts of mud in the dirt road and dirt drives between the barns are drying out and flattening the more we drive on them. You can begin to see the reddening of the trees as the buds begin to swell, whereas all of you in NYC must already be seeing willow leaves and forsythia blooms. Here the ground is still frozen so trying to make the changes to the pig fence around the shed are still tough. It is so much easier to pound in new fence posts when the ground is soft. BUT… we are going away for a few days and getting to see some scenery, friends and family in Maine, Massachusetts and winding up our trip at the JustFood Conference and CSA Fair on Saturday, March 29. If any of you are attending, please be sure to find us and say hello. We always have a great time at this event and love to see the great exchange among the Farmers, CSAs, and other interested foodies!

The new Barn room for packing all your orders is being painted with antique white wall and trim and either a medium blue or soft green for the old doors we hung on the entrance, closets and the newly built doors to the freezer area and the upstairs storage area.

The cows, horses and pigs are starting to wander and look for opportunities to graze; soon we’ll be walking all the fence lines to check for downed trees and branches on the wires. We also spend some time walking and cranking, walking and cranking, walking cranking the winder/spinner of the hand seeder splaying clover seed in swaths back and forth across the pastures. When the ground is still heaving each day with frost at night and warmth in the day, the seeds are more easily and

We can finally see to the back of the barn and sheds for the last of the hay bales ready to feed. We always have ads in the papers these days offering to buy hay in case we run out before the grass gets growing well. That gives us a few folks to call just in case.

The garden will be warming up (hopefully) while we are away and perhaps the perennial onions will be ready to eat when we get back. A few stray spinach, arugula and kale plants have bravely lived through the winter under the row cover. These will be our early greens if they are happy enough to keep growing.

While we are away, Chris will be here to answer any questions, emails, and help with any websites problems or forgotten passwords. It has been invaluable to have her here helping this past year. I have been able to accomplish so much more with her help for the myriad of computer tasks we have: keeping our inventory, updating order forms, entering orders, entering weights after packing, coordinating with the farms, setting up the reminder emails and a host of other details. She has made the volume of delivery tasks a much easier routine by getting much of it done sooner than in the past in an organized and logical manner.

When we all do what we do best, the job gets done. Once in a while, we make a mistake, forget something or get it wrong but we really do try to get every order correct. Between all the items offered by all the farms and bakers, we pack between 700 and 1000 pieces per delivery these days. Please do not hesitate to let us know when something is amiss, and we’ll do our best to make it right, offer a credit or a replacement. We hope to please and hope you are happy with our products.

New this month!

West River Creamery – Cheese, Cow’s Milk and Goat’s Milk is offering two new cheeses that are exceptional. Glebe Mountain Swiss, a Natural rind, baby Swiss, 4 - 5 months aged. It’s texture is smooth, flavor is buttery and explodes with a nutty tang. Smoked English Cheddar which is a Farmhouse cheddar gently smoked with Applewood and hickory

Our other farms are still offering their products:

Delicious Bread baked at Rock Hill Bakehouse shown under Bread, European style. The New flavor this month is Sundried Tomato.

Hand made artisan cheeses from 3 Corner Field Farm - Cheese, Sheep’s Milk and Yogurt and from Consider Bardwell Farm – Cheese, Goat and Cow’s Milk and West River Creamery – Cheese, Cow’s Milk and Goat’s Milk. Gillis Acres Farm raises Alpine goats and offers their farm made dairy items under the Cheese, Goat’s Milk category. They make chevre in 4 flavors, tomme, feta, blue cheese, aged cheese, cottage cheese, kefir, yogurt in 3 flavors and bottle pasteurized goat milk.

All Natural Chicken, Duck and Turkey - whole or parts of chicken, whole duck, and small whole or ground turkey from KNK Poultry under the categories, Chicken All Natural KNK, Duck All Natural, Turkey All Natural KNK. This farm and processor is NY State certified.

Large whole turkeys are also offered by Stonewood Farm, certified by the State of Vermont and are found under the Turkey All Natural Stonewood category.

Our natural Eggs collected by Cornell Farms. The chickens and their feed are raised at the farm are shown under the Eggs, fresh and free-range category.

All Natural Goat and Kid is offered by 2 farms Manx Station Farm and Consider Bardwell Farm. These items are offered under the category for Kid, Goat and Goat, Kid respectively.

USDA processed Lamb is offered by two farms. 3 Corner Field Farm lamb eats a small amount of grain as a supplement to the grasses and hay and can be found under the Lamb, Grass-Fed category. Argyllshire Farm lamb eats only grasses and hay and is found under the Lamb, Grass fed & finished category. We are sorry the selection of lamb is dwindling this time of year, but it seems that everyone is beginning to “buy local”.

Our home made Jams and Sauces are home grown or hand picked by Rudi’s Lakeside Garden and can be found under the Jams ands Sauces category.

USDA processed Beef and Pork are raised by Lewis Waite Farm. The beef is 100% grass and hay fed with trace minerals from kelp and salt. The pigs have a pasture too but are fed with corn, soybeans, hay and kelp (especially in winter). These items can be found under the Beef, Grass Fed Grass Finished and the Pork, All Natural, Pastured.

Don’t forget, the next order deadline is next Monday, April 7th at midnight, and delivery is on Saturday, April 12th.

Please remember to place your orders on time as late orders can be a disruption to all of the farms involved

We wish you well, and a Happy Spring, Nancy and Alan

Alan & Nancy Brown
135 Lewis Hill Lane
Town of Jackson
Greenwich, NY 12834

Lewis Waite Farm
Grass-Fed Grass-Finished Beef
Natural Pork

www.csapasturedmeatandpoultry.com
www.lewiswaitefarm.com

518-692-3120 or 518-692-9208

Take Action! Fight Factory Farm Pollution

stacey — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 20:55:53 +0000

via Food and Water Watch…

The Environmental Protection Agency has proposed a rule that would let factory farms get out of reporting their releases of ammonia, hydrogen sulfide, and other toxic air pollutants caused by the breakdown of animal manure in massive lagoons. We have a right to know what toxic chemicals we’re being exposed to. Make Factory Farms report their pollution to EPA.

Not surprisingly, this is something agribusiness has been pressuring the government to do for years. Instead of getting into the fine print of the proposal, here’s a description from a recent Washington Post article that sums it up pretty well:

“Under pressure from agriculture industry lobbyists and lawmakers from agricultural states, the Environmental Protection Agency wants to drop requirements that factory farms report their emissions of toxic gases, despite findings by the agency’s scientists that the gases pose a health threat.”

One giant dairy in Oregon, home to more than 50,000 cows, reported that it releases more than 15,000 pounds of toxic ammonia into the air every day. Often these reports offer the only information neighbors of these facilities get about what they are being exposed to.

The public has a right to know what factory farms are releasing into the air and EPA has no business letting these polluters off the hook. Tell EPA that factory farms shouldn’t be above the law.
http://action.foodandwaterwatch.org/t/741/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=23545

Free Citizen Tree Pruning Class

stacey — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 20:50:33 +0000

via Partnership for Parks. (I took this class it is lots of fun!)…

Pruning with our Park Stewards
Supported by

Trees need our help in New York City… and we need them! The benefits of trees include clean air, beauty, and shade. Life for a street tree is tough, and You can help!

NYC Department of Parks & Recreation, Partnerships for Parks, Queens Coalition for Parks and Green Spaces and Trees New York presents:

Trees New York Citizen Pruner Tree Course
Do you want to help improve the life of our newly planted trees? Submit an application illustrating your
level of interest towards volunteering and (on April 3, 2008) we will offer 25 ambitious adult applicants
the opportunity to become equipped with a NYC Citizen Pruner license for FREE. Join us in tree
advocacy, complete our volunteer application, and register for the opportunity to take our scholarship
course designed for passionate tree stewards living in Queens. Your commitment to a greener NYC and
the agreement to volunteer throughout Queens (by pruning low hanging tree limbs) will help qualify
you for this 4 week certified course in Tree Stewardship.

Thursday(s) - April, 3, 10, 17 and 24 2008 @ 6pm - 8pm
(Mandatory Orientation, Instructional Workshops, and Exam)
Held at our Local Recreation Center:
Lost Battalion Hall, Rego Park, Queens
Saturday – April, 19 2008 @ 8am – Noon
(Field Training at the Overlook/Forest Park)

Address and Telephone Number: 93-29 Queens Boulevard, Cross Streets: 62nd Avenue and 62nd
Road (718-263-1163). By bus: Q60 to 62nd Avenue, Q53 to 63rd Drive and Queens Boulevard, or Q11
to Queens Boulevard and Woodhaven Boulevard. By Subway: G, R, or V trains to 63rd Drive. Walk 2
blocks west.

*Space is limited and Course Registration ends on Thursday, 3/27/08.*
Because this FREE course is offered by invitation only, all applicants must register. For
more information or to register, email citizenpruner@gmail.com or call Hassan King
(Northeast Outreach Coordinator) at 718-520-5948.