Market Reminder

ALFN Members,

Remember to get your orders completed on the market before Wednesday at noon. There is still time to load up on fresh veggies and meats.

Also, Grass Roots Farmers’ Cooperative is hosting an open farm day at Falling Sky Farm in Leslie, AR on May 21st. If you are interested check out more information at the cooperative’s website: Farm Day

Have a wonderful week!

Kyle Holton
Program & Market Manager

Market Is Open

ALFN Members,

Welcome to another week of fresh produce and local-sourced products. The market is starting to show signs of summer produce with the first appearance of squash this past week from Barnhill. Let’s give Debe from ABC Nature Greenhouse a warm welcome back. I’m so happy to see her mushrooms, plants, herbs and veggies back in the market after the set back from the vandalism of her greenhouse earlier in the spring. Make sure you check out her stuff!

Also, make sure you check out the new listings posted by Crimmins Family Farm. They have twelve new items including lettuce and exotic greens!

Backyard Permaculture III

So the last two posts have been heavy on the theory and framework of permaculture. I always find it helpful to see principles expressed concretely where strategy meets reality. The Verge Permaculture is an urban homestead in Canada that has attempted to integrate permaculture into every inch of the living space. I have linked a video that is the first of three explaining how they integrated permaculture into their home. Instead of reading, enjoy watching this application of permaculture in the urban space.

The Verge Video: Backyard Permaculture

Have a great week!

Kyle Holton
Program & Market Manager

Volunteers Needed

Good Morning Folks,

We’ve had a sparse volunteer crowd for this weekend. I have four open spots.

Please sign up at Volunteer Spot if you can help out tomorrow.

Thanks!

Kyle Holton
Program & Market Manager

Market Reminder

ALFN Members,

Remember to get your order submitted before tomorrow at noon before I close the market for this week.

Interested in a fun outing this week? Check out the Root Cafe Container Dinner this week on Friday (13th). It will be a Farm to Table dinner in their new space. You can sign up here: Container Dinner

Have a great week!

Kyle Holton
Program & Market Manager

The Market Is Open!

ALFN Members,

As you may know, we have a few new growers who have joined the market this past week. I am excited about the value they will bring to ALFN and to all of us.

Old Boss Acres out of Hot Springs is a small farm that specializes in raising cows, sheep, goats, pigs and chickens. Check out all their listings in the meat section of the market!

Beyond the Greenhouse is a small farm with a flock of ducks. They specialize in selling duck eggs, but hope to expand to micrograms in the future. Check out those eggs!

Finally, Cedar Rock Acres is a two generation farm that specializes in cornmeal and corn grits. However, they also sell berries and a variety of vegetables and sorghum molasses. I know some of you have already purchased their grits and cornmeal.

Send us your reviews!

Backyard Permaculture II

Last week I introduced permaculture as a strategy to design ecological, stable systems that not only provide for the needs of humans but also benefit the environment. How does permaculture work? As a design process, permaculture is built on ethics of care for the earth and people with a demand to return surplus back into the system. It is tempting to jump from a quick definition of permaculture and begin talking about strategies and techniques. However, permaculture as a design process can have many applications from large scale farms to small backyards. Consequently, it is more important to clarify the undergirding process and principles of the framework. The principles of permaculture guide the design process. These principles are ecological in nature. When looking at your backyard, consider whether some of the permaculture principles could be applied:

1. All elements should have multiple functions
2. Diversity of elements brings resilience to a system.
3. Produce no waste
4. Catch and store energy
5. Use small and slow solutions

As you may be able to tell, permaculture is a way of viewing the world around you and finding ways to build systems of resilience and production. Consequently, permaculture looks at a backyard in ecological terms. What are the elements I need to have in this yard? How do these elements fit together? Where does energy flow through this yard? Are there ways I can catch this energy and store it? How can the wastes from this yard be recycled on site?

I’ll provide more concrete applications to permaculture next week. Admittedly, I’m only skirting the edges of this design process, but hopefully you have the basic gist. If you are interested in seeing how permaculture can design an urban plot, check out Paradise Lot by Eric Toensmeier.

Take care,

Kyle Holton
Program & Market Manager

Volunteers Needed

ALFN Members,

I hope everyone had a great week! If you can help out with volunteering tomorrow, we have two shifts open. Check it out here: Volunteer Spot

Thanks!

Kyle Holton
Program & Market Manager

New Vendors & Reminder

ALFN Members,

We have two new vendors that just posted new items this week. You may want to check them out before I close the market tomorrow at noon.

Cedar Rock Acres is a two generation farm that specializes in berries, veggies, sorghum and ground cornmeal. Currently, they have listings of different types of heirloom cornmeal and corn grits. They sell them in 2 lb bags. How awesome is that!

We also have a new duck egg producer on the market. Beyond the Greenhouse sells duck eggs and hopes to eventual begin selling microgreens as well. Check out their grower page to learn about their eggs.

The market continues to expand with wonderful options providing close to a one-stop shop experience. I hope everyone is taking advantage!

Let me know if I can help you in any way.

Kyle Holton
Program & Market Manager

The Market Is Open

Dear ALFN Members,

What a beautiful weekend! The spring rains are recharging our aquifers while our regional growers are recharging our bodies with energy from the sun transformed into leaf, fruit, meat and sweet. Get a taste of the sun…the ALFN market is open!

This week look out for fun new plants, new veggies and more strawberries!

Permanent Agriculture

Have you every noticed how the word culture is embedded in agriculture? When we hear the word culture, we often are reminded of high culture such as the opera and poetry, or we are reminded of foreign culture such as different African or Asian peoples. At first glance, it may seem strange to combine culture with the field (agri). Culture cultivates people. We are cultivated, like plants, into a home culture and taught the traditions, behaviors and values of a group of people. The growing of food is also full of traditions and values. The way a field is used reflects the values and traditions of the people who work it. This would suggest that agriculture isn’t just about the cultivation of food, but the cultivation of people. Masanobu Fukuoka, a great farmer and activist for agriculture renewal once said, “The ultimate goal of farming is not the growing of crops, but the cultivation and perfection of human beings.”

A healthy culture must have permanence. Though cultures adapt with the changing of time, there are integral elements or processes in a culture that remain fixed. Similarly, permanent agriculture is stabilized by integrated elements and processes that sustain the practice of growing food and resource. In the West, the emphasis upon stable, permanent agriculture has taken a few forms. One of the popular global forms is called permaculture. Over the next few weeks, at the request of an ALFN member (I love to get weblog ideas that interest you), I plan to discuss backyard permaculture. For today, let’s simply introduce it. Modern agriculture has tended to simplify all the parts of growing food and focused only on single pieces. Permaculture tries to look at the relationship of all the parts and how they function as a whole. For this reason, permaculture design promotes the joining of biodiversity with food production. The design strategy can be used on large acreage farms to small patio gardens. Over the next few weeks, I will focus on using permaculture for city-sized plots.

Permaculture is an ecological approach to growing food. Ecology studies the movement of energy through systems. Light energy passes down into a food web until it drives complex forms such as predatory birds. From algae to bison, energy moves through a system. Permaculture attempts to design webs of energy that capture, store and circulate energy. The strategy works with nature and its application shifts the way we look at the world and our own needs. Instead of mono-cropped yards of bermuda, permaculture designs for a bio-diverse array of parts building fertility, enhancing water quality, promoting wildlife and yielding valuable sources of food, fuel, fiber and medicine for humans. Stay tuned for more…

Kyle Holton
Program & Market Manager

Market Reminder

Good Morning ALFN Members,

Have you seen the amount of green and orange on the market? Yes, I said orange…carrots have arrived. Make sure you order before tomorrow at noon when the market closes for the week.

In other news, we will not have Community Market Day on Saturday. Unfortunately, Mac Family Farm had a last minute conflict and will not be able to attend. However, I’m still game for some music. If any one wants to come and play during the market, then shoot me an email.

Also, don’t forget to check out Volunteer Spot. We still have four shifts open.

Thanks for your commitment to ALFN and local growers!!

Kyle Holton
Program & Market Manager

The Market Is Open

ALFN Members,

Welcome to another week of local veggies, meats, cheeses and artisan products. From goat soap to asparagus, the market contains a diverse listing of weekly needs for a single person or a whole family.

This next Saturday, April 30th, is another Community Market Day. This week, Mac Family Farm will be with us. Brandy McAllister will be present to display many of the products she cultivates and makes on her homestead. Make sure you drop by to see her line of goodies and meet Brandy!

Bio-Accumulation

Since the population crash of predatory birds was linked to the pesticide DDT back in the 1960’s, scientists have observed the phenomenon of pesticides accumulating in concentration as it moves up the food chain. Pesticides can become concentrated in fat cells of certain species and predators of those species can then get a concentrated dose by eating the species lower on the food chain. For example, a field is sprayed with DDT to take out mosquitoes. The pesticide falls on everything including seeds and other plants that are consumed by a mouse. Predatory birds eat mice and the DDT quickly concentrates in the fat stores of the bird as it passes from mouse fat into energy for the bird. Why am I discussing fat, mice and pesticides on a beautiful Sunday morning?

A recent study found the presence of glyphosate (think Roundup—an herbicide and known human carcinogen) in coffee creamers, oatmeal, bagels and even organic cage-free birds. Since the inception of GMO plants that are resistant to Roundup, fields of GMO corn or GMO soybeans are sprayed with Roundup. How does it make its way into eggs? Bioaccumulation. In the end, the pooling of pesticides/herbicides in eggs or coffee creamer is a lesson in the web of life. Though many folks believe we can extricate ourselves from the natural world, we will forever be members of the dynamic and interconnected ecology of the universe. The proverbial butterfly flapping its wings and creating a hurricane on the other side of the planet is analogous to bioaccumulation. Water pools down at the lowest point in a landscape. Unlike water, pesticides and herbicides pool up in a system as they accumulate up the food chain.

Again, part of the problem is tracing back to the source. This isn’t a problem with ALFN’s network. You have access to information, grower’s pages, and description of items throughout the website. Furthermore, you have direct access to the growers if you desire more information. ALFN’s market isn’t one of smoke and mirrors. Our goal is to provide transparency and access for the growing practices of all the items on the market.

Every one of you add to the resilience of this market as reflective and educated consumers.

Thank you!

If you are interested in volunteering this week, or any other week, please head over to Volunteer Spot where you can sign up for times that work best for your schedule.

All the best,

Kyle Holton
Program & Market Manager