Winter’s still with us, but Spring is right around the corner. The North Shore Permaculture Collaborative is offering a series of workshops that guides you from designing your garden to harvest and preservation of the bounty.
For more details and to register visit their Meetup page: https://www.meetup.com/Northshore-Permaculture-Collaborative/
Interested in getting involved, sign up here.
A group of about 30 met on Wednesday, July 12 at the Newburyport Public Library to reflect on and discuss the documentary film TOMORROW. The film highlights examples of communities around the globe working to address some of the most challenging issues facing us and our planet through positive, local action. It provides examples of local initiatives in agriculture, energy generation, transportation, the economy and democratic action.
Transition Newburyport facilitated the discussion. The participants were asked “Which examples from “Tomorrow” would you most like to see happen in the Greater Newburyport area.” They wrote out their ideas individually and then broke into self-organized groups to explore how the ideas might be developed here. At the end of the gathering, the groups reported out on their discussion.
Curbside Composting
Advocate for continuation and expansion of pilot composting program citywide.
Education
Host multi-generational roundtables on the environment.
Redefine growth in terms of quality rather than quantity..
Envision the future.
Energy
Community energy aggregation favoring renewables
Community energy generation group
Ward competitions for energy conservation
Food Growing
Identify and use unused space to grow food
Develop program to match unused land with people who want to garden
Explore permaculture
Transportation Alternatives (Bike, Ped, Public Transit)
City infrastructure is not well laid out for walking and biking
Explore use of jitney buses for in-town transport
Explore citywide bike hub rental stations
Implement Newburyport Greenway/Middleway
Trees
Address the Emerald Ash Borer threat
Vegetarianism
Promote meatless Mondays
Local Food Climate Cafe on August 13 at Parker River Wildlife Refuge
The next step agreed upon is to reconvene these topic-specific groups to further explore these and other related ideas. Transition Newburyport will facilitate setting up the next meetings for these interest groups. Those who were not able to come to the July 12 meeting are welcome to join in.
If you are interested in getting involved, sign up here.
Questions? Feel free to email transitionnewburyport@gmail.com.
You’ve heard about the importance of investing in local food by supporting local farm stands, CSA’s and farmers markets and we are lucky of have many of these in our area.
On October 28th at 7 PM, you’ll learn about a new model of farmer-to-customer distribution that allows you to support our regional food system. Greg Georgakalis, who runs Farmers to You. based in Montpelier Vermont, will be in Newburyport to talk about this distribution model that connects farmers in the region with customers via the web. Customers commit to placing an order of at least $40 each week for items listed by the “partner-farmers” including fruits, beans, vegetables, buttermilk, eggs, meat, jams, bread, syrups, and more. Orders are then delivered weekly to 16 Boston-area dropoff spots, including Newburyport.
Check out this February 2015 article about the program in the Boston Globe:
The program will be held at the Institution for Savings, Lending Office at 81 State Street. Enter on Prospect St.
Chocolate, The Perfect Indulgence
Tuesday, April 28 at 7 PM
Newburyport Public Library
94 State Street, Newburyport
The guest speaker for the April meeting of the Greater Newburyport Edible Garden Group is Northern Essex Community College Chemistry Instructor, Mike Cross.
Learn which chemicals elicit biochemical reactions in the human brain, making chocolate the perfect drug. Mike will be sharing why chocolate is good for us, how much is healthy, what kind of chocolate we should eat and how to taste it for quality. We hear that he may have some magic tricks up his sleeve too!
Before coming to NECC, Mike was an instructor of chemistry and department chair at the College of Eastern Utah. He believes that education should be fun and exciting. Mike holds a Ph.D. in organic chemistry from the University of Utah where he specialized in oxidative lesions in DNA and RNA.
The Edible Garden Group was formed by community members who are interested in getting together to learn and share information about sustainable food growing – veggies, fruits, nuts. The meetings are focused on building community resilience through increasing the availability of safe, nutritious, sustainably-grown local food. For more information contact Deb Carey at boiester@gmail.com.
Our guest speaker for the February meeting of the Greater Newburyport Edible Garden Group is local food writer and blogger Heather Atwood, who will share her knowledge an about abundant and inexpensive local food, Green Crabs. Green Crabs are an invasive species that increasingly threaten shellfish beds from Cape Ann to Canada. Scientists have been studying the phenomenon and searching for way to control them. It turns out that Italians have been making delicious seafood dishes with a relative of this crab for years. Heather says, “We need to get these crabs into our stock pots,” and she will tell us how!
Join us on Tuesday, February 24th, 7 PM at the Newburyport Five Cents Savings Bank, 43 Main Street, Amesbury (enter on the ATM/parking lot level).
The Edible Garden Group was formed by community members who are interested in getting together to learn and share information about sustainable food growing – veggies, fruits, nuts. The meetings are focused on building community resilience through increasing the availability of safe, nutritious, sustainably-grown local food. For more information contact Deb Carey at boiester@gmail.com.
Alison Darnell and Heather Ahearn of Atlantic Saltworks will be the speakers for the March meeting of the Greater Newburyport Edible Garden Group. The program begins at 7:00 PM on Tuesday, March 18th in the Newburyport Public Library Program Room.
Alison and Heather are the founders of Atlantic Saltworks, a local independent business reviving North Atlantic salt-making traditions. They will share with us some of the history of saltworks in our area and describe how they make flake finishing salt. Atlantic Saltworks is based in Salem, with operations in Amesbury and Essex/Gloucester.
The Edible Garden Group was formed by community members who are interested in getting together to learn and share information about sustainable food growing – veggies, fruits, nuts. The meetings are focused on building community resilience through increasing the availability of safe, nutritious, sustainably-grown local food. For more information contact Deb Carey at boiester@gmail.com or 978-388-5629.
JoAnn Whitley of Salisbury will be the April presenter for the Greater Newburyport Edible Garden Group. This is a reschedule of the February program which was cancelled due to snow.
JoAnn and her husband Ray got their first three chicks last May after getting a special permit from the Town of Salisbury. They now have a flock of 9 and raise them for both meat and eggs. She will be speaking on what they have learned about raising backyard chickens. JoAnn will share stories and lessons learned about coop building, equipment and supplies needed, keeping chickens safe, chicken doctors and more. JoAnn has created a Facebook Page called The Chicken Keeper and is interested in connecting with others in the area who have, or are thinking about, raising chickens.
The Edible Garden Group was formed by community members who are interested in getting together to learn and share information about sustainable food growing – veggies, fruits, nuts. The meetings are focused on building community resilience through increasing the availability of safe, nutritious, sustainably-grown local food. For more information contact Deb Carey at boiester@gmail.com or 978-388-5629.
The May meeting of the Greater Newburyport Edible Garden group will feature Windowfarming. The meeting will be held on Tuesday, May 28th at 7:00 PM at the home of Anne Verret-Speck, 63 South Hampton Road (Route 107A), Amesbury.
A Windowfarm is a vertical, indoor garden that allows for year-round growing in almost any window. It lets plants use natural window light, the climate control of your living space, and organic “liquid soil.” In the hydroponic system, nutrient-spiked water is pumped up from a reservoir at the base of the system and trickles down from bottle to bottle, bathing the roots along the way. Water and nutrients that are not absorbed collect in the reservoir and are pumped through again at the next interval. More information is available at windowfarms.org.
Anne is a self-described “total non-gardener” who began experimenting with a four-pot windowfarm this year. She will show us her system and share her experience with it. She is growing and harvesting a lot of kale and lettuce and also growing thyme and basil.
The Edible Garden Group was formed by community members who are interested in getting together to learn and share information about sustainable food growing – veggies, fruits, nuts. The meetings are focused on building community resilience through increasing the availability of safe, nutritious, sustainably-grown local food. For more information contact Deb Carey at boiester@gmail.com or 978-388-5629.
Transition Newburyport 