Dear Local Foodies,

Come see the free movie FRESH showing this Saturday Aug 22, 2009

Here is a wonderful opportunity for a free film and tour of an exemplary organic growing system (vegetables, herbs, flowers, pigs, chickens) that feeds 500 a summer plus 3 CSA subscribers. Feel free to go to one or both.

The film FRESH is a documentary celebrating the local food movement. FRESH celebrates the farmers, thinkers and business people across
America who are re-inventing our food system. Forging healthier, sustainable alternatives, they offer a practical vision of our food and our planet’s future. FRESH addresses an ethos that has been sweeping the nation and is a call to action America has been waiting for.

This could, just could, inspire you to grow (more) food. It is an exciting time as the momentum for eating locally grown food is growing rapidly across
the country and here in Alaska. Join the dynamic exchange of thoughts, experiences, ideas, etc.

TOUR
We’ll walk around the NOLS (National Outdoor Leadership School) Farm showing you:
- Our new solar-powered, gravity-fed, drip irrigation system (funded
by the Mat-Su Health Foundation and the Alaska Division of Agriculture).
- Soil building methods including cover cropping and composting.
- Utilizing chicken tractors to raise pasture-fed birds and fertilize
the fields.
- Outdoor composting methods and indoor worm bins.
- Running a small-scale CSA (Community Supported Agriculture).
- Using pigs to till up new garden areas.
- Season extension techniques, including cold frames and hoop houses.
- Raised beds vs. not

Target Audience: Backyard gardeners, established farmers, aspiring
new farmers, and anyone interested in local and sustainable agriculture.

WHERE: NOLS is at 5805 Farm Loop Rd. in Palmer. To get here from
Palmer, take the Glenn Hwy north out of Palmer, heading towards
Sutton. Go about 2 miles from downtown Palmer and make a left onto
Farm Loop Rd. NOLS Alaska is about 1 mile down on your left. Look
for our wooden sign in the hay field next to the driveway.

Park in the lower section by the big red barn (the parking area is to
your right when you come down the driveway). We’ll start the tour in
front of the barn on the upper part (opposite from where you park).

WHEN: Saturday, August 22nd
* Tour is from 2-3 pm.
* Movie and discussion is from 3:15 - 4:45 pm.
* Lead by Kathy Ciarimboli, director of the NOLS Farm Project.

RSVP: Please drop us an email (kathy_ciarimboli@nols.edu) and let us
know if you plan to come (so we can get an idea of how many people to
expect). If you don’t do email, you can leave a message at 746-4047,
ext. 336 (but email is preferable).

See you there, dear readers!