Summit Urban Farming Initiative program coming!

Akron program- More areas mentioned in full article can be found at this link: http://www.ohio.com/lifestyle/84835277.html
Thanks to enthusiasm and support from partners in the Summit Food Policy Coalition, a group started last year to address food access in Summit County, Akron is jumping on the urban farming band wagon. The Summit Urban Farming Initiative (SUFI), a seven-week training program, will begin in March at the Akron General Wellness Center in Bath Township.
The pilot program, co-sponsored by OSU Extension of Summit County, Akron's Department of Planning and Urban Development and the Summit Food Policy Coalition, will be offered on Thursday evenings through April.
Prospective or current urban farmers are being sought for the program to develop for-profit or not-for-profit agricultural enterprises in Akron and Summit County.
John Moore, director of Akron's planning department, said, ''This program will expose city residents to the necessity and lucrative nature of urban farming. The marketing, accounting, social as well as other business skills learned through this program will be valuable to the participants regardless of their final career path.''
Each week, SUFI participants will learn about such topics as developing a business mission and vision, creating budgets and marketing plans, and working with farmers markets to sell agricultural products.
The training will help participants refine plans for agricultural endeavors, whether they hope to develop market gardens, pick-your-own mini-farms or CSA operations. Sessions will be taught by farming experts from OSU Extension, the Cuyahoga Valley Countryside Conservancy, other farm-related organizations and successful urban farmers.
The goal of the SUFI program is simple: to bring more agricultural enterprises into Akron on both private property and city-owned vacant land. SUFI sponsors hope to be able to offer mini-grants in 2011 to help participants develop or enhance their urban farms. The hope is that in time, Akron residents looking for fresh, local food may have to go no further than just down the street.
To learn about participating in the Summit Urban Farming Initiative, including fees and program schedules, contact me at 330-928-4769, ext. 21, or Ellsworth.2@osu.edu. The application deadline is March 5.

I predict a change in your future..

I have dedicated 4 years to sharing our adventures from our little Homestead via this blog. Lots of pictures accompanied with my many words and How To's. Our children are at an age I can now expand the direction I aim with this blog. I will have plenty of downtime after today to organize my list of upcoming posts which will bring a fresh and new side of adventures in homesteading.

I plan to experiment with a new method. From short tutorial videos on tapping our maples tree's all the way to adventuring the big open road to other homesteads. To share the many diverse way's of self sufficiency, gardening, animal husbandry, to hands on crafts such as glass blowing. I'm taking you along for the ride via Blog videos. Learn the simple way's with a first hand view and meet new interesting people who share a piece of their lives with us. To inspire you. To teach you something new. To transport you on an adventure with Panda and I as we venture out in the wonders of our world.

Oh,do not worry. Not all posts will be video. I still have many more words yet to share. So grab your bag and be prepared to step it up and come along for the ride!

Our video will not be High definition. Nor will it be Television quality. This is down home personality with video's put into a format like a short segment from a few minutes up to 10. All depends on the subject and location.

Now I must start my research for exciting places to share while I travel down & am in the Fort Worth Texas area. This farm Chick is adventure bound, with you riding shotgun!

Sweet dreams,

~Tammie

A few things I am happy on the progress here..

Before the 2 Meyer's lemon tree's up and died, I was able to save a clipping from a way ward branch. I was able to succesfully root another tree, which has grown a good 2 inches PLUS 2 more leaf branches in just a month. I was not aware it had taken root until about 6 weeks after I began the process. Major happy to see the white roots against the cup side.

As an FYI, if you do a cutting from this lemon tree, it WILL grow true to it's parent. These are not graft tree's, so the upper branches can easily supply one with many more tree's which will bear fruit in under 2 years. Not much, but it's a start. I have 2 more Meyer's lemon tree's coming in a shipment dated for April, so I will be up to 3 citrus trees for my future Greenhouse. My apologies for such poor photography these days. I am in need of a better Digital and am hoping to go SLR with the next. When the budget proves cushiony enough.

And I have ventured into growing Kombucha! This is the first of our home grown and am very excited to share with friends. Especially since soon I will be run over with these things and you only need 4 ounces a day of tea per person. And yes, I did dye my hair. I have yearned to go blonde for 20 some years and thought I need to just do it while the winter keeps us indoors just in case I make a big goof... I'm neutral on keeping it. I am considering going a sandy brown but it will be another month before I change it.

That would be Ming, our newest family addition you see peeking out from under my leg. Does she not look just like Dawg?! I am so in love with my little dust mop pup and have been giving The Captain some Extra Love for this special gift he has given me.

I am hoping the Kombucha will help with Frog's eczema in case it pops back up when the weather gets warmer. It is almost gone but a small flaky dry patch of skin is still seen. I hope by including this in her daily diet, it will help prevent any more break outs.

Speaking of break outs, this whole Fibroid thing has taken such a number on my body. I have acne all over my jaw bone area, swollen glands in my neck and my stomach is slightly swollen. My hips feel like when I was far along in my pregnancies and you never knew when you take a step the hips would just "slip" and you fall. Who knew Uterine Fibroids would cause such ridiculous symptoms?! Tuesday is the day for my surgery and am very happy to be done with all of this. I have to keep myself from thinking about the fact I am losing my uterus and focus on the future benefits for my body. I just want my energy back! I am not a slow down person and sitting around on my arse has gotten so old I now play with facebook on a regular basis. FACEBOOK! I am so pathetic... LOL.

Hang in there guys. I will not let this ship sink like my pep has. A few weeks and I will be back chasing those wild edibles and revving up the wood shop projects. We have Maple syrup season in just 2 more weeks and I will not let that slip through my fingers. I have a goal of 1 gallon, which is low but I rather start slow so soon after having a major organ removed from my body. :)

Have a wonderfully Happy Valentines day and of course...

Sweetest dreams,

~Tammie

Valentine ideas for your Sweetie

Valentines day does not have to be store bought surprises. In our home, the handmade gifts mean so much more. Even for the kid's class room event, I like to go that route so they have unique Valentine's which make for memorable surprises.

Lil' man and I worked on his Valentine Mail box for his classroom event and of course there was no way I was going to let him take in a bland shoe box. So we brain stormed some idea's and came up with this:

His name is boldly placed on the front, so I am just sharing a side front view. We could have spent more time making every detail better, but after 3 hours of sticky green tissue paper, I was ready to stop. We used twine to form the nostrils, belly heart and eyes. Pipe cleaners were twisted to make a movable formed tail. We also used a soda can box cut in half for the main body. A bathroom tissue tube cut in half and wrapped with tape for the arms. A cereal box was cut in 1/3 for the head and laid in an angle. The feet were made from the left over pieces of cereal box.

We cut teeth from felt and glued it on in the opening where his classmates will put in their valentines.

Now for the classroom Valentines from him, we are making Heart shaped peppermint patties with *this recipe*. Wrapping them in candy foil bought from a local bakers supply. Along with his hearts, we will computer generate paper slips which read "Stay cool Valentine!" along with a little fact about peppermint patties. (York peppermint patties started production in 1920.YORK peppermint patties were distributed only in the Northeast, Ohio, Indiana and Florida until 1975).

Now as for someone a bit older, a Valentine can still be something Handmade but much more personal. If you have a program on your computer such as windows movie maker, then this will be easy. Do you have a song that reminds you of someone special? how about looking through all those years of pictures-keeping the song in mind- and make a music video! What? You do not have the song on your computer? Can you find a video(any video will do) on a site like Youtube?

Go to that song's video, grab(copy) the url and then hop over to http://www.dirpy.com/ and paste the url into the "window". It's that easy! It will automatically strip the video away from the audio and download the audio to your computer as a file. Now you have a song to use with all those pictures for a very special valentine.

Here is an example of a music video I made up in a few days of down time (I had never made a music video before so this is my first time at it). It was amazingly easy. You just need to try and keep with the theme and beat when adjusting the pictures into the drop area.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=isOHpI35xyE

Over time you will get better at it and to be honest...I found it rather fun to do. Your first video may not be perfect but the person whom you made it for will appreciate the time you took out to do it and of course it will be special to the person because you made it with love. This is just a few ideas for something different to do for Valentines day. A little imagination and having the special person in mind will make for something great.

I will not be on much after the 14th. I am one of those rare women who have issues with Uterine Fibroids and have come to the decision it is time to have a Uterine Hysterectomy. It is an emotional issue for me. As a mother and a woman it was not an easy decision but I was the one who made it. This is the reason I have not been as active and creative with my posting. This issue has been an almost daily "Pain" for over 6 months with no other solution working. Besides, Garden season is coming up and I have seedlings to start next month! Not to mention a wedding in Fort Worth Texas come mid May...

Sweetest Dreams,

~Tammie