Local groups team-up to offer gardening workshop series

Marion-Polk Food Share, Pringle Creek Community, Willamette University and Marion County Master Gardeners are joining forces to offer a series of 13 workshops aimed at beginning and intermediate gardeners. All workshops are hosted by experts and enthusiasts from the local community. A $5 donation is suggested per workshop.

You can RSVP to any and all workshops by calling 503-581-3855 ext. 329, or email imcdonald@marionpolkfoodshare.org. Address and directions will be provided upon RSVP. See the workshop schedule below for dates and descriptions.

Marion-Polk Food Share's 2nd annual seed exchange

The Marion-Polk Food Share Community Gardens Program is hosting a seed exchange event on Saturday, February 25th, starting at 10am. Attendees are encouraged to bring seeds to share and participate in a discussion about creating a Marion-Polk Seed Share and Seed Bank. For more information, contact Ian Dixon-McDonald at 503-581-3855 ext.329.

2nd Annual Seed Exchange
1660 Salem Industrial Dr. NE Salem, OR
Saturday, February 25th, 10am - 1pm
More Info: imcdonald@marionpolkfoodshare.org

January 2012 classes in the MPFS Community Kitchen

Kitchen Strategies To Stretch The Food Dollar
Wednesday, January 18th, 9:30am - 12:30pm, $5.00

Join instructor Michelle Priddy for a comprehensive class in good nutrition, smart meal planning, food storage and preservation, and some basic cooking skills that will help you stretch your food dollar to the max. The $5.00 class fee includes class handouts and a simple chicken soup and bread lunch. Michelle’s START CHART recipe booklet, a handy guide to creating your own recipes using what you have on hand, will be available to order for an additional $10.00 fee. Class limited to ten. Register through Friday, January 13 by calling Kat Daniel at Marion-Polk Food Share, 503-581-3855, ext. 322.

Delicious, Nutritious Meals On A Shoestring
Tuesday, January 24th, 1pm - 2:30 pm, $5.00

Kitchen Angels Penny Strand and Janet Rogers are developing a series of classes that will focus on healthy, seasonal foods that can be prepared easily and economically by busy cooks. In this first class Penny and Janet will be demonstrating a recipe for Glazed Roasted Root Vegetables as a main dish in a vegetarian menu or a side dish in a menu that includes a protein source. The $5.00 class fee includes suggested menus, recipe handouts, and a sample taste of the featured dish. Class limit 12. Register by calling Kat Daniel at Marion-Polk Food Share, 503-581-3855, no later than Friday, January 20th.

More information can be found at www.marionpolkfoodshare.org.

Marion-Polk Food Share recognizes supporters of gardens program

"We wanted to send out a warm thanks to all those who donated supplies, time and expertise to our program," says Ian Dixon-McDonald, community gardens coordinator. "Please let these businesses and organizations know you appreciate their support of Marion-Polk Food Share’s Gardens Program."

13th Street Nursery
Ace Hardware
Advantage Precast
Ag Source Laboratories
City of Salem Public Works
City of Salem Parks
City of Keizer Parks
Copper Creek Mercantile
EZ Orchards
Garden Thyme
Garten Services
Greenhouse by the Creek
HandsOn Mid-Willamette Valley
Highway Fuel
Home Depot
Master Gardeners of Marion County
Marion County Environmental Services
Marion County Work Center
Marion Soil and Water Conservation District
Minto Island Growers
Nikko Farms
Parr Lumber
Rockwest Training Company
Salem-Keizer Education Foundation’s Learning Gardens
Seed Saver’s Exchange
Smith Gardens
Solar Gem Greenhouses
Territorial Seeds
The Red Pot Spot
Victory Seed Company
Wilco Farm Supply

Learn more about the community gardens program at Marion-Polk Food Share by visiting their website at www.marionpolkfoodshare.org.

Salem Harvest kicks off season with cherries

Royal Ann cherries.

Photo Essay by Nate Rafn

Salem's all-volunteer gleaning group, Salem Harvest, started the 2011 season with a 30-acre cherry harvest. 200 pickers gathered on Wednesday at a picturesque orchard just east of Salem. At the end of the night, 2000 pounds of cherries were picked.

Marion-Polk Food Share hosts plant sale to benefit Sunnyside Organics

by Nate Rafn

Marion-Polk Food Share is hosting a plant sale on Saturday July 9th, 11am-3pm, at their warehouse parking lot. Proceeds will benefit Sunnyside Organics, a local non-profit organization that uses agricultural activities to offer vocational training and horticultural therapy to adults with disabilities.

Volunteers needed for work-party at Oregon School for the Deaf Urban Farm

(The following information furnished by Marion-Polk Food Share)

Come one, come all! All are invited to come lend a hand as we plant and prepare at the 2-acre Oregon School for the Deaf Urban Farm.

Community garden plots available in the Mid-Willamette Valley

Several community gardens associated with Marion-Polk Food Share have rental plots available for the 2011 growing season. Prices and plot sizes vary. Visit the Marion-Polk Food Share website for a list of garden locations and availability, plus contact info for each garden.

Marion-Polk Food Share partners with volunteers, church groups, and other organizations to operate over 30 community gardens in Marion and Polk Counties. These gardens produce food for distribution at local pantries, as well as the gardeners who cultivate the soil.

For more information, contact Food Share's garden coordinator, Ian Dixon-McDonald.

Ian Dixon-McDonald
Community Gardens Director
503-581-3855 x329
imcdonald@marionpolkfoodshare.org

Sustainer Circle milestone for Marion-Polk Food Share

by Nate Rafn

Last week we participated in a Sustainer Circle fundraiser dinner for Marion-Polk Food Share. The dinner was held at Mission Mill, and catered by students from South Salem High School. The meal consisted of salad, chicken breast, and a whole-wheat roll for each guest. Several light desserts were served as well.

The event was the second of its kind since launching the "Imagine No Hunger" campaign in November of 2010. Since then, nearly 300 people have signed-up to join the Sustainer Circle, bringing the total number of Sustainers to over 1,000. This is a huge milestone for Marion-Polk Food Share. It provides the food bank with a consistent source of funding throughout the year. And as we all know, hunger is a year-round problem.

For more information about Marion-Polk Food Share, please visit their website at www.marionpolkfoodshare.org. Please also consider joining the Sustainer Circle. Together we can help end hunger in Marion and Polk Counties.

Related Links

Sustainer Circle PSA from Living Culture TV

www.youtube.com

MPFS Community Gardens Program

www.youtube.com

Marion-Polk Food Share introduces new director of community gardens

The Mid-Willamette Valley's regional food bank, known as Marion-Polk Food Share, has hired Ian Dixon-McDonald to lead the community gardens program.

Dixon-McDonald was raised in Polk County, and has lived in Monmouth, Corvallis, and Eugene. He earned a Masters degree in Sustainable Communities from Northern Arizona University.

Dixon-McDonald is taking-on a program that has grown tremendously in the last six years under the guidance of Jordan Blake. Marion-Polk Food Share is currently associated with over 50 gardens in the Mid-Willamette Valley. In 2010, the gardens collectively produced more than 100,000 pounds of fresh produce for local food pantries and participating families.

Visit Food Share's sustainable gardens page to learn more about the program and how you can get involved.

2010 in Review: Living Culture's best videos

by Nate Rafn

2010 was an eventful year for Living Culture. We completed 8 full episodes featuring 19 new guests; received 22,500 views on YouTube; won awards from the Statesman Journal and 1000 Friends of Oregon; and established the Living Culture Blog.

Displayed below are three video segments from 2010. Each video highlights individuals and organizations who are impacting the local foods movement in a powerful way. Please support their efforts.

Local groups team-up to offer urban agriculture classes

Posted by Nate Rafn

I spoke with a few people at Pringle Creek yesterday about their new Urban Farmer Certification program. Starting in January 2011, Pringle Creek will join Friends of Salem Saturday Market, OSU Master Gardener Program, and area farmers to teach a ten-month course on growing food in urban settings. Students will learn about garden planning, seeds, insects, composting, etc.

For more information on this great program, visit the Pringle Creek Community blog.

Note: Living Culture plans to cover this story in the coming months. Stay tuned!

Pringle Creek and Food Share
from the Living Culture Archive

"Imagine No Hunger" kick-off event at Mission Mill Museum.

Marion-Polk Food Share launched their "Imagine No Hunger" sustainer campaign at Salem's Mission Mill Museum on Tuesday night. Over 400 people attended the event, which was catered by students from South Salem High School.

Marion-Polk Food Share to launch new campaign against hunger.

On Tuesday, November 9th, Marion-Polk Food Share will host a free event to kick-off their "Imagine No Hunger" Sustainer Campaign.

With the help of 16 volunteer councils, Marion-Polk Food Share is pushing to increase awareness of food-insecurity, and increase monthly giving to offset the cost of feeding a growing number of hungry families.

The event will be held at Mission Mill, and will feature a soup dinner. While donations are not required, those in attendance will be given an opportunity to join Marion-Polk Food Share's Sustainer Circle with a monthly gift of financial support.

Please attend this event and help Marion-Polk Food Share continue to fight hunger in the Mid-Willamette Valley!

Details:

"Imagine No Hunger" campaign kick-off event
Tuesday, November 9th, 6:30 PM
Mission Mill Museum Spinning Room
1313 Mill St. SE, Salem OR

Reservations required by October 29th
call 503.581.3855 ext. 314

Marion-Polk Food Share community gardens on Living Culture TV:

Cauliflower harvest in Woodburn reaches food banks throughout western U.S.

A partnership between Marion-Polk Food Share, Farmers Ending Hunger, and Neighborhood Harvest of Salem, was successful in shipping 80,000 lbs. of fresh cauliflower to food banks and canneries in four western states.

The crop was donated by a farmer just north of Woodburn, Oregon. Farmers Ending Hunger hired a professional farm crew to harvest the cauliflower, while Neighborhood Harvest of Salem signed-up volunteers to pack the vegetables for shipping.

On Wednesday, the first load of cauliflower was piled onto a large plastic tarp in an empty Woodburn parking lot. Armed with work-gloves and five-gallon buckets, volunteers picked through the mound of cauliflower, placing whole heads into large cardboard boxes to be shipped.

Today, another 120,000 lbs. is being harvested and shipped, bringing the estimated two-day total to 200,000 lbs.

Learn More

To volunteer, donate, or learn more about these great organizations, please visit their respective websites.

Neighborhood Harvest of Salem
Marion-Polk Food Share
Farmers Ending Hunger

Volunteers packing cauliflower in Woodburn, Oregon.

Volunteers needed for huge cauliflower harvest in Woodburn.

Neighborhood Harvest of Salem is partnering with Marion-Polk Food Share to collect a massive amount of fresh cauliflower for regional food banks. 200 volunteers are needed on Wednesday, October 20th at 5 PM, in Woodburn.

Listed below are the details from Lisa Clark-Burnell, project manager with Neighborhood Harvest.

"We have an unusual event this week:  we're helping Marion Polk Food Share  make sure 200,000 pounds of cauliflower, yes, 100 tons, being donated by
a farmer doesn't get wasted. 

100 tons of good quality cauliflower is being professionally harvested by a farm crew hired by Farmers Ending Hunger in partnership with Marion Polk Food Share and the Oregon Food Bank.   The farm crew will be placing it on tarps in a large parking lot (Hershberger Motors), near Woodburn Company Stores/Outlets .  Our role is a giant bucket brigade:  take it out of the giant piles and put it into wooden totes.   As usual, our  volunteers can take part of the harvest home (up to half).   This is how all of our harvest parties work.  What's different about this one is that you don't actually have to harvest the cauliflower, just scoop it up!  

This crop is going to all of Oregon, WA, UT, AZ!  Part of it will be sent to a cannery to be put into soups for longer storage.  Please help us make sure that 200,000 lbs of nutritious veggies don't go to waste.  Be part of an army of volunteers fighting hunger.  Kids who can scoop stuff into a bucket are welcome.    What you need to bring:  gloves and a large bucket (5 gallons is a good size) for moving piles of veggies and something to take cauliflower home to your family in. 
Register as a Neighborhood Harvest volunteer picker at http://salemharvest.org/PickersInfo.html   Once you're in our database you can sign up for any harvests at the   Harvest Parties web page: http://www.salemharvest.org/harvestlist.php  When you sign up for the harvest, a thank you page shows up giving your exact directions to the harvest party."