Upcoming Events: Yoga & Water

Here's two interesting & not-so-far events this weekend that may be of interest:

Meditation Retreat
9:00am - 4:00pm
Science of Spirituality Meditation Center
79 County Line Road
Amityville, LI
Workshops, yoga & cooking class
Science of Spirituality Website

Water for Long Island:
Defending Long Island's Water Supply Forum
2:00pm - 5:00pm
Cold Spring Harbor Library
95 Harbor Road (Rt. 25-A)
Cold Spring Harbor, LI
*Free*
Presentations by US Geological Survey, Suffolk County Department of Health Services & NYIT Center for Water Resource Management

"Weed" Bouquets

Who would've thought these "weeds" could be so pretty? I had a lot of fun combining the textures, shapes, and heights of these grasses that I pass by everyday, and putting them together into these native grass bouquets. 

Event: Moving Planet Worldwide Rally, Sept. 25th

This Saturday is Moving Planet's worldwide day of action, calling for urgently needed climate change solutions & immediate responses from governments. Already, 168 countries (out of 195) are participating, making this a truly global event for our planet & our future.

There 2 events in Nassau County, 2 events in Suffolk County, 1 major event in Manhattan, and 1 major even in Brooklyn. For a complete list of events, see Moving Planet's event finder page.

To highlight Nassau County's events, there will be a demonstration in Elmont and at Jones Beach. On Sunday, the day after the worldwide day of action, Crossroads Farm at Grossmann's in Malverne will be hosting a potluck dinner & farm tour with tribute to 350.org & Moving Planet.

As is the case with demonstrations, numbers matter most! Showing up for as little as 15 minutes can help these events become successful rallies & send a strong message to our government to lead fossil-fuel-free energy initiatives [see: the recent Tar Sands Action protests in Washington, D.C., Tar Sands Action's October 7th follow-up, the 2010 documentary Gasland]. There is plenty of momentum for clean, renewable energy - now it's just a matter of showing up.

Tar Sands Action Protest: Over 1,250 people traveled to Washington, D.C. earlier this month, risking arrest to peacefully protest the Keystone XL pipeline. President Obama will be deciding this fall whether or not to approve the 1,900 mile pipeline, stretching from Canada to Texas to bring tar sands (a low-quality, unrefined fossil fuel) to the US's Gulf Coast. 

Featured as the first speaker in this video is Bill McKibben, founder of 350.org and the Moving Planet events, including this Saturday's worldwide demonstrations.

Gasland Trailer: a 2010 documentary about hydrofracking or "fracking," a process used to extract oil & natural gas by injecting highly-pressurized water and chemicals into the ground. Fracking is often advocated by politicians as a "solution" to the energy crisis.

Event: The Long Island Fair, Sept. 22nd - 25th

This Thursday through Sunday, the Old Bethpage Village Restoration will host the Long Island Fair, a 166-year-old tradition began by the Queens County Agricultural Society in 1842. This is the 41st fair at the Old Bethapge Village Restoration grounds; the fair was held in Mineola from 1866-1950's, at Roosevelt Raceway from the late 1950's through 1970, and at Old Bethpage Village Restoration since 1970. The Old Bethpage Village Restoration is a great location to provoke images of the past and inspire the agricultural tradition today.

Images from www.lifair.org/history.htm

The Long Island Fair features children's games & shows, a corn husking contest, bluegrass bands, and of course, delicious food! There are also traditional showcases for vegetables, fruits, crafts, hobbies, and baked goods from Long Island. New this year are the Think Green Awards, classes for teens and adults in needlework, cooking, and hobbies, and a wine department for adults. For more details, visit the Long Island Fair's webpage and Long Island Fair's History. 

New Local Link: 3 Brothers Pizza Cafe, Rockville Centre

A new vendor has been added to the Local Links (on the right of this page) -- 3 Brothers Pizza Cafe in Rockville Centre. Their restaurant was recently featured in a Rockville Centre Patch.com article by Judy Griffin, certified holistic health coach at NourishingSolutions4Life.com, for their extensive and delicious vegan menu.

To view the article, click here.

To view 3 Brothers Pizza Cafe's website, click here or on their link in the Local Links menu.

Local Links lists farmers markets, restaurants, and health food stores in Nassau County by town. Do you know of a great Nassau vendor not listed? Email Locally Long Island at locallyli@gmail.com to include it!

NY Locavore Challenge - Breakfast, Day One

Today's the first day of NOFA-NY's NY Locavore Challenge! It's not even 10:00am, and I'm realizing just how challenging this month is going to be if I don't set some ground rules for myself. I've always wanted to see just how locally I could source my food, and the Challenge is the perfect opportunity to push me into a full-blown locavore. So, here goes nothing!

Melissa's NY Locavore Challenge:

• When I must go out to eat, I will choose only local restaurants & franchises - this means going to La Bottega instead of Olive Garden, Brew 7 instead of Starbucks, Speakeasy instead of Applebee's, etc. 

• I will try my best to replace the products I would buy from chain stores with locally-produced goods. So, I'll be having Papa Pasquale's ravioli from the Long Beach farmer's market instead of Trader Joe's.

• I will incorporate a locally-grown, organic fruit or vegetable into at least one meal a day. Ideally, I'd like to have at least one meal a day of entirely local food.

• I will try canning tomatoes, cooking fresh tomato sauce and foraging.

Breakfast this morning is already a challenge! I'm out of organically-fed, pasture-raised chicken eggs from Garden of Eve - I'll have to pick up more at Crossroads Farm at Grossmann's in Malverne today. Instead, I'll have Polka Dot Pound Cake's Chocolate Chip Banana Bread, a delicious, albeit sugary, start to my day. I also brewed a pot of coffee for myself - a sticky locavore subject, since the beans are grown outside the US - but I will only be buying from Gentle Brew from now on. These 4 young friends source Arabica beans from fair-trade growers, and roast & grind them right here in Hicksville, NY. I never "got" quality, fresh coffee until I tried their Columbia Sierra Nevada blend, and I'm never going back!

I'm sure lunch on Day 1 will be equally interesting...I'm wishing I stocked up on local goods before the month began! But this is why it's called a Challenge, right? And I'm looking forward to seeing just how local I can go...

The 2011 NY Locavore Challenge

Today, I registered for the NY Locavore Challenge, a program by the Northeast Organic Farming Association's New York Chapter (NOFA-NY).  Registrants pledge to eat locally for the month of September at their own choice of commitment level by participating in different activities. Luckily, the end of summer & beginning of autumn is an especially abundant time for local farms, so I doubt I'll go anywhere close to hungry!

nofany.org/events/ny-locavore-challenge

To chose your level of commitment, you select which activities you'd like to do in 3 their categories: "Grow, Cook, Eat", "Join the Movement", and "Take Action."  The amount of challenges you chose  determines whether your pledge is "Bite-Sized", "Meal-Sized", or "Feast-Sized". Registration is free, and participating helps show just how many of us are looking for local, sustainable options - an especially important statement in a suburban county like ours, only just beginning to offer these resources!

The categories & challenges are as follows [I've added links & my own notes in blue brackets]:

"Grow, Cook, Eat"
-Take a 250 Mile Challenge - for a day (counts as 1), week (counts as 2), or month (counts as 3)

-Shop at a Farmers Market, Farm Stand or U-Pick [for Nassau County farmer's markets, see this post]
-Dine at a Locavore Restaurant
-Join a Winter CSA or Join a Food Co-op
-Eat (at least) 5 Servings of Local, Organic Fruit & Veggies per Day
-Cook with Local Oils, Grains, Meats & Cheeses
-Sip on Local Milk, Juice, Beer, Wine & Spirits
-Swap Sugar for Local Honey & Maple Syrup
-Try Food Preservation (Canning, Freezing, Drying)
-Go Foraging! ["Wildman" Steve Brill hosts foraging tours in the Northeast - he'll be in Kings Park, LI on September 3rd & Brooklyn and Manhattan mid-September!]
-Make Your Own Butter, Yogurt, or Ice-Cream [a great activity to do with kids - and you can use milk from Long Island Dairy Farms!]
-Grow an Herb Garden
-Plant an Indoor Winter Garden-Plant at Cover Crop in Your Garden

-Compost Your Kitchen Scraps [I keep mine in the freezer to prevent odor & drop off at nearby gardens]

"Join the Movement"

-Like NOFA-NY on Facebook and/or Follow NOFANY on Twitter
-Blog About Your Challenge Experience (and send us the link!)
-Become a Member of NOFA-NY
-Attend a Locavore Event [there's a film screening event this Thursday at Crossroads Farm at Grossmann's, Garden of Eve's Garlic Festival, and plenty others I'll post in September ]
-Host a Locavore Potluck on Sept. 25th (Counts as 2) or Attend a Locavore Potluck (Counts as 1)
-Read a Locavore Book, and/or Host a Locavore Book Discussion (Counts as 2)
-Participate in a Crop Mob [contact a local farm - Crossroads Farm at Grossmann's, Restoration Farm, etc. - for similar volunteer programs]

"Take Action"

-Join the Millions Against Monsanto Campaign

-Lobby Your Food Store to Include More Local Product
-Ask Your Representative to Support Organic Farming
-Speak With Your School About Local Sourcing [check out Garden City's Waldorf School & Long Beach's NIKE School for local inspiration]
-Start a Garden in Your Community or School
-Volunteer at a Farm or Community Garden [check out all the farms & farmstands on the right of this blog for a project near you!]
-Donate to the NOFA-NY Farmer Education Fund

I, somewhat ambitiously, chose a Feast-Sized challenge (gulp!), and for the sake of being publically encouraged to follow through, will share my experiences here on Locally Long Island throughout the month of September. Please consider joining me in seeing just how local you can get (and, pretty please, mention you heard about it through Locally Long Island!): 

 Take the NY Locavore Challenge!

Nassau County Farmer's Markets 2011

Want Long Island corn on a Tuesday? Looking for local tomatoes on a Thursday afternoon? Well, it's my pleasure to present to you a calendar of all the farmer's markets for the 2011 growing season in Nassau County, for your week-long local food shopping needs:

You can download the PDF here.

Believe it or not, that took a lot of work - phew! If I missed a market you know of, please leave me a comment or send an email at locallyli@gmail.com.

You can use the links to the right of this page for more details about each town's market; the links are arranged alphabetically by town. You'll find health food stores in the list, too (like Lynbrook's Yogi & Tea cafe', now serving bubble tea - a hard-to-find treat in Nassau!).

[ EDIT: If you're looking for winter farmers market in Nassau County for 2011 & 2012, check out this post ]

Grown on Long Island Day is August 5th!

Copied from the Long Island Farm Bureau:

CELEBRATE GROWN ON LONG ISLAND DAY 
Farmers Market, Activities for Kids, Roasted Corn

Date: Friday, August 5, 2011  

Location: Suffolk County Farm in Yaphank   

Time: 12pm to 5pm.  

• Large Farmers Market
• Meet Local Farmers
• Activities for Kids
• Educational Animal Yard
• Roasted Corn & Wine and Food Tastings

Admission to the event is FREE.  

The First 500 visitors to donate $10 of produce to Island Harvest, a food rescue organization, will receive a FREE Grown on LI T-shirt.  

For more information about the event, please call 631.727.3777 or visitwww.GrownOnLongIsland.com    

Book: Short Nature Walks on Long Island

Short Nature Walks on Long Island

Wandering through the Barnes & Nobel on Old Country Road in Carle Place, I was thrilled to find an entire section dedicated to Long Island books! There was Long Island Rail Road, a history of the LIRR, Crazy Stuff Long Island: Little Known Facts About the Longest Island in America, and the most exciting to me, Short Nature Walks on Long Island. 

Now, I've been known to push myself through a challenging hike (willingly or otherwise...), but I'd been looking for a guide to easy trails on LI. This book includes maps, park hours, facilities & suggestions for what to bring, and the low-impact nature of these spots makes them accessible to any age. There are so many ecosystems here on LI - the marshlands of Jamaica Bay, the rocky beaches of the North Shore, the woodlands of central LI, and historic former estates - that I can't wait to explore with the help of this guide.