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Holiday Gift Giving

xtraspatial — Tue, 27 Dec 2005 10:22:49 -0800

Giving gifts this year was a difficult proposition for me. How do I simultaneously honor my commitments to Corporate Disobedience and my desire to give tribute to those who are closest to me? I'm sure there are as many ways as there are people in this forum. I'd like to share my method:

I became enrapt with the PCI and its notions of sustainability, awareness of Peak Oil, and relocalization only recently, and most of my friends and family members had no idea that I started a Post Carbon Outpost in upstate NY. So the first thing I did was to share with them the passion I feel for my new endeavor. I didn't try to persuade them, or scare them, or even ask for their graces. I just explained that I haven't felt so motivated to action since, well, hmmmm... I guess I never felt so motivated to action! I then explained to them, if they didn't already know, the concepts of self-sufficiency in the context of resource depletion and the effects of continuing on with the status quo. Again, no prosthelitizing, just emitting my worldview.

Sustainable Saratoga Springs (NY)

Anyone with experience with Bokashi/Effective Micro-organisms?

xtraspatial — Wed, 18 Jan 2006 07:48:39 -0800

As a backyard organic gardener (about 40 sq meters), I found an article on Bokashi use in Nova Scotia quite interesting. I have a compost box here in Saratoga Springs, New York, but the breakdown of organic matter is quite slow. I'm not using worms or strictly adhering to the addition of green/brown matter. Is anyone familiar with Bokashi and its effectiveness in reducing composting times?

OM Shanti,
Jim Zack, Sustainable Saratoga Springs (NY)

Sustainable Saratoga Springs (NY)

PowerDown: Imposed by Nature (17 Feb 2006)

xtraspatial — Sat, 25 Feb 2006 07:12:02 -0800

As all of you in the Saratoga area are well aware, we experienced a natural Powerdown scenario Friday, 17 February, when winds, locally in excess of 55 mph, downed trees and powerlines, cutting power to many businesses and over 150,000 area residents. For most, grid power wasn't restored until Saturday night, but some were without power until Tuesday or Wednesday. While temperatures were seasonably mild, many were without a means for heating their homes and those without gravity-driven water systems had no running water.

There was one direct fatality in the Spa area: a DOT worker who was killed when a huge pine tree sheared 15 feet up and crushed his truck. There were house fires, including another fatality in a South Glens Falls house fire.

Sustainable Saratoga Springs (NY)

Saratoga Springs Area Eateries Serving Locally-grown Produce

xtraspatial — Mon, 21 May 2007 07:57:15 -0700

Here is a list of Saratoga Springs-area Eateries that use locally-grown produce in their kitchens:

Beekman Street Bistro, 62 Beekman Street, Saratoga Springs, 581-1816
Cantina, 430 Broadway, Saratoga Springs, 587-5577
Chez Sophie Bistro, City Center, Saratoga Springs, 583-3538
JT Baker's, Main Street, Greenwich, 531-2000
Mouzon House, 1 York Street (next to SS Farmers' Market), Saratoga Springs, 226-0014
One Caroline Street Bistro, 1 Caroline Street, Saratoga Springs, 587-2026
Sargo's, Saratoga National Golf Course, Rt 9P, Saratoga Springs, 583-4653 x632
Springwater Bistro, 139 Union Avenue, Saratoga Springs, 584-6440
Roadhouse 29, 1023 Route 29, Town of Saratoga, 695-6995

Please consider supporting these eateries in their efforts to choose to support local growers!

Also, if you know of any other eateries that use locally-grown produce, please let us know.

Sustainable Saratoga Springs (NY)

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver

xtraspatial — Wed, 05 Sep 2007 10:19:34 -0700

I'm in the process of reading "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life" by Barbara Kingsolver, in which she, along with her husband, Steve Hopp, and daughter Camille describe their experience of eating (nearly) exclusively local food for an entire year.

The book is organized by topics but follows pretty much the chronology of their excursion into the food supplies found in their gardens, their neighbors gardens, and the various places where they travel (including Canada, Ohio, Pennsylvania).

Her style of writing is uplifting and celebratory, with a bit of sarcasm and a pinch of cynicism. It is a great companion to Bill McKibben's "Deep Economy."

Camille includes recipes at the end of most chapters, and I've learned to make Mozzarella Cheese from her! I now make my own very local mozzarella using Meadowbrook milk (just southwest of Albany), citric acid (OK, not so local), and vegetarian rennet. It takes about an hour (less if you use a microwave), and can be eaten directly thereafter or chilled for later. I had it on my tomatoes, and topped it with my basil, drizzled with olive oil (OK, OK!! Not local!), and pepper (I know: not local). I figure it costs me about $2.75 in materials (half-gallon of milk and traces of the citric acid and rennet). This compares to the $4.50 for the same amount of cheese made from non-organic (and probably rBGH-infused) milk from some huge dairy conglomerate and wrapped in plastic. Next, I want to try cream cheese (or Neufchatel), creme fraiche, and some aged hard cheese (like cheddar). Then on to blues.

I don't eat much dairy now, but I'm intrigued by the process of preserving food and cheese foots the bill there.

Anyone else reading the book or have cheese-making experiences to share?

Sustainable Saratoga Springs (NY)

Introducing Capital District Local First

kschlesinger — Mon, 19 Nov 2007 13:27:08 -0800

I am writing to introduce Capital District Local First, a new group in our area promoting local living economies in Albany, Rensselaer, Schenectady & Saratoga Counties of NYS. You can read more about us at http://www.capitaldistrictlocalfirst.org/, and there is also a downloadable brochure on the site for anyone interested in joining the group.

Capital District Local First is a nonprofit organization located in New York State’s Capital District. Our mission is to foster connections among and provide educational resources for the general public and the locally owned, independent business and nonprofit community of the Capital District of New York State so that those individuals and organizations are better able to contribute to building a local, living economy in the region. A local living economy enhances the social fairness, community spirit, financial vitality, and environmental health of the region.
We are in the process of becoming a network of the Business Alliance for Local Living Economies and obtaining non-profit tax-exempt status. (www.livingeconomies.org)

Our organization is developing the following programs:

Educational Program for Members and Supporters
Public Awareness Outreach Program
Research and Dissemination Program

I am reaching out to your group in particular because we don't have many members in the Saratoga area, and that is something that we are looking to change. Please feel free to contact me with any questions about our group at karen {at} digitalartistspace {dot} com.

Sustainable Saratoga Springs (NY)

Taking Back Your Body

aplotsky — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 14:43:27 -0800

Hey all,

I just joined the group, I am a junior at Skidmore College, and a friend of mine and I are making a tv show for the college television network (unfortunately only viewable on campus TVs).

The show is a vegetarian locavore cooking show, on which we visit farms, use their ingredients (the next show is Saratoga Apple) to cook a meal, and along the way discuss key issues surrounding the local movement. It is a bit rough around the edges, and we are now working on the second episode (to air March 6th), but I figure that this group may be interested in checking it out.

You can see it on the web at:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MnyJShO4XPE

We also have a website, www.takingbackyourbody.wordpress.com , on which you can find recipes, a few links, and hopefullly in the future some other fun stuff.

cheers,

andrew

Sustainable Saratoga Springs (NY)