This conference looks great. It's sponsored by Rural Roots, a Moscow, ID based organization that promotes sustainable food and farming. Here's the scoop.Join local growers, educators, sustainable food advocates, and community members as we collectively address our regional food system priorities in this unique "working"…
Found this great new site (via GOOD) that allows you to type in the number on your milk jug and determine where the product came from.I typed in the numbers on our gallon of milk from the fridge and sure enough - it's from Spokane.…
Berry's comments from the Art of the Commonplace, are helpful in describing the benefits of growing your own vegetables and knowing the origins of the meat we eat.The pleasure of eating should be an extensive pleasure, not that of the mere gourmet. People who know…
When I started gardening I always got stuck at the beginning of every gardening season waiting for my friend to get out his rototiller and let me borrow it. In my mind, you couldn't and shouldn't start planting stuff until the soil had a good…
If you're starting your own seeds in trays, you should know that you're not supposed to use regular garden soil. You need to use a "medium" that is sterile, meaning that it doesn't have fungus and bacteria that will be hard on your tender little…
I'll be part of a panel for an upcoming conference put on by Inland Northwest Second Harvest. Two of the fellow panelists represent local grass roots groups that I was unaware of before my involvement with the conference.Backyard Harvest is an organization started in Moscow,…
Plans are quickly coming together for a community garden on the southeast corner of Argonne and Maringo just across the street from Inland Empire Paper Mill. Go here for background information. We will be holding an organizational meeting on Thursday, March 11 at 7pm at…
After a long journey through the legislature, HSB 2402 was just approved by the Washington State Senate with a vote of 42-1. Starting in 2011 non-profits will be able to maintain their non-profit status on property used for a farmers' market. In that I sort…
Someone tipped me off to the new Barr-Tech composting facility southwest of Spokane in Lincoln County. I spoke with Ted Condon yesterday, one of the project leaders, and he filled in some of the details. The facility is just starting to come on line after…
When it comes to crusading for sustainability and the environment I don't have any grand schemes. Maybe because I'm rather simple minded, I have a simple plan - start a vegetable garden, grow your own food and change the world. If I could impose my…
I made my annual trip to Northwest Seed and Pet today to get my gardening game face on. It's officially time to start rattling around the greenhouse and get some early season crops started. Here in the Spokane area May 15 is the traditional last…
I ran into Jerry Tate from Tate's Honey Farm at the Rocket Bakery this morning. I asked him how his bees are doing and he said they are great, but added that Western Washington Beekeepers are really hurting. I probed for more information and he…
As I reported yesterday I spent some time with the Community Based Theatre class (pictured above) at Whitworth University, sharing about our family's year long experiment of consuming everything local, used, homegrown or homemade. They are in research mode, meeting with local folks like Fred…
In the latest young adult social networking "mob" trend, there is a group in North Carolina participating in monthly Crop Mobbing incidents.The Crop Mob, a monthly word-of-mouth (and -Web) event in which landless farmers and the agricurious descend on a farm for an afternoon, has…
I had the pleasure last week of hanging out with the folks at DOMA Coffee Roasting Company in Coeur d' Alene/Post Falls. Our experiment of eating locally for a year opened up to us the world of Spokane area coffee roasters. Before I go on,…
I've lived most of my life near world class urban centers - Seattle, Los Angeles, and Houston and the one thing I miss living in Spokane is the grittiness and vitality of a big vibrant downtown. Downtown Spokane has its charms though. My wife and…
A veggie garden in front of New York's City Hall?It's not just farmers and consumers who are in a tizzy over Michael Pollan;But there is another cultural divide coming to the fore in our society, this one between farmer and farmer. The best current example…
"Fresh," a new movie about food, is playing at the Magic Lantern in downtown Spokane tonight, Feb 18 at 7pm. The site indicates it will be playing through Feb. 21. Here's the synopsis;FRESH celebrates the farmers, thinkers and business people across America who are re-inventing…
I have been noticing a lot of back and forth between farmers and non-farmers on Twitter and this statement by @follownathan really caught my attention. He says, "I am growing very tired of hearing the word "consumer" It's a design for a disconnect #ag4all #agchat…
There is a must read article at the Atlantic Monthly describing Walmart's little known "Heritage Agriculture" program;The program, which Walmart calls Heritage Agriculture, will encourage farms within a day’s drive of one of its warehouses to grow crops that now take days to arrive in…
Via Rod Dreher I found this article that reflects on the profound (and humorous) lessons we learn from sharing our backyard with chickens. He shares about the many lessons we learn about human life from observing chickens. The most resonant part of the article to…
Below is a Re-post from two years ago. I can tell from Google searches that people are starting to think about starting seeds. I'll follow up next week. Go here to see the informative comments to the previous posting of this information.This will be my…
I just received an email from Kevin Parker, a Spokane area state Representative. He told me that HB 2402 was just passed by the Washington State House with a unanimous vote. Go here for background info.
OK, it's official. Wendell Berry is the Patron Saint of Year of Plenty. His writings resonate with me and our consumption experiences in the deepest ways. I wouldn't hire him as an economist or an accountant, but when I need a poet and prophet, Mr.…
The Year of Plenty blog was created by Craig Goodwin in the winter of 2008 to chronicle the experiences of his family as they sought to consume everything local, used, homegrown or homemade. That journey was a wonderful introduction to people and movements in the Spokane area who are seeking the welfare of the community through local foods, farmers markets, community gardens, sustainable transportation, and more fulfilling and just patterns of consumption. In 2009 and beyond the blog will continue to report on these relationships and practices, all through the eyes of a family with young children. Craig manages the Millwood Farmers' Market, is a Master Food Preserver and Pastor at Millwood Presbyterian Church. Craig can be reached at goody2230@gmail.com
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