Ahem...welcome SPRING, I said!

Winter is tenacious this year.  Spring is waiting in the wings, but somebody's gotta grab the hook and yank the Icicle King off the stage. We are so beyond bored with this act.

Indoors,  I have some lovely forsythia branches (thanks to a friend) that have been forced into bloom.

 

^^And these girls stopped by for lunch the other day.

The Easter Bunny also paid us an early visit, via UPS.  Apparently, when you get old enough, things reverse and your kids start giving you candy. (Thanks, Brendan and Jenny!) We'll have to hurry and eat it to get it out of the house so we can get back to our healthy diet. 

Welcome Spring!

Punxsutawney Phil is being vilified.  Well played, Mother Nature.  Very funny.

I refuse to let a little thing like waking up to 14 degrees on the second day of SPRING get me down.

I'll admit I stayed home last night rather than driving to Randolph for the Cattaraugus-Chautauqua 4 Clean Water meeting, because when you're under a lake effect snow warning, it's hard to know where and when those bands of snow will hit. You can suddenly find yourself driving blind in a whiteout.

The snow warning has now been extended into tomorrow, so even though the sun is shining at the moment, we can likely expect to get dumped on again several times over the next 24 hours. That's just the way these things roll.

I do plan to attend this evening's presentation at the Prendergast Library on Fracking: Impacts on Environmental, Health, and Society. I hope to see a good turnout there, because this information is so important for people in our area to have.  We need knowledge on our side to have even a fighting chance of avoiding the devastation our neighbors "south of the border" in Pennsylvania have seen. People must be aware that there are better ways to meet our energy needs, and create jobs!  The event starts at 7 pm, so please plan to be there.

Today is the last day to see  the "Andy Warhol: Acquisitions and Jamestown Nexus" exhibition at the Weeks Gallery at JCC. Hours are from 11 am - 5 pm, and admission is FREE.

Tomorrow and Saturday, the Ironmen will be back on the ice at the JSB Arena (with only two more scheduled home games after this, next weekend).  Currently in second place in their division, the Ironmen are shooting for a first round bye in the playoffs. Support our local hockey team!

Sylvia, a comedy about a street-smart dog, concludes this weekend at JCC's Scharmann Theatre with performances on Friday and Saturday evening and a Sunday matinee.  Tickets are $10 and dog lovers will not want to miss this.

If you like classical music, the Jamestown Unitarian Universalist Congregation on Prendergast will be hosting a Music Salon with guitar soloist James Piorkowski on Sunday at 7pm. Admission is free, although donations to help cover costs are gratefully accepted.

Daytime events: The GROW Jamestown Garden Fair will be held on Saturday downtown at the Renaissance Center from 10 am- 2 pm and will include vendors, workshops, and prizes. Think Spring! It's coming! Admission is free and downtown parking is free on weekends.  

Meanwhile, at the Audubon Center, it's "Eggstravaganza" (learn about all sorts of eggs, birds to insects) from 11 am - 3 pm.  (also Saturday) Cost is $7 ($5 for members).  You might want to take along your snowshoes or skinny skis and enjoy the nature trails while you're there.

It's also Maple Weekend in New York, and the sap is running!  In Chautauqua County, there are three producers that will be holding "open house" for visitors on Saturday and Sunday: Big Tree Maple in Lakewood, Clear Creek Farm in Mayville, and Fairbanks Maple in Forestville. Click on this link for details and directions.

Get out and do something! get your blood moving! We have options here, people!

Things to do on a cold March weekend

It's snowy and freezing out there again this morning. What to do, what to do?

Well, fortification with good strong coffee is always the first step.  And local eggs scrambled with sauteed mushrooms and greens was the next step.

I know, I know, I'm flirting with danger of becoming the "Food in Jamestown" blog. But eating is something all of us have to do every day, and having fun with your food makes it even better.

Yesterday morning I attended an interesting meeting sponsored by the Southern Tier West Regional Planning & Development Board, the regional planning entity serving Chautauqua, Cattaraugus, and Allegany Counties. They have received a USDA Rural Business Opportunity Grant to assess various capacities related to the aggregation and distribution of food and food products produced within the three counties. The grant was awarded to retain an expert food system consultant to provide a 3rd party analysis of supply and demand factors, with special focus on the development of new markets for local and regional products.

This consultant is  Anthony Flaccavento of Abingdon, VA, who  is a commercial organic farmer and planned and launched one of the nation’s first local food aggregation and distribution enterprises: Appalachian Harvest. This effort, labeled as one of the first contemporary models of food hub facilities, became the model for food hub facilities that is now trending nationally. He is an interesting and knowledgeable guy! 

Yesterday he was in Jamestown to gather information from local food producers, community stakeholders, planners, and food system advocates.    I was there as a coordinator of a food buying club as well as my interest in and advocacy for all things local. 

It will be interesting to see the report this summer. My amateur takeaway was that there is a very big piece of the puzzle missing here -- the aggregator -- which I hope can be solved at some point in the not too distant future. Meanwhile, it was made apparent that there is much we can and should be doing on a smaller scale right now here in Jamestown to ramp up our farmers market, to improve access (parking!) for customers and make the whole thing more worthwhile for farmers to participate in.

There is also much more that needs to be done in the way of educating people about the benefits of local food. Because most people still do their shopping at the grocery store.

To be continued.

Next week I'll be attending a meeting of the Food Security Taskforce (the east side of Jamestown is an official "food desert," but last summer's brief trial of a farmers market on that side of town was a big FAIL, so it's back to the drawing board), a meeting of the newly-formed Cattaraugus-Chautauqua 4 Clean Water anti-fracking group, a Critical Discussions presentation at Prendergast Library on Fracking --Impacts on Environment, Health, and Society, the GROW Jamestown Garden Fair at the Renaissance Center on Saturday 10AM - 2PM, and a little dinner with some members of our church.  

But, today...

New Leash on Life animal rescue is holding an adoption event at the Lakewood Tractor Supply. If you've been thinking about getting a puppy, or an older dog, you might want to head out there 9AM - 2PM and meet these people, and get some wonderful warm wet puppy kisses!

Chautauqua Suites is holding another Indoor Yard Sale today. Admission $1, it's not out in the cold, and you never know what you might find!

If I decide to put down the coffee and get out from under my blanket, you might even see me there! 

Fun with food

I meant to post an update last week, but with all the other things going on -- my attention to the food buying club, yoga, weaving, reading, and especially the additional time in the kitchen chopping vegetables -- it just didn't happen.

So, March roared in like a lion, right on schedule, resulting in the predictable crankiness about the staying power of winter. Right now it's thawing before it freezes again -- if you don't like the weather, wait a few minutes. I did see an Amish farmer out in his field with his horses and plow over the weekend -- a sure sign of spring!

We've gotten through two weeks of the diet change, with very little slippage.  The goal is not to be perfect ( there's going to be a little chocolate here and there, count on it), but we're enjoying our healthier food choices rather than feeling constricted by them. We're actually eating a much larger variety of foods than before.  Salads have become much more interesting with the addition of nuts and seeds and sprouts. More fruit in the house means more fruit flies. Hey, the more the merrier!

I'll be overseeing my second distribution for the food buying club this week, and so far so good. It was fun meeting some of the other members for the first time, and getting new ideas about what to order in the future.  I took a big leap and added some tofu to my order this time. I've never been a big tofu fan, but I have to admit that the recipes I've tried from Dr. Fuhrman's book have been delicious, so I'm willing to try the tofu ones, just because.  In order to like certain foods (kale, for instance), you have to give them several tries and learn the best ways to prepare them.   I like having fun with my food.

Usually not THIS much fun, though:

















But if you feel inspired, go for it!