Author Archives: Frank Cetera

Herb and Plant Walk at Rahma Food Forest

Tuesday July 17, 5pm-6pm

        Rahma Edible Forest Snack Garden,

3100 S Salina St, Syracuse, New York 13205

Our landscapes are filled with beneficial and useful plants, so close at hand yet unrecognized by many, even when they are literally beneath our feet! Urban spaces in particular tend to be abundant with edible and medicinal plants due to the unique and diverse ecosystems created by human impacted environments. Some of these medicinal plants can made into tea or tincture to improve digestion, reduce stress, support the immune system and much more. In this workshop Nick Cavanaugh will help to you learn to identify some of these common plants, how to harvest them from clean locations, and how to consume them for health and enjoyment. Nick is an herbalist from Syracuse, currently practicing as a clinical herbalist in Burlington, VT and helping to run a retail herb store and herbal classroom. You can learn more about Nick’s work at www.nickherbalist.com.
https://www.facebook.com/events/1849817231773315/

FIC Affiliate Online Bookstore Sales

The Alchemical Nursery is now an affiliate vendor for the Fellowship for Intentional Community (FIC) online bookstore.  Click on the banner below, which shows some of the newest titles in the store, and 10% of your purchase will be donated to The Alchemical Nursery!

https://www.ic.org/community-bookstore/category/community-books/all-titles/ref/76/?campaign=INTRO

2018 Opening Season Clean-Ups and Special Events Schedule

Opening Season Garden CleanUps and Resource Drive

  • Clean-Up Cuse and Resource Drive on Saturday April 21
    Rahma Food Forest Garden from 10am to 3pm
    3100 South Salina St
    In addition to trash pick-up at the food forest and surrounding streets, we will be propagating hardwood cuttings of currants and gooseberry by plugging them directly into the ground in areas that we have targeted for restoration work.  We will also be digging and separating root/bulb perennials to have on stock for our upcoming plant swap and sale (see below).  Finally, we’ll be receiving compost and mulch deliveries from Syracuse Grows that we’ll need volunteers to unload and haul around the site.

    Clean-Up Cuse and Resource Drive on Saturday April 21
    610 Gifford St Community Garden from 11am to 1pm
    Trash pick up at the garden and on surrounding blocks as part of a neighborhood wide effort coordinated by Take Back The Streets.  We’ll feast on rice and beans too provided by our volunteers.  We’ll also start seeding cold weather crops as the ground is supposed to be thawed, and propagating cuttings and other perennials as possible.  Finally, we’ll also be receiving compost and mulch deliveries from Syracuse Grows that we’ll need volunteers to unload and haul around the site.

Special Events

  • EarthFest at Thornden on Sunday April 22
    Thornden Park from 12noon to 4pm
    Come paint garden art signs with us!  Participate in a  community painting event by sharing your style in painting a garden art sign that depicts one of the species in our gardens.  We then use the signs for education in the gardens, and fundraising.  There is no cost for folks to paint!

 

  • Revolution’s Regard Art Show on Sat April 28 from 4pm to 12midnight
    The Gear Factory (Corner of South Geddes and West Fayette)
    Come paint garden art signs with us again!  Participate in a  community painting event by sharing your style in painting a garden art sign that depicts one of the species in our gardens.  We then use the signs for education in the gardens, and fundraising.  There is no cost for folks to paint!

 

  • Plant Swap & Sale on Sat May 5 from 11:30am to 2 pm
    405 Westcott St at Bread and Roses Collective
    Plant lineup will be on Facebook event pages of both organization soon (or contact us if you don’t use FB). This year, Worker’s Center of CNY will be serving Zapatista coffee & selling Handmade crafts, and Brad from Salt City Syrup will be selling his Syrup and Maple Cotton Candy!

ANP President Joins PAN Educators Pledge

The Alchemical Nursery Project’s President and Co-Founder Frank Cetera has joined the initial cohort of early adopters in taking the Permaculture Association of the Northeast’s Educators Pledge.  

“PAN’s Permaculture Educators’ Pledge is a voluntary commitment to uphold integrity in permaculture education. It describes a set of best practices permaculture educators use to design and teach their classes and events. This Pledge was created so that permaculture practitioners in our region, from beginners to emerging leaders, receive high-quality educational experiences and mentorship. It clarifies expectations in permaculture educational experiences and allows students to know teachers that sign the pledge honor and are committed to these practices.

This Pledge is a “living” document. PAN will continue to work to create opportunities for continued learning, sharing, feedback and suggestions regarding this pledge to ensure it continues to reflect the network’s values and desired best practices. These community-developed education practices were co-created BY members of the network FOR members of the network over a multi-year period, including input from the 2014 NAPC POC and Allies caucus. Those who sign the Pledge may advertise this designation on their websites and outreach materials. Permaculture educators who adhere to the Pledge must sign it annually. PAN does not make any guarantee that the individual educator is complying with the Pledge, though the network is open to exploring methods of increasing accountability.

WE PLEDGE THAT IN OUR TEACHING and MENTORING we:”

Honor and acknowledge the indigenous origins and techniques in permaculture. 
Teach to a diversity of learning styles, abilities and experiences. 
Teach to reach- auditory, visual, and kinesthetic learners. 
Accommodate access; i.e hold classes in spaces that are ADA compliant, scent free, allow for interpreters
or translators. 
Conduct the classroom as a safe space for learning. We do not discriminate based on race, gender, sexual
orientation, ability, immigration status. 
Recognize and engage students as bearers of knowledge. 
Cultivate ample diversity in the classroom. 
Are transparent with curriculum, teachers’ qualifications, and teachers’ bios by posting them on your
website and/or promotional materials. 
Share syllabus, daily schedule, etc. with all prospective and registered students. 
Cite or acknowledge material used or built upon from other teachers and sources. 
Design in breaks and easy access for food, water, and bathroom. 
Articulate and model a zero tolerance policy for sexual harassment and sexual misconduct. 
Create mechanisms for feedback from students. 
Read and incorporate feedback into future teaching. 
Teach with diverse teaching teams, and highlight the work of women, people of color and other marginalized groups in case studies, field trips, works cited, etc. 
Highlight and connect with local teachers, projects and community members. 
Decrease financial and other barriers for attendance, i.e sliding scale, early bird pricing, payment plans, work trade, scholarships, child-care, weekend formats. 
Pay a living wage or offer equitable barter to all guest teachers, assistant teachers and organizers. 
Create opportunities for continued mentorship and pathways to leadership. 

For full details on the pledge visit http://northeastpermaculture.org/get-involved/the-pan-permaculture-educators-pledge/

Member Patrons Benefits and Supports

Become a member patron today by giving only $1 per month ($12 annually or more if you can), and support our ongoing projects:

  • caring for and growing 3 plant communities (gardens),
  • plant sale and swap,
  • film events (this year we will feature “Project Wild Thing” as part of the Gifford/Artrage What If? series),
  • curating information for followers on social media,
  • leading community clean-ups in 2 neighborhoods for Earth Day/Clean Up Cuse,
  • continuation of the garden art signs project,
  • SALT-CNY list-serv

and some new projects:

  • partnership and fiscal sponsorship with Spark Art Space,
  • lionhearted zine gallery in the wild,
  • seed saving and seed library introduction to Syracuse,
  • Board diversity campaign,
  • 2nd location/date for the spring plant swap/sale added to calendar –
  • and more to come, with more details about each of these projects in abundance.

Please donate today as we celebrate 10 years of serving the Permaculture/CNY Community. https://www.patreon.com/alchemicalnursery

NOTE: $12 minimum annual patrons receive one free garden art sign yearly (extra signs available to purchase for $10 each); and $10 in credit to our annual plant sale.

 

 

Family and Friends Volunteers Celebration and Info Session

Join us for a special indoors Winter Friends and Family event celebrating our volunteers at the 610 Gifford St Community Garden. We’ll be meeting up on Saturday, February 10 at 11 AM – 1 PM in the lobby of the Cosmopolitan Building at 1153 West Fayette St, making seed bombs together to take home, having a lunch together, and making plans for Spring!

Come even if you have not volunteered before and learn about what we do, and how you can get involved. New volunteers are very welcome. Please RSVP at our Facebook event page below or by emailing info@alchemicalnursery.org, so we have a head count for food preparations.

https://www.facebook.com/events/171765466768303/

 

NEW! $10 PLANT SALE CREDIT Perk as $1 for Permaculture Pledger

$1 for Permaculture

 

All new members who become Patreon pledgers qualify to take home one of the original signs from the gallery!! (inventory varies and is not guaranteed to include signs posted in the gallery).  Additional signs available for $10 donations.

See gallery at http://1forpermaculture.wixsite.com/1forpermaculture

All new and continuing member pledgers receive an annual $10 credit for use at our spring plant sale to take place in April (day to be announced).

Enter your pledge at https://www.patreon.com/alchemicalnursery

Winter Fundraising Raffle and Supporting Pledges

Our Annual Winter Fundraising Raffle!! Tickets 1 for $2, 3 for $5, 7 for $10, 15 for $20. Buy tickets at https://squareup.com/store/the-alchemical-nursery-project-inc

1st Prize: Johnny’s Organic Growing Bucket:
30 packets of seeds, everything you need to grow a whole garden, including sweet and hot peppers, zucchini, pink bumblebee tomato, lollo lettuce, red beets, broccoli, cantaloupe, butterhead lettuce, cauliflower, spinach, early carrots, king richard leeks, pie pumpkins, habanero, pink beauty radishes, swiss chard, pickling cucumbers, yellow squash, genovese basil, delicata squash winter, purple top turnip, kaleidoscope nasturtium, zohar sunflower, green cabbage, encore lettuce mix, new girl tomato, goldkrone dill, jade bush beans, sugar ann snap peas, jumbo bush beans, PLUS a Johnny’s bumper sticker and pen!!! A family pack of 4 Alchemical Nursery T-shirts, and a package of Giant Red Garnet Amaranth grown by the Alchemical Nursery at Bitternut Homestead, and a package of 5,000 pelleted Ridgeline Romaine Lettuce Seed from Johnny’s. A total value of $185.

2nd Prize: Turtle Tree Seed Heirloom Gift Pack – Aunt Ada’s Pole Beans, Schweizer Riesen Snow Peas, Myona Tomato, Boothby Blonde Cucumber, and Petunia Perseverance. Plus a pair of Alchemical Nursery T-Shirts, and a package of Giant Red Garnet Amaranth grown by the Alchemical Nursery at Bitternut Homestead, and a package of 5,000 pelleted Ridgeline Romaine Lettuce Seed from Johnny’s. A total value of $45.

Become a “$1 for Permaculture” Supporting Member.  Having a sustaining number of pledgers willing to donate $1 per month (more if you can) allows us to better budget for our annual expenses, and gives us more time for growing food rather than fundraising.

Pledgers will take home a free garden art sign from our SaltQuarters gallery show on March 4th.  Enter your pledge at https://www.patreon.com/alchemicalnursery  See the gallery of signs at http://1forpermaculture.wixsite.com/1forpermaculture

 

# # #

Sustainability, Agriculture, Landscape, Transition ListServ Launches!! – SALT-CNY

Salt represents the action of thought on matter, be it the One Mind acting on the One Thing of the universe or the alchemist meditating in his inner laboratory.

SALT-CNY listserv logo

SALT-CNY listserv logo

SYRACUSE, NY, JANUARY 16, 2017 – The Alchemical Nursery Project, Inc. and Partnering Hosts today announced the launch of a new e-mail list for people in Syracuse and Central New York who are interested in the topics of Sustainability, Agriculture, Landscaping, and/or Transition (toward greater resilience, reduced environmental impact, and stronger local economies).

Called SALT-CNY, this listserv is to will facilitate connections, information sharing and communications among groups and individuals dealing with these environmental topics.

Robbie Coville, a board member of Alchemical Nursery, who helped set the listserv up, said: “There are many ways we can improve our ways of life, reducing our negative environmental impacts, enhancing our positive impacts, and cultivating resilience in the face of economic and ecological changes and challenges.

“By connecting people around these topics in our region, SALT-CNY will germinate new ideas, and foster possible collaborations that will benefit the environment and the community.”

This mailing list is public; it is being set up and maintained by The Alchemical Nursery Project, Inc. and hosted by Lists.RiseUp.net, both non-profit organizations that run on mutual aid. SALT-CNY will be operating with the support of many volunteers and such partnering organizations as Mainstream Green, Inc.; Bread and Roses Collective House; Climate Change Awareness & Action; and the Whole Earth Club at Onondaga Community College.

To join SALT-CNY listserv. people need only to send an email to salt-cny-subscribe@lists.riseup.net. They will receive a confirmation email, then will be added to the list once approved by a moderator.

Says Mr. Coville: “We hope people will join us, subscribing to this listserv and participating in conversations, helping organize a movement transitioning to more widely prosperous ways that support the ecosystems which support us.”

Alchemical Nursery, a local permaculture non-profit and Syracuse’s Food-Not-Lawns chapter, works toward the mission of regenerative lifestyles & landscapes using the principles of permaculture. Learn more online at alchemicalnursery.org or facebook.com/alchemicalnursery.

RiseUp.net provides online communication tools for people and groups working on liberatory social change. RiseUp.net is a project to create democratic alternatives and practice self-determination by controlling our own secure means of communications.

“Be The Crowd vs Climate Change” is the slogan for Mainstream Green, Inc., the New York 501C -3 nonprofit corporation that uses media and grassroots outreach to popularize habits that cut waste and pollution while shrinking use of fossil fuels. Learn more online at mainstreamgreen.org or facebook.com/mainstream2green.

The Bread and Roses Collective House is a non-profit organization that provides a model of cooperative living, ecological sustainability, and affordable housing in the heart of the city. Learn more online at breadandrosescollective.org or facebook.com/breadandrosescollective.

Climate Change Awareness & Action is a group of CNY residents working toward ‘net zero’ in home energy use and other climate saving actions. Founder Pete Wirth comments “There will always be small numbers of us interested in [living with greater self-sufficiency, resilience, and reduced negative impact on the world]. The challenge is to get these ideas to the 1/2 million people who live in Onondaga County!”

For more information, contact: Robbie Coville rcoville@syr.edu 516-840-9692   or   The Alchemical Nursery Project, Inc. info@alchemicalnursery.org 315-308-1372

SALT-CNY listserv sign-up

Gardening Day at 610 Gifford St

Don’t miss our opening Gardening Day at the 610 Gifford St Community Garden on Saturday April 23rd from 1 pm – 3 pm.  It’s a good opportunity to come and meet one of Syracuse’s newest community gardens, in the heart of the Near West Side.  Plants and tools will be provided, you only have to show up.

April 23 2016 Gardening Day Capture