Enter to Win a Copy of “Forage, Harvest, Feast” by Marie Viljoen

The Alchemical Nursery Project has  teamed up with the folks at Chelsea Green Publishing to offer one lucky person the chance to win Forage, Harvest, Feast by  celebrated New York City forager, cook, kitchen gardener, and writer Marie Viljoen. 
 
“In this groundbreaking collection of nearly 500 wild food recipes, Viljoen incorporates wild ingredients into everyday and special occasion fare. Motivated by a hunger for new flavors and working with thirty-six versatile wild plants—some increasingly found in farmers markets—she offers deliciously compelling recipes for everything from cocktails and snacks to appetizers, entrées, and desserts, as well as bakes, breads, preserves, sauces, syrups, ferments, spices, and salts.”
Thank you for following and supporting The ALchemical Nursery Project, follow this link to enter until November 25th:
Read all about this title at https://www.chelseagreen.com/product/forage-harvest-feast/
The regular price is $40.00 for those who would like to purchase it outright, but we are able to offer our readers a discount of 35% off. The discount code CGP18 is valid through 12.31.2018 (cannot be combined with any other offers).

Seaberry aka Seabuckthorn (Hippophae rhamnoides) – Plant Highlight

Seaberry Benefits

A list and table provided by Whole Systems Design, LCC: http://www.wholesystemsdesign.com/wsd-seaberry-products/

  • Exceptional essential fatty acid content.
  • Nitrogen fixer
  • Hardy from USDA zones 3 (maybe 2b) to 7 for sure, probably 8 (I’ve seen growing in Tuscany Italy and have heard first hand reports of them growing in central Canada where it gets to -50F)
  • Nearly deer proof (very resistant to browse once established and even early on with thorns present)
  • All parts medicinal from leaves to fruit to bark (non fruit parts used as a tea for centuries)
  • Fast growing and drought tolerant
  • Soil hardy – we’ve grown them well in everyting from sandy to heavy dense clay
  • Birds do not harvest them much if at all
  • But great bird nest habitat
  • Needs full to 3/4 day sun minimum
  • Exceptionally wind hardy – great wind heedge and snow fence
  • Salt tolerant – grows on Siberian coastal dunes
  • Bears every year, bears at a young age
  • Flowers hardy to below 20F – exceptionally reliable and resilient in the face of late frosts
  • Maintenance free once established -no need to prune
Constituents of Sea Buckthorn Fruit (per 100 grams fresh berries)
Vitamin C 200-1,500 mg (typical amount: 600 mg)
Vitamin E (mixed tocopherols) Up to 180 mg (equal to about 270 IU)
Folic acid Up to 80 mcg
Carotenoids, including beta carotene, lycopene, zeaxanthine; these contribute the yellow-orange-red colors of the fruit 30-40 mg
Fatty acids (oils); the main unsaturated fatty acids are oleic acid (omega-9), palmitoleic acid (omega-7), palmitic acid and linoleic acid (omega-6), and linolenic acid (omega-3); there are also saturated oils and sterols (mainly β-sitosterol) 6-11% (3-5% in fruit pulp, 8-18% in seed); fatty acid composition and total oil content vary with subspecies
Organic acids other than ascorbic (e.g., quinic acid, malic acid; ingredients similar to those found in cranberries) Quantity not determined; expressed juice has pH of 2.7-3.3
Flavonoids (e.g., mainly isorhamnetin, quercetin glycosides, and kaempferol; these are the same flavonoids as found in Ginkgo biloba. 100-1,000 mg (0.1% to 1.0%)

To hugelkultur or not to hugelkultur? Mulch is the question @ Rahma Forest Garden

Rahma Forest Garden is likely home to some of the most carbon-rich soils in the City of Syracuse. Trees and perennial plants have been established there for almost 10 years, and many truck loads of mulch have been spread on the site with Syracuse Grows’ annual garden Resource Drive. We chop and drop some plants like black locust (Robinia pseudoacacia) and comfrey (Symphytum) to help build soil carbon & nitrogen. In addition to chop & dropping some plants, we accumulate a lot of plant matter from weeding, thinning, and pruning on site, which gets piled up in a low pallet fence roughly separating woody debris from green materials. Our carbon accumulation is in need of problem solving however, and strategies for handling yard waste have become a point of debate.

The piled up plant debris is useful in theory, as it could decompose and become a soil amendment for the garden. In reality, the piles are too loosely stacked to effectively break down, they are unwieldy to move or turn over, and they ultimately end up an eye sore (or once upon a time, a nest for abandoned kittens!) Occasionally, we need to empty the piles out by bringing them to the curb for city pickup.

Mulch from Syracuse Grows, waiting to be spread with pitch forks & shovels, buckets & wheelbarrows at Rahma Forest Garden September 22, 2018

City pickup is a nice option as the city has substantial mulching infrastructure & logistics, and the mulch made from city yard waste like ours is available for pickup at various locations for free. We end up cycling nutrients from Rahma Forest Garden, to the city composting facilities, then back to Rahma Forest Garden to some extent! Taking a closer look at this nutrient cycle, city pickup means the use of fossil fuels (trucks, heavy machinery) and the removal of nutrients from on the garden. That yard waste grew from sun, water and soil. If the goal is to build soil with a low-footprint as part of this regenerative garden, isn’t there a more regenerative solution that uses less fossil fuels? Some options being considered are listed below. The question at hand is: what’s the best way(s) to handle plant waste from the forest garden, maintaining healthy nutrient cycles for the site and beyond?

Continue reading →

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!

Revisiting Rahma – restocking of Rahma Edible Food Forest after 5 years of tree growth

A fundraiser for $500 dollars

In 2012 we started the journey together through design, fundraising and organizing, to build a forest garden on the grounds of the Rahma Free Clinic.  In 2018, after 5 years of growing a forest, we will revisit and renew, taking an intentional look at what succeeded and what failed, redesigning plots and polycultures, and replanting and newly mulching spaces that haven’t yet fulfilled their potential at the Rahma Edible Forest Snack Garden in Syracuse NY, located at 3100 South Salina St.

For example, one of our first plots – the paw-paw/currant/gooseberry/mint polyculture – has been very stable, though we lost one pawpaw tree following a dry period during the summer of 2016.   Most of the groundcover and herbaceous layer is productive, but some spots have seen takeover by plant species that we would rather convert to other productive residents.  Thistle and wild lettuce will be replaced with  friendlier clover, gaps between under-story specimens will be re-mulched and filled in with cuttings from the adjacent gooseberry and currants, and the pawpaw loss will be replanted with two new 4-foot tall saplings (approximate cost with shipping $100.00).

Second, the center of out garden has often suffered from dry periods, and the trees planted there have either been mortality specimens or have grown very very slowly.  We will replant with a monarch waystation patch of 32 plants including 6 different species* ($136.85), as well as a triumvirate of Adirondack Gold Apricot trees ($104.24)!

The remaining funds from the $500 raised will go towards supplies and materials such as plant stakes, ID tags, snacks for volunteers, and clover seed.  If we raise more than the $500, we’ll be able to extend our revisit to other patches in the forest too!  Come take a look and share what areas you’d like to see receive some extra special TLC this year.

* (5) Butterflyweed for Clay (3″ Pots), (5) Rough Blazingstar (3″ Pots), (5) Common Milkweed (3″ Pots), (5) Sky Blue Aster (3″ Pots), (6) Hoary Vervain (3″ Pots), (6) Purple Coneflower (3″ Pots)

Picture above is from our annual Juneberry harvest!  The perks we are providing to donors of this campaign are not metered out in buttons, or keychains, or postcards, or any other trinkets, but in real food, and planting stock, and seeds, that we give away and share with anyone that visits the edible food forest, from the plants that we grow on site!

Planting the seeds of sustainable urban gardens in Syracuse

Adding to Alchemical Nursery In The News, here’s a throwback to Syracuse.com article “Planting the seeds of sustainable urban gardens in Syracuse” from 2015:

http://www.syracuse.com/living/index.ssf/2015/02/permaculture_flourishes_with_a_cornucopia_of_public_produce.html

The article details some of Alchemical Nursery’s origins, quotes leaders of the Rahma Edible Forest Snack Garden at the Rahma Free Health Clinic, and shares some of the hopes that animated the organization years ago and still today. Frank Cetera, co-founder and current president of Alchemical Nursery, is quoted: “A lot of people that don’t have a high income can’t afford produce,” he said. “We can help reduce the overall load to tax payers and social services agencies by providing a resource for people to grow their own food.” Get involved!

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.