I’m leaving town for the week, but there are several upcoming events I’d like you all to enjoy in my absence!  They are:

• Winter’s Day on the Farm – February 5: Fosterfield’s will show you what life was like on a farm in the 1920s during the winter months.  12-4 p.m.
• Slow Food Winter Market – February 11: This event is a great way to stock up on locally-produced foods during the winter months.  Numerous farms and artisans will be exhibiting and selling their goods.  Don’t miss it! 12-4 p.m. at the Morristown High School. $3 admission.
• Snowshoe Clinic and Hike – February 11: Schiff Nature Preserve and BaseCamp Adventure in Basking Ridge are teaming up to present a snowshoe hike – snow or no snow!  Let’s hope for snow.  8:30-11:30 a.m.
• Gasland Screening – February 12: The Bernardsville Green Team is showing Gasland, The Movie, on February 12 at 2 p.m. at the Bernardsville Library.  Sign-up required; email bernardsvillegoesgreen@gmail.com.

flickr: cmcottone

It’s almost criminal how long it’s been since my last blog post, and now that my academic ventures are winding down, I hope to be able to focus more time to writing posts.

Along those lines, I have a lot of catching up to do!  Here’s a brief mash-up of things going on this time of year that interest me.

• Raw milk: There’s a hearing on the raw milk bill next Monday, December 12 in Trenton.  The Foodshed Alliance is asking people to come in support of legalizing raw milk in the state of New Jersey.  There’s been momentum building, and an advocacy group called Garden State Raw Milk has formed as a response.
• Winter Farmer’s Market: The town of Newton, in Sussex County, has established a Winter Farmer’s Market open on Saturdays November through April from 10 a.m. – 2 p.m.  It’s a little far from Morristown, but could be a good model for future winter farmer’s markets in the area!
• Acupuncture class: Morristown’s own North Jersey Community Acupuncture is holding a class this Friday at 7 p.m.  Attendees will learn the theory behind acupuncture and its benefits, and this will be the first of six more in-depth classes on the topic.  A $5 donation is requested.
• Music in the Woods: Schiff Nature Preserve is having its Annual Music in the Woods celebration on Saturday, Dec. 11 from 7-9:30 p.m.  Spend an evening by the fire listening to acoustic music and viewing stunning nature photography.  Members $8; Non-members $10.
• Gingerbread & gifts: Have a little holiday shopping to do? Check out the 20th Annual Gingerbread Wonderland and Holiday Craft Show at the Frelinghuysen Arboretum this Saturday and Sunday from 10-5 p.m.  The kiddos will enjoy marveling at the gingerbread houses on display, and adults can buy locally-made gifts and crafts for the holidays.  Suggested donation of $2.
• Bernards Green Drinks: Clink glasses with like-minded individuals at Bernards Green Drinks this Thursday, Dec. 8 at 6 p.m. at Dolce Hotel’s Vita restaurant.
• Pork: I just got an email this morning from River Bend Farm.  Now is the time to place your order for locally, pasture-raised pork, which will be ready in January.  Plus, they have a spiffy new website.

Early last week I had the opportunity to catch up with Paul Miller of Morristown’s Office of Sustainability.  We talked about the various goings-on in the sustainability realm in town, one of which is an exciting new supper club series.  The Morristown Sunday Supper Club Series is designed to bring funding into Sustainable Morristown as it weans itself off grants from the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation.  The series, scheduled to occur quarterly, will be hosted by the Highlands Dinner Club (experts in the supper club scene), Grassroots (the fabulous new section in the Daily Record) and Sustainable Morristown.

The first-ever supper club event will be held on Sunday, October 30 in tandem with the first-ever Grassroots Awards ceremony (more on that later).  Hosted at the Hyatt, well-known chefs from area restaurants with a focus on local and seasonal food (Blue Morel, EnoTerra, Pluckemin Inn, twofiftytwo restaurant, Elements and George and Martha’s) will prepare delectable dishes using food from local farms (Grow It Green Morristown, Alstede Farms, Totten Family Farm, Valley Shepard Creamery, Mini Mac Farm, Metropolitan Seafood and Hoeffner Meats.  Wine Chateau in Morristown is also providing organic and biodynamic wines!

The Grassroots Award will go to a local community member who has made significant strides in Sustainability.  One award will be granted in each of these 5 categories: Social Impact, Bottom Line, Courage in Leadership, Citizen Scientist and What a Great Idea!  For more information on each of these designations and how to submit a nomination (you have until Oct 14th!), please read this informative article from the Daily Record.  Winners will be announced at the dinner on the 30th.

Buy your tickets for this event and keep an eye out for a new supper each quarter.  I think we can all agree that local food + local businesses + good cause = sustainability trifecta.

[EDITED 10/24/11:  DISCOUNT.  You can now receive 30% off ticket costs by using the discount code: "DR-grassroots".  Please spread the word.]

Sustainable Morristown is at it again with another eco-minded event this weekend!  Check out Green on the Green and the Morristown Film and Music Festival on Saturday, August 27 on the Morristown Green.  This will be the fourth annual film festival  hosted by MorristownGreen.com, showcasing films by local filmmakers with this year’s theme built around sustainability!  And who doesn’t love to watch a movie or two outside on the Green?  Viewers vote for Best Picture at the end.  I can’t wait to see the results and learn more about all of the sustainability intiatives in the area.

It will be a daylong celebration, beginning at 12 p.m.  Musical acts of all genres will perform throughout the day and festival goers can check out exhibitors from local non-profits and eco-concious companies.  The Loretta Hagen Band will headline the afternoon’s musical acts at 7 p.m. with a mix of country and rock music.  Once it gets dark (around 8 p.m.), the film festival will begin!  Be sure to bring lawn chairs or blankets.

For any questions, please contact sustainmorristown@yahoo.com.

flickr: SEMAP

Call it Farm-to-Table or Farm-to-Fork, this summer there’s no shortage of options in the Morristown area for getting farm fresh food into your tummy.

Here’s a highlight of farm-to-table dinners in the area this summer:

• Morristown’s own Grow It Green Morristown will have a Farm-to-Table Dinner at The Artist Baker on Cattano Ave. on Sunday, August 14.  Produce from the nonprofit’s Urban Farm at Lafayette will be featured in the meal. Tickets cost $85 pp and proceeds will benefit Grow It Green and all of the work they’re doing to make mo’town more sustainable.  Make reservations through The Artist Baker (973-292-5940).
• Slow Food Northern New Jersey Chapter will host it’s annual Sustenance on the Farm Dinner on Sunday, August 21 at Fosterfield’s Historic Farm in Morristown from 5-8 p.m.  The 5-course meal will be prepared by area chefs and paired with sustainable and organic wine.  Proceeds will go toward Slow Food NNJ‘s work to establish school gardens in local schools.  Tickets are $155 per person and can be purchased through Sustenance Events.
• Foodshed Alliance, a nonprofit organization based in Blairstown, is hosting a farm-t0-fork dinner at Alba Vineyard THIS weekend!  On Sunday, July 24 at 4 p.m. enjoy a 5-course gourmet dinner with paired wines, and enjoy the ambiance of the vineyard (Rain date is July 31).  Tickets are $125 per person and proceeds benefit the Foodshed Alliance.  Check out the menu and buy tickets on their website.

There’s no shortage of farm fresh food in Morristown this time of year.  It’s all about finding the right places and buying the right items.  Before you make your automatic stop at the grocery store, try one of these places first.  Here’s a brief list of places to go this weekend or in the upcoming weeks:

• Morristown Farmer’s Market – Sundays from 8:30 a.m. – 2 p.m. in the lot behind George & Martha’s & The Grasshopper.  Great way to meet your local farmers!
• Grow It Green Morristown’s Urban Farm at Lafayette – On Saturday from 9:30 a.m. – 12 p.m., tour the garden with a volunteer, learn about the crops and they buy what you’d like straight from the garden at a very reasonable price.  It doesn’t get any fresher than that, people!
• The Health Shoppe – always a great local resource for food from the area.
• Mendham’s Organic Farmer’s Market – Saturdays 10 a.m. – 3 p.m., enjoy live music as you buy your local and mostly organic produce from local farmers.
• Local Food Buying Club – Consider joining the Foodshed Alliance (based out of Blairstown).  They have an innovative Food Buying Club where you place an order for what you’d like from the farm and it’s delivered right to a Morristown location.  There’s a small delivery charge and a small annual fee ($30) to join the organization.
• Online tools – Check out NJ Dept of Agriculture’s Jersey Fresh website for what’s in peak season and links to farms.  LocalHarvest.org is also a great resource.

If I forgot anything, please add it to the comments!

Buy your tickets now for Schiff Nature Preserve’s Wild & Scenic Environmental Film Festival on Friday, June 3 and Saturday, June 4 from 5:30 -9:30 p.m.

According to Schiff, the evening will include:

• Two hours of short films
• A 30-minute night hike to and from Woodbadge Lodge.  For those who prefer not to hike, we will offer a hay ride to the theater
• Bucket Auction items and free gifts from local and national sponsors
• Light refreshments from Black River Roasters Coffee, Chester Meat Market and more
• Campfire and games for kids after intermission!

The list of films includes:

• Legacy of the Land (Local film)
• The Best Country: People Restoring Rivers
• Oktapodi
• Into Darkness
• Water Loving Doggies II
• The Maggie Doyne Story (Local film)
• Better Bones and Gardens
• The Majestic Plastic Bag
• Darkened Horizons
• The Incident at Tower 37
• The Fishman

I haven’t been, but I hope to go this year!  Tickets are $20 per person, or $17pp when you buy 4 or more.  They’re also encouraging carpooling to the event by offering a forum on the event site.

I stopped by Festival Earth today at the Morristown EcoCenter, and it turns out I timed it perfectly with the brief bout of rain we had this afternoon.  The event was a little quiet, I suspect because it was the first nice day all week and people wanted to be outside doing outdoorsy things, but the smaller crowd allowed me to really talk with some of the neat vendors at the event.  I’ve been to Earth Day events and green fairs in the area before, so it was great to meet many new people.

The first was Beaux Art Green, an eco-friendly furniture & interior design company based out of Plainfield, NJ.  I learned about the marmoleum – just like linoleum, but made from all natural components – that clicks together in tiles, allowing for maximum portability (if moving to a new house), or allowing homeowners to replace only the tiles that are scratched.  They also have a similar system for bamboo flooring.

I spoke with Jeff at Quercus Studio about landscape architecture and how T and I have been talking about putting in a rain garden to sop up the small lake that is our backyard each spring.  He actually was the landscape architect for a home down the street from me that implemented the LEED for Homes principles.  We talked about how bringing in a landscape architect early in the process allows them to work with the engineer and architect to integrate the natural systems into the home, but most people tend to bringing in the landscape designer after the house is complete.

I bought spare ribs from pasture-raised pigs raised from the great Totten Family Farm booth (they also had produce and vegetable plants).  I had a nice conversation with Kyle from the farm about their sustainable principles, and it’s abundantly clear that this farm is doing ALL of the right things!  He was even talking about how the lamb they raise may be the most sustainable thing they raise/grow – even more so than the vegetables.  He explained that the lambs only graze on the pasture (and are in a portable enclosure which allows them to move the lambs to fresh grass).  Even the electricity for the fence is solar powered!  In comparison, the gas and imbedded energy needed to run tractors for tilling and such probably make vegetables less sustainable.  They’ll be at the Mendham All Natural & Organic Farmers Market on Saturdays June 25-October 1 (Mendham Township Elementary School).  You can also sign up for CSA’s via their website.

I bought a big, soft baby blanket for a friend from Joy Organic, based out of Whippany.  They do wholesale and retail, and I’ve seen them at a few events around town.

I also met a woman who is starting North Jersey Community Acupuncture, which has a sliding scale of prices for her clients, in order to make acupuncture accessible for everyone in the community.  She’s located within Body In Mind massage on Morris Street in Morristown, and since she’s just starting out, she’s offering everyone a free session between now and June 15 – and she has Saturday appointments!

And last but certainly not least, is John.

He made this human-powered vehicle over 6 years ago, and he rides it just about everywhere!  Inside is a seat and pedals that give him the benefits of riding a bicycle, but with better balance and a lower center of gravity.  The outer body is made of foam and John says it withstood a car crash – it just bounced right back!  It has lights and blinkers and is quite the work of art!

I highly encourage you to visit the fair tomorrow from 12-5.  Tomorrow there will be live music all day and activities – like painting – for the kiddos.  Go meet John and the rest of these vendors!

Well, the Morristown EcoCenter may not be fully established yet, but they’re definitely using the empty building to its maximum potential.  If there are this many events there now, just imagine when it’s fully functional!  Starting tomorrow and through this weekend there will be two different but related events at 55 Bank Street.

The Green Building Expo will run on May 19 & 20 from 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.

Festival Earth, an annual celebration of  Sustainable Morristown, will run over the weekend on May 21 & 22 from 12 – 5 p.m.

Exhibitors for these events will highlight products and services that are focused on green building, healthy living, sustainability, and local and organic food production.  It will benefit the work of Sustainable Morristown and the Sustainable Business Incubator of New Jersey.

If the (mostly) warmer weather gives you the itch to get outdoors, you could try doing it on your way to work this month.  TransOptions, a nonprofit organization that encourages alternative transportation commuting in the region, is hosting a Bike to Work Challenge for the month of May.  They’ll be holding events throughout Morris County this month for those biking by on their way to work.  Check out their website for more information.