Deep Roots Spring/Summer Newsletter

Hello! from
Deep Roots
Spring/Summer '09 Newsletter
... and the beet goes on!

Pass the Bread
It's almost here! Pass the Bread will be happening on Friday, June 26 in Routt County. This is a wonderful new event that is designed to bring together people from throughout Routt County, with the intent of strengthening our sense of community. Our goal is to have 100 homes hosting dinner for 8-12 people, all on the same evening; each home will have both guests that they know and guests that they don't (yet) know. Please visit our web site for more information about being either a host or guest: http://.passthebreadcelebratecommunity.wordpress.com

Community Agriculture Dialog
The Routt County Community Agriculture Dialog was held on March 18, and we received a lot of great input and ideas. The information was presented during a session of the event What's in Your Foodshed?. A final report has been written, and it was presented to Colorado U.S. Senator Michael Bennet during a visit to Steamboat Springs in April. The report will also soon be mailed to local, regional, state, and national elected officials, as well as to numberous agricultural and land-use organizations.


"Fresh" the movie
Library Hall, July 15, 7pm
"Russ Kremer, the President of the Missouri Farmers’ Union and of Ozark Mountain Pork Coop discusses the danger of concentrating animals in feedlots . . .
Will Allen, 6ft 7″ former professional basketball player, is now one of the most influential leaders of the food security & urban farming movement. His farm and not-for-profit, Growing Power, have trained and inspired people in every corner of the US to start growing food sustainably...
Joel Salatin writes in his website that he is “in the redemption business: healing the land, healing the food, healing the economy, and healing the culture.” And if you visited his farm, you’d know he means it & lives it!
He produces beef, chicken, eggs, turkey, rabbits, and forestry product. Yet, Joel calls himself a grass-farmer, for it is the grass that transform the sun into energy that his animals can then feed on. By closely observing nature, Joel created a rotational grazing system that not only allows the land to heal but also allows the animals to behave the way the were meant to — as in expressing their “chicken-ness” or “pig-ness”, as Joel would say." - http://www.freshthemovie.com/

Save the Date! "In Cahoots" July 30
Deep Roots and the Community Agriculture Alliance will be hosting specialguest Cindy Dvergsten on the evening of Thursday, July 30 at the Community Center. The theme for the speech will be "In Cahoots: Community Supporting Agriculture Supporting Community." While agriculture sustains civilization, it takes a community to support agriculture. Cindy will be discussing ways for us in the Yampa Valley to create a community that will help sustain family farms and ranches. Please watch the Deep Roots summer calendar or our web site for more details (www.deeproots-co.org).

Membership
On June 1 Deep Roots had our first membership meeting. Merry Lester gave an engaging presentation on the topic of crop rotation in your garden. She showed her multi-year rotation among her raised beds. The advantages of crop rotation are to keep the soil enriched and keep pest/disease down. She also provide plant door prizes.
(A membership form is attached to this email if you'd like to become a member.)


DEEP ROOTS calendar on AIRSET

All Deep Roots members have received an invitation to check out our Deep Roots calendar on Airset. While not complete yet, it has the events updated for June & July. If you know of any event that should be on it, please email them to julia.deeproots@gmail.com. We have published our calendar at http://www.airset.com/Public/Calendars.jsp?id=23539 so even
non-members can view it, and will have it embedded in or linked to our website. Airset is a free cloud group which gives you the option to link your personal calendars with the Deep Roots calendar and have all of your information in one place.

A very special Thank You to Tiffany Leeson for all of her hard work in compiling our calendar and to Paul Potyen for his continued hard work with creating & maintaining our website! www.deeprootsco.org

The Beet List Blogspot
This is the place to be to find out about events, share ideas and keep connected to the Yampa Valley community. Postings include art, ecology and agriculture as we are dedicated to a healthy, sustainable and vibrant lively hood in beautiful northwest colorado. Farmers markets... garden clubs... sharing & swapping of your harvest... ask a question... give an answer.. visit - http://beetlist.blogspot.com/

... and the beet goes on!