Workshops
October 5th, 2009Spring Garden Building Starts Early
September 28th, 2009If you are in our neck of the woods, and would like to help us develop a new growing bed for our urban farm you are in LUCK! We are collecting clean (that means dry too) newspaper. Newspaper should be full size, no inserts or colorful shiny paper please. There are well marked drop boxes on the Farmhouse front porch, the address is 50 Melville Street, Shire City (Pittsfield), MA. If you have questions let us know and I will do my best to post the process of beginning bed building here at the Urban Farm on Melville Street.
Houseflies on Budlea
September 25th, 2009
Dead Flies on the back of our Budlea
There is not a lot of time for me to go into all the things happening on the farm today but this is something I have noticed here all summer. I have grown Budlea (I hope I am spelling it right! – also known at Butterfly Bush). Weird clusters of what appears to be dead house flies encrusted on the back of many leaves. Has anyone seen this before? What is it?
Hope to get another post up tomorrow!
Autumn Equinox – Organization
September 21st, 2009
Autumn Light in the Sunflower Bed
CORNHOLE! (competitive bean bag tossing) is comiing to Alchemy Initiative
Day's Harvest
For some reason this season seems to bring a renewed sense of focus to my days. Probably harks back the new school year beginnings of my younger years. I love it!
One aspect we are working on is the new order of our website. Regrettably it has been in quite a shambles for most of the summer. Now, folks we are getting organized – we are down-right planning! No more last minute ‘let’s pull it off’ events that consume our time and thought without the help of production calendars and website promotion.
Over the next few days the site will be morphing into something I hope will be easy to navigate and candy for the eyes. We hope to convey the excitement we feel for this Intentional Living Laboratory.
Let us know what you think or what you would like to see posts on.
Tomatillos = Salsa Verde
September 1st, 2009
Tomatillo Harvest
Tomatillos
The tomatillo is a plant of the Solanaceae (or nightshade) family. I just adore tomatillos… they are these little treasures. They are wonderous green tomatoes hidden inside a paper-like husk. How cool is that?
With all the tomatillos growing it was finally time for a big ‘ol harvest. And harvest indeed. I made a delightful Salsa Verde for the Alchemy clan.
There is something so satisfying about this process: planting the seedlings, growing the tomatillos, harvesting them, roasting them and turning them into Salsa Verde, canning them, and then, finally… giving an adorable jar of homeade goodness to your friends.
and the garden keeps growing…
July 20th, 2009
After lots of rain and several transplants...
... the peas surprised us all as they are now 4 feet tall with these lovely pink flowers.
The scape stands proud as it twists and turns- almost ready to eat.
We suckered the tomatoes and trained them up the twine vine. They are growing and ripening!
What is a community garden?
July 9th, 2009Very simply, it is…
Any piece of land gardened by a group of people.
Alchemy Initiative's community garden : aka : Alchemy Urban Farm
The American Community Gardening Association broadly defines a community garden: It can be urban, suburban, or rural. It can grow flowers, vegetables or community. It can be one community plot, or can be many individual plots. It can be at a school, hospital, or in a neighborhood. It can also be a series of plots dedicated to “urban agriculture” where the produce is grown for a market.
Benefits of Community Gardens:
* Improves the quality of life for people in the garden
* Provides a catalyst for neighborhood and community development
* Stimulates Social Interaction
* Encourages Self-Reliance
* Beautifies Neighborhoods
* Produces Nutritious Food
* Reduces Family Food Budgets
* Conserves Resources
* Creates opportunity for recreation, exercise, therapy, and education
* Reduces Crime
* Preserves Green Space
* Creates income opportunities and economic development
* Reduces city heat from streets and parking lots
* Provides opportunities for inter-generational and cross-cultural connections
Come by and garden with us EVERY Sunday from 10-4 at 50 Melville Street. We are now a member of the American Community Garden Association and will soon be featured on Local Harvest!!
‘City Farmers’ to be screened on 3rd Thursday
July 7th, 2009
Summer taggin’
July 2nd, 2009
Join us this Sunday, July 5th, from 10am – 2pm for another GRAND TAG SALE!! We have even more items for sale… from desks, kitchen tables, and rugs, to office supplies, kitchen appliances, and home decorations… LOTS for sale.
All proceeds will benefit our urban farm project.
Raining down
July 2nd, 2009Rain rain go away… come again another day.
While I usually adore the rain, this is just too much. I look out my window every morning and wish for the sun to shine down on our struggling veggies. The gardens are doing pretty well, but they need some sun love!
I was thinking about our Bike & Build friends that stayed with us a week ago and was wondering how they are holding up with all this rain. I imagine bicycling across the country in the rain and building houses in the rain is a much different experience than they anticipated. So I wish for the sun to come out for them too. Perhaps they have ridden far enough by now that the sun is shining down…
I heard from Jody, one of the Bike & Builders, the other day. She is on this trek with her brother Matt and they are keeping a blog of their journey. They were so sweet– we wish you guys the best of luck and hope you will come visit us again soon!
The Merendas on the Solstice
June 24th, 2009So last Friday night Mike and Ruthy Merenda and Chris Merenda & the Wheel performed at Alchemy Initiative for Summer Solstice weekend.
And they rocked. I mean really, really rocked.
Like the torrential rains that have been non-stop, stopped. Like that’s how good they were. We seriously had perfect weather, a clear sky, an orange-blue bonfire, a delicious potluck dinner, and two rockin’ bands.
The porch of the Alchemy Farmhouse seems to be a perfect stage, tucked in between the former rectory and the former church, the music reverberating off the brick walls. And ofcourse Darren O’Brien (our official soundman) made the sound even better. He tweaked and turned buttons and moved amps and did soundman such things so that everything was just right.
And it was. Just right. That night. Everything was just right.