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Third Annual Press Fest!

Come one, come all to the 3rd annual Apple Press Festival!

Participants try their hand at crushing, grinding, and pressing apples. In addition, there are activities like an apple home-run derby, a pressing competition, and old-time games like corn-hole and juggling.The festival aims to bring the community together not only to celebrate the harvest, but to roll up their sleeves and actively participate in it. The Press Fest raises awareness of the great potential of local apples as a readily-available nutrient source, sweetener, fermenting ingredient, and all-around fantastic fruit. In doing so, we support local orchardists who utilize integrated pest management (IPM) and organic farming practices. Many apple varieties, which may not store well as fruit, are normally left to rot in the orchard. By processing them, we are creating value for both the community and the farmers.

It’s a BYOJ sort of event, so bring your own jug, because participants can fill up a mason jar or their own container with the sweet sweet juice!

Where: VanTech’s Schoolyard Market Garden (Map)
When:  October 26th; 12-4 pm
RSVP: @ facebook

Huge thanks to the tremendous sponsors: Duncan Martin with DailyEggs.com; Rick Havlack with Homesteader’s Empourium; and Fresh Roots!

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Farmer’s Log – October 14, 2014

With school back in session there is a buzz of activity around the farms, reanimating the space and offering new opportunities to engage with our community. We only have a few weeks left of new seeds going into the ground this year. As the days get shorter the crops keep growing but sllllllooooowwww down. This means if we want to see a harvest from anything we plant in the next few months it needs to start growing soon! We are happy to have all our winter kale in the ground, brussel sprouts starting to bulge and lots of sweet cool-season spinach starting to roll in. Soon we’ll be tucking the tender crops under plastic to protect them from the cold so you can enjoy mid-winter, green delicacies.

Farmer Scott