Author: lisa

farm tour: gabriel valley farms 10/2

Gabriel Valley Farms

Date: October 2, 2010 10:00am – 1:00pm
Location: Gabriel Valley Farms located at 440 Old Highway 29 East, Georgetown, TX 78626

The heat of summer is nearly over and the best way to enjoy Austin’s and Central Texas’ blissfully cool fall weather is to grow a vegetable garden. The time is right to garden without the summer heat and endless watering, fewer bugs and less potential for diseases. If you haven’t had a central Texas fall garden you’re in for a great surprise. And what is more inspiring than steamy greenhouses full of young plants and potential?

On October 2, 2010 from 10:00am until 1:00pm, Slow Food will tour the source of most of the organic vegetable and herb plants at your local garden centers – Gabriel Valley Farms is located at 440 Old Highway 29 East, Georgetown, TX 78626. Gabriel Valley Farms is one of the Austin Area’s Largest Organic Vegetable Nurseries and after your tour you are sure to be inspired to plant your own Fall Veggie Garden! Gabriel Valley also supplies the wildly popular spring plant sale at Sunshine Community Gardens.

We’ll tour the property and owner Cathy will give us insider gardening tips for fall success. It’s not too late to start a garden full of broccoli, cauliflower, lettuce, herbs and other homegrown goodness for fall comfort meals and holiday tables!

Tickets are $12 and redeemable for plants. Please RSVP today to betsyl@slowfoodaustin.org.

This will be the first of several fall farm tours hosted by Slow Food Austin. Please stay tuned for more details on upcoming events!

slow session: fall foraging 9/21

Date: Tuesday, September 21st 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm
Location: Habitat Suites, 500 East Highland Mall Boulevard, Austin, Tx 78752

fall foragingFall brings many changes – not just in the trees and the cooler weather but in the selection of edible plants all around us, just waiting to be harvested. Join us for a very special Slow Session with Amy Crowell, owner of Edible Yards and writer for Edible Austin on wild foods. Amy will lecture on how to identify, harvest and prepare some of the most delicious and nutritious wild foods Central Texas has to offer. Amy has been eating foods from the wilds of Texas since she was a kid. She looks forward to sharing some of her experiences and knowledge with you! Think of this educational session as a wild edible plant walk but instead of heading outside, in the heat, you can learn about edible plants while you relax inside and enjoy some wine.

happy hour: eastside cafe, 9/16

Date: Thursday, September 16thEastside Cafe
Time: 5pm – 7pm
Location: Eastside Cafe, in the garden and tea room

Please join Slow Food Austin for our Monthly Third Thursday Happy Hour at Eastside Cafe in the garden and tea room. Appetizers and wine will be provided with a suggested $10 donation to Slow Food Austin.

Please RSVP to: Karlal@slowfoodaustin.org

4th Annual Farm and Food Leadership Conference

Farm and Food Leadership Conference

Date: Monday and Tuesday, September 13-14
Location: Mexican-American Cultural Center, 600 River St., Austin, TX 78701
Registration: Register online at http://farmandranchfreedom.org/conference-2010 or download a registration form and mail it to P.O. Box 809, Cameron, TX 76520.
Agenda: A full listing of topics, speakers, and the schedule is available at: http://farmandranchfreedom.org/sff/Agenda.pdf

Come join an exciting gathering of farmers, consumer, and nonprofit activists at the 4th Annual Farm and Food Leadership Conference, in Austin, Texas on September 13-14, 2010! This two-day event will focus on policy and regulatory issues affecting agriculture and our food supply, including raw milk, Codex, NAIS, the next Farm Bill, water use issues, regulation of slaughterhouses, Slow Money, and more.  There will also be workshops to help you become a more effective activist, including how to lobby and how to develop an effective message.

National radio commentator and author Jim Hightower will provide the keynote address, and the lunches will be prepared by Dai Due using delicious local foods.

Come learn about the latest developments in agriculture and food, and get the tools you need to help make a difference!

HOW CAN YOU HELP? Spread the word about the conference! You can also become a sponsor or donate an item for the silent auction. Download the form at:
http://farmandranchfreedom.org/sff/sponsorship-form-v3_1.pdf

For more information, visit
http://farmandranchfreedom.org/conference-2010
or contact the Farm and Ranch Freedom Alliance at info@FarmAndRanchFreedom.org.

Fabulous Fall Garden Installation Workshop

Date: Saturday, September 11
Time: 9:00 am – 12:00 pm
Location: Green Sprout Preschool, 1019 Reinli Street, Austin, TX 78723

Itching to plant your own garden?  Would you like to learn some hands-on gardening installation techniques from the experts at Austin’s Resolution Gardens while also supporting a local pre-school?

On Sept. 11th, Slow Food Austin is hosting a garden installation workshop where participants will help install a raised-bed garden for Green Sprout preschool and gain practical skills to start a home garden.  Once the garden is complete, we’ll all enjoy a meal together- lunch provided by blu African:  http://www.bluafrican.com.

Bring the family to learn about home gardening and support a local pre-school’s garden education program.  Cost to participate is $5 for Slow Food members, $10 for non-members (children under 12 are free).  Attendance is limited so buy your tickets today. Questions: email president@slowfoodaustin.org.

Buy your tickets at: http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/123782

slow session: decanting Texas wines, one sip at a time wine tasting 8/11

Date: Wednesday, August 11th
Time: 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm
Location: Habitat Suites

August 11th will be a wine education and tasting Slow Session with Scott Collier, Rockroom Winemaking Cooperative founder and winemaker, and Mason Arnold, Greenling founder and CEO.

Wine is nature’s way of preserving fruit for us to enjoy year round, so we will taste our way through wines that give us the chance to demystify what it means for a wine to be natural, organic, biodynamic, sustainable and local.  Come ready to ask questions, learn, and taste.

Included in the tasting will be organic and sustainable wines available from Greenling as well as a Rockroom wine made from California certified organic grapes (rated 89 by the Pinot Report), and even a natural process wine made from 100% fresh pressed chardonnay juice with nothing added at any stage in the winemaking process.

This is a free event as the wines are being donated by Rockroom and Greenling, but donations to Slow Food Austin are encouraged and attendance will be limited to the first 35 who RSVP to anneh@slowfoodaustin.org.