Community grows here: Great Basin Community Food Co-op

Great Basin Community Food Co-op logo

It’s hard to think about what the local food movement would have been like now if the Great Basin Community Food Co-op hadn’t developed in town.

It all started back in 2005 as a buyers’ club “piggybacking on the natural food orders of sister businesses and relying exclusively on the volunteer efforts of motivated citizens.” It was also associated with a cooperative CSA program—the Great Basin Basket—that brought the produce of several regional farmers into one weekly subscription for northern Nevada households.

The buyers’ club and Great Basin Basket grew very quickly and opened up a storefront on Wonder St. within a year of the start of community meetings. It then moved to a larger location on Plumas St. in 2008. In 2011, the group held a fundraising campaign to be able to move into an even larger location. And on Feb. 11, 2012 GBCFC opened at its current location: 240 Court St. in the downtown area.

GBCFC’s “purpose is to promote our local food system and to serve as a sustainable cooperative model for access to wholesome food.” And operating under the slogan “Know your food. Know your water. Know your community”, GBCFC keeps strong ties to our local producers.

They currently sell products from around 36 local producers of different kinds. Some of which have been previously covered by this blog, like Hungry Mother Organics and River School Farm. And they also do their part in promoting natural and organic agricultural practices.

When buying products, GBCFC tries to buy from farms, businesses and companies that use “socially just and environmentally sound” practices whenever possible. And on their website, they provide their guidelines followed when purchasing products for their store.

For processed, packaged and bulk food, preference is given to products in this order: local organic, local sustainable, regional organic, regional sustainable, national organic and then national “all-natural.”

From the Great Basin Community Food Co-op Facebook page.

And for farmed foods, preference is given in a similar order: local organic, local sustainable, regional organic, regional sustainable, national organic and lastly, international organic.

They also try to offer as many GMO-free (genetically modified organisms-free) foods into their store as possible, and all verifed GMO-free foods are labeled as such on their shelves. Because of availability and the cost of GMO-free products, it is difficult for GBCFC to completely eliminate GMOs from their store although this would be ideal for them.

These guidelines allow for customers searching for these kinds of products to have the best options available to them at the best prices the GBCFC can offer.

GBCFC also hosts many arts and other classes and events on a fairly regular basis. You can find all of these listed on their events calendar on their website.

Source: greatbasinfood.coop 

Written by: Sage Leehey

How can you incorporate mason jars into your farm?

If you go on Pinterest you will see a ton of pins involving mason jars. Why? They are priced fairly decently (around $2 a jar) and they are easy to use in everyday life. I’m going to show you some interesting ways to use your mason jars. By the end of this post you should be able to use your old mason jars around your farm.
Mason Jar Uses 

After looking through pages and pages of Pinterest to find these interesting ideas for ways to use your mason jars, I realized that as a college student living in an apartment I could do some of these without needing a backyard. I will definitely be looking into making my own herb garden with mason jars (number three below). I found an interesting post from Mina (http://bit.ly/1hfZOTv) about starting your own herb garden. It’s simple to follow and she gives good information for beginners.

1. Make your own beehive using a mason jar. More information about making your own beehive in a mason jar can be found on the link to your right.  (Picture credit: http://bit.ly/1rRcR4v)

2. You can make your own hummingbird feeder. (Picture credit: http://bit.ly/1kreCkf )

3. This is a great way to incorporate mason jars into your farm. You want to grow your own herbs, well here’s a fun way to do that. (Picture credit: http://bit.ly/1pRbkhq)

4. If you are someone who likes to grow your own fruits and vegetables you could definitely use mason jars in your kitchen for when you plan on canning them. (Picture credit: http://bit.ly/1iLBMUM )

5. You can start growing your seedlings in a mason jar and later transplant them to a bigger pot or even directly into your garden. (Picture credit: http://bit.ly/1fAsRpz)

Written by: Samantha Altergott

How can you start a cooperative?

So you and your neighbors are thinking about starting a cooperative, but you are not quite sure how to go about it?

Here is a Q & A guide to help you understand what the cooperative is about and the process of bringing a cooperative into reality. A cooperative’s basic features and benefits are also highlighted so that you can better understand what a cooperative is.

Q & A: ‘How To Start a Cooperative’

What are cooperatives?

A Cooperative enterprise is one who belongs to the people who use its services; the control rests with all the members and the gains are distributed to the members in proportion to the use they make of its services.

What types of cooperatives are there?

1. Marketing–processes and markets the products you produce.
2. Purchasing–buys your supplies jointly with others: fertilizer, feed, oil, gas, seed, insecticide, etc.
3. Service–provides you special services: electric, telephone, credit, irrigation, breeding, custom spraying/fertilizing, etc.
4. Bargaining–negotiates the terms of sale (price and non-price).

 

What are some benefits of doing business through cooperatives?

1. Lets you be part of a group.
2. Gives you more market power.
3. Lets you reduce costs.
4. Gives you more money (better price).
5. Gives you more confidence in the future.
6. Eases getting of business financing.

 

Is there a need for the cooperative?
Will it succeed?
Potential membership and volume of business. Management skills needed.
Facilities needed.
Operating costs (projected).
Estimated capital needs.
Other considerations:

1. Incorporation.
2. Scope of business.
3. Membership.
4. Location.
5. Hours of business.
6. Representation on the Board of 
Directors.
7. Method of pricing supplies and services 
produced by members.
8. Marketing agreement.
9. Business with non-members.
10. Organization costs.

example:

(Picture credit: http://tangoitalia.com/coops/buffalo_coops.htm)

Basic cooperative features:

• Democratic member control (one man – one vote)
Limited returns on member investment

• Services provided to members rather than profits given to investors.

• Limited to 8% by federal law.

* Members share in the savings, or risks, in direct proportion to their use or participation in the cooperative.

• The cooperative operates at cost.

• Patrons (members) get net proceeds and pay individual income taxes.

 

Cooperative Benefits to Farmers and Communities:

The cooperative is a local tax payer and supports community service projects. It helps develop stronger business and civic-minded leaders. Cooperatives themselves need support businesses to carry out functions that cooperatives do not provide or to supply products they do not have. They increase community employment and generate revenue. Cooperatives also try to establish business honesty and truthful advertising, to maintain high quality and product standards and to initiate change to new products. Because of their main interest in individual farmers, they also are a restraint on monopolistic practices.

 

Written by: Ayaka Hatta

Say hi to the Mason Valley Beekeepers

A Mason Valley apiary (Photo courtesy of Debbie Gilmore)

Bees. Many of us are afraid of them. We’re afraid to be stung by them because we don’t know if we’re allergic or not. But did you know that bees are actually very helpful and bring antioxidants as well as antibiotics to us?

The Mason Valley Beekeepers are a group of people who meet up in Yerington, Nevada to tend to the thousands of bees that they have. Debbie Gilmore’s family has been running the Beekeepers for decades, ever since her grandfather started it.

“My grandfather removed to Mason Valley in 1918, an he was a beekeeper,” Gilmore said. “My family were beekeepers all the way up until the mid-70s when they sold the business. Eight years ago, my husband and I decided to get a few colonies of bees in our backyard, and then there ended up being more and more interest, so we started a support group that’s now the Mason Valley Beekeepers.”

The group has expanded over the last few years, starting with only 10 people and growing up to more than 70 families, all of them being within the Northern Nevada area.

Every year in February, the Mason Valley Beekeepers hold a conference in Yerington where beekeepers from all over the state of  Nevada, Northern California and even people as far as Seattle come to.

“There is such an interest in beekeeping, and it’s crazy,” Gilmore said. “We had over 125 people attend this year.”

The Mason Valley apiary after a bear damaged it (Photo courtesy of Debbie Gilmore)

The Mason Valley Beekeepers are more hobby beekeepers than anything, and the majority of them will support their families and friends with honey, as well as a substance called Propolis that acts as an antibacterial that the bees use as a sterilizer.

“People can make anything out of what the bees harvest. They make lip balms, lotions and soaps all with beeswax,” Gilmore said.

A colony of bees – the queen is the one with the green dot (Photo courtesy of Debbie Gilmore)

Anyone can become a beekeeper. You just need the correct equipment and the bees. You could get a package of over 12,000 bees and the queen, capture a swarm, or receive a hive from another beekeeper to start up the process.

“You need to keep an eye on the bees all year,” Gilmore says. “In the winter you have to feed the bees sugar syrup and pollen substitute since there is no way to get nectar in such cold weather, so beekeeping ends up being a yearlong task.”

When it comes to beekeeping, it could be dangerous because some people don’t know if they have a true allergic reaction, but I learned from Debbie that bee stings are actually therapeutic.

“Bee sting venom is being used to treat arthritis, multiple sclerosis and more; a lot of medicinal products come out of the beehive that many people don’t know about,” Gilmore said. “Honey and propolis are also medicinal because they are antibacterial and anti-fungal.”

Some of the bees in flight (Photo courtesy of Debbie Gilmore)

Beekeeping can be seen as dangerous, or can be seen as just a busy hobby. But from what I have found out, more goes on within beekeeping than what many think. The Mason Valley Beekeepers helped bring what began as just a hobby, to a community full of people who love doing the same thing.

“My one tip for those who want to start up in beekeeping is to find one or two good books, and stick to them,” Gilmore said. “It isn’t an exact science, and you can make your own way of doing things, it’s that amazing.”

 

Happy Farming!!

 

Written by: Alexa Jones

8 Household honey uses

Do you keep a jar of honey in your house? Did you know there are many different ways you can use that honey? I’m sure most of us keep honey in our homes because we use honey in our tea or possibly a little bit of honey in a glass of warm milk. Well I searched the web and I found some uses for honey that surprised me. Here’s a list of every day health benefits honey can be used for.

 

(Picture credit: http://www.saltex.in/honey/)

1. Bacterial Infections- Honey possesses antibacterial properties because of an enzyme which makes hydrogen peroxide.

2. Burns- Put some honey on your burns, of course make sure you use a clean instrument when applying your honey. Let the honey sit and your burn should start to feel better and heal slowly.

3. Constipation- Take honey with some warm water to help soothe constipation.

4. Cough- Calms cough, either take honey straight or mix honey with a little bit of coconut oil and lemon juice.

5. Cuts- Honey is naturally microbial. Honey can be put on cuts. Just think of honey as a natural antibiotic cream. It can prevent scrapes from sticking to bandaids or bandages.

6. Energy- There is a reason people put honey in their tea. It helps give your body energy. If you are feeling tired try putting some honey in something you enjoying drinking or eating. It should wake you right up.

7. Indigestion- Honey has antiseptic properties, which relieve acidity in our stomachs and can improve digestion. Honey neutralizes gas and this help soothe the stomach. Drinking tea with honey can provide relief from indigestion. In order to stop indigestion before it starts take one or two tablespoons of honey before a big meal.

8. Sore Throat- Mix honey with tea or warm water with lemon and drink. Your throat should start to feel better after this.

 

The history of honey used in medicines dates back almost 4000 years. Can you believe that? That’s a long period of time. Our ancestors were on to something.

 

Warning: Do not give honey to young children it can cause botulism.

 

Check out tomorrow’s post on the Mason Valley Beekeepers.

 

Sources:

http://www.mnn.com/health/fitness-well-being/blogs/10-uses-for-honey-outside-the-kitchen

http://www.naturalnews.com/036649_honey_home_remedies_medicine.html

http://www.stylecraze.com/articles/7-benefits-and-uses-of-honey/

Looking for some more interesting honey facts: <<http://healthtalkwomen.com/health-tips-2/home-cure-for-hangovers-honey/>&gt;

Written by: Samantha Altergott

Honey’s beauty benefits

Can you believe that honey can also improve your natural beauty? We say… yes!

Honey has been used for the purpose of healing, beauty, skin care and nutrition. It is best to purchase honey raw, unheated and organic, which means the product contains vitamins, minerals, enzymes and antioxidants.

Raw honey is incredible for your skin thanks to its antibacterial properties and huge serving of skin-saving antioxidants. If you are looking for an inexpensive powerful skin treatment, raw honey can help you regain your glow.

The beauty benefits of honey on your skin…

• Acne: Honey is naturally antibacterial so that it’s great for acne treatment and prevention.
• Aging: Full of antioxidants, it is great for slowing down aging.
• Complexion boost: It is extremely moisturizing and soothing, so it helps create a glow.
• Pores: Honey is clarifying because it opens up pores making them easily to unclog.

(Photo credit: http://visual.ly/12-amazing-beauty-benefits-honey)

Finally, if you are interested in receiving beauty benefits from honey, please visit this site: http://www.kimberlyloc.com/?s=honey. Natural beauty expert, Kim Wallace will teach you about great honey products.

 

Written by: Ayaka Hatta

 

Do you like the smell of lavender?

The outside of Lavender Ridge Farm. When you first walk up you can see the little house in front of their lavender fields. (Photo credit: Samantha Altergott)

I recently went down to Lavender Ridge Farms, here in Reno, NV and found the atmosphere to be super friendly. I talked with both Kristy and Mike Harris, the owners of Lavender Ridge. Mike shared their process of starting the farm. In 2000, they traveled to New Zealand. Kristy noticed all this Lavender products and farms. She began researching the holistic properties of lavender and realized it had been used for thousands of years. It’s been used to help people with many different aliments such as headaches, burns, insect bites and insomnia. Lavender is also used as a culinary spice.

One of their lavender fields on the back of the property. They will start to bloom in late July/early August. (Photo credit: Samantha Altergott)

Lavender has a lot of history behind it and after researching and visiting some of the New Zealand farms. They went up to a lavender festival in Washington. After looking into all the benefits of lavender and their uses, they decided to use their open land and planted their first crop of lavender. They planted about 1,000 plants in their upper area.

Mike had to learn how to distill the lavender oil, that’s what the lavender is all about. When it comes to healing it comes from the oil. Mike learned how to distill from the farmers in New Zealand when they went back the second time.

Their distillery bin, where the flower blooms go in and then cycle the oil and water into a container further back in the barn. (Photo credit: Samantha Altergott)

This is one of the beehives found on their farm. (Photo credit: Samantha Altergott)

The next year they added their first distillery and harvested. They got their first batch of oil and then had to figure out what to do with the oil. They decided to make products. Today, 12 years later Lavender Ridge offers close to 60 products on their website. They have switched their focus from farming to hosting weddings at their farm. They still harvest their lavender every year and make products for the public to purchase.

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When they first started making products they did a few of their own lavender festivals. They used to have musicians come. They made their own lavender ice cream and lavender lemonade.

They had tons of people come from around the country to visit their farm. They now have over 2,000 plants. Their lavender will bloom in late July/early August. They are able to make products for the whole year from their harvests in the late summer/early fall. They even have their own bee hive and have been known to sell lavender honey from the bees. (Look for our profile next week on the Mason Valley Beekeepers.)

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I thoroughly enjoyed visiting Kristy and Mike Harris at their beautiful lavender farm. Twice a month they allow people to come to their property and buy lavender products. You can purchase their products online on their website: http://lavenderridgereno.com/products/ . The rest of the month they focus on making their venue the perfect place to host weddings.

 

Some of the products I plan on trying from Lavender Ridge Farm. So far I am in love with the lotion. It keeps my hands soft and smooth. (Photo credit: Samantha Altergott)

 

Source:

http://www.netherfield.co.nz/lavender-uses.php

 

Written by: Samantha Altergott

The Farms and their products

As you may know, many of the farms that we have profiled on our blog sell many products, mostly organic food. A few of these farms also offer non-food products that could be used on a daily basis, such as lotions, soaps, candles, home/kitchen products and much more.

I decided to take a look at a few of these farms, and I was surprised to see what these places actually sell. River School Farm sells products for your skin, and Lavender Ridge Farm sells products ranging from skin products to home/kitchen products. And all of the products are organic so they will definitely be able to benefit you. I’ve chosen four products to talk about, as well as a few links to where you can find them on the farms’ respective websites.

River School Farm:

Photo courtesy of River School Farm Market

 

Moisturizing Calming Cream – This skin cream is used for revitalizing all skin types. The cream is both anti-bacterial and anti-fungal. It is made of 100% of River School Farm’s organic products including coconut oil, beeswax and lavender. You can use it daily to help promote rapid healing, regenerate dry skin cells, reduce skin inflammation and heal blemishes. The skin cream can be refrigerated and used for up to three months.

Photo courtesy of River School Farm Market

 

Skin Saving Salve – River School Farm’s skin saving salve helps keep your skin nice, healthy and vibrant. It can be used to heal cuts, scrapes, bruises, sprains or any kind of rash/abrasion on your skin. It is anti-fungal, anti-bacterial and anti-septic. It helps rejuvenate your skin and can help reduce scar tissue. Each skin salve includes essential oils of lavender, rosemary and frankincense.

 

 

Lavender Ridge:

Photo courtesy of lavenderridgereno.com

 

Lavender Soy Candle – Lavender Ridge’s candles are made with pure soy wax and lavender oil. They are easy on respiration and help sooth the mood in your home if you are feeling stressed out. These candle are also 100% free of any petroleum products. Soy, which is a pure vegetable wax, is able to burn for a very long time compared to petroleum based candles. The candle comes in a convenient 8 oz. container so it won’t take up much space.

Photo courtesy of lavenderridgereno.com

 

Hydrosol Spray – Yes, it’s true, there is a spray for your household that is made of lavender. Their lavender hydrosol spray is created by their lavender distillation process. This spray produces a natural cleanser for household areas that is anti-septic and also a non-irritating air freshener. This product is great for cleaning anything that is glass, your countertops, pet areas, the kitchen, the bathroom and much more. Each spray comes in a 24 oz. bottle. 

 

Hopefully you decide to purchase these products and try them out for yourselves. And stay tuned tomorrow for our profile on Lavender Ridge, where we’ll have more information about their products.

Happy shopping!

(All information courtesy of River School Farm and Lavender Ridge Farm.)

River School Farm Market: http://bit.ly/1qu6Ckx

Lavender Ridge Farm Products: http://bit.ly/1iz99Hg

 

Written by: Alexa Jones

Urban Roots- spring showers and flowers farm camp

I visited Urban Roots again this past Tuesday morning to see their second week of spring break farm camp. (To read more about the first week, see Samantha Altergott’s post). This week focuses on, as its name suggests, how the new spring weather changes what’s growing on the farm. Campers also learned about what was already out on the farm. Especially the rolly pollies. Those are quite the hit among the campers.

Two campers dig for rolly pollies in the hoop house.

This little camper was very excited to show me all the rolly pollies on her hands.

 

The campers bring snacks and lunch to camp, but Urban Roots workers also make snacks for the campers. On Tuesday, they were making salad.

Urban Roots workers make salad for the campers.

 

The first day of camp was on Monday, and education director Kim Daniel said, “Parents were optimistic about how much sun their kids could handle” and everyone finished the day a little burned. So for Tuesday, the kids came stocked with extra sunscreen and took even more shade breaks than the day before. During snack time, most of the kids found a shady spot to hide and enjoy their food. The igloo was a favorite.

Here, one of the campers tells me who her enemy is: the sun.

As some of the campers began to finish their snacks, the farm bunny became the choice entertainment. The bunny lives at Urban Roots all year round, as well as the farm cat, Hercules.

A few of the campers told me about the bunny and one asked if they could hang out inside the cage to hide from the sun.

 

When snack time ended, the campers broke into two groups: one with Kimmy Lessman, an education coordinator, and the other with Daniel. Daniel explained that her group had been with Lessman earlier that morning and vice versa. Daniel’s group did flower dissection. Lessman’s group prepared beans to grow inside wet paper towels in plastic bags placed in the hoop house.

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After dissecting the flowers, some of the campers used the pollen as “paint” for their faces.

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In Lessman’s group, the campers put beans into paper towels inside plastic bags with their names on them.

Labeling her bag.

They begin putting their beans in paper towels and labeling their bags.

 

 

They then wet their paper towels.

This camper wets his paper towel.

This camper is excited for her bean to grow.

 

They then put their bags into the hoophouse, so they could grow.

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Camp runs through the rest of the week. Urban Roots will be hosting summer farm camps over the entire Washoe County School District summer break. For more information and to register, visit here.

 

Written by: Sage Leehey

Urban Roots- birds, bugs and butterflies farm camp

This past Thursday, April 3 I went over to Urban Roots. I was surprised by what I saw. After we did our farm profile on them a few weeks back I wanted to find out more about them especially since Sage was the one who wrote their farm profile. What I learned about this farm was truly something amazing. I learned that they are not just farmers. They are here to teach the kids about farming and where their food comes from. This is the first year Urban Roots has offered a spring break farm camp. This past week their focus was on Birds, Bugs and Butterflies. This next week they will be focusing on Spring Showers and Flowers.

While I was at Urban Roots, I had kids come up to Cheryl Skibicki and myself asking us questions. They even told us about what different activities they were doing at the farm.

On Wednesday, April 2 the children made bird biscuits using bird seed. (Photo credit: Samantha Altergott)

On Thursday April 3, the children listened to a story read by Kimmy Lessman, one of Urban Roots education coordinators. (Photo credit: Samantha Altergott)

Children following one of their education coordinators to their next activity. (Photo Credit: Samantha Altergott)

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The children played a game where the toilet paper rolls were the bees and the yellow and white balls were pollen. (Photo credit: Samantha Altergott)

The children started their birds nests on Wednesday and continued working on them before lunch on Thursday. (Photo credit: Samantha Altergott)

This little boy wanted his bird to have options so he had a little slide and defense areas set up around his birds nest, so his birds would be safe. He definitely used his imagination. (Photo credit: Samantha Altergott)

Two boys working on their birds nest. (Photo credit: Samantha Altergott)

They have almost finished their nest before lunch will be served. (Photo credit: Samantha Altergott)

Here is a complete bird nest done by a group of children. (Photo credit: Samantha Altergott)

I had a great time hanging out with the children for an hour on Thursday. I learned some very interesting things about Urban Roots. They want to educate children, help the community learn more about farming and continue to grow their own food, which they share with 4th St. Bistro and Great Full Gardens.

Links:

Urban Roots: http://www.urgc.org

Great Full Gardens: http://greatfullgardens.com

Written by: Samantha Altergott