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

River School Farm: A place of learning and fun

River School Farm (Photo courtesy of Alexa Jones)

If you’re looking for produce and products that are organic, or if you want to gets hands-on training on how to grow a garden, River School Farm is the place you need to go to. Located past McCarran and 4th Street, you would need to turn onto three more streets before finally reaching your destination at 7777 White Fir Street, but you can’t miss the farm one bit.

This is the first farm I’ve ever been to, and let me just say, I was very impressed. It really felt like a farm because I saw goats and chickens, as well as ducks, roaming around the farm area. I noticed that they had a hoop house and a couple of low tunnels that helped insulate the produce that were being grown inside. The farm has established multiple organic micro eco-farm sites that grow produce throughout the city that include the farm itself, Hug High School, and the Patagonia ESA, or Environmentally Supported Agriculture.

Inside of one of the RSF’s hoop houses. (Photo courtesy of Alexa Jones)

What is interesting about this farm is that they grow their crops and greens year-round, so even during the wintertime, there is produce being grown for the Reno community. From flowers and herbs, to fruit and vegetables, the River School Farm delivers all kinds of organic produce.

The farm sells their fresh produce and herbs, as well as products (body care and gardening supplies) to the community of Reno. Co-event coordinator Abbie Alterman showed me around the farm a little bit and told me about where the produce they grow actually goes.

“We sell to a few local restaurants in town, and we have a market site on our website so people can buy what we have available,” Alterman said.

“On Thursdays we have a designated pickup from 1pm to 7pm so that people can come and receive what they ordered, so it is easy for them.”

As stated in last week’s post about CSAs, we mentioned how River School Farm is one of the CSAs within the city of Reno. Alterman informed me that they do not really do CSAs anymore, but instead just advertise what kinds of produce they have in season for the community.

“We’ll say that we have spinach in season or that we have a certain vegetable or herb in season, so that way people can hop online and put what they want into their cart and then we harvest everything for them,” Alterman said.

RSF Event Entrance Sign (Photo courtesy of Alexa Jones)

Another unique thing that I found out was that the farm regularly hosts special events ranging from weddings to barbecues! I wouldn’t blame people for choosing their location because it is absolutely beautiful. If you go down a few steps past the main entrance, you’ll see that there is an amphitheater where such events would be held.

If you ever wanted to get tips on how to garden, learn some new yoga poses, or even enroll your child in a music or dance class—yes, I did say dance class—you can easily register online to learn all kinds of different things at the River School Farm.

My overall experience at the farm was fantastic. I never knew how much a farm could really contribute to a city like Reno. I also did not expect the farm to have so many exciting activities and events.

River School Farm hoop houses and low tunnels (Photo courtesy of Alexa Jones)

The goal of the River School Farm is to advocate, teach and demonstrate how by the year 2020, we will be able to grow at least 20 percent of our food. How amazing would that be? 20 percent may seem like a small amount, but in reality, it could end up being more than what we would expect. This farm really focuses on trying to teach us how to express ourselves and give a chance to have a sustainable living space while being eco-friendly, and eco-educated (see, I came up with a new term).

If you want to be educated, and still have fun, River School Farm is the place for you.

(If you check out the “Upcoming Events” link in the top right hand corner of our blog, you can find events happening at the River School Farm, if you’re interested.)

 

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Written by: Alexa Jones

Delicious food with a delicious price

Sometimes, you may be craving something healthy to eat. And most people will categorize healthy with organic. Unfortunately, many people won’t be willing to buy organic food because they think that it is too expensive. Luckily, for Reno residents, I have found five places around the city that sell delicious, organic food for quite a low price.

1. Whole Foods Market – Whole Foods Market is definitely a go-to place for many people when they want organic food. The good thing about Whole Foods is that they are like the organic Wal-Mart. Their prices are great, and the local Reno store has “Sure Deals” every month to make sure that the customers get the most out of their Whole Foods Experience. As the nation’s first certified organic grocery store, they make sure to cater to the needs of the customer.

Picture courtesy of wholefoodsmarket.com

2. Cafe DeLuxe – A new restaurant that opened in July 2013, Cafe DeLuxe has great food at great prices. Not only is organic food served, but they also cater to those who are vegan, vegetarian and the common carnivore. They also offer a juice bar and raw food items if you’re feeling bold. If you want healthy and cheap, this is the definitely a place that you want to check out.

Photo courtesy of happycow.net

3. Great Full Gardens – Located in Midtown Reno, Great Full Gardens offers a large menu with great prices, with their produce coming from their own greenhouse. Ranging from breakfast to soups and even Vegan desserts, this restaurant is sure to keep you wanting to come back for more with their unbeatable flavors. And good news for UNR students, the Joe Crowley Student Union will be getting a Great Full Gardens Express location in the food court so you won’t have to travel far!

Picture courtesy of Yelp.com

4. Pathways – Located on the UNR campus in the Center for Molecular Medicine, Pathways is great choice for both meat lovers, as well as vegans and vegetarians.  The organic produce is grown locally by the owners, so it’s always fresh every day. It’s a very convenient location for university students who want to get their healthy fix. (Fun fact: the owners of Pathways are the owners of Great Full Gardens!)

Photo courtesy of happycow.net

5. Electric Blue Elephant – This one is cool because it’s a food truck that travels around the cities of Reno and North Lake Tahoe. Their food is made from local and organic ingredients and is always made from scratch. The interesting thing about this mobile kitchen is that it puts twists on pizza, sushi, salads, grilled cheese sandwiches, and even pies and brownies. If you want to find out where they’re located, be sure to like their Facebook page at ‘Electric Blue Elephant’!

Hopefully these locations will help put away the fears of wanting to eat healthy, but not wanting to spend a lot of money. If you go to any of them, be sure to let us know how your experience was!

Happy eating!

Written by: Alexa Jones

Urban Roots Garden Classrooms

Urban Roots sign

If you’re downtown and go about two miles west down Fourth St., Urban Roots Garden Classrooms will be on your right. You would probably miss it if it weren’t for a big sign at the end of the driveway at 3001 W. Fourth St. And you might still, like I did my first time visiting Urban Roots. From the road, you can’t see the small farm that Urban Roots has created there. It’s tucked behind a building with various tenants—one used to be a bar, but Urban Roots now occupies that space—and some sagebrush and trees.

But once I parked my car and walked behind the building, I saw the hoophouse, chicken coop, teaching areas, plants and farm cat that signaled I was definitely at the right place.

Urban Roots is a nonprofit organization that uses their farm for teaching purposes—mostly for kids but also for adults. Kim Daniel is the education director at Urban Roots and has an obvious passion for farming and gardening education.

“The broad mission of Urban Roots is to connect people to where their food comes from, so our mission is growing healthy bodies, minds and communities through seed to table education,” Daniel said. “Basically, we want people to understand where their food comes from and then have a connection to why healthy food is important.”

Hoophouse

Urban Roots has one hoophouse that allows the farm to grow all year long because it has wind and weather protection.

Currently, there are different types of lettuces growing inside. Outside, some kale made it through the winter, too.  The summer is a more active time of year for the farm.

“In the summertime, we grow anything that we can get to grow,” Daniel said. “We grow lots of tomatoes, different kinds of herbs grow here all year long, but we grow broccoli and garlic and really, we’re willing to try anything. Cauliflower, cabbage are popular, too.”

Farm Cat

The farm has some lively year-round residents as well. The chicken coop currently has four hens, and they expect a few more in the spring. A bunny and a farm cat also call Urban Roots home. The farm cat is adorable, orange and very friendly. He jumped on the table when Daniel and I were talking and insisted on being petted, switching back and forth from her to me.

Also in the summer, Urban Roots usually plays host to a sheep or goat from one of the local farms. This is mostly because that’s when Urban Roots has most of their Farm Camps for kids ages five to 12. The summer camps are each one week long and run from June 16 through to Aug. 8. There are also camps during some of the school breaks, including the two weeks of Washoe County School District’s spring break this year from March 31 to April 11. Each week has a different theme and will teach children various different kinds of

Chickens

things.

Urban Roots works with schools in the area to create and maintain gardens on their campuses, too. And if your child is homeschooled, there are various options for Farm School classes.

“We use gardens and farming as a vehicle for science education,” Daniel said. “We do camps and we work with schools and their school gardens. We do teacher trainings, and we also teach volunteers how to work with schools and to garden themselves.”

Another portion of Urban Roots includes education programs for adults.

“We do adult education programs, which focus on permaculture, which is sustainable agriculture, and folk art stuff, which is—now that we’ve grown all this stuff, what else can we do with it? How can we can? And those sorts of things,” Daniel said.

And for college-age students, Urban Roots works with the University of Nevada, Reno for their FarmCorps program focusing on agricultural research. In this program they look into things like what an be grown in the area and if there are better methods for growing those things.

Urban Roots is constantly changing and growing. The old bar space they now occupy was a recent addition to the organization. They moved into it at the beginning of this year and have been renovating it to use as indoor teaching space—mostly for when the weather doesn’t cooperate.

But their goals and mission stays the same: connect people to their food.

“I think that we just have gotten really disconnected from how food is really manufactured and that people don’t necessarily understand that you don’t have to have manufactured food,” Daniel said. “There are things that you can do at your house or at your school to have really fresh food, which is typically healthier for us. And with sort of an epidemic of obesity and disconnect from the land, I think this is an important step to get people to live healthier, more fulfilled lives.

Farm Cat

Chicken Coop

Urban Roots

What is Permaculture?

High Desert Farming Initiative in Reno has been using hoop houses to help grow lettuce. They have also been trying something new where the plants are planted outside of a hoop house and can be covered if the weather is too harsh. Basic concepts of permaculture can be seen by this. (Picture credit: Samantha Altergott)

Permaculture is a branch of ecological design. This branch of design combines both ecological engineering and environmental design. This sustainable agriculture system is modeled after natural ecosystems.

What is ecological design?

According to Sim Van der Ryn and Stuart Cowan ecological design is “any form of design that minimizes environmentally destructive impacts by integrating itself with living processes.” Think of recycling and how it helps keep our environment from being destroyed. Think of biodegradable products and how they are helping our environment stay green. Both of the above mentioned examples are helping with ecological design.

What does ecological engineering involve?

Ecological engineering involves using engineering and our knowledge about the world to help construct ecosystems. While this branch of engineering hasn’t been around as long as the others it doesn’t mean that it isn’t as important. They are still finding new ways to implement their knowledge into developing ecosystems. By studying ecosystems and finding out how they work ecological engineers can figure out how to integrate this knowledge into developing new systems.

What’s the difference between environmental design and ecological design?

Environmental design focuses on surrounding environmental conditions when coming up with plans for new buildings, products and polices. While ecological design focuses on minimizing environmental destruction, environmental design focuses on creating a human-designed environment.

Why is this important to you?

This photo shows High Desert Farming Institute and how they incorporate hoop houses as part of their agricultural design.

I am sure you are asking yourself why this type of farming is important. By understanding that farmers are taking environment concerns into consideration when they farm we as a group can know that our existing ecosystems are not being destroyed in order to create sustenance for ourselves. We can be assured that our world as we know it will continue to grow and change. We are adapting and understanding how we fit into the ecosystems.

How is it used in everyday life?

• Designing natural homes
• Food production systems
• Food forests
• Backyard animals
• Harvest rainwater

Information and sources:

Great link to find out more information on how permaculture is used in every day life: http://www.permaculture.org/permaculture-resources/key-concepts/

Understanding that the world is changing: http://www.permaculture.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/permaculture-a-way-of-seeing-by-joel-glanzberg.pdf

Permaculture Techniques:  <<http://www.permaculture.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/Permaculture-Techniques.pdf>&gt;

Local Farm- Urban Roots will be having an introduction workshop on  permaculture May 22-23, 2014. Here’s the link to their information page:  <<http://www.urgc.org/#!permaculture/c4fw>&gt;

Written by: Samantha Altergott

High Desert Farming Initiative

When you walk around the grounds of High Desert Farming Initiative this is exactly what you see. (Picture credit: Samantha Altergott)

Reno’s farming scene has grown over the past year. Reno’s farming scene has been continuously expanding. The High Desert Farming Initiative is a local farm housed on a plot of land just outside of the University of Nevada, Reno. This farming initiative has brought together CABNR (the College of Agriculture, Biotechnology and Natural Resources) and the UNR College of Business, as well as many community groups. HDFI has worked hard to accomplish getting their greens—lettuce—placed in the Downunder Café located under Argenta Hall on campus. This recently happened before the end of the first semester in mid-December, and the workers at the HDFI are trying to get more than just greens into the Downunder Café with expansion leading to other vegetables like carrots, squash and more. Their goal is to eventually have their greens at all the food places, like the Overlook near the Jot Travis Building.

This is a community involved with hands on experience and knowledge in order to help farmers know what new techniques can be implemented into their farms so they are not spending tons of money doing the research. HDFI works with partners such as Urban Roots’ MJ Pickett, director of FarmCorps to carry out grants they have received.

Some of the lettuce found in HDFI’s hoop house. (Picture credit: Samantha Altergott)

“HDFI and FarmCorps work together to grow greens in the hoop houses located behind the greenhouse complex,”  Pickett said. “This is actually one of the grants I was speaking of; a grant from the Nevada Department of Agriculture Specialty Crop Block Grant.  I am not exactly sure how this came about but the idea was to get local, organic food to students and the community.”

Being able to deliver organic products to the students at the university is great because those wanting to start eating healthier, while still on campus, are able to do so without having to travel to the other side of town. The fact that the HDFI is working hard to bring their produce to the campus and the community shows how much they want this initiative to go through, and hopefully it is able to expand more now, and well into the future.

Lettuce is the main crop over at HDFI until the summer time. (Picture credit: Samantha Altergott)

This lettuce has been growing for close to a month. (Picture credit: Samantha Altergott)

The University of Nevada, Reno’s Down Under Cafe receives lettuce from HDFI. (Picture credit: Samantha Altergott)

(Here’s an article from Dennis Saxon and Nicole Shearer about the first produce from HDFI: <<http://www.unr.edu/nevada-today/news/2014/nevada-dining-and-hdfi>&gt;)

Written by: Samantha Altergott and Alexa Jones

Local Farms, Ranches and Related Locations Map

https://mapsengine.google.com/map/edit?mid=z5YEItNUZKao.ko2e2Ihq9uno

 

Done by: Sage Leehey