Kristen Lee Charlson

We are excited for the Second season of the Heirloom Winter Farmers' Market at the Fairgrounds! Hard to believe it is that time of year again. Our first market is this Saturday, November 2, 2013 from 10am-2pm in the Floriculture building.
The intention of the Heirloom Winter Farmers’ Market at the Fairgrounds is to showcase the bounty of food products from our region all year long; the market focuses on food and agricultural products and handmade local wares.

Every Saturday November - December and 2nd and 4th Saturdays January - April.

Farmstead Meatsmith returns to Missoula for a 2 day pig harvest, butchery and charcuterie workshop

Visit here for more information: http://www.farmsteadmeatsmith.com/?page_id=1834

Lodging available on site at the 9 Mile Schoolhouse. Meals can also be arranged.

Sponsored by The Heirloom Project

ACTION ALERT:
Hey Montana Lovers of REAL Food we need to protect our access to farm-fresh-eggs. HB399 is headed to a committee hearing next week 2/18. Please call your legislator and show your support. It's easy call (406) 444-4800 to leave a message for legislators, or the entire House Human Services committee. See the text here: http://data.opi.mt.gov/bills/2013/BillHtml/HB0399.htm

I personally do not think that the restaurant is expensive - especially when you consider the kind of sourcing they are doing - local, sustainable and organic. The food that they are purchasing is not subsidized creating that false "cheap" food mindset that is prevalent amongst consumers. They are also buying whole animals, curing their own meats, making their own sausages and can tell you where the food comes from, which is a far cry from most Missoula restaurants. At the same time, the food is not inflated in price as many of our "fine dining" establishments are.

"Charlie" - Charlie Hopkins, the mushroom man...

This the Heirloom Winter Market's first year as a certified and sanctioned farmers' market. We did operate last year as well. We were invited to host the market at the Missoula County Fairgrounds this year, which is a perfect use of the facility whose history is steeped in agriculture. Hope you will check it out!

Interested in Vermicomposting and how it can change the world?
Mark your calendar and invite your friends - change the world!
What: Ecosystem Services of Worms and Soil
Who: Tom Herlihy - Worm Power - Avon, New York
Where: University of Montana, Missoula - Jeanette Rankin Hall, Second Floor
When: Monday, October 15, 7-9 PM
Free & Open to all UM Students and the Public
ATTACHED IS MORE INFO ON WORM POWER

The presentation will be a brief overview of the largest vermicomposting facility in the US. The facility is co-located on a 1,600 head dairy operation in Avon, NY and annually processes over 10,000,000 Ibs of manure in a highly engineered continuous-flow vermicomposting system. The end product is a certified, "listed", organic plant growth and plant protection material that is used at some of the nation's largest organic and conventional greenhouse operations. The facility employs a two step composting and vermicomposting process to ensure pathogen destruction and ensure consistent end-product quality. The presentation will focus on both the state-of-the-art vermicomposting technology (production process) and its ability to integrate the excess nutrients from animal agriculture (manure management) into sustainable materials for horticultural production. Descriptions will be presented of current innovative manure management systems in place at the dairy and of the operating principals at the vermicomposting facility and its 45,000,000 earthworm workers.

Presenter Information
Tom is a Founder and the CEO of Worm Power with over 25 years engineering experience specializing in the design, permitting construction and operation of large scale organic waste projects. His multi-disciplined background varies from an Agricultural Extension Agent in West Africa, general dairy farm labor, and 20 years as a Consulting Environmental Engineer before founding Worm Power. Since then he has focused all of his professional attention on developing large-scale vermicomposting systems and the production of vermicompost-based plant growth and plant protection products.

The Heirloom Winter Market will begin on Saturday, November 3, 2012 and will have a new home - the Missoula County Fairgrounds!

In order to make this a broad community-based marketplace, we would love to have your help.

In the next few weeks we will be securing vendors, musicians and organization to lead demonstrations.

Email: project (dot) heirloom @ gmail (dot) com for more information

Monday, September 17 @ 6:30pm
Missoula Public Library, Large Meeting Room
Sponsored by the Missoula Chapter of the Weston A Price Foundation

Americans’ right to access fresh, healthy foods of their choice is under attack. Farmageddon tells the story of small, family farms that were providing safe, healthy foods to their communities and were forced to stop, sometimes through violent action, by agents of misguided government bureaucracies, and seeks to figure out why.