St. Louis Screening and Q+A

Please join us this Sunday, August 8th for a screening of the Queer Farmer Film Project short

7:30pm drinks and snacks

8:30pm outdoor screening of the short followed by a Q+A and Agnes Varda's film The Gleaners and I

Slow Rocket Urban Farm

1938 Cherokee Street

St. Louis, Missouri

Hope to see you there!

Common Ground

Meet Julie Puhich and Nancy Laich, 2 of the farmers at Common Ground Farm in Olympia, Washington. Both Julie and Nancy are long time farmers in the Olympia area and collectively run the farm with Julie managing the field veggies and Nancy overseeing the goats and orchards. Common Ground was one of the most magical, welcoming, and aesthetically beautiful farms we have visited yet.

Common Ground grows diverse veggies and fruits for their 40ish CSA boxes. Members pick up directly at the farm or are delivered to in Seattle. They are growing some serious food here!

Here are some of their baby goats and milking goats. Julie described the goats as the "heart of the farm, " not only because they are physically located in the farm's center but because they are used in conjunction with so many important aspects of their farm- eating extra veggies, providing fertility for the farm, offering milk and grazing the land on rotation.

The babies were so happy to see us!

Through this project I have discovered that there are quite a few queer goat farmers out there. I don't think it is coincidental that queers are drawn to goats- they are very queer themselves. Strong personalities, individualistic and creative, polyamorous, feminist and lesbionic-

all qualities found in these amazing creatures. For a deeper understanding, I suggest reading the chapter in Brad Kessler's book Goat Song that talks about goat reproduction- I think you'll find the detailed descriptions of males in rut proof enough.

Meet Lucy, Common Ground's resident queer goose. Nancy told the magical story of Lucy who lives among the milking goats and has had many doe partners in her life. She usually chooses one doe, mounts her, and continues to cuddle up.

Some beautiful shots from around the farm...

poppies fading, asparagus background, bees on lavender...
oats and wheat

pallet fence held together with bailing twine, do-it-yourself recycled material style

Thank you to Leu for taking these beautiful photographs and for help in the field and to everyone that hosted in the Pacific Northwest.

Next up: meeting with Perry Stevens in Wasington DC-the USDA's National Conservation Resource Service's GLBT Special Emphasis Manager.

2 Brown Chicks

Meet Joanne Alcantara(left) and bOo Torres (right), the heart and soul of Seattle, Washington's 2 Brown Chicks Family Farm. Recently married and about to relocate their family farm to Juneau, Alaska 2 Brown Chicks have been a small-scale, community oriented urban agriculture project that has inspired people across Seattle to grow, raise, and catch their own vegetables, chickens, and water.

Torres and Alcantara, both queer women of color are not just farmers, but dedicated organizers and educators in their community. They sell fresh eggs and also raise free range and no hormone chickens that they sell and use as an educational tool to encourage people to learn to raise their own food. They sell laying hens, chicks, and also chick starter kits which include everything you need to raise baby chickens with the option to sell back the equipment to the farm when the chickens are grown. Genius! Through their build-a-chicken coop workshop days, people are invited to their farm to learn what it takes to raise chickens and to construct their own chicken coops from recycled materials to take home to house their birds. Including garden fresh lunch, the entire day is available to folks for an affordable $40.

Here is an example of one of the coops at 2 Brown Chicks Family Farm made from recycled material including dresser drawers for nesting boxes.

2 Brown Chicks encourages people to grow their own food whenever possible, and also to save the water necessary to do so through simple rainwater catchment technology. They purchase recycled 55-gallon food grade barrels and re-sell them. Their farm is a living example of how easy it can be to save water- here are photos of some of their rainwater catchment barrels:

Visiting with 2 Brown Chicks in Seattle was a great reminder that growing food and raising animals sustainably is deeply connected to cultivating sustainable communities. At least 50% of the profits from the farm go back directly into the community, mainly through their Community Activist Fund which funnels farm profits to local activist organizations that are specifically working for justice on issues that affect women of color, queer and youth-led organizations working toward sustainable communities, immigrant rights, universal healthcare, and the end of U.S. dominance in the world.

Thank you 2 Brown Chicks for your queer community oriented politicized sustainable farm dreams! Best of luck in Alaska...

Gay Farm Tour 2010 in the works!

We will be wrapping up filming this Summer with a final tour of the Pacific Northwest and a return to the South. Our intended dates are: 

July 21-23 Seattle area

July 23-28 Olympia, Washington and rural Washington 

July 28-August 1 Portland, Oregon and rural Oregon 

August 2-15 Southern Loop! 

North Carolina, Tennessee, Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, Indiana 

If you are in these areas and we haven't heard from you, get in touch soon!

Queer Farmer Field Day

If you are in California, check out this event coming up! The Queer Farmer Film Project short will be shown, along with several other films. 

The Rainbow Chard Alliance, Apprenticeship Program at the UC Santa Cruz Center for Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems (CASFS), and the UCSC Lionel Cantú LGBTI Resource Center are hosting our second annual

 

Queer Farmer Field Day

Saturday, June 19th

At the UC Santa Cruz Farm

 

You are invited to come celebrate the summer with other

LGBTQ and supportive gardeners, farmers, and food lovers.

All sexual/gender identities welcome

Festivities from 2 to 9 pm.

 Farm Tours @ 2 & 5 PM

 Workshops (Beekeeping, Fermenting, Pickling, & more!)

 Work Party

 Potluck Dinner @ 6 PM

 Live Music and Films

 

All participants will be encouraged to bring their own gloves and garden tools, plate for dinner, and food to share. The CASFS apprentices will provide one large dish to serve to the group at dinner. Families and youth welcome. Unfortunately, no pets will be allowed on the farm during this event. 

  

More about our sponsoring organizations:

Rainbow Chard Alliance is an autonomous group of Queer Farmers' working to redefine the family farm, fight for issues around both social justice and food justice, and promote local, sustainable, organic food consumption in our communities! To join our listerve email rainbow-chard-alliance@googlegroups.com 

The Center for Agroecology & Sustainable Food Systems is a research, education, and public service program at the University of California, Santa Cruz, dedicated to increasing ecological sustainability and social justice in the food and agriculture system. To find more information about CASFS, visit our website at www.casfs.ucsc.edu and our blog at casfs.blogspot.com

The Apprenticeship in Ecological Horticulture provides training in the concepts and practices of organic gardening and small-scale farming alongside issues of Social Justice within our food system. This full-time program is held at the Center's 25-acre Farm and 3-acre Alan Chadwick Garden on the UCSC campus.

UCSC's Cantu Queer Center provides a comprehensive range of educational, informational, and advocacy services and works to create and maintain a safe, inclusive multicultural environment for UCSC's GLBTI students, staff, faculty, and alumni.  For more information go to www.queer.ucsc.edu.

Directions to the Farm

To reach the UCSC campus -

Via Highway 17 south from San Jose/San Francisco Bay Area -

* Cross the mountains on Highway 17 and proceed to Santa Cruz.
* Take the "Highway 1 North, Half Moon Bay" exit off of Highway 17.
* Follow the signs for Highway 1/Half Moon Bay onto Mission St. (Highway 1 North).
* Turn right on Bay Street and follow it onto the UC Santa Cruz campus, where it becomes Coolidge Drive.
* (Note to reach Highway 17 from 101, take 101 south to Route 85 south to Highway 17 south.)

Via Highway 1 from the south -

* Follow the signs to Highway 1 North/Half Moon Bay. This will put you on Mission St. (Highway 1 North).
* Turn right on Bay Street and follow it onto the UC Santa Cruz campus, where it becomes Coolidge Drive.

Via Highway 1 from the north:

* Highway 1 becomes Mission St. as you enter Santa Cruz.
* Turn left on Bay Street and follow it onto the UC Santa Cruz campus, where it becomes Coolidge Drive.

Via the Santa Cruz Metro Service:

* Bus lines coming into Santa Cruz will deposit you at the Greyhound station. Walk next door to the Santa Cruz Metro Station and look for the University 1 bus.
* Once on campus, get off at the Campus Facilities stop and follow the directions below.

Once you are on the UC Santa Cruz campus -

To reach the Center's Farm facility — LOOK FOR SIGNS

* Just past the campus's main entrance you'll see a pullout at an information kiosk where you can purchase a temporary guest parking permit (no permit needed after 5 pm or on weekends).
* After purchasing your permit, continue up the hill and turn right at the Carriage House/Campus Facilities parking lot (the first right you can make past the kiosk). The Farm is a 5-minute walk across the street from the parking lot.
* Walk across Coolidge and follow the signs that say Center for Agroecology/Farm Pedestrians.
* Walk 1/4 mile up the gravel road that parallels the paved bike path to a short set of stairs and a wooden entrance gate. PLEASE BE CAREFUL NOT TO WALK ON THE PAVED BIKE PATH! BIKES COME DOWN THE HILL RAPIDLY AND CAN INJURE YOU!

For directions, call 831.459-4140 (pre-recorded), 459-3240

Queer Farmer Short in City College of San Francisco LGBTQ Film Festival

Black Farmers and Urban Gardeners Conference

APRIL 10, 2010

9:00 AM - 12:00 PM

388 Atlantic Ave., Brooklyn Between Hoyt and Bond 

BLACK FARMERS AND URBAN GARDENERS
COMMUNITY FORUM 

Join the conversation and learn how you can take action around food, farming and policy in the black community! 

What’s for Dinner?
Connecting the Dots Between Food Access, Policy and the History of Agriculture from the Black Perspective 

PANEL DISCUSSION 

Maya Wiley, Founder and Executive Director of the Center for Social Inclusion 

Kolu Zigbi, Program Officer for Sustainable Agriculture and Food Systems at the Jessie Smith Noyes Foundation 

Jennifer Steverson, Public Programs Curator at Weeksville Society Heritage Center 

Space is limited to 150 guests.  Stay tuned for registration information.

For general information, please email blackfarmersconf@gmail.com.