Neighborhood Food Network Calls
We have a zoom call every Monday night, so if you would like to join, please click here to sign up for the calls. We will do our best to answer all of your questions – and if we don’t have the answer we will find someone who does!
We also post our meetings on YouTube if you would like to catch up on a meeting you weren’t able to attend.
January 29, 2023 - Caleb Warnock, Renaissance Seeds - Time to get growing!
We had the pleasure of speaking with Caleb Warnock, gardener, author, teacher, seedsaver, and owner of Renaissance Seeds. Caleb sells some of the rarest and most important seeds in the world, specializing in year-round, self-sufficient gardening for all climates.
This was definitely one of those OMG calls, as I had asked everyone in the previous email about getting excited about receiving seed catalogs. As we learned from Caleb, even those of us in the more northern climates can actually start planting some of our seeds, including our brassicas, root crops and lettuce as soon as the ground can be worked!
Some links from the call:
April 17, 2023 - Steve Churchill, the Urban Worm Company - Grow more Nutrient Dense Food with worms!
We had an a great call with Steve Churchill of the Urban Worm Company -he talked about ways to start vermicomposting at home as well as other ways to supercharge our soil to grow the most nutrient-dense food possible.
Some links from the call:
- Urban Worm Company Shop
- Highly Invasive Jumping Worms Have Spread to 15 States
- Fantastic Fungi Documentary
- Soil Food Web
- Make your own biochar at home
- How to charge your biochar
April 3, 2023 - Valerie Wilson - "Chef Val" - Oriental Medicine and Spring Foods
We had an amazing, information-packed call with Valerie Wilson, a woman of many talents, including teacher, chef, radio show host, counselor and more!
Science has proven what has been known in Oriental Medicine for thousands of years. Valerie talked about The Five Transformations of Energy and that we are currently in Spring/Wood.
Three foods to support: reproductive organs and boost your immunity during winter are:
- Dandelion Greens –makes wonderful tea and is one of the first foods for the bees!
- Asparagus: One of the first veggies to come up and is fabulous raw or cooked. Get some asparagus crowns and plant them in a dedicated area of your garden and you will be rewarded with this lovely crop for years!
- Barley: Anti-inflammatory and blood purifier – here is her recipe for Recipe of the Month – Spring Barley Vegetable Stew.
She gave details on all three of these foods and it was really fascinating! This is definitely a video that should be watched several times as it was full of great information!
She is the author of six cookbooks:
- Perceptions in Healthy Cooking
- Healthy and Delicious Cooking Spring Season
- Vegan Cooking with Kids
- Year Round Healthy Holiday Dishes
- Summer Season Healthy and Delicious Cooking
- Simply Healthy Scrumptious Desserts
Some links from the call:
- Macro Val Website
- NEW! – Chef Vel/MacroVal Instagram page
- MacroVal Food – Facebook Page
- Recipe of the Month – Spring Barley Vegetable Stew
- REAL FOOD with Chef Val radio show
- Chef Valerie Wilson’s youtube Channel
- Chef Val’s Whole and Healthy Cooking Patreon Channel
- Valerie’s Newsletter – Substack
- What Is Soursop Bitters
- Comprehensive list of “deadly” nightshades
- What is Molybdenum
- What’s the deal with Nightshade Vegetables?
- Patricia Becker – Yoga and Nutrition Coach
- Doudlah Farms
- The Eden Method – The Five Elements
March 13, 2023 - Happy Leaf LED Lights, with Victor Zaderej and Polly McGann
He is also giving our members a discount! Use the code HAPPY to get 5% off any orders over $90. We all love a discount!
Some links from the call:
- Happy Leaf LED
- Happy Leaf LED Youtube Channel
- Electroculture: a synthesis of free energy & agriculture (how to grow massive vegetables)
- Johnny’s Selected Seeds
- Tru Leaf Market
- Grow Lettuce in Your Living Room
- Kratky Method Hydroponics
- Totally Tomatoes
- Fruition Seeds
February 6, 2023 - Megan Cain - The Creative Vegetable Gardener - Getting Ready for Spring!
Some links from the call:
- Homestead and Chill
- Biowash Soil Amendment
- Dancing with Water – The New Science of Water
- The Pollack Lab – Working with Water
- The North American Fruit Explorers (NAFEX)
- California Rare Fruit Growers, Inc.
- Albert Lee Seed House – for 50# bags of cover crops
- How to build a Johnson-Su Bioreactor
Someone asked about our favorite seed catalogs, so we will list some of the ones mentioned here:
- Baker Creek
- Seed Savers Exchange
- True Leaf Market
- Hudson Valley Seed Co.
- High Mowing Organic Seeds
- Botanical Interests
Also, Rick Stone of Our Stoney Acres, who we had on our call a couple of weeks ago, just posted a new video about 14 seeds you can start indoors in February!
January 30, 2023 - Valerie Wilson: HealthyWinter Foods - Philosophy of Ancient Chinese Medicine and Science Come together.
Some links from the call:
- Macro Val Website
- MacroVal Food – Facebook Page
- Kasha Tofu Patties Recipe
- REAL FOOD with Chef Val radio show
- Chef Valerie Wilson’s youtube Channel
- Chef Val’s Whole and Healthy Cooking Patreon Channel
- Valerie’s Newsletter – Substack
- Blue Lotus Water Activator
- Burdock Root Seeds – Baker Creek
- Doudlah Farms – Buckwheat Flour
- The Eden Method
- Never Again docuseries – Part 1 on CHD
January 23, 2023 - Didi Pershouse: The Importance of the relationship between soil health, human health, water cycles, and our climate
Some links from the call:
- Didipershouse.com
- Didi’s Courses
- The Ecology of Care: Medicine, Agriculture, Money, and the Quiet Power of Human and Microbial Communities
- Food Not Lawns
- Dr. Elaine’s™ Soil Food Web Approach is the Essence of Soil Regeneration
- POLYFACE FARM: THE TRUTH ABOUT BIOSUSTAINABILITY
- The One-Straw Revolution: An Introduction to Natural Farming by Masanobu Fukuoka
- Unifyd Healing website
January 16, 2023 - Rick Stone of Our Stoney Acres: Seeds to start in January!
- December 19, 2022 – Garden Talk – what seeds will you be growing next year. It’s time to dream about our next gardens!
- December 5, 2022 – Sara Stewart, Unity Gardens, South Bend, Indiana –
an inspiring story about how one woman had an idea and ended up with 44 gardens that provide much more than food.
- November 21 – 2022 – Anna Sawyer, North Little Rock Community Garden – The NLR Community Garden program and urban agriculture.
- November 14, 2022 – We were so excited to speak with Jane Hur of Burbank Community Gardens to learn how they created food security and community.
- November 7, 2022 – We introduced a new seed/crop sharing app created by Joe Petsche. We also talked about what we would do differently our next garden season.
- October 3, 2022 – Maria Williford from Raleigh City Farm and garden talk!
- October 10, 2022– We were thrilled to have Master Gardener Christine Lampe on with us to talk about planting garlic, companion planting and more!
- October 17, 2022 – Megan Cain from The Creative Vegetable Gardener shared her tips for getting our gardens ready for winter.
- October 24, 2022 – We were thrilled to speak with Crystal Brown of Inspired North, an ethnobotanical educator, bio-regional herbalist, and writer/creative, focusing on wild edible food and medicinal plants and fungi. She shared with us ways to keep healthy this winter and how to live a more intentional life.
- September 12, 2022 – Allan Campbell of Food Forest Abundance and Mark Doudlah of Doudlah Farms and garden talk!
- September 9, 2022 – Cover Cropping, Food Preserving, and More.
- August 1, 2022 – We welcomed Joe Robert, gardener, drummer and stonemason extraordinaire to discuss what we can plant in our August gardens!
- August 8, 2022 – We spoke with 5th generation farmer Mark Doudlah of the organic regenerative Doudlah Farms about the importance of cover cropping for the home gardener. He gave us great instructions on how to prevent weeds and pests, and improve your garden soil year after year with cover crops – and it’s easier than you think!
- August 22, 2022 – Mark Doudlah of Doudlah Farms answers our gardening questions. Learn how to make greens powder and forage for healthy foods in your own backyard!
- August 29, 2022 – We talked about saving seeds, recipes for your garden produce, and general garden talk!
- July 11, 2022 – 20 veggies you can start in July as well and Microgreens and much more!
- July 18, 2022 – Curing Onions, Potatoes, And Garlic
- July 25, 2022 – We spoke with Haley Diem, Education and Outreach Coordinator with the Duluth Community Garden Program about tomatoes, and got a lot of great information on growing and pruning. We also got a lot of great advice from Mark Doudlah, of Doudlah Farms.
- June 6, 2022 – We spoke with With special guest Terra Osman, Owner/Founder of Farmish, a marketplace app for local food and farms. She has some great tips for growing food and a solution for when you have too much!
- June 13, 2022 – We had a lively call this week with several of our viewers sharing valuable information on being prepared, from getting grants from the government to improve your growing opportunities to getting the best supplements and staying fit.
- June 20, 2022 – We had the creators of Avenger Organics on to talk about an organic alternative to killing weeds in your garden. We also had a great discussion on the way people are starting a Neighborhood Food Network in their neighborhood.
- June 27, 2022 – Although we didn’t have an “expert” on this call, we had a lively conversation about pests (some are good, some are bad), beneficial insects, soil testing, and more! We had Mark Doudlah on from Doudlah Farms and he always has a wealth on information to share!
- May 2, 2022 – We spoke with Joe a master gardener from North Carolina on how to grow food.
- May 9, 2022 – Erika Nolan, a licensed landscape horticulturist and the founder of INSTAR, provides consulting and resources to grow food, flowers, and wellness organically! Also, learn how to put in a cattle panel trellis!
- May 16, 2022 – Farmer Will Allen will discuss container gardening and his enthusiasm for gardening. We warn you – you might get excited about growing food on this call! We will talk about probably THE most important aspect of growing food – and that is planning and timing!
- May 23, 2022 – Join us as we talked with Gardener Extraordinaire Megan Cain of the Creative Vegetable Gardener talking about straightforward ways to grow your food and extend your growing season.
April 25, 2022 – An introduction to the Neighborhood Food Network!
