Bernalillo County Commission to Host Food Summit on November 16

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The Bernalillo County Commission is hosting the  Cultivating Bernalillo County Food Summit on Monday, November 16, at  Hotel Albuquerque, 800 Rio Grande Blvd. NW (map), 7:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

Anyone working with food (farming, processing, selling, redirecting, etc.) is invited to the event, which offers the ability to network with many people involved in the food industry.

Matt Rembe, executive director of Los Poblanos Historic Inn & Organic Farm, and Celina Aldaz-Grife of Celinas Biscochitos are featured speakers.

Organizers are  encouraging everyone to register online by Saturday, November 14. Registration is $10 and includes breakfast and lunch (and organizers need a count), Please register by  Saturday, November 14.  For more information, contact Shawn Perry-Turner by e-mail (spturner@bernco.gov) or call (505) 468-7817

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Sen Jerry Ortiz y Pino to Keynote Lutheran Advocacy Ministry Conference on November 7

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Sen. Jerry Ortiz y Pino

The  Lutheran Advocacy Ministry-New Mexico invites you to its annual Advocacy Conference on  Saturday, November 7, 9:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m., at St. Timothy Lutheran Church, 211 Jefferson NE (map). The cost is $15 per person, including lunch.

State Senator Jerry Ortiz y Pino, a member of the New Mexico Senate since 2005, will be the keynote speaker during lunch. He is currently Chair of the Senate Public Affairs Committee and Chair of the interim Legislative Health and Human Services Committee.

Breakout session topics  include advocacy basics, hunger, predatory lending, solitary confinement and more.

 Registration Information
To register, send a check for $15 to Lutheran Advocacy Ministry-NM, 1701 Arroyo Chamiso, Santa Fe, NM, 87505. Include your name, address, phone number and email address.  

Or you can email the information to info@lutheranadvocacynm.org or call 505-984-8005 and pay at the door. Please register by Nov. 3.

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Interfaith Procession and Candlelight Prayer for UN Climate Meeting Scheduled for Monday November 30 in Albuquerque

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The Interfaith community in Albuquerque is coming together on Monday, Nov. 30, for a procession and candlelight vigil ahead of the upcoming UN Climate Talks in Paris. The vigil begins at 5:30 p.m. at the Federal Building, Gold and 6th SW, and ends at Immaculate Conception Catholic Church, 619 Copper Ave. NW  Here is a map (Note: The exact route will be announced later. The map just shows the starting and ending locations)

Even as the world is reeling from the violence in Paris, World Leaders from more than 150 nations prepare for the UN Climate Change meeting in Paris, November 30-December 11. An unprecedented number of leaders of religious traditions, including Pope Francis, the Dalai Lama and Muslim and Jewish world leaders are calling all people to act for climate justice. They will offer a moral voice to public officials as they meet to agree to an international agreement.
 

You are invited to participate in a special prayer for the meeting and to bless those from Albuquerque who will be traveling to Paris for this important gathering.

Order of evening:
*Procession calling to mind the many climate refugees
*Candle light prayer in Immaculate Conception with music, sacred dance, prayers by major religious tradition representatives, blessing of those going to Paris and blessing of those representing organizations that will be in Paris, call to action.

Co-sponsors: New Mexico Interfaith Power and Light, New Mexico Conference of Churches, New Mexico Oxfam Action Corps, Bread for the World-New Mexico, Catholic Charities of Central New Mexico, Catholic Archdiocese of Santa Fe, and others.

For more information contact Sister Joan Brown (joan@nm-ipl.org).

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HAP November week 4 Happy Thanksgiving from THL!

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Happy Thanksgiving everyone!  We wanted to make a slight variation on our normal homestead Happiness-and-Progress posts and give a quick rundown of some of the things were thankful for.

First: you! THL broke the 50k all-time-pageview barrier this week.  While thats pretty small compared to most real blogs, its still humbling (and motivating!) to realize we have an actual audience outside our immediate family.  So, thanks for reading!

Second: a yard in which to do all our goofy experiments, and which also looks nice and scenic while being coated in gently-falling snow.

Third: Craigslist, which not only lets us find great deals like this trailer, but also lets us meet lots of friendly and interesting people in the process.  Its easy to forget when watching and reading the news, but theres a lot of good people in this world.  Theres also a lot of good free horse manure, and this little beauty will be hauling a significant portion of it to our yard.

Fourth: a not-empty freezer and pantry.  See also: item #2.

Fifth: the holiday season, with its abundant homemade treats.  Sugar high will be in effect from now through the new year.  Hooray for the holidays!

What are you thankful for?

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Homestead Happiness November Week 2

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Its been a while since we posted a HAP post, but with our schedule finally settling back to normal after several crazy months, its time to get back on track.  Here are a few things that made our week.

The chard and kale, protected by the row cover chicken tractor, survived the first couple snows of the winter.  The temps only dipped down into the upper 20s (°F), so the real test will come later.  But so far, so good!

Some of the unprotected dandelions survived, too, including this audacious specimen!  The last few days its been warm enough for the bees to fly, too, and this little guy has very little competition for their pollination services.  Well played, dandelion.

We finally got the broilers their own setup in the shed, with some pasture space outside.  Better for them with more space, better for us because theyre easier to take care of than when theyre inside the brooder box.  This batch of broilers, although almost 20% had to be terminated early for various reasons, was a lot cleaner and more rambunctious than previous batches.  They even wandered away from the feeder to explore the pasture at times!  They all went in the freezer on Saturday, which means were about ready to close the books on them and write up the stats.

Did you know that the bottom grate of a Smokey Joe grill fits perfectly inside a Lodge 12", 8-quart dutch oven?  Thats an important discovery considering how many chickens we now have available to roast.

What made your homestead happy this week?

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