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About Cottage Grove sentinel. (Cottage Grove, Or.) 1909-current | View Entire Issue (April 22, 2015)
COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL April 22, 2015 3A Cottage Grove meets, dances with its farmers BY JON STINNETT The Cottage Grove Sentinel C ottage Grove area food producers journeyed into town this weekend for a meet- and-greet with their customers on a picturesque spring Sunday. The day brought the third an- nual Meet My Farmer event to the First Presbyterian Church, where nice crowds, especially early on, were introduced to or reacquainted with some of the area’s offerings. Warm, inviting scents greet- ed the crowd from the start, as Nora Ponce pounded out fresh corn tortillas and browned them on one of Cottage Grove-based nonprofi t InStove’s 60-gallon institutional stoves. Inside the church, familiar operations such as Log House Plants and the Coast Fork Farm Stand show- cased their wares, while visi- tors could also meet newcomers like Erika Petum, who’s been marketing a different purchas- ing model from Dorena’s Star Ranch for about two years. Petum said the idea of a "fl ockshare" of pasture-raised chickens — which involves a down payment for free-range chickens to be raised on the farm and then purchased at a per-pound rate — is a new idea that drew a lot of interest Sun- day. She said the same was also true for the farm's raw dairy "herdshare," which provides a gallon of grass-fed milk and cream from Jersey cows for a one-time fee. More information on Star Ranch is available at starranchoregon@gmail.com. At the booth next door, Chuck Stromme connected with poten- tial customers with a new line of products, Wood Butter, Inc., which includes a variety of hand balms, boot butter and lip balm, sticks of which Stromme proudly traded for name-brand varieties to Meet My Farmer visitors. He said Wood Butter had previously been marketed only to friends and family but is catching on fast with a wider photo by Jon Stinnett Cottage Grove's 'Liners' brought line dancing back during Sunday's Dance with the Farmers event at Cottage Grove Public Market, and they invited guests to join them to learn a few moves. audience, adding that a plan to introduce a brand of hemp but- ter to the public is also in the works. More information can be obtained by calling 541-767- 2659 or by emailing chuck@ woodbutterinc.com. An effort to extend the in- teractions with local farmers throughout the day led to the fi rst Dance with the Farmers event on Sunday evening, ac- cording to Beth Pool of the FEAST (Food, Education, Ag- riculture Solutions Together) group. About a dozen farmers visited the Cottage Grove Public Market at 10th and Washington Streets, a building that buzzed with activity all weekend. Line dancing was the fi rst or- der of the evening, and a group of about 10 dancers, the “Cot- tage Grove Liners,” showed off their steps to the crowd and invited many to join the line. Pool said the event was another promotional event to acquaint the community with its food producers, an event that FEAST plans to repeat the fi rst Saturday in November to open and close the 2015 growing season. Aprovecho adjusting offerings for 2015, planning garden party Shorter intensive courses, community education on tap this year BY JON STINNETT The Cottage Grove Sentinel T hese days, there’s a decidedly laid-back feel at Aprovecho’s sustainable education campus outside Cottage Grove. Aprovecho, which translates to “I make best use of” in Spanish, has taught a sustainable approach to living on a 40-acre land trust west of town for over 30 years, in the process wel- coming groups of students from across America and abroad to its campus. But noticeably absent this year is the large group of students that has traditionally come to Aprovecho for extended in- ternships, according to Emily Sessoms, who spoke with the Sentinel on a sunlit walk around the campus last week. Sessoms explained that a group of about 20 students came to Aprovecho for an eight-month internship last year, during which many lent their efforts to long-term projects on campus. “Great things happened here last year,” Sessoms said. “But there were a lot of people here all at once.” The crowds on campus drew resourc- es away from certain aspects of running Aprovecho, and Sessoms said Apro chose to take a new direction this year and offer six-week intensive courses in natural building, permaculture and the new sustainable kitchen series as op- posed to drawn-out internships. “It’s given us the opportunity to re- focus on things that we can’t really get done when the campus is full of stu- dents,” she said. The extra time has also allowed Aprovecho to begin branching out more into the community it inhabits, and Sessom said the campus will host classes in community-supported edu- cation on most Sundays. Subjects to be covered include pole timber framing and beekeeping, and certain aspects of the sustainable kitchen series — which will cover topics like nutrition, fermen- tation and knife sharpening — will also be offered to the broader community. Aprovecho’s Justin Watt said the nonprofi t is also excited to begin pro- cessing and acting as a pass-through for individual development accounts (IDAs) that provide matching grant funds up to $9000 for efforts the orga- nization supports. Sessoms said that, with new students coming to campus all the time, change is a constant at Aprovecho. "We just roll with whatever the popu- lation is," she said. "It's always had that ebb and fl ow.' Aprovecho is also busy tidying up photo by Jon Stinnett Emily Sessoms surveys the Aprovecho garden. The sustainable education campus has refocused its efforts in 2015. for a garden party for its supporters this Saturday, April 25, an event that offers a campus tour in addition to food and live music. Tickets for the event can be obtained online at aprovecho.net or at the door for the event, which begins at 4 p.m. Truck crash on London Road injures one A rollover crash involving a pickup truck and trailer on London Road sent one of the truck’s occupants to the hospital Thursday. Josh Brooks of the Oregon State Police said a Dodge pickup was traveling south on London Road when for an unknown reason the truck left the roadway. The truck came to rest partially in the roadway and a nearby ditch with its trailer still intact. Crews with South Lane Fire and Rescue re- sponded to the crash and discovered the truck’s occupants, Eugene and Sharon Cooper of Cot- tage Grove, unable to free themselves from the courtesy photo Oregon State Police are still investigating the cause of Thursday's accident. vehicle. Division Chief Joe Raade said Sharon Cooper was transported to River Bend Hospital with minor injuries. He added that alcohol was not a factor in the accident. Find Local Businesses. ,QWURGXFLQJWKHQHZHVWZD\WR´QGWKH Find Local Businesses. businesses that mean the most to you. ,QWURGXFLQJWKHQHZHVWZD\WR´QGWKH businesses that mean the most to you. www.shoppelocal.biz www.shoppelocal.biz Find GREAT MONEY SAVING COUPONS from local businesses Cottage Grove Sentinel Shoppe™ is a trademark of News Media Corp. Visit glidewildfl owershow.org for show details and information.
