Archive for the ‘Gathering Summaries’ Category

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Gathering Summary: Lacto-Fermentation, with Don Bates & Jeanette Cheney, August 17, 2011

Tuesday, August 23rd, 2011

Bread & Butter Pickles

by Catherine Haug

(photo, left, of lacto-fermented pickles by C. Haug)

This is just a short synopsis; you can find more detail in the complete, printable pdf file: Gathering Summary: Lacto-Fermentation with Don Bates & Jeanette Cheney, Aug 17, 2011.

See For More Information (below) for the recipes handouts.

Presentation Topics

Presenters Don Bates & Jeanette Cheney described and demonstrated the following, and brought samples and tasters to tempt our taste buds: (more…)

Posted in Gathering Summaries, Topics: Fermentation, Culturing & Curing, Topics: Food & Nutrition | No Comments »

Gathering Summary: Bigfork Emergency Readiness Discussion, July 20, 2011

Monday, July 25th, 2011

by Catherine Haug, July 23, 2011

There was very poor turnout: MonaRae and I were the only ESPers in attendance. Nevertheless, we had a good short discussion with our emergency experts. I took a few notes from that discussion, included below.

Some good points for further discussion were touched upon:

  • Meet and work with groups like Elks, Rotary, etc. to mobilize the community;
  • Work with churches and schools to procure generators, so they can be good emergency shelters;
  • Get to know the seniors in your neighborhood; help them fill out a ‘My Medications List’ and a 4-day grab and go pack, and in general to prepare for disaster.

(more…)

Posted in Gathering Summaries, Topics: Community, Topics: Emergency Preparedness | No Comments »

Gathering Summary: Cheese Making at Home, A Panel Presentation, June 15, 2011

Sunday, July 17th, 2011

by Catherine Haug, June 20, 2011

(photo by C. Haug)

This is just a short synopsis; you can find more detail in the complete, printable pdf file: Gathering Summary: Cheese Making at Home, a Panel Presentation).

Presentation Topics

Panel members Fran Wade and Shelli Riedesel demonstrated the following cheese-making processes:

  • Semi-soft cheese from raw milk (Fran)
  • Cream cheese from raw milk (Fran)
  • Hard cheese from pasteurized milk (Shelli)
  • Waxing hard cheese (Shelli)

See also:

(more…)

Posted in Gathering Summaries, Topics: Fermentation, Culturing & Curing, Topics: Food & Nutrition, Topics: Home & Ranch | No Comments »

Gathering Summary: Sourdough, A Panel Presentation, May 18, 2011

Sunday, May 29th, 2011

by Catherine Haug, May 29, 2011

(photo by C. Haug)

This is just a short synopsis; you can find more detail in the complete, printable Gathering Summary: Sourdough, a Panel Presentation. See also related posts and handouts:

Cat's First Sourdough Loaf

Presentation Topics

Panel members Veronica (Ronny) Honthaas, Kathie Lapcevic and Fran Wade led discussion on the following topics:

  • History and health benefits of sourdough
  • About sourdough starter
  • How to make sourdough starter
  • Forming bread – Ronny’s demonstration
  • Resources & references (more…)

Posted in Gathering Summaries, Topics: Fermentation, Culturing & Curing, Topics: Food & Nutrition, Topics: Health, Topics: Home & Ranch | 7 Comments »

Gathering Summary: Gardening in NW Montana, by Julian Cunningham, Apr 20, 2011

Sunday, May 15th, 2011

Summary by Catherine Haug, May 13, 2011

Julian ran his Swallow Crest Farm as a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) for 14 years, but now is changing the way he markets. As a CSA, he started with 5 subscribing families, and had 160 members the last 4 years. This format pays the bills, but his children are teens now, with new needs, and he wants to develop the art, beauty and pleasure of gardening at his farm.

Despite the changes in format, several features will continue:

  • Apprenticeship program;
  • Pre-arranged sales with drop off in Bigfork;
  • Presence at Kalispell Farmers Market and perhaps also Whitefish.

This is just a short synopsis; you can find more detail in the complete, printable Gathering Summary: Gardening in NW Montana and handout: Julian’s Produce Distribution Timelines (2010 Season) (pdf files). (more…)

Posted in Gathering Summaries, Topics: Gardening, Topics: Home & Ranch | 3 Comments »

Event Summary: Preparing an Emergency 4-day (96 hour) Food & Water Pack

Saturday, April 30th, 2011

4-Day Pack For 1

by Catherine Haug, April 27, 2011

(Photo of 4-day food pack by Lana Nelson; NOTE: fruit leather is missing from the photo)

This event was held on Tuesday, April 26, 2011 at 7 PM in the Bigfork High School Music Room, and was hosted by the recently formed Bigfork Emergency Response Team (BERT), as part of their 2011 Community Preparedness work.

Topics covered at this event:

  • Welcome by Cheryl Richmond
  • Report on current situation, by Mark Noland
  • Ways to become involved, by Bruce Nelson
  • Emergency communication, by Jim Eddington
  • 96-hour Food Pack and Water by Lana Nelson
  • 4-Day (96 Hour) Emergency Kit (Food Only), by Lana Nelson (printable pdf)

In addition, I have added some recommendations from ESP community members.

Here are two news items about how other communities came together to recover from floods:

  • After Floods: Nashville Proud of Model Recovery (NPR News Item): As communities across the country’s midsection respond to potentially historic flooding, federal emergency officials say they could take some cues from Nashville. The city endured record-breaking rainfall and devastating floods one year ago, and FEMA continues to point to the local response as a model. From member station WPLN, Blake Farmer reports.
  • Community Preparedness for Flooding  in Vernonia OR (ESP post based on article in The Oregonian): A small, rural community organized to deal with, and recover from an oncoming, devastating flood.

(more…)

Posted in Gathering Summaries, Topics: Community, Topics: Emergency Preparedness, Topics: Food & Nutrition | 5 Comments »

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