ReMain Nantucket has awarded SN a $7,500 grant, designed to aid SN in remaining in our downtown offices in 2012. Clif Bar Family Foundation has awarded SN a $5,000 grant to be used for operating expenses. The Agua Fund has awarded SN a $3,000 grant to be used for operating expenses. The Community Foundation of Nantucket has awarded SN a $1,000 grant to assist with our Farm to School Program.

Sustainable Nantucket would like to express our sincere gratitude to these organizations for their generous support of our mission, vision and programs.

Sunflowers: This fall, SN Program Manager Morgan Beryl and Francie Baskett of ISLE (Interest-based Student Learning & Enrichment) Program worked on a project with 6 Nantucket students who had, as second graders in 2010, planted sunflowers in the Farm to School garden.

As part of the project, the students drew pictures of sunflowers, complete with labels indicating each part of the sunflower; they wrote an illustrated book about sunflowers; and demonstrated what they had learned by naming the flowers’ parts as they harvested the seeds. The seeds were put into packets and will be given as gifts – a wonderful way to share the Farm to School experience with friends and family! View the photo album for this project on our Flickr page HERE.

Pumpkins: This fall, first grade ISLE (Interest-based Student Learning & Enrichment) students embarked on a pumpkin-themed project as part of our Farm to School Program. The students learned about the anatomy of a pumpkin, how to harvest seeds, and carved jack-o-lanterns for Halloween.

The harvested pumpkin seeds were saved in Ball jars adorned with student-made labels and recipes for roasting.

Many thanks to Frances Baskett of the ISLE Program, participating WPI students, F2S Coordinator Kathleen Minihan, & Program Manager Morgan Beryl for making this fun and informative project happen! View the photo album for this project on our Flickr page HERE.

Update: October 10th, 2011… Building Raised Beds

Students from the Boys & Girls Club help with the raised beds.

During the first week of October, Sustainable Nantucket started construction of the raised beds in the Farm-to-School Garden. Volunteer Mitch Blake lead the Youth Council, members of the Boys & Girls Club, and other generous volunteers, and together they leveled the land and transformed the space into the new home of three rows of raised beds, including a wheelchair accessible bed. The newly constructed raised beds were filled with loam and were unveiled at the Discover Your Garden event hosted by Sustainable Nantucket on Monday, October 10^th. To view more photos click here.

Our First Season of Gleaning

This was the inaugural summer for the Sustainable Nantucket Gleaners, who have been very busy harvesting surplus produce from Moors End Farm and assisting NPS Food Services Director Linda Peterson in preparing the produce for use in NPS school lunches. Check out all the updates HERE.

Update: September 23, 2011…Lasagna in the Garden?

Students building layers of lasagna compost

On Wednesday, September 21st, 2011 the Youth Council and Farm to School volunteers got together for Student Harvest Week for some lasagna composting! The group met at the NES garden and worked for 2 hours laying down multiple levels of organic and soil materials. This “lasagna bed” of compost will “cook” over the winter to provide nutrient rich soil for the spring when it’s time to replant our seeds. Our “lasagna” layers included cardboard, lime, peat moss, chopped leaves, barn litter, coffee grounds, and compost. Many of these materials were donated by individuals and businesses including: The Bean, The Pearl, Jesse Dutra Landscaping, Suzanne Gardener, and Bartlett’s Farm among others. Many thanks to our donors!

Wednesday’s participants included: Morgan Beryl, SN Program Manager; Beth Davies, SN Board Member; Sophie Davies and Sean Allen, Youth Council Members; and Denise, Phil & Conor Allen; John Benjamin and Nora Harrington.

Update: September 4th – Dads & Kids – Sowing Seeds for a Sustainable Future

Sowing seeds - Dads & Kids

On September 4th Sustainable Nantucket and the Community Network for Children welcomed dads and kids ages 2 1/2 years and up to spend an afternoon with us in the Farm to School Garden. We cleared out the garden for Fall crops and prepared the soil for the 2012 growing season. This was a great opportunity for the little ones to get their hands in the soil, and an exercise in building good foundations for future gardeners. We think the dads enjoyed themselves too! We hope this will be the first of many activities involving pre-schoolers in the Farm to School Garden.

Update Spring 2011

Students in the Garden, Spring 2011

Student members of the SN Youth Council, Sustainable Nantucket staff and SN volunteers are hard at work preparing for the installation and first growing season of the Farm to School Garden at Nantucket Public Schools. Donations we have received thus far have made this project possible, however more funding is needed to see it to completion. For information on how your contribution can help our garden grow, click here.

For a list of the businesses and individuals who have contributed to this project, click here.

The Garden So Far…

May 21 & 22: The SN Youth Council, SN staff, and a group of volunteers from the community gathered at the site of the Farm to School Garden to assist with the construction of the greenhouse, shed and fencing.

Construction of the Greenhouse, Shed & Fence. Spring 2011

May 4, 2011: We have a final design for the garden layout! (see below). The design is a combination of ideas from our Youth Council and their Garden Mentors. Click here to see the designs our student members submitted.

The NHS shop class students, with teacher Chuck Colley, participated in the design of the Garden tool shed, which will be constructed in mid-May along with the greenhouse and fencing.

The NPS Food Services Department will be working with SN, the Youth Council, and after school garden clubs to decide whichvegetables and herbs are the most beneficial to plant for use in the school system.

Some of the food grown in the garden will be preserved by Food Services, students and community volunteers. Program Manager Morgan Beryl is optimistic that the garden will eventually produce enough food to share with local seniors groups, food pantries, and to sell at the Farmers & Artisans Market.

We will continue to post our progress here as the season continues!

On September 24^th, Sustainable Nantucket and Far Away Farms intern Justine Paradise; Sustainable Nantucket’s Farm-to-School intern Elizabeth Murphy; and community volunteer Zack Dusseau lead a team of volunteers in tending Sustainable Nantucket’s Small Friends Garden as part of

The group harvested the last of the season’s tomatoes and peppers and the spent plants were removed (chard, mustard greens kale, eggplant, and peppers still remain). The team of volunteers then used the “Do-Nothing Farming” strategy credited to Masanobu Fukuoka as a method of sowing the cover crop seeds.  This involved throwing clay seed balls filled with winter rye, New Zealand white clover and fetch and letting the seeds plant themselves through the clay.  Beets and turnips were also planted to grow behind some of the cover crop.

This hard work from our volunteers will help ensure the longevity of the Small Friends’ Garden, and will help to brace it for the cold winter to come. Our great thanks to all who came out to help!

Chef Michael LaScola artfully paired treats such as Nantucket bay scallops from Nantucket Fresh Catch and native pork belly from Faraway Farms with seasonal vegetables from our growers, while Orla LaScola and her team provided exceptional hospitality.  Sustainable Nantucket would like to extend sincere gratitude to American Seasons, chef/owners Michael & Orla LaScola, Chef de Cuisine Derek Ronspies, Sous Chef Andrew Howard, Pastry Chef Natasha Misanko and the entire American Seasons team for making this evening truly special.

We would also like to thank our 2011 Locally Grown Benefit Dinner Series sponsors Bartlett’s Farm, B.E. Byrne, and Build Positive, as well as the following businesses for their generous in-kind contributions:  Annye’s Whole Foods, Bartlett’s Farm, Cisco Brewery, Far Away Farms, Hummock Pond Farm, Moors End Farm, Nantucket Blooms, Nantucket Fresh Catch, Nantucket Mushrooms, and Pumpkin Pond Farm. Thanks to Straight Wharf Restaurant and the Club Car for hosting our September and October dinners. Lastly, thanks to all who purchased tickets and joined us for our 2011 Fall Locally Grown Dinner Series, we appreciate your support!

Here we are in our final week of the 2011 season of the Farmers & Artisans Market! Another summer gone by much to quickly, and we’re sorry to see it go, but pleased as ever to know that the Market will return next year to bring you the best in locally grown food and plants, prepared foods and handmade items.

Please join us in closing out the season – we’ll be at North Union and Cambridge Streets from 9AM-1PM tomorrow (Saturday, October 15th). We hope to see you there!

Growers

1. Pumpkin Pond Farm 
2. Christine Hermansdorffer 

Food Producers

1. Supernatural
2. Nantucket Coffee

Artisans

1. Herrlooms
2. Angel’s Studio
3. Clay Art Studios
4. Chris Bourbeau- paintings
5. Drift Away Soaps
6. Sconset Flair
7. Keep it Native
8. Island Quilts
9. Jeanne Van Etten
10. Island Weaves
11. AyeSeeCay Artwork
12. Nell Van Vorst
13. Designs by Priscilla
14. Grey Lady Apothecary

Non-Profit Table: Marine Mammal

Tomorrow promises to be a beauty! Join us downtown for the second-to-last Farmers & Artisans Market of the 2011 season! We’ll be at North Union and Cambridge Streets from 9AM – 1PM. See you there!

———————————————————————————————————————

Growers

1. Pumpkin Pond Farm 
2. Hummock Pond Farm 

Food Producers

1. Supernatural
2. Nantucket Coffee

Artisans

1. Herrlooms
2. Angel’s Studio
3. Seaweaver
4. Isobel and Cleo
5. Chris Bourbeau Paintings
6. Drift Away Soaps
7. Sconset Flair 
8. Nantucket Woodworking 
9. Debra McManis 
10. Jeanne Van Etten
11. Island Weaves
12. Ireland Galleries
13. Miki Lovette 
14. Nell Van Vorst
15. Designs by Priscilla
16. Grey Lady Apothecary
17. Nantucket Needleworks

Mix

1. Small Town Girl

We are in our final weeks of the 2011 Farmers & Artisans Market season, which ends with our final Market on October 15th. Until then, we hope you’ll continue to join us as the crowds have thinned, the weather has cooled, and life has slowed to a more comfortable pace. There’s still late Summer/early Fall foods to enjoy, and some truly unique items from our artists and artisans. Here’s the vendor list for this week:

———————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————-

Growers

1. Pumpkin Pond Farm

Food Producers

1. Supernatural
2. Nantucket Coffee
3. Pasta Goddess

Artisans

1. Herrlooms
2. Angel’s Studio
3. Clay Art Studios
4. Chris Bourbeau Paintings
5. Drift Away Soap
6. Sconset Flair
7. Keep it Native
8. Island Quilts
9. Keely Smith Designs
10. Jeanne Van Etten
11. Ireland Galleries
12. AyeSeeCay Artwork
13. Nell Van Vorst
14. Designs by Priscilla
15. Grey Lady  Apothocary
16. Nantucket Needlework Designs

Non-Profit Table: Marine Mammal Conservation

Sustainable Nantucket’s Farm To School (F2S) program launched in 2010 and has been steadily gaining momentum. Facilitated by Sustainable Nantucket in partnership with the Nantucket Public School System, F2S serves to educate our students by engaging them in hands-on learning experiences that connect them to the land and the natural world. The program is designed to integrate curriculum activities with the process of building and cultivating school gardens, to improve student nutrition by raising awareness around the benefits of consuming fresh, sustainably grown produce while supplementing school food supply, and to connect our island’s schools’ with our farms and growers.

This generous support from the Nantucket Garden Club will help to ensure that progress in the construction of the Farm to School Garden will continue, and that essential elements of the garden’s infrastructure will be installed according to schedule.