Early Owl Farm- Tessa & Jake McCusker (and their twin boys) are the farmers behind Early Owl Farm, a small family farm specializing in seasonal vegetables and fruits, eggs from pastured hens and beautiful cut flowers. The McCusker’s utilize an approach called "regenerative farming" which goes beyond the scope of "organic" and results in a thriving soil food web, increased carbon sequestration, nutrient-dense food and an improved farm ecosystem. They minimize tilling the soil as much as possible, plant diverse cover crops to feed the soil and pollinators, compost intensively, house their hens in a mobile chicken house so they can access fresh pasture every few days, and maintain large areas of native flowers, shrubs and trees to aid the local fauna. Please stop by to chat, and get to know these wonderful local farmers!
Contact: Website- www.earlyowlfarm.com/, Facebook and Instagram pages will keep you in the loop of farm happenings. You can find their market stand at the following spots: Early Owl Farm Stand (Sundays 10am-2pm starting in early May), Spencer Creek Growers Market (Saturdays 10am-2pm starting mid-May) and Amazon Farmers Market (Thursdays, 11am-4pm starting in June). Friendly Fruit Tree Project-Matt Lutter (Friendly neighbor and former FAN Board Member) spearheads The Friendly Fruit Tree Project, an all-volunteer effort to build relationships between fruit-loving Friendly neighbors and fruit tree owners (or stewards) who might have more fruit than they can handle. When a fruit owner offers to share their fruit with the Friendly Fruit Tree Project, a volunteer Harvest Leader "adopts" the site and coordinates the event for the steward and harvesters. Harvested fruit is split roughly into thirds between volunteers, the steward, and those in need. Contact: FB The Friendly Fruit Tree Project phone: (541) 632-3260 (S)Beyond Toxics (BT) - Lisa Arkin (Executive Director BT, Friendly neighbor and former FAN Board Member) will be sharing information from studies recently published by the Center for Food Safety which found high levels of pesticide residues in the kinds of fruits and vegetables we may grow in our gardens. Foods like apples and spinach can absorb chemicals that cannot be washed off. Beyond Toxics challenges environmental pollution by taking on its root causes and working for lasting change. BT activates and organizes the people most affected by overburdens of pollution and harm. Their goal is to build a statewide environmental justice movement to advance the power of Oregonians on the frontlines of disparities in health, wealth and work. Contact: email- info@beyondtoxics.org phone- 541-465-8860 (S)Walama Restoration Project- Walama Restoration will give a short presentation on “The Walama Restoration Project (WRP), a community organized non-profit, founded in 2001, dedicated to environmental stewardship and biological diversity through education and habitat restoration." Kris will be focusing on "sustainable yards". Contact: web- www.walamarestoration.org email: info@walamarestoration.org phone: 541-484-3939 350 Eugene- The local Eugene Chapter of 350.org will be present to talk about their series of local workshops designed to educate on ways we can all improve sustainability and answer your questions on how you can get involved in the Drawdown Eugene campaign that advocates for the successful planning, completion and adoption of the City of Eugene’s Climate Action Plan 2 (CAP 2). (S)Urban Bees- Honey Bee Jen (bee keeper, Friendly neighbor) - Jen Hornaday, the owner of Healthy Bees = Healthy Gardens, will be speaking on ways we can protect our precious pollinators. Jen’s comments will focus on creating healthy spaces for honey bees and how to invite pollinators into your yards to increase your fruit, flower, and vegetable production. After her presentation, stop by Honey Bee Jen’s booth for a healthy honey tasting and to learn more about Honey Bee preservation efforts in the Eugene area. Jen will also have honey, pollinator seeds, propolis, and bee gifts for sale. (S)Common Ground Garden (CGG)- Teresa Siemanowski (Friendly Neighbor) will give a short presentation on how a group of FAN neighbors worked together to form a community garden that benefits all. Common Ground Garden, which today is a beautiful and productive neighborhood food sharing garden located at 21st and Van Buren Street, began in 2009 with a City of Eugene neighborhood matching grant and a team of dedicated volunteers committed to transforming gravel into an oasis of organic, bee friendly, sustainable, collaborative food production. CGG meets every Saturday from 10-12 for a family friendly work party to garden and connect with neighbors and friends. Garden tools and gloves are provided, and everyone is welcome! Contact: FB Common Ground Garden email: teresadingman@gmail.com ToolBox Project- The ToolBox Project is a volunteer-driven tool-lending library open to residents of Lane County, Oregon. They share home and garden tools with our community so we can all build and grow together. Come find out how you can become a member, how you can donate tools, and/or become a sponsor. Contact: web www.eugenetoolboxproject phone: 541-838-0125 email: info@eugenetoolboxproject.org Lane County Master Gardeners (LCMG) - Jan Gano (President LCMG) will be present to answer questions about Oregon State University’s Master Gardner Program. The Oregon State University Extension Service provides Oregon volunteers with research-based knowledge and education that strengthens communities and economies, helps sustain natural resources, and promotes healthy families and individuals. Trained Master Gardener volunteers help educate and advise other home gardeners in our community. Many people new to Lane County as well as inexperienced gardeners are interested in obtaining local gardening advice. The Master Gardeners program focuses on topics such as diagnosing plant and insect problems, preparing soil for planting, identifying plants, and selecting ornamentals and varieties. Contact: web: extension.oregonstate.edu/mg/lane phone: 541-344-0265 email: lanemg@oregonstate.edu FAN Team Tables- Please go to FAN website www.friendlyareaneighbors.org Get Involved, to get contact information
This weekend many FAN neighbors attended a Plastics Roundup workshop led by Sarah Grimm from Lane County Waste Management. The workshop focused on the April 2019 Plastics Roundup and how residents can help recycle their #2, #4, and #5 plastic containers.
Those who attended the workshop learned more about how the Waste Management system works in Eugene and the process involved in getting the raw materials (used plastic containers) to a plastics processor, in this case Denton Plastics, from Portland. The roundup plastics will be collected by Denton Plastics on April 7th to be processed into plastic pellets that will be used to manufacturer a number of various products. In addition to talking about overall recycling efforts, Sarah also shared many helpful hints on identifying types of plastics. For instance, Denton requires that all plastics, in addition to being clean, be sorted according to resin type AND shape. #2 Bottles must be sorted separately from #2 tubs which can be trickier than it sounds. Sarah advised that bottles can be identified by the seams across the bottom whereas tubs have little dimples or circles. Another handy trick is rubbing any old type of cooking oil on stubborn labels since oil is an adhesive inhibitor and works much like “goo-be-gone” type products. The Plastics Roundup is scheduled for April 7th 2019. Lane County Residents are encouraged to bring their clean, sorted plastics to the Glenwood Transfer Station for recycling. However, Friendly Area Neighbors (FAN) can avoid potentially long lines by contacting one of the FAN volunteer plastic collectors. Plastics Collectors are volunteers who’ve attended the Lane County Waste Management training on the types of plastics being collected, as well as cleaning and sorting requirements. The Collectors will gather neighbor's plastics and take them to the Glenwood Transfer Station. Collectors, because they attended the waste management training can make an appointment to drop off the plastics they’ve collected at a predetermined time thus minimizing the number of people at the Plastics Roundup on April 7th. If you live in FAN and would like to coordinate with a Neighborhood Plastics Collector take your plastics to the Roundup please contact Judy deGrandpre’ at 541-514-3903. Click to download a PDF of this comprehensive report on Eugene’s street railways in the early 1900s: “An Archaeological Assessment Of Eugene Street Railway Remains On Willamette Street, Eugene, Lane County, Oregon”, a report by Rick Minor, Heritage Research Associates, Inc., 2014.
Above photo is from the report. Civic Stadium was built in 1938 as a partnership of city government, the business community, Eugene citizens and the Works Progress Administration (WPA). What they built was a Douglas fir masterpiece that became a magnet for area youngsters and their families. Summer evenings at Civic watching a ballgame, a moonrise and with new friends sitting beside you are a fond memory of those who grew up in Eugene from the 70's to 2009.
The raging summer fire that consumed Civic in 2015 seemed to crush the dreams of those who had fought to restore the grandstand for continued use by the community but Eugene Civic Alliance has persisted with a plan to create a new home for Kidsports and a venue worthy of the name Civic. Civic Park is now under construction and is scheduled to open in 2020. (Photos courtesy of "Eugene's Civic Stadium" by Joe Blakely (roofless stands) Greg Giesy (fire) and Marv VanWyck (post fire)). The Outreach Team is looking for local historians, writers, and art lovers to write articles for our new blog. Topics should cover the rich cultural, artistic, or historical diversity of the Friendly neighborhood, including photographs, stories, and profiles of artists, poets, and writers. Please contact us to express your interest in contributing articles.
We also have an archive of dozens of history articles that need someone to copy and paste into our blog. Basic knowledge of how to use a web browser, copy-paste, and solid grammar and spelling skills are the only requirements. Training will be provided and takes no more than thirty minutes. |
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June 2021
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