• Who? The Austin Growers Guild, FOOGS, Karpophoreo Project, Hogg Farm and friends!
• What? Happy Hour Social
• Where? Houndstooth Coffee – 4200 N. Lamar
• When? Friday, July 30 · 5:00pm – 8pm (or later if you wish!)

Come gather with young urban farmers and get to know some of the folks who make fresh local food happen every day, right here in Austin. Ask veggie questions, learn about what’s coming this fall, sign up to help on the farms, and see where farming is headed in the near future.

Urban Patchwork is proud to be a part of the Austin Growers Guild; Austin’s newest and craziest bunch of urban farmers. We’ll be at Houndstooth Coffee for a few snacks, drinks, and great conversation.  We’re a wild and fanciful bunch of farmers, gardeners and grew-peas (groupies?) and we’d love to meet you!

If you are looking to volunteer, network or find training opportunities on local farms with urban farmers, or if you just want to learn how to grow your own veggies, this is the place to be; these are the people to know.

Houndstooth serves coffee, wine, beer and snacks!  Bring a friend, bring your appetite and thirst, and we’ll see you this Friday!

Hope to see you there!

Keith

And we should celebrate, because we cleaned up what we wanted to clean up!  The shed has been cleaned up and organized, with a place for our tools and the tools in their place.  And the main driveway has been cleared out opening up the option of moving both the airstream and the tiny house to new locations on the property so that we have plenty of room to prepare the back 40 for the soon coming construction of yurts.

Once again, thank you so much for coming out and helping get this thing done!  We have a long way to go still, but this is the glory of farming, we are ever growing and ever moving.  Life is always interesting and the work is forever gratifying.

Keep an eye out because starting next week we’ll be expanding the farm and getting started on a few more sites.  We’d love to see you again and would very much enjoy working with you to keep on trucking.

We’re on tomorrow, same time, same place.  Hope to see you there.

Yesterday (Happy Independence, btw!) marked our first anniversary here at Urban Patchwork (happy birthday UP!!!) and we’re still moving strong.

We have decided to make a major effort to clean up our “Home Base” yard at 1200 Taulbee Lane. We have so many exciting projects and activities that we’d like to see take place in that yard but we have quite a bit of tidying up to do before we can really get our wheels turning.

We will be turning the lot into a showcase for sustainable urban living – Urban Patchwork style. We’ll build a few yurts (i.e. Mongolian tents), catch and store rainwater, raise chickens, grow vegetables, and more.

But first, we need your help. So we are inviting you to come out this week and spend some time donating some hard work and sweat to your neighborhood farm. We will be working at these times:

Monday July 5, ‘010 time: 9am-2pm
Tuesday July 6, ‘010 time: 9am-2pm
Wednesday July 7, ‘010 time: 9am-2pm

Where? 1200 Taulbee Lane, 78757
(please park on the street)

Please come out, we’d love to spend some time with you! Invite your friends too!!!

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to call or e-mail.
call: 512/662=1854
email: cleanitup[at]urbanpatchwork[dot]org

See you soon!!!

“The beginning, as you know, is always the most important part, especially in dealing with anything young and tender. That is the time when the character is being moulded and easily takes any impress one may wish to stamp on it.” –Plato

Immediately when I read it, my mind turned to our seedlings (of course .

Then my mind fell to our fatherly farm manager, Keith McDorman, who cares deeply for our young and tender ones who eventually grow up strong to become nourishment for us all. Without his extra loving care in the beginnings of their existence, they would wither and struggle to find their own way. Some may succeed but be hardened and bitter by the time they mature. Most would not make it at all.

To Keith, I am ever grateful, and to all our members and neighbors who are fathers, congratulations and Happy Father’s Day! Take heart in the fullness of your task of caring for our young and tender ones.

Austin Grower's Guild June 12th-13th Farm Raising Flier

Ever been to an Urban Farm-Raising? We want YOU to help us create a farm inside Austin’s city limits! Join Austin Growers Guild for our inaugural farm installation event. We can’t wait to get our hands on some tools and equipment to get this farm and community garden space going! This is a hands-on two day event, people! Sure hope you can be a part of it—it’s guaranteed good company and a true community learning experience. Tell your friends!

Workshops include:
-chicken coop building
-irrigation installation
-soil building
-integrated pest management
-raised bed gardening
and MORE!

Workshops are led by Paige Hill (Urban Patchwork)
Johnny Barnett (Resolution Gardens)
Steven Hebbard (Karpophoreo Project)
and others!

Come either or both days
When: June 12 and 13 8am-2pm each day
Where: 5213 Jim Hogg Avenue (off of Burnet and North Loop)

For more info visit www.austingrowersguild.wordpress.com

Registration is greatly appreciated to KatyHamill@gmail.com
All donations help cover cost of event
Breakfast provided, BYO lunch please and a bottle of water
Massage therapists on hand for volunteers

Support provided by Rigel Thurston of Austin Community Living

I’d like to do some of our friends here in the Crestview neighborhood a favor and pass along a spot of information:

Brentwood Elementary School (6700 Arroyo Seco) is having a Garden Tour and Fundraiser on Saturday, April 24 from 11am – 3pm.  We will be showing off our 13 organic gardens – all raised bed or container.  There are LOTS of great ideas here for people who want to do a little gardening at home.  All the work on these gardens has been done by students!  We will also have free kids gardening activities.

If you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact (e-mail) Candis —  candis AT gardenheads DOT net

Break It Down

I just wanted to call upon you for a bit of support for a good friend of mine and a fellow in the great world of farming.  He recently started a composting business in Austin, TX, called Break it Down.  It is a social-business that focuses heavily on bringing composting education to area schools and all his endeavors are nested within the communities where he composts.  Break it Down has recently been selected as a finalist in the Dell Social Innovation Competition and I am here to ask you to give them your vote today!

Here is the link.

Here is the video.

Tell your friends.

Thanks a bunch.

We are also designing our vegetable cooling system and are looking for old and non-working refrigerators (with working doors that seal well please!) that we might turn into portable ice chests.  If anyone happens to have an old or non working fridge that seals up well, and would like to donate it to us here at Urban Patchwork, we would be ever so grateful!

You can reach us by phone at (512) 662-1854 or by e-mail: donate AT urbanpatchwork DOT org

Looking forward to seeing you!

Chicken or Rooster?

It all happened because we got an e-mail that said an area feed store had a handful of Barred Rock rooster chicks that they were trying to give away.  Now we have some more new birds.  They are adorable.  Just thought I’d let you know.