A great time was had by all: new friendships, bright ideas, and unique experiences…what more could we ask for…
A community electronics recycling effort from 9am-12pm kept hundreds of items out of the landfill. Many attendees also helped with the Riparian Buffer Plantings, working to improve the grounds of the Kimberton Waldorf School, where the event was held.
A diverse collection of local companies set up tables, some selling their wonderful, sustainable items so that attendees had something special to take with them, others sharing their vast knowledge on “how to do the right thing.” Some of the locals included:
Maysie’s Farm (beautiful hand-picked produce and seedlings), Donald Pell Gardens (also gave a talk), Eastern PA Permaculture Guild, Brown Paper Bugs (beautiful paintings of bugs and reptiles on recycled brown paper), Walt’s Swarmbustin’ Honey (complete with a glass observation hive), Kolb’s Dairy, Weimer’s Organics, John Keslick (the famous Tree Biologist), Zukay Live Food, Sun and Earth Cleaning Products (with tons of generous samples), Gaia Herbs, the friendly ladies of SunnyPaw Dog Treats, Nancy Boudrie of Awaken with Light and her talented daughter, Yellow Springs Farm (gorgeous native plants and goat cheese), Organic Mechanic Soil, Camphill Kimberton Hills and Sweetwater Baking (handcrafted baked goods and incredible functional art), Greenable Building Products (so many gorgeously green options)
Many more!
We were especially lucky to have PASA (Pennsylvania Assn. for Sustainable Agriculture) arrive with the official Buy Fresh Buy Local Toyota Prius!
Lots of free talks: Soil Chemistry, Green Roofs, Sustainable Landscaping, Sustainable Agriculture…and much more.
In addition to the generous samples and gifts, three lucky attendees won a mountain bike, a gift card, and a book on natural cleaning methods, all part of our KWF raffle.
We took a tour of the incredible Kimberton Waldorf School (www.kimberton.org) Garden Building and the organic gardens created by the students, which the school uses to support many of its student lunches.
Attendees came from all around: Philadelphia, Wilmington, the Main Line…all looking to be part of this little green gathering. The cloudy, windy weather didn’t keep anyone away! We hope to reach out even further next year, to educate more people and welcome them to think about their daily impact on the Earth.
Overall, what a great vibe of community, cooperation, friendship, and a shared interest in preserving the Earth for future generations. To us, that’s the definition of a successful event! Thanks so much to all who participated. We are already planning for next year…
*SPECIAL THANKS TO NEW LEAF PHOTOGRAPHY (www.nleafphoto.com) FOR CAPTURING THE EVENT!
A relaxing day with friends and family celebrating community and nature…what could be better?
Join us April 17th from 9am-4pm for our Earth Day Celebration: A Community Partnership between Kimberton Waldorf School and Kimberton Whole Foods focusing on sustainable agriculture and green initiatives.
Sponsored by Kimberton Whole Foods and held at the Kimberton Waldorf School (410 W. Seven Stars Road, Phoenixville, PA 19460)
The day will begin with community plantings (bring a shovel and join in) and garden cleanup followed by electronics recycling 9am-12pm (bring your unwanted electronics and recycle them) in the parking lot in front of the school.
Items to be collected include: computers, cell phones, keyboards, stereos, televisions, monitors, printers, cables, floppy disks, CDs, office machines, calculators, DVD and CD players, and more. Disposal of computer monitors require a $10 fee. The electronic waste will be recycled through A Plus Industries of Allentown, PA. Documentation of secure disposal will be provided upon request.
The E-waste collection will be followed by organic lunch and several speakers on green topics such as permaculture, living roofs, green building, green landscaping, and much more!
PASA (Pennsylvania Association for Sustainable Agriculture) will be speaking!
Free movie screenings of Food Fight, Fresh, and children’s selections.
Local farmers, artists, and earth-friendly vendors, many of whom work with Kimberton Whole Foods, will offer displays and demonstrations. There will be face painting, local music, beekeeping demonstrations, candle making, and a raffle for a mountain bike.
Afternoon festivities go from 12 pm to 4 pm. Lots to do and lots to learn. Join us…all are welcome to this free event to promote “green” living. See you there!
*Volunteers are needed both for the Ewaste recycling event, as well as for the Earth Day festivities that follow. Contact Pat Andrien at 610-469-0905 or Briana Brant of Kimberton Whole Foods at 610-935-1444.
*Dave Jacke will be speaking at the Kimberton Waldorf School on 4/12 from 7-8:30pm (www.kimberton.org) and will be doing a meet and greet/booksigning at Kimberton Whole Foods on 4/13 from 12-1pm (click on "events" above).
Picture yourself in a forest where almost everything around you is food. Mature and maturing fruit and nut trees form an open canopy. If you look carefully, you can see fruits swelling on many branches—pears, apples, persimmons, pecans, and chestnuts. Shrubs fill the gaps in the canopy. They bear raspberries, blueberries, currants, hazelnuts, and other lesser-known fruits, flowers, and nuts at different times of the year. Assorted native wildflowers, wild edibles, herbs, and perennial vegetables thickly cover the ground. You use many of these plants for food or medicine. Some attract beneficial insects, birds, and butterflies. Others act as soil builders, or simply help keep out weeds. Here and there vines climb on trees, shrubs, or arbors with fruit hanging through the foliage—hardy kiwis, grapes, and passionflower fruits. In sunnier glades large stands of Jerusalem artichokes grow together with groundnut vines. These plants support one another as they store energy in their roots for later harvest and winter storage. Their bright yellow and deep violet flowers enjoy the radiant warmth from the sky. This is an edible forest garden.
What is Edible Forest Gardening?
Edible forest gardening is the art and science of putting plants together in woodlandlike patterns that forge mutually beneficial relationships, creating a garden ecosystem that is more than the sum of its parts. You can grow fruits, nuts, vegetables, herbs, mushrooms, other useful plants, and animals in a way that mimics natural ecosystems. You can create a beautiful, diverse, high-yield garden. If designed with care and deep understanding of ecosystem function, you can also design a garden that is largely self-maintaining. In many of the world's temperate-climate regions, your garden would soon start reverting to forest if you were to stop managing it. We humans work hard to hold back succession—mowing, weeding, plowing, and spraying. If the successional process were the wind, we would be constantly motoring against it. Why not put up a sail and glide along with the land's natural tendency to grow trees? By mimicking the structure and function of forest ecosystems we can gain a number of benefits.
Why Grow an Edible Forest Garden?
While each forest gardener will have unique design goals, forest gardening in general has three primary practical intentions:
High yields of diverse products such as food, fuel, fiber, fodder, fertilizer, 'farmaceuticals' and fun;
A largely self-maintaining garden and;
A healthy ecosystem.
These three goals are mutually reinforcing. For example, diverse crops make it easier to design a healthy, self-maintaining ecosystem, and a healthy garden ecosystem should have reduced maintenance requirements. However, forest gardening also has higher aims.
As Masanobu Fukuoka once said, "The ultimate goal of farming is not the growing of crops, but the cultivation and perfection of human beings." How we garden reflects our worldview. The ultimate goal of forest gardening is not only the growing of crops, but the cultivation and perfection of new ways of seeing, of thinking, and of acting in the world. Forest gardening gives us a visceral experience of ecology in action, teaching us how the planet works and changing our self-perceptions. Forest gardening helps us take our rightful place as part of nature doing nature's work, rather than as separate entities intervening in and dominating the natural world.
About David Jacke:
David Jacke, primary author of the award winning two-volume book Edible Forest Gardens, is an expert on permaculture and about what an ecologically designed agriculture might look like. The science of ecology, the art of design, and the practice of growing food are three related disciplines that stand divorced from each other in America today. David has studied ecology and design since the 1970s and has run his own design firm – Dynamics Ecological Design – since 1984. He holds a B.A. in Environmental Studies and an M.A. in Landscape Design. Dave is an engaging and passionate teacher of ecological design and permaculture and has designed, built, and planted landscapes, homes, farms and communities in many parts of the United States, as well as overseas.
Julia Greenblatt on the Kimberton Apothecary:
Welcome to Kimberton Whole Foods apothecary department! This section has always been one of my favorite at Kimberton Whole Foods. The apothecary department (consisting of supplements as well as health & beauty products) offers you the opportunity to match your personal health care needs with the most up to date supplements and beauty aids. Much like the grocery and produce departments of the store, the products sold in apothecary can support both your emotional and physical wellbeing.
After consulting with a doctor or specialist about alternative products, ingredients and dosages, come visit the apothecary department. Our apothecary staff is trained to direct and assist you with product choice. Our empathic and knowledgeable staff enjoys making every effort to help you find the products you are seeking. If you aren't able to find the product on our shelves, please ask us about special ordering the products for you.
Our apothecary department is broken into sections related to specific ailments and supplements. For example, if you are interested in a body cleanse, you will go to the cleansing section and find first cleanses, whole body cleanses and individual organ cleanses. Another benefit to product selection set up this way is that you can compare prices since all relevant products are housed together.
While our apothecary crew enjoys sharing information with customers, it is really you, our customers, that inspire us and influence the quality products we sell.
- Julia
Julia Recommends:
Coconut is truly a whole food! The clear water inside a young coconut has more potassium than a banana and is wonderful for hydration. As the coconut matures, the water develops into a milky white meat which can be eaten or pressed for milk and oil. The health benefits of coconut oil include hair and skin care, weight loss and cholesterol maintenance (please visit the following website for more information: www.coconutoil.com).
There are several brands of organic virgin coconut oil available in the apothecary. Most are solid oil and can be consumed, or warmed to a liquid and used for skin and hair. Coconut oil is also available in capsules.
As you walk around the apothecary departments at any of our store locations, check our shelves for products marked as STAFF FAVORITES. We try the products we sell and are happy to share with you what we like about our favorites.
Kimberton Whole Foods is proud to say that we were chosen as a Top Workplace of 2010 according to the Philadelphia Inquirer, Philadelphia Daily News, and Philly.com.
The feature highlights the best employers in the Philadelphia region, according to the employees themselves.
We all agree...Great People Makes KWF a Great Place To Work!
Over 1500 local businesses were invited to participate in the survey, and KWF is #25 on the small businesses list.
Read the article and check out our online ad: http://www.philly.com/philly/business/workplaces/
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Description: To “integrate” means to harmonize, combine, link together and unify. The purpose of Integrative Medicine is to help you attain and regain optimal health where past approaches have been incomplete or fallen short. Dr. Mulders utilizes traditional medical ...
| Coconut Bliss Demo Sat Sep 11 @11:00AM - 02:00PM |
| Navitas and Green Foods Demo Sun Sep 12 @11:00AM - 02:00PM |
| Lou's Holyland Products Demo Mon Sep 13 @03:00PM - 05:00PM |
| Lou's Holyland Products Demo Tue Sep 14 @03:00PM - 05:00PM |
| Coconut Bliss Demo Wed Sep 15 @03:30PM - 06:30PM |
