I didn't really know anything about permaculture before I was invited to speak, and it's a mad interesting subject. I don't know enough to write about it here but follow the link to learn more.
The man who spoke before me was talking about the importance of local food systems and I learned the most amazing thing. How much food do you think your local supermarkets have on hand in case of an emergency? A month? Three weeks?
Three days. That's it. Three days worth of food.
Now, that's a scary thing no matter how you look at it, but when you live on an island, it's really disturbing. Think about it- in the event of an emergency (think 9/11) or a natural disaster (Katrina) that stopped the ferry from coming to the Island, we would be a-ok for exactly three days.
The point of this isn't to scare you into stocking your pantry with a year's worth of canned and dried food. The point is to scare you into getting to know your farmer.
So I wanted to share that with you. I also want to share with you the $50 honorarium that I got for speaking last night. I tried to refuse it but the course leader pressed it into my hand and said "I'm buying $50 worth of yarn then and you can give it to whomever you want."
I want to give it to one of you.
Here's the deal: The winner of this giveaway will receive two skeins of MVFF yarn in any of the colorways in my etsy shop. All you have to do is leave a comment below with some way of identifying you should you win. Sadly, anonymous comments will have to be deleted. I'll chose the winner on Wednesday evening at 7:00 p.m.
While your here, read the post below about the bonobos apes and enter to win one of three children's books I'm giving away.
And next time you're at the Farmers Market, introduce yourself to some of the hardworking people that grow your food and say thanks. Get to know them.
296 comments:
«Oldest ‹Older 201 – 296 of 296pretty yarns..........
yarn nummy (nom nom nom)!!!
thx!!
-oonaghfibersmyth on rav
I am spoiled too, I live in Maine and we have a big lovely farmer's market that made up for my sad pathetic garden that was dead by Jun 30th.
Sparklepony on ravelry.
I lurve the colours this season. SO yayt o winning some awesome yarn!
What a great idea! Definately good for the kharma meter too.
I love the orange yarn. I can just see my fall scarf now.
GlitzyGallery@yahoo.com
At the risk of sounding like a snob or chauvinist, the produce, cheeses, arts and crafts and other products available at farmers markets here in the SF Bay Area rival anywhere else in the world. It's a great place to live and shop.
But I'm not fanatic enough about our locals to turn down a chance at some MVFF yarn! Hope I'm the winner! I'd like to get some natural yarn and dye it myself.
I wonder how much food there is in a Fresh Direct truck? There's always one of those nearby that I could hijack in case of emergency.... :)
I haven't been to my local Farmer's Market lately. Thanks for the reminder!
And thank you for the opportunity to win some of your lovely yarn.
~kelle in kent
I try to do my bit by growing lots of vegetables in my allotment, I know many interesting recipes with potatoes :)
Count me in for some fibres please, and thank you.
anne stevens
Hi I love your site!!!!! You are very kind to have a drawing for yarn..
I am Ladyfemme on Rav
I love farmers markets, but unfortunately there aren't many (any??) where I live. We have the "look-alike" ones, where the styall owners are actually wholesalers. not quite the same, you know?
oohhhh, how exciting! I'm typing with my newborn in my arms so it's taking 4ever....so this'll be a short comment!
I'm knitterkelly on ravelry OR
knitterkelly AT yahoo DOT com
Thanks :)
Cormo is super yummy fiber. Add me to the list! :)
honeyninja@gmail.com
We love our farmer's market - I *wish* I was an MVFF shareholder :) knitonepurltoo on Ravelry.
I love fresh stuff from the local farm!! Thanks for the opportunity to win some yummy yarn!
justine
(Wolfmom on Rav)
Hello!
I think your yarn is awesome. I also think it is cool that you are sharing your love with us here online. Thank you for giving us the opportunity, not only to win some of your super tasty yarn, but to give us all another reason to come online and look at your blog and learn more about what you do and why.
Try to stay positive. It's good to be prepared, but don't let possible disaster worry you sick. I have family who lives out near you (I have an aunt and grandpa on Nantucket) and so I've heard firsthand how frustrating it can be when supplies can't make it in due to a storm or from ice. Take care.
I'm not surprised by it being only 3 days. Actually, scratch that. I am. As in, I'm surprised it is that long. At least when looking at what our supermarkets down the road are like lol.
I tried going to your etsy shop, using the link in your post, to see what you've got. But it won't load for me. Still, free yarn can't be all bad, right? ^_^
I'm naelany on Ravelry, btw
lisseut on Rav :)
Thanks so much for letting go of this yarn! I'm not quite so generous with my yarn (or potential yarn) so kudos to you. (I'm in Canada, not sure if I'm eligible).
I'm usually asleep or at work (or both!) at the local farmers' markets, but I've been looking up Toronto "food box" programs - the ones where locally grown produce is put in a box and you go pick it up. The problem is, I'm having a hard time getting in touch with the organizers! Ah well, I'm sure I'll get my hands on one eventually. :)
Thanks again!
Love the market, especially the mushroom lady. She always has a smile and a recipe handy. Sadly, our local market doesn't have any fiber; well, at least not the spun kind, only the veggie kind!
I'm katjab on Ravelry.
etsy is a little wonky today. I couldn't get it to work either just now...
I love the look of your yarn and I'd love to touch it and knit with it even more. I'm addicted to farmer's markets myself. Unfortunately I had to let my own vegetable garden go for this year due to a family tragedy...but am already getting it ready for next summer :)
I actually knew about the three days. . . We had a rough storm a couple years back that closed many major highways, etc. . . I don't remember exactly why, but the stores were unable to get deliveries (maybe just the sheer volume of snow. . . ) but the stores were amazingly bare after just a few days . . . Especially with things like milk, etc.
(I'm amyers on Rav, but Random won't choose my number ;) )
I love farmer's markets, and would love to win some yarn.
I've been trying to find local farms for food & fiber, but it hasn't been that easy. I just visited a local angora goat farm yesterday and bought a bunch of freshly shorn fleece and some gorgeous organic eggs (they're a mix of brown, green, and blue). I wish your farm were closer to me!
I took a permaculture course once and really enjoyed it. It's important, and I think distributed greening is one possible way forward--making green roofs, edible landscaping, etc. mainstream instead of fringe. Anyway, thanks for bringing this to people's attention and sharing the yarn with someone lucky...
orata from ravelry
I've always tried to support our local farms and other local businesses. The WalMarts of the world don't see any of my money. And the pride of my fiber stash is from a beautiful, locally owned & bred Alpaca, second only to some lush, local cormo.
I know my local farmers very well, fortunately! I even worked for one part time this summer...
me! me! pick me! who wouldn't want to win some yarn
Yeah! Love your blog and thanks from the link on Ravelry!
Jenny... aka Chloebunny- ravelry
3 days huh? I actually believe that after having hit a supermarket in the evening after a snow storm was predicted when I lived in SC - the whole store was almost bare!
Myself personally, I always have atleast a months worth of food on hand at home - just because I like such a huge variety of things that there's a little bit of everything in my pantry. I've managed to live for as long as 2 months with almost no visits to the grocery store in the past. Some of the meal combinations towards the end were a little unusual though!
Great idea for a giveaway.. pick me! ;)
J
You are the most sharing person....I love farmer's markets especially in Minnesota...Thanks for another fun yarn giveaway.
Joyce
Oh my goodness! Was that the Permaculture course at THE FARM in Tennessee? I've never visited your blog before, and I just saw this on Ravelry and thought I'd check it out. My son is doing an internship at The Farm for September and October and just attended a Permaculture course there this past weekend! I must go back to your blog to look and see if the world is as small as it seems to be . . .
Oh, just checked. You're in Martha's Vineyard (I will be visiting there in October!), but my son is in Tennessee. Permaculture is big everywhere, it seems! World not so small as I had imagined! :)
You have some lovely yarns. At first glance my favorites are the twilight and harvest worsted and the gay cliffs sport.
Thanks for the chance to win. I am stillstranding on ravelry
I love my farmer's market as well. So yummy.
You learn something new everyday.
I worked this year for a local strawberry farm and garden center and saw just how hard farming is. The local fruits and vegetables they grow are worth every penny!
Your yarn is lovely. I knit scarves for family as well as myself in the winter so I would be thrilled if I won your yarn.
The farmer's market is one of the best parts of our yearly summer vacation in the country. This year I even bought some hand spun wool. Thanks for the information.
I use a Farm Stand, but am thinking about heading down to St. Louis biggest original market, yea Soulard. I just have to price savings against gas. Can't wait to get a job and buy some of your yarn and maybe a share, I gonoing to be a lunch lady,
Pawdua
Thanks for another chance to win some of your beautiful yarn!
Catyknit on Ravelry
there is also a sprouts that sells locally grown products as well as organically grown produce.
Our local farmers market had a new vendor this year from an alpaca farm. She showed off her fibers with spinning and felting demonstrations that were really engaging. I'm so excited to see the fiber market represented in our local PNW community.
you are so generous with all your giveaways! fingers crossed :)
kasiaiscarly
I was looking at the Etsy shop and noticed that you have a colorway called "Twilight." I have a friend who is an enthusiastic fan of the series of books by Stephanie Meyer and with the movie coming out in November, the enthusiasm is almost palpable. I've got the Eclipse socks in my Rav queue and can't help thinking that Twilight and Cherry Soda would make an interesting house sock/slipper variation.
I <3 my farmers market.. there every saturday. No yarnies though.. but that is probably a good thing, I would probably go broke ;)
atroxsilentium on Rav
You're yarn is beautiful! I'm a college student on a budget so another contest is exciting!
How nice of you to think of others. I would love to win some of your yarn.
XenaBob on Ravelry
This is one of the reasons I always try to have a garden. My 4 kids will know exactly where and how food gets to our table. Right now I'm elbow deep in freezing tomatoes!
Anyway, I'm PKRSMom on Rav.
I too love my Farmers Market. I love my own veeg garden even more! I think that only one serving of beans has made it to my table this year so far because my kids eat them as fast as they can grow....LOL.
We freeze much of our excess because a full freezer is way more efficient, and it will stay cold even without power for some time if it is full and not opened too much.
Kathy (techquilter on Ravelry)
I'm so midwestern I had to look up what the initials stood for as I'm unfamiliar with this yarn. Would love to give it a try however!
Kim in Iowa
Scary isn't it? After some of the 2004 hurricanes in Florida it was easy to see how quickly stores sell out of food when disaster strikes. I'm Aunteemc on ravelry just in case you draw my name for yarn. Thanks for letting us play!
What a generous offer! I moved to D.C. from CT five years ago and missed the local farms so much that I went out of my way to find the local farmers' market here. I'm lucky that the best one in the city is held just blocks from my house every Sunday.
These farmers drive into the city from up to 150 miles away at least once a week (if not more often). They are kind souls and I'm lucky to have developed a relationship with several of them. I'd second your recommendation that getting to know your local farmers is really a worthwhile endeavor. You get to meet some really neat people -- and to try some amazing fruits and vegetables (or meat, dairy products, or wool)!
-sprite on Ravelry
Thank you for sharing, our local farmners market thrives in the summer, so that I organize some in the winter indoors. Very popular, and a way to sustain a small loval economy.
My name is Frenchette on ravelry.
That's very thoughtful of you!
SusieShepherd,
I would love to win two skeins of your yarn.
Knittingdancer on Ravelry
Wow. That's a little scary and VERY interesting. Did he mention what the supply was for urban stores? I'm guessing it would be even less due to higher population and less space.
And for the drawing, I'm Muppetfeet on Ravelry.
Gorgeous stuff! How in the *world* will you ever be able to part with any of it ;).
(FalconDance from Ravelry)
I try to get all my fruit and vegetables from our farmers' market.
3 days is an amazing fact.
antinova on ravelry.
You have some beautiful yarn!
Came over from Ravelry and I'd love to enter the contest!
Hege at Ravelry
Hey! As of right now, I have a 1 in 257 chance of winning! Woot!
;-)
Wow, I never knew how little food the supermarket had. I guess I can be grateful for living in an area which has lots of farming and farmers' markets. That's really nice of you to donate the yarn, too.
Yikes, I used to work at a grocery store and I never realized how little food was really there!
Yummy yummy yarn! There's a fantastic farmer's market near here - I'm in Pennsylvania and many of the vendors are Amish. Terrific meats and breads and veggies... delish! Thanks for running such a great contest!
Needlegrrl on Ravelry
Our family has met this year our goal of consuming 70% of our produce from local (very local, less than 50 miles) sources, and put in an organic garden at home for the first time. We all need to turn inward and locally for food, not just to protect us from hunger in case of a weather or national disaster, but for the environmental savings it brings in reduced fuel use.
grace7879
Thank you for raising awareness of the need to...just THINK about these sorts of issues! Recently bought our first house (!) and planning a garden for next summer :) Would love the yarn... colleenrose on Rav.
I was going to mention the 100 mile Diet book too, it's a great read and the couple live in our neighbourhood. We did a food run on my new Xtracycle bike this weekend through our local farm fields. We picked up 10lbs of local Tuna, 20lbs of blueberries, 6 cobs of organic corn, 20lbs of local produce and a bottle of blueberry wine. Hunting and gathering modern style. I'm Heathermg on ravelry.
Ooooooooh, another giveaway, I'll win something one of these days LOL, I'm going to follow your blog so I know when you do these in case I miss the Rav announcement.
Oooo! Pretty yarn! Thanks for posting the contest for us Ravelers.
Yikes - only 3 days worth?? I do live on an island (I'm in the UK). We started trying to grow some stuff at home, but we don't have a big garden - so far we've had a few strawberries, a whole load of jalapeños (which haven't yet ripened to red grrr!) and lots of different herbs.
I'd love to enter the giveaway - I'm nicthedig on Rav :)
Three days? Really? Wow -- that is definitely food (pun not intended) for thought!
Three days worth of food? Yikes that's frightening. I'm thinking visiting the farmers market more often is called for.
craftyphoenix on Rav
Three days of food - I'm not surprised, especially with fresh stuff like dairy and meat. Scary!
Thanks for being generous with your yarn!
lisaknits on ravelry
That is very scarey - 3 days worth? And some of that supply is probably not even what everyone needs/can use!
I was just admiring your harvest and avocado colors! Yum!
Susan,
Thank you very much for the "heads-up" on the state of our food supply. This definitely gives me something more to think about. I'm also mind-wrestling with the idea of adding solar-panels to my house for energy savings and power outings...you know that is going to happen. Your article also tells me to get to know and develop relationships with other farms in the area. The one I visit weekly is small and has no animals. I thank you very much! And also thank you for this contest! I'd love to win some of your wool! I can be found as llmcguire at Ravelry. :)
Lisa McGuire
My name is Patsy and my Ralvery name is Sparky 136. I would love some of your yarn.
Thanks for the fun contest! We're regulars at a few farmers markets -- it's always fun to get to know where your food comes from.
I love my local CSAin WNY!
-Kelly March
We have a CSA and I love it, though we'll need to have people over for dinner next year to ensure that our food doesn't go to waste.
As a member of your 2009 CSA, I must say I can't wait to try your yarn. Had the avocado not sold so quickly I would have bought a sweater's worth last week. I love that color!
Thanks for the chance to win some of your yarn! :) I'm Krystalclear2006 on ravelry.
You rock!
Today's my birthday... doesn't that mean I should automatically win? :)
I've heard the same statistic about grocery stores only having enough food for about 3 days. Getting to know your local farmers is a good solution. Or... grow your own garden. 'Course here in MN that will only work for like 3 mos out of the year...
~ge0rge on Ravelry, shareholder wannabe
I'll go one further: We live on 30 acres with a 40' by 60' garden. We are currently harvesting squash. So far my family and I have put up tomatoes, sweet corn, turnips, green beans, blackberry jam and pickles.
Locally grown? Yep, 50 feet from my front door! I'd encourage others to try gardening. Fresh grown veggies-especially your own-are delicious!
Brenda aka ruddawg on ravelry
I joined a local CSA this summer. I enjoyed it very much. Woolkitty on Ravelry
I just took a look-see at your etsy shop; wow, the semi-solids are gorgeous!
I love that you're blogging about farmer's markets. And giving away yarn; that can never be bad, really. This year we've really had a good one as far as local stuff goes; we discovered a local blackberry picking place that was very kid-friendly, some peaches, a dear friend gave us some corn and tomatoes, my dad and sister sent down more corn and peaches from my dad's trees, and now we're waiting on apples. Please consider me entered into your lovelry yarn giveaway. I'm Yarndork on Ravelry.
I just signed up for the Spring 2009 Yarn CSA. I'm very excited to be a part of it!
You can always catch up with me as yarn-sitter on Ravelry.
Thanks Susan for a chance to win some of your gorgeous yarn! So exciting about your book!!
Jennifer ( ayearandaday on Rav)
Intriguing thoughts... I'll have to get to know my local farmers markets! you can reach me at knitsandknots at gmail dot com
Getting to know your farmer is good advice no matter what, emergency or no emergency.
I hope you had a great time with all the Permaculture folks - what a great group of people to spend time with!
I love my local farmer's market! Greatest tomatoes ever.
It's thanks to Farmer's Market that I actually eat vegetables of any kind. They're just so gosh darn nice, and the farmers aren't so bad, either!
Since it's fall, I have used a stocking cap I knit as a "grocery bag". Knitting and vegetables full circle....
ust wanted to say hi and introduce myself-- and the give away gives me a good excuse! I am saving up for a spring 09 share! I love your blog and this was a really interesting post-- 3 days is a scary thought. I love my farmer's market even more now!
louisa84 on rav
in july we had a pretty wicked wind storm come through that knocked out power to most of our 2 cities and parts of the surrounding ones. only one supermarket was open, and even then just for shelf stable items. since there was no power, all of the dairy/meat/frozen had to be tossed.
It was pretty unsettling to walk in and see half of the store empty. And all from a relatively 'small' storm when compared to katrina or other disasters!
We were on island this past weekend and I'd planned all week on hitting the farmer's market, but it was so rainy I wasn't sure it would even be there and we missed it :(
I can't believe only 3 days...really? THanks for the fun yarn contest!
I enjoy reading your blog! Thanks for a chance at the yarn giveaway! :)
Knittermaster on Ravelry
I'll be on Cape Cod this weekend - so close to the Vineyard and yet so far . . . ;-)
Lisa
Saratogaknitting on Ravelry
This is a very sobering thought. I came for the yarn giveaway, but I'm leaving with more than just that, I think... (But still consider me for the yarn! ;)
(naiadkitty on rav)
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