ANNUAL POTLUCK DINNER AND PRESENTATION

Friday, April 8th beginning at 6pm.

The potluck dinner will be held at Saint John's Episcopal Church, 183 North Main Street, Canandaigua. We will meet downstairs in the Parish Hall. Use the rear entrance on Saint John's Court off Howell Street. (Same location as the Gleaner's Kitchen.)

The evening's program will be History of the Rochester Academy of Science Herbarium by Elizabeth Pixley, Herbarium curator. Come learn about the creation and preservation of this extensive and valuable plant collection.

Bring a dish to pass and your own place setting and a guest or two if you wish. Bring cash or your checkbook to pay your annual dues ($7 individual or $10 couple/family) and receive the 2011-2012 Botanical Society Program.

The Herbarium program will begin at 7pm. Following the program we will have a business meeting.

Click here to see the post of our visit to the RAS Herbarium.

ALL ARE WELCOME!

WOULD YOU LIKE LOCALLY GROWN, FRESH ORGANIC VEGGIES AND FRUITS EVERY WEEK?

The Unitarian Universalist Church of Canandaigua (UUCC) Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) provides just that!

Every Monday for 24 weeks from May 23 through October 31, UUCC CSA members pick up a wide assortment of home grown organically certified seasonal fruits and vegetables at the Unitarian Universalist Church at 3024 Cooley Rd in Canandaigua .

Share Contents

Share contents change each week. There is always something different in the share. Small and Large shares are a mix of pre-packed staples like cooking greens, salad greens, roots, potatoes, and seasonal favorites like strawberries and tomatoes.

Through-out the season, a market table will be set up at distribution for members to choose several items to supplement their basic share. The market table will have 10-25 different vegetables and fruits ranging from staples like carrots and potatoes, to specialty vegetables and fruits, and vegetables which people either love or hate.

Large shares usually include 8-12 different fruits and vegetables. Small shares have 6-8 items. A micro-share is 4 choices from the market table (maximum of 2 fruit choices).

A large share works well for a family or a couple who cook almost every night. A small share is often best for a single person or a couple. A micro-share is good for a single person who isn’t always home for a meal or doesn’t have a lot of time for cooking.

Fresh cut herbs and hot peppers are also available during the season on a “take what you can use” basis.

Meat, eggs and honey: The UUCC CSA works with several other local farms to offer pork, beef, poultry, eggs, and honey on an extra cost basis to our members.

Work Option: CSA members who volunteer to work on the farm for at least 12 hours will receive a $50 rebate at the end of the season.

Share Pick-up: Mondays from 5:15 to 7:00 at the Unitarian Universalist Church, 3024 Cooley Rd. in Canandaigua. After hours pick up at the church or pick up at the farm can also be arranged.

About the Fellenz Family Farm

Since 2003, the Fellenz Family Farm has grown organic fruits and vegetables on a small scale for families in the Finger Lakes area.

To learn more about the CSA or the farm, visit our website: www.fellenzfamilyfarm.com

Email: Andy@FellenzFamilyFarm.com

or call: 315 548 6228 or 585 260 2477.


2011 share prices:

Micro-Share (4 items/week) $300.00

Small Share (6-8 items/week) $480.00

Large Share (8-12 items/week) $600.00

Andy will be there!

ANNUAL POTLUCK DINNER and PRESENTATION - HISTORY OF THE ROCHESTER ACADEMY OF SCIENCE HERBARIUM

We are working to put together the 2011-2012 program that will be available at the annual potluck dinner and presentation on Friday, April 8th

beginning at 6pm.

The potluck dinner will be held at Saint John's Episcopal Church, 183 North Main Street, Canandaigua. We will meet downstairs in the Parish Hall. Use the rear entrance on Saint John's Court off Howell Street. (Same location as the Gleaner's Kitchen.)

The evening's program will be History of the Rochester Academy of Science Herbarium by Elizabeth Pixley, herbarium curator. Come learn about the creation and preservation of this extensive and valuable plant collection. ( http://www.rasny.org/Herbarium.htm )

Bring a dish to pass and your own place setting and a guest or two if you wish. Bring cash or your checkbook to pay your annual dues ($7) and receive the 2011-2012 Botanical Society Program. The Herbarium program will begin at 7pm. Following the program we will have a business meeting and all are welcome.

Minutes from PRESERVING OUR NATURAL HERITAGE given by Dr. Bruce Gilman for the Canandaigua Botanical Society on Saturday, March 5,

Attended by: Bill Bross, John & Marion Fladd, Margo Gilman, Maya Hobday, John Hyde, Peggy Kane, Dick Kent, Carman Kuenen, Laura Ouimette, John & Mary Purdy, Dave Spier, and Connie Watkins

Dr. Bruce Gilman began his presentation with an introduction of the biological diversity of NYS created from the ancient oceans to an ice invasion which created 28 broad glacial valleys including our 11 Finger Lakes. He referenced the book Roadside Geology of New York by Bradford B. VanDiver.

When looking at protecting our natural heritage we need to identify the “elements” of biodiversity. The New York Natural Heritage Program (http://www.dec.ny.gov/animals/29338.html) states their mission to facilitate conservation of New York's biodiversity by providing comprehensive information and scientific expertise on rare species and natural ecosystems to resource managers and other conservation partners.”

The biodiversity on New York includes several elements which Bruce Gilman expanded on:

Vascular plants (3195 species)

Nonvascular plants (insufficient data)

Birds (over 250 breeding species)

Mammals (over 75 species)

Fish (165 species)

Reptiles and amphibians (71 species)

Invertebrate species (insufficient data)

Bruce continued to explain the following information from the New York Natural Heritage Program

Assessing New York's Biodiversity

NY Natural Heritage data provide a picture of the status of biodiversity in New York. The graph {below} represents all 2,863 vascular plants, natural communities, and vertebrate animals native to New York State. It does not include data regarding invertebrate animals. Although NY Natural Heritage tracks several invertebrate groups (notably butterflies and moths, dragonflies and damselflies, beetles, and mollusks), insufficient data are available to make general statements about the status of native invertebrate species. In the graph, New York's biodiversity is separated into six categories as described below.


Half of New York's biodiversity appears to be secure, but 37% of the state's native plants, vertebrate animals, and ecosystems are in jeopardy of extirpation, and 7% may have been lost already.

Presumed extirpated - 4%: All known occurrences are gone and there is little chance of finding new populations.

Historical - 3%: No occurrences have been reported in the last 15 years, but more survey work is needed. These may still be present within NY or they may be extirpated.

Critically imperiled - 15%: Known at five or fewer locations in the state.

Imperiled - 10%: Known at just six to 20 locations.

Vulnerable - 12%: Known at 21 to 100 locations.

Believed Secure - 56%: Known at more than 100 sites.


Bruce discussed the Ecological Communities of New York State (Edinger et al. 2002) using the Southern Honeoye Lake Watershed as an example. How to protect and the need for timely implementation were also discussed.

Examples of protected locations and areas include:

French Creek Watershed (NY and PA), Alleghany State Park, Rome Sand Plains, Chaumont Barrens Preserve, Eastern Lake Ontario Shoreline, Zurich Bog, Hemlock & Canadice Lakes, Finger Lakes Land Trust, Genesee Land Trust, Byron Bergen Swamp Preservation Society, RMSC Cummings Nature Center,Boy Scout and Girl Scout properties, military properties, and Seneca Army Depot.


Bruce concluded the presentation urging the need for environmental education noting that many of our children today are growing up in “E-bubbles”. He proposed we ought to instill a program called “NO CHILD LEFT INSIDE”. Author Richard Louv of Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children From Nature-Deficit Disorder would probably agree.


We were left with these quotes to ponder:

“You shall enter the living shelter of the forest. You shall walk where only the wind has walked before.” ~ Ansel Adams

“I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived.” ~ Henry David Thoreau

“And this, our life, exempt from public haunt, finds tongues in trees, books in the running brooks, sermons in stones, and good in everything.” ~ William Shakespeare

"In the woods, too, a man casts off his years, as the snake his slough, and at what period soever of life is always a child." “…in the wilderness, I find something more dear and connate than in the streets or villages…in the woods we return to reason and faith.” ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

"They tell us that plants are perishable, soulless creatures, that only man is immortal, etc.; but this, I think, is something we know very nearly nothing about. Anyhow, this palm was indescribably impressive and told me grander things than I ever got from a human priest.” ~ John Muir

“Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better.” ~ Albert Einstein

I am the Lorax. I speak for the trees. I speak for the trees, for the trees have no tongues. ~ Dr. Seuss

"Speaking of Nature" Lecture Series

Bruce Gilman told us about an exciting and informative lecture series at the Muller Field Station of Finger Lakes Community College. Presentations by college faculty, staff and local scientists are free and light refreshments will be provided. Seating is limited and reservations are required for each program. For more information and to make reservations, call Nancy Lawson at 585-785-1257.

FLCC Muller Field Station
6455 County Road 36 - Honeoye, New York

http://www.flcc.edu/muller/events.cfm