'Easy Living Weakens Morals'

The Coventry Regional Farmers’ Market (CRFM) opens in June. The CRFM Business Partnership Program may be a good fit for your venture.

To learn more about the market and opportunities, visit http://coventryfarmersmarket.com/contact-us/.

Vendors and visitors enjoy the setting at the Nathan Hale Homestead in Coventry, a sprawling farm with fields, a historic house, tours, and a barn in addition to the fair-like market.

New Exhibit: Windsor Barns Tell Stories

The Windsor Historical Society exhibition of Lowell Fewster's photographs of Windsor barns opens with a reception on Tuesday, June 9, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at 96 Palisado Ave., Windsor.

For almost 300 years, barns were an essential part of life, housing animals, vehicles and farm equipment. As the automobile replaced horse-drawn transportation and small-scale farming declined, barns began to disappear, falling victim to the weather, disuse and disrepair.

For photographer Lowell Fewster, barns tell an important story about life and commerce in Windsor as well as exhibiting aesthetic beauty.

Barns were practical, functional buildings and close examination of a barn’s architectural features can tell the story of its original and subsequent uses. Some barns have been re-made and rehabilitated while others have disappeared.

Additional Windsor barns have stories associated with them, such as the shade tobacco magnate who used the cupola in his barn as an observation deck where he could oversee the working habits of tobacco workers he employed.

Then there was the barn where methane from cow manure was piped into the house to light gas lamps inside.

Official history records little about Windsor barns. In an attempt to gather barn reminiscences for the record, viewers are invited to record and post their own Windsor barn stories or reminiscences as part of the exhibition.

Photographer Lowell Fewster grew up in a Kodak family in Rochester, New York, and started taking pictures at the age of six.

For more information call (860) 688-3813, or visit www.windsorhistoricalsociety.org.

Civil War Encampment, Torrington

Company G, 14th Regiment Connecticut Volunteer Infantry, 1862-1865.

The Civil War reenacting community offers the first of three major living history encampments in honor of President Lincoln’s Bicentennial celebration at 92 Main St., Torrington, on Saturday, May 30, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Torrington Historical Society. The event is sponsored by the Connecticut Lincoln Bicentennial Commission, which is a a state-wide, 15-member commission established by Governor Jodi Rell for the two-year celebration surrounding the bicentennial of Abraham Lincoln's birth.

The program will include military and civilian presentations; book signings by Civil War authors and first person presenters portraying Abraham Lincoln, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Gov. and Mrs. William Buckingham, and Mark Twain.

In attendance will be renowned Lincoln scholar Michael Burlingame and Lincoln artist, Wendy Allen.

The Torrington Historical Society will also preview a new exhibit featuring Civil War artifacts and Lincoln memorabilia.

For more information call (860) 482-8260. Or visit www.torringtonhistoricalsociety.org.

Lincoln will arrive in Torrington on the Naugatuck Railroad (sponsored by the Railroad Museum of New England) on May 30, 9:30 a.m.

Events include a Gatling gun demonstration at 11 a.m. and troop drills.

For more information call (860) 482-8260.

Wily Coyote Talk at Land Trust Meet

Paul Rego, a Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) wildlife biologist is the featured speakers at the Farmington Land Trust annual meeting on Thursday, April 23, 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at the Community and Senior Center, 321 New Britain Ave., Unionville.
Reservations must be made by April 20; e-mail farmingtonland.trust@snet.net or phone (860) 674-8545.

Rego will speak about the history, biology and management of coyotes in Connecticut. Coyote populations have boomed as the adaptable animal thrives in close proximity to development, and conflicts often arise when wild animals meet suburban lifestyles.

The meeting will also include a brief presentation highlighting the activities of the land trust in the past year, as well as outlining goals and concerns ahead.

The public is welcome. Hors d’oeuvres will be served.
Image: Wikipedia

Abate's Apizza, New Haven, Connecticut

Wooster Square is a neighborhood in New Haven named for the American Revolutionary War hero, David Wooster (who was the mastermind behind the capture of Fort Ticonderoga on Lake Champlain in1775, even though Ethan Allen and Benedict Arnold got the credit.)

But the neighborhood is more famous for the food, especially the world's best apizza and other Italian delicacies.

Abate's piping hot pizza - oh my. Located at 129 Wooster St., Abate's Apizza & Seafood Restaurant, is a personal favorite. Yes, they deliver and also offer a full menu of good food.

(People may quibble about which pizza is best, but as with anything, it's a personal choice. Lines form outside of Frank Pepe Pizzeria and Sally's Apizza. Sunday, the latter was closed.)

Wooster Square even offers a farmer's market (CitySeed) in winter (held every other Saturday, until is gets a little warmer, so check the web site before heading over.)

The architecture of homes in the area is just inspiring. Drive or walk to notice the beauty in brownstone, brick, wrought iron details such as spires, turrets, decorative touches, and much more. There are many other restaurants and businesses along the way.

Trivia: During the Mayor Richard C. Lee administration (1954-1970) the Wooster Street/Square area was one of the first neighborhood federally funded urban renewal projects in the nation.

Nearby is Yale University, worth another whole day to explore solo or in a group (informative tours are offered). The New Haven Preservation Trust offers a richness of details about history in the city and region to explore even more.

Under Glass, Beauty In Bloom, Tour Feb. 14

Oh the beauty of what grows and blooms under glass in February.

The public is offered a treat for winter-weary senses - the opportunity to tour plant collections in a special presentation Sugar and Spice and Chocolate!, led by UConn Ecology & Evolutionary (EEB) greenhouse staff on Saturday, Feb. 14, 10 a.m. to noon.

The UConn EEB greenhouses hold one of the most diverse teaching plant collections in the United States, including many connected to the food and medical industries. Learn about plant sources of many spices, foods, and medicines. (A great family outing to see how vanilla or cloves or pineapples grow.)

Clinton Morse, EEB plant growth facilities manager, posts photographs of plants blooming as of Feb 11, 2009, available for viewing online. (According to the site, some 126 different blooms at present.)

“This series is an exciting opportunity to bring together many talented experts from the University of Connecticut and beyond,” says Jeremy Teitelbaum, new dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.

For more information or directions check the listings at this link, or call (860) 486-4460. The greenhouses are located at the main UConn Storrs campus.

Photography of visual beauty inside the greenhouses, courtesy of Clinton Morse, UConn EEB plant growth facilities manager.

NOFA Conference, Life, Earth, Demos

Just because you don’t own or work on a farm doesn’t mean that you can’t be involved in agriculture.

Ian Marvey, co-founder and director of Added Value and Red Hook Community Farm and Dan Ross, executive director of Nuestras Raíces (Spanish for "our roots") are featured speakers at NOFA’s Cultivating an Organic Connecticut conference. The forum on urban agriculture is Feb. 21 at Windsor High School.

Organizations exploring ways to bring organic farming into traditionally underserved communities can serve a variety of
community needs. Nuestras Raíces is a grass-roots organization that promotes economic, human and community development in Holyoke, Mass., through projects relating to food and how it is produced.

The conference will feature a track of workshops about urban agriculture, small farms and gardens. One feature is a panel discussion with young farmers who hope to dispel some myths about farming in Connecticut and reach a growing audience of first-time farmers.

More than 30 workshops will highlight organic farming, gardening, landscaping and sustainable living - in addition to exhibits and a potluck lunch and hands-on cooking demonstrations.

The conference costs $50 for non-members. For more information visit www.ctnofa.org or call (203) 888-5146.

CT NOFA is the Connecticut Chapter of the Northeast Organic Farming Association.

Where's My Food Come From? New Series

Do hot dogs have lips? Just what is head cheese? Why is it possible to buy summer sausage in the winter, and what makes American bacon so different from Canadian bacon?

These are just a few of the questions that students have asked Dr. Cameron Faustman, associate dean, University of Connecticut (UConn) College of Agriculture and Natural Resources.

As part of a new series about food and culture, the UConn State Museum of Natural History and Connecticut Archaeology Center (part of UConn’s College of Liberal Arts and Sciences), will offer lively events open to the public during 2009.

Dr. Faustman will present Why is There a Bag in My Turkey? on Sunday, Feb. 22, 3 p.m., as part of a new series, The Natural History of Food. (And yes, he will answer some of the humorous questions listed above.)


Explore the jungle-like plant collections in a special tour, Sugar and Spice and Chocolate!, led by UConn Ecology & Evolutionary (EEB) greenhouse staff on Saturday, Feb. 14, 10 a.m. to noon.

The UConn EEB greenhouses hold one of the most diverse teaching plant collections in the United States, including many connected to the food and medical industries. A special guided greenhouse tour will provide the uncommon opportunity to see the plant sources of many spices, foods, and medicines. (A great family outing, a real treat to see where vanilla and chocolate come from, or how cloves or pepper are grown.)

“This series is an exciting opportunity to bring together many talented experts from the University of Connecticut and beyond,” says Jeremy Teitelbaum, new dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.

Lectures, programs, and workshops include:

Dr. Margaret Bruchac, from UConn’s Anthropology Department, and coordinator of the Native American Studies Program at the Avery Point campus, will talk about the wide-ranging impact the foods of the Americas have had since European explorers and Native American communities first interacted. Her program, Algonkian Indian Influences on Yankee Foodways, will be offered on Sunday, Feb. 1, 3 p.m.


Dr. Alexia Smith, assistant professor of Anthropology at UConn, specializes in ecological anthropology, climate and land use history, and the development of agriculture in the Near East. She will discuss the beginnings of agriculture in the Middle East in Seeds, Glorious Seeds! Examining Food Use in Antiquity, on Sunday, Feb. 8, 3 p.m.

For more information or directions to specific events (held at different campuses), check the listings at this link, or call (860) 486-4460. The greenhouses are located at the main UConn Storrs campus. Images, courtesy of UConn.

Where's My Food Come From? New Series

Do hot dogs have lips? Just what is head cheese? Why is it possible to buy summer sausage in the winter, and what makes American bacon so different from Canadian bacon?

These are just a few of the questions that students have asked Dr. Cameron Faustman, associate dean, University of Connecticut (UConn) College of Agriculture and Natural Resources.

As part of a new series about food and culture, the UConn State Museum of Natural History and Connecticut Archaeology Center (part of UConn’s College of Liberal Arts and Sciences), will offer lively events open to the public during 2009.

Dr. Faustman will present Why is There a Bag in My Turkey? on Sunday, Feb. 22, 3 pm., as part of a new series, The Natural History of Food. (And yes, he will answer some of the humorous questions listed above.)


Learn how horseradish grows and what cloves look like as they grow in a special tour, Sugar and Spice and Chocolate!, will be led by EEB greenhouse staff on Saturday, February 14, 10 am to noon.

The UConn Ecology & Evolutionary Biology Plant Growth greenhouses have one of the most diverse teaching plant collections in the United States, including many connected to the food and medical industries. A special guided greenhouse tour will provide the uncommon opportunity to see the plant sources of many spices, foods, and medicines. (A great family outing, a real treat to tour the humid and lush plants inside glass houses.)

“This series is an exciting opportunity to bring together many talented experts from the University of Connecticut and beyond,” says Jeremy Teitelbaum, new dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.

Lectures, programs, and workshops include:

Dr. Margaret Bruchac, from UConn’s Anthropology Department, and coordinator of the Native American Studies Program at the Avery Point campus, will talk about the wide-ranging impact the foods of the Americas have had since European explorers and Native American communities first interacted. Her program, Algonkian Indian Influences on Yankee Foodways, will be offered on Sunday, Feb. 1, 3 pm.


Dr. Alexia Smith, assistant professor of Anthropology at UConn, specializes in ecological anthropology, climate and land use history, and the development of agriculture in the Near East. She will discuss the beginnings of agriculture in the Middle East in Seeds, Glorious Seeds! Examining Food Use in Antiquity, on Sunday, Feb. 8, 3 pm.

For more information or directions to specific events (held at different campuses), check the listings at www.mnh.uconn.edu/currentcalendar.html, or call (860) 486-4460. The greenhouses are located at the main UConn Storrs campus.