You might remember the clip above the Juliette of the Herbs, the maker of that film is currently crowdfunding for their new project – Tulsi, Queen of the Herbs. Like Juliette, this new project will introduce you to a remarkable being. This time the being is Tulsi, ocimum sanctum, or Holy Basil. She is a plant. Sacred to Hindus, Tulsi is a goddess, a healer, an ecologist and most recently, she has become an ambassador for the plant kingdom.
Tag Archives: Crowdfunding
growing rice in maine!
Check out this awesome rice growing project in Maine by Wild Folk Farm. Their goal is to get as many farmers and folks eating and growing rice throughout Maine, the Maritimes, and the Northeast. They are developing an educational, research and commercialized rice operation as currently there are no commercial rice growers in the state, and only a sprinkling of homesteading rice practices. Most domestic rice farms in the United States are monocultures that rely heavily on fossil fuel-driven mechanized cultivation and harvesting processes, and chemical sprays and fertilizers. Their proposed systems on the other hand are ecologically beneficial and symbiotic, adaptable to otherwise inaccessible farmland (low-lying wet clay soils), void of chemical inputs, and after initial excavation of the paddy areas, non-reliant on fuel-driven tools and machines. Arsenic is not an issue in our rice. Continue reading
let’s get everyone to the table
Just Roots is an incredible, beloved farm and non-profit in my own community. They provide low-income CSA shares, community garden plots, a communal medical garden, and low-cost accessible workshops at their farm. They are fundraising today to offset the cost of providing shares on a sliding scale and to expand their programming! If you have a penny to spare, this is a great jar to throw it in!
making the eggs-pansion a reality!
OK, gang, here’s the deal: our friends at Apple Creek Farm (run by Greenhorn Abby Sadauckus and her partner) just needs a few more eggs in their basket to be successfully funded in their Barnraiser! With three days to go, they are within 85% of their goal of funding a the construction of a chicken coop that would allow them to meet the demand for local pasture-raised eggs at their local farmers market. As Abby writes below and as every farmer can empathize, raising money is so just so much harder than the actually work of farming, so let’s help a sister out!
More info about the eggs-pansion (and I hope you’ve caught the double pun there) here!
Here’s the latest from Abby: “As we are all well aware starting a farm takes more that great products, consistent markets and energy—it takes the support of the community as well. The campaign will fund the construction of a hoop house which will serve as winter housing for our expanded flock of organic laying hens.
We’ve met our minimum funding goal of $8,000 and the remaining funds will help us purchase new nest boxes that will make egg collection easier, the lumber for constructing our end walls, and an exhaust fan to keep the house dry.
By improving the way we produce our eggs we’ll be able to offer the same unparalleled product, enhance our hen’s living conditions and double our flock without increasing our workload! Eggs are a key component of our market presence and when we run out in the first two hours of markets our customers notice! This project will enable us to sell more eggs to market shoppers, natural foods stores and through a CSA.
Since we brought all of our farming activities to Bowdoinham we’ve increased our capacity and now we’ve outgrown our current buildings and are ready to take the next step. So, we have this fundraising campaign. We’ve been pushing it for a month and to be honest, it’s harder than farming!”
Support the Greenhorns community! Donate here!
be part of the egg*pansion!
Getting style points for its high danceability factor, this video comes from longtime Greenhorns collaborator (most recently of Sail Freight fame) Abby Sadauckas. Abby is “growing out” her farm, Apple Creek Farm, and is asking for help funding an Eggspansion. And how does one “eggspand,” exactly? You build a hoop house to serve as a winter coop for your flock of laying hens, which you then can quadruple! What does this let you do? Meet the local demand for fresh local organic eggs at the farmers market! Please, support their Barnraiser here!
Apple Creek Farm produces organic pasture-raised livestock and eggs in Bowdoinham, Maine.
Oh, and for those of you raising your eyebrows with intrigue at the word “Barnraiser,” here’s some more info on the farmer-oriented crowd-sourcing site!
the true story of a farm turned cult
Helen Zuman, long-time Greenhorns-follower and contributor to New Farmers Almanac, has an agricultural story to tell that is as gripping as it is disquieting– and she’s asking for help getting it published.
Helen writes, “The action unfolds on a farm in the backwoods of Western North Carolina – Zendik Farm, which, I discovered after being kicked out, was actually a cult. The story features an urge to homestead (part of what sent me hunting for a place like Zendik in the first place), firewood, wheelbarrows, snuffling bucks, outhouses, de-nailing, wild persimmons, abundant intrigue – and a glimpse of the detours aspiring agrarians were perhaps more likely to take back in the late 90s, when the beginning-farmer scene was nowhere near as robust as it is today.”
An intimate journey through the full arc of cult involvement, MATING IN CAPTIVITY shows how Zuman joined Zendik, learned its mating rituals, endured exile, and – finally – mated in the wild.
Helen has launched a thirty-day kickstarted campaign to fund the book, and rewards include advance access to the paperback, a reading (with Q&A) at a venue of your choice, and a handwritten copy of the manuscript. The campaign ends April 10.
from away, a comical and respectful rendering of maine
“From Away” is currently in pre-production but has already sparked the interest of distribution giants Netflix and Hulu. Each episode of “From Away” is a hilarious and thoughtful intimate portrait of different do-it-yourself Mainers at work and at play, told with an unprecedented blend of humor and deep respect. Professions you may think you know — a lobster fisherman, an organic farmer, a brewer — are disrobed of stereotype and revealed in a much more personal light. The show’s host, Teagan *me* has had a successful media career, hosting a national TV show on NBC, creating and starring in several big brand ads, and working behind the scenes in a myriad of productions. And yes, in case you were wondering, I was prom king (bet that still stings, doesn’t it, Nick D.?)
But my dream for a long time coming has been to put Maine in the spotlight and finally put New Hampshire and Alaska for that matter in their respective places!!! . I’m launching a Kickstarter campaign TODAY, hoping that fans of Maine and great video content everywhere will jump at the opportunity to be a part of this community-funded project about Maine’s communities. Whereas the series has up until now been a purely self-funded passion project. Contributions of any size can and WILL make a difference
Please click on the link below to go to the Kickstarter website to get a better understanding of the true scope and vision of the show.
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1660820662/from-away-0
the irresistible fleet of bicycles 