| | Mental Snacktime | In the News / Interesting Articles | Farm Fresh Coupon Book | Check your elm trees for DED symptoms | Q and A
Mental Snacktime
“Discipline is based on pride, on meticulous attention to details, and on mutual respect and confidence. Discipline must be a habit so ingrained that it is stronger than the excitement of the goal or the fear of failure.” – Gary Ryan Blair
“Success in any endeavor requires single-minded attention to detail and total concentration.” – Willie Sutton
“A man's accomplishments in life are the cumulative effect of his attention to detail.” – John Foster Dulles
“The difference between something good and something great is attention to detail.” – Charles R. Swindoll
In the News / Interesting Articles
Are you applying the proper water volume with your herbicide – OMAFRA article
Scouting for vegetable diseases on your organic farm – eXtension article
Farm Fresh Coupon Book
***A new fundraising opportunity for schools
***A new business opportunity for local food
Do You Want
- An inexpensive way to advertise your local food business to thousands of Alberta families?
- To let Albertans know where to find your farm fresh products – be it the farm gate, your shop or the farmers’ market?
- To let folks know of an event you want them to attend on your farm or business?
- To support schools in their fundraising efforts using local, healthy foods?
- To encourage school kids to eat fresh food, experience Alberta on-farm activities or grow their own fruits and veggies?
- To help school kids and parents learn about food grown and produced right here in Alberta?
If you answered yes, consider Alberta Farm Fresh Producers Association’s (AFFPA) new initiative, the Farm Fresh Coupon Book. Here’s how it works.
- Farmers, ranchers, farmers’ market vendors, greenhouse growers and agri-tourism operators are invited to participate in this pilot project.
Any member of AFFPA who sells food directly to the public or offers healthy activities can participate by creating a coupon for the upcoming 2012 school year.
To become a member visit AFFPA’s website at www.albertafarmfresh.com
Food makers choose the kind and value of the coupons they want to provide. They reap the benefit of increased business while at the same time supporting schools in their fundraising efforts. The best types of coupons are those that bring in business, not just give products away.
2. In the fall, schools all over Alberta make the coupon book available for fundraising to their students and sale to the public. During this first year only 3,000 books will be sold. The schools keep a portion of the profits for their fundraising efforts and AFFPA keeps the rest to administer the program.
3. Coupons are be redeemed by the public over the course of the year. Results and evaluation will determine how to proceed the following year.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who can be involved in this initiative?
- All AFFPA members (membership is $145.00/year) and creating a coupon is free
- Food growers and food producers including farmers, ranchers, dairy, meat, u-picks, farmers’ market vendors who are in accord with AFFPA values. No crafts.
- Coupons for food must be healthy -- meet the Alberta Nutrition Guidelines for choose most often or choose sometimes. healthy u food checker to see if your product fits
- Agri-tourism operators
- Greenhouse growers
- Vendors can be from anywhere across the province of Alberta and any size
What kinds of coupons are acceptable?
- Any food that fits the nutrition guidelines
- coupons for entrance to on farm activities such as a corn maze or a Halloween bash
- coupons for a special event such as an on farm dinner or for a farm accommodation
- coupons for vegetable starter plants
- coupons can provide a discount such as 10% off orders up to $20.00; 2 for 1 sales; buy one, get a discount off a second; buy one, get something else free; discounted entry for an event; etc – basically anything that makes sense for your business to bring in more clients
To find out more:
Annette Anderwald, Registered Dietitian
Alberta Agriculture and Rural Development
Local Market Expansion Branch
780-644-2404
Krista Miller
Executive Director
Alberta Farm Fresh Producers Association
Alberta Toll Free: 1-800-661-2642
All other calls: 403-558-0189
www.albertafarmfresh.com
info@albertafarmfresh.com
Check your Elm Trees for Dutch Elm Disease Symptoms
By Janet Feddes-Calpas
Please help us prevent Dutch elm disease (DED) in Alberta. It is that time of year to be checking your elm trees for DED symptoms. A confirmed DED tree must be removed immediately to prevent further spread.
If an elm tree is infected with DED the leaves initially become wilted and soon will curl up, turn yellow and then brown. This is also referred to as flagging. Leaf symptoms are usually accompanied by brown staining under the bark. Symptoms begin in late spring or any time during the growing season. Suspicious elms must be tested in a STOPDED recognized lab for the presence of the fungus. Lab costs are covered by STOPDED.
This fatal fungus, which affects all species of elm trees in Alberta, clogs the elm tree’s water conducting system and will cause the tree to die, usually within one or two seasons. The fungus is primarily spread from one tree to another by three species of insect vectors, the smaller European elm bark beetle (SEEBB), the native elm bark beetle (NEBB) and the banded elm bark beetle (BEBB). The beetles are attracted to weak and dying trees, which serve as breeding sites for the beetles. Once the beetles have pupated and turned into adults they leave the brood gallery and fly to healthy elms to feed, thus transporting the fungus on their bodies from one tree to the next. STOPDED monitors annually for the vectors throughout the province and both the SEEBB and BEBB have been found in various locations.
For this reason, it is important that elm firewood not be transported into or within Alberta as the wood may be harbouring the bark beetles. Firewood is confiscated at all the Alberta-Montana border crossings.
All elm trees that are showing DED symptoms must be reported immediately. To report symptoms or for more information call the toll free provincial STOPDED hotline by dialling 1-877-837-ELMS (3567). You can also visit our website at www.stopded.org .
Q&A
Q: Mid-season decision-making – How do you make adjustments “on the fly”?
A: One of the critical steps to making adjustments is to correctly identify and flesh out any particular issue. It is easy to SEE, REACT, and then THINK (I believe the cute phrase is “READY, FIRE, AIM”). Better to pause, clear away any distractions or competing influences and then dig into the issue. It doesn’t have to be a lengthy or time-consuming process, but should be focused, with sufficient time devoted to the scope and scale of the issue. – Rob Spencer – (AARD)
A: Another way of dealing with necessary adjustments “on the fly” is through contingency planning, preferably well in advance. While we jokingly have a Plan B or Plan C, the concept is sound. Think out how different things that are subject to change (e.g. harvest dates, etc.) might be different from the desired option and build in a plan that you might implement if/when something happens. – Rob Spencer (AARD)
Next Month’s ? What steps do you take to help your perennial plants to get ready for winter? |
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