Author Archives: maryjane

Garden Donations

If you have a garden bursting into bloom, it probably won’t be long before you’re picking more produce than you can pawn off on your neighbors.

Zucchini, anyone?

Photo by Tony Webster via Wikimedia Commons

Baked Zucchini Chips,

Zucchini Pickles,

Stuffed Zucchini with Spinach and Bacon

Okay, okay—enough already!

There must be something else a gardener can do with her extras.

And here it is:

AmpleHarvest.org

This aptly named non-profit is all about creating pathways between fresh garden produce and food pantries for people in need.

“One out of six Americans needs food assistance but can’t get fresh produce from the local food pantry, while millions of American homeowners grow more food in their backyard gardens than they can possibly use,” says the organization’s website. “The AmpleHarvest.org Campaign is a national effort utilizing the Internet that enables 40-plus million Americans who grow food in home gardens to easily donate their excess harvest to registered local food pantries spread across all 50 states.”

Photo by Biswarup Ganguly via Wikimedia Commons

How?

Check out the searchable, online list of food pantries at AmpleHarvest.org/findpantry. Every single one of them is ready and able (and sometimes desperate) for fresh food donations.

 

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farm babies

This past week, we had two new arrivals at the farm …

Welcome Elsa O’Mally (with her mother’s trademark Tinkerbell ears–cute as pixie dust). 

and Sweet William!!!

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Elsa O’Mally is the daughter of Sally O’Mally, born at 11:30 p.m. on Sunday, June 14th. Sweet William is the son of Miss Daisy, born June 10 at 11:59 p.m. Our new little ones gave a whole new meaning to burning the midnight lamp oil. Calf watch for me meant a cot in the barn.

Here are the new babies exploring their domain:

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hot property

Are you in the market for some HOT property?

(Play along with me here).

There’s a woman in Spain who has a sizzling deal for you.

Let’s just say that her idea of real estate gives “outpost” a whole new meaning …

More like, ah, Outer Limits.

Photo by Brocken Inaglory via Wikimedia Commons

Maria Angeles Duran of Madrid, age 54, is subdividing the sun.

Yes, that’s right—THE sun.

Photo by Zach Dischner via Wikimedia Commons

You’re probably waiting for the punch line, but this isn’t a joke.

Apparently, Duran has been selling 11-square-foot parcels of prime solar property (which she claims to own) for about $1 apiece … on (you guessed it) eBay.

The global marketplace just went intergalactic.

But, wait …

How, exactly, does one take possession of the sun?

(Where there’s a will …)

Duran staked her claim to the fiery frontier by way of a loophole in the UN’s Outer Space Treaty, which states that no nation can own a heavenly body.

Now you know.

The treaty, however, says nothing about individual celestial tenure.

Duran, quite simply, called dibs.

According to various online sources, she accrued some 600 online orders before “the powers-that-Bay” suspected a scam and, dashing many a dream, suspended Duran’s account.

Incensed at what she perceives as injustice, Duran is now suing eBay for damages, and a court in Madrid will consider her case to determine if eBay violated the terms of its seller agreement.

As for ownership of the sun, the verdict is still out—WAY out.

And Duran is purportedly still selling pieces of the ultimate pyromaniac’s paradise on her own website.

Get ’em while they’re hot!

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Raising a Village

“They say it takes a village to raise a child, but in this case, 20 children are hoping to raise a village,” reports Good News Network.

Twenty teens and 10 adult volunteers have raised nearly $40,000 to build an eco-village they call “The Impossible City” for a homeless encampment in Seattle. The teens are working through Sawhorse Revolution, a non-profit carpentry program for high school students guided by professionals in architecture, engineering, and construction. The dollars raised through their campaign on Indiegogo will help build secure, personal shelters, composting toilets, and a community kitchen with solar-powered lighting and hot water.

graphic, Sawhorse Revolution

The campaign has raised over $39,000 of their $42,905 goal so far, but for every $5,350 they raise above the previous goal, they’ll build another structure. Watch the video on Good News Network, then head on over to Indiegogo to see how you can help.

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