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Ambler Keystone Branch past-president and member since 2007
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2010 Fall Council Meeting Scheduled

A Fall Council Meeting has been scheduled in Columbus, Ohio. The meeting will be held in the City of Easton, north and west of Columbus, near the airport. The date of the meeting is October 1,2,3, 2010.

Please plan to arrive on Friday, October 1. An Executive Committee meeting will be held after dinner, to accommodate late arrivals. Our work session will begin early on Saturday, October 2 and continue throughout the day. We will complete our task and depart on the morning of Sunday, October 3.

Details regarding hotel accommodations and meeting location will be posted on our web site as soon as they are available. All Executive Committee members, Focus Chairmen, Committee Chairmen and Council Members are expected to attend. If you cannot put this meeting into your schedule, please notify Ann Whithaus, Corresponding Secretary or Dee Welsh, Recording Secretary, in writing by September 21, 2010.

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News From National President Faith Tiberio

                                  Root Allures

To quote the New York Times “A survey on consumer anxieties over higher foods and fuel prices from the LePold Center for sustainable agriculture at Iowa State University in Ames, a great number of people will raise more of their own vegetables and many are going back to the Root cellars of our Grandmothers Day.”

There is a 1979 “Root Cellaring” by Mike and Nancy Bubel which is helpful. But there are many others, with hints for cutting of tops of vegetables within one inch of the growth; glazing turnips and rutabagas with paraffin and putting beets into buckets with dry fall leaves. Carrots can be stored in moist sand or peat moss with crowns removed, nor is it necessary to have a dirt floored cellar. Nooks and crannies that are cool and ventilated can be used successfully.

Meanwhile, our branches continue to work and grow. Rochester Branch will celebrate its 75th Anniversary and annual meeting on Tuesday May 11, 2010 at Addison Oaks in Leonard, Michigan. Their newsletter is always filled with up coming events and information as in Ohio Newsletter “Daffodil Days” in Detroit, May 27th with the Claudia Society.

Audrey Ehrler reports that on April 15th Janine Thomas of Hartford, NY will be installed as the New York State Division president. Their work on the Bee Project will continue, and we thank Audrey for her inspiring leadership. She and Margaret Latham have managed our interim commitment at the National Arboretum with great success.

Mayflower Branch is working on herb gardens and eradicating invasive plants while Keystone Branch is attracting community folk to participate in local agriculture, among many other projects at our “Home” Temple – Ambler.

Another beautiful magazine from Kathy Beveridge, and within is the call for the meeting in Buffalo.

 Before I forget, we are still looking for stories. Does anyone remember Spirella Corset Company of Buffalo [and world wide] which gave Real career opportunities to woman at the turn of the century and for decades afterwards? This company changed woman’s mental and physical states for the better and yet today is nearly forgotten. Let me know.

We must not forget Mary Bertolini, either, and safely, happily and economically to Niagara Falls, where you just might get to see the two legged vegetables welcoming you with open foliage.

                                    Best

                                                Faith

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News From National President Faith Tiberio ~ March 2010

“What to do with 500 million dollars!”

 How many of us have thought about the seeds we plant? It is so easy to buy a colorful packet of seeds and at least in my case, it has never occurred to me to question how a seed is saved, gathered and merchandised.  It has never occurred to me to think about breeding traits, about lost plants or about seed banks.  But in an important new book, THE VIKING IN THE WHEAT FIELD,  by Susan Dworkin, we learn that it would take only 500 million dollars, worldwide, to keep every seed safe for the future.  Scientists who work as guardians in seed banks are spread out so that only one “seed guardian” has to safeguard one million people.  It is thought that in the near future the population will reach 9 billion and worldwide starvation could happen.  As the big companies like Monsanto take over genetic engineering of our major crops like wheat and rice, we are losing fundamental agricultural material.

 We have spoken of the basic needs in Haiti….(1) a need for simple soil improvement; AND (2) simple agriculture.  At last a few articles have appeared suggesting this long lasting aid.  We members of WNF&G should support this approach as I mentioned last month.

 The Rochester Branch continues with great ideas and programs…..I loved the idea of a “potato” bar at its recent luncheon.  New York, under Audrey Ehrler is moving forward and sends out a beautiful newsletter by D. Brown, while the Keystone Branch at Ambler is having an all day symposium which I plan to attend and will report to you.  In the meantime keep in mind our forthcoming meeting in June which Mary Bertolini is creating for your pleasure, friendship and instruction.

Faith