I know you all are waiting anxiously for the 5th Annual Rooting DC, which is still on its way in a couple of weeks, but in the meantime, come and celebrate the excitement with us this Thursday, February 2nd, 5 – 8 pm at The Looking Glass Lounge!

Check out the Facebook event for complete details: https://www.facebook.com/events/312966532075646/

Celebration!

Join us for some treats and good company to celebrate 5 years of Rooting DC! We will be asking for a $10 donation at the door, but this is a suggested donation, and no one will be turned away! There are also some excellent drink specials from Looking Glass Lounge: $2 off draft beers, $1 off rail drinks and special just for US a $4 Rooter Shooter!!!

Silent Auction Fundraiser!

We have some awesome prizes so please bring cash or a checkbook & come ready for bidding! Prizes include gift baskets, certificates to yummy local restaurants, and many more! All money raised from the silent auction will go directly towards offsetting the cost of the Rooting DC forum (to keep it free for all who attend!)

Hope you can make it on Thursday! If not, save the date for Rooting DC – February 18th, 2012 from 9:30-4. Registration details coming very soon!

Stay up to date with Rooting DC details on Facebook and on Twitter (Follow us @RootingDC and help spread the word with #RootingDC !!)

Please come! Rooting DC is an annual, FREE, community and urban gardening focused forum, with over 500 attendees! Come, attend sessions to learn and get information about what is going on in your communities and how you can get involved. Want to know how you start your own garden or how to compost? Come to Rooting DC 2012!

Please feel free to pass this information and flier along to others – Hope to see you all there!

Follow us on Twitter @RootingDC as well as on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/rootingdc

Come party with Beet Street Gardens, Saturday Evening, February 11th as we celebrate the end of our 2nd season and gear up for an exciting 3rd! This midwinter gathering will feature many local flavors —  nourishment for your belly, warm beverages for your spirit, along with garden photos and live tunes.

We are jazzed to focus this season’s local growing/eating around building edible forest gardens and an outdoor kitchen. Your donations will help make that possible!

Questions: email info@beetstreetgardens.org

See you on the 11th!

Beet Street Gardens

www.beetstreetgardens.org

The NEW Montgomery County Food Council has officially launched, and is currently welcoming applications from interested individuals.  The deadline for applications is next Friday, January 13, so if you are interested don’t delay!

Click here for more information and to apply.

In case you haven’t heard, the Food Council aims to bring together a diverse representation of stakeholders in a public and private partnership to improve the environmental, economic, social and nutritional health of Montgomery County through the creation of a robust, local, sustainable food system.

The Council will be comprised of 13 – 17 diverse stakeholders including individual members, professionals, private businesses, government officials, community organizations, and educational institutions that represent and/or work on food issues in our county.  We would particularly love to see council members who represent urban/suburban agriculture and community food production, so if you are involved in any of these, please consider applying!

The first meeting of the Council will be on Wednesday, February 15, location to be announced; all meetings will be open to the public, with community involvement encouraged.

Again, Council member applications are being accepted through next Friday, January 13.  Click here for more information and to apply.

When: January 12th, 2012 from 5-8 pm

Where: Madam’s Organ, 2461 18th St NW in Adams Morgan

What: Neighborhood Farm Initiative fundraiser to support Rooting DC 2012. Suggested donation of $15 includes entrance see and a Rooting DC t-shirt. Come to Madam’s Organ to eat, drink and enjoy the company of fellow RDC supporters. Madam’s Organ will graciously donate $1 per drink (including soda and juice) that is sold during happy hour, as well as 20% of all food sales! As always, seeds will be available from NFI!

The Washington Youth Garden has an opening for a part-time Communications/Media intern.

We are seeking an energetic, creative individual with strong communication and social media skills to assist small staff with managing and advancing the organization’s communication systems.  The Communications/Media Intern will have the opportunity to work on a variety of communication projects involving website and blog maintenance, newsletter development and writing, coordinating presence on social media networks, communications database development and maintenance, writing articles and organizational communications, as well as assisting with programs and special events.

If you are interested please visit the Washington Youth Garden website for more information.

The Arcadia Center for Sustainable Food & Agriculture is looking for interns! Check out the position descriptions for the following gigs - Farm Educator Internship and Sustainable Farm Internship – and pass them along to interested folks.

Arcadia is a new non-profit organization serving the Washington, DC area. Arcadia’s programs raise awareness about healthy food and its sources, and establish innovative connections between sustainable local farms and consumers.   We’re a small staff, so we truly rely on great interns and volunteers to make our programs run and our farm grow.

The deadline for applications is January 9, 2012.

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you, your families, friends and neighbors. Wishing you all a wonderful day of community and sharing.

Here is a great article for Thanksgiving reading and contemplating the way we cook and eat around this holiday, and how it can help improve our eating habits to make them more sustainable throughout the year: Written by Tamar Adler, an op-ed author for The New York Times, “Thanksgiving Thrift: The Holiday as a Model for Sustainable Cooking”