Rain Barrels - Make one.

Rain barrels can help reduce the amount of water that becomes contaminated as it flows on the street to strom drains. It can also help reduce water bills for those on a municipal water system.

We use potable treated water for many activities where it not needed. Watering our gardens, washing exteriors and vehicles. In some regions collected water is used to flush toilets, take showers, household cleaning etc.

This link will direct you to a site that demostartes several designs for rain barrels.

http://www.watershedactivities.com/projects/spring/rainbarl.html

Rain Garden Video - Polluted runoff is a huge problem.

Check out this 3.20 minuet video on how build a Rain Garden. This year has been very wet. Rain water that runs off of driveways and other hard surfaces then flows through the streets to storm drains. On its way the water picks up contaminates of every discription. When it enters long Island Sound or a local creek or river it delivers its load of pollutants to our waterways. Rain Gardens can help spruce up your properety and protect our waters.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=umKKzM88KRo

Late Blight a Real Threat

The disease that caused the Irish Potato famine "Late Blight"has been identified on Long Island. The airborne disease, which spreads via spores, has been found at the retail level on Bonnie Plants tomatoes, which are sold at The Home Depot, Kmart, Wal-Mart and Lowe's stores on Long Island. Because of the way the fungus spreads, all area tomatoes are at risk.

Check out the photos at this link http://www.newsday.com/features/home/ny-home-lateblight,0,3139087.photogallery

Tree Land Discounts

Gardeners mention the Farm at Stratford and you will get 10% discount at Tree Land on anything that isn't on sale.

Progress at The Farm at Stratford has been moving along nicely.  In fact, 39 days from the signing of the contract with the Town, Paul and Terry created a community garden and sustainability effort that appears as if they had been years in development.  There are now nearly 50 plots allocated and most have been planted or improved.  We continue to make improvements toward the permaculture aspects of the Farm and infrastructure.

Last week Paul, Terry and Jason planted over 30 fruit tress mostly apples and hardy peaches.  The trees were donated by the Adams County Nursery in PA.  We planted them along the Connors Lane fence and along the east end of the field.  Additionally, were began planting Blueberry bushes in certain areas and intend to increase the number of plants over time.

Pumpkins and Squash.  Some areas of the Farm are not well suited to general gardening but we have a plan to help those areas produce.  Ground has been prepared at the foot of the hill to plant a variety of pumpkins, gourds and squash.  We are hoping to plant a good amount of sugar pumpkins that can be used for pie making.  Almost all pumpkins can be eaten but the small pie pumpkin varieties are the best for baking and pickling.  The pumpkins can be gifted to food pantries, shared with gardeners or even sold as an earned income product for improvements on the Farm.

We have begun to establish the Farm Honey Bee yard.  We have the first hive in place and plan to have several more. Terry will be dividing a hive of his and brining the new hive to the Farm.

We have received many compliments from the neighbors about the improvements to the Farm.  Plans are in the works to build a tool shed, information kiosk and some grape arbors with benches.

Welcome to the Farm

Soundkeeper's Farm at Stratford will be featuring a new blog here on the website. Each week either Paul Sankowski, Soundkeeper's farm manager, or Soundkeeper Terry Backer will keep you updated on what is going on at the Farm at Stratford. Its our hope to help communities transitition to a more sustainable lifestyle and buffer communites from resource limitations and costs.

Here on the Sustainable Community blog we will help you plan your planting, and provide tips for natural methods of pest control. In addition, we will be providing broad sustainability information on products and practices to improve your life, the environment and your pocketbook.

We have done a lot of work over the past three weeks and it's paying off already. We have 30 plots already assigned and need to break more ground soon!!. Several families have already planted various vegetables.

Come join us in our effort at the Farm or here virtually and join us in making communities more resilient and sustainable.