Taste the Terroir of Connecticut Honey

Taste the Terroir of Connecticut Honey

A guided tasting of local honey with

C. Marina Marchese, Founder of the American Honey Tasting Society and Author of The Honey Connoisseur

at New Morning Market in Woodbury, CT

Saturday, October 15, from 2:30-4:30 pm

Tickets: $25 per person, $35 at the door

All proceeds benefit CT NOFA

The Honey Connoisseur book sale and signing to follow.

RSVP Tickets: ctnofa.org

CT NOFA is pleased to present a guided tasting of Connecticut honeys with Connecticut beekeeper, author and honey sommelier Marina Marchese. Marchese will take guests on a tasting journey to discover the unique sensory qualities (terroir!) of hyper-regional, Connecticut honeys including selections from Honey Oak Farm in Woodbury, Hannan Honey in Southbury, Autumn Harvest Orchard in Norfolk CT, and Marina’s own Red Bee apiary in Weston.

Marchese will also present guests with a tasting of Sourwood, a rare Slow Food USA’s Ark of Taste honey featured in her latest book, The Honey Connoisseur. There will be a few surprises too, so don’t miss this chance to taste the terroir of Connecticut honey.

Learn how to taste and pair each honey with a variety of foods as you savor small bites of select honeys paired with local food selections from New Morning Market.

A flight of honey ready to be tasted. Photo c/o Red Bee Honey

Honey bees play a vital role in our food chain, pollinating one-third of the food we eat and producing a wide range of artisanal honeys. Please join us for this special tasting and opportunity to learn from CT NOFA member and founder of the American Honey Tasting Society (AHTS), Marina Marchese. AHTS is the leading resource for honey sensory education in the United States. Sensory analysis is a ground breaking concept in the traditional world of evaluating honey in the US, after all the future of honey lies in identifying its flavors for consumer pleasure and its culinary applications. Learn more at americanhoneytastingsociety.com

Location: New Morning Market, 129 Main St N, Woodbury, CT 06798. 

Ample parking is available. Please join us upstairs in the community room and bring your reusable shopping bags.

Gilbertie's Organic Fall Gardening Workshop Benefiting CT NOFA

Gilbertie’s Organic Fall Gardening Workshop Benefiting CT NOFA

SOLD OUT

Saturday Sept 17^th

Gilbertie’s Farm in Easton

10:00-12:30 pm

$25 pp includes light farm fare 

Free for CT NOFA members

Join CT NOFA at the $50 level or higher and attend for free. 

Class size is limited so advance registration is required online at ctnofa.org.

This hands on workshop teaches you to grow organic microgreens on your tabletop or windowsill and easy-to-grow crops including garlic outdoors. 

Start the morning with a farm tour led by Sal Gilbertie, then head into the glass greenhouse where he and his team will empower you to grow delicious and nutritious organic vegetables for your family this fall and winter. 

All guests are invited to enjoy light farm fare featuring Gilbertie’s Petite Edibles paired with local foods at 12:00 while choosing seeds, soil, and supplies to get your fall growing started!

Bring your hat, gardening gloves, water bottle and sunscreen. Children 8 and over welcome. Class size is limited so advance registration is required online at ctnofa.org.

Event Location:

Easton Farm.

65 Adams Road

Easton CT

gilbertieswholesalefarm.com

gilbertiesherbs.com

Master Grilling Class & Lunch with Chef Geoff Lazlo at Mill Street

Mill Street Bar & Table and CT NOFA Invite You to a

Grilling Class & Lunch

Saturday, Oct 1, 2016

11am-2pm

Guests will enjoy a morning grilling class led by Chef Geoff Lazlo followed by lunch. Early fall produce from Back 40 Farm* and other local farms will be featured on the menu.

Geoff will demonstrate grilling techniques and teach guests how to cook an entire meal on the grill -- including meat, fish, vegetables and pizza. 

$150/pp ~ reservations required. Register online at millstreetct.com or call Mill Street Bar & Table at (203) 813-3323 , 230 Mill Street, Greenwich CT 06830.

 

Proceeds from this event will benefit the Northeast Organic Farming Association of CT (CT NOFA), a 501c3 organization dedicated to ensuring the growth and viability of organic agriculture, organic food, and organic land care in CT.

*The Back 40 Farm is a member of CT NOFA and is committed to the Farmer's Pledge and uses only organic products and sustainable methods when growing produce.

About Geoff Lazlo, Managing Partner and Executive Chef, Mill Street Bar & Table

Geoff’s approach as a chef is heavily influenced by his close relationships with farmers, a community-minded spirit and a decade spent working alongside a celebrated group of seasonal fine dining restaurants and chefs – Alice Waters at Chez Panisse, Dan Barber at Stone Barns and Blue Hill, and Michael Anthony at Gramercy Tavern.


A third generation backyard farmer, Geoff began cultivating a garden in his own sandbox as a child, then as a student at the Culinary Institute of America - establishing its first organic garden - and currently at Mill Street, as Chef caring for his multiple plots of herbs and vegetables in the nearby Greenwich Community Gardens.


Moving back to Connecticut allowed Geoff to pursue the second half of his culinary career – building his own community and establishing his own restaurant. As Executive Chef of LeFarm and The Whelk in Westport, he began laying the groundwork to open his own restaurant in Connecticut. Geoff met Bill King, owner of Back 40 Farm Group, at the perfect time; Bill was searching for a great chef and Geoff was looking for a partner.  Their shared values of seasonality and community quickly led to the vision that became Mill Street.  Geoff calls the opening of Mill Street with an organic farmer "a dream come true."

Every CT NOFA Farmer and Donor Is a Soil Health Hero

Jeff Cordulack, Executive Director

It’s with great pride that CT NOFA celebrates our 35^th year and the NOFA nation celebrates its 46^th. We and our member farmers and business owners continue working hard to create a healthy, organic Connecticut founded on ecologically, socially and economically just principles.  

 

I write today to convey the urgency of managing our soils so they can mitigate the effects of climate change. In this letter, I present you good news and bad news - but the short story: It is critical to rapidly promote regenerative agriculture in Connecticut and beyond. With your financial support, CT NOFA is uniquely positioned to do exactly that.  

 

This no-till transplanter places pumpkins into a freshly roller-crimped field in Woodstock, CT. Throughout winter and spring, the straight rye cover crop protected the soil from erosion, fed sugars to the soil biology and is now an effective water-holding mulch for this year's pumpkins.

The Bad News: There’s too much carbon in the atmosphere and it’s changing weather patterns for the worse.

• Carbon dioxide levels are at 400 ppm but should be near 280 ppm for a stable climate.
• Worldwide, agricultural soils are missing 50-80% of vital carbon stores due to industrial practices that harm soil life.

We now have rising seas, stronger storms, and longer periods of drought. These tough facts impact Connecticut farmers, our local food system, and everyone’s quality of life.

 

The Good News: The soil can save us! In fact, worldwide organic practices could restore proper carbon dioxide levels in just 5 years.

• The life underground works with plants in a special way that captures carbon dioxide from the air and restores it to the soil where it belongs.
• Proper soil-carbon levels greatly improve soil health and its ability to hold water.

Using regenerative farming, we can reverse climate change by letting the soil reabsorb the troublesome atmospheric carbon dioxide. Understood by experts worldwide, the soil is now being celebrated in the New York Times, Washington Post and Modern Farmer as a way to mitigate our weather woes.

 

CTNOFA has been creating an organic CT since 1982 and is now bringing new regenerative farming practices to our state. Working through our network of organic innovators and agricultural partners, we are teaching cover cropping, silvopasture, mob grazing, green manure, and handy, new low-till and no-till tools that protect soil structure.

 

CT NOFA’s brings these practices and know-how to Connecticut in many ways including:

• Year-round workshops for farmers, gardeners, and foodies including CT NOFA’s Annual Winter Conference (coming March 2017).
• By educating consumers about the greatest local sources for fresh, seasonal foods grown by Connecticut’s best farmers and businesses.
• Our internationally-recognized NOFA Standards for Organic Land Care that are constantly updated with the latest information for effective, non-toxic garden and lawn care.
• Our advocacy for legislation in Hartford and D.C. to protect the environment, our farmers, consumers and hard-working organic land care pros. (This year we led the nation with the Pollinator Bill that restricts neonicotinoid use, plans for biodiversity and more!)

Please donate today to become a CT NOFA ‘Soil Health Hero’. We urgently need your help today to train farmers in regenerative agricultural practices.

 

Your dollars help CT NOFA grow Connecticut organically and meet the growing demand for organic food, training, supplies, and farming tools that build soils for future generations.

Three Ways to Donate:

• Donate on our website by credit card 
• Mail us a check at: CTNOFA, 126 Derby Avenue, Derby, CT 06418
• Call the office at 203-308-2584

For those looking to make a greater impact, CT NOFA is also seeking donors to establish a CT NOFA fund to incentivize carbon-friendly agriculture by cost-sharing on no-till tools, cover crop seeds, advanced training and more. Let us know if this initiative interests you. (We are proud to announce our first cost-sharing donation of $6,000!) 

 

All contributions will make a big difference. On behalf of the staff, board, and CT NOFA membership, I thank you for your generous support. Please contact me anytime with questions or suggestions that may help CT NOFA achieve our organic mission.

Sincerely,

Jeff Cordulack,

Executive Director, CT NOFA

jeff@ctnofa.org | 203-613-8813