Speed dating for farmers

I learned from this tweet from the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, that the London Economic Development Commission is hosting this event:

LOCAL FOODS FARMER/FOOD BUYER SPEED NETWORKING EVENT
"Connecting Farmers and Food Buyers to tap into the Buy Local food market place"
March 31, 2009, Western Fair

We desperately need to make better connections between Windsor and Essex County and an event like this could do wonders towards starting up relationships between our tourism and agriculture industries. Too bad our own Windsor Economic Development Corporation have other things on their mind...

Upcoming Local Landscaping Classes

This year we're pleased to offer another series of our Naturalized Landscaping Course. These weekly, 6 part classes combine the best of traditional landscaping concepts with tried and true approaches to incorporating native plants, attracting wildlife and other environmentally sustainable techniques. Since first being introduced in 2002, this course has benefitted over 600 area residents. This year, we're pleased to offer four editions of this course at four convenient locations, which are as follows:

Essex, beginning on Monday March 9. * Tecumseh, beginning on Tuesday, March 10. * Windsor, beginning on Wednesday, March 11. * Kingsville, beginning on Thursday, March 12

All classes begin at 7:00 PM and typically last about 2 hours. Registration for each person is $50, which include a complete annual membership. Most classes can accomodate 20 participants and are open to both new and experienced gardeners. Registrations are now underway will continue as long as there is still vacancy in each class. To secure your spot in a class or to learn more, call Dan at 519-259-2407. [Naturalized Habitat Network]

Space - The Eternal Frontier

I'm still thinking about last night's Talk20 event. Because I had brought my family to Artcite I couldn't pop over to Phog afterwards to see who was continuing the conversations that had begun after the slideshows were over.

While cities have always facinated people, there has been a definate resurgence in exploring public spaces and making them more liveable. If I had to put a local starting point on it, I would say that it began about five years ago with the launch of Spacing Magazine and The Green Corridor project. Since then, initiatives such as Scaledown Windsor and FedUp! Windsor have emerged alongside long-standing groups such as the CEA and ArtCite to encourage and coordinate local action for a better city. Adding to this confluence are new faculty at the University of Windsor such as Jamey Essex and Michael Darroch joining the likes of Veronika Mogyorody among others who have been engaged in working with the community as part of their practice.

Its funny that many folks predicted that cyberspace would diminish the role of real space in our lives but all evidence seems to show the opposite is happening. Social software, online maps, and location-aware devices such as GPS receivers, digital cameras and cell phones are making us more aware of where we are.

The City As Playground : The Slides

Slides and speakers notes (found in the actions menu) are available through this link to the presentation.

 

Much thanks to Jodi Green and Artcite for the opportunity to be part of such a fun event.