Hello,

It would be great if you could Share this article/link about FREE career/tech training locally to those under 21, as we are hoping to get new students this Winter (to include SVCollege students) in order to retain our new Hospitality and Tourism Mgmt program that I am instructing at the Mt Vernon Skill Center- we are having fun 'building' sustainable hotels right now in class! http://www.goskagit.com/all_access/business-bolsters-academy-s-aims/article_6ae675a1-bb6b-5ab8-bca3-34654cd9d349.html . 

Hope everything is well, I enjoyed your newsletter today as always.  Are you going to be attending the Country Living Expo this year?...an incredible annual event that would be a great one to share with your community  http://skagit.wsu.edu/countrylivingexpo/ . We will be offering some classes here this Feb also on Hide Tanning and Bow Making http://www.wolfcollege.com/classes-workshops/weekend/ - the Stanwood locations listed are actually hosted here at Shambala, N Camano.   

Thanks and Happy Holidays!
Nancy
Shambala Permacultural Farm and Edible Perennial Nursery offers organically grown/chemical free/sea mineral fortified produce, NON GMO ancient grain breads that are vegan/Gluten Free, edible plants & trees, perennial vegetables, easy edible landscape consults and instillations.  the 10 Acre farm site has edible forest gardens to wander, farm animal tours, lawn art, specialty jams etc. and custom grocery packages to include goat milk, chicken and duck eggs can be requested with advance notice.   
Class offerings include skill building workshops to Permaculture Design Certification courses, and site rental/services available for your special events/weddings, a great sustainable value.
OPEN Year round by appointment, and Farm Stand is open Saturdays 10-5, with Market locations daily at www.CamanoIslandMarketplace.com, and Fridays at Port Susan Farmers Market www.PortSusan.org from 3-7P in Stanwood.  Our Gluten Free bread offerings at local restaraunts: Jimmy's Pizza, Elger Bay Market and Deli, Dell Fox Deli at Camano Island Marketplace.
PH 360 387-4110
Cell 425 923 7688
nancy@ShambalaFarm.com 
www.ShambalaFarm.com
www.facebook.com/shambalafarm 
395 E. North Camano Drive, Camano Is, WA 98282
Directions: http://maps.google.com/maps?q=395E+North+Camano+Dr%2C+Camano+%2C+WA
We are making the transition…
                                      ...so can you!
What is “Shambala”?
Commonly Shambala is understood to be a place of peace, tranquility, and happiness—a fabulous land whose reality is visionary or spiritual as much as physical or geographic.
What is “Permaculture”?
Permaculture is an approach to designing human settlements and agricultural systems that mimic the relationships found in natural ecologies.

Late Oyster Mushrooms, Panellus serotinus, a good edible if cooked right

After the first hard freezes, many mushroomers leave the woods until spring morel season with the thought that there are few good edibles during the winter.  The very common, easily identified, late oyster mushrooms, Panellus serotinus, are left in the woods because of many uninformed opinions from "experts" that say they are nasty mushrooms, bitter at best.

I differ in my evaluation.  In fact, I prepared late oysters for groups of friends five times last year and got no bad reviews, many "good" or "very good" comments, and a couple of raves.  Personally, I will not call them a top mushroom, but I certainly will not pass them up when I find them.  The secret is in the preparation.

This is one of the mushrooms that has to be "dry sautéed" very thoroughly to eliminate its overly moist texture.  I put them in a frying pan with no oil and let them dry out.  I press down on them with the flat of my spatula to squeeze out moisture.  It takes a while; these mushrooms are not the ones for impatient cooks.   I squeeze often until they no longer sizzle and rise up between the slots of the spatula.  I turn them often and repeat the process.  Then I leave them in a couple of minutes more.  One has to get past the thought of over cooking vegetables.  These are wood eating fungi and from what I hear, heavy cooking breaks down their resistance to being digested and liberates their nutrition.  When they start to darken they are close to being done.  Then add oil or butter, and onions and sauté until the onions caramelize.  It is almost impossible to overcook late oysters and undercooking them results in a texture that I do not like.  Let me mention once again, you have to dry sauté them a looooong time.  Today, when the onions were just about done, I added some chopped pears along with some diced garlic and a little diced fresh red pepper.  When the garlic was tender and the pears warmed, my dish was done.  I thought it was a fine breakfast.

If you are willing to put the extra time and patience into the preparation of these mushrooms,  I think you will be surprised at how good they can be, and you will extend your mushrooming into the cool, crisp winter..  If you are hasty, you will likely join the folks who give them the frosty shoulder.

In some peoples’ minds, “Sharing Abundance” would mean sharing our excess food or donating money.  In my mind, I think more of sharing my time. In our small community there is a variety of volunteer opportunities.

Amy Berryman of the Alger Food Bank has been volunteering her time for 33 years. With 7 other long time volunteers, hundreds of pounds of food are passed out the first and third Tuesdays of the month. Amy also keeps a list of people she can call for immediate help unloading the van full of food. If you would like to help or donate, give her a call at 724-5131. If you cannot get a hold of Amy, the Alger Community Hall can accept donations on their behalf , call 724-0340.

Friday Creek Habitat Stewards is a group of community members pledged to increase watershed awareness by enhancing wildlife habitat in the Upper Samish Watershed one home at a time. Volunteers are always needed for special projects, like the Alger Community Hall's new native plant demonstration garden. If interested visit their website at www.fridaycreekhabitatstewards.weebly.com.

Community halls are an important resource in small areas around the county.  They serve as a place for celebrations, public meetings, where community members can meet each other socially, community members can rent cheaply when a private family function or party is too big for their own home, that passes on and retells local history,  and where politicians or other official leaders come to meet the citizens and ask for their opinions. To achieve more from your community hall volunteers are needed. Contact  Alger Improvement Club 360-724-0340 and/or Blanchard Community Club 360-766-5272

Anette Witter
Chuckanut Transition

The Catalyst 
     ~Stirring the pot to cook up change
    Transition Fidalgo & Friends  E-Newsletter December 2013

    Thought for the month: "The arc of history is longer than human vision. It bends. We abolished slavery, we granted universal suffrage. We have done hard things before. And every time it took a terrible fight between people who could not imagine changing the rules, and those who said, "We already did. We have made the world new." Barbara Kingsolver

'Tis the season to focus on giving, and so Transition Fidalgo's gift to you is to begin this newsletter with a sampling of the many good things that are happening in the climate and energy arenas..

The Power of Kindness

Barb Groth, a beloved neighbor, now passed, used to leave bags hanging on door knobs around our tiny berg of Bow.  Summer brought zucchinis, some hilariously huge ones, and winter brought hand knitted bootie socks in just the right size lovingly crafted by hers truly.  The pastor and congregants of Bow Church of Christ loaded Barb up with loaves of bread to hang on door knobs of homes where children lived.  She knew who they were.  As the years passed, her hip hitched her walk, slowed her down, but the gifts kept coming until the day she died.
Each fall, neighbors implore me to come gather honey crisp, transparent and crab apples, pears, walnuts, filberts, and plums.  Blackberries clump tenderly perfectly lush and ready to eat in so many places that we who gather could never pick them all.  In winter blackberry jam and frozen berries bring back the sweet scent of summer.
Kindness bewitches my heart.  My first realization of how much kindness and the sharing it generates means to me was at a Chicago Transit Authority bus stop in February of 1973. I was fifteen, a runaway in hiding, hard up on cash and dreaming of a real winter coat.   At the bus stop. Waiting. Unaware of the brutality of winter in Chicago.  
I’d lied my way into a job as a waitress pretending to be years older and was headed there my first day of work.  It was Sunday and stores were closed.  Standing at that bus stop, in that moment, I felt what a wind chill factor of 30 below means, felt it in a thin coat on a dark afternoon, felt it with no bus in sight.  It felt like the end.
Hope fled my heart as no bus appeared on the horizon and each second seemed an hour of frozen torment.  Truly, I’d given up when I felt a tap on my right shoulder.  Looking there I saw nothing!   Then magically over my left shoulder appeared the most beautiful long stem red rose in creation!  That lush bloom teased my frigid nose with delicious scent.  Taking that long stem into my cold hand, I turned to see where it had come from. There was not a soul in sight.  
Turning back again to Lincoln Avenue my heart leaped as the bus pulled up and I rejoined the living, glad of heart, holding the world’s most beautiful rose.
Abundance.  It’s all around us here in Skagit’s amazing valley.  True sharing comes from the heart. Compassionate and respectful sharing is an act of kindness that enriches all engaged.   Love is the path to true riches, the riches of the heart!
Peace to all, good people.

Kate Bowers
Skagit Yoga & Neurotherapy

The Bow Little Market (BLM), a project of Chuckanut Transition, is a farmers market and social enterprise in rural north Skagit County operating without the funding available from city government.  Being a social enterprise, our volunteers are our ‘social capitol,’ and if time is money, then this market is truly rich.  Thanks to all who donate time and resources to our market!  

Thanks to the Curry Family, owners of Belfast Feed Store, Mary Elmore, owner of Beau Lodge, Harley and Susan Soltes, owners of Bow Hill Blueberry Farm, for donating their land to host markets.

Thanks to our cooperative managerial team: Dan Sweaney, John Blackmore, Allen Berry, Patty Sweaney, Jenny Aaron, Janet McKinney, Kathi Marlowe, Annette Witter, and Elaine Blackmore.  Thanks to our support team: Rachel and Brett Parker, Peggy Bridgeman, Darla Binder, Bill and Gilda Gorr, Chris Soler, Ruth Richmond, June Jones, Tony Ingham, Chuck Nafziger, Stan Ross, Keith Witter, Dennis Hall, Wendy Swanson, Richard Flemming, Darla Binder, and Marianne Dupree.

Every year, BLM has grown in sales, but we have also deepened our connections with community.  What started as an effort of five dedicated women is now the cooperative action of over thirty people.  Thanks to all who make it happen!

                                                        Sarai Stevens
                                                        Bow Little Market’s Executive Director

Newly Formed Farm to Family Coalition
As another holiday approaches, over a hundred workers – farm workers, warehouse workers, food processing workers, lab technicians, and grocery clerks – have launched a new "Farm to Family Coalition" that will work to ensure that food arrives safely and ethically to the tables of families throughout the Puget Sound region. The coalition will promote health and safety, workplace justice, respect for animals, and environmental stewardship as food travels from our region’s farms to the tables of families in our communities. “Workers play a vital role in ensuring that the food we enjoy is healthy and safe,” said Tracey A. Thompson, Secretary-Treasurer of Teamsters Local 117.

The Coalition partners, who include Teamsters Local 117, the United Farm Workers, and UFCW Local 21, have released a set of Farm to Family principles aimed at keeping families and workers across our state healthy and safe. To read the principles, go to Farm to Family principles.
At the event, workers spoke about conditions on the farms, in the processing plants, in the labs, in the warehouses, and in the stores.
“Employers like Darigold need to recognize that intimidating workers at their food processing plants and turning a blind eye to squalid conditions on their suppliers’ farms is bad for business and bad for our community.”
“We work 12 to 14 hours a day without lunch or rest breaks and without water. On top of that, they steal our wages.  We’ve been fighting for four years and nothing changes,” said Margarito Martinez, a former farm worker at Ruby Ridge Dairy, a 2,000-cow operation that supplies milk to Darigold.
Lisa Hearing, a lab technician at Darigold’s corporate lab in Tukwila, spoke about the critical nature of her work. The milk comes in off the farm and we test it for raw bacterial count, antibiotics, and a lot of other things.  We try to make sure that the milk is safe when it goes to production.  
Josh Putnam, a 15-year grocery warehouse worker at Fred Meyer, talked about his role in maintaining quality control. We make sure the product is cold when it comes off the truck and cold in the facility.
The health of our community depends on workers on our farms, in our food processing plants, in our grocery distribution centers, and in our stores.

FARM TO FAMILY - COALITION PRINCIPLES
Workers across the supply chain play a vital role in ensuring that our food is healthy and safe. The health of our community depends on workers on our farms, in our food processing plants, in our grocery distribution centers, and in our stores. The following principles outline key issues that protect our environment and keep our community healthy and safe, from farm to family.
1. HEALTH AND FOOD SAFETY
•  Families have the right to safe and healthy food
•  Families have the right to accurate and honest information
•  Our food should be produced, distributed, and sold in an environment that is safe for workers
•  Our food should be free of antibiotics, synthetic hormones, pesticides, and harmful chemicals
•  Our food should undergo rigorous testing to identify and prevent contamination
2. WORKPLACE JUSTICE AND FAIR LABOR STANDARDS
•  Workers should be treated with dignity and respect
•  Workers have the right to a workplace free from harassment and discrimination
•  Workers have the right to report safety issues without fear of discipline or retaliation
•  Workers have the right to free association and to form and join organizations of their choosing
•  Workers have the right to adequate breaks and meal periods
•  Workers have the right to be paid a living wage for all work performed
3. RESPECT FOR ANIMALS
•  Animals have the right to live in harmony with nature
•  Animal health and welfare should be protected by all stakeholders
•  Animals raised for meat, eggs, and milk must be treated with compassion
•  Animals have the right to live free of pain, suffering, and cruel treatment
4. COMMUNITY AND THE ENVIRONMENT
•  We support local food from local, family farmers
•  We support sustainable agricultural practices that prevent environmental degradation
•  We support greater protections from the impacts of industrialized animal factories
•  We support the elimination of harmful pesticides and chemicals in food production
•  We support the reduction of our carbon footprint across the food chain

Got WATER?
Maybe Not
For those of you who rely on private wells for your water, or know someone who does, you need to know that private well owners rights are in serious jeopardy in this state.
There will be a Dept. of Ecology Water Resources “workshop” on Tuesday, 3 December, 10:30am at the County Commissioners’ Building, 1800 Continental Place.

There was no official, public notice of this meeting and it did not even show up on the BoCC agenda until one of our fellow citizens complained and the agenda was revised.
In my opinion this is what needs to happen at the Tuesday meeting:
1. Private water well owners and their friends need to show up en masse because the recent Washing State Supreme Court ruling means your private water well can be shut down.
2. The Tuesday meeting should be stopped immediately and postponed until Carl Einberger’s (Golder & Assoc) Skagit exempt well study is presented to Dept of Ecology in Olympia on 16 December. That is where the real information and decisions will be made. The Tuesday meeting is premature, at best. This is all about taking away your water rights (actually, they’ve already been taken by the WA Supreme Court). What could be more fundamental than that?