September 2019 News from the Watershed Agricultural Council

SEPTEMBER 2019 NEWSLETTER

10th ANNUAL TASTE OF THE CATSKILLS

The Taste of the Catskills Festival is a family-friendly event that showcases the food, beer, crafts, and wine of our region. With a variety of vendors including farmers, value-added food producers, and restaurants, attendees learn how food travels from farm to fork during a fun-filled autumn weekend on the grounds of Maple Shade Farm, a family-run farm in Delhi.

Visit the Pure Catskills tent of locally made products October 12 & 13 from 10-4pm.

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SUCCESS STORY: MICRO GRANT RECIPIENT

With the Micro Grant from the Watershed Agricultural Council's Economic Viability program, Hamden area beef farm Potter Family Ranch was able to create a website for their retail beef business.The website tells the story of their farm, has an order form for simple online ordering and is mobile friendly and easy to use! The grant also helped the Potters design and purchase marketing materials such as business cards and rack card brochures.

"The new website and marketing materials will help to increase sales of our steaks, roasts, and ground beef and simplify the ordering process for both us and our customers."- Meghan Potter

Check out their website at potterfamilyranch.com .

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FORESTRY NEWS

At the 2019 Watershed Forestry Institute for Teachers , 25 High School and Middle School teachers from the NYC Watershed and NYC gathered for 5 hot, humid, eye-opening and inspiring days of “summer camp for adults” in Fishkill, NY. Teachers learned about the NYC Watershed, water supply system, and the critical role working forests play in protecting clean water for over 9.6 million New Yorkers. Field trip destinations included Clearpool WAC Model Forest , waste water treatment plant, watershed stream, New Croton Dam, and DEP forest management site. Teachers developed Action Plans outlining how they will incorporate watershed forestry into their 2019/2020 teaching – from building NYC Watershed units of study and planning Watershed Forestry Bus Tours , to building Augmented Reality Sandboxes and bringing different stakeholder voices into their classrooms. We are so excited to support our newest WFITeers in their endeavors!

Follow @WaterFarmForest on Instagram to check out all of the latest photos from field staff and participant farmers! Tag us in your Watershed farm and forest photos and don't forget to hashtag #nycwatershed!

CLEAN SWEEP 2019

October 25 & 26, Delhi, NY

Every year, regional partners for clean water and a healthy environment host a community hazardous waste collection day, known as Clean Sweep. Now in its 23rd year, Clean Sweep provides a safe disposal venue by collecting chemicals and other materials which pose a threat to public health, water and environment.

Clean Sweep is free to farmers in the eight watershed counties and free to all Delaware County household residents. Delaware County businesses, municipalities and county agencies are also invited to properly dispose of waste materials.

For more information on any of our programs, visit nycwatershed.org