That also means that in the next couple of weeks the farm markets will be opening up, food and wine festivals will begin again, and we’ll all be out digging in the dirt. I’m so excited.

Here are some dates I have on my calendar (not that I’ll be able to make it to everything, it’s also Little League season).

Springdale Farms in Cherry Hill will reopen for the season on Friday, March 18, 2011 from 8am- 7pm.

South Jersey Restaurant Week – I mentioned this event already, but it’s good enough to warrant a reminder. From March 20 – 25, many of the region’s independent restaurants will have special menus at great prices. Collingswood will also be hosting a restaurant week the same week, and I think many of the restaurants are overlapping both events.

The Making a Living Making Food Expo will be held in Cape May on April 2, 2011 and a Slow Food dinner will immediately follow the dinner.

Vineland Annual Dandelion and Beer Festival – April 2, 2011 – Dandelions, another first flower of spring (yes, I believe they are flowers) are celebrated at The Dandelion & Beer Festival held at Merighi’s Savoy Inn. Includes dinner, wine/beer tasting, entertainment and raffles.

Spring Fever Wine & Food Tasting, the first wine festival of the season will be held on April 3, 2011 at The Merion in Cinnaminson from noon – 5. Twenty-four of the state’s wineries will be represented at the festival.

Last year's book sale at Haddonfield Library

Saturday, is my favorite holiday of the year. Well, it’s not really a holiday to anyone else, but it is to me. It’s the Friends of the Haddonfield Library Book Sale. This year, it will be held on both Saturday and Sunday. The thing is, I probably won’t be making it to this year’s sale because I’ll be participating in Dig In!, but I still love the library book sale.

Why? Besides my general bibliomania, I get really great cookbooks at library book sales – cookbooks that I would probably not find on the shelves at Barnes & Noble because they aren’t best sellers or they aren’t still in print.

I wanted to pass on the info to you about the book sale even though I wont’ be there this year. In past years, there has also been a table with members of the Haddonfield Community Garden selling their produce and flowers.

The sale is on the front lawn of the library and will run Saturday, September 25^th, 10 AM – 3 PM and on Sunday, September 26^th 12 PM – 5 PM. Let me know if you go and if you get anything that excites you.

Can you help dig in at one of South Jersey's organic farms?

Earlier this week, I told you about Slow Food South Jersey’s Dig In event on Saturday, September 25th. Volunteers will be helping to “put to bed” for the winter Seventeen Farm in Tuckahoe and will take part in a potluck meal. John and Lisa from Eating in South Jersey have thrown down the guantlet and challenged the South Jersey food bloggers that support out local food system to get out there and dig in with them. I took a look at my calendar, and surprisingly, there is not a single baseball or soccer game that day. Hmmmmmm…. You may just find me getting my hands dirty with John and Lisa that day. Still need to check with hubby on the date. So, anyone else wanna get their hands dirty?

A few quick odds and ends for you.

• The Vincentown Diner, NJ’s only diner that focuses on local foods, got a fabulous write up in The New York Times this week.
• 5 New Jersey wineries will be at the Wings & Water Festival this weekend in Stone Harbor. The festival will be Saturday and Sunday Sept. 18 and 19, from noon to 4 p.m.
• Don’t forget about Velenzano’s annual Winefest this Saturday and Sunday.
• New Jersey restaurant week starts this Sunday and runs through the 25th. Lots of independent restaurants in South Jersey are participating and many of them have a $35 price fixed menu for the event.
• Here’s an event for the wine lover that has a beer loving companion. Heritage Vineyards will hold it’s Grand Finale Concert on September 25 & 26th. Flying Fish Brewery will be offering beer samples along side of Heritage’s wine at the event.

Enjoy your weekend. The weather is going to be beautiful – perfect for hitting the farmers market.

Image: blah.adam

Slow Food South Jersey invites you to join in the fun at Seventeen Farms in Tuckahoe, NJ on September 25th. Take a tour of this organic vegetable farm and lend a hand in“putting the farm to bed” for winter. Afterwards we will enjoy a celebratory potluck meal!

For more information on this opportunity to volunteer at one of South Jersey’s small farms, click here.

Michael Pollan on stage at Goucher College

I’m excited about another gorgeous weekend. I already have a few radish seedlings popping up out of the ground from last Sunday’s planting. Both boys have baseball games at the same time tomorrow so I won’t spend six hours on the fields tomorrow, yet I’ll still get to enjoy them playing. And there are plenty of Earth Day activities going on just about everywhere you turn. Do you have any Earth Day specific activities planned for the weekend.

Okay, on with the odds and ends.

• I drove down to Baltimore on Wednesday to hear Michael Pollan speak at Goucher College. He is a very engaging speaker. If you ever have the opportunity to hear him speak in person, take it. I wrote about his lecture over on MNN.
• While I was in Baltimore, I ate at The Black Olive, a restaurant that sources local, organic and sustainable and also has a fabulous sustainable wine list. If you are in the Fell’s Point section of Baltimore and you’re looking for a responsible restaurant where you’ll have a great dining experience, I highly recommend it.
• The Philadelphia Go Green Expo is this weekend. If you’re going, mention the “EARTHDAY” at the door for complimentary admission.
• The Camden Children’s Garden will have a workshop for adults this Wednesday, April 21st titled “Getting Started in the Garden” for newbie vegetable and flower gardeners. learn how to get the most out of your garden, whether you’re growing vegetables or flowers. This workshop is held 10:00-11:30am. $10.00 for members and $15.00 for non-members. Reservations are required. Call 856.365.8733.
• April 24th will be Rutgers Day. Building on the wonderful traditions of Ag Field Day and the New Jersey Folk Festival, the folks at Rutgers have put together a very special day. Of particular interest to foodies and earth day revelers: Making New Jersey Sustainable, Organic Garden Tour, Slow Food at Rutgers and the RU Nutty, nut-identification skills test. This is just a small sampling, check the website for the schedules and locations of the vast array of events happening on all campuses. (info courtesy of Edible Jersey).
• PBS will be airing the film Food Inc. on Wednesday, April 21st at 9pm EST. If you haven’t seen it yet, please mark your calendar and give it a view.
• The Washington Township Earth Day Festival will be tomorrow, April 17, from 10-3 at 626 Hurffville-Cross Keys Road in Sewell. There will be 130 exhibitors and vendors, including food vendors, or bring your own picnic and have lunch on the amphitheater lawn while listening to live music.  Free seedlings will also be given away.
• Slow Food of South Jersey will host an Earth Day Fair at the Cape May County Zoo from 10-4 tomorrow, April 17. Dozens of organizations will team up to provide a fun and educational experience to help all of us reduce our carbon footprint and live more sustainably.  Join the fun.
• Here’s something interesting. When the Penn students graduate next month, they will be wearing caps and gowns made from recycled plastic bottles.

I hope you enjoy this amazing weekend!

• Edible Jersey has posted its 2010 Local Heros awards. South Jersey’s New Vincentown Diner and Griggstown Quail and Farm Market both received honors.
• On April 18, the Cape May Wine School will host a class on East Coast wines. You can learn about New Jersey wines and other wines from the East Coast. Cost for the class is $30.
• Slow Food of South Jersey will host a free viewing of the film No Impact Man on Sunday, April 25 at 2pm at Cape May Stage.
• There’s a restaurant in Philadelphia that I’ve been interested in trying for some time now, South Wark. The restaurant sources its ingredients from 12 local farms. I’m not sure when I’ll be able to check it out, but if you’re heading into the city for dnner anytime soon, you might want to. I received an e-mail that the restaurants outdoor garden is now open for the season.
• South Jersey Hot Chef’s South Jersey Restaurant Week runs April 11-16. Four courses will run you $25-$35 and many of the fabulous restaurants that support our local farmers are participating in the event.
• Stockton State College will be holding the 8th Annual Environmental Forum tomorrow, April 10th. There are a variety of environmental workshops including “A Sustainable Yard: Enhance Natural Biodiversity,” and “Improving Home Energy Efficiency: Save $ & the Environment” that might be of interest.

Enjoy your weekend. You can find me on the ball fields!

Image: Matt McGee

I’m all ready for the weekend. We’re stocked with food, wine, DVD’s and good books.

• Last week, I mentioned the Wine & Chocolate weekends that many of our wineries are having this weekend and next. I thought they were worth another mention. I’d definitely call ahead this weekend if you’re venturing out to make sure the snow hasn’t shut your destination down.
• There’s a prepared food store in Haddonfield that I’ve been in a few times called Apron. I’ve been meaning to talk to them there about what they do for a piece for this blog. They use fresh, seasonal ingredients and their website says “they are proud to be able to make use of the many natural resources of the Garden State.” They have a special Valentine’s menu (opens to PDF) with four different dinner menus and one breakfast in bed menu. Deadline to order is Feb. 10.
• You can have a light dinner at Mirabella Cafe in Cherry Hill – a member of South Jersey Green Dining – and learn “How to Implement the Whole House Approach to Energy Efficiency” at the same time. On Thursday, Feb 18th the restaurant will be hosting the event. Click here for more information and pricing.

That’s it for this week. Enjoy your weekend.

The second annual Local Harvest: Farms, Food, and Family will be held Saturday, January 16, 2010 (snow date: January 23) from noon to 4 p.m. at the Cultural Center in Morristown, NJ. Sponsored by the Northern New Jersey Chapter of Slow Food in partnership with the Morris County Park Commission, the event will bring together many local farmers and food artisans for an afternoon of sampling and purchasing.

Visitors can purchase seasonal vegetables and fruit, grass-fed and finished beef and pork, poultry, eggs, cheese, breads, teas, and prepared foods from local growers and producers while learning about Community Supported Agriculture and how to purchase seasonal farm shares at Genesis Farm in Blairstown, NJ, and Rogowski Farm in Warwick, NY. Participants include Bob-O-Link Dairy and Bakeyard, Valley Shepherd Creamery, Appleridge Farm, Best Fruit Farm, the Health Shoppe, and Arthur & Friends, an entrepreneurial training program for adults with disabilities, which sells locally grown organic hydroponic greens.
Displays about Northern NJ’s agricultural past from The Morris County Historical Society and Fosterfields Living Historical Farm’s interpretive display on early farm life, sustainable farming, and heritage breeds will round out the program.
For more information and list of participating farms, foods artisans, & friends, visit www.slowfoodnnj.org

I will definitely be attending this festival. Anyone else?

Slow Food is an idea, a way of living and a way of eating. It is a global, grassroots movement with thousands of members around the world that links the pleasure of food with a commitment to community and the environment.

The Slow Food movement holds that food should be good, clean and fair.

Good – For Slow Food, the idea of good means enjoying delicious food created with care from healthy plants and animals. The pleasures of good food can also help to build community and celebrate culture and regional diversity.

Clean – When we talk about clean food, we are talking about nutritious food that is as good for the planet as it is for our bodies. It is grown and harvested with methods that have a positive impact on our local ecosystems and promotes biodiversity.

Fair – We believe that food is a universal right. Food that is fair should be accessible to all, regardless of income, and produced by people who are treated with dignity and justly compensated for their labor.

Slow Food of South Jersey is based out of Cape May. Here are some of the events and projects that the group has planned.

• Connecting area school cafeterias to local farms
• Sharing skills, tips and equipment for canning, dehydrating, and preserving
• Extending the season for the West Cape May Farmer’s Market
• Connecting artisan food producers from inside and outside the South Jersey area with local restaurants
• Taking field trips to wineries and other artisan producers
• Collaborating with other Slow Food Conviviums (e.g., attending events in Princeton, Philadelphia, North Jersey or New York City)
• Hosting local, slow food “pot lucks” in members homes, places of worship, and/or public venues
• Having our meetings at restaurants that feature local and/or seasonal foods
• Creating an advocacy group to support all of the above, including perhaps “Victory Gardens” in people’s backyards or community gardens or Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farms
• Sponsoring the Northwest Earth Institute’s “Menu for the Future” 6-session study series

For more information on Slow Food of South Jersey, visit their website and sign up for their newsletter.