First meeting/workshop a success!

We had our first participant meeting yesterday at my house. Participants met my hens: Georgia (the Barred Rock), Lucile (a Rhode Island Red), and Stegosaurus (a lovely Araucana). We talked about chickens: care, feeding, housing, egg production, etc. After the meeting I realized that everyone left without even holding a chicken! Sharon said she was "chicken" to hold the chickens! Ha. They really are friendly, I promise.


There was yummy mini quiches made with fresh eggs from the "ladies in back." and farmer's market asparagus and kale. We went around the picnic table and shared ideas about what contributions/ideas each of us have for the project. Thank you to all that attended! I have a much greater sense of how folks envision the supper.

A tentative date for the event was set: Saturday, August 15th. Kitchen labor and cooking to begin in the late afternoon and the meal gathering will begin sometime between 7-8. It is set to take place at the residence of Zack Grant (he's in the Urbana city limits and really does have a small scale farm at his house!)

Also Sharon Irish offered to contribute to the project with photo/written documentation. She has already posted some lovely photos on flickr. The photos in this blog entry are courtesy of Sharon. Susan offered to host the July workshop in Meadowbrook park at her community garden plot. The workshop will be a two part informative event: first gardening methods/tips/techniques and second (hosted by her partner Tom) a foraging workshop in which we learn about wild edibles as we tour the park! Their awesome blog is linked on the right side of this blog. One of the June workshops will be "home brewing and wine fermentation." Hosted by Casey and Aaron. More details on dates and locations will be forthcoming. Others in attendance, had suggestions for publicity, experimental music/sound, table design/set-up/floral arrangements, seasonal veggies available in August, kids activities, artists, and much more.

Although the actual "Big Neighborhood Supper" will be capped at around 40 participants, the workshops will be free and open to the public! A.K.A. the more the merrier! Interested in making/distributing flyers for these workshops? Please let me know by posting a comment here. (Also if you want to keep a-breast (who wouldn't?) of this project's developments I would suggest that you click on the "Follow Blog" link at the top so you can keep track of what's going on via the Internet.) Thanks for all your enthusiasm! -Maggie