Mar 17: Sustainability Salon Series: Sustenance Edition! (and Sing)

Our Solar Sustainability Salon last month was a rousing success, with over sixty people attending and a lot of interest generated in solar photovoltaics.  Our next one (on March 17th -- I doubt we'll have green beer, but we'll certainly be thinking green) will focus on food -- finding local sources, growing it ourselves, and eating more sustainably.  In addition to casual conversation and making new, we'll have an opportunity to see a roof garden, a small organic seedling operation, and shiitake cultivation, connect with local farmers, find out about farmers' markets and community gardens, explore permaculture concepts, think about humane and healthy livestock practices, source seedlings and gardening supplies... What we talk about will depend in part upon who comes;  that's the beauty of an open-ended gathering like this!   (check back here for event updates.)

2-10 p.m. at Maren's house in Squirrel Hill.   Please email me to RSVP (important!) and I'll send directions if you need 'em.  Bring food or drink to share if you can, along with musical instruments if you play. 


UPDATES:
Thanks very much to those who RSVP'd (for a language stickler like me this is a terrible verbification to perpetrate, but it works) for this Saturday's "Sustenance" Sustainability Salon and Sing (even if you know right where we live, or are a maybe, please do so each time -- it helps greatly in several ways).  If you might come but haven't explicitly emailed me an RSVP, please do so (even if we've spoken);  be sure to include "salon" in the Subject line as I receive a ridiculous amount of email every day.

It looks like we'll have quite a diverse group -- farmers including at least one CSA, folks from Grow Pittsburgh, the East End Food Co-op, the local Transition Town movement, and various garden projects around town (community gardens, herbs at the Library, who knows what else) -- and maybe even a leprechaun!  I'll also have information on hand about additional CSA and pasture-based farms, farmers' markets, and other ways to source local, organic, and humane food as well as several other upcoming events connecting people with local food.  We'll even have some sort of door prize or raffle, including a few tickets for the Farm to Table Conference.

Quite a few people have asked me what sorts of food to bring -- and my answer, as always, is whatever inspires you;  I believe in the "luck" part of potlucks.  Tasty noshings for the afternoon, hearty main dishes or scrumptious salads and sides for dinner, baked goods from biscuits and breads to brownies or baklava -- and/or beverages of any kind.  The more the merrier!  Local fare is always particularly welcome, whether homegrown or boughten;  especially so this time around when we'll be highlighting local food sources around the region.  Dishes containing meat are fine, though if it isn't really obvious please make a note of it.  

And if you like to make music or listen to homemade music, don't forget the evening sing -- last time we ran the gamut from Irish fiddle tunes to protest songs, and a fun time was had by all.  Bring instruments if you play, and/or pick up one of ours!  Conversations will continue through the evening as well, particularly with a topic so near and dear to all our hearts (very near, as our stomachs are just below our hearts). 

Putting Down Roots Sustainability Salons are an ongoing series of conversational salons in the French Enlightenment tradition: informal gatherings aimed at lively discussion around the notion of sustainability.  Some will feature one or more guests to lead a discussion or provide key insights on a particular topic, others will be open to whatever comes up.  Themes will likely include things like growing food (permaculture, local and urban agriculture, roof gardening, beekeeping, mushroom culture, etc.);  green building and green living;  urban trees, park exploration and stewardship;  regional air quality and watershed issues;  Marcellus shale, climate change, or alternative energy.  The afternoon discussions begin around 2pm at our home in Squirrel Hill, and are followed by a potluck dinner and a folksing.  Folks are welcome to attend for all or part of the afternoon and evening, and are encouraged to bring musical instruments as well as food or drink to share.

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salon |səˈlän; saˈlô n |:  (historical) a regular social gathering of eminent people (esp. writers and artists) at the house of a woman prominent in high society;  a meeting of intellectuals or other eminent people at the invitation of a celebrity or socialite.

Regular, that's the plan.  Eminent and intellectual people, to be sure -- that's yinz.  House, check.  Woman, c'est moi.  High society, celebrity, socialite?  Not so much.  Salons occurred in 17th-century France, purportedly powering the Enlightenment, and were more recently repopularized by the Utne Reader.  I've long contemplated hosting an ongoing series of conversational salons in this tradition: informal gatherings around the notion of sustainability.  Some will have a featured guest to lead a discussion on a particular topic, others will be open to whatever comes up.