Manchester 2020 Quadrant Summit: All members of the Manchester community are invited to attend the Manchester 2020 Quadrant Summit on Wednesday, November 17th at 7:00 p.m. at Manchester Country Club, 305 South Main Street. Planning Department staff will present the information gathered at the four Quadrant Discovery Workshops and identify major themes. Attendees will have the opportunity to discuss the next steps in the Manchester 2020 process and offer their ideas and observations. At the Quadrant Discovery Workshops held over the past four months, hundreds of Manchester residents discussed Manchester’s current conditions and assets, offered ideas on what they would like the town to be in the future and suggested opportunities and policies to guide the town’s future development and conservation. Manchester 2020 is the Town of Manchester's Plan of Conservation and Development update, the plan that will guide the town’s development over the next 10 years. Call 860- 647-3044 to RSVP. More information on the Manchester 2020 planning process is available at: www.manchester2020plan.net.
Manchester Agriculture Preservation Association
The purpose of the Manchester Agriculture Preservation Association is to preserve and promote agriculture in Manchester so that farmers and gardeners can prosper,consumers are able to buy fresh, local food, and all residents can enjoy green spaces and celebrate the town’s rich farming heritage.
Dear Friends
Welcome to the MAPA blog site. We are a band of Manchester farmers, home gardeners, foodies, and lover of all stuff grown from the good earth. Our desire is to preserve the remaining farmland and promote growing fruits and vegetables in Manchester. As with any volunteer run organization, we are always on the look out for help. If you are passionate about growing, committed to open space and the greening of Manchester, and love hanging out with cool folks, you have come to the right place. Give me a call at (860) 432-9396 or email me at johnsweedon@yahoo.com. We have been looking for you.
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
Manchester 2020 Quadrant Summit
Sunday, October 24, 2010
Farmers Meeting
Sunday, October 17, 2010
Interesting Workshop
Tax Incentives to Protect Family FarmsWithout Breaking Your BudgetAn AGvocate WorkshopMonday, November 29, 20106:30 to 9 pmHampton Community Center(At the Little River Grange)178 Main Street (Rte 97)Hampton, CTLocal governments can make good use of tax tools to create a supportive businessenvironment for local farms. Are you an agricultural producer, agricultural basedbusiness, a municipal decision maker, or do you just have an interest in keepingConnecticut’s working lands viable? Join us on November 29 for a FREE workshop,sponsored by the AGvocate program, to learn about available tax reduction programs thatcan help retain farms and farmland in your community.This workshop will cover:• Public Act 490‐Ct land use value assessment law for farmland, forestland and open spaceland• State tax exemptions and abatements currently existing for farms and farmland• Optional tax exemptions and abatements your town can implement• Lessons learned from towns that have successfully implemented tax incentives Share Ideas, Gather Resources
Thursday, October 14, 2010
Manchester 2020 Southwest Quadrant Meeting
Sunday, October 10, 2010
Waddell School Garden
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
Global Work Parties on 10-10-10 in Manchester
Join a Global Work Party in Manchester on Sunday 10-10-10. Be a part of of 350.org’s Day of Global Work Parties celebrating climate solutions, such as growing more food locally and organically. More than 6000 work parties in over 175 countries are happening this Sunday. See photographs and read all about it at 350.org. Two work parties are planned in Manchester.
The first is at the Unitarian Universalist Society:East at 153 West Vernon St. Members, friends and visitors are encouraged to walk, bike or carpool to 9:00a.m. or 11:00a.m. services at UUS:E on October 10th. After the service join the children, youth and adults to harvest root vegetables and other plants, clean up and care for parts of this organic garden and plant garlic for next season. Use the new bike rack made from recycled materials - railings from our old building and ski poles. Check out the newly renovated and enlarged "green" building now heated and cooled with ten geothermal wells.
Then move on after lunch (brown bag it) to the second work party: This work party will be held outside Manchester Community College from 2 to 4 in the afternoon. Come to help with an organic Community Garden that grows vegetables for the MACC Food Pantry and offers accessible raised beds for gardeners with disabilities. There is an accessible port-o-potty on site. This is a LEARN and WORK party. Clean up, prepare beds, and plant garlic, greens and other things that can overwinter. Bring a shovel or garden fork if you have one.
Park at far end of parking lot C across from the garden.
***participants can learn various ways they might get involved with the garden in the future***
For more details go to www.350.org or contact janet.heller@snet.net.
Sunday, October 3, 2010
Next Meeting
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
Agriculture in CT
Agriculture Is A $3.5 Billion Industry With 20,000 Jobs In Connecticut
The study measured direct sales and purchases by farms and other agriculture businesses, updating numbers that agriculture officials have been using for the past two decades.
"This was something that was needed by policy advocates and agricultural stakeholders," said Rigoberto Lopez, professor and department head of UConn's Department of Agriculture and Resource Economics, who led the study.
The study, based on 2007 sales data, shows that old estimates that were being used by the General Assembly of a $2 billion industry were too low, and estimates of 50,000 jobs associated with agriculture were much too high, Lopez said.
Total direct sales of agricultural products were $551.6 million, the study showed; processing totaled $955 million and forest product sales totaled $131 million. The nursery, greenhouse, sod and flower industries accounted for the largest portion of directagricultural product sales, a total of 49 percent, followed by dairy, 13 percent and tobacco, 10 percent.
Lopez said the group was very careful to count only agricultural production and processing — excluding the peripheral industries such as landscaping, grounds-keeping, bakeries and distilleries.
But the study also includes ripple effects, in the form of goods and services that farms and other agriculture firms purchase — such as feed, veterinary services, equipment, building services, electricians and many other trades. The sector's impact "cascades throughout the state's economy," the study said.
Officials Monday lauded the study's results as a strong reminder of agriculture's contribution to the state.
"People forget that agriculture is an economic generator in our state," said state agriculture Commissioner F. Philip Prelli. "Agriculture is the oldest business in the state of Connecticut as we celebrate our 375th birthday."
"We'll use this to remind people how important agriculture is," he said.
Prelli said the diversification of the state's farms has helped the industry stay healthy and grow in many sectors, and contributes to the impact.
The study used three separate types of economic modeling, which yielded three totals for the impact on the state ranging from $2.7 billion to $3.5 billion. That compares with a total value of goods and services produced in Connecticut of $212 billion. Crucial to producers in the state, the study also said the agriculture sector produced as much as $1.7 billion in value added to the economy — the difference between final payments and raw materials costs.
Of the 3.18 million acres of land in the state, about 405,000 — or 13 percent — are used for agriculture, the report said. Over 50 percent of the total land area in the state is forest (much of that former agriculture land from the 19th century) and 19 percent is developed.
"The study gives us the ability to educate decision-makers at the local level, the state level and the federal level that agriculture is alive and well and it's an important part of what makes Connecticut a special place," said Steven Reviczky, director of the Connecticut Farm Bureau.
Prelli said the results could be important for farmland preservation efforts and legislation affecting businesses, because "every single farm is a business."
Monday, September 27, 2010
Waddell School PTA Reclaiming Habitat
On Saturday morning, September 25 from 9am-noon, families and friends from the Waddell Elementary School community in Manchester will gather for the “Doughnuts and Dirt Day” in an effort to reclaim the Waddell School Habitat at 163 Broad Street!
Recently, Waddell Principal Roland Axelson and Art Teacher Emma Craib attended a forum about starting an edible schoolyard garden held by the Manchester Agriculture Preservation Association, and a renewed interest in the habitat began to take shape with students, parents and faculty alike.
Plans for the restored Waddell Schoolyard Habitat include raised, accessible beds for children, a sensory area, and an edible garden. The event this Saturday will mark the beginning of the work, with raking, weeding, clipping and pulling.
The public is invited to attend and are encouraged to bring gloves and garden tools if available. Doughnuts and other pastries will be provided by The Sugar Shack, Center Street in Manchester. For more information about this event please contact the Waddell School PTA at waddellpta@gmail.com or 860-647-3392.
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Sunday, September 26, 2010
Last But Not Least...The Southwest (From Manchester 2020 Blog)
Last But Not Least...The Southwest
Friday, September 10, 2010
Thursday, September 9, 2010
Sunday, September 5, 2010
Next Meeting
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Livable Neighorhoods
Livable Neighborhood Organizing Workshop: Wednesday, September 22nd from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. in the Cafeteria at Bennet Academy, 22 School St. (Recreation Building Entrance). The Town of Manchester Office of Neighborhoods and Families will be holding its first Livable Neighborhood Organizing Workshop. All youth and adults who want to make their neighborhood better are welcome to attend. The Livable Neighborhood program is intended to help communities fix what's broken at the grassroots level. More than that, it's meant to help neighbors create and act on their visions of how they can transform their neighborhood into the kind of place they'd like it to be. Registration is not required but an RSVP would be appreciated by calling the Office of Neighborhoods and Families at (860) 647-3089 or emailing Chris50@ci.manchester.ct.us