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https://ctmirror.org/2024/12/20/ct-offshore-wind-solar-projects/

Great piece by Katal Center's Taina Manick on food justice, farming and parole. Recently families from Hartford, Middlesex, and New Haven County met in Bloomfield to talk about and plan some action around them. https://ctmirror.org/2024/11/15/cultivating-justice-through-community-and-conversation/

Did you know that unless you have an acre or more of land in Middletown, it's nearly impossible to be in compliance with Middletown's current chicken keeping rules? One of our members is facing $100/day fine because her coop is less than 25 feet from her neighbor's property line. Because of the size of her backyard, regardless of where she moves the coop--it would still be violating this ordinance. Chicken keeping policies are different in nearly every city/town in the state but are mostly focused on the size of property and not on the things chickens actually need to be healthy. We know that urban communities, communities with higher numbers of BILPOC residents, lower-income communities are less likely to be able to meet chicken keeping requirements across the state. Our members drafted a new set of rules for Middletown that would focus on the space the chickens need, and not on the space between properties. People have a right to be self-sufficient without the fear of a $100/day fine. Sign on to this petition and tell the City of Middletown to give us all a real Right to Farm! katal.info/MtownChickens

Today our partners at Morena Farming and Chicks Ahoy Farm partnered together to put up a coop and welcome 9 chickens to the Miller Street Community Farm. Alongside community members, we learned about the basics for caring for the chickens, set up the food and water feeders, laid woodchips in their nesting area, and fed them sunflower seeds. In the coming week, we'll make sure their predator protection is set up to keep them as safe as possible. The chickens in this coop will provide eggs, an important protein source, for the neighbors on Miller/Bridge in Middletown. Check out pics from the day, and if you're interested in learning more about chickens or helping with the care of our birds, please write to diana@katalcenter.org.

Diversifying wildland fire through advocacy, sponsorship and leading by example Danielle Knight Southern Region, Office of Communication March 18, 2024

Miller Bridge Community Farm! Cultivating Justice Harvest Day Marigold

An exert from: The Quest for Racial Equality Has Always Been Different for Rural Americans "Eighty-three-year-old Corine Woodson is poised to suffer a devastating blow: the loss of the home she shared with her late husband—who died in 2022—for over 60 years. Her land, 40 acres set amid rolling pines outside of Auburn, Ala., was purchased in 1911 and passed down through generations, a rare example of Black land ownership in the Deep South. But in recent years, this once rural property, now parsed out among various family members in a form of ownership known as “tenants in common,” has caught the attention of investors who hope to purchase and develop properties they consider prime real estate. Cleveland Brothers Incorporated bought out Woodson’s relatives, accumulating 49% ownership of the previously Black-owned property. Now, the case is making news as it heads toward the Alabama Supreme Court, with the company declaring that it will suffer “financial harm” if Woodson delays the sale of her share. (A representative of Cleveland Brothers told WTVM that Woodson could stay on the property for a year even if the sale goes through.)" Read more....

Meet Ups at Farms: Date: Sunday, September 8th Time: 10am-2pm Location: Gunther Farm, 24 Hyde Rd. Vernon, CT Date: Sunday, September 15th Time: 10am-3pm Location: Off Center Farm, 48 Center Rd. Woodbridge, CT and Beets and Blooms Farm, 6 Oakum Dock Rd, Cobalt, CT Description of Skill Share: For folks that are still looking for land, whether to lease or purchase. Learn how to evaluate potential properties for agricultural use. Explore three different properties with Solid Ground soil, conservation, and land use consultant Kip Kolesinskas. We will evaluate the major soil properties to consider for different types of agriculture, evaluate the location and condition of existing infrastructure, including potential water sources, impact of wetlands, neighbors and wildlife, land restoration, topography, and local microclimates. Learn how to use the Web Soil Survey and other Connecticut and municipal maps as tools in the process, and where to find information on a property’s history, town zoning ag restrictions, setbacks, and more.   Sign up here: s.uconn.edu/landeval&access