Almanac: Wednesday August 10, 2011 - Sunrise 5:48 A.M. - Sunset 7:58 P.M - Moon Waxing 90%. The vegetable garden is likely to require daily harvesting now. Cucumbers, squash, tomatoes, eggplant, and peppers should be picked as soon as the fruits are ready. This not only captures the best flavor, but it also makes way for new fruits. 

1] Community Training in Ecological Design
2] Edible Forest Garden Update 
3] Clothing Swap at Westcott Street Fair
4] Cooperative Federal Field of Membership 
5] Creating Democracy & Challenging Corporate Rule

[To donate to the Alchemical Nursery and help develop these projects and more, visit our Network for Good: Donate Now location. Thank you for your support.]

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1] Community Training in Ecological Design 

Learn a land use design method to improve home scale food and forest production, to conserve 
resources, and save money.Study basic ecological principles and methods and use them to solve 
problems on your own home and landscape.  We will meet once a week to discuss the principles and techniques of permaculture and ecology that help us make better choices for our land, families, and communities.

Class work will include a self-selected design project. You can design your own backyard, garden 
space, vacant lot, field, forest, or even an entire neighborhood. Examples and applications will be 
presented in both an urban and rural context.

Tuition: $200-400. (Based on what you can afford.)
Weekend Workshop: September 10 & 11
Wednesday evenings: 6:00 to 8:30 p.m.
http://www.alchemicalnursery.org/news/393-community-training-in-ecological-design.html

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2] Edible Forest Garden Work Group Update 

The first work day at the Rahma Clinic Edible Forest Garden resulted in the sheet mulching and trail layout of a demo area of the project site.  Work will continue on September 10th as part of the 
Syracuse Acts of Kindness weekend and the initial weekend workshop of the Community Training in Ecological Design course.  

Thanks to volunteer Dave Greene for harvesting and providing the poplar logs for the trail and 
Steve Harris and the City of Syracuse for the wood chips being used.  We hope you can join us on 
September 10th, and if you would like to help in the planning and materials acquisition, please 
contact Frank at  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Photos from the July 25th work day are posted in the Alchemical Photo Gallery at 
http://www.alchemicalnursery.org/photo-gallery.html

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3] Clothing Swap at Westcott Street Fair

The Alchemical Nursery will be hosting a clothing swap at the Westcott Street Cultural Fair on Sunday September 18th.  Summer Intern Heather Helman is helping to coordinate the event which will include screen printing of an original design, or the Alchemical  snake and lightning bolt logo, on any piece of clothing for a donation.  You can drop off old clothing before the event by contacting Heather at  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , or just bring it with you on the day of the event.  

"A clothing swap is a type of swapmeet where participants exchange their valued but no longer used clothing for clothing they will use. Clothing swaps are considered not only a good way to declutter and refill one's wardrobe, but also are considered an act of environmentalism."

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4] Cooperative Federal Field of Membership 

The Alchemical Nursery is now a recognized Field of Membership organization of the Cooperative 
Federal Credit Union.  This means that staff, interns, board members, and volunteers of Alchemical 
are eligible to join Cooperative Federal and make a choice to put your money where it will build
local economy and advance social justice (find out more at http://www.cooperativefederal.org/en/about).  

Easy to use Switch Kits have the forms you need to set  up your direct deposit, close your old accounts, and a checklist to redirect your automatic bill payments, too! (http://www.cooperativefederal.org/files/Switch_Kit.pdf).

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5] Creating Democracy & Challenging Corporate Rule

National Democracy Activist David Cobb will Visit Syracuse for a community forum on “Creating 
Democracy and Challenging Corporate Rule”. Part history lesson and part heart-felt call to action, 
the event will be at the Art Rage Gallery, 505 Hawley Avenue, from 6:30pm to 8:30pm on August 14.

The recent U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in Citizens United v. FEC opened the floodgates to unlimited corporate spending on elections. Cobb, an attorney and organizer for the Move to Amend coalition, will help local residents understand the history behind the recent decision and how they can work to abolish "Corporate Personhood" and reestablish a government of, by, and for the people.

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=247275858624670

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[For more events, blog posts, and articles, visit www.alchemicalnursery.org] [** Get your very own alchemicalnursery.org domain email address by contacting  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ] [To donate to the Alchemical Nursery and help develop these projects and more, visit our Network for 
Good: Donate Now location. Thank you for your support.] [Join the Upstate NY Permaculture list at http://upstatenypermaculture.net/]