Gardening, crafts and recipes about bugs. This year’s Laramie Local Food Gathering will have it all.
This Saturday at the new Laramie High School the Laramie Local Foods Committee has set up some exciting and benefiting workshops for the whole community to come and attend. Members of the planning committee include Sonya Moore, Suzanne Lewis, Barb Deschler, Cole Ehmke, Betsy Trana, Trish Penny and Dave Earnshaw.
“We’ve had a number of comments around town from people who really like our lineup this year,” Moore, long-time member of the group, said.
The event will host a variety of local groups and individuals including UW Extension, City of Laramie Water Resources, a team of ranchers from Albany County and even Girl Scout troop 1207.
“People often think that we’re just about gardening and food but it’s much wider than that,” Moore said.
Laramie Local Foods is a non-profit group that began nine and a half years ago with a professor and student at UW. The group works to promote local foods within a 100-mile radius and educate people on the benefits of local produce and environmental sustainability.
“Our mission statement is to encourage and promote local producers,” Moore said. “The idea is to let local people know where their food comes from, be able to meet some of the producers and get an idea of what is entailed in growing food.”
The day will begin with registration at 8:30 a.m. and at 9:00 a.m. workshops will begin with “Gardening Basics for Cold Climates of Wyoming; Raising Small Animals for Meat and Fiber,” “Selecting and Caring for Ornamental Trees,” and “Activities for Youth ages 6 and up.”
“Girl Scout 1207 volunteered and are asking for children from ages 6 and up, and adults, [to make] seed bombs,” Moore said.
Moore added that they are great for planting things like lettuce and carrots that have very tiny seeds.
The day will continue with a small break and then a second group of workshops start at 11:00 a.m. with “Laramie’s Climate: Past, Present, and Future,” “Mastering Gluten Free Baking and Cooking with New and Unusual Grains,” “Edible Insects (for kids and adults),” and another set of activities for youth ages 6 and up, this time involving various ways to reuse plastic bottles.
“We have a [grad student] from the university in the Entomology department and she’s going to talk about and give recipes and samples of edible insects,” Moore said.
After the second session of workshops there will be a lunch of soup, sandwiches and cookies provided by Robin’s Treats, Albany County CattleWomen, and Girl Scout troop 1207.
Following lunch more workshops will begin at 1:00 p.m. and will include “Water: Quality for Gardens and Homes, Capturing and Alternatives, and Fees for Utilities, Community Gardens,” “Hot New Methods of Composting and Mulching,” “Yee-Haw! What Local Ranches Offer for Tourism and Entertainment,” “Soil and Soil Amendments: Improving the Soils of Laramie.”
“We always have someone talking about soil because Laramie soil is hard to grow in, and you have to do amendments, and how to get your soil tested,” Moore said.
This is the biggest event the group puts on every year; they have been putting it together since January and are very excited for things to get going.
“We have some very different sessions [this year], like the one about gluten-free and the one about edible insects,” Moore said.
More information on the event can be found on Laramie Local Foods’ Facebook page.
