Sustainability

The County of Hastings County includes Hastings County, the City of Belleville and the City of Quinte West and the Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory, with its forests, farmland, lakes, rivers and small and large communities, is well situated to lead in the field of alternative energy development, conservation of natural resources, sustainable agriculture and forestry and artisan food production.

Harvest Hastings is about living lightly on the land. Sustainability has four sections on land stewardship, tree planting, managing woods and wildlife at Caring for Land; discussion about Climate Change; finfd out about Green Communities, and read about what's happening in Local Agriculture. There are Audio, Videos, and a Photo Gallery. Look for "Know your farmer" video or audio interviews with local farmers and other producers. Web links has l links to local organizations as well as provincial ones. Check Coming Events to find workshops, agricultural events, community meals and much more. Above all get outand explore

Latest Articles

March 9, 2013 by Louise Livingstone

Come and enjoy the many vendors at the Maynooth Winter Market on March 23 and April 13.

Event Date and Time:

March 23, 2013 - 10:00 - 16:00

Location

Maynooth Municipal Hall

33011 Highway 62 North

Maynooth, ON K0L 2S0

Canada

45° 13' 51.3228" N, 77° 56' 18.6" W

See map: Google Maps

Celebrate Maple Season

March 9, 2013 by Louise Livingstone

March and April is maple syrup season in Hastings County. It is a wonderful time to get out and experience the renewal of early spring when the days are getting longer, the light is getting stronger and the sap is rising in the maple trees.

The Spring season is soon approaching and with it comes the delicious maple syrup season and the joys of being outdoors. Harvest Hastings, in partnership with Hastings County, wants to let people know about the opportunities here in our own backyard through out March and early April

Harvest Hastings asks, as the weather begins to warm, why not celebrate the season by visiting your local maple syrup producers and embark on a sugar bush tour and horse-drawn sleigh ride or enjoy a pancake breakfast hosted by a local organization and take a walk on one of the many trails throughout Hastings County?

Throughout March and April, a collection of Harvest Hastings members who are involved in maple syrup production will be highlighted, along with the many additional activities and events that compliment the season.

Pancake breakfasts and special meals

Centre Hastings Fire Dept 28th Annual Pancake Breakfast, all you can eat, Ivanhoe Fire Hall, March 17, 7 a.m - 1 p.m.

Palmateer Pancake Breakfast, Tweed.

Bancroft Fish and Game Club, Wild Game Dinner, March 23, 4.30 p.m. - 9.0 p.m, dinner at 5.30 p.m.

Festivals

Frink Maple Fest, Leap into Spring March 24, 11 a.m. - 3 p.m.

Dungannon Mud Bog, April 28

A presentation depicting and honouring the Maple Syrup Industry, Tweed Heritage Centre, March and April

Maynouth Winter Market, March 23, April 13, Maynooth Muncipal Building

MACK Fest April 6 -7 White Water events, guide trips, free style and down river kayaking, starting at Cedar Ridge Roadhouse, Marmora

Sugar bushes and sugar houses: Please remember to call before to come to make sure there is someone to show you around

Trillium Ridge Sugarworks

Eldoro Gold Sugar House

Brian and Jackie Denyses

Dennis Harry at Three Maples

McEwan Maple

Ron and Tracey Derry

Flat Breeze Janice Tiessen and Rick Hemmings

Local Agriculture

A presentation depicting and honouring the maple syrup industry

March 9, 2013 by Louise Livingstone

This is an exhibition about the maple syrup industry in and around Tweed is at the Tweed Heritage Centre during March and April.

Harper government again at war with UN envoy over Canada’s fight against poverty

The Harper government is once again engaged in a war of words with a United Nations agency.

Canada can’t credibly preach human rights on the international stage when too many of its own citizens are going hungry, the UN’s right-to-food envoy, Olivier De Schutter, told The Canadian Press in an interview.

Green Communities

Leap into Spring

March 9, 2013 by Louise Livingstone

Hello Friends of the Frink Centre,

Maple Fest runs Sunday, March 24, 11 am - 3 pm, with pancake sales, family entertainment, self directed maple syrup hike to interpretive sites with signage and staff. Admission: $5 per person, $10 per family or $20 per group.

Also, keep your eyes open along the trails for new "You are Here" signs, to keep you on the right track. This past few years. a number of new signs has been posted along the common trails to help enhance visitors hiking experience.

See you on the 24th! Leap into Spring.

Event Date and Time:

March 24, 2013 - 11:00 - 15:00

UN food envoy Olivier De Schutter says Canada starves many of its citizens: Porter

Olivier De Schutter delivered his damning report on Canada's growing poor and hungry to Geneva on Monday. Canada should be ashamed.

Local Agriculture

Centre Hastings Huntingdon Fire Dept 28th Annual Pancake Breakfast

March 9, 2013 by Louise Livingstone

Centre Hastings Pancake Breakfast

Event Date and Time:

March 17, 2013 - 07:00 - 13:00

Location

Ivanhoe Fire hall

741 Slab Street

Ivanhoe, ON K0K 2K0

Canada

44° 23' 48.6312" N, 77° 27' 50.6088" W

See map: Google Maps

UN food envoy: Canadian government failing Indigenous peoples and the poor

Following the mission he conducted May 6-16, 2012, theUN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food, Olivier De Schutter, presented hiscountry report on Canada to the United Nations' Human Rights Council in Geneva on Monday.

The report contains the findings and recommendations of the Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food in a clear, digestible 21-page document, which the civil society organization Food Secure Canada hopes will catalyze Canadian society and affect policy at all levels of government.

Green Communities

Forest Service Directory and Forest Management in Hastings County

March 9, 2013 by Louise Livingstone

Hastings County has historically and continues to support a strong forest-based economy. As a large and diverse County, most of the forest resource is located in the central and northern sections of the County while many of the jobs are located in processing facilities situated in the south. Regardless of the sector, the single most important component of all forest-based industries is the local forest resource and its capacity to supply a sustainable source of forest products over time. Creating awareness at the industrial and community levels is essential to maintaining the quality and productivity of our forest resources.

Caring for Land

The Local Landscape: Selecting, Growing and Propagating Native Plants for Property Owners.

March 8, 2013 by Louise Livingstone

On March 13, the Hastings Stewardship Council presents Peter Fuller speaking on The Local Landscape: Selecting, Growing and Propagating Native Plants for Property Owners. This is the third evening in their Winter Speaker Series, and it takes place at the Thurlow Community Centre, north of Belleville, at 7 pm.

Peter Fuller is the owner of Fuller Native and Rare Plants located just east of Belleville on Airport Parkway. Peter’s slide show will display a wide variety of recommended plant choices from ground covers to shrubs, from sun to shade, and from wet to dry areas. He will also give techniques for propagating your own plants from the abundant possibilities that surround us in eastern Ontario. Peter has long been an outdoor enthusiast, combining his interest in the natural world with his interests in horticulture.

The nursery propagates perennials, grasses, ferns, shrubs and trees, mostly from seed, to supply property owners with plant material. Whenever possible, local seed sources are used, as well as ethical seed collection practices. The nursery promotes habitat conservation and encourages people to develop naturalizing projects and shoreline restoration projects, as well aspropagation skills to increase enjoyment of our native flora. A percentage of Fuller’s sales is donated to local conservation efforts.

Native plants provide a host of interesting, hardy, and ecologically sound options for home gardeners and landscapers. Learning a good mix of native plants can increase site diversity, attract pollinators and birds, add colour and texture to natural areas, and ensure plants that are adapted to our local conditions.

Peter Fuller’s presentation will give gardeners new skills for planting and propagation, plant lists to take home, (and enhance your dreams of spring gardening), along with new perspectives on a host of native plants for a bountiful garden. This colourful show will “sow the seeds” of new planting ideas to help preserve our heritage.

All are welcome at the Thurlow Community Centre on 516 Harmony Road, (north of Belleville) on Wednesday, March 13 at 7 pm. There is no charge, but donations at the door will be gratefully accepted. Refreshments will be served. For more information, contact the Hastings Stewardship Council at 613-478-6875.