Fodor Farm To Kick Off Lecture Series

The community aspect of Fodor Farm is getting more play with a series to talks to be held on Saturdays starting June 14th. The Hour reports:

Herbal medicine, applied kinesiology, whole grain baking and organic gardening are among the offerings in a free lecture series, which is scheduled to kick off at Fodor Farm Community Garden on June 14.

The Department of Recreation and Parks, along with the Common Council’s Recreation, Parks and Cultural Affairs Committee, arranged the Saturday summer lecture series as a complement to the newly opened community garden.

Michael A. Mocciae, director of recreation and parks, had hoped to enlist a couple of presenters for the first year of the lecture series.

Response was overwhelming.

“We thought if we could get a couple this year, it would be beneficial to (garden) project, and we came up with 19 different lecture series. So many people were interested,” Mocciae said. “All of the topics are interesting. They have to deal with nature.”

The lectures are scheduled for 1 to 2 p.m. every Saturday, from June 14 to Oct. 18, under the tent at the community garden, which is located at the corner of Scribner Avenue and Flax Hill Road.

First up is Janice Ditchek, clinical herbalist at Sleepy Hollow Herbals Nature Pharmacy. On June 14, she is scheduled to speak about natural healing with herbal medicines. The following Saturday, June 21, Christine Bove will lecture on Feng Shui for the kitchen.

On Oct. 18, the last scheduled date in the lecture series, Mary Elizabeth Cook is scheduled to speak about whole grain baking for the holidays, according to the parks department.

The Fodor Farm Community Garden opened in mid-April and has proven so popular that roughly 100 families are on a waiting list to get plots, according to Mocciae.

Fred A. Bondi, chairman of the parks committee, said the lecture series ties in with the purpose of the garden, as evidenced by the state grant that created the garden. The $94,911 grant paid for irrigation, landscaping, tools, a tool shed, composting, and a marketing campaign to attract people to the garden.

“We got the grant that time because it’s trying to teach people about nutrition,” Bondi said.

source: The Hour, Fodor Farm lecture series to offer plenty of food for thought, By Robert Koch, June 9, 2008