Interesting public policy and practice ideas

These Farms Are Living a Double Life discusses the experiment taking place at Hofgemeinschaft Heggelbach: solar and farming on the same land at the same time. Hofgemeinschaft Heggelbach is "the farming community built Germany’s biggest solar installation under which crops can grow, a method known as agrophotovoltaics (APV)." "Steel columns holding 720 gleaming panels comprising 27,000 square feet of state-of-the-art solar technology."

The Rich Earth Institute, on the other hand, moved years ago to implementing the idea of urine as fertilizer idea. Learn more in Meet the Peecyclers. Their Idea to Help Farmers Is No. 1. Writes journalist Catrin Einhorn, "Human urine, Mr. Sellers learned that night seven years ago, is full of the same nutrients that plants need to flourish. It has a lot more, in fact, than Number Two, with almost none of the pathogens."

As Einhorn discusses, the need now for alternatives to traditional fertilizer is an imperative given the war in Ukraine.

Rich Earth Institute is working to update "the Uniform Plumbing Code (UPC), to include approved practices for urine recycling." The question is, will the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development adopt the UPC code including urine recycling?

Image credit: Hofgemeinschaft Heggelbach as shown in These Farms Are Living a Double Life

Community meals and food events (free and paid)

Free food Free Food Thanksgiving Pop-up Mobile Pantry, Saturday, November 15, 9:00 - 11:00 am, Kinsale : Hundreds of Blessing Bags filled with non-perishable items, desserts, fruits and vegetables, fresh bread, frozen turkey. First come, first served until all items are gone. Location: New Jerusalem Baptist Church, 3695 Kings Mill Rd, Kinsale. Sponsored by Sowers Of Hope and Jospeh’s House. Thanksgiving Giveaway Free Food Drive Through, Sunday, November 16, 8:00 - 10:00 am, Warsaw : Hundreds of blessing bags until gone. Turkeys, hams, perishable, non-perishable items, and much more. Location: Rappahannock High School (parking lot), 6914 Richmond Rd, Warsaw. Sponsored by Sowers Of Hope, Jospeh’s House. MCVRS Thanksgiving Dinner, Wednesday, November 26, pickup Noon - 3:00 pm : Residents of Northumberland County aged 75 and older and living in the middle part of the county may get a free traditional Thanksgiving meal. Registration by November 21 is required. Call (804) 456-81...

Quilting in red, white, and blue: Celebrating Our Independence Quilt Show, July 1-7

Historic Christ Church & Museum and Sewlovelee are featuring the art of NNK quilters July 1-7 at the Celebrating Our Independence Quilt Show . This joint celebration combines art and history. Quilters are asked to exhibit their red, white, and blue quilts which tell the stories of our independence from Britain, our history since the American Revolution, and the future of the United States. The quilts will also serve as the backdrop of Christ Church's annual reading of the Declaration of Independence. The reading is a patriotic celebration and is in partnership with the Cobbs Hall Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution and the Richard Henry Lee Chapter of the Sons of the American Revolution. There is no fee to enter a quilt into the show. Learn more about entering the show . There is no fee to see the quilt exhibit. Edit, 1:00 pm: I cannot resist a tie-in, so here it is. Consider creating a quilt that is inspired by, speaks to, or represents the hist...

The blue crab population has declined 25% according to latest dredge survey results

The Virginia Marine Resource Commission (VMRC) has announced the 25% decline of the blue crab population between 2024 and 2025. The Chesapeake Bay Foundation (CBF) calls the results a “distressing low.” Many in the Bay watershed would likely agree with CBF’s reaction. Not two months ago, the Chesapeake Bay Foundation released the results of the IPSOS poll of 2,000 people living across the Chesapeake Bay watershed―DC, MD, PA, and VA―which found that the Bay animal most in need of protection was the blue crab (70%). Other top animals identified were bald eagle (68%), oyster (49%), and striped bass (36%). Read the full press release, “Virginia’s Adaptive Management Addresses 2025 Blue Crab Population Fluctuations,” here: HAMPTON, VA - The 2025 Bay-wide Winter Dredge Survey results indicate the Chesapeake Bay’s blue crab population has declined from an estimated 317 million crabs in 2024 to 238 million crabs. Virginia’s blue crab managers are not surprised by these findings, as c...

Policy on the #NNK

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