The local chapter of the statewide OEFFA organization is the Miami Oxford Organic Network Education Committee. It is incorporated under the same legal umbrella as MOON Co-op Grocery. Harv Roehling, who grows organic lettuce at his Locust Run farm, is president of the local chapter.
OEFFA has launched a campaign to encourage Ohio grocery stores to stock more Ohio-grown produce. If you have been to MOON Co-op Grocery lately, you may have seen signs promoting the campaign titled “OH So Fresh.”
The full moon closest to the autumnal equinox is the harvest moon. The harvest moon is special because it rises earlier in the evening than other full moons, a spectacular site at dusk.
Some years, the harvest moon is in October, but this year it was the Sept. 19 full moon. October’s full moon, which will appear Oct. 18, is the hunter’s moon.
Many local farmers will have stands at the festival to display and sell their produce. If you regularly go the Oxford Farmers Market Uptown, you will see a lot of familiar growers at the festival.
Be sure to bring children to the Double J Farm display. The Streit family owns the Double J Farm, which is located off of Route 73 near Trenton.
The Streits raise dairy cows from Jersey, the Channel Island between England and France. These are the cutest cows you will ever see. They are small and good-looking with sweet dispositions.
Alex Zomchek, an Oxford resident, who has headed up beekeepers associations at both the state and county levels, will bring a beehive. Don’t worry, you will be protected from the bees — and vice versa.
Honey bees are disappearing in the U.S., killed off by ingesting pesticides and herbicides. We depend on the bees, not only for honey, but to pollinate many fruits and nuts.
Oxford resident L.L. Langstroth was the “father” of American beekeeping. In 1852, Langstroth received a patent for his beehive that revolutionized the beekeeping industry.
At the festival on Sunday, Zomchek will give a talk at 3.30 p.m. on the importance of honey bees and how beekeeping started in Oxford.
The Harvest MOON Festival includes cooking demonstrations at 2 p.m. and 3 p.m. by Steve Townsend, deli manager at MOON Co-op, Oxford’s consumer-owned full-service grocery featuring natural, local, organic, sustainable, and Earth-friendly products. The store, located at 512 S. Locust St. in Oxford, is open to the public every day. www.mooncoop.coop.
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