Volume 04, Number 07 • Thursday, July 5, 2012
MIDWEEK REPORTER THE
A Publication of the Hudson Reporter • Nine Weekly Newspapers Serving Hudson County • Stories updated continuously at www.hudsonreporter.com
Trees of Hoboken
Ripe for growth Community agriculture group spreads in Journal Square
Local artist paints the urban forest
THE ART OF NATURE – Local artist Bill Curran gets his inspiration to paint from the urban landscape.
By Adriana Rambay Fernández Reporter staff writer
ocal artist Bill Curran knows the colors and the shapes that define the streets of Hoboken after 28 years of dedicated walking along a changing urban landscape. His observations of trees, plants, bushes, and gardens have greatly influenced his creativity as an artist. He paints what moves him and inspires him in the moment, whether it is a tree hidden at the end of an alleyway or the trees on Stevens Institute’s Campus or the bright yellow flowers outside of City Hall. He has an exhibit titled “Trees of Hoboken” at City Hall that features 18 paintings and two drawings through July 31. The paintings span the most recent 10 to 12 years of his work while the drawings date back to the late 1980s when he was just beginning to “see.” His works in the exhibit are primarily oil on canvas.
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see CURRAN page 6
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The Journal Square CSA has formed its partnership with Andover, N.J. - based farmer Sergio Nolasco, the owner of Nolasco’s Farm.
By E. Assata Wright
What’s a CSA anyway?
Reporter staff writer
ersey City is blessed with several farmers’ markets that offer New Jersey-grown vegetables, fruit, dairy products, and meat to customers throughout the summer and early fall months. As bountiful as these markets are, their hours and locations are not convenient for everybody, and the selection of food might not always be what a customer wants. For customers looking for other options, a subscriptionbased Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) group might fit the bill. The downtown area has been home to the Downtown Harvest CSA, which has operated in that neighborhood for 12 years. Interest in this CSA has been so extensive that membership typically shuts down in the spring, leaving many residents who are interested in joining a CSA out in the cold. This year, however, Jersey City’s nascent CSA movement has spread beyond downtown and has now reached Journal Square. “We actually started last year. But it was really small,” said Katie Sheehan, one of the group’s core organizers. “We just had a few people. This is the year we really got started.” The group currently has 33 members.
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CSAs will usually form a relationship with one or two small local farms. The CSA then allows members of the community to buy “shares,” or memberships, which go towards buying produce and other items from the partner farms. The model gives people who might not otherwise get farm fresh goods a new food option, and gives small farms a new customer base. Members are generally “locked” into the CSA for the season and each week receive a large grocery bag of whatever the farm has in season. The Massachusetts-based Indian Line Farm and the TempleWilton Community Farm in New Hampshire were instrumental in developing the CSA concept in the U.S. in the 1980s. The Journal Square group has formed its partnership with Andover, N.J.-based farmer Sergio Nolasco, the owner of Nolasco’s Farm. “We decided to go with Nolasco’s Farm because he and his wife already have experience in the farmers’ market community in New York and with the New Farmer Development Project that’s part of Grow NYC,” said Sheehan. “So this is work he’s doing already. This is his first time working in Hudson County. But since his farm is based in New
see CSA page 6