Michigan Governor's 2010 Executive Budget

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Message from the Director, Bob Emerson

As Director of the Office of the State Budget, I would like to invite you to explore and make use of the many areas of our Web site. The State Budget Office is responsible for coordinating all aspects of the state budget including development of the Executive Budget recommendation, presentation of the budget to the Legislature and implementation of the budget after enactment. The Office also supervises and manages the collection and dissemination of educational data through the Center for Educational Performance and Information.

I am committed to providing comprehensive and useful information regarding the state budget and responsibilities of this office. I hope you find what you are looking for within our Web site.

**Governor Granholm's 2010 Executive Budget Addresses Structural Deficit, Protects Families
**Fiscal Year 2010 Executive Budget

Michigan Treasury

The Tax Saver's Credit Toolkit

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A new resource from AARP—a Retirement Made Simpler partner—has been developed for HR professionals to help employees make the most of the Saver's Credit—a federal income tax credit of up to $1,000. Toolkit materials include intranet content, an e-mail message, materials for open enrollment packets, FAQs and more.

Click on either the Automatic 401(k) or Traditional Defined Contribution Plan Toolkit below to learn more about how you can help eligible employees claim this valuable tax credit.............

Retirement Made Simpler

Triple your gift!

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Triple your gift! A generous donor has offered to match your gift, two-to-one, as a challenge to support ISLAND’s work in the community. Make your tax-deductible gift before midnight, August 31, and your gift will be matched two to one, up to a total of $6,000.
Your contribution supports your commitment to ecology, agriculture and the arts in small places like northwest lower Michigan. Your dollars will fund three major programs:
Creation of new art: The Hill House Residency Program is an artist residency serving emerging musicians, writers at all stages of their career and a growing selection of non-studio artists. Awards are given to between 12 and 18 artists each year and consist of time and space—two to four weeks in a rustic log cabin near the Jordan River, stocked with local and organic food—to support artists and the creation of new art. 
Support of beginning farmers: The CRAFT Program, the Collaborative Regional Alliance for Farmer Training, enhances agricultural internships through a regional network of farms. Each growing season a score of small farms take turns hosting workshops, farm tours and social potlucks as a way for interns to gain exposure to a wide range of agricultural techniques and management styles, and to build community amongst young and beginning farmers.
Skill building for community self reliance: Workshops and Skill Swaps focus on building community self-reliance through a wide range of skills, like beekeeping, home-mushroom production, wildlife tracking, tractor and chainsaw safety, cordwood building, fruit tree grafting, and fermentation. The Goat Skill Swap and Radical Homemaking Skill Swap are mini-conferences with focused, hands-on skill building. ISLAND has hosted nearly 100 different events over the last six years, with over 100 more slated for 2012.

A generous donor has recognized ISLAND’s important work in this community. Please join her in supporting local agriculture, the arts and ecology.

Two easy ways to give:

1. Donate online at www.artmeetsearth.org
2. Send your check to: ISLAND at 5870 Cottage Drive, Bellaire, MI 49615

PS: There are only a few short weeks before our August 31 deadline. Your gift will be matched two to one, so please give today!

Putting By

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How to can, pickle, freeze, dry and cure—so you can enjoy the harvest all year 

Come learn how to can, pickle, freeze, dry and cure; or if you know how, come join in the fun of preserving food in a group setting. Canning jars, lids and produce will be provided. Each participant will learn hands-on, and take home a share of the finished product the end of the workshop. There will be take-home info and resources available. Each event is tentative and subject to change based on the season. For more information and to register, contact Mary at (231) 522-6262 or mary@artmeetsearth.org.July 26: Pickles and dilly beans
at Bliss Gardens Farm and Community Kitchen in Cross Village

August 9: Raspberry jam
at King Orchards in Central Lake

August 12: Blueberry jam
at King Orchards in Central Lake

August 23: Pickles and dilly beans
at Birch Point Farm in Traverse City

August 30: Freezing sweet corn
at King Orchards in Central Lake

September 4: Canning tomatoes
at the Wells Family Farm in Williamsburg

September 6: Tomatoes: Canned, frozen, and dried
at Bliss Gardens Farm and Community Kitchen in Cross Village

October 13 & 14: Hog breakdown and charcuterie
at Epicure Catering in Omena

Many thanks to our supporters and partners: Rising Star Wellness Center, Edible Grande Traverse, USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, Northern Michigan Small Farm Conference

 

Learning how to Weld

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Inside the metal-roofed barn, stale with hot air accumulated from the Sunday sun, stood ten participants of a welding workshop listening ardently to the information their instructor, Derek Newland, was giving to them. “There is more to welding than just knowing how to weld,” said Derek, a twenty-seven year old Bellaire local. Derek got his start when he moved to Canada six years ago and since has had experience from production to military welding. “For instance, you can use cardboard as a shield against flammable objects if you soak it in water first,” Derek continued.

The July 22nd event at Derek’s family home marked the second success for an ISLAND welding workshop. ISLAND is an arts and ecology institute in Bellaire dedicated to connecting people with skills and resources to help build a strong local community. “Today we are going to be working in two groups,” instructed Derek, “Those who want to use welding for farming purposes and the artsy folk.” The group looked around at each other heedfully; with some it was easy to tell which application they would choose, yet others were harder to place. Derek continued to explain that generally everybody would continue to work together in one group but there would be two separate focus projects. For those with a desire to work on farm equipment, the days project would be to build a broadfork, a sort of pitch fork that uses one’s body weight to dig into the ground and loosen soil; for those wanting to create art, well, the day would start by uncovering lost treasures in various piles of rusty scrap metal. 
As the group separated into individuals—some digging through and discovering old-turned-new pieces of scrap, others huddling around a large piece of paper telling tales of how to construct a simple yet valuable tool—Derek rolled out a small red Lincoln Electric welder. “Gather round please,” Derek was preparing to give the class a demo.“Today we are going to learn about MIG welding.” Derek proceeded to talk about some basic safety measures, metal preparation and handling, all the while preparing himself for the first weld of the day. He slipped on a worn yellow leather jacket to protect his arms from the heat and fly away sparks; on his head he wore a backwards baseball cap covered in american flags, “By wearing your hat backwards you are able to protect your head and your neck at the same time,” he advised.
With a slight breeze from the lone rickety fan in the corner, Derek bent over two pieces of metal and demonstrated how to make a tack weld. When he was finished, one by one each student was able to have a turn at making their own tack weld. Derek waited patiently beside each person as they made their attempt. He gave them each personal pointers and let them try as many times as they needed until they felt comfortable with the process. Throughout the next few hours this rotation continued between one-on-one instruction and group discussion. By the end of the day, though worn from heat, smiles sparked the air congratulating one another on the progress the group made together on their various projects. “Welding is the ultimate skill for a do-it-yourselfer,” exclaimed Brad Kik, co-director of ISLAND and workshop attendee, “I’ve been working with wood for a decade, but there are some projects that are just meant for metal-working.”
Join us for the 3rd ISLAND Welding Workshop with Derek Newland on Sunday September 30th. Preregistration is required. For more information call (231) 622-5252 or email mary@artmeetsearth.org

Art Schoolmaster welding part of a broadfork
 
Brad Kik welding part of a broadfork   Julie Martinson grinding scrap metal in preparation for welding  

From Farm to Frame: Ripe Moments Through the Le

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From Farm to Frame: Ripe Moments Through the Lensfrom the farmfrom the marketfrom the tableFrom Farm to Frame: Ripe Moments Through the Lens is a photo contest that will showcase the beauty of small farms and local food through three different categories: from the farm, from the table, and from the markets. Awards reception October 23, 5:30pm to 7:30pm at the Carnegie Building Exhibition October 23 to November 25, 2012 at Crooked Tree Arts Center CALL TO ARTISTS: All photographs must have been taken in Emmet or Charlevoix Counties and must not have been previously exhibited at Crooked Tree Arts Center. Jury selected photographs will hang in an exhibition at Crooked Tree Arts Center in the Lower Level Gallery; cash and prizes will be awarded to all winning entrants. Top prize also includes publication in Edible Grande Traverse. Submit work online at www.crookedtree.org. Deadline: September 14, 2012. For more information: Visit www.artmeetsearth.org, or call (231) 622-5252 Many thanks to our sponsors and partners: American Spoon Bear Cub Outfitters Blackbird Gardens Coveyou Scenic Farm Crooked Tree Arts Center Edible Grande Traverse Fleming Feirm The Grain Train Jolly’s Cookies and Café Julienne Tomatoes Institute for Sustainable Living, Art & Natural Design (ISLAND) Lake Street Market Local Eats Magnum Hospitality: Café Santé & Red Mesa Grill Michigan’s Guide to Local Cooking No Boundaries Northern Copy Express Palette Bistro Petoskey Community Victory Garden/ Farming For Our Future Petoskey-Harbor Springs Area Community Foundation Pond Hill Farm Stafford’s Hospitality SweetGrass Framing Toski Sands Twisted Olive Café

Vote for the Food Preservation Trailer!

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Food Preservation on Wheels—a canning, curing, fermenting kitchen in a trailerVOTE HERE

Awesome Food, the Food Chapter of the Awesome Foundation for the Arts and Sciences is offering a grant for $1,000 to an organization that will make our food more awesome. Our idea? Food preservation on wheels!Ideas are open to public voting from August 23 to September 6. All submissions with 50 votes or more will advance to the final round of judging by Awesome Food’s Trustees for a chance to win a $1,000 grant.

Picture a small enclosed trailer that can be pulled onto any one of a hundred small farms at the peak of produce ripeness. Folks gather, the trailer doors open, and in about 30 minutes everyone is getting to work in a three-season high-efficiency food preservation kitchen. A tent keeps wind, sun or rain off of a bank of high-BTU burners, boiling away at hot water baths and pressure canners. Inside the trailer, a sink and food prep station allows up to six people to work at prepping produce. With a few small modifications, the same trailer can be outfitted to ferment kimchi or sauerkraut, or make yogurt, or even demonstrate the slaughter of small livestock like goats, sheep or pigs.

With this trailer we can:
1) make food preservation a party. Folks can come to learn, or to update their skills, or they can come to meet new folks, hang out with friends and keep the drudgery away.
2) close the gap between a small farm's surplus and the cellar pantry for scores of families.
3) connect the dots between food preservation and the economy, culture and ecology of our small places.

VOTE TODAY!


Think this idea is so awesome that you'd like to support it with dollars and votes? Click the link below to donate online.