International Bike to Work Day
May 18, 2010
The 3rd Friday of May is internationally known as bike to work day to raise awareness for commuting on your bicycle. Why participate in the bike to work day. With the increasing trends of staying fit and healthy with our often sedentary jobs, increasing quality of life, concerns for the environment and price fluctuation of Gas Prices the reasons for commuting by bike are increasing. And personally I have to add the 25 minute ride home at the end of my day clears my mind most likely saving me multiple hours of therapy bills!
So this Friday to encourage commuting by bicycle we’ll give a free small coffee (or equivalent discount on other drink) card to anyone who bikes in to the cafe this Friday!!!!
Concrete Proof of Global Warming?
May 15, 2010
I thought this was an interesting article I picked up from the Guardian Newspaper in the UK that some of you may be interested in.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/may/13/catlin-arctic-survey-north-pole-water
Here’s an excerpts from it.
“Arctic explorers have taken the first-ever samples of ocean water at the north pole after a gruelling two-and–a-half 
month expedition across the polar ice…..
……The survey hopes to measure how fast the Arctic Ocean is acidifying due to rising CO2 levels and what effect it has on the region’s animals and plants. Setting out in early March, the three-strong explorer team trekked over 483 miles across sea ice off the coast of Greenland to the geographic north pole.”
Asim Chin’s Fogotten @ Good Earth Summerside
May 15, 2010
I mentioned last week that Asim showed early to last weeks artists showcase to record a song for his Youtube channel he updates weekly. I wanted to share it with all of you and invite you to check our his youtube channel to see a mix of amazing covers and originals at http://www.youtube.com/user/AsimChin#p/u/12/23aiEk9ZVKM . So I’ll stop making you read away and let you enjoy the song!
Pure Artist Feature Night May 10th, 2010
May 10, 2010
Friday saw another great night of performances by the singers from Pure Artists! Asim, Mackenzie, and Sean returned to our cafe and we were pleased to also welcome Lyndsey Manyluk to our cafe for the first time! They delighted us with a wide range of music this past Friday ranging from energetic pop songs to soulful blues and Jazz influenced songs for a night that was sure to have something to please everyone. As always visit our feature artists page to learn more about the 4 of them!
Grounds for Gardens
May 6, 2010
I wanted to take a moment to educate everyone about our Grounds for Gardens Initiative. With one of our mandates being environmental responsibility and waste being a personal pet peeve, we are trying to find homes for our coffee grounds in your compost. Thankfully I have a new garden I’m working on which has already consumed multiple 5 gallon buckets of grounds however we produce much more then I can dispose of personally.
So why put coffee grounds in your garden?
It’s a great compost additive, working as a soil enhancer creating richer compost! Coffee grinds have a high carbon to nitrogen level. For which the Acidity will create a good texture to the compost without making your soil much more acidic as the compositing process creates a neutral pH level. Also worms love coffee as much as we do and the grounds promote activity, making your compost process quicker. This also works if you want to increase activity in your garden by adding coffee with your soil as a top layer which will keep the worms working harder (sounds like they have similar correlation between effectiveness at work and their caffeine intake as I do). Some plants that particularly like coffee grounds are those that like higher levels of acidity such Hydrangeas, Blueberries, Daffodils, Spring Bulbs, Cardinals, Cranberries, Rhododendrons, Spruce and Oak to name a few. However any garden can benefit from coffee grounds.
Pest Control
There’s contradicting theories between Pest Control and if there’s an effect. The theory behind it’s benifits are that a concentration of caffeine will kill slugs. Thankfully coffee grounds do not have a high enough concentration to actually kill the slugs, but that the concentration of caffeine left in ground coffee is a slug and snail deterrent which if sprinkled around tender plants and veggies will keep the evil villains away. However, many also argue that the concentration of caffeine in brewed coffee grounds isn’t significant enough to have an effect as the brewing process removes most of the caffeine so we can reap the benefits of it : ). If anyone has personal experience using coffee grounds as pest control I’ll love to hear the results or lack there of.
A few tips, for composting coffee grounds.
1) Mix your grounds with approximately equal amounts of potting soil and add bit of water to create a fast acting fertilizer
2) Ring plants with coffee grounds before watering or rain to create a source of nitrogen and create a pest deterrent. Aside from slugs and snails many claim that it will deter cats and other animals as well.
3) You can dry the coffee grounds and work them into the soil around acid loving plants.
4) For composting don’t worry about throwing the coffee filters in. They are biodegradable and will compost quickly as well
5) Ron from www.urbanfarmer.ca recently suggested using grounds as a growing medium for mushroom cultivation, particularly oyster mushrooms. Simply place the grounds in a plastic bags and mushroom spawn is mixed. Keep it in a moist and dark place and a harvest should be had in a 3 to 6 months time.
I’ll end on the note if you want to take advantage of some free composting materials please bring us a bucket with your name and phone # and we will call you as soon as it’s filled and ready to be picked up!
Pure Artists Feature Night!
May 3, 2010
Friday was the our Pure Artists Showcase night and they impressed us once again with talent and passion not often seen. All those I spoke to last night where astonished by the voices, music, poise, and passion all the young artists displayed.
Last night performers included Emily Seal, Livy Jeanne, Mieke Maligne & Sameena Sherman putting on a amazing performances all with individual styles. We also heard many original song last night showing that the talent goes much deeper then their amazing voices, also allowing us to discover some new music you won’t hear on the radio. Actually let me rephrase that some new music before it makes it on the radio. I can’t wait to see them all back in the cafe!
Once again please check out our Featured Artist Page to learn more about these artist.
And I apologize for the mediocre picture quality, I have to figure out this new camera quick.
