Kids Almanac: Minnewaska’s Babes in the Woods, raptors, teen screenwriting & Red Hook reading fest

Kingston’s Fair Street Reformed Church hosts CSA Fair this Saturday

Do your kids know where different foods come from? Or what time of the year various fruits and vegetables grow? Are they connected with any local farms or growers? Does your vegetable range include kale or kohlrabi? Even if you grow your own garden, many of the established farms in our area have much to offer in terms of variety, expertise and community. Consider joining a CSA this year.

When you join a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture), you’re investing in a seasonal share of a local farm. In return, you receive a weekly share of the harvest. This model of food-sourcing is so valuable to families because it’s a way to restore an understanding of how food happens and establish a direct link to the land that grows some of your family’s food. It’s like getting a taste of farming without actually having to do or know it all.

The Northeast Organic Farming Association of New York (NOFA-NY) Catskill/Hudson Region is hosting a CSA Fair on Saturday, April 14 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Fair Street Reformed Church. This event is free and open to the public, specifically intended to help acquaint you with participant farms in our area and the CSA terms for each one. Fair Street Reformed Church is located at 409 Fair Street in Kingston. For more information, contact NOFA-NY at (585) 271-1979, e-mail [email protected] or visit www.nofany.org/csafair.

Reformed Church of Poughkeepsie showcases Strawberry Hill Fiddlers this Sunday

Vibrant! Uplifting! Energized! These are three words that come to mind when I think about the Strawberry Hill Fiddlers. This group of young people works and plays hard to bring terrific music to audiences everywhere. They just might inspire your own kids to take up a stringed instrument, or if they are classically trained already, to audition for the group.

Their next performance is part of the Tower Music Series at the Reformed Church of Poughkeepsie and takes place on Sunday, April 15 at 3:30 p.m. The concert is open to all, and a free-will offering will be taken (suggested donation $10). The Reformed Church is located at 70 Hooker Avenue in Poughkeepsie. For more information, call (845) 452-8110 or e-mail [email protected]. To learn more about the musicians, visit www.strawberryhillfiddlers.com.

Gardiner Library hosts kids’ self-defense workshops beginning this Sunday

Jen Wait is passionate about teaching children that no one has the right to hurt or bully them, and she is offering a four-part children’s self-defense series at the Gardiner Library called radKIDS (“resist aggression defensively”). This hands-on course provides participants with the opportunity to practice safety techniques rather than just talk about them. Per the radKIDS website, “Would we train our children how to swim by telling them how in the living room, then throwing them in the water?”

This class is intended for children ages 7 through 12 and meets on April 15, 22 and 29 from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m., and on May 6 from 12:30 to 2:30 p.m. The cost is $25 per child, and preregistration is required. Class size is limited.

The Gardiner Library is located at 133 Farmers’ Turnpike in Gardiner. To register for the program, call the Gardiner Library at (845) 255-1255. If you have specific questions for Wait, she can be reached at [email protected]. To learn more about the program, visit www.radkids.org.