New for locavore types: Jersey Grown Wood
NJ Ag and Audubon officials unveil first product, a birdhouse
This birdhouse is more than a matter of getting the roof slant and the size of the entrance hole right.
New Jersey Audubon's latest rendition is a sustainability move. It's made with "Jersey Grown Wood," a program the New Jersey Department of Agriculture unveiled today.
It's an extension of the department's successful Jersey Grown/Jersey Fresh program, which promotes Jersey produce, Jersey plants, Jersey seafood and more. It's all about using local resources that are more sustainable, given that they don't come from halfway around the world.
In the case of the birdhouse, the wood is Atlantic white cedar sustainably harvested in the state under a Forest Stewardship Program approved by the NJ State Forest Service. It was grown and milled at Schairer Brothers, a family-owned sawmill in Egg Harbor City. Then it was made into a birdhouse by Bruce Amey, a carpenter from Harmony Township.
The idea is to to draw people's attention both to where their wood products come from and how they are harvested; and make people aware that an alternative supply of forest products is available locally, according to a press release. Atlantic White Cedar forests are declining in many areas of the state -- partly because of neglect, partly changes in the environment -- active management and stewardship can help restore and regenerate the forests, the groups said.
They birdhouses will be registered with the agriculture department to carry its new label, "Made with Jersey Grown Wood."
Audubon is also offering birdfeeders made from the wood, which dovetails with another program that markets locally-grown sunflower seed for backyard feeders. Called S.A.V.E. -- for Support Agricultural Viability and the Environment -- it promotes the production of agricultural products that are economically and ecologically sustainable.
For more information on NJ Audubon "Made with Jersey Grown Wood" birdhouses and feeders, and the retailers and Audubon centers centers where they can be purchased, visit www.njaudubon.org.