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Natural Awakenings Central New Jersey

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PermaJam Comes to Sussex in July

New Jersey’s transformative festival called PermaJam has returned for its second year and will be held at Toye Recreation Campground in Sussex, NJ from Saturday July 1st through Tuesday July 4th. PermaJam is a family-friendly event geared towards community-building with a large focus on permaculture farming. Workshops in permaculture, yoga, art and much more will take place during the day and the evenings will feature live music. The grounds are host to beautiful hiking trails, a swimming lake, and tent and trailer hook ups are available at a nominal fee.

The music line-up features over 30 musical performances including international touring acts The Nth Power and Moon Hooch and returning artists Wild Moon, Happy Accident and Incus.

Over a dozen yoga instructors will be teaching, including Loretta Turner of Powerflow Yoga, Jason Zagaro of Flow Yoga in Ho-Ho-Kus, Kimie Mittman leading Kids Yoga, and more.

More than 30 workshops will be held daily including “Oily Veteran” Michelle Terreri on the benefits of essential oils, in addition to professional permaculture designer and educator Robyn Mello, who is the Orchard Gleaning Director for The Philadelphia Orchard Project and owner of Edenspore, LLC. Eric Fuchs-Stengel who is the founder of MEVO, one of the most excellent youth lead environmental groups in Northern NJ will be presenting on beekeeping and permaculture.

If you are interested in vending, sponsoring, donating, or volunteering at the festival, send us an email to [email protected]. For full details and tickets, visit PermaJam.com. 

Natural Awakenings Natural Awakenings Central New Jersey Edenspore LLC Flow Yoga Michelle Terreri PermaJam Powerflow Yoga Robyn Mello Toye Recreation Campground News Briefs
Tick Talk

Spring officially sprung on March 21. We have turned our clocks ahead. We are looking forward to warm winds, sunny skies and the smell of fresh cut grass. The daffodils and tulips have recently bloomed and we are just starting with the yard work that comes with the warmer weather.  Sadly, another season has started ramping up.  Tick season.

•             The best form of protection is prevention. Educating oneself about tick activity and how our behaviors overlap with tick habitats is the first step.

•             According to the NJ DOH, in 2022 Hunterdon County led the state with a Lyme disease incidence rate of 426 cases per 100,000 people. The fact is ticks spend approximately 90% of their lives not on a host but aggressively searching for one, molting to their next stage or over-wintering. This is why a tick remediation program should be implemented on school grounds where NJ DOH deems high risk for tick exposure and subsequent attachment to human hosts.

•             Governor Murphy has signed a bill that mandates tick education in NJ public schools. See this for the details.  Tick education must now be incorporated into K-12 school curriculum. See link:

https://www.nj.gov/education/broadcasts/2023/sept/27/TicksandTick-BorneIllnessEducation.pdf

•             May is a great month to remind the public that tick activity is in full swing. In New Jersey, there are many tickborne diseases that affect residents, including Anaplasmosis, Babesiosis, Ehrlichiosis, Lyme disease, Powassan, and Spotted Fever Group Rickettsiosis.

•             For years, the focus has mainly been about protecting ourselves from Lyme disease. But other tick-borne diseases are on the rise in Central Jersey. An increase of incidence of Babesia and Anaplasma are sidelining people too. These two pathogens are scary because they effect our blood cells. Babesia affects the red blood cells and Anaplasma effects the white blood cells.

•             Ticks can be infected with more than one pathogen. When you contract Lyme it is possible to contract more than just that one disease. This is called a co-infection. It is super important to pay attention to your symptoms. See link.

https://twp.freehold.nj.us/480/Disease-Co-Infection

A good resource from the State:

https://www.nj.gov/health/cd/topics/tickborne.shtml

 

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