This weekend's full Moon has a special name -- the Harvest Moon. It's the full Moon closest to the northern autumnal equinox. In years past, farmers depended on the light of the Harvest Moon to gather crops late into the night. Post-Edison, we appreciate it mainly for its beauty. Be alert in the nights ahead for Harvest Moon halos, coronas and 'dogs. Visit spaceweather.com for examples and more information.

Or to listen to Harvest Moon, the Neil Young classic, click here. There's a full moon risin', let's go out and feel the night...

September is just stuffed with great things to do for anyone with an eco-interest of any kind. We've already told you about the URI Global-Change Seminar Series on Tuesday evenings. Here are a few more highlights from our inbox.

This Saturday, Sept 13, the annual Urban Edge Farm Hoe Down promises to be a rip-roarin' good time in celebration of local farms and local food, 4 to 8 pm, dinner, drinks, music, tours, dancing, and more, just $20 for grownups, Students $15 and kids under 12, $5 each. Click for info and directions. (That's the farm, in the pik above.) You can also join the Bike For Life in South County Saturday morning, and help remind drivers to share the road with bicyclists. Click here for info. Also, Audubon's awesome Raptor Weekend, Sept. 13 & 14 in Bristol (click here for more info, and click here for a photo slideshow from last year's event).

Also on Saturday, the 13th, Sea Grant's CoastWeeks launches, with bunches of events around the state, from talks and workshops to cleanups and cruises, and lots more, all in celebration of our beautiful coastline. Click for info and a calendar of events.

Coming up next week:

Wednesday, Sept. 17, check out Runway Earth 7, click here for info. This is a fun event, and if you think planting 40,000 trees in Providence is a great idea, going to this event is one way to show your support.

On Thursday, Sept. 18, Kevin Pearce of Bluewater Wind will give a presentation at URI's Bay Campus about his company's state-of-the-art offshore wind energy technology. The talk is from 11 to noon at Corless Auditorium, all are welcome to attend. For more info about Bluewater Wind and their work, click here. For directions to the auditorium, click here. 

URI's Fall Gardening School starts Sept 22 at RWP Botanical Center, click here to sign up now. On Sept. 25, Apeiron Institute hosts a Sustainable Schools Summit, click here for the flyer. REI in Cranston spends a day to introduce you to the kayak life, Sept. 27, click for info.

Need more event ideas? Check out NNN's new Calendar format, in the left sidebar on our front page. Hover on any date and a list of events will appear, just click on any event for more details. Or click on "Calendar" in our top navigation bar for a larger version of the list for the week. Many thanks to Sue Korte at What Grows On In R.I. for doing such a great job creating these calendars and helping to keep RI's eco-community connected and informed!

We're lucky here in RI to have a beautiful new -- and FREE -- publication called Edible Rhody, that celebrates all things culinary in the state, including our local farms and local seafood. It's a beautifully produced magazine and comes out just four times a year, and you have to grab one quick when you find it -- they don't last long. Look for ER at grocery markets, coffee shops, restaurants, wine shops, and more. And when you pick it up be sure to flip to the back page for Green Scene, to check out exclusive stories about our local environment, fresh from Natural News!

This month's issue will take you on a culinary tour of Tiverton, foraging for mushrooms with David Gracer, and catching monkfish with Ted Platz of Newport. You can explore Sakonnet Vineyard, meet the folks behind Farmstead, and lots more, all fun-to-read stories illustrated with great photos and supplemented with plenty of recipes and useful facts and info. Check it out! And if you can't find a free supply, you can subscribe online.

If you ever worry that the world we are leaving to our children isn't in as good condition as it should be, there is one easy but positive and lasting thing we all can do -- plant a tree!

This fall, Groundwork Providence and the RI Tree Council are working toplant 40,000 trees in Providence by 2020 -- that's right FORTY THOUSAND! You can bet that will make a difference in all kinds of ways -- all those thirsty roots will soak up the runoff that today gets into storm drains and carries contaminants to the Bay. All that shade will cool neighborhoods in summer. And every tree will absorb carbon dioxide, to help curb global warming, and give off oxygen, to help sweeten our air. 

So what could be better than to help plant trees?! Volunteers are needed for Tree Teams who will help ensure that young trees are planted properly and cared for with love.  For more info, contact Ray Perrault at 351-6440x14 or email This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .