I wanted to pass along a great new volunteer opportunity I'm involved with that many of you might also be interested in!
Community Harvest of Southwest Seattle and Seattle Tilth are partnering to train volunteers to become mentors for new gardeners in the West Seattle / White Center area. It's a great opportunity for folks to hone their gardening skills (Tilth's 30-hr organic gardening is provided at no cost!), while helping others grow healthy, affordable food.
I've included further details below. If you're interested, please feel free to contact me, or go to www.gleanit.org.
We're actively seeking potential volunteers, so if you can help out by spreading the word, we'd appreciate your support!
Garden Helpers: Connecting new gardeners with community mentors
Community Harvest of Southwest and Seattle Tilth are excited to offer a new program to train community members to mentor new gardeners in West Seattle and White Center.
If you would like to help others grow their own food, the consider becoming a Garden Helper! Training will consist of a free 5 week, 30 hour course on organic gardening and teaching adults, Thursday evenings (7 – 9PM) and Sundays (9:30AM – 2PM) from May 20 through June 13.
Mentors will then volunteer 30 hours (or more!) and help novice gardeners grow their own food. Volunteers should have some vegetable gardening experience, a desire to work with others, and an encouraging attitude.
We're also looking for people who want help growing their own food! Mentors will provide free, in-person assistance to help budding gardeners get started in backyard, P-patch, or container gardens.
Hello Friends and Fellow Farmers, Tomorrow as usual will be another Farm Friday, with a harvest party (and food to take home...) at 11:30, potluck lunch at 12, and a work party (mostly at the p-patch student garden behind fluke hall) starting at 12:30, and going until we drop. Also next wednesday at 5pm is our May All Farm Meeting, with a new uw farmer orientation at 4:30 (starting at at the Botany Greenhouse). Finally volume two of Land of the Unsown (a series on the unsown plants (some call them weeds) on the UW Farm) is now on the UW Farm Blog, with link below. hope to see you tomorrow, brady
Just a reminder that we're having a work party at the P-Patch TOMORROW, FRIDAY, April 30th from 12:30-4:30pm -- though we might get done earlier if enough people show up. We're filling the new garden beds with soil! YAY! The more the merrier, so please stop by if you can, even for just part of the time.
An RSVP would be great, or just show up :)
Thanks!!!
Joanna
P.S. For those who are new to the garden, the P-Patch is located behind Hall Health. If you're facing Hall Health's front doors, go down the side of the building to your right until you get to a flight of stairs. Go down the stairs, and you'll find yourself on a small concrete foot path. You can see the garden from there, just down the path to the right a bit.
i read an interesting thing in reference to the endangered sei meat which showed up in a california restaurant regarding japan's relationship with eating whale. apparently buddhist scholars believed that eating whale was a conscientious choice for providing meat, as you can feed more people per death. in a philosophic framework wherein one should minimize killing sentient beings, whale is preferable to chicken for providing protein. of course, as a vegetarian, i get to sidestep the whole "deciding which animals to kill" issue. :) which seems to me to be an important part that's missing here... it may very well be true that livestock require more resources than fish, and that some species of marine mammal are at high enough population sizes that one could open harvest on them without creating a large environmental impact. and it's also true that economies of scale can reduce impact/unit on the distribution of produce. but it completely ignores the greater impact of reducing consumption of animal products and increasing consumption from backyard victory gardens. where's the cost-benefit-analysis of converting x% of yards to gardens, providing x% of people with backyard hen houses or converting x% of people to vegetarian or vegan diets? rsn
On Thu, 29 Apr 2010, Joel Kramer wrote:
> iS HE cRAZY? > sEE YOU THERE, > jOEL > > UW Aquatic & Fishery Sciences Quantitative Seminar > Ray Hilborn > > EATING WHALES TO SAVE THE RAINFOREST? SHOULD AN ENVIRONMENTALLY > CONSCIENTIOUS PERSON EAT FISH? > > ABSTRACT > > As world population grows and food demand increases, many wonder how the > earth can sustain this growing demand. Different forms of food production > cause different stressors on the environment. In this talk I will look > specifically at the relative environmental impact of marine capture > fisheries compared to terrestrial agriculture. Marine capture fisheries in > general have less environmental impact than any form of terrestrial > livestock production -- for instance to replace marine capture fisheries > production by livestock grazing, the worlds rain forests would all need to > be cut down 22 times over! Sustainable harvesting of whales could produce > about 1 million tons of meat per year - this could save an enormous amount > of terrestrial habitat, and reduce pollution in significant ways. Marine > capture fisheries also have less environmental impact in many dimensions > than small scale organic vegetable production. I will include some > discussion of the relative impacts of aquaculture. I will also pose the > question of why marine fisheries are held to totally different standards > than terrestrial production. For instance if you replaced the word "marine" > with "terrestrial" in the Marine Mammal Protection Act would we have > anything to eat? > > Audience members are encouraged to bring sushi for after seminar snacks! > > APRIL 30, 12:30-1:30 FISHERIES SCEINCES 203 > > (MAP) > HTTP://WWW.WASHINGTON.EDU/HOME/MAPS/SOUTHWEST.HTML?50,50,240,695 > > http://fish.washington.edu/quantsem/ > > >
Eating whales to save the rainforest? Should an environmentally conscientious person eat fish?
Abstract
As world population grows and food demand increases, many wonder how the earth can sustain this growing demand. Different forms of food production cause different stressors on the environment. In this talk I will look specifically at the relative environmental impact of marine capture fisheries compared to terrestrial agriculture. Marine capture fisheries in general have less environmental impact than any form of terrestrial livestock production -- for instance to replace marine capture fisheries production by livestock grazing, the worlds rain forests would all need to be cut down 22 times over! Sustainable harvesting of whales could produce about 1 million tons of meat per year - this could save an enormous amount of terrestrial habitat, and reduce pollution in significant ways. Marine capture fisheries also have lessenvironmental impact in many dimensions than small scale organic vegetable production. I will include some discussion of the relative impacts of aquaculture. I will also pose the question of why marine fisheries are held to totally different standards than terrestrial production. For instance if you replaced the word "marine" with "terrestrial" in the Marine Mammal Protection Act would we have anything to eat?
Audience members are encouraged to bring sushi for after seminar snacks!
Hey, Spring into Bed is happening for the first time in Seattle. This grassroots effort is installing 10 garden beds for low-income families on May 8th. Many other people are building there gardens on this day as well. As the UW Farm, we are helping round up some volunteers. Starting with Coffee and Doughnuts at the Farm at 9, Volunteering is from 10-3 and then a huge party in south Seattle in the night to celebrate everyones hard work. This is the first annual spring into bed, so get involved in its early stages! Thanks for all your help!
We're going to divert at least a chunk of our Friday-farm-work-party-energy this week to the P-Patch, where we have finished building lots of new raised beds and will begin filling them with soil. We're getting a HUGE load of it delivered to the garden on Friday, so the more hands/shovels/wheelbarrows we have helping, the better! We'll be working from 12:30-4:30pm -- stop by anytime!
----- Forwarded Message ---- From: Jenny Pell <jennypell@gmail.com> To: Joanna Wright <joanna_8689@yahoo.com>; nedra deadwyler <nedradeadwyler@gmail.com>; chelsea clancy <FIYAFIYAR@gmail.com>; Daniel Johnson <abundance@rawexuberance.com>; Kelda Miller <kelda@riseup.net>; Lisa Taylor <LisaTaylor@seattletilth.org>; paul wheaton <paul@richsoil.com>; Chris Doyle <cdoyle76@gmail.com>; dave boehnlein <permaculture.dave@gmail.com>; glennherlihy@speakeasy.net; Margaret Corley <ms_lilycorley@yahoo.com>; michael hunter <michaelogic@yahoo.com> Sent: Mon, April 26, 2010 2:52:37 PM Subject: Permaculture Laborers Needed, May 2nd
Hi everyone, I'm writing to you hoping you can connect me with 3 hard-working permaculture laborers for an installment coming up THIS weekend - Sunday May 2nd.
I will pay $12.50/hour cash, and the job should take about 6 - 8 hours, and will include sheetmulching, lots of loading and unloading wheelbarrows, and planting berries, shrubs, and fruit trees. The job is in Redmond.
Let me know if you or someone you know might be interested.
THANKS, Jenny Pell (206) 949-0496
-- The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now. www.permaculturenow.com (206) 949-0496
Hi All, Just wondering if there was a reason the post for the community design meeting at your neighboor p-patch wasn't posted last week? Had it been posted before I was a member or do you have strict rules regarding postings from outside the UW? Just wondering!! Thanks. Tracy
See the Academy Award nominee about Urban Farming in South Central LA. Free screening organized by Undergrad Student Public Health Association. See details below.
We will be having our 3rd movie night of the year this Tuesday at 6pm! Pizza and beverages will be provided!
WHAT: USPHA MOVIE NIGHT WHERE: Thompson Hall 101 WHEN: Tuesday, APRIL 27 @ 6pm WHY: Showing the academy award nominee documentary "The Garden" plus FREE FOOD.
For more info about the movie, check the link below.
-- Alvin Tran President, Undergraduate Student Public Health Association (USPHA) Public Health I Medical Anthropology & Global Health University of Washington
Hello Again folks, If you got the email about being unsubscribed: Don't Worry, it is not true, it is a mistaken message. You don't need to resubscribe yourself, contrary to my last message. Again, we are so sorry for the spate of emails, but you can just ignore them! Brady
Hello Farmers, If by accident your email address gets unsubscribed from the Farm listserve, please have patience and resubscribe. We are working on the problem. Cheers, Brady
Was this a mistake? Did you forward your email to a friend, and they accidentally clicked the unsubscribe link? If this was a mistake, you can re-subscribe at: Subscribe
Send all submissions for the weekly newsletter to uwfarm@u.washington.edu
FARMWEEK Week April 26 - May 2 UW Farm Updates
Joel Salatin Visits the Farm
Joel Salatin, of Food, Inc and Omnivore's Dilemma fame, came to the UW this past Tuesday through PCC Farmland Trust. He visited the UW Farm for a couple of hours to hear what our student farmers are up to and share some knowledge.
Traca Savadogo, Joel's driver and the host of the lectures, had this to share after Joel's visit to the UW: "We were driving back to the hotel and I asked him, 'What is it that lights your fire?' He said meeting the UW students was exactly what feeds his soul, talking with educated people who are choosing to be farmers. He was absolutely glowing about that event. I dropped him off so I wasn't there but wow, he loved it." Earth Day Helps the Farm Spread its Message
April 22nd saw farmers pairing up with members of Hillel for an Earth Day work party, and people dressed as carrots out on the HUB Lawn! Check out Hillel's website here
Not to mention....the UW Farm won a 2010 Husky Green Award!
Biochar: what we know, what we think we know, and what we do not know The UW Farm has invited Dr. Hugh McLaughlin, the Director of Biocarbon Research at Alterna Biocarbon, to give a presentation on biochar this Wednesday.
Dr. McLaughlin’s presentation will focus on the science behind biochar's potential as a significant wedge strategy for carbon cycle management and as an important environmental services tool.
Biochar, as an addition to soil, is attributed with increased moisture retention, improved air permeability, elevated cation exchange capacity, increased buffering of soluble organic carbon, and synergistic interactions with soil microbial populations leading ultimately to increased crop yields. In addition to acting as a natural carbon sink by sequestering CO2 and storing it in the soil, initial studies suggest that the addition of biochar to idle and degraded lands could be an effective method for reversing desertification.
As a large scale climate mitigation strategy, issues surrounding the sustainability of biochar are both environmental and social; there is uncertainty around biochar's ability to sequester carbon, the albedo (or reflective) effect of laying charcoal near the soil surface, the management of pyrolysis to mitigate harmful emissions, appropriation of land from local communities, effect on rural job opportunities, impact on biodiversity, and potential production practices leading to soil degradation. These issues need immediate research and informed debate. Dr. McLaughlin is one of the leading voices in this very necessary process.
Dr. Hugh McLaughlin has worked in process development and environmental engineering for over three decades, with most of that experience in the role of consulting engineer to a wide variety of manufacturing operations. He is an expert in the area of activated carbon manufacture and its utilization in air and water treatment applications. He has several patents in the area of activated carbon use and regeneration. Dr. McLaughlin has led the efforts at Alterna Energy to enhance the Native Adsorption Capacity of Alterna Energy Biocarbons, whereby biocarbons can be utilized in applications traditionally requiring more expensive activated carbon products.
When: Wednesday, April 28 Time: 6 pm Location: Physics and Astronomy Building, lecture room PAA 110
UW Farmer Featured on UWtv in Honor of Earth Day
UW farmer Michelle Harvey was recently interviewed on UWtv with a panel of students in honor of Earth Day. Hear what students have to say about corporate greenwashing, Coca-cola on campus, and student activism.
Local P-patch Hosting a Redesign Meeting and Invites UW Farmers
The UW Farm's neighbor p-patch down the Burke Gilman Trail is hosting a redesign meeting and you are invited to join!
Along the Burke Gilman Trail towards Ivar's Seafood House is a community garden. This is the University District P-Patch--located at 7th/8th & 40th. We received a $15,000 grant from the Seattle department of neighborhoods this year to hire a landscape firm and do community-inspired garden re-design!
The University District community is invited to come together for 3 UD community gatherings where we will list our thoughts, ideas, and dreams to create a new certified landscape design/drawing for the UD p-patch. Once we get the design, we will go for additional grants to accomplish the physical construction (erosion containment walls, patios, shed, etc)
We will be meeting from 6-8PM at the UFM (University Friends Meeting) on 9th/40th (near to the Peace garden and the Roosevelt/Eastlake Bridge).
April 24 (Saturday) *passed*
May 22 (Saturday)
June 25 (Friday)
Come one come all! Please pass on this information to friends you think may be interested in joining the event!
Hope to see you there!
If you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact Tracy Stober
Your Chance to Participate in the Proposed Student Food Cooperative
A message from students who are proposing a student food cooperative on the University of Washington campus: Do you want to have more control in what food choices are available to you on the UW campus or in the University District? Do you care about having an idea of where and how your food was grown or raised? Do you want to see alternative yet affordable food options that align with your values, be they environmental sustainability, farm worker and animal rights, or community development? UW students are following prominent universities (like Berkeley, Evergreen, adn UBC) in creating a student food cooperative whose purpose is to address food justice issues and achieve a level of sovereignty over their food system.
If you are hungry for change, please take ourSURVEY! We need your input.
Note: We recently expanded our survey questions and created a more formal UW Catalyst Survey. If you previously took a ''SurveyMonkey' survey for us, your comments will be taken into consideration but we would love to have your voices counted in our updated Catalyst survey tool. Sorry for the invonvenience.
Spring into Bed is a grassroots effort to improve our urban food resilience, capacity, and equity. In Seattle on May 8th there will be hundreds of individuals building gardens on their own and in groups that day, as well a minimum of 7 Food-Justice Gardens* that will help a low-income family get growing. If you want to Captain a set of beds, please contact Stephanie.
Thanks for helping feed your families, community, and region,-- Michael Seliga, Cascadian Edible Landscapes 206-708-9298 www.eatyouryard.com
Gauging Interest for a Real Food Challenge Summer Training
The organizers for the Northwest Real Food Challenge are in the process of trying to gauge interest and generate ideas for a summer training. The summer training has yet to take much form, though they have played around with the idea of having it in Oregon (near Portland) with the help of a local farmers union. The training would offer an awesome opportunity to get firsthand experience with labor issues and organizing as well as leadership development and any topics of interest to our participants.
They would love to hear from you:
1. Are you or anyone you know interested in such a position with RFC?
2. Would you or anyone you know be interested in attending such an event?
3. What about being involved in organizing the event (either hard core stylee or laid back)?
A stunning transformation seems to be taking place in the USDA. Could this be a change for the better?
Article here Comment about this article on our university food social network site here
Summer Study Tour of Sustainable Agriculture and Slow Food in Switzerland and Italy
August 2010: Announcing a study tour that focuses for a week on biodynamic agriculture with Nikolai Fuchs and colleagues at the Goetheanum in Dornach, Switzerland, and for a week studying Slow Food at the University of Gastronomic Sciences and the University of Florence in Italy. Henning Sehmsdorf (of S&S Homestead Farm) is co-teaching the course with Professor Gigi Berardi (of Western Washington University, Huxley College of the Environment). The study includes a three day intensive prior to the tour on S&S Homestead Farm on Lopez Island, including Goethean art and science with guest lecturers Janet and Barry Lia, and a closing seminar on Inspiration Farm in Whatcom County. See: http://www.acadweb.wwu.edu/eesp/summer/swissitaly/index.shtml and contact Prof. Berardi for details (gigi.berardi@wwu.edu). Feb 1 is the first deadline. Space is limited.
New Farm Blog Features Local African Refugees
Urban agriculture and farming is often used as a way to create community, autonomy, and identity among people, especially immigrant communities that have been displaced from their homeland. UW student Lydia Caudill, a senior in Community, Environment, and Planning, has been working with Burundi and Somali Bantu refugees on a newly-aquired 10 acre farmsite in Auburn.
The idea of the program is not just to farm, but also provide leadership opportunities. By using farming, communities gain the opportunity to work together, as well as receive a financial return on food that can help support their families.
While the farmers are excited to get started, the land has been unused for a while. Caudill, hoping to continue with the project, says that in the future she hopes to organize volunteers who want to visit the farm as a way to get the farm "in the best shape it can be and [show] the farmers that they are supported by the larger community."
One tool being used to connect this refugee community with the local population is a blog. If you are interested in helping with the project or just want to learn more, the link is below.
In the wise words of Masanobu Fukuoka, "Natural farming is not just for growing crops, it is for the cultivation and perfection of human beings." We can all support projects like this.
Hi P-Patchers (alumni and new!), UW Farmers, and friends,
Just a reminder that we're building the last of our new raised beds in the P-Patch tomorrow, Sunday, from 9am-1pm. We've got a lot of work to do, so if you can make it out for any of that time, please come! In fact, if you could RSVP, that would be really helpful. Otherwise, just show up :)
I'm bringing some food to share -- feel free to bring a snack or something to pass around, and we can have a bit of a potluck lunch together toward the end.
Let me know if you have any questions (206-679-9022). Hope to see you there!
I am contacting you guys because I know that Sam Kraft in my architecture studio was involved somewhat in contributing to composting/worm bins with the farm. Sam has had to go home for family circumstances, but we would like to try to keep up the system. Does anyone know anything about this? I know we had been separating compost that was free of citrus, Tully's cups, meat and dairy to go to the worms, which I think he said were at the UW farm. If I am mistaken, please let me know. I think the other bin was just going in general compost collection for the university.
Congratulations to the UW farm!! well deserved award for the hard work of all of you guys! I have been away for a while...but this is an inspiration for continuing helping there. I'll show up again soon!! wonderful job!!! Ursula ****************************** Ursula Valdez Box 351800,Department of Biology University of Washington Seattle, WA 98195-1800 uvaldez@u.washington.edu
On Thu, 22 Apr 2010, Brady William Ryan wrote:
> Hello Friends and Fellow Farmers, > Congratulations to all of us on being recognized by the UW for our work edibilizing and educationalizing our lovely little plot of land. For the second time in two months, the UW Farm has been at the center of the front page of the University of Washington website, which to me shows that they are proud to have a farm. This in turn tells me that it is about time that they give us Foege field to grow a ton of beautiful food and farmers! Anyway, this is a honor for the farm and all the many people who have put their energy into it. I hope to see you all tomorrow (friday) for a foraging tour at 11:30, Potlunch at 12:30, and work party afterward. > > Contentment is at the foundation of sustainability. Happy Earth Day. > Brady > > ps. Today marks the beginning of our new campaign for urban agriculture on campus (and specifically foege field): > Why not HERE? Why not NOW? > > > Farmers are front page material: > www.washington.edu > > Husky Green Award: > http://uwnews.org/article.asp?articleID=57256 > > > > _______________________________________________ > TheUWfarm mailing list > TheUWfarm@u.washington.edu > http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/theuwfarm >
These are some good folks in our neck of the city woods.
---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Meghan & Brian Peterka<brianpeterka@gmail.com>
Howdy- we're looking for some nice folks to rent the main floor unit of our duplex on our urban farm located a few blocks north of the Seattle border in Shoreline (near the Crest Theater). Please feel free to forward this ad link to anyone you know who might be interested: http://www.postlets.com/rts/3699119. Available May 1st. Fresh eggs, honey, berries, fruits, veggies and garden space are included in the deal!
Hello Friends and Fellow Farmers, Congratulations to all of us on being recognized by the UW for our work edibilizing and educationalizing our lovely little plot of land. For the second time in two months, the UW Farm has been at the center of the front page of the University of Washington website, which to me shows that they are proud to have a farm. This in turn tells me that it is about time that they give us Foege field to grow a ton of beautiful food and farmers! Anyway, this is a honor for the farm and all the many people who have put their energy into it. I hope to see you all tomorrow (friday) for a foraging tour at 11:30, Potlunch at 12:30, and work party afterward.
Contentment is at the foundation of sustainability. Happy Earth Day. Brady
ps. Today marks the beginning of our new campaign for urban agriculture on campus (and specifically foege field): Why not HERE? Why not NOW?
Bed construction in the P-Patch continues! We'll be finishing up the building this Sunday, April 25th from 9am-1pm. If you haven't been able to come out for the other times, now's your chance to help out and learn some basic carpentry skills! If you have already come out, come on out again -- you can help guide others and your expertise will make the day go smoothly. This is likely the last day of construction. We've just had word from Cedar Grove that they will donate soil to us, so after this, we'll be filling the raised beds with soil and beginning to plant some veggies!
I'll bring snacks and tools. You bring water, your muscles and your friends!
Hey Farmers, Come on a foraging tour with me, leaving the greenhouse this friday at 11:30 am. We will eat some unsown plants, talk about foraging, and make a monster salad for a special event (shhhh, its secret...). Also on friday as usual we will be having a potlunch around 12:15 or so and work party after that. Should be another wonderful Friday at the Farm. Cheers, Brady
What an amazing evening with Joel Salatin! Many thanks to all of you who volunteered to make his time in Seattle organized and productive.
Tomorrow, at the Earth Day celebration, the first ever Husky Green Awards will be announced. The farm was nominated and it would be great if as many farmers as possible were able to be present when the awardees are made known!
There is a GIANT Earth Day fair happening on Thursday. We need people at our booth from 10 - 2.....it should be fun! Lots of people and music. Plus, we might have a carrot costume. Anyone want to volunteer to wear that??
Please let me know if you can come, even for a half hour. This is a great opportunity to spread the word about the farm...and we need farmers to do that.
Wow! I got so many positive responses on the seed bombing! So to get this out of everyone's emails I've moved the event over to Facebook. You can view it here:
I believe the guest list is open so you can invite yourselves. Please also post any links to seed bombing recipes or videos you have so I can figure out a process beforehand so we can just sit and crank out buckets of seed bombs!
If the date is not good for too many people, I can change it to a Friday evening or something along those lines, maybe Wednesday?
The location is currently undecided. I don't want to assume it is okay to host at the farm without someone's (interns, Brady, Liz?) blessing. If it's not okay to do it at the farm, we'll just do it in my backyard!
On Wednesday morning we are going to build a giant pea-trellis in the front of the Botany Greenhouse like the one last year. We are starting at 8:30 if anyone is interested in coming down.
Also, we are building a bunch of compost piles out of manure, grass and paper clippings on Thursday 10:30-12:30 with Hillel, come on down if you want to see how that is done!
Outreach is meeting on Wednesday (April 21) from 12 - 1 in the greenhouse. WE HAVE A LOT TO TALK ABOUT in relation to Earth day this Thursday, so please come and help us out! It's the perfect opportunity to get the word out about the Farm!
Joel Will be giving two lectures: the first from 6 - 7:30 and the second 8 - 9:30.
All tickets at the door will go for $25.
I hope you can make it. Please tell your friends about the event. Also if you would like a free ticket to the show - sign up to volunteer. If you are interested in volunteering please e-mail me right away!
If you don't already know about Joel Salatin - you can find out more by reading about his farm:
-Keith Possee Medicinal Herb Garden Biology Department Box 351800 University of Washington Seattle, WA 98195-1800 USA phone: (206) 543-0436 FAX: (206) 616-2011
**************
EVENTS:
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My name is Anne, I am co-President of the Student Nutrition Association on campus at Bastyr University. On April 23rd and 24th we are having a film festival. We will be screening the movies "Fresh" and "Food Fight." Our intent is to give our community the opportunity to watch these powerful films and begin to make the small sustainable changes that are needed to return us to as state of real food. We will be having a vendor fair prior to each screening. Our vendors include local merchants whose focus is on educating the public about sustainable and locally grown food.
Given that the U Farms philosophies are in line with you event, I though you might be interested in letting your students and members of your community know about the event. I have attached our event flyer. If you have any additional questions, please let me know.
Come one come all! Friday, April 23rd, for one night only, the P-Patch House (where I live) will turn into an underground restaurant and folk music venue. We're doing this to fundraise for Spring Into Bed (springintobed.org), a grassroots, city-wide day of garden-bed building, including food justice gardens for low-income families. Here's what you can expect to enjoy:
6:00 to 8:00: Secret Cafe
Arrive anytime between 6 and 8 and tuck into a delicious, four-course, home-made, local/organic-focused meal, served at your table by the P-Patch's finest for only $10 (local wine and home-brewed beer also available for purchase)
9:00 'til you drop: Concert
Listen and get down to the fine strummin' fiddlin' and hollerin' of local folk artists Nettle Honey, Junk Bones, and Mostly Neighbors - entrance is $5, and more homebrew will be on tap
What: University of Washington EarthDay Celebration When: April 22, 2010, Fair 10am- 3pm Concert 11am-2pm Where: Husky Student Building lawn on UW Campus
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UW Farm – Hillel Work Party
April 22
10:30 – 1:30
Bees, Mushrooms, Chickens & Strawberries.
Freshly grown on the UW Campus!
Hillel is joining the UW Farm for an Earth Day workparty. With your help we'll be able to turn a pile of shredded paper and coffee grounds into a rich nutritious pile of compost to help grow tomatoes and zucchini for this summer's pizza bakes. Feel free to take some fresh produce home with you afterward!
Turn off your lights. Turn off your beloved Macbook. Turn off your TV. Turn off your Spongebob night-light. It's only for an hour!
Climate change is one of the BIGGEST issues facing our world today. It's hurting fragile ecosystems and threatening animal and plant species. With new weather extremes, pests, diseases and warmer temperatures create challenges for agriculture. The quality of water in many communities is being impacted. Plus, THE POLAR BEARS, LIKE 'SUNNY', ARE DROWNING!!
OUR GOAL: To get the entire U-District to stop using electricity for ONE HOUR.
This simple act will make a HUGE difference! And during that hour of darkness, head over to Red Square where there will be food, music, and other activities all ELECTRICITY FREE!!
"My bike was stolen from the Montlake commuters bike rack. It's an old, rusty blue Schwinn mens frame and it had flat tires. I'm sure it looked forgotten, but it was definitely not. I figured the UW Farm was a good place to start looking since it has a strong bike community and Montlake is so close to UW. If anyone has any clues on how to find my bike, PLEASE let me know. I would really like it back and there will definitely be a reward."
Thanks for reading our weekly newsletter!This is a response to the high volume of email that have been going out on the listserve.While emails pertaining directly to farm activities will still be posted, we encourage all other events, announcements, and points of interest to go to one of two places:
1. Our new social network site is growing, and is a great place to facilitate discussions on important topics. If something food/agriculture/sustainability related catches your eye and you want to let people know, why not do a blog entry or start a discussion? You need to join in order to post, but the site is open to anyone to read. This is
ideally campus-wide, so it doesn't just relate to farm people. What a great way to form a community and get your point across! See site here: http://uw-food.ning.com/
2. Send an email to uwfarm@u.washington.edu. We will be checking it every weekend and sending out an email SUNDAY NIGHTS with a "newsletter" of announcements, news clippings, and events. This way people know to look out for this newsletter, and won't be bogged down with countless emails.
Please note that anyone who still feels like there are too many emails can either change their subscription to digest format (where emails get bulked together into daily "digests") or unsubscribe with the link at the bottom of any farm email.
Finally - If people or organizations are interested in collaborating with the farm, you can also write directly to: Beth Wheat: elizaw@uw.edu Brady Ryan: Bradyr@uw.edu (Current Farm Director) Nina Arlein: ninarlein@gmail.com (next year's Farm Director) Michelle Harvey: harveym@uw.edu (Farm Outreach Coordinator)
Let's make this work! -Michelle Harvey Farm Outreach
Come one come all! Friday, April 23rd, for one night only, the P-Patch House (where I live) will turn into an underground restaurant and folk music venue. We're doing this to fundraise for Spring Into Bed (springintobed.org), a grassroots, city-wide day of garden-bed building, including food justice gardens for low-income families. Here's what you can expect to enjoy:
6:00 to 8:00: Secret Cafe
Arrive anytime between 6 and 8 and tuck into a delicious, four-course, home-made, local/organic-focused meal, served at your table by the P-Patch's finest for only $10 (local wine and home-brewed beer also available for purchase)
9:00 'til you drop: Concert
Listen and get down to the fine strummin' fiddlin' and hollerin' of local folk artists Nettle Honey, Junk Bones, and Mostly Neighbors - entrance is $5, and more homebrew will be on tap
I have done no research about this specific legislation, and am passing this along to ya'll. It looks like the bill is pushing for plant-based meals, though it has little definition of what plants will be used, or how they will be used. It's also discussing alternatives to cow's milk. Maybe mini-graham cracker-gingerbread houses will be passe in five years time.
---------- Forwarded message ---------- More than a third of America's children are overweight or obese. They are at risk for adult diseases like type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and hypertension. Over 30 million kids eat at least one meal at school each day. Most of these meals are high in saturated fat and cholesterol and low in fiber and other key nutrients, and most students cannot choose a healthful, plant-based alternative for their lunch tray. But YOU can help us make change in Washington and in school lunch lines across the country.
Hey Farmers! I don't know if this has come up before, but would anyone else be interested in getting together to make seed bombs? From there obviously we could practice some guerrilla gardening and scamper all over campus and the U-district under the cover of night to scatter balls full of edible, hearty seeds!
For those of you who don't know, seed bombs are small (peanut m&m or bigger) balls made of clay and/or a clay-compost-fertilizer mixture packed with seeds that you toss into any bare dirt of ground (road medians, abandoned lots, etc.) in hopes of making it explode with life! When the rain hits, it disperses the clay and the seeds into the soil, avoiding the birds and sun that would kill them. A lot of seed bombers seem attracted to using wildflowers, but in hopes of populating our city with edible foliage I suggest we try it our way with local edible plants.
Let me know if you're interested! I'd be happy to host a seed bomb making party up at my house a few blocks north of campus if the farm is not a feasible location.
As many of you may know, the UW Student P-Patch Garden is approaching the completion of its expansion, and soon we'll have lots of new garden beds for students to grow food in! The P-Patch, located behind Hall Health, is a place for students to grow their own food, learn about urban agriculture, food sovereignty and sustainability, and enjoy being part of a vibrant community on campus.
Do you want a plot to garden in for the rest of this spring quarter? There are also possibilities to stay on through the summer, and you'd have priority for plot assignments at the beginning of the coming academic year. As a project of SEED (Students Expressing Environmental Dedication, a group who focuses on promoting sustainability in the residence halls), the only eligibility requirement for being a P-Patcher is that you are living in the dorms -- though this requirement is waived, of course, for summer quarter gardeners.There is no fee, and tools, seeds, gardening books, and other resources will be provided for you. You don't have to have gardening experience to be a P-Patcher -- you just need to have a hunger for learning, a passion for good, fresh food, and a desire to get your hands in the soil!
If you're interested in having a plot, please email me back. I'm compiling a waitlist, and plots will be assigned on a first-come, first-serve basis. Also, feel free to get in touch if you have any questions. My email is joanna_8689@yahoo.com and phone is 206.679.9022.
Thanks! I look forward to growing healthy soil and delicious plants with you!
