Time for Reflection

We had our first real sit-down volunteer lunch last Wednesday, in an effort to do a little reflection and planning as the season begins to wind down. Thanks to everyone who was able to be there–your input and insight was very helpful. (check out the new “Wish List” page on the top of the blog…updated after our discussion!)

The number of things we wanted to talk about as a group, as well as how much fun it was to sit down and eat good food together inspired the installation of bi-monthly volunteer lunches. So mark your calendars, these gatherings will take place every two weeks this fall! Next up: September 12th at Noon! See you there (new or aspiring volunteers welcome!!)

Field Trip!

Last Thursday, we (a group of food bank volunteers and gardeners) took a little field trip over to the Good Cheer Food Bank Garden on South Whidbey. Our little garden in Port Townsend is hugely inspired by the garden at Good Cheer and by Carey, their amazing garden coordinator.

Good Cheer Garden Coordinator Carey Peterson explains her garden systems…


She does lots of intensive plant rotations over the course of the season, thanks to rich compost from the worm bins–fed by the food bank  food waste!

Good Cheer has a spiffy commercial kitchen where they can prep and freeze the summer bounty…zucchini anyone?

 

 

 

The layout of the Good Cheer Food Bank looks a lot like a grocery store. Check out that produce! A lot of it comes from the garden, but also from home gardeners and farms.

The staff and volunteers at Good Cheer have done a lot of educational outreach regarding how to prepare and cook less popular but super healthy veggies. Now the kale and chard just flies off the shelf! We liked these nutrition/recipe posters for bok choy and beets.

Thanks Carey and Kathy at Good Cheer for taking the time to teach us! We are so inspired by your work!

Real Summer. And NEWS!

Well folks, looks like summer has finally arrived. And with it the tomatoes are rapidly ripening, squashes are filling out, and the greens have been looking a little droopy under the hot (!) afternoon sun. Meanwhile, our fall planting is well underway, with more more more greens of all kinds, carrots, beets, and the next round of peas popping up out of the ground.

As usual, we’ll be in the garden next Wednesday morning starting at 9am to harvest and work on a few projects.

 

ALSO, MARK YOUR CALENDARS INTREPID VOLUNTEERS (AND those of you who are interested in volunteering in some way in the future!!): On Wednesday AUGUST 29TH at 12pm we’ll have a volunteer meeting at the Mt. View food bank garden. It would be GREAT if everyone could make it so we can all meet one another, and talk about what’s working, what can be improved, etc. as we launch into the fall/winter season. LUNCH will be provided! If you have anything specific you’d like to add to the “agenda” for that meeting, email Ellen at [email protected]

Oh! One more thing–the most important! THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH for all of the work, sweat, and expertise you’ve brought to this little garden. We’re growing good things for our community, thanks to all of you!

Moving Right Along!


Thanks to this little stretch of warm sunshine we’ve had, the little starts have been jumping out of the soil like crazy in the greenhouse! Pictures will be posted soon…it’s hard to keep up with documenting all the changes this time of year!

Last Wednesday we had a great first work day, and really made some headway, putting up the fence and moving the gate, and moving dirt every which way. THANK YOU to everyone that came out!

This week we have more dirt to move, garlic to transplant, and an assortment of planting to do inside and outside! Stop by anytime, 10-3ish.

BIG THANKS!

WOOHOOO! It’s finished. The plastic is on the greenhouse. Does it look great or what?

BIG BIG THANKS to EVERYONE that helped on the various stages of the project: John, Brad, Greg, Malcolm, Judy, Lys, Jason, Carl, Craig, Grant, Renny, Keegan, Christine, Claudia, Casey, Eric, Larry and the Wallyworks crew: Dan, Lucious, Nate, and Micah. You all made it happen!

Greenhouse Raising, Chapter 1:

In the beginning, there was gravel and dirt….

Then we dug holes, poured cement, and set posts:

Meeting of the minds, coming up with the afternoon game plan:

Hoops and purlins go up!


Day 2: moving dirt, making beds, building doors.

THANK YOU THANK YOU to the very skilled and gung-ho volunteers that came out for the raising! As you can see, we’ve still gotta get the plastic up–so stay tuned, there’s more raising on the way!

Wednesday Wash Out

The forecast is calling for another wet Northwest winter classic tomorrow, and since really there’s not much left to do (pictures coming soon of the newly built outside garden beds!), we’re calling off the 2-4 Wednesday work party. So stay inside and rest up for the grand greenhouse raising in just a few weeks… we’ll need all hands on deck!

first work party: before and after

Our first work party was a huge success! We moved lots of raspberries, greens, and a couple fruit trees to make way for the greenhouse, built a retaining wall, cleared out quack grass, and squared up the greenhouse footprint. Big thanks to everyone that came out to lend a hand! The next work party is slotted for THIS SATURDAY 2/18 at 9:30. We’ll be finishing the seed starting shelf and building some outside garden beds. Hope you can come!

BEFORE

DURING

AFTER