Monday, March 9, 2015

Help Grow UW Farm WIth Donations




Recently, the UW Farm, located next to the Center for Urban Horticulture, accepgint donations towards a crowdfunding initiative to help expand and improve their facilities this year.

The UW Farm is cam­pus cen­ter for the prac­tice and study of urban agri­cul­ture and sus­tain­abil­ity providing an edu­ca­tional, community-oriented resource for peo­ple  

Through the crowdfunding USeed, the UW Farm is hoping to raise enough funds during their current campaign to:
  1. Build additional hoop-style greenhouses
  2. Build a better wash station
  3. Build a cob oven to bake pizza
student farmers




The information says:

Help us Grow the UW Farm

 We are looking to raise $9,000 to support the construction of the following at the Center for Urban Horticulture farm site:

  • a new cob oven1 and shelter,
  • reusable and portable hoop houses2,
  • and a new, conveniently located wash station.

What We Do

  The UW Farm is a student driven urban farm on the University of Washington campus. The Farm inspires people like you in the UW community to think critically about our food system while providing a physical space for students to experiment and learn about urban agriculture.


Growing the Farm Budget Breakdown

  
  • Wash Station - $3,960 shelter, $500 2 sinks, 1 used tub, 4 non-slip mats
  • Cob Oven - $3,840 shelter, $300 oven
  • Portable Hoophouses - $400

Project Objectives:

 


Community

 
The site of our current cob oven will be the home of the new Botany Greenhouse and Biology Building, which unfortunately means the demolition of our beloved oven; with your donation, we will be able to build a new cob oven and community gathering space in 2015.

This project is important because:

  • Our cob oven at the Botany Greenhouse has been crucial to introducing new students to the UW Farm’s community and work.

  • Feeding people farm-grown food cooked in our oven is a powerful way to show that we value building strong connections through eating and quality time together.

  • We look forward to joint pizza bakes with Seattle Youth Garden Works and the opportunity for our programs to continue to build a relationship through food and farming. Learn more about SYGW below in Our Partners.
How we will build the oven:

  • After the shelter has been built, the UW Farm will host a cob-building workshop. Students of the workshop will learn about building with cob and will build the new UW Farm Cob Oven all at once! Anyone is welcome to attend.




Education

 
Portable hoophouses will allow us to:

  • extend the growing season, givng student farmers hands-on growing opportunities earlier in spring quarter and later into fall quarter;

  • grow our educational programing with UW courses and student groups during more of the academic year;

  • better grow heat-loving crops such a tomatoes, eggplant, and peppers despite Seattle's cool summers;
  • give more of our great veggies to the students who work on the farm. (we love to feed our volunteers!)
 
  



Efficiency and Sustainability

 
A dedicated space for us to cool, wash, and package our produce immediately after harvest will:

  • make our food higher quality and safer;

  • make our farm more efficient, eliminating the cumbersome process of moving all of our products from the field to our current washing location;

  • and overall make work on the farm more enjoyable to interns and volunteers!

We grow great, tasty, local sustainable veggies, and we want to feed the UW!



Partners

 
  • The Engineers Without Borders (EWB) will be leading in the design, planning, and construction of our projects. This will be an opportunity for real-world design and construction experience for aspiring Engineering students. Look under their "Current Projects" tab to see the work they're doing at the farm. 
  • We share our farm site at the Center for Urban Horticulture with Seattle Youth Garden Works. SYGW empowers homeless and underserved youth through garden-based education and employment. We’re excited that this campaign will also be a great benefit to their program.  

Grow the Farm!

 

This is a great opportunity for the farm to grow further into its full potential, and we would like you to be a part of it. Everybody is invited to follow our progress on Facebook, and we will recognize donors proudly through our donors list, on social media. We hope you’ll join us in planting these seeds to Grow the Farm!



I couldn’t imagine what my year might have been like without farming and all the wonderful people I’ve met through this incredible program in my life. One thing that I love about the farm: every single person who wants to learn about food, discuss issues related to food, or just have a day of hard work is welcome, unconditionally.” —Kate Doughty, Junior

 
1. A cob oven is a small, outdoor, wood-fired oven for baking, built from cob. Cob is a natural building material consisting of clay, sand, straw, water and earth, similar to adobe.

2. A hoophouse is an unheated greenhouse. Most hoophouses are built with steel or plastic arches. See a photo here.


Levels of donations:
Volunteer Shift

Give $25

You’re contributing what fair wages would be of a standard student volunteer shift. The more time a student spends on the Farm, the more they learn!

Nuts and Bolts

Give $50

Thanks to your support we will be able to purchase all of the nuts and bolts for the cob oven structure.

Sitting Space

Give $100

You’re providing enough funds to get a picnic table, allowing exhausted farmers a place to sit while enjoying the Farm.

Hoop Houses Galore!

Give $500

Thanks to you we can afford to buy enough portable hoop houses for the upcoming summer. We can’t thank you enough!

Cob Oven Fun

Give $1000

Your contribution is enough to fund the rest of the cob oven. We’re looking forward to making some tasty pizza with farm fresh toppings!

All Seasons

Give $1500

4-seasons of pizza bakes! You’re helping us put a roof over our cob oven structure, making it possible to grow the Farm Community year round!

Squeaky Clean Veggies

Give $2000

Thanks to you we can buy the sinks, flooring, and materials for a shelter for our wash station. If you’re excited about helping us out with a big ticket item, this is the one for you!

 

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