American Community Gardening Association Conference Happening At UW

34th Annual
Conference

Seattle, WA

The 34^th Annual American Community Gardening Association (ACGA) Conference is happening today through Sunday with workshops and tours open to the public at University of Washington’s Gould Hall (3949 15^th Avenue NE).

 

On the tours,  happening mostly on Saturday from 12:30-5:30pm, participants can visit innovative sites, learn about community orchards, study garden design and art, as well as meet people from around the world who are involved in community gardening. 

All tours cost $40 and include lunch and transportation. To view the tour descriptions and to register, visit the ACGA website.

 

Community members can also attend conference workshops, conducted by experts in urban agriculture, community gardening, and many other associated topics.

Topic sessions include:

• Horticulture, permaculture, and city livestock
• Garden/farm to table to compost to garden/farm
• Health, prevention and therapy
• Cultural, social, and environmental justice

To learn more about each day’s activities, view the conference schedule and register here for sessions. he conference will be held at University of Washington’s Gould Hall (3949 15^th Ave NE).

 

The Seattle Department of Neighborhoods P-Patch Community Gardening Program is a host of the ACGA Conference. For more information on the workshops and tours, contact Sandy Pernitz at sandy.pernitz@seattle.gov.

 
 

 

Help Laurelhurst Elementary Spruce Up Grounds Tomorrow Morning

Help Laurelhurst Elementary School with cleaning and sprucing up its grounds tomorrow from 8-noon.

Free donuts, juice and coffee will be provided.

The information says:

Come make our school's lawn and landscape look dazzling, meet new families, and reconnect with others. 

Here is an opportunity for you and your family (yes, kids are encouraged to participate!) to help clean up flowerbeds and other assorted yard maintenance and get involved at Laurelhurst Elementary School.  Can't volunteer 4 hours, then come for 1 or 2!   

If you have any extra tools (rakes, shovels, gloves), bring them along but we will also have extra tools on site if you don't!  Please label your tools if you bring them, so you can safely ensure they return to you.

Viva Farms Produce Delivery Starting In Laurelhurst Tomorrow

Siri, who lives in Laurelhurst told us about a produce delivery organization, Viva Farms, that will begin delivery service to the neighborhood starting tomorrow through the end of the year. She has enjoyed their door to door service and program that allows customers to choose their produce each week.

The pick-ups will be on 52nd Avenue NE as well as one on 40th Avenue NE for the weekly produce box where everything in it is grown in Washington State without the use of chemical-based fertilizers, herbicides, pesticides, or fungicides and delivered within 24 hours of being picked.

Viva Farms, located in Mount Vernon, is one of the nonprofit organizations that is part of  the Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program,.

She told us that she is a volunteer with the CSA and also is involved in helping with a special program Viva Farms has launched in creating an incubator just north of Seattle where they have developed a bilingual program to train the next generation of farmers and to assist them in the transition to ownership of their own land to farm. 

This program focuses on providing future farmers with the ability to produce healthy, local produce on a small scale, which benefits our community, while also providing a program for small business owners for individuals who may otherwise be unemployed due to our current economic situation.

Siri told us that what makes Viva Farms' program unique is that it doesn't only focus just on a CSA program, but it is a nonprofit that provides training to members of our community that are looking for new sources of long-term employment. 

She adds, that in addition, they are fulfilling a need that is emerging as many farmers are reaching retirement and a large percentage of their family members are not in a position to take over for their parents.  By training new farmers to replace those that are retiring, Viva Farms is ensuring that local, secure sources of food are available in the community.

For more information about the program contact Gabrielle Santerre, Viva Farms Local Choice Food Box Program Manager, at 206-458-0264 or at gabrielle@growingwashington.org.

Viva Farms produce delivery display

Experienced Neighbors Involved in Landscaping Existing Traffic Circle Offer Tips For New One A Few Blocks Away

Traffic circle at NE 50th Avenue NE and 46th Avenue NE

After reading our recent post on the upcoming landscaping to start in the Fall at the new traffic circle on NE 50th Street and 44th Avenue NE, a nearby neighbor, Barbara Asmervig, an avid gardener whom we have previously posted about, offered some tips from her experience landscaping another traffic circle two blocks away.

Barbara's beautiful garden at her home on 46th Avenue NE near Laurelhurst Elementary School, where she has lived for almost 25 years, was featured in the Pacific Northwest Magazine a few years ago.

Barbara and Catherine Kalke, a nearby neighbor, were instrumetal in the design and landscaping of the traffic circle at NE 50th and 46th Avenue NE.

Barbara told us that Catherine organized a neighborhood fundraiser to have the traffic circle cleaned up and designed. Catherine raised enough money through donations to have two trees removed and to purchase the plant material, fertilizer and compost mulch.

Barbara designed the traffic circle with "drought tolerance and cold hardiness in mind though the plants still need water in such an exposed and hot space."

Both Catherine and Barbara maintain the traffic circle and Barbara's husband waters the circle "using the very generous neighbor's water at the corner lot," she told us.

Barbara also mentioned that since many cars and trucks drive right over the top of the circle and through the plants, intentional in some cases, that they chose to use Euphorbia Mrysinites (Donkey Tail Spurge) for the border, as it is "tough and will bounce back."

Other tips Barbara suggests:

• Keep the traffic circle "well maintained as it reflects directly on the neighborhood" 
• Organize a committee to maintain the space
• Keep the "plan simple and uniform to keep the space neat"
• Select plants low in height for the circle, otherwise the plants can block vision on all sides of the circle defeating the purpose of traffic safety

Barbara and Catherine offer their expertise to anyone who would like assistance in starting or maintaing a traffic circle. Please email us and we will put you in contact with them.

Only 2 More Weeks to Pick Up Free Bags of Compost

Only 2 more weeks to get your 2 free bags of compost being given away by Cedar Grove Composting.

Seattle Public Utilities sent out the coupons for the 2 free bags of compost (worth about $12) in last month's CurbWaste & Conserve Newsletter to all their customers.

You can pick up the bags at the Seattle Conservation Corps at the Sand Point Navy Base through May 28th, from 8:30-3:30 Monday through Friday.

Here are several othe redemption sites.

If you can't find your coupon there was also a coupon in the Seattle Times’ Pacific Northwest Magazine on April 18th and 25th, and May 2nd.

Mosaic Whale Eye Stolen from Magnuson Children's Garden

Just a heads up from an email sent out from the Friends of the Magnuson Children's group, that unfortunately the very unique mosaic whale eye sculpture from the garden, was stolen last week.

Here is what they sent out:


Sometime between Tuesday evening April 20th and Thursday afternoon April 22nd, a group of organized thieves equipped with tools managed to steal one of the Whale Eye mosaic sculptures out of the Children's Garden.

This group of organized thieves would have had to pry this 18" x 30" river rock/tile/concrete mosaic out of the ground far enough to get a saws-all underneath to cut the heavy rebar framework that attached it to a concrete piling buried in the ground. Plus it weighs at least 75-100 lbs.

The police officer who took the report said that there have been a rash of landscape-related thefts in Seattle, of art, container gardens, and plants, but it sure is hard to stomach that someone would p;lot against a Children's garden for their own gain.


If you happen to see it anywhere while you are walking around your neighborhood, or someone approaches you to buy this gorgeous 'garden sculpture', please call the police and refer to case #10-132210. They have a disc with photos of the whale eye sculpture in their files.

Please help spread the word about this as the more eyes that are open for it, the better!

More photos can be seen here.

Photo courtesy of Magnuson Children's Garden Committee

Edible Surprise Going on Now at Laurelhurst Elementary

One of our readers noticed the new planter bins and new gardens that have recently sprouted up around the west side of Laurelhurst Elementary. And not to mention, the nicely written and decorated signs by students placed in the gardens and bins.

When we sent email to Bethany Lara, one of the 1st grade teachers, asking about this project, she responded:

"It's our new school focus/project. Each class gets it's own plot and some classes have decided to do winter and spring crops, spring crops only, lettuce only for local food banks, themed gardens based on classroom cirriculum, etc.

We would love to share what we are doing but for the bigger story you might want to contact Pat Howard or Grace Dublin, both 5th grade teachers and the big leaders of our school garden. They worked really hard to get additional garden space, applied for grants to buy starts, seeds, and anything else we might need."

So we sent mail to Mr. Howard and he graciously offered for one of his students to write an article about these edible gardens.

Above is a picture of the 3rd grade plot. They studied a Pioneer unit and chose winter wheat for their garden project.

Thanks to Galen, the awesome writer, for letting our neighborhood know about this great project!

Laurelhurst’s Edible Garden

The students at Laurelhurst Elementary School have an edible surprise! There are 3 planter bins and one designated area assigned for a school wide-edible garden. Laurelhurst classes have worked for the last 2 months to put together a garden.

The school garden was planted around late September and early October. For now the plants include cabbage, lettuce, spinach, cauliflower, broccoli and wheat. We have made this garden to help the environment, to learn about where our food comes from and to make Laurelhurst Elementary a prettier place to learn. We used Cedar Grove compost for soil, which we helped create by giving Cedar Grove our lunch scraps to compost.

Come by and see Laurelhurst Elementary’s school wide garden, it looks much better than the weeds that used to be there. We have worked hard to weed and plant so our garden is beautiful.

By Galen Ogden

Here are pictures from the 1st grade planter box:

And 2nd grade:

Barbara's Gardening, Watering and Container Gardening Tips..

Barbara, who was featured in Friday's post has graciously offered some tips to our readers.

The article in the Pacific Northwest Magazine 2 years ago says of Barbara, "This human whirlwind plants 300 'Princess Irene' tulips every fall and several flats of coleus each spring."

Barbara's biggest tip is to improve your soil.

"This is the most important rule of good gardening. We have lots of rich but heavy clay in this region....glacial till, hard pan, and all very dense. I apply a feeding mulch to my soil once in the spring and again in the fall. This autumn the mulch will be applied in thick layers to protect and feed roots of perennials, trees and shrubs...three to four inches as a rule and sometimes eight inches to a foot high where the tender herbaceous plant roots reside underground.

I didn't lose one plant during last winter's freeze). Having said that, it is best not to place mulch against or near the trunks of woody plants (trees, hydrangeas, rhododendrons) as that invites rot and disease.

In the spring I apply another layer of feeding mulch as the fall layer of mulch has decomposed and is traveling through layers of clay to enrich the soil and the plant roots. That is the fertilizer for my garden beds. I do not heap big rotting leaves in my planting beds as in my amateur experience that creates a haven for slugs, snails and other plant devouring bugs to set up housekeeping.

My mulch of choice is Gardner and Bloome Soil Building Compost. It contains lots of nutritious goodies. City Peoples Mercantile stocks it.

Amend your soil. You will not regret the time you devote to doing this simple task. Just think of the calories you are burning and that will make the work more enjoyable.

Take a hot shower for your sore muscles, freshen up, and return to the garden with that glass of wine and admire your work."

Barbara also does a lot of container gardening and says they need the most attention.

She told us "Whoever said container gardening is easy hasn't seen my jungle. Container plants need lots of food and water to live well and flourish. When planting out my annuals in containers I literally dump Osmocote slow release fertilizer into the pots and mix it into the fresh soil.

You notice I said "fresh" soil. Yes, every spring and fall I remove the top eight inches or so from pots and replace it with fresh potting soil. Gardner and Bloome Potting Soil. I also apply liquid fertilizer (Grow Big is my favorite for lush foliar growth). The liquid is added regularly in the containers where I don't want flowers (coleus, bananas, for example). Otherwise I use the product made for blooms as buds begin to set.

My container arrangements are enormous by summer's end and that's what I want- rich, lush, healthy plants spilling out everywhere, looking wildly dramatic but well groomed.

Otherwise, why bother planting containers in the first place, right?"

And lastly Barbara tells us a little about watering.

"On very hot days containers need water twice and sometimes three times a day. I use terracotta in my back garden for more of a natural look. The positive about terracotta besides the warmth in it's coloration: The containers breath and keep the plants warm.

The negative about terracotta? It can crack more easily than clay in cold weather, and the soil and plant roots dry out more quickly. I love the way terracotta weathers so live with those issues.

And Barbara says to check out the The Northwest Horticultural Society site which has lots of great information.

And Barbara leaves us with "My last tip to you, fellow gardener: HAVE FUN!"

Thanks Barbara for all the great tips and information! Sign us up if you ever do classes in the neighborhood!

(Photo courtesy of Pacific Northwest Magazine)

Story about a Very Avid Gardener in our Neighborhood...

Barbara Asmervig, a Laurelhurst resident, is an avid gardner. So avid, her beautiful garden was featured in the Pacific Northest Magazine 2 years ago.

Living fairly near to the Laurelhurst Elemenary School, many people see her garden, including one of our staffers who has driven by many times always admiring her garden. Our staffer contacted Barbara curious to know more about Barbara's interest in gardening and how it all came about.

Pacfic Northwest Magazine says "Although Barbara Asmervig has lived in her Laurelhurst home for 23 years, she didn't pay much attention to the garden for the first decade or so. It was only after she retired from her medical sales job nine years ago that she began gardening. And she's been making up time ever since."

And in her own words, Barbara told us "I must emphasize that I am not a professional horticulturist and that gardening is strictly my hobby. This avocation began thirteen years ago when I retired from a long career in sales. Since being project driven and focused I needed something creative to occupy my time.

I joined Northwest Horticultural Society, and immediately began taking classes and attending lectures to absorb all the knowledge available to begin this project. Through NHS I found that gardeners are very generous people eager to share their gardening knowledge."

If you've gone by Barbara's house you will see the very organized blending of lovely colors - various colors of greens contrasting with dark burgundy shades. It's quite a sight to see when everything is in full bloom!

The magazine comments on Barbara's thoughts on these colors, "Flowers have to earn their garden space with strongly saturated color; no pastels allowed. Oranges prevail, in tulips and dahlias like 'David Howard' and 'Ellen Huston.' Asmervig admires dark-leafed plants, but avoids a too-shadowy look by mixing the deeper tones with gold and chartreuse."

Barbara told us that "Gardening is a project which is never finished. It has been referred to as the 'slowest moving of the performing arts'. It is a process.

Depending upon one's own personal attitude toward this activity, gardening can be lots of work or it can be lots of fun. I choose to see it as the latter.

Playing in the dirt is great exercise and can be very rewarding.

Sure there are negatives about gardening: the bugs, the slugs, the mildew, the squirrels all playing their role in eating, mutilating, killing, and moving your plants (re: bulbs..I refer to squirrels here). You have to water, fertilize, prune, mow, treat for disease and your back is killing you.

But the fun part is hunting for those plants and finding them, placing them in the right spot, watching them grow well, and standing back to admire your work. I prefer to do the last part with a glass of wine.

Gardening can be frustrating but it is also very gratifying."

Stay tuned in our next post for Barbara's tips and great information on container gardening.

In the meantime check out Barbara's garden just past NE 50th on 46th Avenue NE.

(Photo courtesy of Pacific Northwest Magazine)