Sep 29, 2021 / The Weekly Dirt / persis

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The Weekly Dirt 9.29.21

9.29.21

Around The Farm

New Student Staff at the Farm 

In August the UW Farm saw a change in staff. UW Environmental Sciences and Resource Management student Sarah Elgin transferred to WWU and AmeriCorps Volunteer Griffin Cronk moved to Washington DC. The farm welcomes new AmeriCorps Volunteer Dannette Lombert (see profile in Weekly Dirt) and undergraduate Russell Botulinski. Next month, Kove Janeski, a first year Masters of Landscape Architecture student joins the team.

Russell is a senior studying Restoration Ecology & Environmental Horticulture. He has a particular interest in the connections between environmental health, social justice, food justice, sustainability, regenerative agriculture, and agroforestry. He was first introduced to the UW Farm through the Urban Farm class with Eli Wheat and enjoyed it so much he pursued a summer internship renewing the USDA Organic Farm certification.  


Russell hails from the Snoqualmie Valley in WA, where he graduated from Mount Si High School in 2004. After graduation, he worked as a journeyman carpenter until the financial crisis of 2009 which forced him to consider other careers. He decided to pursue a career as a Firefighter/EMT and after receiving his EMT certificate from North Seattle Community College, he moved to San Diego, CA where he graduated from Cal-Fire’s – Fire Academy. After working seven years of fire and emergency medicine, he decided to pursue a bachelor’s degree in ecology and was accepted into the University of Washington in the fall of 2019.

When Russell is not studying or working on the farm you can catch him somewhere outdoors hiking, biking, kayaking, snowboarding, or gardening. He also enjoys a warm cup of coffee, reading, board games, and computer games on the cold and rainy Seattle days. 

This Week's Video:
 

Summer Tour of the UW Farm


As we say goodbye to summer, we offer you this short video that captures the summer season at the UW Farm.

This Week's Recipes:

 

Affordable, Healthy, Carrot and Kohlrabi Slaw

By 
Molly Watson  

Carrot kohlrabi slaw
 peredniankina / Getty Images

Prep:15 mins
Cook:0 mins
Total:15 mins
Servings:6 to 8 servings
 

This slaw-style salad is based on a traditional grated carrot salad that is ubiquitous in France. It's sold at traiteurs across the country, made of grated carrots and almost always augmented with raisins.

Adding grated kohlrabi to the mix gives this recipe a peppery, crisp edge. Plus, the raisins are left out to let the carrots do the heavy lifting on the sweetness front. Kohlrabi is a member of the cabbage family that has two outer layers that must be peeled. If your kohlrabi comes with leaves attached, they are edible and can be used as you would use collard greens or kale.

Kohlrabi is high in vitamin C and vitamin B6, while carrots will provide vitamin A, vitamin K, and vitamin B6.

Ingredients

Steps to Make It

  1. Gather the ingredients.

  2. Trim and peel kohlrabi and carrots. You can use a vegetable peeler on carrots, but to properly peel kohlrabi, you'll have better luck with a paring knife: Trim tops and bottoms of kohlrabi and set flat bottoms on a cutting surface; use a sharp paring knife to cut down from top to bottom, removing thick, tough peel (with this method you'll easily be able to see where tender white-ish inside ends and the green or purple peel begins, working around vegetable until all the peel is removed). Set peeled vegetables aside.

  3. In a salad bowl or large mixing bowl, whisk together oil, vinegar, mustard, and salt until well blended. Add pepper, if you like.

  4. Using large holes on a standing box grater or a mandoline set up for fine julienne, grate kohlrabis and carrots into salad bowl.

  5. Toss everything together until kohlrabi and carrot are evenly coated with dressing. Taste and add more salt or pepper, if you'd like.

Tips

  • Be sure to cut off all of the tough outer peel of the kohlrabi—it's better to lose a bit of the tender inside that bite into the tough peel later.
  • If you'd like to make the salad ahead of time, don't grate the vegetables directly into the dressing, but into a fine mesh sieve. Let them drain for a few minutes, pressing down on them a bit, then add to the dressing and toss—this will help keep the dressing from getting watery as it sits. When it comes time to serve any leftovers that sit chilled overnight, use a slotted spoon to lift the salad out of the bowl to leave some of the liquid behind.

Other kohlrabi recipes can be found on The Spruce Eats page

 

News and Noteworthy:

Organic Farm School on Whidbey Seeking Instructor

The Organic Farm School is an independent training program for new farmers, held by a non-profit organization on privately owned land in the Maxwelton Valley of Whidbey Island. With a 13-year track record of graduating new farmers to find success as community scaled farm business owners, we are now looking to deepen our work with Regenerative approaches and step more into a role of regional leadership with the same. We are creating a new “Instructor/Research Director” position and seeking interested candidates

To learn more about this new position visit the Employment page of the Organic Farm School website

Dawg Daze UW Farm Open House

Join us on an exciting learning journey with dynamic speakers from all over! From October 2021 through January 2022, Beacon Food Forest and Tilth Alliance are hosting virtual classes and workshops that examine how we can use ideas and practices from permaculture to continue developing resilience and creativity in the midst of climate change.
 

 
10.2.21 Intro to Permaculture with Carey Thornton
10.9.21 Drought Resilient Homes and Landscapes with Laura Allen
10.23.21 Permaculture: A Tool for Climate Stability and Community Resilience with Marisha Auerbach
11.6.2021 Growing with Fungi with Loni Jean Ronnebaum
11.20.21 Permaculture and Agroecology Through the Lens of a Boricua Queer Food Collective with Tara Rodriguez Besosa (*registration info coming soon)
12.4.21 Climate-Resilient Gardening with Eric Toensmeier
12.11.21 Climate Crisis Resilience & Social Permaculture with Bonita Eloise Ford
1.8.22 Regenerating the Soil with Fermented Food Waste with Cuauhtemoc Villa (*registration info coming soon)

1.22.22 Multifunctional Hedgerows with Jude Hobbs (*registration info coming soon)

Volunteer at the UW Farm! 

The UW Farm is experiencing a record low number of volunteers right now. If you have some time to spare and would like to know more about how to grow food, come volunteer with us! 

See details and learn more about how to sign up by visiting THIS LINK:
https://botanicgardens.uw.edu/center-for-urban-horticulture/gardens/uw-farm/volunteer/



Help The Farm Grow!

Every year, we have the capacity to grow more food and increase our educational and research program at the UW, but not without your support. Every contribution goes to work immediately, helping us better serve students. Your support can sustain our momentum and help seed new opportunities for student internships, academic work, and future growth. Please consider making a gift to the Farm online

 

The Weekly Dirt is produced once a week by the University of Washington Farm, a program of the UW Botanic Gardens, School of Environmental and Forest Sciences, College of the Environment. It is published nearly year-round for educational purposes and the majority of the content is written or contributed by students and farm staff.

This issue's contributors:
Editors: Jessica Farmer, UWBG Adult Education, Diana Knight, Advancement & Communications Manager | Department of Chemistry
Around the Farm: Perry Acworth, UW Farm Manager
CSA Veggie Photo and Key: Sarah Elgin, UW Farm Student Staff and Perry Acworth
This Week's Recipe: Perry Acworth
Photo Credits: Header, Perry Acworth
Other photos retrieved from the internet and noted in sections 

Copyright © 2021 The UW Farm, All rights reserved.

Our mailing address is:
The UW Farm
3501 NE 41st St, 
Seattle, WA 98105

On campus mailbox
Box 354115

NEW email address:
uwfarm@uw.edu