Mar 23, 2022 / The Weekly Dirt / persis

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The Weekly Dirt 3.23.22

3.23.22

Around The Farm

by Dannette Lombert, Food Security Lead, AmeriCorps Member

The UW Farm is Springing into the Season!

Happy Spring Equinox! Over here at the farm, we are well into the spring season. Our days are filled with starting seeds, transplanting, prepping beds, mulching, and harvesting. Now that the season is picking up with our seeds showing their true leaves and hardening off, we have added more volunteer shifts!

This is a great opportunity to see what crops look like in their early stages, learn techniques on starting seeds and transplanting, experience using different tools to prepare a bed, and see the very beginnings of what ends in a bountiful summer and fall! 

These days, most of our work is done on the weekdays, and this is when we need more hands-on support on the farm. We would love for you all to join us out in the field, working hard, listening to music, and connecting with each other!

Learn more about how to get involved this season and sign up to volunteer
 

Learn more about paid internships here.

News and Noteworthy:
Agriculture Work Opportunities in Washington:
Volunteers Needed: UW Botanic Garden Miller Library
When: April 8th 9 am, 4pm, April 9th 3pm

The Miller Library at The Center for Urban Horticulture is looking for volunteers to help with their annual book sale. Volunteers will be invited to join the “friends only” sale from 1:00pm-4:00pm on Friday, before the sale opens to the public

Volunteer needs include:

  • Setup: Friday, 4/8 from 9:30 am until done but no later than noon.  The books (upwards of 3,000) are in boxes in the library.  The boxes need to be moved into the Commons atrium, emptied and setup for display.
  • Take down: Saturday, 4/9 from 3:00-4:30pm, re-boxing the remainders and bringing them back into the library.

To learn more and sign up contact Jessica Moskowitz here (moskoj@uw.edu).
Rainier Beach Community Seed Swap
Hosted by: Rainier Beach Urban Farms and Wetlands
Where: Rainier Beach Urban Farms and Wetlands
When: April 2, 1pm – 5pm

Local seed sharing, snacks provided, DIY newspaper pots, and garden education. No seeds? No problem! Plant lovers of all experience levels are welcome. 

Featuring a free virtual screening of the film "Seed: The Untold Story".

Sign up for the seed swap here
Rainwater Harvesting for Beginners
Hosted by: University of Washington Botanic Gardens
Where: Virtual, via Zoom
When:  March 31st 6 pm – 8 pm

Bolster your household’s resilience with DIY rainwater harvesting systems! Learn all the essentials across a range of locations (apartment, house, farm), budgets and applications (drinking water, irrigation etc).

Harvesting rainwater is an essential strategy for the future and bolsters your household’s resilience. This class covers all the essentials, from which roof material is appropriate for catchment, to which types of tanks to store water in, to creating ‘first flush’ systems to ensure the purity of the water in storage. Does the sky where you live rain sometimes? 😉 Well, this class is for you!

Cost: $25

Register for the event here
Spring Skills of a Naturalist: Birding by Ear
Hosted by: IslandWood Community Program and Events
When:  April 14th 9:30 am – 11:30 am

Spring is here and with the lengthening days, birds (including migrant birds) are singing their hearts out! We birders focus primarily on identifying birds by plumage, colors and field markings during our outdoor explorations. However, tuning your ear to bird’s songs and vocalizations is a next-level way to land your id, even when visibility for birds is poor. The trouble is, it can be tricky to learn as birds make a lot of vocalizations and many are similar to each other. That’s why we’re so glad to welcome IslandWood naturalist and docent, Mark Salvadalena, who will teach you how to listen for key features in bird chatter and song to arrive at a proper ID – even without seeing the bird..

Learn more and register for the event here

Food Access Resources

The UW Farm donates regularly to the UW Food Pantry. During peak season we also donate to food banks close by. The links below are resources to help you or someone you know with food access.  

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:

Around the Farm, Dannette Lombert, UW Farm AmeriCorps Member- Food Security Lead
Editors: Dannette Lombert, UW Farm AmeriCorps Member- Food Security Lead, Perry Acworth, UW Farm Manager, Diana Knight, Advancement and Communications Manager, Department of Chemistry; Jessica Farmer, Adult Education Supervisor and Community Education Lead, UWBG
Photo Credits and Other Content: Dannette Lombert, Perry Acworth
Other photos retrieved from the internet and noted in sections 

Copyright © 2022 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