Yunpeng worked with his faculty advisor, Elizabeth Wheat, to design and implement an experiment on the farm using different fertilizers. Read more!
Goal: The purpose of this experiment is to examine whether using a combination of three organic fertilizers, kelp meal, blood meal, and crab meal is more effective than only using a single dose of Bio·Bloom™.
Subject: The plant we chose for this particular experiment is kale. 

Supo Techagumthorn
Some love it. Others hate it. Few are in between. Introducing, the most polarizing plant of all: the cilantro. While its leaves have taken up most of the limelight, the plant’s aromatic roots have been almost forgotten by the culinary world.
Not anymore.
We’re here to share some delicious cilantro root recipes that will be irresistible to even those who detest cilantro. 

Cyrena Thibodeau, one of this year’s student staff members, wrote up an update about what’s happening on the farm!
Greetings UW farm fans! Here’s a glimpse of what is going on at the UW the farm in August:
What we are growing at both of our sites hasn’t changed much from our last update but we are harvesting peppers, eggplants, okra, tomatoes, parsley, dill, cut flowers, basil, cilantro, onions, bush beans, lettuce, cutting greens, chard, kale, collards, cukes, summer squash, cantaloupe, watermelon, cured garlic, fennel, and leeks will be ready soon! 

Bradyn Kawcak, one of our student staff members, writes about what he’s been working on at the farm.
Over the summer I have been working as an intern with the UW Farm, where I have been constantly growing and selling delicious produce every week. Seeding, planting, making beds, weeding, repairing irrigation and harvesting are just a few of the daily tasks I am responsible for.  

Here at the UW Farm, we make our own compost, combining different types of dead plant material and animal manure to create just the right ratio of Carbon to Nitrogen needed for effective composting. Temperature is used to monitor the composting process, and the compost pile gets turned every so often to add oxygen and keep things running. The finished product is the fully decomposed, nutrient-rich compost that both plants and farmers love. 

Running out of ideas for using up all of those extra leafy greens and herbs from your garden or CSA? There are many options for utilizing a bumper crop of greens, and we’ll be covering many of them on the UW Farm blog this summer. For part one of Making the Most of Greens we’re going to focus on pounded and pureed sauces; which are simple, freeze easily, don’t require any cooking to make (if we have another heat wave you are going to want to stay away from that stove!), and can help to use up all sorts of ends and bits that you may have previously thrown in the compost bin. 

Greetings UW farm fans! The big heatwave has broken (for now at least) and we’re settling into July under a comfortingly familiar partially cloudy sky. That burst of heat might have made us uncomfortable but it was great for our crops and all of the plots on the farm are exploding with life! Here’s a glimpse of what is growing and what is being harvested on the farm in July:
Growing at Mercer: Asparagus, Turnips, Carrots, Rhubarb, Horseradish, lettuce, Parsnips, Basil, Cilantro, Potatoes, Tomatillos, Mushrooms, radishes, Broccoli, Onions, Beans, Leeks, Chinese Cabbage, Bog Choi, Beets, Mixed Cutting Greens (mizuna, mustard greens, arugula, etc), Cauliflower, and Perennial Herbs. 

If you are a member of our fabulous farm CSA then you have been receiving the freshest produce that the season offers plus recipe ideas for the past five weeks, but for those of you that shop at Seattle area farmers markets or buy seasonal produce at the grocery store, here are some links to recipes from the web that will help you make the most of your July fruits and veggies! 

You can always find something wonderful and delicious on the UW Farm! This time of year marks the tomato growing season. At an earlier May work party a great mix of tomato varieties were planted at the Center for Urban Horticulture location. Come see what is growing!
What Varieties Did We Plant?

Cherokee Purple
Indigo Rose

A very beautifully purple tomato

Striped German

A lovely heirloom tomato with ribbed shoulders

Jaune Flamee
Kellogg’s Breakfast

Named one of the best heirlooms by Sunset Magazine

Japanese Trifele

Small, pear-shaped tomato

Black Prince
Green Zebra
Black Krim
Hungarian Heart
Ananas Noire

Green, purple, yellow, orange colors all in one tomato! 

Jennie Li, a graduate student in Landscape Architecture and Urban Design and Planning, wrote a synopsis of the UW Farm Charrette. Learn about what a charrette is all about and how we came together to generate ideas for the future of the farm!
On the morning of Friday, June 5, fourteen people consisting of members of the Farm Operations Committee, UW Botanical Gardens, and UW Farm staff and volunteers came together to envision what the future might hold for the UW Farm’s Center for Urban Horticulture site.