04.17.24

Around The Farm

Mark Your Calendars for the UW Farm Plant Sale!
By Sean Flory, UW Farm Intern, Undergraduate Student, Environmental Studies and Resource Management
 
 
The UW Farm’s annual plant sale is just around the corner! 
Come join us at the UW Farm’s site at the Center for Urban Horticulture on Saturday, June 1st. Funds raised at the Plant Sale help support the UW Farm as well as the Dirty Dozen, the university’s farm club, all year long! 
This season we will be sharing many delicious heirloom varieties of tomatoes, peppers, squash, culinary herbs, and flowers. 

04.17.24

Around The Farm

Learning the Art of Leadership as a UW Farm Intern
By Roger Chen, UW Farm Student Education Intern, Undergraduate Student, Biochemistry 
 
When I first started volunteering at the UW farm, I was with a bunch of friends from the Urban Farm (ENVIR 240) class. Most of the work, once you get the gist of it, turns out to be rather straight-forward, so it was easy to feel busy and engaged. 

04.03.24

Around The Farm

UW Farm Supports Research for Crop’s Climate Change Resilience
By Taylor Biaggi, Adaptive Symbiotic Technologies (AST)
AST is a Seattle based biotechnology company dedicated to harnessing the power of naturally occurring microbes to enhance plant resilience and agricultural sustainability. Through extensive research, AST has developed certified organic agricultural inputs that utilize beneficial fungi to improve plant health, increase stress tolerance, and boost crop yields. 

03.27.24

Around The Farm

A Letter in Loving UW Farm 
By Kaija Koenigberg, Environmental Studies, College of the Environment, UW Farm Vermicompost Intern '23-24, UW Farm RSO Dirty Dozen President
 
I have been the UW Farm’s Vermicompost Intern since last March, and this is my final quarter as the “worm guy”. During my time in this position, I have gained so much invaluable knowledge and fostered deep connections with the farm community that I will cherish long after my time at UW has ended.

03.20.24

Around The Farm

Urban Farming in Japan
By Kove Janeski, UW Farm Student Staff, Operations Lead, Masters Student, Landscape Architecture, College Of Built Environments
I have been lucky to be a part of the UW Farm team since the fall of 2021. In September of 2023, after spending the summer working at the UW Farm, I left Seattle to study abroad in Tokyo, Japan. 

03.13.24

Around The Farm

Study Shows UW Farm Practices Restore Soil Health
By Will Shenton, featuring Julia MaCray, Vermicompost Intern circa 2022
 
The soil beneath our feet may not often catch our attention, but keeping it healthy can have major impacts on climate change and the overall sustainability of our food production system. A new study of agricultural practices at the UW Farm, led by recent College of the Environment graduate Julia Macray and Professor of Earth and Space Sciences David Montgomery, demonstrated that even relatively small changes to the ways we farm can help restore soil health and sequester carbon from the atmosphere. 

One of the best responses I’ve gotten after telling someone I’m a farmer is: “Are you okay?” And it is a fair question, though the answer changes based on what time of year it is. There’s the unbridled optimism of early spring, the growing suspense in April and May (what weather-related surprises will climate change bring us this year?), staring into the void in June, and then summer hits and the rest of the season is a downhill run. 

02.14.24

Around The Farm

UW Farm Catalyzes Careers in Urban Farming 
By Andrea Hatsukami
 
One of the best responses I’ve gotten after telling someone I’m a farmer is: “Are you okay?” And it is a fair question, though the answer changes based on what time of year it is. There’s the unbridled optimism of early spring, the growing suspense in April and May (what weather-related surprises will climate change bring us this year?), staring into the void in June, and then summer hits and the rest of the season is a downhill run. 

In 2023, the UW Farm experienced highs and lows, new accolades and challenges. We struggled with crop failures of melons, corn, and onions, while successfully cultivating quinoa and wheat for the very first time! Certified organic produce donated by the UW Farm in 2023 reached 2390.57 pounds, worth a retail value of $11,870.00.  The largest volume of donated produce was delivered to the campus UW Food Pantry. 

12.13.23

Around The Farm

 
Saving Seeds: Increasing Biodiversity and Food Security
By Perry Acworth, Farm Manager
At this writing the UW Farm team is receiving glossy seed catalogs in the mail and diving head-long into crop planning for 2024. We begin by coming together as a team and reviewing what varieties grow well, are disease-resistant, heat -tolerant, tasty, easy to harvest, and give the greatest revenue per square foot.