Rare Care’s team expands each spring when we are joined by seasonal staff who assist with field work to support the recovery of endangered plants and restoration of their habitats. This year we were thrilled to be able to hire five talented biologists, and their experience, enthusiasm and hard work were a tremendous asset to our team.
Teddy Pierson joined us for the entire field season and assisted with the Wenatchee Mountains checker-mallow introductions (Sidalcea oregana var. 

Five years ago, Rare Care established vegetation plots in a population of Wenatchee Mountains checker-mallow (Sidalcea oregana var. calva) to evaluate how to control the spread of shrubs and non-native grasses in its habitat. This federally endangered plant grows in flat, seasonally wet meadows in Ponderosa pine, Douglas fir, or aspen forest openings, and is known from only two large and two very small extant populations in the Wenatchee Mountains. 

Rare Care volunteers are known for going on some pretty extreme adventures each year to search for rare plants, and the 2023 monitoring season was no exception. From paddling down rivers to trekking up mountains and cliffsides, it doesn’t seem like there’s much that can stop our volunteers, except maybe the occasional rattlesnake encounter!
Volunteers Carol Mack, John Stuart and two friends took their canoes 10 miles up the Pend Oreille River to search the shoreline for lesser-bladder milk vetch (Astragalus microcystis). 

10.11.23

Around The Farm

UW Farm Cultivates Quinoa

By Kove Janeski, Masters of Landscape Architecture, Farm Staff
The UW Farm has been experimenting with cereal cultivation this growing season: we have grown and are processing multiple wheat varieties at the Center for Urban Horticulture Farm site and are also testing out a small planting of quinoa within Mercer Court’s Chenopodiaceae plot. 

10.04.23

Around The Farm

UW Farm Sees Record Numbers of Student Volunteers
By Althea Ericksen, Senior, Environmental Studies, UW Farm Intern and Communications Coordinator
Hi all! As we enter the fall quarter I want to take an opportunity to look at the students that made up our 2023 volunteers and the many majors they come from. 
When I came to The UW Farm for the first time I was shocked by the many majors that interact with the farm and the many avenues through which students discover this farming space. 

09.27.23

Around The Farm

Capstone Project Leads to World Cultural Kitchen Garden Design
by Perry Acworth, UW Farm Manager
Many students from departments across the University of Washington choose to pursue projects, research, internships and paid positions at the UW Farm as part of their university experience.
Over two dozen students have completed a farm-based capstone in the 15 years since students first planted vegetable seeds in the dirt surrounding the Botany Greenhouse (now the Life Sciences Building), the first site of the campus farm. 

09.13.23

Around The Farm

By Steph Wright, UW Biology Major, ENVIR 240 student
Steph Wright is a student at UW entering her final year and majoring in Plant Biology. Interestingly, the Biology Department was also the original site of the campus farm. 
Steph was a backyard gardener and is interested in pursuing a career in organic farming. She just finished the ENVIR 240 summer course, The Urban Farm, in August, taught by Eli Wheat.   

09.06.23

Around The Farm

Reflection and Poem about the UW Farm
By Claire Curran, Summer ENVIR 240 student, Senior at UW
My name is Claire and I am a senior in the marine biology major at the University of Washington. I am also an environmental studies minor, so spending time on the UW farm has always been highlighted in potential classes that I can take for the minor requirements. 

08.30.23

Around The Farm
Kimchi-fication: A Guide on Getting More Kimchi into Your Life
By Audrey Sun, UW Farm Dani Elenga Urban Farming and Environment Intern,
Majoring in Global Health, UW School for Public Health
 
Stinky, salty, spicy, sour. These might be words you use to describe this fermented Korean dish that has been growing in popularity for the past decade. 

08.23.23

Around The Farm

Tickets Going On Sale for UW Student Farm Fundraiser 

by Perry Acworth
UW Student Farm Manager
September 14 will mark the tenth year the UW Student Farm has hosted an annual farm-to-table Harvest Dinner. Co-hosted by UW Botanic Gardens Event staff, the popular event will feature not only seasonal produce grown on the campus farm, but the farm's wheat as well.