12.16.21

Around The Farm

by Dannette Lombert, UW Farm AmeriCorps Member
Wrapping Up the Season

Like most farms around this time, the UW Farm is officially wrapping up the growing season! We are entering a time of Rest, Reflect, and Refresh, meaning that:

Most of our beds are cover cropped – inputting nutrients back into the soil, improving water percolation, feeding micro-organisms, and reducing soil erosion
We are looking back to see what has worked for the farm and what we can improve on, programmatically and production-wise
We will be completing the crop plan and ordering all our seeds for next year
We have no volunteer shifts until January 17th (MLK Day), and then continue regular volunteer shifts in February
The Weekly Dirt becomes the Monthly Dirt

We want to use this portion of the newsletter to thank all of our supporters, CSA members, volunteers, interns, staff members, and anyone who has come in contact with the farm in their own way! 

We invite you to review this summary of our many achievements over the past year.

12.8.21

Around The Farm

by Kove Janeski, UW Farm Student Staff
Seed Saving Season
As the growing season wraps up in the PNW, the UW Farm team is hard at work threshing, collecting, counting, and storing seeds for the future. Seed saving is an important task for many farms and gardens that aim to be more sustainable and cost-effective.
At the farm, we collect seeds from the most productive open-pollinated and self-pollinated plants throughout the growing season to pass on genes that are more likely to be regionally adapted to the microclimate at UW. 

Around the Farm: Seed Saving Season by Kove Janeski, UW Farm Student Staff
As the growing season wraps up in the PNW, the UW Farm team is hard at work threshing, collecting, counting, and storing seeds for the future. Seed saving is an important task for many farms and gardens that aim to be more sustainable and cost-effective.
At the farm, we collect seeds from the most productive open-pollinated and self-pollinated plants throughout the growing season to pass on genes that are more likely to be regionally adapted to the microclimate at UW. 

Western white pines (Pinus monticola) are five-needled pines that are native from southern British Columbia to southern California. In the northern parts of their range, including in western Washington, they can be found from sea level up to about 5,000 feet in elevation. As their range extends southward they are found at higher elevations. Western white pines are often found in sites with low-nutrient, gravelly soils, where they compete successfully with other native conifers such as Douglas-firs. 

12.1.21

Around The Farm

by Liran Zimand, UW Farm Student Staff, HFS & Athletics Produce Sales Lead 
 
I have been working on the farm since March of this year, but I have been a member of the UW Farm Club Dirty Dozen since my first week on campus as a freshman in 2019.
The name "Dirty Dozen" originates back to the founders of the UW Farm. 

by Liran Zimand, UW Farm Student Staff, HFS & Athletics Produce Sales Lead
I have been working on the farm since March of this year, but I have been a member of the UW Farm Club Dirty Dozen since my first week on campus as a freshman in 2019.
The name “Dirty Dozen” originates back to the founders of the UW Farm. 

11.23.21

Around The Farm

by Perry Acworth, UW Farm Manager

photo: Rawpixel.com/Shutterstock

All over the nation many individuals and families will be celebrating Thanksgiving this week. What that looks like depends on several factors, including where you live, access to food, and history of your culture.  There are regional differences and different views on this holiday.    
November is also Native American Heritage Month and as a result, many resources elaborating on this US tradition, which formerly began with a presidential proclamation in 1991, are readily available. 

Around The Farm

All over the nation many individuals and families will be celebrating Thanksgiving this week. What that looks like depends on a number of things, including where you live, access to food, and history of your culture.  There are regional differences and different views on this holiday.
November is also Native American Heritage Month and as a result many valuable sources of this American (or European) tradition are readily available. 

Last week was the 7th installment of Staff Conversations, a series developed by the Equity and Justice committee consisting of staff from UW Botanic Gardens and Arboretum Foundation. The goal of Staff Conversations is to move our organizations towards more equitable and inclusive programs, organizations and practices by engaging staff in the discovery, learning and implementation of equitable and antiracist practices.