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. 

1)   Cedrus libani ‘Nana’                                                                 Dwarf Cedar of Lebanon

Cedar of Lebanon forests once covered vast areas of the eastern Mediterranean, but 5,000 years of human impacts have left wild populations restricted to mountainous regions of Turkey, Syria, and Lebanon.
The resin from the Cedrus libani was used by Egyptians for embalming their dead.
This dwarf cultivar usually grows to about 15 feet tall and wide, while the species can reach over 100 feet tall. 

11.17.21

Around The Farm

by Sophia Falls, UW Farm Student Staff/CSA Lead, majoring in Landscape Architecture, College of Built Environments
 
I have been working at the UW Farm since March of this year. 
I first found this wonderful place freshman year through visiting a pizza bake and was drawn by the community surrounding the farm. I had never gardened much as a kid. 

11.10.21

Around The Farm

We are happy to announce that Sarah Mayer has been selected by wǝɫǝbʔaltxʷ – Intellectual House as the new Food Sovereignty Liaison. Sarah spent the last few weeks getting oriented by attending the UW Farm to Table dinner and has already hosted her first work party in the Native Garden, which is located at the southeast side of the UW Farm, Center for Urban Horticulture.