9.29.21

Around The Farm

New Student Staff at the Farm 
In August the UW Farm saw a change in staff. UW Environmental Sciences and Resource Management student Sarah Elgin transferred to WWU and AmeriCorps Volunteer Griffin Cronk moved to Washington DC. The farm welcomes new AmeriCorps Volunteer Dannette Lombert (see profile in Weekly Dirt) and undergraduate Russell Botulinski. Next month, Kove Janeski, a first year Masters of Landscape Architecture student joins the team. 

1)         Cotinus obovatus                                                           American Smoketree

One of the earliest and most stunning of fall color plants, the leaves of Cotinus obovatus become a palette of orange, purple and crimson.
One specimen can be seen along Arboretum Drive, just south of the Graham Visitor Center.  Another specimen that is already in full glory is located on Azalea Way near the southern intersection of the Arboretum Loop Trail. 

This summer as Rare Care Interns we worked on an alpine plant monitoring project for the National Park Service. On the surface, our job was simple: go to a site in Olympic, North Cascades, or Mt. Rainier National Parks, find the plant, map the edges of the population in the area, and usually set up a permanent plot to be monitored by the National Park Service in the future. 

By Maya Kahn-Abrams
Over the past five months I have been immensely privileged to work on several of Rare Care’s projects restoring our beloved native rare plants all over Washington state. From hot July afternoons helping map shimmering meadows of pink Wenatchee Mountains checkermallow (Sidalcea oregana var calva) and purple Wenatchee larkspur (Delphinium viridenscens), to epic early mornings counting baby seedlings of White Bluffs bladderpod (Physaria douglasii ssp. 

By Jaileen Merced
It is hard to believe that summer is over, and Allie and I have gone on 7 backpacking trips and 2 camping trips. Each of them very unique and special. From beautiful forest walks to steep crumbling slopes. We have covered so much ground and been to places I never thought I could reach. Working for Rare Care this year has been a privilege and a challenge. 

2021 was a jam-packed and prolific year of rare plant conservation for both Rare Care volunteers and staff. Safety remained a top concern, with care given to evolving COVID-19 protocols, and the wildfire season affecting access to many east side locations. Despite the extra challenges, we successfully completed research fieldwork and rare plant monitoring assignments, and added new collections to the seed vault. 

By Drew Foster
It’s late in the hotel room and every outlet is precious- lamps and clocks are abandoned for a plethora of plugs and cords. Everything is plugged in and charging: smartphone, tablet, laptop, power station, and batteries for the drone and sensor, check! Memory cards have plenty of space, data are backed up, and extra batteries and cables are in the bag, check! 

By Paul Slichter
Local botanists have long recognized several patches of an odd camas growing above the Klickitat River. They didn’t quite match the Suksdorf’s camas (Camassia leichtlinii ssp. suksdorfii) or common camas (both C. quamash ssp. breviflora and ssp. quamash) which are the local camas in the area.
Fortunately, Susan Kephart, a specialist in camas taxonomy, was invited to look at the unusual camas by local plant enthusiast, Barbara Robinson. 

9.22.21

Around The Farm
My Summer on the Farm
A UW Farm Intern Reflection By Delia Darrah, Food Security Intern for summer 2021 
My summer at the UW Farm has given me the privilege of bringing my environmental science degree to life for the first time. With all of my major specific classes online up until this point, I hadn’t connected my knowledge of soil, ecosystems, and (best of all) plants to any tangible experiences. 

9.15.21

Around The Farm
This summer the UW Farm received a request from UW Farm CSA member and Senior Archaeologist Amanda Taylor, ’12, of Willamette Cultural Resources to dig soil pits at the UW Farm as a training opportunity for archaeology field technicians, Tribal representatives, and Tribal staff. This free training to identify types of sediment soil and signs of archaeological sensitivity was offered to address and dismantle systemic inequities to accessing careers in archaeology.