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. 

Scientific name: Trochodendron aralioides
Synonyms: Trochodendron longifolium
Common name: Wheel tree, parasol tree, birdlime tree, yamaguruma, nagaba-no-yamguruma, kun lan shu, ka-tang-lai
Family: Trochodendraceae
Native Range: Japan (south of Yamagata), Kyushu, Shikoku, Ryuku Islands, Taiwan
Height and Spread: May grow from 60-75 tall feet in the wild with trunks as large as 16 feet in diameter, typically 20-25 feet tall by 10-15 feet wide in cultivation. 

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. 

After our last volunteer shift of the Fall season on December 9th, the UW Farm has officially ended its 2023 growing season! One way that the farm team celebrated the end of the year was by coming together to construct a gingerbread farm for the annual School of Environmental and Forest Sciences (SEFS) gingerbread competition. Some of the features of our gingerbread house included: different flavors of cake to represent stratified soil layers, gummy worms to represent soil organisms and microbial life beneath the surface, gingerbread versions of our interns, and even a bursting CSA box with veggies molded by students. 

Family: Myrtaceae
Genus: Leptospermum
Species: Over 80
Origin: Australia, New Zealand, and Southeast Asia
Height and Spread: From groundcovers to trees
Bloom time: Varies by species, mostly spring and early summer
Location: Several species can be seen in the Pacific Connections Australia Entry Garden, Leptospermum scoparium is also prevalent in the New Zealand Forest.
You may be familiar with tea trees from the myriad of products containing oils from these plants. 

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. 

12.06.23

Around The Farm

By Althea Ericksen, Senior, Environmental Studies major, Program on the Environment, College of the Environment,  and UW Farm Intern and Communications Coordinator
This is likely my last time writing to you all as the volunteer Communications Coordinator for The Weekly Dirt. I've truly loved my past two seasons working at the campus farm, exploring the hands-on aspects of farming, and getting to complete my capstone experience as well. 

11.29.23

Around The Farm

Green Square: UW Tower Urban Garden’s Year at the UW Farm
By Ella Gostisha, Environmental Studies, UW Farm Intern, and Brooke Baker, Food Systems, Nutrition, and Health, UW Farm Intern

What is Green Square?
The UW Tower Green Square project began in 2015 to demonstrate the potential of food production in underutilized urban settings. Funded by the Campus Sustainability Fund, this student-led initiative aims to explore low-space growing techniques while promoting gardening among the local community and donate fresh produce to the UW Food Pantry. 

11.22.23

Around The Farm

Making Fresh Farm Produce Last All Winter Long
By Alex Ball, Sophomore, Environmental Science and Natural Resources, UW Farm Intern
 
As the days get shorter and the end of fall quarter draws closer, my time as a student intern at the UW Farm is coming to a close. Although sad, it is satisfying to see the end stages of the growing season: cover crop being planted, the last of our inventory being sold, and plans forming for the coming year. 

11.15.23

Around The Farm

Improving Soil Health Can Reduce Erosion and Water Pollution
By Robert Bonglamphone, Junior, Informatics, UW Farm Cover Crop Intern
 
Rain, rain, and more rain! This fall has been an absolute downpour, so I hope you are keeping dry, perhaps while sipping on some hot apple cider. Throughout our beds of harvested lettuce and mustard greens, you can see the walkways overflowing with puddles lately.