Running an education-based farm and feeding the community relies on support from many different departments, businesses and individuals.

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Help the Farm Grow!

Every year, we have the capacity to grow more food and be a  bigger educational and research resource at the UW, but not without your support. Every contribution goes to work immediately, helping us better serve students. Your support can sustain our momentum and help seed new opportunities for student internships, academic work, and future growth. Please consider making a gift to the Farm today.

Make a gift to the Farm online

 

Future Project:  Help Us Improve Food Safety and Reduce the Carbon Foot Print of Food

We want to build a Mini-Wash/Pack at the farm site at Mercer Court

A Wash/Pack is a place for safely, cleanly washing and packing produce after it is harvested for distribution.  The Mercer Court location on west campus does not have a wash/pack. We grow food on nearly a half acre at this site and we are challenged due to a lack of a place to secure our harvest tools, wash hands before the harvest, weigh and sort produce.. Since 2013, UW Farm staff have had to drive produce all the way to east campus to the farm site at the Center for Urban Horticulture in order to wash and pack our produce. Then we drive back to west campus to deliver. Having a Mini-Wash/Pack on west campus would reduce fossil fuel use, reduce miles to outlets, and increase efficiency.

We received an estimate and design to retrofit an existing area at the Mercer Court site. $8,000.00 would create an innovative, enclosed space for sinks, tools, and fold-down-up tables enclosed with sliding walls. Educational food safety and harvest information would adorn the walls. If you are interested seeing the design, having some input, and/or helping us make this happen, email the Farm Manager, Perry Acworth, persis@uw.edu.

 

Future Project: Help us Improve Food Literacy and Sustainability 

We want to build a World Cultural Kitchen and launch a UCOOK series engagement program  

An open-air outdoor Cultural Kitchen would provide a safe space for on-farm harvesting, preparing and sharing food ways form different cultures around the world. By sharing knowledge and passing information from one generation to the next, we learn where our food comes from, and how our food choices affect the world around us. As our population becomes more urban, our connections to farmers, food workers, basic cooking and food preparation skills decrease. Food waste also contributes to carbon emissions and can be avoided.

We received an estimate for the construction of a Cultural Kitchen and have received a donation. The $20,000 donation will help us build the open-air structure including ADA access. What we lack are additional funds for equipment and cooking, an oven, smoke pit, grill, utensils, and the ability to record and broadcast demonstrations. If you are interested in contributing any amount towards this project, would like to have some input, can connect us with resources, or can help us make this happen, email the Farm Manager, Perry Acworth, persis@uw.edu.

 

Future Project: Help us Build a Resiliency Tunnel and Net Zero Carbon Footprint Agriculture Hub

We want to build an innovative structure, growing space that demonstrates food production and systems with net zero carbon emissions. and which tackles food insecurity. The Resiliency Tunnel would:

  • enable year-round soil and water-based food production directed to local food banks
  • capture solar power to supply ventilation, light, circulating pump(s), and cooling needs
  • use green building materials
  • include a water catchment system for use in irrigation and maintenance of a Wapato pond
  • Grow Wapato in pond(s) for PNW indigenous food production
  • Include a Wash/Pack with dry storage and solar-powered cooler for safely harvesting, washing, packaging and storing produce for distribution.
  • include ADA accessible classroom space with and fold-down retractable tables for urban agriculture and gardening classes
  • be located adjacent to the UW Student Farm, Cultural Kitchen, Heritage Orchard, Native Garden and Vermicomposting Facility – creating an Urban Agriculture HUB

The Resiliency Tunnel has received $12,000 from the UW Campus Sustainability Fund for a feasibility study, The project is being led by UW Solar. The next phase is to finalize the design and budget and then raise funding for the structure.  If you are interested in contributing to this project, would like input and/or can share resources for this project, please email the Farm Manager, Perry Acworth, persis@uw.edu.

To see progress on this project visit the Resiliency Tunnel website page

 

In-Kind Donations:

Donate Materials and Supplies!

toolsDo you have extra farming or gardening equipment or other supplies that you would like to donate? Check out our Wish List below. Or, if you have other resources and networks we would like to learn more!  Reach out to the UW Farm: theuwfarm@gmail.com. 

Wish List

  • Wheelbarrows
  • U-bar or broadforks
  • Pruning shears
  • Digging forks
  • Whovels
  • Fruit harvest baskets
  • 100′ garden hoses
  • Cement blocks
  • Dry applewood, cherry, or other hardwoods for our pizza oven
  • Wood or metal “peel” (for the pizza oven)
  • Gas grill and grilling accessories
  • Scissors
  • Clean, food-grade 5-gallon buckets with metal handles
  • Circular saw
  • Hack saw
  • Hori Hori
  • Metal trowels
  • Brooms
  • Hardware cloth or rolls of 100′ x 3′, 1/2″ metal mesh fencing
  • Extra seeds for the Little Free Seed Library

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