Garden Stakeholders Meet on South Whidbey

Garden Stakeholders Meet on South Whidbey

We’re growing stronger food networks on South Whidbey.

Representatives from the Whidbey Institute, Whidbey Island Nourishes, Good Cheer, and Goosefoot met recently with the South Whidbey School District (SWSD) Superintendent and all four of our Community Garden Leadership Apprentices to discuss how to collaborate, with the strength of our shared missions, to bolster the school garden programs on South Whidbey. Summit discussion included how to fund a school garden program for the entire district and how to bring garden curriculum to the classrooms plus fresh, garden-grown produce to the cafeterias.

SWSD cafeteria food service is provided by Chartwells, a national food service company providing 2.5 million school lunches across the nation each day. Our district is the first in the nation to provide school-garden grown produce to a Chartwells cafeteria on a regular basis, setting a precedent with the potential to impact millions of lives!

Stakeholders have come away with the goal of raising funds and fostering programs to meet the challenge of getting garden-based curriculum integrated into core learning at every grade level, K through 12, within three years, and to continue improving access to garden learning and organic produce for every student. Community garden coordinator Cary Peterson said, “five organizations getting together to raise money for a program that furthers a common vision is a very cool thing. Through collaboration and cooperation, we’re all helping each other achieve our goals.”

To learn more or to get involved in our community gardens, email [email protected]. And remember: your donation to local non-profits like the Whidbey Institute supports this work in our community.

September 5, 2014

Milky Oats in the Garden

August 25, 2014

An unusual sustainability loop for our bean trellises!

August 10, 2014

Introducing Abigail

We were delighted to welcome Abigail Lazarowski to our team in late March. She came 3000 miles to be with us this spring, working under the mentorship of Land Care Coordinator Maggie Mahle and Growing Groceries Coordinator Cary Peterson!

Abigail hails from Vermont, and joins us for the 2014 growing season as our Community Garden Leadership apprentice. She arrived from the East Coast just over a month ago, and she’s already demonstrated her competence, energy, and team spirit.

“I really love it here,” Abigail said. “This apprenticeship drew me—it really fit exactly the direction I was hoping to move into with my work in growing food.”

When asked how her interest in gardening began, Abigail said she thinks of her father. “My dad had a vegetable garden. He learned from his grandfather, and I spent time with him in the garden when I was little.” In high school and college, that interest grew alongside a desire to help the environment and live closer to the world. “Once I started [organic gardening],” she said, “it felt like the most important thing to do.”

Abigail led an expressive art therapy group as a student at Bard, in New York’s Hudson Valley, and said she loves making art in community as a means of helping and connecting people. She’s looking forward to connecting with people here, too, when her fellow South Whidbey garden interns arrive. “I’m really looking forward to being in this program with them,” she said, “and to helping each other with mutual support in one another’s gardens.” The apprentices, who will work in gardens around South Whidbey, will collaborate throughout the season.

“I’m excited about expanding and deepening my knowledge of small scale vegetable growing,” Abigail said. “I’m also looking forward to learning more about how gardeners can feed their community and help those in need.”

During our interview, Abigail expressed excitement about our regular Thursday work parties, which she now leads, and a hope that others will join in that weekly volunteer effort. All are welcome! Thursday gardening currently takes place between noon and four in the Westgarden at Chinook, and a meal is always shared. To learn more, contact Abigail!

May 4, 2014

Waldorf Students in the Garden

Earlier this spring we were lucky enough to have the third grade students from the Whidbey Island Waldorf School join us in the Westgarden with their teacher Kat Carlson. We started off the day digging up the cow horns that the students buried in the garden last fall as a biodynamic preparation. Within Biodynamics, the tradition of burying manure filled cow horns in the earth is thought to bring fertility to ayour garden. The students discovered that the horns were not yet ready to leave the ground to be turned into a special fertilizer so we put them back in the earth. We planted California Poppies, Bachelor Buttons and Calendula Flowers over top of them and we will check the horns again in the summer.

The students also learned how to prepare a bed for planting and we collectively removed the bed mulch, weeded it out and transplanted our spinach and lettuce starts. We’ll see how well they grow this spring!

A big thank you to Kat Carlson and her students for their help in the garden!

May 4, 2014

Work Party in the Westgarden on Thursday

Hello all! Happy Spring!

Please come join us in the Westgarden at the Whidbey Institute for our regular Thursday work party!

Start off with a delicious garden fresh lunch in the greenhouse at noon and then help us in the garden for the afternoon. You’ll have the opportunity to learn about small scale gardening, spend time in a beautiful and peaceful garden, meet some great people and help grow food for your community!

Work party runs from noon to 4pm EVERY Thursday.
If you can’t come in the afternoon but would still like to join us, know we’re often here working in the mornings as well.

For more information contact Abigail Lazarowski (2014 Garden Apprentice) at [email protected]

Hope to see you there!

April 21, 2014

Welcome Abigail Lazarowksi!

April 20, 2014

Beneficial Insects and Creatures in Your Garden

Beneficial bugs abound in our gardens and you can create a diverse garden ecosystem to encourage them! You can attract not just pollinating insects, but also the insects that will eat pests. The soil, too, is alive with billions of organisms that help to create a fertile soil.

On Saturday, April 5th, from 10 am – 12 noon learn about the

• amazing web of life in our soil and how to nurture it
• pollinators that are essential for our gardens, and our community
• predators and parasitoids that keep our garden ecosystem from becoming unbalanced
• flowers and herbs we can plant to attract beneficial insects, and when to plant them
• garden practices to help our garden ecosystem become diverse and thrive

This Growing Groceries class is taught by Cary Peterson, and is held at the Whidbey Island Community Education Center at Bayview Corner. More detailsHERE.

April 1, 2014

Lichen of the month: Usnea wirthii and longissima

More than 1000 different kinds of lichen grow in the Pacific Northwest. Of these, a few hundred are widespread.One that stands out at Chinook this time of year is Usnea (Usena wirthii and longissima). We see it on our apple trees, the large madrone by the Farmhouse, and throughout the forest, especially on Douglas fir, alder and gemlock branches. 

Lichens are a physical manifestation of the symbiotic relationship between a fungus and an algae. The fungi cultivate algae within themselves. Since algae can photosynthesize, it can supply the fungi with carbohydrates, vitamins, and proteins. In return, the fungi provides the algae with protection from the elements.

Usnea is a medium-sized, tufted to somewhat hanging shrub lichen, 2-4 centimeters long, pale yellowish green, much branched, and bearing tiny powdery balls (soredia) near the tips. It is reinforced by a pale-yellow elastic central cord. This elastic central cord is particular to usnea and can be used to make a positive identification. Pull gently at the usnea, and you should see a stretching strand at the stressed area.

Usnea has medicinal value as an analgesic, antibacterial, antibiotic, antifungal, antiparasitic, anti inflammatory, antiviral, bronchial dilator, expectorant, and immune stimulant.

March 3, 2014

LEAF students study Hügelkultur, lend a hand

On February 7, instructors Tom Murphy and Erin Ryan returned to Chinook with a hardworking crew of students from Edmonds Community College’s Learn and Serve Environmental Anthropology Field (LEAF) School.

The team spent the morning touring the Good Cheer Food Bank and Garden with Cary Peterson, learning about food justice, sustainable growing, and the compost cycle. They then came to the Whidbey Institute to work with Maggie Mahle to learn about the fertility cycle and soil building. The planned activity—flipping beds—was deferred due to frozen ground, so they discussed pine blister rust at the site of the felled white pines and then engaged in a service project by clearing small and large wood debris from the open forest area near the heart of Chinook. This material will be composted for use in the Hügelkultur tradition, which employs rotted wood to create nurselog-like conditions in the garden bed. They also moved gravel in to the greenhouse floor via bucket brigade, then closed with reflections in the Sanctuary.

We offer our thanks to the students and instructors for their effort, assistance, and learning! We are grateful for our ongoing partnership with LEAF.

February 13, 2014