If you are interested in receiving some of this produce, please post a comment on how I can reach you or email us via the contact page.

In other news, my hubbie and I built a worm bin a couple months ago. I need to take some pictures and post them because, in my opinion, it’s something to get excited about!

Many schools in Pierce County are now offering gardening programs that help kids learn about growing fruits, vegetables and flowers. Brett Clubbe, a representative for the WSU Pierce County Extension’s Square Foot Nutrition Project, reported that their school gardening program is now being used in schools all over the Clover Park District including; Custer, Dower, Park Lodge, Tillicum and Tyee Park and schools in the Tacoma School District including, Arlington, Bryant, De Long, Edison, Fawcett, Jefferson, Lister, Manitou Park, Roosevelt, Sheridan, Stafford, Stanley, Stewart Middle and Whitman. That’s a lot of schools!

Stanley Elementary School in Tacoma has an outdoor classroom (greenhouse, raised garden beds and native garden) that provides gardening experiences for their kids. Baker Middle School has their “Planting Seeds Garden Project” which will donate their harvest to a local food bank and the flowers they grow will be dried and used to create flower arrangements, which they plan to sell at the yearly event “Bite of Baker” in September.

Using a hands-on approach the school gardens are being used to teach students in the classroom how to grow and nurture food plants to be harvested and used in easy recipes. The garden sizes vary from eight boxes for every grade in the school to use, to one box serving a few classes. For more information about implementing this program at your school contact Brett at 253-798-2596.

It may seem like community gardens are just beginning to pop up in Pierce County but the truth is they have been around for years. Kirsten McIvor (a Seattle P-Patch trust board member, UW PhD student using and researching TAGRO, and a founder of Grow Local Tacoma) compiled the following history from personal conversations she had with people who were active in community gardens in Pierce County over the years including, Marina Becker (Metro Parks), Carrie Little (Guadalupe Gardens – now Mother Earth Farm), Steven Garrett (former Director of the Tahoma Food System), and Sue Bernstein.

• 1960s: over 30 community gardens existed in Pierce County run by the Tacoma Urban League and used mainly by low-income and immigrant families.

• 1980s: 18 gardens on both public and private land were transferred to Metro Parks.

• 1990s, Carrie Little and others began to build Guadalupe Gardens and programs like WSU’s Cascade gleaning network and the Salishan garden were thriving.

• 2006: leaders in the gardening community met for discussion with Metro Parks about increasing the number of community gardens/gardeners in Tacoma.

• 2007 Grow Local Tacoma was formed (called Tacoma Gardens initially), the website Exit 133 helped get tacomagardens.com, now Grow Local Tacoma, up and running and the First Community Garden Tour was planned.

• 2008 Grow Local Tacoma continued its outreach efforts, Metro Parks gardens were filled to capacity and people were on the waiting list. Community gardens started in Orting, Graham, and Puyallup and conversations happen about how to increase capacity for Community gardens in Tacoma/Pierce County.

Community gardens have gained publicity and popularity more recently with individuals finding alternatives to the rising costs of food, the heightened awareness of individuals about the environmental impact of mass-producing and shipping food and gardening programs being implemented in schools. Alas, Pierce County is making great progress, creating awareness about eating, buying, growing and acting local! Yeah Grow Local Tacoma! More on the great school gardening programs soon…

In light of Presidents Day I wanted to acknowledge and honor some past Presidents who were particularly friendly to the environment. Throughout its history, America has had Presidents with a wide range of approaches to the environment. There are several with accomplishments worth noting though because of their significant impact on the planet.

Abraham Lincoln helped establish the Yosemite Valley and the Mariposa Grove of giant sequoias as a public trust. It was the first time land was specifically set aside for public enjoyment and it helped lay the groundwork for the national parks system. He also founded the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and supported the development of the National Academy of Sciences.

Theodore Roosevelt lobbied Congress for wilderness protection, used the Forest Reserve Act of 1891 to establish 150 million acres of timberland as public domains, supervised creation of the U.S. Forest Service and created 50 wildlife refuges and five national parks. He is well remembered as popularizing the ideas of good resource stewardship and respect for nature.

Jimmy Carter created the Department of Energy in 1977, with an important goal being the establishment of a national energy policy that promoted clean and alternative fuels. He installed solar panels on the White House roof and set the mansion’s thermostats at 68 degrees to save energy. He passed important laws, including the Soil and Water Conservation Act, the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act, the Antarctic Conservation Act, the Endangered American Wilderness Act and the Superfund Act.

Bill Clinton helped to create 17 new national monuments, and preserved more than 4.6 million acres. He also increased protection for wetlands and old-growth forests, established a rule that banned road building on nearly 60 million acres of wilderness in national forests and strengthened the Drinking Water Act.

Roger Doiron, founder of Eat the View and Kitchen Gardeners International is currently petitioning President Obama to show support of the environment by planting an organic garden on the white house lawn. His idea is that the food from the gardens could be used in the white house kitchen or donated locally while promoting the nutritional and economical benefits of growing your own food. For more information about this movement or to get involved, go to eattheview.org.

Happy Presidents Day!!!

A good friend of my coworkers told her about her experience with this program saying that professional, polite people came to her house and helped her get a garden started in her yard. She indicated that not only did she reap the rewards of fresh vegetables but the satisfaction of knowing she contributed to a program that is helping the less fortunate in her community. Another important point she made is that if more people had gardens we would not be so dependant on having vegetables and fruits shipped to us in packaging, thus reducing energy/fuel usage and waste.

This program could serve as an example for other communities to utilize the opportunity to gain independence while serving and supporting the local community. GRuB is guided by their core values: caring youth and adult partnerships, strong communities, sustainable land stewardship, education, and good food for all people. For more information on this organization and its programs, click here.