West Seattle, Washington
20 Saturday
… but it’s not likely to be suspected of extraterrestrial or supernatural links. West Seattle Crop Circle is a new group that Community Harvest of Southwest Seattle is organizing in West Seattle to follow up on the success of the Edible Garden Fair and Edible Garden Tour – and the growing popularity of edible gardening. The first meeting is a little more than a week away – read on for the full announcement from Susanne at CHoSS:Read More
Sure, you need a sweater, but otherwise there are music and beverages to keep you warm at West Seattle Nursery till 5 pm today. It’s a fundraiser for Furry Faces Foundation, with Beveridge Place Pub‘s Gary Sink pouring:
We also have a photo to share from an outdoor celebration in the Roxhill area night before last:
(Thursday photo courtesy Lutheran Alliance To Create Housing)
Paul Hogle and other board members from The Lutheran Alliance To Create Housing (LATCH) served ice cream during an open house/ice-cream social at Longfellow and Westwood Courts. LATCH, with 36 member congregations, oversees more than 200 apartments around the city, including these West Seattle properties.
P-PATCH PROJECT: Originally found that via Facebook, and Joni says it’s OK to share with you — she’s updating progress (Whrrl allows you to keep adding photos) on another day of volunteer work at the new MacArthur P-Patch in High Point. Just click to see what’s happening. (A celebration of the new garden is set for 5-7 pm this Friday – more info here.)
FREE CAR WASH: Also via Facebook, Nancy sent word that hubby Kevin has organized a free car wash in the parking lot at Ginomai, southwest corner of 42nd/Genesee. Scheduled to be there till 2 pm. (Just a stone’s throw from tonight’s West Seattle Outdoor Movies on the Wall site!)
TWO RETAIL EVENTS: Ann at smallclothes (which recently moved to 3215 California SW) says today’s the last day of their summer sale – “everything in the shop is 20% off including all resale items, Imp Wear and SKR shoes.” And Coastal on Alki is having a “Happy Hour” event 2-5pm with 20% off Smith and Nikita items – plus DJ Sean Majors. Don’t let the weather ruin the summer mood; fall is still six weeks away. (By the calendar, anyway.)
GARDENING AND BEER: They’re together again at West Seattle Nursery, 1-5 pm today, benefiting the animal advocates at Furry Faces Foundation.
That’s “The Bee Keeper’s Yard” at 6750 35th SW – one of 10 stops on the West Seattle Edible Garden Tour, free and self-guided, happening till 4 this afternoon. Those boxes you see are for the bees – no, they don’t live in the iconic conical “hives.” Beekeeper and gardener here is Brian Allen:
You may also know Brian as secretary of Sustainable West Seattle. Visit his garden and any or all of the 9 others till 4 pm today – find the addresses and a downloadable map at ediblewestseattle.org.
Highlights from the West Seattle Weekend Lineup: Work parties today include a one-of-a-kind event – St. John the Baptist Episcopal Church in Admiral invites neighbors as well as parishioners to an “Ivy Out Day” to clear a spot along SW Hanford that will become a “park-like” space for the whole neighborhood – 9 am to noon with a free barbecue to follow. Also: You can take the FREE West Seattle Edible Garden Tour today, self-guided, 10 am-4 pm, get your map here. Then tonight – everybody gets “Footloose” at West Seattle Outdoor Movies on the Wall, doors open 7 pm in the courtyard by Hotwire Coffee (WSB sponsor), preshow fun at 8:30, movie at dusk, bring $ for concessions and raffles to benefit local nonprofits.
(photo added 12:30 pm)
The West Seattle Garden Tour continues till 5 pm, lots of time to make it to all eight gardens, ticket info here. Also if you’re looking for lunch, received this from Patty at Blue Willow Catering in The Junction:
Blue Willow Luncheonette is open for business today in honored of the West Seattle Garden Tour. We are on the map as a rest stop, we are also serving our full lunch menu and some breakfast type specials from 11-2:30.
They’re on SW Oregon across from the entrance to the parking lot behind Chase/the liquor store/etc. 12:29 PM UPDATE: Making the rounds of some of the gardens – at the Hailey Family Garden in Admiral, you’ll find beverage sales on behalf of WestSide Baby and today’s “Stuff the Bus” diaper drive:
Also a reminder that the West Seattle Garden Tour proceeds themselves benefit nonprofits, such as the Junction Plaza Park construction fundraising:
The Haileys’ garden is also where you can see the stone bench that’s one of today’s raffle prizes for WSGT attendees (in the background is Shon Robinson, the designer who’s part of this garden’s team):
We’re off to a couple other locations and will add more photos later. The West Seattle Garden Tour continues till 5 pm. ADDED 1:21 PM: More than one of the featured gardens is in Gatewood’s gorgeous Orchard Street Ravine area – we dropped by the one that belongs to West Seattle Internet proprietor Bill Hibler:
This is the “Chez Hugh …” garden featured on the WSGT website – beautiful art glass, too:
Not too late for tickets – West Seattle Nursery and Metropolitan Market are the places to go.
We’ve already mentioned it’s the day to “Stuff the Bus” for WestSide Baby – 10 am-2 pm at the Farmers’ Market (we’ll be there for “live” updates). Also – the Mediterranean Fantasy Festival is in day two:
Thanks to Dina Johnson for sharing photos from today’s Day 1 – that’s Shamandura with her 8-year-old granddaughter Princess Tori – here’s West Seattle dancer Mirabai:
The festival continues at Hiawatha from 10 am to 9 pm today. (ADDED SUNDAY NIGHT – Two Hiawatha scenes from Sunday – also both courtesy of Dina Johnson – first one is Lisa Yasmine, West Seattle bellydancer, and Katia Sahar completing their duet … second one, knights in semi-shining armor)
GARDEN TOUR: Today’s also the day for the West Seattle Garden Tour – 9 am to 5 pm, self-guided tour of eight residential gardens, with admission price including Ciscoe Morris‘ noon lecture at The Kenney. Ticket info here.
WEST SEATTLE FARMERS’ MARKET: Looking for a deal while you’re there dropping off diapers for “Stuff the Bus,” or vice versa? Here’s today’s fresh sheet.
We’ve talked a lot about the West Seattle Grand Parade at midday Saturday, the first Outdoor Movie on the Wall Saturday night, and other big events in West Seattle this weekend – but before your plans are set in stone, a shoutout for one more major event: The 15th annual West Seattle Garden Tour is this Sunday – and since it’s self-guided, 9 am-5 pm, you can tour at your leisure. We got a sneak peek at one of the 8 featured gardens a few days ago, the Hailey Family Garden in Admiral (see it here on the WSGT website). Above, a photo of just one tiny corner, showing one of the ways small and large in which color are texture is wound throughout this garden – with open sunny “grassland” out front, and a shady refuge (including beautiful birches) in back. In addition to the Haileys, the team that created this garden – wrapping around a classic, remodeled Admiral home — includes designer Shon Robinson, who was there to do a bit of tidying when we stopped by:
Every stop on the Garden Tour will feature something special. Along with the 8 tour stops, your West Seattle Garden Tour ticket includes admission to Northwest gardening legend Ciscoe Morris‘s lecture at noon at The Kenney, and a chance at winning raffle prizes including a bench donated by Capers (one of the places where tickets are still available) and a stone bench that you’ll see on display at the aforementioned Hailey Family Garden, plus many other items listed here – including, from WSB sponsor Endolyne Joe’s, a $100 gift certificate and $175 gift basket. Here’s where else to get tickets – including online at Brown Paper Tickets (which you in turn can exchange at two places Saturday or Sunday for ticket books).
Just back from the Seattle Market Gardens farm stand at 32nd/Juneau in High Point, open till 7 pm (and every Tuesday 4:30-7 pm through Oct. 6). Brought home peas-in-pod for $3/pound, also noticed carrots, baby bok choy, onions, potatoes, lettuce, salad greens and beautiful flowers including fiery crocosmia. Everything harvested this morning, we were told; the growers were a bit shy but we did manage to snag this photo:
Looking east from the southwest end, over the actual garden (mini-farm), the stand is under the white tent:
Here’s a map to 32nd/Juneau. This is one of two Seattle Market Gardens, both in Seattle Housing Authority communities, and their farm stands are new this year – read more here. (They also offer weekly subscriptions.)
Starting today, every Tuesday from 4:30 pm-7 pm through October 6th, the Seattle Market Gardens Program will present a weekly farm stand at the Juneau Market Garden in High Point, 32nd SW and SW Juneau, selling fresh produce and flowers, grown locally! Here’s a map.
Spring and fall may be the perfect planting seasons, but it’s not too late to get something new in your garden – and we have word today of two opportunities, plant sales that also happen to be fundraisers: First, Community Harvest of Southwest Seattle is selling vegetable starts at SSCC this Wednesday afternoon/evening:
Plants raised with care and donated by South Seattle Community College Dept of Horticulture
Wednesday, July 8 4-7 PM
SSCC – on campus* Heirloom Tomatoes * Basil * Peppers * Tomatillos *
Lots of interesting varieties30% off already great prices + bonus plant for sales over $20
Sample Prices
4″ Heirloom Tomatoes – $1.75
4″ herbs – $1.00
1 gallon Heirloom Tomatoes – $3.75
1 gallon Peppers – $3.00Community Harvest of SW Seattle is a local non-profit helping to share the abundance of our local harvests as well as inspiring and educating on the joys of growing food. We sponsor the Edible Garden Fair and Tour, canning classes, gardening classes, as well as coordinating the fruit harvest in West Seattle. More info – 206-762-0604 info@gleanit.org
The other plant sale is continuous all month long at Hotwire Coffee (WSB sponsor), in the courtyard, benefiting the Hip to Be Snipped program by Furry Faces Foundation — flowers and grape vines among other items — drop by whenever Hotwire’s open and check ’em out.
Christy and friend are part of the Furry Faces Foundation animal-advocacy crew you’ll find at a plant sale that just started at 11 am between the Beveridge Place Pub deck and neighboring Morgan Junction Park. It’s “Blooms for Bow-Wows” – and one highlight, we were told when we stopped by for a photo, is a table of $3 grape vines – table and wine varieties. The sale’s on till 3 pm today, with all plants at this fundraiser priced $1-$5.
That’s the site of the new Genesee P-Patch late this afternoon – just a few hours after the big city-supported Clean and Green work party (first report here) that mixed mountains of Cedar Grove-donated compost into the soil:
Among the dozens of volunteers was John Legge, among those who received certificates today in honor of the plots they’ve been awarded in the new community garden:
(If you noticed some lighter spots in the compost pile in that photo – that’s actually where steam rose as the volunteers dug in — pungent steam, at that.) Among the others – Rahn Lee and her 9-year-old daughter Mei Lee Vandervelde, who are with a Girl Scout troop that meets in South Delridge:
The new P-Patch is on a spot of land along Genesee just east of West Seattle Christian Church, which donated the site (and has also been donating food grown on another patch of church land). In this video clip, you’ll hear WSCC’s Pastor Dan Jacobs talking about how the gardening sideline came to be:
As we mentioned in our first report, Mayor Nickels and wife Sharon Nickels volunteered today too. In his kickoff speech, the mayor mentioned this was the city’s 99th Clean and Green event:
And a shoutout to the organizational efforts of two more people who helped make today happen — Stan Lock, one of the city’s two Neighborhood Service Coordinators on our peninsula – he works out of the office in The Junction, next to Rocksport:
Plus, Erica Karlovits, president of the Junction Neighborhood Organization, which held its quarterly Adopt-a-Street cleanup in connection with today’s Clean and Green:
And these events do require planning down to the last detail, like treat procurement – Erica told us these cupcakes, with icing-drawn carrots and radishes, were donated by Coffee to a Tea with Sugar in The Junction:
Side note: In our first story on today’s event, we mentioned the three other West Seattle sites proposed for funding under the Parks and Green Spaces Levy. One is the “southern triangle” near California Place Park, the subject of a story you’ll see later tonight (because of the celebration in the park today); the other is in High Point; and we just noticed this brand-new sign up at the third, in Westwood (34th and Barton):
The sign makes it clear that the proposed disposition of that site (which we originally wrote about here) is as a “community garden,” and says you’ve got till July 20 to send comments to the city (same person that’s listed here).
After the speeches and before the digging, there was of course a group photo op for everybody who showed up at the start of this morning’s city-sponsored Clean and Green event at the new Genesee P-Patch on a Junction site donated by West Seattle Christian Church. Right after the photo op, it was time to start digging into a mountain of donated Cedar Grove compost — which is made from the yard waste you put out every week – Mayor Nickels (who volunteered today along with wife Sharon Nickels) talked shovel-turning strategy with Aaron Hernandez, the almost-unsung hero who hatched the idea for the P-Patch:
Lots more coverage to add later – including the awarding of certificates to the 10 applicants (many of whom had been on a long waiting list) who are receiving P-Patch plots. If you’re still on the waiting list, no worries – as we’ve reported previously, at least three other West Seattle P-Patches are in the works, thanks to funding from the Parks and Green Spaces Levy passed by voters last year – including the 34th/Barton site east of the Exxon/Propel station. And if you see this story before 1 pm, you can still go grab a shovel and get involved, or join up with the folks you may see picking up trash along 40th, 41st and 42nd between Dakota and Hudson, as part of the Junction Neighborhood Organization Adopt-A-Street cleanup being held concurrently with today’s Clean and Green.
(Photo courtesy Community Harvest of Southwest Seattle)
It’s this year’s hottest gardening trend – growing your own food – like the arrangement above that lends a new meaning to “salad bowl.” If you have an “edible garden,” you might still have a chance to be part of the 2nd annual West Seattle Edible Garden Tour – the date’s set for August 1st and Aviva from Community Harvest of Southwest Seattle says they’re still seeking “one or two more gardens to round out the tour” – if yours might qualify, or you have one to suggest, info@gleanit.org – Meantime, CHoSS is also looking for volunteers to help pick cherries for distribution to local families in need:
With the warm summer weather, fruit harvest season is right around the corner and cherries are ripening. Community Harvest of Southwest Seattle connects volunteers with fruit tree donors, picking surplus fruit for donation to the food bank. Help distribute our local abundance. Want to harvest? Know of a tree? Have a couple of hours to help with some computer/office tasks? Contact
info@gleanit.org
They’re also starting a “Grow Your Own Groceries Project” to help low-income (or recently unemployed) people learn to grow some of their own food; mentors are being sought as well as participants – same e-mail address.
Compost bins for yard waste and food waste – plus rain barrels (it’ll rain again SOMEDAY) – are being offered at what Seattle Public Utilities calls “big discounts” – read on for details:Read More
Just found out via one of the spotlighted households that the gardens in next month’s West Seattle Garden Tour are all now described online, with photos. July 19 is the date for the self-guided WSGT; this year’s guest speaker is gardening star Ciscoe Morris, whose presentation at The Kenney at noon on tour day is included in the ticket price.
More work today at the new P-Patch in The Junction: Aaron Hernandez from the Friends of Genesee P-Patch sent that photo from Thursday – a city crew has been by to help clear the garden site, which as we recently reported, is one of four new P-Patch sites in line for city funding from the Parks and Green Spaces Levy (the P-Patch also has received a Small and Simple Grant, according to Aaron). Site volunteers are doing some more work there today; if you’re interested in future involvement with the P-Patch, you can reach Aaron here. No matter what kind of gardening you’re doing, you need something to grow. You’ve got myriad plant-buying options this weekend – for one, Village Green Perennial Nursery has just rejoined us as a WSB sponsor – they’re only open for the season till June 28 – and then there’s the Furry Faces Foundation fundraising plant sale:
Lora Lewis from F3 and Hotwire Coffee (WSB sponsor) sent that petunia photo. The sale — with most plants from $1 to $5, Lora notes — continues till 4 pm, and again 10 am-4 pm tomorrow, at 3809 46th SW (tomorrow adoptable pets will be there too, noon-4 pm). Back in The Junction, till 2 pm today, you can enjoy free treats and get a tour at Mural Apartments (WSB sponsor), which has thrown open the doors to show off in its first month of renting brand-new units in “Downtown West Seattle.” 42nd SW, right across from Jefferson Square. Say hi to manager Rose (posing with some of the aforementioned free snacks):
Again, the full slate of what’s up this weekend is in the West Seattle Weekend Lineup.
Full slate of today’s events can be found in the West Seattle Weekend Lineup. Gardeners in particular have much to choose from – GardenFest at SSCC, the Furry Faces Foundation plant sale, and the Garden Party at Transitional Resources – but there are indoor events too, such as the Mural Apartments (WSB sponsor) open house, more Seattle International Film Festival screenings at the Admiral, and the Community School of West Seattle auction. We’ve also got an update on the “Great Duwamish Clothing/Book Swap” at Duwamish Cohousing (6000 17th SW; map) – it’s happening 10 am-2 pm.
RACE RESULTS: If you were among the 1,000-plus participants in Sunday’s first-ever West Seattle 5K (WSB coverage, with video of the entire start and the top finisher, here), you can now see the results (and photos) online.
HOOD VS. HOOD: Beth points out that West Seattle is so far “winning” the Hood-to-Hood challenge in the KEXP public-radio pledge drive: “The winning neighborhood will get them delivering some of their shows at a local neighborhood venue for the day as well as bringing in some bands to play at local neighbor hood music venues. Right now West Seattle is in the lead.” Yes, we are beating BALLARD, in fact, with Capitol Hill in third (!?). Check it out here.
GARDEN PARTY: Transitional Resources sends a reminder that its annual Garden Party is coming up this Saturday. It’s a chance to help out in our area’s smallest certified organic garden and also check out noted chef Christine Keff‘s cooking demo, among other fun aspects – full details here.
We’re at the Parks and Green Spaces Levy Oversight Committee meeting, awaiting a discussion of whether the committee will go along with the Skatepark Advisory Committee‘s recommendation to transfer money to the Delridge Skatepark project, from the unpopular-with-neighbors Myrtle Reservoir Skatespot proposal. In the meantime, we’ve heard some West Seattle news – starting with four possible P-Patches that might be funded with the $2 million “community garden” funds coming from the levy – including the site shown in Google Street View above, 34th/Barton. We reported three months ago that this 12,000-square-foot site at 34th/Barton, just east of the Exxon/Propel station, had been identified as “surplus” by the city, and comments were being sought regarding what to do with it. Many people in the comment thread following our report suggested using it as community garden/P-Patch land — and that’s exactly what’s under consideration now. The three other West Seattle sites mentioned for possible acquisition were the West Seattle Christian Church site that already is being turned into the Genesee P-Patch (which just won a Neighborhood Matching Fund $15,000 grant, by the way), a parcel in High Point, and California Place Park (we’ll be following up, but we believe they mean the “southern triangle” discussed in the recent design workshops as a possible garden site). More on these as they move through the process, and more from this meeting when the skatepark funding decision’s in. ADDED 12:52 AM: Read on for a few more details on these 4 West Seattle P-Patch sites, from the document made available at Tuesday night’s meeting:Read More
From the sun-splashed courtyard on the north end of the South Seattle Community College campus, stretching into several rooms of the adjacent Horticulture Building, today’s first-ever West Seattle Edible Garden Fair drew hundreds to learn more about how to “grow your own groceries,” as the promotional slogan went. We visited in the final hour; organizer Aviva Furman from Community Harvest of Southwest Seattle said they’d had a great day. Same thing we heard from many participants – like Sandy Pederson from Urban Land Army:
She’s posing there in front of her Land Link map (explained here) but ULA also presented the “Bucket Brigade” container-gardening table, so popular they ran out of plants and soil, after making dozens of container gardens! Of course, urban farming isn’t just about the plants: Thinking about livestock? Even if you have a small yard, you can keep up to three goats:
Chewee and Amanda were having a bit of a food fight when we stopped by. What they eat, we were told, comes from the Seattle Urban Farm Cooperative, whose mission is “to satisfy demand for local, organic feed and supplies for urban farmers”; check them out on Facebook. Back now to the concept of growing your own: Need some help? These guys have just gone into business:
Shannon and Jason Mullett-Bowlsby are known as The Shibaguyz (on Twitter, @shibaguyz), the Lazy Locavores and the Urban Farming Project (contact info here) – not only are can they consult on your urban-farming project, they’re also having an heirloom tomato sale the next two Saturdays (May 30 and June 6; watch for more info here – more than 1,000 plants, they told us!). Now, you can’t grow plants really well without good soil, so Carrie’s hints about worm composting were invaluable:
She said keeping a worm bin, like the one in the photo, is a lot easier than you might think (here’s info). Bottom line, besides growing tastier, affordable food, edible gardening is also a matter of increased self-sufficiency – which is why it synergizes so well with the display Deb Greer and Karen Berge set up:
That’s a map of the neighborhood-gathering places around West Seattle designated just in case of major emergency. The website they maintain to get out information about West Seattle preparedness, as part of this effort we’ve been covering, is down at the moment but we’ll link it here when it’s back. (Yes, Deb and Karen are gardeners too, and were even giving out samples of organic carrot seeds.) In addition to the outdoor displays, there was a busy slate of simultaneous indoor presentations all day long (as listed here). It all wrapped up just an hour and a half ago.
The Garden Center at SSCC, by the way, adjacent to today’s fair setup, is open 11 am-3 pm every Saturday.
That’s Colman Pool, the saltwater swimming facility on the Lincoln Park waterfront, opening today for its always-too-short summer season – it’s the first of three “pre-season weekends,” so after today/Sunday/Monday, it’ll be closed till next Saturday – full schedule here.
Other major highlights today include the first-ever West Seattle Edible Garden Fair, 9:30 am-4 pm at South Seattle Community College — here’s the full schedule; presentations start at 10 am – all FREE (and don’t forget to bring garden supplies, tools, books to recycle – scroll down here for details on that).
And on Alki, a big party to celebrate the community’s National Wildlife Federation certification as a Community Wildlife Habitat. Events and activities center around the Alki Bathhouse, 11 am-3 pm with a ceremony scheduled at 1 pm.
Lots more happening today, including a Car Show/Carnival at Southwest Community Center – full slate of activities can be found in the West Seattle Weekend Lineup.
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