West Seattle, Washington
24 Wednesday
Five weeks from today, school starts. But there’s still a whole lot of summer left to enjoy – and today, blue sky and bright sun graced a high-profile work party at the garden on the Denny/Sealth campus. Above, new Seattle Public Schools superintendent José Banda joined Seattle Storm guard Svetlana Abrosimova in getting some plants in the garden’s raised beds. That was just one of the tasks tackled today:
And we do mean tackled. As in football. Participants included former Seahawks – like Forey Duckett:
And school leaders too – here are Sealth’s principal Chris Kinsey and vice principal Lupe Barnes with superintendent Banda:
Sustainability was the theme here – new planting beds were built from recovered cedar, for example; both schools are certified Washington Green Schools. And after a few hours, everybody was ready for a “zero-waste lunch”:
The produce was all grown in the Denny/Sealth garde and consumed with compostable utensils.As big as this was, it was actually just a prelude to an event next month, the nationwide “Green Apple Day of Service” sponsored by the Center for Green Schools at the U.S. Green Building Council on September 29th.
(World Water Week work party at the Denny garden last March)
Big event just announced for Denny International Middle School‘s garden this Wednesday. From Seattle Public Schools:
The Center for Green Schools at the U.S. Green Building Council, Washington Green Schools, Seattle Public Schools, Seattle Mariners, Seattle Seahawks and Seattle Storm will join community volunteers and students from Denny International Middle School and Chief Sealth International High School to spruce up the Joan Allen Memorial Garden at Denny school. During the Wednesday, Aug. 1 event, work crews will build raised planting beds from recovered cedar, plant fall crop seedlings, weed existing planting areas and improve the school’s garden storage shed.
The district says new Superintendent José Banda will be there, too.
(Photos by Nick Adams for WSB)
The clouds made the colors and patterns stand out just that much more during today’s 18th annual West Seattle Garden Tour. WSB contributing photojournalist Nick Adams visited some of the nine featured gardens; above, Barbara Post and Margie O’Coyne walked through the Pollinators’ Paradise (Davis & Plucinski) garden, admiring the fireglow. Also from that garden:
Next stop:
Participating gardener Sarah Cecil Martin answered Chris Porter‘s questions about a rose bush in her garden (Urban Growth), which is also where visitors saw this glass/stone path:
/Another splendid stop: The Rohwer garden:
This one, for the tour, was dubbed “Perennial Plush”:
In the Houghton/Wong garden, tour-titled “North by Southwest,” a bee headed for the sea holly:
Another view from NxSW:
WSB co-sponsored the WSGT again this year; net proceeds go to local nonprofits (here are this year’s beneficiaries).
That’s the whiteboard for what’s available right now at the High Point Market Garden Farm Stand, open for the first time this year, Wednesdays 4-7 pm. The farmers took a quick break for our photo:
Their plots are literally next to the stand – so it’s as farm-fresh as you can get – 32nd and Juneau (map).
Last year, her garden was part of the West Seattle Garden Tour … this year, author/gardener Lorene Edwards Forkner is the guest speaker, and her presentation on “The Handmade Garden” is included in your ticket to the WSGT, one week from today. The centerpiece is of course a guide to, and admission to, nine fabulous West Seattle gardens. The map’s in your ticket book, which you can buy at local outlets OR reserve online right this very moment (go to this page on the Brown Paper Tickets website).
Proceeds support local nonprofits, which in turn is why the West Seattle Chamber of Commerce named the WS Garden Tour “nonprofit of the year” this year. The ticket book and poster art (right), as mentioned before, is by local artist Sheila Lengle, and during the tour, you can meet her at the Pollinators’ Paradise garden, noon-4 pm, where she’ll be happy to sign your ticket book or tour poster (many asked if the poster’s for sale – this year, it is!). She’s also displaying her work and selling some of it through a silent auction. If that’s not enough, you can also check out this year’s raffle – $5 ticket for a chance at a 5-foot granite bench, cooking class for up to 10 people, garden-design consultation, and more (here’s the full prize list). We’re so enthusiastic about the Garden Tour, we’re one of the sponsors again this year. Even if you’re planning a West Seattle Summer Fest visit that day, you can tour the gardens before and after – 9 am to 5 pm, next Sunday, July 15th.
Got one or more fruit trees but unable to pick/use this summer’s crop? City Fruit would love to hear from you, so they can come harvest it and get it to people in need. This year, they’re expanding to West Seattle, as well as serving South Seattle and Phinney Ridge, and they’re looking not only for trees, but also volunteers. From Betsy at CF:
City Fruit promotes the cultivation of urban fruit in order to nourish people, build community and protect the climate. We help tree owners grow healthy fruit, provide assistance in harvesting and preserving fruit, promote the sharing of extra fruit and work to protect urban fruit trees. City Fruit works neighborhood by neighborhood to harvest extra fruit and distribute it to food banks, meals programs, senior centers, schools and others who can use it. In the past three years we have harvested nearly 30,000 lbs of fruit. If you have extra, please join us in this effort.
To donate fruit … If you have unsprayed, healthy fruit to donate, contact City Fruit at westseattle@cityfruit.org. Give us your name, address, type of tree and a way to reach you. We will contact you about scheduling a harvest.
…If you have a fruit tree that has a problem (disease, bad fruit, etc.) and you would like to be on our list of fruit trees needing help, email westseattle@cityfruit.org with the details of your tree.
Lots more information on their website at cityfruit.org – including how to support City Fruit by becoming a member (Betsy says there are perks, including a thank-you discount offered by West Seattle Nursery). Betsy says their local beneficiaries include both area food banks. (Photo courtesy City Fruit)
Though we’re still short on golden sunlight, the other colors of summer are spilling forth in West Seattle gardens big and small as July arrives. 
As a returning co-sponsor of the West Seattle Garden Tour, we’re taking a moment to remind you it’s exactly 2 weeks away: 9 am-5 pm on Sunday, July 15th, you can wander 9 West Seattle gardens (preview them here) at your leisure. Your ticket also gets you into The Kenney at noontime to hear author Lorene Edwards Forkner talk about “The Handmade Garden.” And there tend to be other surprises in your $15 ticket book – which also helps the WSGT donate net proceeds to local nonprofits (here are this year’s 8 beneficiaries). You can buy yours now at 8 locations (including WSB sponsors Metropolitan Market and Village Green Perennial Nursery), or get a voucher online.
Almost 5 years after the first known “West Seattle Art Attack,” the mysterious leaver-of-glass-gifts has “struck” again. We received photos this morning with word that they were from WSAA visits to three local P-Patch community gardens. So if you’re tending a plot today, keep an eye out!
The art isn’t ALL hidden among the stalks and leaves at the Barton, Genesee, and Charlestown P-Patches:
This is the first time we’ve heard from/about West Seattle Art Attack since a WSAA/YarnCore collaboration inside a local café more than a year ago.
Thanks to Suzanne Krom for catching the photo of George Capestany (right) and son Brannden Nokes, as they walked through her neighborhood with goats Bama (with Brannden) and JJ. She learned, “George keeps them as pets and they earn their keep by eating blackberry vines and other invasive vegetation. It turns out that George uses them instead of using pesticides. He’s considering renting them out to others for this purpose. The goats are super-friendly and easy to walk. Very dog-like.”
West Seattle Garden Tour volunteers are starting to deliver WSGT ticket books to the places you’ll be able to buy them … to give you plenty of lead time to buy yours for the July 15 tour (co-sponsored by WSB). Yes, that’s Sheila Lengle‘s winning poster art on the cover (here’s our coverage of the ceremony honoring her during last month’s West Seattle Art Walk)! WSGT’s Jane Watson tells WSB the first places to get ticket books will be Metropolitan Market (WSB sponsor), West Seattle Nursery, ArtsWest, and Junction TrueValue; the deliveries will continue with Village Green Perennial Nursery (WSB sponsor), and three nurseries outside West Seattle/White Center: Furney’s, Swanson’s, and Wells-Medina. (You can reserve a ticket book online by going to this Brown Paper Tickets page.) Garden Tour tickets are $15, and proceeds benefit local nonprofits.
The sun arrived in West Seattle at mid-morning, just in time for Northwest gardening celebrity Ciscoe Morris‘s scheduled visit to West Seattle Nursery – the setting today for his live weekly two-hour KIRO-FM radio show. His first interviewees were from the WSN team. Before sitting down at the microphone, he mingled with shoppers:
If you missed today’s West Seattle-based Ciscoe-cast, keep an eye on this page, which should eventually have the archived audio files. This was Ciscoe’s second visit to this area this spring; on April 15th, he was at Village Green Perennial Nursery (WSB sponsor).
The annual seed swap is on at the West Seattle (Admiral District) branch of the Seattle Public Library. They want you to know:
If you have seeds you would like to share with your neighbors, bring them to the West Seattle Branch. Small envelopes will be provided. While you’re at the library be sure to take some seeds to try out in your garden and browse our collection of gardening books. The Seed Exchange is free and will run through Saturday, June 9. Happy spring!
Find the branch’s hours and location here.
(8/14 note: To check whether a business is still a current WSB sponsor, please go here)
Considering a yard makeover as summer approaches? Today we welcome one of our newest WSB sponsors, My Garden Coach, with this message for you:
Yard makeovers can be very intimidating for homeowners. People usually have an idea of what they want their yard to look like but don’t know how to get started.
That’s why hiring a Garden Coach is such a great idea! In just one visit, you get a landscape designer to look at your yard and help you see not just what it CAN be, but also help you make a plan for how to get there.
You may want to do the work yourself but you need a designer’s eye to help you see your yard’s potential. Or, you just don’t like your yard and you want someone to help you create a whole, new design. Some people need motivation to start, some need a vision, and others just need a list of priorities of what to do next. That’s where a garden coach can be a perfect fit. A 2-hour walk-through of your yard is really all it takes to get started.
After their yard makeovers, My Garden Coach customers can’t believe how little it took to transform their dull or overgrown yard into an impressive garden. They also say they spend more time in their yards, take more pride in showing it and know their investment has improved their property’s value. Let’s take a walk, talk about your goals and create a design that transforms your plain old yard into a beautiful garden!
Find My Garden Coach online at mygardencoach.net, or call 206-550-5501.
We thank My Garden Coach for sponsoring independent, community-collaborative neighborhood news via WSB; find our current sponsor team listed in directory format here, and find info on joining the team by going here.
From 13th and Florida on Harbor Island, a dramatic set of before and after photos – first, the “before”:
And the “after” – though the story’s not entirely over yet:
Here’s the news release we received, explaining what’s going on:
A small group of Harbor Island employees joined forces to improve the neighborhood by creating a green space in their industrial environment. Naming themselves “Harbor Island People for the Environment” (HIPE), they arranged for a non-profit youth organization to paint murals for a warehouse and they built planter boxes for foliage to brighten and clean the air.
Festivities to celebrate installation of the murals and garden spot will be held June 1 at 4 PM at the north end of Harbor Island, 1731 13th Avenue SW. Sponsoring companies: Crowley, PCC Logistics, Rolls-Royce Commercial Marine, Vigor Industrial LLC.
Urban ArtWorks is a non-profit organization dedicated to empowering at-risk youth through professional opportunities in the arts, to learn a variety of skills, and to use their creative talents in a positive way. Seven young artists and their mentors created eight mural panels for display on the side of a warehouse facing 13th Avenue SW. The maritime theme of the murals begins with a depiction of the land some hundred years ago, when it was inhabited by the Duwamish people, evolving gradually to the industrial era of today.
The garden design was developed by Spirit Garden Design owner, Lucinda O’Halloran. The planter boxes were donated and built by employees of PCC Logistics. Volunteers from the four sponsoring companies held a work party on May 18 to plant flowering trees and shrubs in the planter boxes. Company volunteers also participated for the fifth year in City of Seattle’s annual “Spring Clean” by picking up litter in the area.
Harbor Island is a busy work environment with shipping, shipbuilding and repair, railroads, trucking, engineering firms, and more, all squeezed onto a narrow manmade island co-existing with the Port of Seattle’s cranes, which constantly load and unload container cargo. The HIPE committee has plans for continued focus on developing green spots for a sustainable environment.
The murals mentioned in the announcement will be arriving later this week, and we’ll check back. Thanks to HIPE for the before/after photos included above!
From left, Payton, Caleb, and Sasha are among the young gardeners whose work is on sale right now at the annual West Seattle Montessori/WS Academy (WSB sponsor) plant sale, till 3 pm at 11214 15th SW. The school website even has a list of what they’ve been growing for the occasion. Leading the project: teacher Clary Gasper:
Proceeds from the sale – which also includes plants donated by Village Green Perennial Nursery (WSB sponsor) – are going toward greenhouse equipment and pre-primary botany.
Maybe “cash flow” would be a better term for what happened at Village Green Perennial Nursery (WSB sponsor) this afternoon, more than “cash mob.” When the appointed hour for the latter event arrived, around 2 pm, certainly there were a lot of shoppers. We counted about 20, between a few who came early because 2 pm didn’t work for them, and some who said they were definitely there for the “mob,” which, as reported here 3 weeks ago, was the idea of social marketer Michael B. Maine of Menrva Labs, after meeting VG’s Vera Johnson at a conference:
So in all it was a good day for the rambling nursery in the unincorporated area between West Seattle and White Center. An afterparty was planned at Company in WC, and Vera was scheduled to head to Vashon Island, invited to speak about her consumer-rights activism tonight at Michelle Shocked‘s “Roccupy!” performance.
Northwest gardening guru/broadcast personality/author Ciscoe Morris drew more than 100 people to Village Green Perennial Nursery (WSB sponsor) this afternoon, which meant big smiles all around, especially for him and Village Green’s Vera Johnson:
In our 8-minute clip below, Vera introduces him by explaining how they met, and then after showing off prizes he planned to give away during his talk, he explained his trademark phrase “Oh-la-la”:
The quiz questions that netted attendees the prizes, by the way, centered on hummingbirds. We’ll have video of his entire talk linked on partner site White Center Now later; one major topic, the trouble these past three winters have caused with many Northwest gardens, including his own.
During last month’s World Water Week at Chief Sealth International High School, students and staff worked on a campus garden project; one of our photos showed a KING 5 crew there to cover it. This morning, CSIHS teacher Noah Zeichner, who coordinated World Water Week again this year, sends word that KING’s story has just appeared online, as one of the newest clips for “Gardening with Ciscoe“; the show’s namesake (who’s in our area today) narrates.
Things will be buzzing at Village Green Perennial Nursery (WSB sponsor) tomorrow. Not just because West Seattle beekeeper Brian Allen is leading a seminar at 11 am. Not just because Master Gardener Jeff Daley and colleagues will be on hand for a clinic 10:30 am-1:30 pm. The headliner arrives at 1 pm – 
the man you could call the Northwest’s “laughing gardener,” Ciscoe Morris is headed this way to visit VGPN (10223 26th SW, and proprietor Vera Johnson is excited to play host to a fellow perennials enthusiast (at right is Grevillea we photographed at VG last week – Vera says it’s a Ciscoe fave because it blooms in the cool season). Forecast looks good for tomorrow afternoon, but then again, real gardeners know there’s nothing wrong with a little cloud cover.
That’s brew, as in coffee – the traditional free espresso at West Seattle Nursery‘s annual spring open house, continuing till 3 pm (California/Brandon). Other treats too:
Bring a tool to donate to the West Seattle Tool Library and you’ll get a discount coupon, according to their flyer; author/photographer David Perry is scheduled to be speaking now, and then at 2 pm, WSN’s Connie Wurm will explain how to turn your yard into a bird sanctuary.
Maybe you’ve heard of the “cash mob” concept, now that it’s been tried in a couple neighborhoods around, and near, Seattle – supporters of a local small independent business “mob” it at a pre-set time and place, usually pledging to spend at least $20 each. 
The first West Seattle/White Center “cash mob” has just been announced, with its “target” Village Green Perennial Nursery (WSB sponsor) at 2 pm April 28th. Local entrepreneur Michael B. Maine of Menrva Labs, whose mission is “to promote social change by increasing social awareness,” came up with the idea this weekend, and will roll out more information in the week ahead. He explains that “… after meeting Vera Johnson at the ‘Women on a Mission’ conference a few weeks ago, I decided to head down to her nursery yesterday. After spending a couple of hours with her, I thought her place would make a great location to host a cash mob.” We think every day would be a great day to “mob” your favorite local independent businesses, and Michael says he agrees, while adding, “I think it’s important for them to know where to be and when. Then they can make the conscious effort to support or not support that business.” Keep tabs on the “cash mob”‘s Facebook event page in case something changes.
We’re welcoming Devonshire Landscapes as a new WSB sponsor. Here’s their message for you:
You may have seen our trucks around town. Devonshire Landscapes is based near White Center. Many of our employees work and live in our neighborhood. We have been helping residents of the Seattle area since 1999, when it was founded by Will Anstey (right). Since then, we have slowly grown to a company with 15 full-time employees, and we currently service more than 155 maintenance customers, many of whom we have been serving for 10 years. We are reaching out to our neighbors in the West Seattle, Burien, and Normandy Park areas this spring and offering $25 off to new maintenance customers!
Our landscape-maintenance service is a little different. We will not hold anyone in a service contract that does not work for them. Cancel at any time with one month’s notice, and no extra fees! We let our customers CHOOSE the level of service that fits their personal preferences and budget. Our minimum service is: 2-person crew for 30 minutes, every other week March-Nov., for $100 per month (including tax). Time spent per visit can be increased to meet client needs, as well as weekly service visits. Other optional services (i.e. fertilization, irrigation service, winter visits (Dec.-Feb., etc.) can also be added.
Devonshire Landscapes crews wear professional uniforms, and drive clearly marked vehicles with our company logo displayed. We continuously work with and train our employees, as 
well as sending them to classes, workshops, and certification testing. We pride ourselves in providing some of the best customer service in the industry. To that end we have earned the “Super Service Award” from AngiesList.com every year we have been advertising with them (2010, 2011), and have maintained an “A” rating with their clients. Dan Vittetoe, our maintenance manager, is always available on his cell phone and email to help answer any questions or concerns. Will, the owner, is also available to clients, and is “hands-on to ensure customer satisfaction.” Find Devonshire Landscapes online at devonshirelandscapes.com or by phone at 206-856-3360.
We thank Devonshire Landscapes for sponsoring independent, community-collaborative neighborhood news on WSB; find our current sponsor team listed in directory format here, and find info on joining the team by going here.
Two ways you can pitch in around West Seattle tomorrow, north or south:
NORTH: Janet Jones sends word that the community gardens at Genesee Hill School need some springtime love! 9 am-1 pm tomorrow, you can come help “spruce up the playground, tend the Nature Garden, distribute mulch, remove invasive species.” Seattle Public Schools, which still owns the shuttered-school campus, will provide tools and gloves. Meet at the north playground (along Dakota).
SOUTH: Join EarthCorps at Fauntleroy Park, 10 am-2 pm Saturday, to help with planting, invasives removal, and trail maintenance. You can sign up online – just go here. Volunteers will meet by the park entrance along SW 97th, near 39th SW.
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