June 2020 Newsletter



Happy June to all Food Bank Farm and Gardens Volunteers and Community Members!

Thank you again for all of your support through the month! Our newest garden, RainCoast, just donated its first harvest to the Tri-Area Food Bank! A big thank you to all of the volunteers who have worked hard to restore the garden beds. Your work has paid off beautifully!

I would like to take this opportunity to alert the volunteers that the Volunteer Coordinator, Rachel Smith, is currently taking a highly intensive Permaculture Course. It is Monday through Friday course, eight hours a day. She will still be performing her normal duties of responding to volunteer inquires via the Food Bank Farm and Gardens email, but she will be less responsive during the next few months. Thank you for your patience with this. She is hoping to bring Permaculture ethics to her work with the Food Bank Farm and Gardens when her class is done.

Thanks all and be well!



RainCoast: Social distancing while enjoying the fruits (and veggies) of our labors while restoring this newest of our FoodBank Gardens.

Interested in volunteering??
Want to learn how to grow vegetables??
Become a contributing member of your community!!
Volunteer with us!
We have many opportunities available for you to help with.
Volunteer Now!
Also, if you are interested in a weekly gardening gig, click the button below and let our volunteer coordinator, Rachel, know what your particular situation is and she can get you set up with in a garden that works with your schedule. Volunteer Now!

JUNE VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES –  
Volunteer Now!

Swan Farms
Every Tuesday from 10-2! Located behind the Thrift Store  at 10632 Rhody Drive in Port Hadlock. Right across the street from Carl’s Building Supply.

RainCoast

A brand new Food Bank Garden generously donated to the organization by RainCoast Farms! Will meet every Thursday from 10-2. Located at 12224 Airport Cutoff Road. Super close to the San Juan Taqueria by the Airport.

Birchyville

Meets every Tuesday and Friday from 10-12. We are currently expanding this garden to increase production for the upcoming season! Weekly weeders are especially needed. Located down the street from Mt. Townsend Creamery, gardener parking is at the dead end of Sherman Street.

Port Townsend High School
Every Friday from 10-1. This is an incredibly productive and beautiful garden that is always growing and changing. Located on Benton Street, behind the Port Townsend School District building.

 Volunteer Now!



VOLUNTEERS NEEDED … IN THE FOOD BANKS

The Food Bank Farm and Gardens have a HUGE need for volunteers in the food banks themselves, particularly at the Tri-Area, Quilcene and Brinnon Food Banks.
We have a huge reporting problem. The Food Banks themselves do not have the infrastructure in place to accurately track produce donations as they are received at the food banks. Accurate tracking would ensure that the Food Bank Farm and Gardens has more accurate data with which to pursue grants and funding opportunities. By tracking the produce donated, you would directly be contributing to the continued planning and growth of the Food Bank Farm and Gardens. In addition, you would be supporting the increased food security of your fellow community members.
If interested, please click the Volunteer Now button below.

 Volunteer Now

Please be aware that the safety of our volunteers is of paramount importance!! During the Covid-19 outbreak, please bring your own tools to volunteer parties, wear a mask (we do have a limited supply to provide), and comply by adhering to social distancing guidelines. Thanks all!

Our newest garden in need of TLC


A new garden has been donated to the Food Bank Farms!! The property is owned by a local Port Townsend resident. His wife was the main caretaker of the raised beds until her passing several years ago. Since then, the 500 sq ft garden has become overgrown with weeds and wildflowers. After one work party, most of the beds have been cleared. Stay tuned for more volunteer opportunities to prep the beds for planting!


The Port Townsend High School Garden

The High School garden all cleaned up and beautiful! Students, volunteers and Zach all deserve a congratulatory “high five”!

Seasonal Recipe
Flowers and herbs are in full swing!
Here is an amazing way to make salad that fully optimizes on edible flowers and herbs in the garden.

The proportions of your salad should be:
1/3 salad greens
1/3 herbs
1/3 flowers
Sounds rather outlandish, right? But believe you me … it works!
All salad greens and herbs should be minced.
Get creative with it!
Mix the types of salad greens!
Throw in rosemary, mint, oregano, cilantro together!
When all the herbs and salad greens are minced, it disperses the intense flavors of the herbs equally throughout the salad, creating an explosion of flavor in every bite.
Add some shredded carrots, turnips or radishes!
Once mixed thoroughly, sprinkle flower petals on top to add a beautiful pop of color.
Dress with a light vinaigrette.
I promise you, this salad is a game changer.

June Gardening
Now is a good time to plant your winter squash. Intersperse a broadcast lettuce green mix throughout your squash bed. This will ensure that your soil is producing food and shading the soil until the squash leaves grow large enough.

If you have orchard trees, this is the time to weed around the trunks, put some cardboard down, and give them a healthy dose of mulch. The water retention will help them so much in the dry months ahead.

When adding compost to a bed, make sure that you water the soil itself extensively. The bacteria in the compost needs help getting deeper into the soil. If left at the top, the beneficial bacteria will just get baked in the sun.

Hot Tip
Sick of weeding yet?? Well … here’s another way!
Limit the weeds that you do pull to grasses, poisonous plants, sticker-bushes and weeds with long tap-roots.
By leaving the easy-to-pull weeds, you are essentially creating a living mulch layer that doesn’t compete too aggressively with your vegetables, and they fill the space that would be taken over by more aggressive weeds. This simple system will cut down on your weeding time extensively!!

Copyright © *|2020|* *|Food Bank Farm and Gardens of Jefferson County|*, All rights reserved.
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May 2020 Newsletter


Greetings volunteers and community members!
Happy May Food Bank Farm and Gardens volunteers!

I want to take a moment to thank you all for the incredible support you have all shown the Food Bank Farm and Gardens through this time of global crisis. I know a lot of people are hurting, and it is wonderful to see so much interest and commitment to the Gardens. 

So much has happened this month! 

First of all, we will be starting up work again on the highly productive Port Townsend High School gardens which experienced a small hiatus over the winter. See below for information regarding the first work party of the season!

Huge progress has been made at RainCoast Farms. A group of seven (or so) volunteers shows up every Thursday to prep that garden beds for planting. 

SunField Farms will be planting soon for winter storage crops. Email the Volunteer Coordinator if you have any interest in volunteering.

If you know of anyone who is food insecure, make sure to tell them about Just Soup. It is located at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Port Townsend every Tuesday from 1130-130. Free curbside soup delivery, including a fruit item, a protein bar, bread and spoon for anyone who shows up. 

Also, the Port Townsend Leader wrote a fantastic article about us that has gotten the word out. Already, numerous people have contacted us interested in volunteering due to this article. If you haven’t had a chance yet to read it, here is a link:

https://www.ptleader.com/stories/fresh-from-the-garden-to-the-food-bank,69027

And lastly, follow us on our new Instagram account @jcfoodbankfarms

Thanks all and be well!Interested in volunteering?? Want to learn how to grow vegetables?? And become a contributing member of your community?? Volunteer with us! We have so many opportunities available to you. Also, if you are interested in a weekly gardening gig, click the button below and let our volunteer coordinator, Rachel, know what your needs are, and she can get you set up with a garden that works with your schedule.

MAY VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES
Swan Farms
Every Tuesday from 10-2! Located behind the Thrift Store  at 10632 Rhody Drive in Port Hadlock. Right across the street from Carl’s Building Supply.
RainCoast

A brand new Food Bank Garden generously donated to the organization by RainCoast Farms! Will meet every Thursday from 10-2. Located at 12224 Airport Cutoff Road. Super close to the San Juan Taqueria by the Airport.
Birchyvill
e
Meets every Friday from 10-12. We are currently expanding this garden to increase production for the upcoming season! Located down the street from Mt. Townsend Creamery, gardener parking is at the dead end of Sherman Street.
Volunteer Now!



WORK PARTY AT PORT TOWNSEND HIGH SCHOOL GARDENS

Saturday, May 30th from 10-1. The High School Gardens need your help!! The gardens are usually cared for by high school students, but as school has been cancelled for the rest of the year due to the Covid-19 outbreak, the garden has gotten out of control!! Join us later this month to get the garden back on track! The garden is hugely important and donated almost 500 lbs of produce to the food bank last year! Bring your own tools and a mask. Again, put May 30th on your calendar! Click below to let the Volunteer Coordinator know you are interested!Volunteer NowPlease be aware that the safety of our volunteers is of paramount importance!! During the Covid-19 outbreak, please bring your own tools to volunteer parties, wear a mask if you have one, and comply by social distancing guidelines. The pictures below are various examples of how we have been complying by safety standards while working and harvesting. Thanks all!




Upper left to right: Jo Yount, garden manager for the Quimper Grange, harvesting using a face mask and gloves. Alexa MaCaulay, garden manager of Farm’s Reach. Lower left to right: Mary Hunt planting chard and kale at RainCoast. Kellen Lynch wrestling a cedar root with face mask. 


HARVESTS


Top left to right: Cauliflower from Swan Farms. Rhubarb, kale and herbs from Birchyville. Bottom Left to Right: Spinach from Farm’s Reach. Salad mixes from the Quimper Grange.




Trying to grow Raspberries?
The Quimper Grange just installed a magnificent new raspberry trellis system that will support the plants as well as make it easier to harvest. Built by our own highly regarded and skilled volunteer, Steven Cade, it will last for years! You might want to replicate this at home or better yet … call us to get Steven’s contact information.

Seasonal Recipe & May Gardening

Rhubarb is here!!! Finally!
After a long winter and spring without fresh fruits, rhubarb gets a hero’s welcome.
This recipe is an old family recipe of Jo Yount, the garden manager of the Quimper Grange. 

5 cups chopped rhubarb
1 cup drained, crushed pineapple
4 cups sugar OR 2 cups honey
1 package dry strawberry jello

1. Mix the first three ingredients, let stand for 30 minutes.
2. Bring slowly to a boil, stirring CONSTANTLY. Cook for 12 minutes.
3. Remove from stove.
4. Add jello, mix until completely dissolved.
5. Put into sterilized jars and seal. 

 Having problems with a mystery pest?
Go out at night with a flashlight and surprise them. That way you’ll be able to discover what is eating your veggies and how to deal with it.

Transplant tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers and eggplants.
Mulch with hay to retain soil warmth and moisture for the coming dry season.

Set up your slug traps before they take over everything!

If you are hoping to grow corn, a good trick is to pre-sprout the seeds before direct sowing in the garden.

Hot Tip
Do you have any leftover kale from last year’s crop?
Instead of ripping it up and composting it, let it go to seed. The bees love the flowers and will flock to your garden!