Get your plot at 78th St.

Filed Under A Green Life, Clark County, Devour | Leave a Comment

Folks who want to plant and tend a garden at Clark County’s 78th Street/WSU property can submit their names to a lottery which will determine gardeners for dozens of available plots. 

To enter the lottery, submit contact information to Sunrise O’Mahoney at 360-397-2370 or sunrise.omahoney@clark.wa.gov between Feb. 20 and March 5 at 5 p.m. The drawing will be held March 8. Winners will be notified by March 11.

People whose names are drawn will be given a 20-foot by 20-foot plot. Cost is $40, although some scholarships are available. No pesticides or herbicides may be used. The garden plots will be available from April to October. One plot per person or household. ADA-accessible plots are available.

For more information, go to www.clark.wa.gov/78wsu and click on “Projects and Workshops” on the left.

Grow there today-

J.

Discuss food garden options at county/city parks

Filed Under A Green Life, Clark County, Devour | Leave a Comment

The public is invited to a community forum to hear about the changes in the Vancouver-Clark Parks and Recreation Department Community Garden Program, and discuss local food garden options.
The forum is scheduled for 7 p.m. Jan. 12, at Luepke Center Community Room, 1009 E. McLoughlin Blvd. Parks and Rec reps will present some upcoming changes to the community garden program as well as discuss a new option: food gardens in neighborhood parks.
When the department participated in a multi-agency public forum in April 2009, along with Clark County Health Department, some critical needs were identified around creating more food garden options, including more garden space and better access to education about gardening. To discuss these issues, the forum’s speakers include staff from the new Clark County Public Health Growing Groceries Mentor Program as well as the citizens who started the Rose Village Community Garden.

More information about the Vancouver-Clark Parks and Recreation Department community and food garden program is available online. Click on Community Gardens under Facilities & Locations.

Sounds delicious-

J.

Celebrate Fall Harvest with Vancouver Food Co-op

Filed Under A Green Life, Devour, News, Vancouver | Leave a Comment

The Vancouver Food Co-op is celebrating the Fall Harvest on Saturday, Oct. 3 from 4 to 7 p.m. at the Vancouver Marketplace on Columbia and Evergreen. The event will be catered by Woody’s Tacos, featuring appetizers and desserts made from ingredients grown by local farms (and you can bet when the VFC is doing it, that’s LOCAL farms, not the tri-state area).

The Co-op will be unveiling its new logo, designed by Vancouver’s Tribe2 Graphic Design and Creative Services, the same folks responsible for the Turtle Place mural, and talking about store opening plans. Bluegrass band The Grey Sky Boys will play.

The event is FREE, so don’t miss it. My only regret is posting this so late!

J.

Grow the YWCA Community Garden

Filed Under A Green Life, Home + Garden, News, Vancouver | Leave a Comment

A reminder from my e-pal Glenn Grossman — thanks Glenn!

There are only 15 days left in the Umpqua Bank Click 4A Cause contest and the YWCA Community Garden project has fallen from a commanding lead to trailing by over 1000 points. If they win this contest, they’ll get $15,000 to devote to their project and they need your help TODAY. You can vote once per week, so that means you still have time to get a couple of votes in. Please click on the link, cast your vote, and help the fantastic folks at the YWCA win some serious money to help them with their community garden project!

I voted today! Woot!

J.

Hello, August!

Filed Under A Green Life, Craft | Leave a Comment

Craft in the Village

08.07.09  What isn’t happening this weekend?

Vancouver’s downtown art galleries are on board for Art in the Heart II, which will take place tonight from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. and tomorrow from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. along Main Street and west to Art on the Boulevard. Artists will be out on the street along with food vendors. Of course, Craft in the Village is still going strong and takes place higher on Main Street, and Camas Live!, a first Friday art and live performance event, is set for tonight from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m.

And then on Sunday, the Naturally Beautiful Backyards Earth Friendly Garden Tour is from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. This self guided tour takes an inside look at six naturally beautiful backyards in Vancouver and Camas.

So…get out!

J.

Local food film festival this weekend

Filed Under A Green Life, Clark County | Leave a Comment

Coneflowers by Todd Gunderson

Coneflowers by Todd Gunderson

7.13.09  Oh, this sounds so great. Clark County is hosting a local food film festival (click for all the details) at Washington State University Vancouver on Friday, July 17, and at the County Public Service Building on Saturday, July 18. The films Good Food and Growing Awareness will be shown along with a sneak preview of Ingredients. The event is sponsored by the Clark County Food System Council.

Good things are growing locally…

Enjoy the harvest-

J.

Recycled Arts Festival, Woodland Farmers Market

Filed Under A Green Life | Leave a Comment

06.25.09 Get up and go this weekend, y’all, two great events are at hand.

The annual Recycled Arts Festival is in Esther Short Park on Friday and Saturday June 27 and 28 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. each day. The year, the festival is featuring 70 vendors and great music like the Pete Krebs Trio and Trashcan Joe. Tons of educational vendors will be set up as well as the ever-popular Tossed and Found tent full of free stuff. This is one of my favorite DT events. Like I do, go to the Farmers Market (even though it’s promoting blueberries from Hermiston on its front page, sigh) and pop over to the RAF.

Also, the Woodland Farmers Market opens for the season this weekend — its first season ever. The market will run on Fridays from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. until Oct. 2. The market is opening with 20 farm, food and arts vendors at 100 Davidson Ave., next to Horseshoe Lake.

Ah, it’s finally summer….

J.

ywca-north-bank-ad-july.gif

Summer Solstice Garden Tour

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A Garden Delights Sunflower

A Garden Delights Sunflower

06.17.09  Three farms in Brush Prairie will open for visitors on Saturday, June 20, to celebrate the summer solstice with the public. Garden Delights CSA and Herb Farm is located at 15417 N.E. Parkinen Road, Half Moon Farm is a 14737 N.E. 159th St., and Scented Acres Lavender is at 13804 N.E. 117th Ave. Each farm will have specialty items for sale and demonstrations for visitors.

Don’t miss this sweet opportunity-

J.

Friends of Trees Westside planting

Filed Under A Green Life | 1 Comment

jessica-of-the-trees

Fun in the rain on Saturday: I planted ten trees with Friends of Trees, for a total of 40 in the Lincoln neighborhood and 140 in seven neighborhoods total. Champion neighborhood liaison Cynthia Thornton-Tang wrote a grant which enabled Lincoln residents to get one or two trees at a deep discount and then in teams, we planted them.
It’s so fun to see all the Friends of Trees stickers swinging from newly planted trees throughout the Westside. If you ever get a chance to do this, do not pass it up!
J.

Fourth Plain parks granted kids program

Filed Under A Green Life, Vancouver | Leave a Comment

Has it been a week since my last post? Really, I am the worst. But I did have some technical difficulties….

Anyway, I thought this was cool.

The Community Foundation for Southwest Washington will award Vancouver-Clark Parks and Recreation $15,000 to fund year two of a 7-week summer program for children, teens and families in an under served area along the Fourth Plain Corridor. The grant will support a 5-day-per-week summer playground program at Evergreen Park (Fourth Plain and Rossiter Ave.) for elementary age youth, and weekly special events for teens and families at Water Works Park (Fourth Plain and Fort Vancouver Way).

Both Evergreen and Water Works parks have seen increased gang and drug activity over the past few years.

In 2008 several programs were offered for seven weeks beginning the week of June 30. Total combined attendance exceeded 1,000. Plus, a USDA grant allows for all who attend both daytime programs to be served a free lunch.

And, apparently, a comparison of July 2007 and July 2008 statistics showed a 25% reduction in police calls to Evergreen Park.

Hooray city of Vancouver-

J.

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