Save the date for Fall Fest!

Please join us for the 13^th Annual

Marra Farm Fall Fest

Celebrate the harvest,
South Park style!

Saturday, September 20, 12:00–3:00PM
Marra Farm: 9026 4^th Ave S
(between South Henderson and South Barton)

* farm-fresh food * apple cider pressing *
* live music * children’s activities * farm tours * 

Free and family friendly!

Volunteers needed: assist with kids’ activities; prep, grill, and serve food;
wash dishes; help setup and cleanup, etc.
Contact Kyong: kyongs@solid-ground.org or 206.713.3247

We hope to see you there!

~ The Lettuce Link team:
Amelia, Kathleen, Kyong, Nate and Scott

Lettuce Link’s Giving Garden at Marra Farm is a program of Solid Ground

        

Unfortunately, Marra Farm is not wheelchair accessible

Marra Farm Fall Fest 2013: A Sunny Celebration

On the day before the autumnal equinox we hosted our 12th Annual Fall Fest at Marra Farm. All week we had been worriedly watching the weather forecast, which predicted a dismal cold and wet day. But to our delight, we woke up to sun and a fresh, fall day!

It was the perfect summer sendoff. People of all ages came out for the celebration – South Park neighbors, Mien and P-Patch gardeners, Lettuce Link volunteers, and students from Concord Elementary.

Over the course of the sunny afternoon, we feasted on a delicious potluck, with items ranging from neighbor Mike’s freshly caught salmon, to grilled summer squash harvested from Marra Farm, to a wide array of international dishes from members of the Mien Community Garden and the Marra Farm P-Patch.

And we drank fresh-pressed Marra Farm apple cider! We washed and quartered the apples, cranked the cider grinder, and then pressed the pulp through to make sweet, tangy cider. The press ran the entire afternoon and every drop was thoroughly enjoyed!

Kids of all ages (and the young at heart) enjoyed pumpkin painting, apple bowling (using the Marra Farm Putt Putt hole), gunny sack races, story time with librarians from the South Park branch of the Seattle Public Library, and exploring the sensory wonders of the farm—including a ginormous sunflower head.

And what would a party be if there wasn't any music? The Rooftop Dogs bluegrass band and the Seattle Fandango Project serenaded the crowd with fun, harvest-time tunes and fantastic, foot-tapping music from Mexico.

This year’s Fall Fest was also an opportunity to honor the amazing ten years of work of Farmer Sue McGann, who will retire from Lettuce Link in early October. We welcomed two new staff members - our new Marra Farm coordinator, Kyong Soh, who started training with Sue in September, and Lettuce Link’s new Program Manager, Nate Moxley, who started work in July. Fall Fest happened to be the day before both Sue’s and Nate’s birthday, so we serenaded them with a festive, chaotic rendition of “Happy Birthday.”

Community, delicious food, games, music, sunshine - we had all the ingredients for a good party. Thanks to all of you who were a part of Fall Fest in 2013, and we hope to see everyone again next year!

~ Amanda, Apple Corps Member with Lettuce Link

12th Annual Marra Farm Fall Fest

Lettuce Link invites you to come celebrate the harvest, South Park style!

Saturday, September 21, 12–3pm

Marra Farm: 9026 4th Ave S, 98108

* farm-fresh food * apple cider pressing * live music * children’s activities * farm tours *

Free and family friendly!

We’ll appreciate the amazing work of Farmer Sue McGann, who is retiring after 10 years at Marra Farm, and we’ll welcome new Marra Farm Coordinator Farmer Kyong Soh!

Volunteers needed: assist with kids’ activities; prep, grill, and serve food; wash dishes; help setup and cleanup, etc. Contact Amelia: amelias@solid-ground.org or 206.694.6731 for details or to sign up.

We hope to see you there!

South Park Putts Out

At Lettuce Link we've been lucky to have a stellar intern crew. Today, we're featuring the writing of Bea, a Whitman College student who infused Lettuce Link with her artistic talents this summer.

When I first started my internship at Lettuce Link, I joyfully volunteered for my first project: the construction of a mini putt-putt golf hole. At first it seemed like an odd task – I thought my internship was about farming, not mini golf construction.

But I learned that as part of the National Night Out Against Crime, the group South Park Arts organizes a mini-golf course each year, and this year they had invited Lettuce Link to sponsor a Marra Farm hole.

As a naive, over-excited college student, I was ready to jump to any height for my awesome new internship. Conveniently ignoring the fact that my construction skills were somewhere between rusty and nonexistent, I began making lists of materials and costs.

In the first couple of weeks, I filled my office hours with brainstorming, and assumed that one day soon I would proudly display the completed project on my desk.

What I didn’t know then was that in the weeks to come, in between my time working at Marra Farm and the Seattle Community Farm, I would end up hauling electric drills and large pieces of wood as part of my daily commute.

Since my commute was two hours long and included multiple buses and a ferry, this was no small feat. As much as I loved it when a suited business man came up to me on the 7:05 am boat to tell me that the wooden two-by-four hanging out of my backpack was a safety hazard, I was a bit overwhelmed by the increasingly large scope of the project.

After several late nights finishing the construction, I could almost take a sigh of relief…almost. Yes, I had finished the construction process, but my plans were not complete – I still had to paint the hole. At this point, I was kicking myself for having such extravagant expectations for the project, and was just ready to be done with it. It took me five hours to complete the painting.

Finally, the hole was ready. We transported it (rising to the task of wrangling a large, unwieldy structure into a small car) to the Putt Putt event, where it delighted and challenged our mini-golfing South Park neighbors all evening.

Despite the unexpected challenges with the project, I survived it all. And, if I do say so, the Putt Putt golf hole looks awesome.

Thanks, Bea, for all your hard work on the project. We agree, it looks great! Check out the South Park Arts Facebook page for more pictures of the event.

Blues for Food 2013

Good music. Delicious food. Great friends. Enthusiastic gardeners.

Really, what could be better?

Enjoy live music by some of the finest blues bands in the Northwest, fresh, tasty food from local vendors, a fabulous auction of luscious, homemade pies, and children’s gardening activities at the 7th annual Blues for Food Fest on Saturday, August 31.

The Blues for Food Fest raises money and awareness for the people and organizations in Seattle that grow and donate 28,000 pounds of organic produce each year for the hungry. Proceeds from the festival go to Seattle’s Giving Garden Network.

Lettuce Link will be there manning our favorite booth -- Beet Hunger -- where you can donate your homegrown produce and non-perishables. After the festival we will deliver all donations to a local food bank or meal program.

---

2013 Blues for Food Fest
Saturday, August 31, 12-9pm
Magnuson Park Amphitheater and P-Patch, 7400 Sand Point Way NE (free parking)

2013 Lineup:

• 12:00: Kenova, featuring Billy Stoops, Nick Vigarino, and Hambone Wilson
• 1:30: T-Town Aces, featuring Steve Bailey and Tom Boyle
• 3:00: Polly O’Keary and the Rhythm Method, featuring Seattle Slim
• 4:30: Curley Taylor and Zydeco Trouble
• 6:00: The Delgado Brothers, featuring Patti Allen
• 7:30: Fat James and Fatback

Buy tickets - $20 for adults (early bird price), free for children under 12. $25 for adults, free for ages 16 and under. Dogs on leashes welcome. Tickets available at the door.

Bring your extra backyard produce for donation!

The Blues for Food Fest is organized each year by Deb Rock -- stellar Interbay P-Patcher and food bank gardener extraordinaire. Deb and Jude from the Interbay P-Patch coordinate efforts to grow and donate over 5,000 pounds of produce each season!

Friday at the Burke Museum: Celebrating Our Food, Our Right

Our friends at the Community Alliance for Global Justice have a new book out, and they're celebrating with a book release party!

From CAGJ:

The 2nd Edition of Our Food, Our Right: Recipes for Food Justice takes you on a journey through many of the current globalized food system's failures, and showcases creative solutions that communities worldwide are designing to regain control over their food, and the health of their bodies and neighborhoods.

Enjoy food & drink from Our Food, Our Right recipes, browse CAGJ Fair Trade & Local Holiday Gifts, and get your books signed for holiday gifts!

Readings by Valerie Segrest, Elise Krohn, Merna Hecht, Kristen Beifus and Heather Day.  

Friday, December 7th, 7 – 9 pm
Burke Museum, UW Campus (map) 

$5 requested donation at the door (free for UW students/staff and Burke Museum members).  

Facebook event info here.

Harvest Celebration at the Seattle Community Farm

Volunteer Meredith shows off our massive harvest of green and purple beans, 
soon to be picked up by the food bank!

We have much to celebrate at the Seattle Community Farm!

We've had an amazing growing season in our second year, with over 7,000 pounds of produce going to the Rainier Valley Food Bank and the participation of over 300 volunteers - and the season isn't over yet! We held a summer-long Gardening for Good Nutrition program with summer campers from the Rainier Vista Boys and Girls Club, learning in the garden and preparing healthy snacks each week. We hosted two adult cooking classes, four field trips from local preschools and summer daycamps, and connected with many new and returning volunteers. 

To celebrate all of these successes, we decided it was time for a community potluck at the farm! 

The day we selected had several other community events also occurring in Rainier Vista, so we were able to welcome many people who were out and about in the neighborhood, as well as long-time friends and supporters of the farm. People brought food to share, and the kids harvested and prepared a delicious farm- fresh salad.

We hauled the cider press over from Marra Farm, and it was a huge hit! Thanks to Amanda and our fruit tree harvest volunteers and donors for the apples – we were drinking cider as fast as we could press it!

Once again, many thanks go to all the neighbors, volunteers, Lettuce Link interns and other supporters who make the Seattle Community Farm successful. We're looking forward to celebrating with you again soon!


~Leah, summer outreach and education coordinator at the Seattle Community Farm

Marra Farm Fall Fest 2012

September 22 marks the first day of fall, and here at Lettuce Link and Marra Farm we know how to celebrate in style!

We’ll be:

• Sipping on fresh cider, pressed from our very own old-timey cider press 
• Enjoying live music and the great company of our friends, family, and neighbors
• Painting pumpkins and carving zucchinis
• Challenging one another to gunny sack races and games of who can locate the biggest, most-prized “tromboncino” squash

And what would a Fall Fest be without food? So of course we’ll be eating grilled veggies, salmon, and other treats. 

Come on down to Marra Farm for a free afternoon of fun, and join us in celebrating another successful growing season!

---

What: Marra Farm Fall Fest

When: September 22, 2012, 12pm- 3pm

Where: Marra Farm -- 9026 4th Ave S, located in the South Park neighborhood of SW Seattle 

Parking is available on the street in front of the farm, as well as off Director Street between 5th and 7th Ave S. Marra Farm is accessible by bus routes #60, 131, 132, and 134 

What to bring: The family, a smile, sunshine and/or a potluck dish to share 

We look forward to seeing you there! 

In Your Neighborhood: Join us at the SLEE Dinner!

Every year, our allies at the Community Alliance for Global Justice put on this fabulous community event & fundraising dinner.

We hope to see you there this year!

What: The Strengthening Local Economies Everywhere (SLEE) annual dinner supports CAGJ's work to transform unjust trade and agricultural policies and practices imposed by corporations, governments and other institutions while creating and supporting alternatives that embody social justice, sustainability, diversity and grassroots democracy. The SLEE dinner brings together over 400 local advocates, farmers, food workers, and allied organizations to celebrate CAGJ’s organizing for global justice!

When: This coming Saturday, July 14th!

5-6:30pm: Happy Hour live music, tasty snacks, and a silent auction -- come visit the Lettuce Link table
6:30-9:30pm: Dinner (tickets required) Enjoy a scrumptious locally sourced and Fair Trade meal prepared from scratch by Art of the Table, Madres Kitchen, and the kitchen leaders of Community Kitchens Northwest. The Dessert Auction featuring 40 different desserts will make your mouth water!

Where: St. Demetrios Church, 2100 Boyer Ave E (Montlake neighborhood)

Why: The food will be amazing, and so will the speakers! The Keynote will feature Valerie Segrest and Elise Krohn from the Northwest Indian College Traditional Plants and Foods Program. Valerie also founded the Muckleshoot Food Sovereignty Project. Through their work on health and social justice, Valerie and Elise aim to reintroduce traditional foods into the diets of native people in the Pacific Northwest.

Also, there is free childcare for kids aged 2-11 from 6:30 - 9pm.

Tickets available through Brown Paper Tickets, and cost $40 - $100. This dinner is a unique event because CAGJ's supporters sponsor farmers, workers, and organizers from across the food system to be honored guest at the dinner -- so if you're able, please consider donating generously to subsidize someone else's dinner! 

They are still seeking volunteers to help out during the dinner, especially with serving from 4pm - 9pm. Contact Shannon at shannon.tyman@gmail.com, or call 206-405-4600.

Seattle Tilth Edible Plant Sale - Plant an Extra Row in Your Garden!

What are you doing this weekend? On Saturday and Sunday, we hope to see you at Seattle Tilth's Edible Plant Sale! 

We'll be at the sale encouraging folks to consider buying some extra starts and growing a row (pdf) for the food bank this season. Everyone deserves fresh produce.  No amount of home-grown delicious produce is too small, and it always goes to an appreciative home.      

Here are some tips for growing extra produce:

• Plant an extra row or more. The more you plant to give away, the more you can help.
• Plant just one or two extra crops. This will result in a larger harvest of fewer items, which is better for the food banks.
• Food banks love most fruits and veggies! Some good examples of easy things to grow are: Beets, carrots, collard greens, green onions, herbs (dill, basil, cilantro, etc.) beans, peas, cucumbers, squash, pak choi, chard, radishes and lettuce.
• Harvest, wash and deliver to a local food bank or hot meals program in your neighborhood (pdf).
• Keep track of your produce donations; send totals to Lettuce Link at the end of the season. Last year, over 20,000 pounds of produce was donated from P-Patches and backyard gardens.

Share the bounty of your harvest!  Seattle Tilth's May Edible Plant Sale runs from 9am-3pm on Saturday May 5^th and Sunday May 6^th.   Located at Meridian Park in Wallingford behind the Good Shepherd Center, 4649 Sunnyside Ave. N.   

The sale features over 350 plant varieties and 50,000 plants. Unlike many plants sold at local stores and nurseries, these varieties are well adapted to thrive in our Pacific Northwest climate and are locally and organically or sustainably grown.

Cultivating Cupcakes?

This Valentine's Day, Lettuce Link sure did turn up the heat -- and the sugar content -- as we raised funds to send staff to the Growing Food & Justice for All Initiative (GFJI) conference this September.

 

Together with other staff members in Solid Ground's Hunger Action Center, our ovens churned out hundreds of homemade convections. As if dark chocolate macaroons and red velvet cupcakes weren't enough, our sticky marketing spiels made the event entirely irresistible.

Apple Corps' artiste Jen Yogi created this glowing display to educate visitors on GFJI, which she attended last year

When the flour finally settled, we'd raised more than $1250 to support professional development in anti-racism and food reform. Huge kudos go to Emily Law, Apple Corps member with Partners in Caring -- who organized the whole shebang. 



The fabulous Ms. Law presents the saccharine spread

Thanks to everyone who helped out & supported the sale. Watch out for next year -- it's an annual event!

Food Rebels, Guerilla Gardeners, and Smart-Cooking Mamas

Mark Winne


Mark Winne -- community food activist, writer, and trainer -- is coming to Seattle on February 7 and will be giving a lecture at 6pm at the Sunset Hill Club in Ballard. His latest book, Food Rebels, Guerrilla Gardeners, and Smart-Cookin’ Mamas challenges us to go beyond eating local food to become part of a larger solution that demands a system that sustains not just our bodies, but also our souls. Books will be available for sale at the event. About:

Despite the rapid growth of an alternative food system – local and sustainable food production, farmers’ markets, the public’s rising food consciousness – we become more dependent everyday on industrial agriculture whose representatives insist that it is the only way to feed a hungry world. In the face of such assertions, we must ask if our dependence on such a system threatens to supplant individual self-reliance. Will personal freedom succumb finally and forever to the dominant voice of authority? Are we at risk of sacrificing our democratic voice to self-appointed governing elites? These are no longer speculative questions suitable only for philosophers, but real-life concerns set squarely on the plate of every eater.

We will be tabling alongside several other food and gardening organizations -- so stop by and say hello! And maybe even pick up a packet of our Marra Farm-grown rainbow chard seeds...

Join us @ Food Movements UNITE! -- rescheduled for FRIDAY

Two delicious opportunities to raise your fists (& glasses!) for food justice this Friday:

-- 5 - 6:30PM HAPPY HOUR, College Inn Pub private room (4006 University Way NE)
Mingle with community partners and meet esteemed guest Eric Holt-Giménez, executive director of Food First. Please come to share about your work and learn from others working to bring about change in food systems around the world and in the Seattle area.

 -- 7 - 9PM: FREE PUBLIC LECTURE, at University Heights Center
Come hear Holt-Giménez discuss strategies to build alliances that can transform our food system. He is the Editor of Food Movements Unite!, a new publication on this topic, and has had a remarkable career as an advocate for food justice and sovereignty.


About the book: In communities around the world, the power of the people is at work regaining control of our ailing food systems. According to the latest book from Food First, the global food movement is diverse, widespread, refreshingly creative and tremendously powerful. Food Movements Unite! Strategies to Transform Our Food Systems brings us the words, insights and vision of the remarkable farmers, workers and consumers from rural and urban communities around the globe as they address the critical question: How can we unite to transform the global food system?

*Rosalinda Guillén was scheduled to speak as well, but sadly is no longer able to join us

*Please help spread the word! Facebook event here.




Sponsored by Community Alliance for Global Justice, UW Dept of Urban Planning, Anthropology, & African Studies

Co-sponsored by Alleycat Acres, Cascade Harvest Coalition, Cascadian Edible Landscapes, Central Co-op, The Danny Woo Community Garden, EcoPraxis, GroundUP Organics, Just Garden Project, Lettuce Link/Solid Ground, Readers to Eaters, Real Food Challenge-UW, Seattle Tilth, Social HeARTistry Educators (SHE) for Cultivating Radical Activism Vitality and Education (CRAVE), UFCW Local 21, WA Fair Trade Coalition, Yes! Magazine

Celebrating Food Day at Marra Farm

Food Day -- sounds like a rough description of many holidays, right? National Food Day was indeed all about eating, but the 2,300 groups participating in this nation-wide day of action were hungry for more than a special meal. Across the United States, organizations working in the fields of nutrition, anti-hunger, garden education, sustainability, farm worker justice, and more held events to spark conversation and action around our food system.

At the Marra Farm giving garden, we welcomed more than 120 young students from Concord International Elementary and Somali Community Services Coalition. Together with our partners from Healthy Foods for South Park, we harvested pumpkins, pressed apples into fresh cider, and helped put the garden to bed for the winter. Some of these students had come down to the farm last spring to plant the very pumpkin plants that they harvested on Food Day, which they had started from seed into their classrooms.

Youth from Somali Community Services meet "Tiny", our friendly tromboncino squash.

One my favorite lessons to learn with new visitors is that everything we eat was once alive. Whether it's a head of lettuce, a cheeseburger, or even a can of soda pop, we can trace everything back to plants. Several visitors felt a little nervous about sampling fresh apple cider because it didn't come in a package, which is a very justified way to feel given the way our food system disconnects all of us from the farms and people that grow the stuff we eat. Marra Farm is a place where we intervene in that system to revive and embrace the relationship between humans and food. Not everyone felt comfortable sampling cider on Food Day, and that's okay. Maybe next time, or next next time ... it's a long process and we're all learning together.

First grind the apples (left), and then press the pulp into cider, and finally take a long, sweet sip (if you dare!).

Thanks to all the students, parents, teachers, and volunteers who joined us on Food Day!

Marra Farm is letting forth a big yawn as winter approaches, but we're not sleeping yet. Please contact us at lettucelink@solid-ground.org if you'd like to help out with our last work parties of the season.

Outdoor Movie Night at Marra Farm 2011

For the 2010 Marra Farm Outdoor Movie, it rained.  And not just a little rain - it was a torrential downpour for the ENTIRE evening.  We had a few intrepid attendees huddle under canopies to watch the film, but everyone was damp and cold by the end of the night.

I, personally, felt that the universe owed us big time after that.  And lo and behold, we could not have asked for a more beautiful evening to host the fourth annual Marra Farm Outdoor Movie.

After a warm day, the air cooled down to a pleasant temperature, and over 80 people joined us under the stars and amid the corn at Marra Farm for the Seattle premier screening of The Greenhorns, a film about a new generation of young farmers.   

We hosted farm tours and ate delicious sandwiches from Homegrown Sustainable Sandwich Shop and goodies baked by Lettuce Link volunteers.  Before the movie, there was Lettuce Link trivia with fresh vegetable for prizes, and an introduction to the film by Becky Warner, a former Marra Farm volunteer and farm intern at the Oxbow Center for Sustainable Agriculture and the Environment in Carnation.

Becky shared about her career switch from software developer to farmer and why she feels passionately about growing food.  She also gave us some information about the Young Farmers Coalitions - both nationally and here in Washington.  There's even an annual Mixer coming up in Olympia on October 3rd, open to all - young and beginning farmers, future farmers, mentor farmers, and farmer friends (anyone reading this blog qualifies) from around the state.

And then we watched the film:

Missed the screening?  Never fear!  Central Co-op is sponsoring a screening on October 24th at Northwest Film Forum, and Seattle Tilth will be showing it October 26th at the Good Shepherd Center.

Unfortunately you did miss out on the amazing experience of watching a film about farming on a farm.  But mark your calendars now - the fifth annual Marra Farm Outdoor Movie will most likely be September 8, 2012!  

Special thanks to Wallingford Meaningful Movies for their invaluable help in providing the equipment and technological expertise.  

Upcoming Events: September 2011

It feels like summer has just begun, but September is here and that means harvest season is, too! We've been busy harvesting at Marra Farm, at the Seattle Community Farm, and in neighborhoods all over Seattle with the Community Fruit Tree Harvest.

If you're looking for something to do, we'd love to see you at a work party or at one of these great events:

Saturday, September 3: Blues for Food Fest
Magnuson Park, 12-8pm
A celebration of food, music and community that benefits the P-Patch Trust and the Washington Blues Society. Lettuce Link will be there collecting donations of fresh produce for local food banks. Tickets are $20 ($10 for youth) and can be purchased online or at the door.

Thursday, September 8: Final film in CARW's Immigration Outdoor Film Series
302 27th Ave in the Central District, 8pm
Join the Coalition of Anti-Racist Whites (CARW) for a screening of Immokalee USA, "a film that documents the present-day exploitation of labor in Florida's farmlands--a history of slavery and peonage that dates back to Spanish conquest and persists into the present day." A $5 suggested donation goes to support the May 1 Action Coalition--bring a little extra for snacks and beverages.  

Saturday, September 10: Seattle Tilth Harvest Fair
 Meridian Park, 10am-4pm
Celebrate harvest season with workshops, demonstrations, and activities for all ages. There will be music, plenty of tasty food, and a farmers market. Don't forget to buy extra produce to donate at Lettuce Link's BEET Hunger booth!

Saturday, September 10: Outdoor Movie at Marra Farm
Marra Farm (9026 4th Ave S), 6:30-9:30pm
Join us for the Seattle premiere of The Greenhorns, a documentary that explores the lives of young farmers in the U.S. The $10 ticket price includes a tour of the farm, delicious appetizers from Homegrown Sustainable Sandwich Shop, and the movie! 




  

Annual Garden Party Fundraiser a Huge Success!

On Saturday, August 6, over 40 friends of Lettuce Link gathered at Farmer Sue McGann’s beautiful home and garden to celebrate the program’s successes and demonstrate their support for the continuing importance of growing and giving. The event raised over $3000 from individual and matching donations, and we are incredibly thankful to everyone who generously contributed!

Tania draws the raffle winners

We are also extremely grateful to the local businesses who contributed in-kind donations which helped to make the evening such a success. Brouwer’s Cafe, Cloud City Coffee, Dahlia Spa, Kitchen N Things, The Massage Sanctuary, Seattle Coffee Works, and Tall Grass Bakery all donated items to the raffle.

Food and drinks were provided by The Calf and Kid Artisan Cheese Shop, Central Co-op, Dry Soda, The Essential Baking Company, Homegrown Sustainable Sandwich Shop, Ken’s Market, Molly Moon’s Ice Cream, Naked City Brewery and Taphouse, PCC Natural Markets (Fremont), Tall Grass Bakery, Trader Joe’s (U. District), Wheatless in Seattle and of course fresh produce from Marra Farm. Many thanks to all of these donors for demonstrating their commitment to community here in Seattle!

Stacy and Farmer Sue

Over the course of the evening, Lettuce Link supporters had the opportunity to marvel at Farmer Sue’s bountiful backyard garden and meet other advocates for a just and sustainable local food system, before hearing from Lettuce Link program manager Michelle Bates-Benetua and Seattle City Council President Richard Conlin.

Raffle winners received fabulous prizes, some donors had a chance to take home delicious Marra Farm honey, and we hope that everyone left with full, happy bellies and renewed enthusiasm for what we can achieve as a community working together. We were certainly inspired by the generosity of our local supporters, and are grateful for the reminder that we couldn’t do it without you!


Check out our new friend and supporter Stacy's blog post about the evening and how she's inspired to start a Giving Garden in her yard!  

THIS is what healthy eating looks like!

Quick exercise in free association: what's the common thread between rock -n- rollin' vegetables, friendly farmers, technicolor picnic blankets, and angelic strawberries?

Sound like a radical vision for healthy eating? You better believe it. Those images & more were generated by the creative minds of students at Concord International Elementary. Sponsored by the Healthy Foods for South Park project, students painted responses to the question "what does healthy eating look like?" After a difficult judging contest and much deliberation, local artist Glenn Case synthesized the 21 winning pieces into a beautiful mural that community members helped install last Friday.

In addition to the mural, students stuffed new scarecrows, decorated our worm bins, planted flowers in old shoes, and even found time to snarf down healthy snacks donated by Central Co-op & Essential Baking Co. We send our sincere thanks to the flock of volunteers who patiently crowd-controlled this event to success, and to our Healthy Foods for South Park project partners at ECOSS, Community Coalition for Environmental Justice, and P-Patch. Thanks also to the sun for all that shining.

But most especially, thank you to the Concord International Elementary School students who composed this mural and helped us paint it! We are so appreciative of Ruby and the staff of the YMCA Community Learning Center after-school program, as well as Ms. Myles and the other Concord teachers and staff who stopped by to paint, plant and snack with us and the students.

If you'd like to help us put the final touches on the mural, we'll be out with our paintbrushes next Wednesday, June 1 at 1:30pm. Please R.S.V.P. to Amelia at amelias@solid-ground.org.

Photographer Sally Phnouk generously took many pictures of this event that are available for your viewing pleasure here.

Upcoming Events: Aprill 2011 Edition

The daffodils are up, cherry trees are blooming, and seedlings are poking their leaves out of the soil. We're busy planting busy planting at Marra Farm, passing out seeds at food banks, meeting P-Patch giving gardeners and getting ready to start our children's garden and nutrition education program. 

Want to get your hands in the dirt? Here are some great events sponsored by our friends in the food community:

Saturday, March 26 & Sunday, March 27: Backyard Greenhouse Plant Sale
9am-4pm (Sat), 10am-3pm (Sun)
7939 28th Ave. SW, 98126 (between Holden and Thistle in West Seattle)
Organically grown cool weather veggies, herbs and perennials.  Lettuce Link receives hundreds of starts from Karen each year to plant at our Giving Garden at Marra Farm - we encourage you to jump start your spring planting (rain or shine!) and support this local plant sale. 

Wednesday, March 30: FRESH: The movie
Grand Illusion Cinema, 7pm
Come to this exclusive screening of a great movie about farm-to-table efforts and support the Danny Woo Children's Garden. Door prizes, raffles, and more!

Friday, April 1: Earth Day Celebration with Seattle Tilth
Rainier Beach Learning Garden, 5:30-7pm
Families can use all or their senses to explore the garden, seek out garden critters and plant a vegetable or flower to take home.

Saturday, April 2: Magnuson Children's Garden Family Gardening Day
Magnuson Park Children's Garden, 10am-2pm
Bring your children for garden exploration activities, and bring your home garden questions for free consultation with King County Master Gardeners

Saturday, April 2: 6th Annual Garden Lovers' Book Sale  
Center for Urban Horticulture, 9am-3pm
A gold mine of ideas, inspiration, knowledge and beauty, with thousands of used garden books.  Free admission, proceeds benefit the UW Botanical Garden Library. 

Saturday, April 2: "We Are the Solution!" African Women Speak Out on Grassroots Solutions to Hunger and Poverty
6:30-8:30pm
University Friends Meeting, 4001 9th Ave NE
AGRA Watch presents an exciting evening with Fatou Batta exploring Food Sovereignty in Africa. Fatou is from Burkina Faso and as West Africa director of Groundswell International  has documented rural women’s traditional agro-ecological knowledge. She is also active in the “We are the Solution! Celebrating African Family Farming” campaign of the Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa (AFSA). This campaign is led by 12 women’s farmers organizations in Africa who assume leadership in the international campaign to build alternatives to the “Green Revolution” in Africa while carrying out village level activities for food sovereignty.

Saturday, April 9: Urban Nature Celebration at Magnuson Park
Magnuson Park Community Center, 10:30am-2pm
Free event for all ages!  Family concert, hands-on "Nature Explorers Laboratory", environmental booths, and more, plus a grand finale nature parade down the the Children's Garden to re-dedicate the Gray Whale Garden and its brand new mosaic eye! 

April 21-23: Commonspaces Northwest
University of Washington campus, details TBA
The purpose of this gathering is to manifest, utilize, and celebrate commonspace—space that is occupied by a diversity of beings that share both a recognition of their diversity and a commitment toward mutual understanding and peaceful coexistence—at the gathering itself as both an end in itself and as a means toward expanding commonspace in our daily lives and around the world. This gathering should have the highly enjoyable feel of any of the many wonderful Northwest festivals with a explicitly intentional unity, solidarity and social and ecological justice message.

Saturday, April 23: Earth Egg Day with Seattle Tilth
Children's Garden at the Good Shepherd Center , 10am-12pm
Families can use all or their senses to explore the garden, seek out garden critters and plant a vegetable or flower to take home.

Thursday, April 28: ART+AGRICULTURE Series #2
Washington Hall, 153 14th Avenue , 7pm
With artists, farmers, and organizers, we will discuss the intersections of creativity and change. Writer and urban farmer Novella Carpenter will speak about urban agriculture and food justice and okanomodé - expressionist composer, glamazon troubadour, musical experience & alter ego of performance artist SoulChilde BlueSun--will perform songs on the topic. A group discussion will follow with community and urban farming groups. 

May 7 & 8: Seattle Tilth Plant Sale
Good Shepherd Center in Wallingford
Save the date for this not-to-be-missed annual event!

Saturday, May 14: Spring Into Bed
A county-wide day of gardening  - volunteer to get your hands dirty!  Watch for more information as it gets closer. 

Ongoing Events of Interest:

Sunday, April 10: Native Plant Steward Applications Due
The Washington Native Plant Society offers this comprehensive free class in Seattle.  Volunteers must dedicate 100 hours of community service over the next year to restoration and education about native plants. 

For a list of ongoing classes on gardening, pruning and more, check out our colleagues at Seattle Tilth, City Fruit and Plant Amnesty as well as local nurseries, including Swansons and City People's. And you can always volunteer with Lettuce Link!

Upcoming Events: March 2011 edition

How is it already March? We’re getting ready to open up Marra Farm this weekend, and have been busy pruning fruit trees, packing seeds, and revising curriculum for our children's program.

Need to get out of the house? Here are some great events sponsored by our friends in the food community:

Tuesday, March 1st (tonight!) Why the Farm Bill matters, and what we can do about it!
UW Architecture Hall, 7pm
Have you been following our series on how the farm bill impacts you? Dan Imhoff, activist author of Food Fight! A Citizen's Guide to a Food and Farm Bill, will provide an overview of this enormous piece of legislation that is so overwhelmingly responsible for the ecological and human health of our county. Click here to listen to Imhoff speak with KUOW's Steve Scher.

Saturday, March 5: Spring Into Bed Kickoff
El Centro De La Raza, 7pm
The Just Garden Project is launching their campaign for Spring Into Bed 2011 - a county-wide day of gardening and building free or subsidized gardens for low-income families. Bring your checkbooks and party hats for this event featuring food, raffles and an open mic.

Saturday, March 12: Seed Swap N'Sale 
South Seattle Community College, 2-4pm
Want to get lots of variety without spending lots of money on seeds?  Come to the annual Community Harvest Seed Swap N'Sale, where you can purchase mini-packets of seeds for $1 each.  Featuring unusual varieties and a free swap table.  Come early - last year they sold out! 

Saturday, March 19: Early Spring Edible Plant Sale
Interbay Urban Center, 10am-2pm
Seattle Tilth's early plant sale - buy the first round of starts for your garden!

Sunday, March 20: Cold Frames and Raised Flower Beds
Second Use, 1pm
Our friends at Second Use are one again sponsoring Salvage Sundays with a great line up of FREE spring workshops. Learn how to build and fill cold frames and raised flowerbeds. We'll be there to chat with folks about community farming and food security. RSVP required.

Wednesday, March 30: FRESH: The movie
Grand Illusion Cinema, 7pm
Come to this exclusive screening of a great movie about farm-to-table efforts and support the Danny Woo Children's Garden. Door prizes, raffles, and more!

Saturday, April 2: Magnuson Children's Garden Family Gardening Day
Magnuson Park Children's Garden, 10am-2pm
Bring your children for garden exploration activities, and bring your home garden questions for free consultation with King County Master Gardeners!

May 7 & 8: Seattle Tilth Plant Sale
Good Shepherd Center
Save the date for this not-to-be-missed annual event!

Saturday, May 14: Spring Into Bed
A county-wide day of gardening - volunteer to get your hands dirty! Watch for more information as it gets closer.

Ongoing Events of Interest:

February 15-March 15: King Conservation District Elections
Now you can vote online from the comfort of your own home! This historically low-voter turnout election plays an important role in environmentally policy for our region - make your voice heard.

March 4-March 10: Queen of The Sun: What are the bees telling us?
Northwest Film Forum
A grass-roots documentary, Queen of the Sun is a profound, alternative look at the global honeybee crisis from Taggart Siegel, award-winning director of The Real Dirt on Farmer John.

Friday, March 11: Master Composter Applications Due
A great program with a great title! Apply now for this year's class.

For a list of ongoing classes on gardening, pruning and more, check out our colleagues at Seattle Tilth, City Fruit & Plant Amnesty. And you can always volunteer with Lettuce Link!