ALLEYCAT ACRES CELEBRATES COMMUNITY FARM AT FALL FESTIVAL
by Carolyn Bick October 18, 20218 Link to article Beneath a tent along the little lane at the back of South Estelle Street, children painted freshly picked pumpkins, as others eagerly fed and petted chickens in a mobile coop a few feet away. Though neither the coop nor the tent were permanent, greenery surrounding the was: the lane is the site of Wetmore Community Farm, and Saturday saw the farm’s official grand opening. Run by Alleycat Acres, the free community farm has been open since 2015, but, as Farm Coordinator and Program Director Kyla Rudnick explained, this year marked the end of any major projects on or clearing of the land. The City of Seattle grant-funded farm originally opened, because a family who lived next door was tired of seeing the derelict land and got in contact with the organization. “We started holding community meetings in the neighborhood to see if people were interested in a community garden, and what they wanted to do with the space and went from there,” Rudnick said. “We’ve been holding events here for about three years. … Now, we just have some more planting to do, and start maintaining the site.” The farm is run in partnership with the Rainier Valley Food Bank, Senior Housing Assistance Group, the Downtown Emergency Service Center, and Stone Soup Gardens. In the years to come, Rudnick said they hope to get more of the community itself involved. Having the space serve as a community garden is important, she said, because there isn’t any green space like it in the immediate area. While that isn’t necessarily a problem for younger people, it can be a problem for seniors. “We have a lot of senior citizens who live in the neighborhood, so having that green space where they can walk is really important,” Rudnick said. “Of course, all the food that we grow here is going directly to neighbors. … There are grocery stores around here, but having free, fresh produce is, of course, a boon to any neighborhood, and especially here, where we have such a dense neighborhood.” Garden neighbor Plekeo Douangdara said she and her husband enjoy gardening, and that she walks around the community garden “all the time.” She’s been gardening for 30 years, she said, and is excited to contribute seeds and plants to the space. “I have a lot of seeds, like Asian corn, Asian pumpkin, eggplants,” Douangdara said. “She said, ‘Okay, you can plant!’ … Very cool. Before, nobody wanted to go in here … but this year and last year is better.” Our favorite event of the year is next weekend! Come buy some beautiful starts from Tilth, say hello to your Seattle community, and cuddle some chickens with Stone Soup Gardens. We'll be on site with our lovely flock o'birds who are just a flutter with the cuddling possibilities. Come and get your garden on. We can't wait to see you.
The Seattle Tilth Chicken Coop Tour is one of our favorite events of the year. It is an excellent time to let our little ladies shine in their awesome coop, meet lots of new friends, neighbors, and just to have a great time talking about all of the wonderful changes happening at Stone Soup Gardens. Are you coming?
Seattle Tilth Chicken Coop and Urban Farm Tour Saturday, July 16th, 10 am - 4 pm Several neighborhoods across Seattle Check out our awesome video from last year's coop tour! We are embracing the digital age here at Stone Soup Gardens with our mighty new Instagram Account. Come on over and follow us and see what we are up to. Photos from life, love, landscaping, hardscaping, permaculture, events, and more!
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Thanks to everyone who stopped by to say hello and hold chickens at the Spring Tilth Plant Sale at Rainier Beach Urban Farm and Wetlands. It was a wild weather day, but we had a great time! Jake and Lola were also featured in an upcoming segment on the Seattle Channel. Stay tuned for more information!
Plant Sale & Per order chick sale pick up Saturday, March 5th, 10 am - 4 5133 S Director St Seattle, WA 98118 The birds are excited to bring the joy of chickens to the Seattle farm coop chick sale tommorrow!! We will be debuting our new bike wheel enclosure, selling blueberries, espalier fruit trees, and other unique edibles. Hope to see you there!
Our clients for this job have been working with us over the last few years to do a number of great changes on their backyard garden retreat. Last year we put in the long arbor and fenced off portions of the backyard for the chickens. Here is the before and after: This year we returned to put in brick and flagstone pathways between the studio and the raised beds to help keep the area dry and walkable during the rainy season.
The clients wanted to replace the original stone beds with something that looked a bit medieval, maybe with turrets, they said. This is what we came up with. These beds will last a very long time. Needless to say, we have two very happy clients. We had a fantastic time at the Central Library this past weekend. Lots of little people laughs, cuddling of chickens, and a great opportunity for folks to come together to learn about food literacy in a very hands on way. Thank you Seattle Central Library! We can't wait to do it again soon!
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