April 22, 2012 – Noteworthy Items and Upcoming Events
April 22, 2012
April 22, 2012 – Noteworthy Items and Upcoming Events
(Compiled by Shannon Maris/ Garden E-News, Arthur Tenebrae, and Jeff Westcott)
This weekend I put peas, rhubarb, St. John’s wort and sweet basil in the ground. Since Youngstocks is just around the corner from my house, I purchased my starts from there – lettuce, basil and peas. The peas were Joe’s Best, grown locally by Joe’s Garden. I was glad to see these starts sourced locally. I’ve read where upwards of sixty cents on every dollar spent at locally-owned shops stays in the local economy versus less than thirty cents if shopping/dining at a national chain. I work for a local company, shop at locally-owned establishments and today’s example reaffirmed the importance of where I choose to send my dollars – recirculating here in Bellingham or off to some faraway land. And I think this is important on many levels.
Let me know what you are planting and I can include it in the newsletter. Happy planting!
–Jeff
Tuesday Roving Garden Party – 4/24, 6pm – Lettered Streets
Join Sustainable Bellingham’s 4th annual Roving Garden Party series, where volunteers help their neighbors create an edible garden. These fun events consist of approximately 90 minutes of gardening, followed by a shared meal. Everyone is welcome!
** Where: Lettered Streets, 2418 F St., Map: http://g.co/maps/5y6pf.
** When: Tuesday, April 24th, 6:00-7:30pm work, 7:30 meal. Folks are welcome to stay after meal to make music together!
** Notes: Koelle has plants that can be divided and shared, including raspberry vines, Korean cherry bushes, herbs and perennial flowers, including grape hyacinths and iris.
** Requested Items to Bring:
- Shovel, tools for weeding, gloves.
- Containers to take away plants in.
- Your own bowl, cup, and eating utensils for dinner!
** Tasks: Rake straw, turn wormboxes into compost pile, transfer dwarf fruit tree from pot to ground, weeding.
** Food: A hearty vegetable stew will be served over brown rice, with some sort of sweets. Bring your own beverage besides lemon water. Bring your own bowl, cup and utensils!
** Host: Koelle Bodhi, 360-927-1218, www.home.klbodhi.com. Koelle lives in a small bungalow with an ambitious, biointensive garden and loves the slogan: “Sing Songs, Plant Seeds.”
** Questions: email Jean at artiseverywhere [at] yahoo [dot] com, or info@sustainablebellingham.org.
Earth Day Event Could Mean Cash for You!
Monday, April 23rd – Saturday, April 28th, 10:00 am – 6:00 pm, Appliance Depot, 802 Marine Dr
Earth Day is just around the corner and Appliance Depot wants to make the environmentally responsible thing to do also the most financially rewarding thing to do. For a limited time, April 23rd to 28th, Appliance Depot will be offering cash for certain appliances that are dropped off for its job training program.
Lawn to Landscape: Part I
Tuesday, April 24th, 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm, RE Sources Sustainable Living Center (above The RE Store), 2309 Meridian Street
Convert your lawn to a native plant landscape and take advantage of the City of Bellingham’s lawn replacement incentive program. This classroom session will cover the concepts and mechanics of lawn conversion and native plant selection for your space and micro climate.
Free Screening of the Documentary Ocean Frontiers
Wednesday, April 25th, 6:00 pm, Room AW 204, Academic Instructional Center West, WWU
The myth of the boundless ocean is no more. But from the troubled waters now rises a new wave of hope, of prosperity through preservation, playing out in communities across the country and intimately captured in the new film by Green Fire Productions, Ocean Frontiers.
Ocean Frontiers takes us on an inspiring voyage to seaports and watersheds across the country—from the busy shipping lanes of Boston Harbor to a small fishing community in the Pacific Northwest; from America’s coral reefs in the Florida Keys to the nation’s premier seafood nursery in the Mississippi Delta. Free screening with an open discussion following the film. For more information, contact surfrider.wwu@gmail.com.
The Art of Sushi with Robert Fong
Thursday, April 26th, 6:30 pm – 9:00 pm, Downtown Food Co-op, 1220 North Forest Street
Join Robert for a hands-on class featuring both uramaki (inside-out sushi) and temaki hand rolls. We’ll use crab, scallops, hamachi, tobiko, mangos, avocados, sesame seeds, wasabi, soy, chili-toasted nori, and more. Roll a lot, eat a lot, and take some home. A $9 premium sake option is payable at class. $45 for members and non-members alike. Call the WCC at 360-383-3200 for registration.
NSEA Work Party at Whatcom Creek
Saturday, April 28th, 9:00 am – 12:00 pm, Whatcom Creek
Join NSEA, Sunrise Bellingham Rotary Club, and The City of Bellingham Parks Volunteer Program as we work to improve natural habitat for salmon and other wildlife at Maritime Heritage Park. We’ll be removing non-native, invasive plant species along the trails throughout the park, located off of Holly Street in downtown Bellingham. Look for the NSEA signs for parking.
Lawn to Landscape: Part II
Saturday, April 28th, 9:00 am – 12:00 pm, RE Sources Sustainable Living Center (above The RE Store), 2309 Meridian Street
Convert your lawn to a native plant landscape and take advantage of the City of Bellingham’s lawn replacement incentive program. This session will be hands-on (bring your gloves and work clothes), demonstrating step-by-step conversion of lawn to landscape.
What is a Grafted Tomato Plant?
Saturday, April 28th, 9:00 am, Garden Spot Nursery, 900 Alabama Street (Behind Trader Joe’s) You’ve read about them in magazines, plant catalogues, and everyone is talking about them. The grafting process is by hand in a tightly controlled process. Grafted tomato plants are new to us, this is a chance for you to try something new too. No fee for this class. To register, click here or call 360-676-5480.
Whatcom Folk School Class: Principles and Pathways Beyond Sustainability
Saturday, April 28th, 9:30 am – 5:30 pm, Contact WFS for exact location
Principles of sustainability, centered on the video teaching of David Holmgren, co-originator of Permaculture. The path to sustainability can be fraught with many confusions, false leads, risks and inefficiencies. A simple set of guiding principles that have wide, even universal application, can be extremely useful as a checklist when considering the inevitably complex options that lay before us. These “Beyond Sustainability” principles can be applied to our personal, economic, social and political structures. In addition to the videos, we will have class discussions and interactive exercises. A booklet summarizing the content of the class and more will be provided, and there will be a 1 hour lunch break. For more information, call David at 360-733-3541 or the Whatcom Folk School at 360-319-7495.
What’s New in Container Gardening
Saturday, April 28th, 10:00 am, Bakerview Nursery & Garden Center, 945 E. Bakerview Rd
Come learn the intricacies and mechanics of container gardening! You’ll learn about planting and continued care, as well as new varieties that will really make your containers and hanging baskets pop!
Using Hoop Houses and Tunnels for Protective Gardening
Saturday, April 28th, 10:30 am -12:00 pm, Cloud Mountain Farm, 6906 Goodwin Road, Everson
You can grow great tomatoes and peppers in the Pacific Northwest! Use of high tunnels and hoop houses can bring you success in crops that often fail out in the open. We’ll discuss hoop house construction, planting, pruning and training, and management issues. No registration required. Be prepared to be outside. Donations are welcome.
100 Acre Woods Organized Work Party Volunteers Needed
Saturday, April 28th, 12:00 noon to 3:00pm
Meet at gate by interurban trail off of 24th St near Hoag’s Pond parking area. Meet by gate on interurban trail. Drop in & help us clean up our new park! Bring gloves. Garbage bags will be provided. Rae Edwards of the Parks Department will talk about cleanup safety. We will then divide into work parties at the gate. For more information contact Christopher Grannis at 410-9720
Blueberry Magic!
Saturday, April 28th, 2:00 pm, Bakerview Nursery & Garden Center, 945 E. Bakerview Road
Come discover how truly easy it is to grow blueberries! You’ll learn about pruning, soil amendments, planting, and fertilizing for an abundant blueberry harvest.
Perfect Pâté with Christos and Anna Adams
Saturday, April 28th, 1:00 pm – 3:30 pm, Downtown Food Co-op, 1220 North Forest Street
Let Christos and Anna Adams of the Old World Deli show you the professional secrets of making winning pâté—perfect for your spring entertaining. We’ll create classic pâté de champagne (French country pâté) and a salmon and local spot prawn terrine. Optional $7 wine fee is payable at class. The cost is $35 for members and non-members alike. Call the WCC at 360-383-3200 for registration.
Dandelion and Burdock Tea for Vascular Headaches
A blend of dandelion root, burdock root, yellow dock root, and skullcap or valerian root has alkalizing effects that are particularly effective for vascular headaches, advises herbalist Rosemary Gladstar in her book Rosemary Gladstar’s Herbal Recipes for Vibrant Health: 175 Teas, Tonics, Oils, Salves, Tinctures and Other Natural Remedies for the Entire Family. Use a ratio of three parts dandelion, two parts burdock and one part yellow dock and drink 1/4 cup with 1/4 tsp. of skullcap or valerian every 30 minutes until your headache subsides.
Check out this video on Whatcom County Salmon Recovery to Support NSEA!
If you haven’t already seen this video about NSEA and salmon recovery in Whatcom County, I hope you can find the time to watch this four minute video about their amazing work. Every video watch earns NSEA $0.50 until June! We are hoping to get 8,000 more video views to help support the organization, so feel free to forward the video to anyone you think would be interested. Thank you for your help!
“No Ordinary Bake Sale: Simply Made from Scratch” plus Recipe for Flourless Fudge Chocolate-Chip Cook
These days, you really need to have a few gluten-free options at any bake sale (keep in mind that it’s the whole process, not just the ingredients, that must be flour-free). These flourless cookies are rich and chewy, packing a powerful punch of chocolate. Try sprinkling coconut or sweetened dried cherries on top before baking to add another flavor. I got this recipe from RecipeGirl.com, which writes that it was adapted from New York baker Francois Payard’s Chocolate Epiphany.
Makes 30 cookies
* 3 cups confectioners’ sugar
* 2/3 cup unsweetened Dutch-processed cocoa powder
* 1/8 teaspoon salt
* 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
* 2 to 4 large egg whites, at room temperature
* 1 1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Set aside two baking sheets lined with parchment paper. In a large bowl, whisk the confectioners’ sugar, cocoa powder and salt until blended. Whisk in the vanilla and egg whites starting with just 2. Beat just until the batter is moistened. You’re looking for a brownie-like, thick and fudgy batter. If it seems too thick, add another egg white — then a fourth one if it still seems too thick. Stir in the chocolate chips. Scoop tablespoons of the batter onto the prepared baking sheets. Leave enough space between each cookie for them to spread, and avoid making them too big or they will be tough to remove from the parchment paper. Bake for 12 to 14 minutes, until the tops are glossy and lightly cracked. Slide the parchment paper (with the cookies) onto wire racks. Let cookies cool completely, remove from parchment paper and store in an airtight container for up to 3 days.
Turkish Carrot Salad
The full amount of cumin in this recipe may prove too assertive for those unused to the spice. Start with 1 teaspoon and add the rest if you like. The salad goes well with Middle Eastern dishes, especially lamb. This recipe was from the article “Carrots: Beyond the Relish Tray.”
Makes 4 to 6 servings
* 1 1/2 teaspoons whole cumin seed
* 1/2 cup whole milk plain yogurt
* 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
* 1/2 teaspoon minced garlic (about 1 small clove)
* Pinch cayenne
* Pinch granulated sugar
* 1/4 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
* Kosher salt
* 3 cups grated carrots (3 to 4 carrots, depending on size)
* 1 tablespoon mint, plus additional for garnish
In a small dry skillet over medium heat, gently toast the cumin seeds until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Let cool and grind in a spice grinder or with a mortar and pestle. Whisk together the yogurt, olive oil, garlic, cayenne, sugar, pepper, 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1 teaspoon of the ground cumin. (For improved flavor, make the dressing an hour or two before assembling the salad.) Right before serving, toss the carrots and mint together gently. Add enough dressing to coat the salad thoroughly. Adjust seasoning, adding more cumin and salt to taste. Sprinkle with additional mint, if desired.
