Sustainable Bellingham

(Compiled by Shannon Maris/ Garden E-News, Arthur Tenebrae, and Rachel Perry)

SB Roving Garden Party – Glenhaven
** When: Tuesday, June 5th, carpool departs Public Market at 5:30 pm, work 6:00 pm -7:30 pm, 7:30 pm meal and play.
** Where: 755 Top Place, in Glenhaven – 25 minute drive from Bellingham. Everyone can meet at the Public Market at 5:15 and we will carpool/caravan at 5:30 pm sharp. MAP.
** Requested Items to Bring: Gloves if you want them.
** Tasks: We have 3 medium sized piles of materials to move. Dirt, bark and drain rock. We will also be applying root killer to an area of blackberries I removed this spring.
** Food: Vegan spring pesto soup, accompanied with bread and beer!
** Host: Peter James and Indigo Klco, 360-510-1856. We have spent the last 7 years transforming our 1/2 acre of weeds and mud into a series of fruit, vegetable and flower gardens, with an emphasis on creating a retreat-like gathering space. The evening will conclude with a bonfire and drinks to celebrate our accomplishments!
** Questions: Email Jean at artiseverywhere@yahoo.com,  or volunteer@sustainablebellingham.org.

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!

Alaskan Halibut with Robert Fong
Wednesday, June 6th, 6:30 pm – 8:30 pm, Cordata Food Co-op, 315 Westerly Road
Learn to cook Alaska’s famous fish three innovative ways: Mediterranean halibut cioppino, spicy Mexican fish tacos, and New World Fish & Chips. Have fun watching Chef Fong play with the big fish, aromatic spices, special oils, salts and peppers. Optional $8 wine fee payable at class. The cost is $45 for members and non-members alike.
To register, call the WCC at 360-383-3200.

Xyli-What?–A Guide to Alternative Sweeteners with Janis Walworth
Wednesday, June 6th, 6:30 pm – 8:30 pm, Downtown Food Co-op, 1220 North Forest Street
Learn about alternative sweeteners and why they can be considered as healthier choices than sugar and honey. Sample delicious desserts including homemade fudge, oatmeal cookies, ice cream and peach cobbler, all sweetened with ingredients like xylitol, stevia, barley malt, and rice syrup. You’ll have a chance to taste the various sweeteners, learn how to cook with them, and hear about their health effects– including a discussion of glycemic index, digestive tolerance, and insulin response. Lots of recipes and generous samples provided! Janis Walworth worked for years as a nutritional consultant. The cost is $25 for members and non-members alike.
To register, call the WCC at 360-383-3200.

Mexican Grill with Ana Jackson
Thursday, June 7th, 6:00 pm – 9:00 pm, Cordata Food Co-op, 315 Westerly Road
Ana Dominguez Jackson prepares a crowd-pleasing menu perfect for your backyard barbecues: grilled pork tacos with ancho chile salsa, grilled fish tacos with salsa and coleslaw, and grilled mussels with tomatillo salsa and cilantro. These authentic and flavorful recipes can
be prepared indoors or out. The cost is $39 for members and non-members alike.  To register, call the WCC at 360-383-3200.

Summer Rides: Diva Cycle
Friday, June 8th, 4:00 pm – 6:00 pm, Departs from Black Market Boutique, 2010 North State St.
What could be more fashionable: A guided shopping tour of selected thrift and vintage clothing stores in Bellingham. Riders are invited to purchase and wear an item of clothing from each store to complete a new outfit by the end of our ride. Those who wish may choose to bike on with us to happy hour (no-host) at the Blue Horse Gallery to toast our shopping success. Cheers! Summer Rides are easy social outings, rolling more or less weekly throughout the summer. Roll with friends and meet new friends while discovering backroads and hidden bikeways in Bellingham (and a few in Lynden, Ferndale, and Birch Bay, too). Each Summer Ride has a different theme, with goodies provided along the way. Summer Rides each feature a different fun theme and cover easy routes of around seven miles.

Summer Rides: Fairhaven History with Dirty Dan Harris
Sunday, June 10th, 1:00-3:00 pm, Departs from Village Books, 1200 11th Street, Fairhaven
“Dirty Dan Harris” – legendary historical figure Dirty Dan Harris, as portrayed by Jim Rich, will lead us on a bike tour of historic and significant places in Fairhaven. (Suggested donation of $5 per person for Dirty Dan.) Our ride will end back at the Village Green where riders will be treated to complimentary handmade lemonade at the Book Fare Café, above Village Books. Summer Rides are easy social outings, rolling more or less weekly throughout the summer. Roll with friends and meet new friends while discovering backroads and hidden bikeways in Bellingham (and a few in Lynden, Ferndale, and Birch Bay, too). Each Summer Ride has a different theme, with goodies provided along the way. Summer Rides each feature a different fun theme and cover easy routes of around seven miles.

Industrial Hemp Bellingham Bike Tour
Sunday, June 10th, 3:00 pm – 5:30 pm, 903 North State Street, Bellingham
Join us at The Hub to commence a Bellingham Bike Tour in support of domestic Industrial Hemp production! During the first half-hour social at The Hub, we will gather, chat Hemp and distribute raffle tickets. On bike, we will make several pit-stops around town, share Hemp history, current status and future potential as well as raffle hemp products and prizes!

Large-Scale Rainwater Catchment for Your Home: Part I & II
Tuesday, June 12th, 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm; and Saturday, June 16th, 9:00 am – 12:00 pm, 2309 Meridian Street, Bellingham
Learn how to retrofit two 275-gallon tanks (which can water about 1,000 sq ft) into a rainwater system for your home or business. Find out about permit requirements, design and installation principles. This is a two-part class. Attend both classes, and leave with the resources and know-how to retrofit tanks for your own rainwater harvesting system.

Part I: Tuesday, June 12th,6:00 pm – 8:00 pm. This classroom session will cover the concepts, metrics, and mechanics of rainwater harvesting with tanks and general water conservation information.

Part II: Saturday, June 16th, 9:00 am – 12:00 pm. This session will be hands-on with step-by-step installation of a retrofit system. Pre-registration is required. Register securely online, or call Hannah at 733-8307. The cost is $40 for members and $50 for non-members for both workshops.

Raw Wraps and Rolls with Carol Roberge
Tuesday, June 12th, 6:00 pm – 8:30 pm, Cordata Food Co-op, 315 Westerly Road
Summer means fresh–and what better way to utilize the seasonal bounty than by making raw food wraps and rolls! Create exciting sandwich substitutes using romaine, nori and collard leaves. Carol Roberge shares recipes for delicious nut and seed pates to stuff the wraps and rolls, as well as sauces and dips such as cashew cream, almond chili sauce, and lemon ginger dipping sauce, to serve with them. The combinations are endless, using a variety of ingredients to create color, texture and contrasting flavors. All vegan and gluten free! The cost is $39 for members and non-members alike. To register, call the WCC at 360-383-3200.

Crows, Ravens, Jays and Their Cousins with David Drummond
Tuesday, June 12th, 6:30 pm – 8:30 pm, Downtown Food Co-op, 1220 North Forest Street
The corvid family includes crows, ravens, jays, magpies and nutcrackers. For intelligence, personality, vocal range and mythological prominence, no other family of birds can match them. Join Merlin Falcon Foundation biologist David Drummond in this exploration of their bio-ecology, habitats and fascinating behaviors through a new multi-media presentation. Bring your stories and observations, and learn about these raucous and amazing creatures. The cost is $10 for members and $12 for non-members. To register, call the WCC at 360-383-3200.

Canning 101 with Susy Hymas
Thursday, June 14th, 6:00 pm – 7:30 pm, Cordata Food Co-op, 315 Westerly Road
Learn how to stretch your food dollars and enjoy seasonal flavors all year long in this three-session demonstration class. Course covers the techniques and equipment you will need to safely can fruit, quick pickles, salsa, jams, pressure canning vegetables, seafood, and meats. Instructor Susy Hymas has been a Certified Master Food Preserver for 14 years. The harvest is coming! The cost is $59 for members and non-members alike. To register, call the WCC at 360-383-3200.

WILL ALLEN’S NEW BOOK THE GOOD FOOD REVOLUTION
On three city acres in the heart of an inner-city Milwaukee neighborhood, we grow enough food year-round in our greenhouses to feed ten thousand people. At our facility five blocks from Wisconsin’s largest public housing project, we are taking city waste that would otherwise end up in a landfill-beer mash, food waste, coffee grinds-and composting it to create healthy soil. We are feeding this compost to millions of worms, who create a natural fertilizer. We are using this rich soil to grow intensively more than 100 varieties of vegetables. We are also raising 100,000 fish in “aquaponics” systems that resemble natural streams.

NEWLY RE-PRINTED 5TH EDITION: Winter Gardening in the Maritime Northwest: Cool-Season Crops for the Year-Round Gardener – Fifth Edition by Binda Colebrook
Many gardeners can supply a significant amount of their own food during the plentiful summer harvest. But the key to substantial savings on your food bill is putting fresh, homegrown produce on your table every month of the year. And in the mild, forgiving climate of the maritime Pacific Northwest, it can be easier than you might think.

HOW TO BUILD AN EDIBLE CITY
Several case studies from edible city innovators are offered in a new ASLA video that shows how you can transform your backyard, corner lot or rooftop into an urban farm, reports Jude Stewart.

IT’S TIME TO OUTMSART THE WEEDS. LET LETTUCE HELP YOUR PEAS
Peas and other shallow-rooted crops can be damaged easily by cultivating the surrounding soil. That’s why broad-leaved weeds can easily overtake them. So why not establish an edible, living mulch to fight the weeds and provide an extra early-season crop? Sow seeds of a fast-growing leaf lettuce thickly between young pea plants. The lettuce will outperform the weeds, and you can harvest the lettuce thinnings as you pick your peas.

KITCHEN WINDOW: EVEN YOUR MOTHER WILL APPROVE OF VEGETABLE CHIPSIf you’re like most Americans, you love chips, particularly potato chips. But that gloriously crunchy, fried snack isn’t that good for you. These baked veggie chips are a health food in comparison. By making your own, you control what goes into them, and what stays out.

NEW BUG TO WATCH FOR IF YOU HAVE LILIES
Hello, master gardeners of Whatcom County. The Red Lily Beetle (Lilioceris lilii) is a fairly new pest and with our proximity to the Canadian border and our commercial ag industry we need to be on the look out for it. The beetle has a bright red, shiny elytra (wing covers) and thorax while its legs, head, and long antennae are black.
—-Beth Chisholm, Master Gardeners & Community First Gardens

SUNSCREEN IN THE SKY? REFLECTIVE PARTICLES MAY COMBAT WARMING
Spritzing a sunscreen ingredient into the stratosphere could help counteract the effects of global warming, according to scientists behind an ambitious new geoengineering project. The plan involves using high-altitude balloons to disperse millions of tons of titanium dioxide—a nontoxic chemical found in sunscreen as well as in paints, inks, and even food.