Salish Seed Guild 2023 Wrap up

2023 was a good gardening year in Whatcom County. The year opened with a very successful seed swap in February, 2023. Many volunteers contributed to the event. Virginia organized volunteers to pack seeds into envelopes, Brian did all the heavy lifting with the web site and actual lifting setting up and cleaning up with Jerry and Harper, Suki brought cookies, Harper and other musicians played for us. WWU students stepped in as seed ambassadors to help us talk to the participants and keep the flow of donations moving. Many other volunteers contributed to make it an excellent event. Over 120 people participated.

We planted a seed garden at Inspiration Farm for the third year in a row. Clean up started in March, followed by seed starting, planting, transplanting, trellis construction, weeding and finally seed harvest and processing in August and September. There were pole edible pod peas, pole beans, bush beans, two kinds of onions, two tomato varieties, lettuce, Bloomsdale spinach, dill and smaller amounts of other items. All the seed from the seed garden will be available at the seed swap in February 2024. None of it would have been possible without the dedicated support of volunteers, particularly Brian, Celt, Danny and Kurt, and our gardening librarian Magenta. Despite the success of the seed garden, it was too much work for too few people. Going forward, we are going to focus on our core mission of gardening education. Brian gets a big thank you for many, many hours, endless patience with novice seed growers, and loaning us a piece of his farm.

There were several educational events in 2023 besides the seed swap. Brian gave a series of permaculture workshops at Inspiration Farm and other venues. Look for more this year. Celt gave a series of talks for the Whatcom County Library System on seed saving, winter gardening, traditional preservation methods, and gardening with medicinal herbs. WCLS has invited her back in 2024. Check the library calendar for dates and locations.

We were able to provide packed seeds for distribution by donation at several locations during spring 2023, including Living Earth Herbs, the Rome Store, Birchwood Neighborhood gardeners, and several food banks. Virginia did an amazing job getting the seeds packed and running them around the county. This year, we will have just a few distribution locations, but the library system has picked up the mission. We are providing WCLS with seeds and technical help as required, but they are off and running with their program.

The Adopt a Seed and Adopt a Tomato projects had difficulty closing the loop to get seed back from participants. Thank you to the gardeners who grew out the seeds and tomato starts. Some of the seeds were saved and have come back to be distributed at the seed swap. Trying to run the projects in a centrally organized way ran straight into the constraints of organizer bandwidth. The best part was the enthusiasm of the participants, mostly first time seed savers. This year, we are encouraging everyone interested to adopt a seed or tomato on their own.

Between the seed swap and the seed distribution locations, we packed and gave out over 7000 packets of seed, not including bulk seed at the seed swap. We are pleased to have touched the lives of hundreds of people over the year, as volunteers, workshop participants, on farm tours, at the seed swap, and in the larger community.

The estate of Les Ishimoto, Kevin, and Suki provided substantial gifts, much of which went to the purchase of bulk seed. Whatcom County is under interdiction for brassica seed, due to club root disease, so we were unable to grow brassica seed at Inspiration Farm. We will have purchased bulk brassica seed available at the seed swap. Many thanks to the many donors, whose gifts added up to the funds necessary to put on the seed swap, distribute seeds and grow the seed garden.

As the seasons turn, so does the cycle of life and death. In recent years, we have lost Bill Sterling, Les Ishimoto, and Larry Williams. Krista Rome got a full time job and has left the board. Terri Wilde moved to a mountain and is with us in spirit. Our faculty member connection with WWU suffered a tragedy. We are blessed the support of long time volunteers and new and excited gardeners.

If you are interested in continuing to support this effort you can still get involved with Inspiration Farm’s seed growing efforts here.

We wish everyone a great gardening year in 2024!

Celt Schira and Brian Kerkvliet

Grow What You Eat, Eat What you Grow

Put your energy into growing plants that you want to eat. You will soon discover yourself planting your garden and planning future menus simultaneously. If you like Asian food, plant plenty of Asian greens, Japanese bunching onions and daikon radishes. Most Asian vegetables thrive in spring and fall. Summer growing requires plenty of water and harvesting them before they bolt.

Tomatoes and peppers are worth the fuss. The taste of a vine ripened tomato is superior, fresh or made into tomato or chili sauce. Plan to start seeds March and transplant in May or early June. Market gardeners have their seed orders in by November. We can at least be on the lookout for online seed companies, swaps with friends, and whatever we can save ourselves.

The best eggplants for this climate are the small, short season ones, such as Little Fingers. Heirloom eggplant Casper will go seed to seed. Eggplants are staple of Middle Eastern and Mediterranean dishes.

We love our sweet Walla Walla onions. Walla Wallas are planted in fall to overwinter and ripen the next summer. They need consistent water as they mature.

Upcoming 2023 Seed Events

Salish Seed Swap is back!

February 18 @ 12:00 pm – 3:00 pm

At the – Bellingham Unitarian Fellowship Downstairs

12 noon to 3pm – Masks Requested

$10 suggested donation, at the door. No one turned away for lack of funds
Early entrance (11:30 am) for members of the Salish Seed Guild and people bringing seeds to share
.

New! To Become a Salish Seed Member now, Click here

Free Presentations and Workshops

  • 12pm – Global Earth Repair. An overview of the worldwide eco-restoration movement and what we can do in Whatcom County.   Presented by Michael Pilarski. Friends of the Trees Society
  • 1pm – Learn About the Salish Seed Guild & Preserving local seed heritage!
  • 2pm – Garden Strategies for the PNW

A Past Seed Swap Gathering

Help us promote it, Download the poster and..

Here is the link to the FB Event share away on social media!

Join us as a Vendor!

If you are interested in vending your garden related products to hundreds of people at the Annual Seed Swap. This will augment our free and barter related seed swap event. To secure one of 6 vending tables click here.


“Intro to seed saving” Presentations at local Libraries.

Planning, selecting, tending, harvesting and saving vegetable seeds.

Join one of our long-time seed-savers and amateur seed breeders, Celt Schira for workshops on the essentials of backyard seed-saving. Celt will present background information on seed saving and plant breeding, discuss dry seed and wet seed processing, and share some musings on the deeper reasons for growing heirloom vegetables and saving seed.

When and where

  • Wed 3/1 2:00-3:30 North Fork
  • Sat 4/1 Sat 1:00-2:30 Lynden
  • Wed 4/5 6:00-7:30 – Everson
  • Sat 4/8 1:30pm – 3:00pm South Whatcom Library.
  • Sat 4/22 10:30-12:00 Deming
  • Wed 5/3 6:00-7:30 – Blaine

Adopt a Seed Program

This year we are launching an Adopt a Seed program. This Program will bring the community together, allowing you to help the Salish Seed Guild grow out a wider variety of organic seeds for the community. You will be able to choose from a variety of crops we are looking to grow out for seed production. Most of these varieties will be the easier crops to save seed from. Not needing any special skills like hand pollinating or isolation. Learn More!

Seed Saving and Processing Workshop

September 4, 2022 @ 10:00 am 12:00 pm

Join us for a 2 hour on-farm workshop on the essentials of backyard seed-saving. We will present background information on seed saving and plant breeding, discuss dry seed processing, and share some musings on the deeper reasons for growing heirloom vegetables and saving seed. Included in the workshop will be some hands-on seed processing of the Community Salish Seed Garden seeds that will later be distributed free to the community. 

The workshop is free and open to the public with an RSVP. We encourage attendees to stay for the seed processing portion of the workshop to clean seeds for the Salish Seed Guild. Donations to the seed garden to help with operating costs are welcome.

Free by donation

Brian

3603192029

View Organizer Website

Inspiration Farm

619 E Laurel Rd
Bellingham, Washington 98226
+ Google Map
360-319-2029
View Venue Website

Seed Saving and Processing Workshop

August 21, 2022 @ 10:00 am 12:00 pm

Join us for a 2 hour on-farm workshop on the essentials of backyard seed-saving. We will present background information on seed saving and plant breeding, discuss dry seed processing, and share some musings on the deeper reasons for growing heirloom vegetables and saving seed. Included in the workshop will be some hands-on seed processing of the Community Salish Seed Garden seeds that will later be distributed free to the community. 

The workshop is free and open to the public with an RSVP. We encourage attendees to stay for the seed processing portion of the workshop to clean seeds for the Salish Seed Guild. Donations to the seed garden to help with operating costs are welcome.

Free by donation

Brian

3603192029

View Organizer Website

Inspiration Farm

619 E Laurel Rd
Bellingham, Washington 98226
+ Google Map
360-319-2029
View Venue Website

Our Grant Proposal

We wanted to share our recent grant proposal that was submitted to the “Gardens for Good” grant competition. Thank you all who voted for us!

Please help us get across the finish line by sharing this with all of your friends and family on your contact list. You can forward this email and here is the direct link to vote by the end of April 1st 2022

Our Community Seed Garden serves Whatcom County in Washington State. The core group of individuals are passionate about growing local organic food with over 50 years of combined experience. Their ongoing involvement in the local seed exchange has put seed in the hands of our community for many years. This passion created the current non-profit organization, Salish Seed Guild (SalishSeed.org). The Guild was established in 2021 to promote personal community gardens through seed distribution. The co-coordinators, Brian (InspirationFarm.com) and Krista (ResilientSeeds.com), have grown food and saved seeds for many years. They  organized the Salish Seed Garden as a project of Sustainable Bellingham (SustainableBellingham.org) a 501(c)3 organization.

This regional Salish Sea network of seed-saving gardeners – farmers and advocates support the open exchange of seeds, through workshops and educational demonstrations, and by researching, building and acquiring appropriate-scale seed processing equipment and storage facilities. The Guild serves a diverse community, including tribal nations, school gardens, food banks, and communities that are designated food deserts. 

In 2021, several organic farmers donated a portion of their land for the seed saving effort. On a ¾ acre plot over 50 volunteers donated hundreds of hours gathering in the effort to plant, maintain, harvest and process more than 60 seed varieties and later distribute over 5000 packets of locally grown seed as well as other purchased seed. More than 10 pounds of seed were retained for future planting and inclusion in the seed library. Volunteers participated in workshops and events designed to promote seed saving and processing techniques free of cost and/or by donation.  

The Guild grows, selects and stores seeds from plants that express genetic strengths adaptable to our soils and changing weather, or unique heirloom qualities that could enhance the resiliency of our local food system. 

We envision a future where a majority of local farmers and community gardeners are saving at least some of their own seeds, with each individual playing a vital role in stewarding locally adapted seed varieties and diversity.

This grant will allow us to continue to expand this important effort in our community with the purchase of additional tools and supplies, seed processing, storage and distribution equipment and the ability to offer small stipends for key coordinating positions  necessary to help to ensure long term success.  

Here are two recent articles on the Salish Seed project

Seeding the Future” in The Planet Magazine

Seed Swaps Strengthen Community“, In The Salish Current

Help Salish Seed win Funding!

We have applied for a “Gardens for Good” $5000 funding grant to that will help our project continue.

The catch is we need your help to get the votes to win. Will you please consider taking a moment to click on the link below to cast your vote. Even better yet if you can share this with your network of friends!

Thank you to those who care about preserving local seed stewardship.

One vote per email is allowed. We need votes by April 1st!

Thank you for your help ensuring this project continues!

Help us win a funding grant!

Click to Vote for the Salish Seed Guild.

Please share this to anyone who cares about preserving local seed stewardship.

We need votes by April 1st! Thank you!

Seed Garden Update

So Much Fun this Spring!

Just wanted to give y’all a little update on the Salish Seed Garden project at Inspiration Farm. We have been having really fun productive days getting our beds prepared and transplants in the ground.

So far we have put in beets, two kinds of onions, peas, lettuce, spinach, favas, and fennel. We have prepared a lot of beds getting them ready for our main transplanting season coming up soon in May.

Starting in May we will be transplanting tomatoes, peppers onions, leeks and direct seating corn beans and some grains into our prepared beds.

We have been having weekly volunteer days for about three or four hours each week. They have been randomly selected based on the weather and what we have to do. There has been about 4-6 people attending each week. In the coming months we will start having regularly scheduled work days at the garden. This will allow people to plan and schedule to join us.

As the plantings get established it would be good to have people that can show up several times a week in small groups to do some maintenance chores like watering, weeding and just overall evaluation and enjoying the garden.

Let us know if you want to be a team leader and bring a small group out to do these things. We could set up several days on the volunteer sign-up list.

Our next volunteer day will be Sunday from 1 to 4 in the afternoon. Subsequent weekend volunteer days will probably be held Saturday mornings as the weather is cooler in the morning and more conducive to transplanting. Let us know if you want to join us we would love to see your smiling faces at Inspiration Farm!

New Seed Distribution Sites Just Added!

We’ve been busy at work reaching out around the county to find more seed distribution sites. Here are the new ones we’ve just added!

To get the current list of locations at any time, you can go to our website at www.salishseed.org and click on the “seed distribution sites” tab.

Please share this with anybody you know in these communities who might want some free seeds! [Please note that food banks may have specific requirements to access services. If you are not a food bank customer, please see our master list for locations available to all.]

READY TO GO:

  • Lummi Food Bank – 2830 Kwina Road; Fridays 12:30-3pm
  • Nooksack Valley Food Bank – 204 N Washington St; Everson, WA; Thursdays 10am-1pm; 6:30-8pm

COMING VERY SOON:

  • Rome Store – 2908 Mt. Baker HWY; Bellingham, WA 98226; M-Sat 7am-9pm; 8am-9pm
  • Inspiration Farm’s self serve Farm Stand 619 E Laurel RD; Bellingham, WA 98226

New Seed Distribution Sites Just Added!

We’ve been busy at work reaching out around the county to find more seed distribution sites. Here are the new ones we’ve just added!

To get the current list of locations at any time, you can go to our website at www.salishseed.org and click on the “seed distribution sites” tab.

Please share this with anybody you know in these communities who might want some free seeds! [Please note that food banks may have specific requirements to access services. If you are not a food bank customer, please see our master list for locations available to all.]

READY TO GO:

  • Lummi Food Bank – 2830 Kwina Road; Fridays 12:30-3pm
  • Nooksack Valley Food Bank – 204 N Washington St; Everson, WA; Thursdays 10am-1pm; 6:30-8pm

COMING VERY SOON:

  • Rome Store – 2908 Mt. Baker HWY; Bellingham, WA 98226; M-Sat 7am-9pm; 8am-9pm
  • Inspiration Farm’s self serve Farm Stand 619 E Laurel RD; Bellingham, WA 98226