March 1st Monthly Meeting

Red Barn Community Farm invites you to join us at our monthly meeting on March 1st, 10am - 12 at First Congregational United Church of Christ (2624 Rockefeller Avenue, Everett, WA) downstairs. We hope to discuss various Red Barn projects, answer gardening questions, and pass out seeds. New garden plots will also be assigned after the meeting. This meeting is open to anyone interested in gardening at the Red Barn. We hope to see you this Saturday!

I've been looking for a hoophouse design that I thought would be appropriate for the Red Barn Community Farm. It shoud be relatively inexpensive but yet be substantial enough to last through our Northwest winters and be strong enough to withstand the high winds that sweep the valley. There is nothing there to stop the wind. The design here meets those needs.

This drawing shows a diagram of how to build it. The 2x4 base pieces and corner posts are needed to make the structure strong enough to resist the winds. It is 6 1/2 ft high so most people could stand in the center. It contains 168 sq ft of growing space so there is plenty of room for those semi-tropical plants like tomatoes and bell peppers that sometimes don't ripen in our cool summers. With this structure, you should have tomatoes by mid July.

You'll need to shop for materials at Lowes or Home Depot. The 3/4 in PVC cross pieces can be found at Graingers for a $2.31 each if you can't get them at the more common stores. Total cost should be about $250. The hoophouse won't pay for itself for a couple of years but it'll extend your growing season on both ends by a month each.
You can find a more complete set of plans at http://www.bae.ncsu.edu/programs/extension/publicat/postharv/green/small_greenhouse.pdf.

Aerial Views

Google Earth recently updated their aerial imagery of the area where the Red Barn Community Farm is located. In the second picture, you can see that at least two gardners were working (by the cars) when the image was taken.

Common Security Clubs

A Common Security Club (CSC) is a small group of people -- extended families, neighbors, church groups, etc. -- who band together for their common good. An example might be a group of neighbors, some of whom have money earning power, some of whom have time available and some of whom might have some food growing knowledge (nice, but not essential). These sorts of groups pool their diverse resources for the benefit of the group. If one need of the group is for good, nutritious food (and who doesn't need this), they could participate as as a Red Barn Community Farm 'gardener.'

Let's say that three families, 9-10 people, decide to form a CSC. They could rent a 1/4 acre plot, spend $250-300 on tillage, seed and fertilizer and produce at least $3000 worth of food that they could eat in season or preserve for the off season. One or two people could make a plan for the garden that would include a layout and schedule for planting and a budget or 'business plan' for the project. The whole group then accepts the plan and members contribute to the budget as they are able. Next, the designated gardeners order the seed and fertilizer. As the season progresses, they initiate the gardening activities, arranging for tillage, staking out the rows or beds, etc. On weekends, the whole group pitches in and helps with planting, weeding, watering or whatever else is needed. By mid summer, the whole group begins to benefit from their efforts -- fresh food every meal. In the fall, the whole group participates in the harvest and also in the preservation of the food for the off season.

In our mild maritime climate food production is possible year round with the aid of hoop houses or other crude shelters. For a further investment of about a hundred dollars, a CSC could build a small hoop house and have fresh greens and brassicas (broccoli, brussel sprouts) for eleven months of the year. Increased investments like this could be done over several year's time.

What if nobody in the group knows anything about how to proceed with such an idea? Fear not. We could form classes for group leaders on garden planning, small scale agriculture practices and food preservation. Those people could them take the ideas back and use them in their CSC. If there is sufficient interest in this, we could also use this blog for frequent updates on practices, opportunities and plans. There are other ways the larger group (RBCF) could help: combined seed orders for lower prices, large fertilizer buys (for example, we could buy pelletized chicken manure by the ton and then, with the help of SCS members, divide that up into 50-pound bags for distribution. Eventually, we might even be able to secure the use of church kitchens for shared canning and freezing activities.

Speaking of freezing, most garden vegetables should be frozen rather than canned. That is because of the relatively low acid level of most vegetables. We might be able to buy a quantity of chest freezers for the shared use of the CSCs. Or perhaps each CSC would prefer to have their own common freezer.

If you think you would be interested in this, please call Dean Smith at 425-328-9979 or eMail dean_smith@transitionportgardner.org to indicate your interest. You can also just comment on this blog entry.

Horray! The City Council Approved our Grant

Wednesday, August 31, the Everett City Council unanimously approved a grant of nearly $15,000 to help us develop the Red barn Community Farm. Now the real work starts.

First Delivery

We delivered the first shipment of food to the Everett Food Bank today: 64 pounds of green beans and kale. We should be able to repeat for at least the next 5 to 6 weeks.

First Harvest for the Food Bank

Volunteers from the Canyon Creek Church helped harvest the first crop from The Red Barn Community Farm. They picked an estimated 60 pounds of green beans last Saturday. The beans were taken to the Mukilteo Community garden for weighing and cool storage until Monday when the Everett Food Bank opens.

---

While some volunteers were picking beans, others were erecting a sun/rain shelter. We will complete the anchoring of this shelter this week to provide a nice resting place for gardeners.