Eco-Act 21-06: Union Gardens April Check-In

Winter’s End

For those of us happy to do a bit of gardening in the wind and rain, the 2021 growing season has been underway for a while already. Actually, we’re still harvesting lettuce and kale from our “winter’s end garden,” left. But now, the overwintering plants are slowly being joined by new sprouts from the peas and salad greens we seeded a few weeks ago (note the tiny bits of green in the foreground).

The major recent activity, however, has been preparing a new garden bed and seeding it with radishes, arugula, spinach, and lettuces. With luck, we’ll be enjoying the radishes sometime in the second half of April, followed by the arugula and spinach, and then the lettuces by late May/early June.

If you’re willing to accept Sky Nursery’s “last frost date” estimate of April 15th, then a wide variety of vegetables can be safely direct-seeded outdoors at this point, as noted in our Union Gardens Calendar:

• fava beans

• peas

• spinach

• onions/scallions

• arugula

• collards

• kale

• leeks

• lettuce

• potatoes

• radishes

• turnips

• cabbage

• cauliflower

• celery

• kohlrabi

Coming Attractions

We’re anticipating rows of green to begin emerging in the “coming attractions” garden, left, within a week or two.

Might you be looking for a positive, hopeful activity—or even just sign of the warmer, sunnier weather to come? Consider planting some seeds in your garden, planter box, or a container on the windowsill!

Eco-act 21-04: Garden Calendar!

We’re starting a community garden…but dispersed! As you may recall, we are aiming to get our community gardening at home (in any form!). Our hope is that tending to the earth would reconnect you to God and all of Creation, and that any surplus you grow could contribute to Union’s robust food ministries. (For more info on our vision for Eco-Faith in this next year, read more here).

Union Gardens

Read on for a nifty planting calendar

To start you off on your way, we’ve developed a Planting Calendar detailing the kinds of produce you can grow, when, and how to get them going. Additionally, in the “Union Weekly Use” column, we’ve listed the quantity needed for our weekly burrito roll, with current recipes in mind. Obviously, there are some blanks in that column! We would welcome any and all produce that you contribute and can either add them to burritos or distribute fresh produce to Compass House or LUV.

If you would like access to the spreadsheet itself, click here. Otherwise, feel free to download this picture to print out for your reference.

Let us know what tips or tricks you might have in the way of starts and prepping your soil for a fruitful harvest. And, we will be starting a What’s App group to share ideas and/or a monthly zoom chat on a Thursday night — stay tuned!

We’ll be prepping our gardens right alongside you. Happy planting!!

* Useful references: Food Grown Right, In Your Backyard, McCrate and Halm; The Maritime Northwest Garden Guide, Seattle Tilth

** Assuming approximate last frost date of April 15th, per Sky Nursery

Eco-Act 005: Center Black EJ activists

center Black EJ* activists

Black Lives Matter. *Environmental Justice

This week as we continue to lament, reflect, and act on police brutality and white supremacy in our communities and country, we want to amplify and share Black voices in the environmental justice field. We invite you to read “A Little Patch of Something” by Imani Perry (written 6/3/20), where she talks about the long history of Black planting and tending alongside racialized atrocity and grief. Closer to home, you can also read more about Seattle’s Black womxn farmers and support some of their work.

Here are other people to learn from and support in the Black environmental justice community…

In Seattle:

• Black Farmers Collective: Seattle-based YES Farm!! BFC is a group of urban food system activists dedicated to providing opportunities to improve the health of [Black] communities through all aspects of the food system. Donate!!

• FEEST: is an organization led by youth of color in South Seattle and South King County working to improve health in our schools. Youth leaders celebrate food and culture at community dinners and build power to win policy changes that increase food access for all students. Donate & volunteer!

• Feed The People: Chef Tarrik Abdullah & others in the Seattle Kitchen Collective have been providing AMAZING free meals in Seattle to any who need it.

• Nurturing Roots Farm: is a community farming program focused on educating youth & community members on healthy food choices. Creating community through gardening.

Elsewhere:

• Natl. Black Food & Justice Alliance: NBFJA organizes for Black food and land, by increasing the visibility of visionary Black leadership, advancing Black people’s struggle for just and sustainable communities, and building power in our food systems and land stewardship. On their Support page, you can donate and support other actions; check their resources on the Info page.

• Soul Fire Farm: Soul Fire Farm is committed to ending racism and injustice in the food system.

• Aja Barber: is a writer and fashion consultant. “[Her] expertise is in race, intersectional feminism and ... fashion (focusing mostly on sustainable and ethical fashion)”. (Patreon)

• Amber Tamm: farmer, horticulturalist, floral designer

• Black With Plants: D’Real learns from plants and works in concert with communities to make strategic gains towards Indigenous Sovereignty and Black Liberation. Donate (Venmo, Paypal, Patreon, Cash App) @blackwithplants.

• Leah Thomas: intersectional environmentalist, activist, eco-communicator. She has a helpful article on the Good Trade, created the text graphics shared in this post, and is the subject of the other illustration by Alja Horvat. She also has a great list of other intersectional environmentalists on her Instagram feed!

These are a few of MANY Black folks doing this work (and admittedly, many here are young)! Who else do you follow and support? Drop their info in the comments below! To close, we share this list from Leah Thomas and commit to a more intersectional environmental justice. #blacklivesmatter