On Saturday, March 22, 2014 9:57 AM, Christie Fairchild <gvmules@gmail.com> wrote:

Hi all! Well, it's officially Spring, so time to get thinking about this year's market, yes?
REMEMBER, second Sunday of each month, noon - 4pm (June, July, August, Sept.)
I wanted to revisit the comments made at our end-of-season get together last fall, what's been done (so far), and what is still to do. So, here goes:
What Worked?Hooray!, community building, very fun, met new neighbors, great start, music was great, bake sale wonderful, loved the energy and feel of it
What Didn't? Need to clarify task allotments, need compensation for the manager, need more business, solidify schedule, need consistent signage, need permanent posters/flyers up (esp. at campgrounds, Newhalem Store, and even in the Methow)
Ideas for Next year?Better signage, add rummage sale (Spring Cleaning?) at first one in June, add Harvest Share at last one in Sept., schedule time slots for musicians (2-3 per market?), permanent laminated flyers, advertize!!!, get the MCH board members involved, make MCM "schwag" to sell at the market, find a dedicated FOOD vendor
So, most of the items on the "ideas" list have now been done, except that we still have yet to: 1. get commitments from MCH board members for help, 2. create the flyers/posters and find a laminator, and 3. we need to find a food vendor (sandwiches, etc.) The vendor applications are on our website: www.marblemountcommunityhall.org/events, so if you know anyone interested, please have them complete that and mail it in, as directed. (They MUST be received well in advance to be pre-approved: make sure there are no duplications and that what they wish to offer is appropriate for our market!)
In addition, I'd like us to have a beginning-of-the-season potluck and work party: how about Sunday, June 1st? 3:00 work party (mow grass, fix up the road signs, test out your canopies, etc.) 5:00 potluck and meeting. Kids & families are, of course, always welcome.

Thanks so much, all of you! Here's to building community while having fun.
Looking forward to seeing you soon,
Christie Fairchild
853-8388
P.S.: NOTE - There will also be a SEED SWAP on Sat., April 19th during the Easter Egg Hunt at the Hall (outside, under the picnic shelter) - noon to 2:00.

I thought something that might be good in the newsletter is PSE's appliance replacement program.  Our new refrigerator is to be delivered April 7th. They've already been out to approve the replacement and confirm ours was 20 years old or older. Here are the basics, from the website link at:  http://pse.com/savingsandenergycenter/ForHomes/Pages/Free-Appliance-Replacement.aspxFor your old refrigerator to qualify for free replacement, it should be:

• 10-30 cubic feet
• Manufactured in 1992 or before
• In working/ cooling condition
• The primary food storage in the kitchen
• Plugged into a properly grounded (3-prong) outlet to ensure safety
• Owned by the resident or resident has received written landlord permission

For your old clothes washer to qualify for free replacement, it should be:

• Connected to an electric water heater and used with an electric dryer (not gas or other fuel type)
• Manufactured in 1997 or before
• In working condition
• Plugged into a properly grounded (3-prong) outlet to ensure safety
• Connected to a properly functioning water hose
• Owned by the resident or resident has received written landlord permission

To tell how old your appliance is:

• Check inside the door or on the back for a label with the year it was manufactured
• If your appliance labels don't have a date, note the brand, model number and serial number
• Try sites like Appliance411.com to search by model number

Our 19 cu. ft. is being replaced by a 21 cu. ft. refrigerator. We're excited to get a new fridge since ours is not only old but also noisy. Electric to run the new one should be around $30/year; our old one is probably about $80/year.

Cheers,Ranger

It is official, we are moving equip. into our new www.ShambalaBakery.com site in the Diamond Plaza downtown Sedro Woolley on State Street! We hope to have a soft opening end of April and are excited to be accross from the new www.woolleymar...ket.com ! They too will be featuring local responsibly sourced foods as a local grocery and communtiy hub and we will coop as neighbors in June when we open to the public officially to provide healthy eats! We are very excited, and are designing our custom coffee blends now- we will keep you posted!See More
--
Shambala Permacultural Farm, Gluten Free Bakery and Edible Perennial Nursery offers organically grown/chemical free/sea mineral fortified produce, NON GMO ancient grain breads that are vegan/Gluten Free, edible plants & trees, perennial vegetables, easy edible landscape consults and instillations.  the 10 Acre farm site has edible forest gardens to wander, farm animal tours, lawn art, specialty jams etc. and custom grocery packages to include goat milk, chicken and duck eggs can be requested with advance notice. 

Class offerings include skill building workshops to Permaculture Design Certification courses, and site rental/services available for your special events/weddings, a great sustainable value.

 OPEN Year round by appointment, with Market locations daily for our Gluten Free bread offerings- see www.ShambalaBakery.com for information.  Our NEW Bakery site opening in Sedro Woolley this Spring, stay tuned!

 PH 360 387-4110
Cell 425 923 7688
nancy@ShambalaFarm.com 
www.ShambalaFarm.com
www.facebook.com/shambalafarm 
395 E. North Camano Drive, Camano Is, WA 98282
Directions: http://maps.google.com/maps?q=395E+North+Camano+Dr%2C+Camano+%2C+WA
We are making the transition…

                                        ...so can you!

Hello everyone! The Skagit Conservation District is seeking volunteers to help out at our annual Native Plant Sale, scheduled for Friday, April 4th and Saturday, April 5th (note details below).  This is an annual fund raiser hosted by the conservation district to help support our youth education programs.  Volunteers will receive a bundle of native trees, refreshments and drinks for helping out:)  This is also a great opportunity to get acquainted with our native plants and to work with a great group of people:)  If you can help out, please contact my co-worker, Jenny Hinderman at 428-4313 or email: jenny@skagitcd.org
Here is the info:
Plant Sale Volunteers Needed for:
Friday, April 4th 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Saturday, April 5th 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
at the Plant Materials Center in Bow, located at 16564 Bradley Road.
Most work will include filling plant orders and volunteers will be on their feet.  We do need somebody who knows native plants pretty well to help out customers up front with plant questions on Friday from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m.
Volunteers don't need to commit to the whole day. They can come for shorter chunks of time also.
Call or email Jenny Hinderman at 360-428-4313, jenny@skagitcd.org

Thanks so very much!
Kristi Carpenter
Skagit Conservation District
2021 E. College Way, Suite #203
Mount Vernon, WA  98273
(360) 428-4313

Transition Fidalgo & Friends  
Seventh Generation Supper  
Tuesday, March 25    

Linda Sanford emceed an evening that included live music by Andrew Velin and a presentation by
Dr. Daniel Najera on "Lessons Learned from the Honeybees." Attendance was 39.  

Vision 2030: The vision document is now in the final review stage by the task force. We've been presenting short summaries from each section at recent supper meetings - tonight Eric Shen gave the main points from Energy and Rich Bergner from Natural Resources. The full document will be available soon, and it will be the focus at our April 29th supper meeting.

Announcements:

• Eric noted that handmade and commercial reusable bags could be had for a $5 donation that would go toward helping to print copies of the Vision 2030 document.
  

• Sequoia Ferrel had garlic and potatoes for sale at the supper, and encouraged people to fill out surveys to help her decide which vegetables to grow this year at Gaia Rising Farm.  She can be reached at gaiarisingfarm@gmail.com

• Sylvia Cooper mentioned that the Mt. Erie Garden is doing well but could use donations for such items as tools and clipboards for kids. She also encouraged people to shop at the Skagit Co-op this Friday ("4% Friday") - a percentage of Co-op receipts will be directed toward the Skagit Gleaners.

• Laurie Racicot and Sommer Carter are starting up a regular Transition "Hootenanny" event for "kids of all ages" on the first Saturday of every month, beginning May 3. Details to come in April.

• Erica Pickett encouraged people to attend the first public input session for updating the city's comprehensive plan on Thursday, 7 pm, at City Hall. The meeting will kick off w/historical background, comp plan 101, and some info on the city’s demographics. Attendees will break into small groups for a visioning exercise focused on three questions: (1) What do I love most about Anacortes now? (2) What am I most concerned about? and (3) What do I hope happens in 2035? See www.cityofanacortes.org/planning/2016compplan
  

 
Presentation: Lessons Learned from the Honeybees
Dr. Daniel Najera's research at Green River Community College focuses on the intelligence of honeybees, and he noted that he has yet to find the edge of that intelligence. (Out of 50 experiments, he has been able to "stump" the bees only 3-4 times.) Honeybees are the first organisms to be documented as having color vision; they engage in intricate "waggle dances" to help each other find food; they're able to cool and warm themselves when needed; and they can recognize human faces. The bees live in a social structure more complex than our own, in a colony of between 50,000-100,000 with 3 "castes" (drone, worker, queen) who work together for the success of all.  A bee colony requires flowering plants, and those plants can only survive with good soil and water. The ecosystems the bees (and humans) depend on are suffering from human over-population, and misuse (and over-use) of natural resources. Another huge problem is our disconnect from the natural world - Najera stressed the value of education based on direct experience, something that is lacking in most young people's lives. Honeybees, because of the multiple problems they are facing right now, are "flagship" organisms that can remind us of our absolute connection to the rest of life. We cannot make it on our own...sustainability, Najera says, is about "WE" not "me."

Evelyn Adams for


Bud Anderson, Secretary

Transition Fidalgo & Friends works to grow a more resilient community with a reduced reliance on fossil fuels.
Visit transitionfidalgo.org. and find us on Facebook

Transition Fidalgo & Friends
"Growing Local Resilience"
transitionfidalgo.org

The following is an update and request for help from Sylvia Cooper, community-garden worker extraordinaire...
  Can you help? The Mt. Erie School garden could use:

1. Washing benches that can stand next to the spigots so students can wash vegetables
2. Seating so students can sit down in the garden and write in their journals.  Any ideas, or carpenters looking for projects? See bottom of this message for who to contact)
   

What's happening now at the Mt. Erie School garden:

• This week we'll post a "Mt. Erie CARES in the Garden" poster on the shed that defines garden behaviors that demonstrate the Cooperation, Attitude, Respect, Effort, and Safety that Mt. Erie students strive to bring to the garden & all they do.
• 2nd and 3rd-grade students are in the garden now for their science classes. That is 150 kids per week! Jody Dylan, the new science teacher, has really embraced the opportunity for students to learn in the garden.
  
• Students are running a trial between snap pea varieties to see which crop produces best in the garden. Pea shoots are up and measured at 1 cm today! Students have learned to use soil thermometers and do soil tests to determine best conditions for each crop. They make weekly entries in their garden journals.
• WSU research grad student Kelly Ann Atterberry, who is working under Dr. Carol Miles, will present the value of dried bean nutrition and cultivation to 4th-grade science students. They will grow several varieties of dried beans. It will be a fun fall harvest for students returning as 5th-graders.
  
• 5th-grade science students will do a hot compost to finish as they study soil ecology/ food webs, as well as vermicompost. They'll spread important compost & as 6th-graders and will be lead with compost. We hope this will create a sustainable compost system for Mt. Erie garden. Skagit County Public Works and volunteers will support Jody's curriculum.
• Under the guidance of Nate Rozema, 6th-graders have turned over cover crop in student beds. It's decomposing to support the crops that will be planted for the fall soup.
• The students would like to plant a "school foodbank" bed next to the community foodbank bed. Kids have been eating kale, chives and parsley that wintered over in a bed and are begging for more! We'd love to have plenty to share with families. It will bring a wonderful awareness to the possibilities in our Community Gardens.

I am so excited to see this progress in just its second year.  If anyone is interested in helping or donating please let me (ssylviac@yahoo.com) or Debbie Martin (rimlily@hotmail.com) know.   Sylvia

Link to Seattle Times Article:

Federal Government plans to make climate data more useable and understandable to communities, business, and local governments so we are able to proactively respond to increase risk of natural disaster emergencies.   The idea is that with that localized data they can help the public understand the risks they face, especially in coastal areas where flooding is a big issue.
Read more: http://seattletimes.com/html/nationworld/2023164344_apxwhitehouseclimate.html

Mike Stevens

Hello everyone! The Skagit Conservation District is seeking volunteers to help out at our annual Native Plant Sale, scheduled for Friday, April 4th and Saturday, April 5th (note details below).  This is an annual fund raiser hosted by the conservation district to help support our youth education programs.  Volunteers will receive a bundle of native trees, refreshments and drinks for helping out:)  This is also a great opportunity to get acquainted with our native plants and to work with a great group of people:)  If you can help out, please contact my co-worker, Jenny Hinderman at 428-4313 or email: jenny@skagitcd.org
Here is the info:
Plant Sale Volunteers Needed for:
Friday, April 4th 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Saturday, April 5th 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
at the Plant Materials Center in Bow, located at 16564 Bradley Road.
Most work will include filling plant orders and volunteers will be on their feet.  We do need somebody who knows native plants pretty well to help out customers up front with plant questions on Friday from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m.
Volunteers don't need to commit to the whole day. They can come for shorter chunks of time also.
Call or email Jenny Hinderman at 360-428-4313, jenny@skagitcd.org

Thanks so very much!
Kristi Carpenter
Skagit Conservation District
2021 E. College Way, Suite #203
Mount Vernon, WA  98273
(360) 428-4313

Knowing I am part of a larger whole helps me keep my balance.

Four years ago, I began building a network of people around a neighborhood farmers market, Bow Little Market, and Chuckanut Transition.  Again and again, I have found that women are the connectors and organizers.  I have met so many inspiring women working to care for our communities, our Earth and the people who depend on it.  Thanks to all who inspire.  Thanks to all that pitch in and do "The Work".  No one can do it all, and during a time that we need to have all hands on deck helping with economy, community, and environment it is so comforting to see our work compliment, overlap and amplify.

Love inspires. 

Thanks to All,
Sarai Stevens

If you wish to read more on the project I have included information below.

March 2, 2014
 
Dear Community Member,
 
The Concrete Earth Day 2014 Committee is looking for Upper Skagit Businesses, Organizations and Individuals to participate in the First Annual Earth Day in the Upper Skagit Valley. The Cascade Valley has incredible natural beauty and resources and its residents and visitors would like to see it stay that way. Earth Day is an opportunity to create awareness and to bring the community together. Additionally we are hoping that visitors will also participate in our actiivities and celebration.
 
We are looking for volunteer environmental speakers for this event April 22nd - 27th, as well as vendors of information, activity and/or goods for our eco-fair on Saturday April 26th. There is no fee for one 8X8 space, however you must provide your own table. The Eco-Fair will be located at the Concrete Community Center and spaces will be inside as well as outside.
 
Please contact the Concrete Chamber of Commerce (360) 853-8784/concretechamber@gmail.com or KSVU (360) 853-8533/kjraschko@gmail.com for more information and to register.
 
 
Sincerely,
Concrete Earth Day 2014 Committee