Blog
April 24, 2024 “I can do this. I’ll take a seed tray of Western Columbine (Aquilegia formosa) home and watch over it,” I announced to the native plant nursery co-chair at Magnuson Park. It was late November, when we propagate native plants by seed. The nursery leader makes a delicate, moist seed-potting medium. You push […]
Too Busy To Blog
February 21, 2015 The shed remodel, designed and built by FECO volunteers, is 99 percent finished. This is the first of four infrastructure projects slated to be completed in 2105. We will tell the shed story with a few photos. Suffice it to say, it took more hours than we expected. However, we learned a […]
A Nail For All Seasons
December 18, 2014 “NUMBER 73!” That’s me. I plop down on a swivel stool at , across the counter from Byron, one of Dunn’s helpful project managers. This is the third time we meet to make changes to the material’s quote for the shed remodel. How patient he is. We are nearing the end of […]
Ready To Plow Ahead
November 14, 2014 Jump on the sled and slide down an exciting path of learning, sharing, building and beautifying. We have entered our construction phase! (View the final project design on the Library Page to see what’s coming your way.) We now have everything we need: A lease from WSDOT, giving us a lot of […]
CIDER FEST – Celebrate the Harvest Season
October 15, 2014 We accomplished so much but let’s focus on the harvest! Apples, pears, honeyberries, raspberries, strawberries and blueberries took center stage. By the end of April all fruit trees, but for the William’s Pride, had flowered nicely. The Willam’s Pride was the only tree to offer fruit last year and it has slight […]
Space To GROW
September 17, 2014 We have plenty of space to grow more plants in the orchard! We could spend a lot of money purchasing all the berry bushes and companion plants we need to fill the tree guilds and planting beds. Instead, we are propagating our own plants, mostly from cuttings and division. New plants, new […]
The Next Generation of Gardeners
August 12, 2014 Once a week, about 22 kids march down NE 60th to help out at the orchard. They are second and third-graders from Kids Co. at McDonald Elementary. Vanessa is one of five adults accompanying them and these counselors control the swarm with impressive skills. “Clap once if you can hear me!” Vanessa […]
An extra minute can mean a lot
July 3, 2014 Many thanks to Greg Meyer who spotted a shed for sale (see photo). Greg took an extra minute to write down the pertinent details and forward them to us. When the owner, Andy Farr, found out that it was for a community orchard, he donated the shed! With the generous services and […]
Persistence Pays
May 16, 2014 The photo shows new sprouting on this oak log that was cut last fall. It was a reject from the mushroom inoculation event because it was too small. It’s still alive! That’s persistent. Scientists please add to the conversation, but one explanation is that the cut wood forms a new meristem, which […]
The Bees Begin
April 2, 2014 Draping over the corner of the orchard is a giant weeping willow. It was in full bloom during the March 16 work party, with innumerable sparkling yellow catkins. The willow is an important source of pollen for bees because it blooms early in the year. The Temperate Climate Permaculture website has all […]
Fruit Tree Pruning – Short-term Losses for Long-term Gains
Februrary, 26, 2014 On the cool Saturday morning of February 15, nine of us huddled around the multi-varietal pear tree. We listened closely, moving from tree to tree, absorbing as much information as we could during the comprehensive pruning class taught by Ingela Wanerstrand. Since the fruit trees are just coming into their fourth year, […]