Adiós Allison!
May 19, 2020
Allison got a radish. After a year and a half of hard labor, she walked away with a radish. Now it's a nice radish, for a very nice person. Notice that grin. As if I had given her a new pole-pruner or something. Her smile is…
And This Little Piggy Stayed Home … to sip Nettle tea
April 16, 2020
Stinging Nettle (Urtica dioica) is a perennial plant of the nettle family, Urticaceae. It makes a wonderful tea and, stir fried with cabbage and onion, is stunning (not stinging).
This month, Nancy and I have been stalking…
The Microbes Version of the Thermal Compost
March 13, 2020
The Essence of A Thermal Compost
as told by the microbes, in community
Material Variety
Amy Amoeba begins the compost story, "Wow. I just got thrown onto a big pile with critters I have never seen before."
"Yes indeed",…
Ten Years at Freeway Estates
February 18, 2020
Volunteers who put in 20+ hours last year gathered recently to sip Chestnut soup and brainstorm. Good ideas flowed, including a suggestion to add a sign to the kiosk, summarizing our efforts during the past ten years. Below…
Pathogen-Reducing Compost
January 14, 2020
© 2020
Benefits of compost are widely known: 1) enhances water holding capacity, soil structure, organic matter, drainage, and nutrient holding capacity of soil, 2) provides a source of beneficial microbes, 3) decreases…
Your Hori-Hori Could be Harboring Clubroot
November 26, 2019
© 2020
I meet weekly with the DirtLife group at Sound Bio Lab. Other members are scientists who are also interested in soil. We are designing a community-based science project so we surveyed the Seattle P-Patch…
How to Guard Against Leaf Miners
November 16, 2019
Joan here. I have been volunteering at FECO since the beginning of time. Recently, in my writing class, the instructor charged us to write a set of instructions for how to do something. Here goes!
Leaf miner larvae were…
Are Those Freckles?
October 18, 2019
Not Freckles. Dimples? Not dimples. Bitter pit. It's a bothersome disorder, common in Honeycrisp apples. In the cells of this apple, there is more air space and more pores than in normal apples. The pits are manifestations…
Fall Means Festival!
September 28, 2019
Fall is here! On Saturday, October 12th we will be hosting our 9th annual Cider Fest from 2:00-5:00pm. We invite everyone to visit the orchard and enjoy a free cup of freshly pressed hot apple cider.
You'll have the…