It's April in Cascadia!

Hello farmies,

There is lots going on in the urban farming world and with Calliope's Table. I've been trying to get out an update for you for the entire month of April but have just not found the time and place to do so. The season is getting BUSY, even on the rainy days when work in the gardens is not possible there is still much to do.

Just before the last sunny stretch of weather we had during the first few days of April there was a round of planting in the greenhouse that hit that weather window perfectly and Broccoli starts were up in an amazing 3 days! We're happily looking at another stretch of that good weather starting...today!!

One of the things that has been going on during rainy times is looking at new plots that have been offered mostly through the "Got Grass?" flyers that have been posted in a few places around SE. I'm happy to tell you that some fantastic growing spaces have been offered in the last couple of weeks, including several larger spaces around the SE. In an ongoing effort to account for plots, and what crop is going to be where, and how often a plot will need tending, and where they are in relation to a distribution location or a market, and who's doing what, we finally needed a face to face of farmers to figure it all out.

It has been such a fantastic development that within a couple hours of the Portland Urban Farming event at People's Coop back in Feb, farmers of like mind started to collaborate and help each other whenever possible. That loose association has now turned to a more formal collaboration that we will use to more effectively feed all of you. At the face to face meeting was myself, Farmer K and Deva of Sunroot Gardens, and Tom of Mall56. An accounting of gardens and new growing spaces in our separate realms totaled at least 50! We decided that what makes the most sense is to treat all these places as a network of farms that we collectively will grow at and tend to.

Here's Farmer K's take on it all if you haven't seen this already: 50 Gardens (and counting)

If you're a Calliope's Table CSA subscriber you probably won't notice much if any change as I'm still trying to locate a mid-week distribution point in SE that works for everyone, and I'll keep you posted on how that develops. Behind the scenes this collaboration allows me to more efficiently grow and distribute all the produce to you, and buying needed things such as tools and amendments in bulk as a group has yielded some tremendous cost savings for the farm. With this new collaboration and the additional growing spaces I've just recently received, I feel comfortable offering 2 more full CSA shares which will fund additional purchases of tools and amendments. Some of you have expressed interest in finding a share for a friend, and if you're still interested you have first priority. Get in touch with me please.

If you're one of our fabulous volunteers this means you have multiple opportunities on almost any day to get out in a garden and help out. Some of you have noticed this collaboration already as you get similar information from Sunroot Gardens and Calliope's Table. There will be a produce distribution for you as well which could likely be the Friday distribution Farmer K speaks of. This could turn out to be a regular Friday nite hotspot as well this Summer.

If you're still trying to connect with us about volunteering, here's the scoop. On any given day we will be out in a garden somewhere. What has been working best for us lately is that all or most of the farmers work together on a particular day to accomplish what turns out to be that day's most needed task, with respect to weather, season, and what's ready to be done. What we think would work really well is if we could each lead a work party with a few volunteers at different locations. The season is upon us, and we are needing to make up some ground due to the rainy periods and the cooler weather lasting until April. If you'd like to be part of this, get in touch with one of us whenever you have a day to help in the gardens.

Farmer K - 503.686.5557
Calliope - 503.756.9163
Tom of Mall56 - 973.296.5305

While that will be the best method for day to day, there will still be planned days for us to all get out in a garden (or help make one). Among them will be some Saturday volunteer gatherings with gardening, a BBQ, music, and other forms of fun. With the awesome weather heading our way this weekend, Saturday will be the first at the new Miniuex garden at 8348 SE Clinton St. This is a small backyard space that we are planning to make into a very intensive plot to see how much food we can grow in a small space. If you'd like to see how this is done this could be a great opportunity as we plan to dig, make beds, lay down irrigation, and plant some food all on Saturday. Miniuex has been waiting for over a month for a sunny day as the first attempt at this was thouroughly rained out. Please join us and bring something for the grill, a side dish if you'd like, and any other things you'd find at a BBQ that you'd like to bring. We'll start by 10-ish with the BBQ commencing in the early afternoon.

Hopefully updating you will become easier too as a new Wordpress blog is headed my way, and some of the communications will be combined with Sunroot Gardens in the future. I'm not even sure what it will be called at this point, this new farming network, but I am so happy how this has fallen into place. It's going to take all of us to make this work so we can feed all of us. Thank you for all that you do!!

Peace and peas,
Calliope