Mother Earth News Fair 2012!

Hello Sustainable Puyallup!! The Mother Earth News Fair is coming back to the Puyallup  Fairgrounds this weekend! This is a great time to carouse about  sustainability topics in the area. Check it out here: http://www.motherearthnews.com/fair/Puyallup.aspx Sat June 2nd, 9am-7pm Sun June 3rd, 9am-6pm BOOTH STAFFING: We will have our own booth outside, near-ish the NW Ecobuilding  Guild (remember the awesome workshop space with all the straw  bales?) and our sister groups Self-Reliant Community Graham and  Sustainable Tacoma-Pierce. Can you help staff the booth? I can get you a free entry to the fair... SETUP: We will be borrowing a pop-up canopy tent and will need some  decorations, chairs, tables, etc. If you can help with any of that, please let me know. ;) Ideally we'd assemble a small crew of us who can do setup on Friday  for a half-hour or so. BIKE TO THE FAIR: There will be a bike ride on both days to the fair, so please meet  up with us and don't worry about parking or traffic at the Fairgounds!  Those rides will start at 10:15 in Sumner, and 10:45 in Puyallup,  then to the Fair. Find more info at the end of this message. BIKE TOUR AFTER THE FAIR: We'll meet at the Gold Gate after the Fair gets out on both days.  While staffing the booth we'll be encouraging anyone with a bike to  join us on this tour to check out gardens, raingardens, and other  cool things around Puyallup. Riders and toursites are encouraged. US AT THE FAIR: Of course there'll be ongoing locals activity at the Sustainable  Puyallup booth, I also wanted to highlight some of our members  (people on this email list) who will be hosting workshops. Wolf College Stage- Saturday Kelda 10-11 "Permaculture Garden Installation" Chris and Kim 2:30-3:30 "Fire by Friction" Chris and Kim 4-5 "Willow and Birch Basketry" Chris and guest 5:30-7 "Wild Edibles Food Cooking" Wolf College Stage-Sunday Kelda 11:30-12:30 "Eat Your Garden Weeds" Chris 1-2 "Parfleche and Hide Tanning" Chris 2:30-3:30 "Bow and Arrow Making" Kim and guest 4-5 "Herbal Medicine Making" Pierce Conservation District Stage-Saturday Andy Bary 11:30-12:30 "Pastured Poultry" Pierce Conservation District Stage-Sunday Sarah Wilcox 1-2 "Farmlink" Terry Carkner, etc 2:30-3:30 "CSAs from Established and  New Farmer's Perspectives" Terry Carkner 4-5 "Season Extensions with High Tunnels" I'm sorry if I missed any others of us that are hosting workshop!  Please correct me! :) also don't forget our Facebook group, where lots of action  tends to happen: http://www.facebook.com/groups/58932492152/ Thanks folks! You're making Puyallup an awesomer place to live! Kelda 253-370-9946

Sustainable Puyallup's Monthly Bookclub
has been awesome.

Tonight we're meeting at Lydia's to discuss Twelve-by-Twelve. It's a really great book!

This winter we've also read Made from Scratch, Harvest for Hope, and Better Off: Flipping the Switch on Technology. What a great group of people and how fun to be learning together!!!

If you'd like to get involved, want info about tonight's meeting, and someone is forgetting to post regularly here, check the Sustainable Puyallup facebook page. Someone usually creates an 'event' for each bookclub meeting.

August Newsletter

Free Events:

• Sustainable Puyallup’s Mid-Summer Potluck
Come celebrate the season by gathering together to share our harvest. Everyone is welcome to join in the festivities. It will be a great time to share our gardening experiences, problem solve our struggles, and congregate with like minded people.

Please RSVP on our FB events page.
Date: August 19th, 2011
Time: 6:00-9:00 pm
Location: 1120 7th Ave. S.W. Puyallup, WA. 98371
Host: Tiffany McGill & Amanda Wendt

• WSU Master Gardener Program is hosting “Summer Garden Talk’s.” On August 6th from 10am-12, the class: Saving the Harvest will discuss canning, freezing and drying produce with a panel of experts. The Master Gardener Garden is located in Puyallup where Fruitland Ave. meets Pioneer Way. http://county.wsu.edu/pierce/mg/Documents/2011GardenTalks.pdf

Jubilee Naturals is offering the following two classes FREE! They are sure to fill up fast! The store is located at: 909 Main Street #1 Sumner WA 98390

• SMART STARTS
August,18th - 9:00 to 11:00AM
Offering tools for raising healthy, smart, and active kids. Topics will include risks to kids from GMOs, allergies and intolerances, good behavior without drugs, nutritious foods, supplement tips and building strong immune systems. The class will run generally an hour and a half with a half hour set aside for Q and A.

• SICK AND TIRED OF BEING SICKLY?
August, 20th - 8:00 to 10:00AM
Learn about all the things that challenge our immune systems. Receive information and tools you can put to use to combat flu, mold, virus, bacteria, infection, food poisoning and more. Nature has a lot to offer! This is a good class for anyone who travels, works indoors with others, and for students heading off to college who want to learn nature's way to stay well. (Especially if you are going to live in a dorm!)

Call Kim to Register: 1-253-447-7921 or email info@jubileenaturals.com

Classes:

• Seed saving Retreat Weekend at the Wild Thyme Farm with Marisha Auerbach and Forest Shomer

Friday August 26 - Sunday, August 28. 7 pm Friday - 3 pm Sunday
Wild Thyme Farm Oakville, WA (outside of Olympia, WA)

$160, if registered by 7/22 - early bird discount
$175, if registered by 8/12
$200, if registered after 8/12

This workshop has an active hands-on component. You will be saving lots of different varieties of seeds and each participant will go home with a small collection gathered from this event. Please join us to learn about how to select and save seeds from your garden.

For more information, or to register, contact Marisha Auerbach at
(503) 454-6656 or queenbee@herbnwisdom.com

• Tacoma's 2nd annual Permaculture Design Course:
With a focus on Urban Issues and Advanced Design. Permaculture is a solutions-oriented approach to sustainable living. It honors diverse earth-based traditions while nurturing a positive vision of our collective future.
Eight weekends spread between September 2011 and February 2012
When: Fridays 7-9pm, Saturdays & Sunday 10am-5pm on the following weekends 9/9-11, 9/23-25, 10/7-9, 11/4-6, 12/2-4, 1/14-16, 2/3-5, 2/17-19. Where: Most Friday evenings: Kings Book's, 218 St. Helens, Tacoma
Weekends: First Congregational, 918 Division, Tacoma. Contact: Patricia 253-565-2599 Childcare available: we're still working out details.
Tuition: $900- $700 (sliding scale) includes handbook and lunches. Some work trades available. sustainabletacomapierce@gmail.com

Resources:

Urban Sustainable Living Magazine - the Urban Farm Magazine: “We've put together a list of 5 catalog companies that specialize in heirloom and organic seed with easy links to order their catalogs for free. Because of the high demand for these types of seeds, you'll need to place your order soon, many varieties sell out quickly. These catalogs are also chock full of information about unique heirlooms with pictures that will have you trying new things in your kitchen garden.”
http://www.urbansustainableliving.com/the-5-seed-catalogs-for-organic-and-heirloom-seeds.html

Get Involved:

There are many ways you can help us have a successful gleaning season: Become a Gleaner, Register your Fruit Tree, Scout Trees, or Plant an Extra Row. http://www.piercecountygleaningproject.org/get_involved
To help us fight hunger and get more produce into Pierce County Food Banks.

*Support this local business: Caffe Sorelle. Located at 108 West Meeker; in down town Puyallup. They strive to serve true Italian Espresso, offer fresh, wholesome & delicious baked goods, provide a warm and welcoming atmosphere, buy local & organic (whenever possible), and be environmentally responsible. http://www.facebook.com/pages/Caffe-Sorelle/167812506563631?sk=info#!/pages/Caffe-Sorelle/167812506563631?sk=wall


Plant of the month:

Purple Sprouting Broccoli is featured in July’s Special Issue of grow: Fine Gardening’s Guide to Vegetable Gardening magazine, as one of their northwest regional picks of the month. “This is an excellent vegetable that will supply you with produce for a good part of the year;” says Carey Thornton at Seattle Tilth. Plant in late July, early August for harvest in March-May in the pacific northwest. Easier to grow than annual broccoli, the extremely cold-hardy biennial plants must over winter before heading. Tall 24–36 inch plants are covered with smallish, very sweet tasting purple heads that turn green when cooked. Purple Sprouting is a delicious mainstay of the family spring food supply. The heads of purple sprouting broccoli are much less densely packed than regular broccoli. Because of their purple color, they contain antioxidants, commonly known as anti-cancer causing agents. http://store.finegardening.com/grow-vol-6-044035.html

Summer Kickoff Potluck

Come Join Sustainable Puyallup at their Summer Kickoff Event on Friday June 10th @ 6:30pm. We will be meeting in Down Town Puyallup at 1026 14th St SW. This is Chris and Kim's house and the location of Wolf Camp http://www.wolfcamp.com/. If you can, bring a food or beverage to contribute to the spread.

We had many visitors stop by our booth at the Mother Earth News Fair this past weekend and hope to see some new faces this Friday. As always friends and family are welcome. Hope to see you there!

If you haven't already please follow us on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/#!/home.php?sk=group_58932492152

Invite to Earth Night potluck at Amanda's
House: 511 2nd St SE Puyallup. 253-218-8019
Friday 4/22/11 6:30
Children and friends of course are Welcome!

Gearing up again! Spring 2011 Updates

Hi all!
So after a bit of hibernation we're hearing some rustlings of activity.

VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITY/ INTERNSHIP: We'd love it if someone could regularly compile area events and update the blog, facebook group, and send out a newsletter type email. I nominate anyone besides myself.

Upcoming events:
Free permaculture class at my place on April 15th
Wolf camp classes starting up over by Clark's Creek park
Puyallup Farmer's Market starts this weekend
Sumner: lots of activity with Chemical Plant kick-out efforts, Orton Junction boo-hissing etc. No website yet (ANOTHER VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITY)
Whispers of a potluck Earth Day night. Let's call it an 'Earth Night' party. More info soon.
And.....
drum roll....

Mother Earth News Fair taking over the Puyallup Fairgrounds June 4-5!!!
We've been given a complimentary booth and are invited to participate at all sorts of levels.
If you'd like to help with:
Educational Displays
Artsy 'Look and Feel' to booth
Scheduling people to 'staff' the booth
Growth Management Display
Puyallup Sustainability Bike Ride
Setup
Breakdown
etc.
Please email puyallup@riseup.net and we'll get you to work.

From Ali & John, our new
heroes for buying and saving
Filbert Acres. Hip hip hooray!:

"Hello future-friends!

Jonathan and I are happy to
invite you to a Sustainable
Puyallup meeting at our house
next Thursday evening
(Feb 4th) for a potluck!  We hope
to start around 6pm. We are at
Filbert Acres, 6625 Pioneer Way
East(Watson’s nursery is to the
west of us and WSU extension and the
salmon hatchery to the east.)  So come with all your
sustainable thoughts and a good appetite. We’ll provide
hazelnuts!

Look forward to meeting you all.

Ali Nichols"

-----------------------------------------------------------

Tacoma's first Permaculture Design Course! One weekend
a month for 8 months.
http://www.divinearthgp.com/?page_id=360

With certain Lectures open
to the public
http://www.divinearthgp.com/?page_id=397

See you at the potluck!
kelda

some April events...

Earth Day on South Hill

What the heck? Site of the new South Hill Farmer's Market!
Help break ground for a revolutionary event.

Sustainable Puyallup is invited to meet at the Sunrise Village Center,
Meridian East @ 156th on South Hill on Earth Day.

Our Market location is the back parking lot and we will gather at noon on
Wednesday! (the 22nd) bring shovels and rakes........We have 20 yards of Tagro
to spread and seeds to plant.

I am still working on my market tree but I am sure that We will have one.

The press will be there to take pictures so bring smiles!!!!!

Janie
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
April Potluck

It’s time again to have our monthly gathering, and think positive for
spring sunshine!

Meeting place is Audrey’s House – for Potluck Dinner and “Garden Design
Idea Swap”

I am wanting to build some raised beds, terrace some sloping land, set up
rain barrels, etc. but would love to have some creative ideas and
information from those of you who have done this before or are experts in
the field (Kelda!)…………I also have entertained the idea of making some of
it a shared garden venture for anyone wanting some ‘growing space’.   Come
share your ideas as we collectively design my yard into a more sustainable
place…or discuss your yard and it’s needs.

THURSDAY…..APRIL 23RD, 2009……….5:30 PM TO 7 OR 8?? …..hopefully an outdoor
event!

Call for directions:

Audrey P
HM: 253-848-5251
Cell: 253-988-0967

Facebook

when in rome, do as the romans

Power of Community

Next Tuesday Feb 24, from 6-8pm, at the Puyallup Library

Free movie showing:
The Power of Community: How Cuba Survived Peak Oil
with discussion to follow.

"With imports of oil cut by more than half – and food by 80 percent – people were desperate. This film tells of the hardships and struggles as well as the community and creativity of the Cuban people during this difficult time. Cubans share how they transitioned from a highly
mechanized, industrial agricultural system to one using organic methods of farming and local, urban gardens."

*February Update*

1) Thank you all for the *great* event that happened on Jan. 29th!
If you have any ideas about what continuing event you'd like to
see on the 23rd, email them to puyallup@riseup.net

2) Opportunities to learn about Permaculture! (polycultures, food forests, restoration, appropriate tech, and more!) We hosted one free movie showing at Beyond the Bridge Cafe, there's a handful more scheduled throughout the county. Sepp Holzer, Austrian permaculturist will be giving a lecture and two workshops in Pierce County!! More info click here.

3)We're participating in this year's Celtic Faire, March 14. Kelda will be
able to coordinate that in March

4)Also, we've been asked to participate at a community discussion at the
Mel Korum YMCA on March 13 & 14. It's put on by the group Healthy Pierce (If something
doesn't coalesce for the 23rd, we may just shift our energy here).

5)We may be applying for a small grant to build a bulletin board by the
Riverwalk/Skatepark. That application is due mid-March.More later on that,
from Chris.

Community Discussion at the Library

Are you worried about money or food for you or your community?

You're invited to:
"Uncertain Future: A community discussion about our money, our neighborhoods, and our ability to feed ourselves"

Puyallup Public Library, 324 S Meridian,
*Free*
Thursday, Jan. 29 6:30-8:30pm
Childcare, ASL available, Se Hable Espanol

Randy Hynek, Sumner City Council
Bill Franklin, Puyallup Food Bank
Viki Sonntag, EcoPraxis: Healthy Community Economies
Carrie Little & Cheryl Ouellette, Local Farmers
Elders, speak about the depression & what they see now
You, All your ideas!

For more info, or to volunteer, call 370-9946 or email puyallup@riseup.net
To read the article written for this event, click here

Busy Fall Harvest

Thanks for all the help and fun times this fall! Here's some tantalizing pics of those who helped me out over at Goddess Farm.

pics from daffodil parade and earth day

YMCA Farm Open House

The YMCA Friends and Servants is hosting our annual Greenhouse/Farm Open HouseFriday April 25th and Saturday April 26th, from 10:00 am-5:00 pm. Support localhorticulture and Puyallup's youth by buying our beautiful spring flowers, hangingbaskets and deck planters. This is a wonderful opportunity to take a tour of theFarm and to learn about our youth programing. For information please call253-840-8110. The Farm address is: 6613 114th Ave Ct E, Puyallup

Daff Parade and Earth Day events

Meeting notes from 3/30. In attendance: Amanda, B, and Kelda. Ate split
pea soup and talked a lot about kids, social justice, art, and projects.
Low numbers at meetings sure doesn't mean any less enthusiasm!

We missed a lot of you and hope to see your happy faces at the event below!

April 12 Daffodil Parade. Rendezvous at Amanda's house (behind the
downtown safeway) about 11-ish. B and wait staff at the Ram are rescuing
cups from the landfill and previous to 12th we'll be filling them with
soil and plants. On the 12th we'll ready the plants, the little red
wagons, and the kids to go forth and sell their wares for some cheap
donation price. Money will go to art supplies/ future projects, etc. The
Daffodil Parade starts at 12:45 but there's crowds of people downtown all
day.

Earth Day ideas:

1)Storm the Ram for a few hours and in some organized fashion separate out
all the recyclables, compostables, everything that they are now currently
throwing in the Garbage (even cardboard!!)
This will be a demo to show B's art club kids how to sort and reuse, and a
demo to show the Ram management how much is being thrown out. B's manager
has been open to the demo. We need more adults to help do this, and we
should decide on a time that works well. If not Earth Day, Tuesday, then
perhaps the Sunday Brunch before?

2)Sidewalk Chalk downtown with thank yous. Thank yous for people riding
the sounder, thank yous for the organic cafe, for busstops, whatever. It
will be good for downtown businesses and lighten everyone's day. Needed:
more folks to be involved and think of a good time around earth day to
meet up and do this.

Also, we are now On the Sustainability Map!
http://scallops.sustainableballard.org/
Notice that the 'inland' groups are listed below as they're not
technically on the Puget Sound. The 'SCALLOPS' group will be having a
forum the evening of the 12th at the Seattle Greenfest. We're invited to
attend. (So we'll have to decide between post-daffodil bbq or going to
seattle).

Sustainabilty at Celtic Faire

  Downtown Puyallup, March 15, 2-5 pm.  
Among the minstrels and vendors and other celtic fun there will
 be a roomful of activities focused on sustainability. This is a
 family event, so will have lots of kids activities, included but not
limited to:
*seed-on-a-stick
*seed balls
*art from found objects/recycled art-making

And for the adults:
*puyallup 'green map' creation (post-its on big map to
show cool places to shop and do sustainability-type
things in puyallup)
*sustainability books to browse through
*computers set to 'calculate your carbon footprint'
website
*scrolling slideshow of awesome pics (people building
cobb ovens,
installing gardens, etc.)
*'downtown puyallup sustainable sites' bike tours if
enough people show up who want a tour

Kid's activities will be hosted at the Youth Investment
Center, 115 2nd St SW. Adult activities will be at the City Council Chambers. 

December Meeting

Compiled by Kathleen:

Here is a summary of some of the ideas that were talked about on Saturday
December 1st at the Organic Comfort Food Cafe

Idea # 1:
Bulletin Board in Downtown- a space for the exchange of information
Possibly made of cob (dirt, sand, clay straw super substance)

Idea#2:
eventually rent space downtown to provide a sustainability resource for
Puyallup

Idea #3:  Earth Day Celebration in Pioneer Park
Educational Booths
Kids Activities
Speaker
Workshops
Music Act
Work Parties
on the same day as the farmers market

Steps to make this happen:

Contact Parks Department to ask permission
Contact Pierce College to see if Environmental or Outreach Coordinators want
to cooperate
Different People take responsibility for putting on a booth/activities
Get the word out: flyers downtown, send home flyers with elementary school
kids (get kids there and parents will follow), contact church communities

Possible activities(some of these not actually discussed on Saturday just
some ideas I have seen done other places):
rain barrel making workshop
recycled junk art projects for kids
easy things the average person can do booth
cob making for kids
clothing exchange
compost workshop
story time
solar power demonstration
green building booth
bicycle bucket making

Idea #4
Sustainable healthy food distribution for the homeless

Congratulations!

Congratulations Patty and Family!
and *happy birthday!*

The food is wonderful and we'll all be eating often at Puyallup's new Organic Comfort Food Cafe, located downtown in the Pioneer Park Condos.

Thank you! We've been hungry!

L.I.D.Tour

Low Impact Development Tour of

"The Meadow on the Hylebos''




This was a tour through Pi.Co's Environmental Health Priorities group, although other groups in the last few months have toured the development. Curtis Hinman, Water Quality Program manager, and recent author of a book on raingardens, led the tour. We saw some good (and not so good) examples of raingardens, permeable pavement, and reduced roadways.