Weekly update

This week I continued my research into community food systems.  I spent my Saturday volunteering at Marra Farm in the South Park neighborhood in South Seattle.  Marra Farm is community farm on property that is owned by the City of Seattle.  The farm has a P-patch with 18 plots that members of the community tend.  There are also two organizations that use the farm; Solid Ground Lettuce Link and Seattle Youth Garden Work. Solid Ground works with children from nearby Concord Elementary school who come to the farm as a class every Tuesday or Wednesday.  The children each get their own small section to grow fresh vegetables and herbs that they get to take home to their families.   The farm also has a section of raised beds for members from the nearby senior center to grow their own produce.  There is also a weekly farm stand and the farm donates thousands of pounds of fresh organic produce to the local food banks and other programs each year.

The farm hosts volunteer events every Tuesday, Friday and Saturday.  At the Tuesday events there are free Spanish lessons taught by teens from the nearby school.    The event I attended on Saturday had a lot of community participation.  There were about 40-50 volunteers.

http://www.solid-ground.org/Programs/Nutrition/Marra/Documents/MarraFarmbrochure.pdf

http://www.solid-ground.org/Programs/Nutrition/Marra/Pages/default.aspx#info