Beacon Hill Blog

Help plant demonstration bean garden

ROCKit Community Arts and the Beacon Hill Garden Club invite neighbors to help plant a demonstration garden at El Centro de la Raza later this week. The garden is planned to feature 24 cedar planters with over 20 varieties of beans, creating “the neighborhood’s first free veggie u-pick.”

Planting starts on Thursday, May 23 from 4-6:30 p.m. and continues on Friday, May 24 at the same time. On Saturday, May 25, the planting party takes place from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Volunteers should bring a trowel and gloves; everything else will be provided. El Centro de la Raza is located at 2524 16th Ave. S.

Tags: garden club, gardening

Reacting to the Beacon Food Forest

On Monday, Dan Stone of National Geographic’s Change Reaction blog featured “Seattle’s Free Food Experiment,” the Beacon Food Forest:

“Can food be free, fresh and easily accessible? That’s the bold question that the city of Seattle is hoping to answer with a new experimental farm not far from the city’s downtown that will have fruits and vegetables for anyone to harvest this fall.”

Read more at NationalGeographic.com.

Tags: food forest

Dine out in SE Seattle to help your community

This Thursday, April 25, Lifelong AIDS Alliance’s Dining Out For Life returns to raise money to fight illness and hunger in our community. During the event, when you dine at a participating restaurant on Beacon Hill or elsewhere, a portion of your bill will be donated to Lifelong.

Restaurants in the Beacon Hill/Columbia City/Mount Baker neighborhoods that are participating include:

• Baja Bistro
• Bananas Grill
• Bar del Corso
• Columbia City Ale House
• Geraldine’s Counter
• Mioposto
• Rookies Sports Bar and Grill
• Safari Njema Restaurant
• St. Dames
• Tutta Bella Pizzeria

Besides the benefit of contributing to your community, if you dine at one of these establishments you’ll also be entered to win two domestic airline tickets from Alaska Airlines. Tweet photos of yourself participating, and you’ll have a chance to win a Dining Out For Life prize package.

See the restaurant locations in this interactive map:

Tags: columbia city, fundraising, mount baker, north beacon, restaurants

Canning Connections invites you to pickle asparagus, garlic

This month’s Canning Connection session on April 23 will focus on a favorite spring vegetable. Canning Connection’s Christina Olson writes:

Having explored sweetness at last month’s Canning Connections, we do a big turn to tartness for our April 23 session.

We’ll be putting up pickled asparagus, so appreciated later on when fresh young shoots are no longer in the markets. To complement those spears, we’ll experiment with pickling garlic. Will it be the recipe for Chinese, French, Korean or another variety of pickled garlic? Both of these pickles make great gifts.

This session is open to those who have taken our beginner class, or those who have experience with water bath canning. Class is held Tuesday, April 23, 7-9 p.m. at the Garden House (2336 15th Ave S.) Cost is $15 and includes everything but your apron. Register online at www.canningconnections.com.

Tags: canning, classes

Bean Bonanza kickstarts summer of bean-growing activities

The Beacon Hill Garden Club and ROCKiT Community Arts, with help from a Department of Neighborhoods Small Sparks Grant, are kicking off a season of events focused on bean growing with a Bean Bonanza from 1 to 4 p.m. on Saturday, April 20. The series, Beacon: A Hill of Beans, will include educational, fun, and tasty activities for neighbors at all levels of gardening experience.

Those attending the Bean Bonanza event will leave with free bean seeds, a bucket, bean poles and soil. Other beany activities include a bean “teach-in” with Master Gardener Mick Duggan, a bean haiku contest, bean bag games, a bean buffet, a sale of sample packets of heirloom bean varieties, and more. Attendees will also find out details of the Beautiful Bean photo contest, demonstration gardens, and plans to decorate Beacon Avenue merchant spaces with pots of scarlet runner beans.

Bean events will continue throughout the summer with taste tests, preservation demonstrations, and an autumn bean supper.

Find out more at the website.

Tags: garden club, gardening, rockit space

Spanish language and tamale classes coming to El Centro

El Centro de la Raza (2524 16th Ave. S.) is offering Spanish language and tamale-making classes in the next few weeks. Class fees will help support the programs and services that El Centro offers.

Spanish language classes start on Tuesday, April 16, and run until June 20 on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 6 to 7 p.m. They are taught by professional native speakers in an interactive, community-based setting. Levels from beginner through intermediate are available. The tuition fee is $300. For more information, call 206-957-4605 or email execasst@elcentrodelaraza.org.

The regular tamale-making class returns on Saturday, April 20 from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Students will learn how to make traditional authentic pork tamales. Tuition of $75 includes the recipe and a dozen uncooked tamales. For more information, call 206-957-4611 or email development@elcentrodelaraza.org.

Tags: classes, el centro de la raza

Canning Connections cuts back on the sugar

Beacon Hill’s Canning Connections will hold another workshop on Tuesday, March 26 from 7-9 p.m. at the Garden House (2336 15th Ave S.). This month’s workshop will cover low sugar options for preserving:

“We’ll be comparing at least two products for making jams with less sugar than conventional recipes. While sugar is considered necessary for preservation, many folks are looking for ways to cut back on the amount of added sweetness to their jams. This 4th Tuesday event is typically open to those with experience canning, but for this session all levels of experience are welcome to join us and taste test the results.”

The workshop is $15.00. Register on line here.

Tags: classes

Culinary class: Making authentic pork tamales

Get your apron ready for this month’s edition of El Centro de la Raza’s tamale-making class from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on Saturday, March 16. A master tamalera will teach the traditional preparation of pork tamales, handmade with cultural ingredients including pork lard.

The $75/person class fee includes the recipe and one dozen uncooked tamales. Cooking supplies and ingredients will be provided, but you should bring your own apron. All fees go to support El Centro’s Senior Nutrition and Wellness program.

You can register online via Brown Paper Tickets. For more information, call 206-957-4611 or email development@elcentrodelaraza.org.

Tags: classes, el centro de la raza

Sukiyaki Dinner to benefit Kimball Elementary

Saturday afternoon and evening, March 2, Beacon Hill neighbors are invited to Blaine Memorial United Methodist Church at 3001 24th Ave. S. for their annual Sukiyaki Dinner. A portion of this year’s proceeds will benefit Kimball Elementary School in North Beacon Hill.

Dining hours are 4 to 7 p.m. in the church’s Lee Activity Center. Take out is also available; cooked and uncooked take out dinners are available from 2 to 5 p.m., and uncooked take out dinners from 5 to 7 p.m.

Adult dinners are $13, and kids 11 and under can eat for $9 (dine-in only).

See the event’s Facebook page for more information.

Tags: benefit, blaine memorial

Learn to make tamales at El Centro

Signups are open for this month’s edition of El Centro de la Raza’s tamale-making class from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on Saturday, February 23. A master tamalera will teach the traditional preparation of pork tamales, handmade with cultural ingredients including pork lard.

The $75/person class fee includes the recipe and one dozen uncooked tamales. Cooking supplies and ingredients will be provided, but you should bring your own apron. All fees go to support El Centro’s Senior Nutrition and Wellness program.

You can register online via Brown Paper Tickets. For more information, call 206-957-4611 or email development@elcentrodelaraza.org.

Tags: classes, el centro de la raza