Glenn Herlihy issued a call for all interested in attending a Jefferson Park Community Garden and Food Forest meeting (in the Gardening forum and via David Gackenbach):

Good news… is all we got now.

The Parks Department has sent us a letter to go ahead and apply for the second round of applications for the Levy Opportunity Fund.
The application is due April 2nd and we’re going to do it. This has potential to build a lot of our Garden and is a great exercise for all who want understand public fund raising.

The VA Hospital has contacted us and is interested in some P-Patch or garden space for garden therapy. We can help with that.

We now have interested people from the community, Parks Department, Asa Mercer school, VA hospital, Mara Farms, Permaculture groups in the Seattle area and few others I may have missed. On top of that I just learned one of my good friends is good friends with Mr. MacPherson of MacPherson’s Produce. Maybe they would like some local fruit in a few years.

This next meeting will focus on:

• the Levy Fund application,
• finding a name for the garden,
• welcoming the VA Hospital,
• what to do with the 16th Ave dirt road and other design elements.
• outreach possibilities
• review

Please spread the word. All are welcome to attend.
If you have anything interesting flowering in your garden and want to share it with us please bring it.

The meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, March 2nd at 7pm at the Lawn Bowling Club House (4103 Beacon Avenue South).

* * *

Richard Kyper writes:

It’s springtime, and the garden is happening again. For those of you who know of, or have visited “The Garden,” and you know where I mean, this “e.” is for you.

Come and enjoy the beauty of the season as much as you like, but I do ask:

• Please don’t pick the flowers or dig up plants. If you take them, no-one else can then enjoy them.
• If you have a dog to walk, fine — but please keep your pet on the road, not in the garden, and pick up your messes.
• Someone has been throwing their doggy doo doo bags into the woods. There is a trash can down at the overview park at 12th and McClellan.

Thanks, and cheers to a great early spring.

* * *

Alleycat Acres broke ground this past weekend on Beacon Hill. They’ve got photos on Flickr. Read more on Urban Food Producer and in the forums here.

A work party is planned for Sunday. More information is after the jump.

Sarah Kuck from Alleycat Acres writes:

This Sunday, the members of Seattle’s newest urban farming collective need your help to create their first farm. The team behind Alleycat Acres would like to invite 30 volunteers to Beacon Hill to come help dig, till and build on February 28.

The nonprofit organization recently acquired a fifth of an acre of donated, underused space near the Jefferson Park Golf Course, and has already started preparing it to be their first in a collection of neighborhood-focused urban farms.

From soil specialists to landscape architects, bike enthusiasts to community organizers, the group’s members bring a wide variety of skills to the field. With their diverse toolbox of knowledge and connections, the Alleycat Acres collective aims to serve the food insecure. Alleycat Acres operates on the belief that everyone, regardless of financial status, should have the opportunity to eat healthy food. The organization plans to take demographic data and community suggestions into consideration before choosing what seeds to plant.

Once they get growing, the collective’s members will be delivering produce by bicycle to the neighborhoods in which their farms are located. Produce will be available through CSA, local farmers’ markets and eventually in neighborhood corner stores. In the meantime, Alleycat Acres is looking to partner with more local landowners and volunteers to increase their growing power.

To attend the Alleycat’s first work party this Sunday, Feb. 28, please email info@alleycatacres.com. Space is limited, so please send your volunteer request today: including your name, phone number and hours available. Work party shifts will be from 9 am to 12 pm, 1 pm to 4 pm. If you would like to view the garden or ask questions, please stop by at any time. Getting to the Beacon Hill location by public transportation is efficient and low cost; please ask for suggestions. Further details will be sent to you after your request is received.

For more information or to sign up for the newsletter, please visit http://www.alleycatacres.com/.

Thanks Adam, David, Glenn, Joel, Richard, Sean, and Sarah