The Friends of the Beacon Food Forest sent out a newsletter this week with information about an upcoming work party, progress on the Food Forest, and more. Read on:

Hello all Food Foresters and Friends,

Our next Work Party is Saturday February 23rd from 10am to 2pm on the BFF site. The site is located on the very SW corner of Jefferson Park Beacon Hill. Cross Streets, 15th Ave S and S. Dakota St. Please bring your work gloves and dress appropriately for the weather. Expect wet earth on your feet. This is a family event open to all people, please share this notice with your friends and families.

What we will do

We will be continuing our work on the Lower Bench’s Fruit and Nut Grove by sheet mulching and building our forest floor. We’ll be planting some trees and shrubs as well. Many of our food forester’s now have experience with sheet mulching bed building and we are counting on this experience to help us use our time efficiently while educating those who look to expand their knowledge in no-tilling techniques.

Food for all

Our volunteer food committee will be supplying as much lunch as possible but we would greatly appreciate any nutritious donation/dishes for our community potluck. Hot and cold drinks provided as well.

Bringing your own cup, bowl and water bottle greatly reduces waste and demonstrates self sufficiency. Questions and answers about food please contact Judi at foodforestvolunteer@gmail.com.

Plants in the Forest and your help

We have been working on generating funds for plants in a number of ways and we will have a donation box at the work party if you would like to donate to our plant fund. Just so you know we are very determined to design with trees, shrubs and perennials that are well suited for our region, soil types, ecological benefits and cultural affiliations. Food Forestry is all about creating a diverse ecosystem with each plant performing many functions to support the whole. On top of that we look to experiment with varieties that are tolerant of climate change, not available in super markets and support our goal to include a diversity of ethnic knowledge and needs.

Large Scale Earth Moving and Construction has begun!

We are very excited to announce that major construction has begun on site. The Seattle Conservation Corps (SCC) was hired through a Seattle P-Patch allocation of Parks and Green Spaces Levy Funds to perform site grading, terracing and pathway construction. They began work on the Lower Bench with the main gravel path and irrigation trenching but have now moved to the Upper Bench to begin carving terraces for our family and community garden plots, the community Gathering Plaza Structures and ADA accessible pathways. Work will continue there for several weeks. Please see our schematic design plan on our website if you need more visual reference.

Want to do more? Contact Glenn at glennherlihy@speakeasy.net to sign up for specific community work teams like irrigation, retaining wall building and timber raised bed building.

Sustainable Path Grant and the Signage Project

February 9th we held a open meeting to gather input from the community on signage throughout our site. MDML Design was hired to design signs that explain and educate about the science behind food forestry and how we are all interconnected to our food system’s ecology. Morgan Wright, a BFF volunteer, and Molly and Mathew from MDML facilitated this very successful meeting with around 30 community members attending.

Important Upcoming Event

Saturday March 9th, 1pm-4pm at the Jefferson Park Community Center: BFF Gathering Plaza Community Input. This meeting, facilitated by the UW Design/Build Group and the BFF, is opportunity for the community to give opinions and share design ideas about structures we plan to build on site this spring. What functions and what aesthetic would you like to see in your community gathering plaza? Please join in.

Thank you for everything you have done so far to help build the BFF community and the resiliency of your local food system.

Looking forward to seeing you on February 23rd.

Friends of the Beacon Food Forest
www.beaconfoodforest.org