Author: Alona Fisher

The Seattle Department of Neighborhoods is Now Collecting Ideas through March 18

Share ideas for how you’d like to see the Seattle Department of Neighborhoods make small-scale park and street improvements in your neighborhood. The city plans to spend $2 million on these improvements.

What: Your Voice, Your Choice 2020 

When: February 18 to March 18

Who: community members age 11 and up (13 and up to participate online) who live, work, go to school,  receive services, or participate in activities within the City of Seattle 

How: submit ideas online or in-person at any Seattle Public Library branch.  Project ideas must be for physical improvements to Seattle’s parks or streets, to benefit the public, and cost $150,000 or less. For example, where would you like to see park benches, trail improvements, marked crosswalks, sidewalk repair? 

Once ideas are submitted, volunteers will turn the ideas into 8 – 10 proposals per council district. This summer, you will have the chance to vote for the top projects within your district. Approximately $185,000 is allocated to each council district from the $2 million budget. The remaining funds are allocated to projects in underrepresented communities or Equity and Environment Initiative (EEI) Focus Areas.

Hugelkultur beds are all the rage in gardening!

When: Sunday March 1st, 11:30am – 4:30pm.
Where: Meet in Crown Hill at the intersection of Mary Ave and Holman Rd NW. Right next to the Petco parking lot on Holman Rd, in Crown Hill Seattle.
Cost: Free!
More info: Check out the event on Facebook

Read all about this no-till, water and space saving technique, then come and make one with the Crown Hill Community Garden. These beds will be for the benefit of passersby. They have goji berry, kiwi, blueberry, grape and and other plants to put in these beds. Free hugelkultur workshop, free snacks.

Crown Hill Community Garden got permission from the City of Seattle to plant a fruit grove on City owned right of way land, for the benefit of passersby.  At this work party they are making a hugel.  This bold urban planning experiment could lead to other city owned right of way land being taken over by community members who make their city greener, more beautiful and tastier. 

For more info check out the Crown Hill Community Garden Facebook page or e-mail: info@crownhillvillage.org.

Attend the P-Patch Spring Resource Fair

You are invited to attend Spring Resource Fair – Sponsored by the City of Seattle for P-Patch gardeners & Giving Garden gardeners. Choose from one of two options or attend both!

March 7, 2020, 1:30 p.m. – 3:30 p.m.
Miller Community Center (330 19th Ave E Seattle)
RSVP

and/or 

March 14, 2020, 1:00 p.m. – 3:00pm
Northgate Community Center (10510 5th Ave NE)
RSVP

Make Seattle Greener, More Beautiful, & Tastier, for Everyone.

Saturday February 15, 2020, 11:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.

RSVP

Join the Crown Hill Community Garden for a FREE WORKSHOP featuring all you need to know about planting and caring for blueberry bushes in Seattle. Participants will also dig holes and plant blueberry bushes. Refreshments included! Meet at intersection of Holman Rd and Mary Ave.

Not Just A Place to Live

Northwest AgriVilliage is Western Washington’s newest AgriVillage combining village living, permaculture farming, and supported by participatory decision making. Join them for a kickoff workshop February 14 – 15, 2020

Register Today!

In light of the current status of COVID 19, please read below for what to expect regarding Ballard Tool Library plans and policies during the upcoming weeks. We will do our best to continue to provide service while keeping our community safe and healthy. Please monitor our website, social media channels and newsletter for updates. We will inform you if anything changes.

Hours:

Given Governor Inslee’s announcement to shut down all forms of recreation, the Ballard Tool Library will close for just a couple of weeks to do our part to delay the spread of COVID-19. 

Tool Borrowing:

If you have tools checked out, please hold on to them until the first week of April. You will not be charged a late fee. Please email us to extend your borrowing time.

Here are the current suggestions from the Governor for helping contain the Coronavirus:

1. Stay home if you’re sick. Your small cold could be someone else’s hospital stay. Do yourself and everyone around you a favor and stay home.
2. Wash your hands with soap and water for 20 seconds, which is exactly as long as it takes to sing the choruses of Fleetwood Mac’s “Landslide,” Toto’s “Africa,” or “Happy Birthday” two times over.
3. Cover your mouth and nose when you cough and sneeze, and ideally if you sneeze, try to sneeze into a tissue then throw away the tissue immediately.
4. Clean frequently touched surfaces and objects (your phone, door knobs, countertops, etc.).
5. Don’t touch your eyes and face — this is a tough one, but it’s an important one.
6. Consider the necessity of attending large gatherings. Give consideration to attending the non-essential congregations of people. This will help prevent the spread of the virus.
7. Follow the guidance of your local public health office.

Lots of fun found at January swap!

It was so great to see familiar and new faces at our latest Board Game and Puzzle Swap! More than 50 people were in attendance, and more than 180 games and puzzles were swapped. We love seeing people leave with arms full of new puzzles and games (and big smiles!).

Keep an eye on the newsletter for our next event. Not a subscriber? Sign up today!

Eat Pizza for a Great Cause!

Given Governor Inslee’s announcement to shut down all forms of recreation, we will postpone this event until further notice.

On Date TBA, MOD Pizza will be donating 20% of all sales to Sustainable Ballard from those who mention Sustainable Ballard when ordering. For those who want to come and hang with the SB Crew, we will be eating there at 6 pm. Look for the Sustainable Ballard logo on our table.

How it works:

1. Commit to Eat! FREE RSVP – please help us reach 20+ RSVPs to make this event happen.
2. Show up at MOD Pizza Ballard anytime on March 24 from 10:30 am – 9:00 pm.
3. Mention Sustainable Ballard to the server or show this poster when you order your meal and follow the restaurant’s instructions to receive 20% of your meal’s price donated back to Sustainable Ballard.

Why we’re raising funds:
Funding supports Sustainable Ballard’s ongoing sustainability related projects including but not limited to: Meaningful Movies, Little Free Libraries, Knitters for the Homeless, Ballard Sprouts, Meals with Neighbors, and more.

Sustainable Ballard, a blueprint for Everytown, USA, educates, inspires, and engages neighbors to take action to live more sustainably both individually and collectively. Our vision is an inclusive, joyful, sustainable community co-creating a world for this and future generations where eco-systems are healthy and peace is inevitable.