Author: Rain Gilman

Our beautiful Northwest summers are the perfect time to protect air quality, human health, and climate stability – by going idle free!  Remember to turn off your engine – waiting for the bridge to open, outside school, or in the drive-through! Simple things can make a big difference: check your phone before you turn that key. Unnecessary vehicle idling wastes four million gallons of fuel in the US every day!
Volunteer for Idle Free Ballard! We need you!
Hand out cards and posters to your friends, neighbors, local shops, businesses, etc. We deliver!
Table at upcoming events!
Contact your local school to educate parents and students. We have a sample article for newsletters. And a link to signage!
Sew or print an Idle Free banner!
To get cards or posters, or learn more, visit https://www.sustainableballard.org/idle-free-ballard/

Join our friends in July for the fun, free, and fabulous garden walk! This is always a good time and a great opportunity to see some creative gardens. The Georgetown Garden Walk is on Sunday July 9th, from 10:00am to 5:00pm. The Walk is a free self-guided tour, free maps will be available at the Georgetown branch of the Bank of America parking lot located at 1112 South Bailey St, Seattle, WA 98108.  No reservation or tickets are needed. So grab some friends and come on down for a fun time exploring gardens!

The Sustainable Ballard Knitters recently participated in World Wide Knit in Public Day on June 10th at Bergen Park. We continue to meet every second Tuesday at Pour Decisions on 15th NW and NW 80th from 7-9 pm.  Our July meeting will be on Tuesday July 11th. Come join us – knitters and crocheters, ready to learn or very experienced, etc.  We have plenty of yarn and are ready for you!!

So far this year we have produced 132 hats, 60 scarves, and 2 lap robes. We are now in the stockpiling phase that will ensure we have a great supply to deliver when the weather begins to get nippy in the fall.  Help us pass last year’s record of 542 hats, 145 scarves, and 1 lap robe!

Our friends at the Ballard Alliance are in need of volunteers to help out with this year’s annul Ballard SeafoodFest from July 14th-16th. All proceeds from SeafoodFest are directly invested into the Ballard community through the programs, resources, projects, and the events produced by the Ballard Alliance. Your help during the 2023 event will have lasting effects throughout the coming year! This is a great opportunity for community connection and team building. Plus, all volunteers will receive a complimentary salmon-BBQ dinner! Yum!

They need your help in the following areas:

Beer Garden
Information Booth
Kids Deck
Salmon BBQ
Vendor Area

If you would like to volunteer please use the SeafoodFest Volunteer Sign-Up Link: Volunteer for Ballard SeafoodFest! or email Wren@ballardalliance.com

This year’s Edible Garden Tour is just around the corner on Saturday, June 24th!   We have a wide variety of gardens in north east Ballard this year, with multiple greenhouses, lots of raised bed examples, and a wide variety of plants from berries to annuals to ornamentals. I’m especially excited about all the interesting trellises and structures that I’ve seen in the gardens this year.

Register for tickets at https://www.sustainableballard.org/edible-garden-tour/

Also, please consider helping out with the tour – many hands make light work! We have flexible volunteer roles prior to the tour, such as weeding host gardens or making goodies for the thank you baskets, as well as various shifts during the day of the tour. Sign up to help at Volunteer for Edible Garden Tour! 

World Wide Knit in  Public Day is Saturday, June 10th.  Sustainable Ballard Knitters for the Homeless will be participating at Bergen Place Park, 5420 22nd Ave NW from 10am-1pm.  Our knitting group with gather and knit. We will have lots of yarn and needles to share with anyone who wants to learn. We will have a sandwich board with WWKIP on it. Bring chairs to sit on. A few benches are available at Bergen Place Park. Our group is working on knitting hats and scarves for the homeless. Bring any project you’re working on. Crochet and other fiber arts are also welcome to join!  Talk with nice people who love to knit. 

The Tool Library seeks an enthusiastic and creative high school student to join our team as our Social Media Coordinator. In this exciting volunteer position, you will play a vital role in expanding the social media reach of the Tool Library. As our Social Media Coordinator, you will have the opportunity to showcase your talent in content creation and engagement, curating captivating posts, and sharing inspiring stories to build our online presence. This position offers a unique chance to develop valuable skills in social media management while making a positive impact in your community. This role requires a 4-hour per week commitment from July through August. Interested? Please Email Mackenzie by June 15th. 

The Ballard Sprouts team started 1,000 tomato seeds (four varieties) in a greenhouse in early April. In late April they were transplanted and placed in hoop houses where they have been tended during May.  On May 25th the Sprouts team moved the 1,000 pots from the hoop houses down to a set of sawhorses with 2×4’s.  They are ready for the Seattle Giving Gardeners to come by and pick them up.  These gardeners will plant the tomatoes, tend them and harvest them and donate the produce to the Seattle Food Banks.  This completes the Ballard Sprouts project for the year. More information about Seattle Giving Gardeners can be found at the SGGN.org website.

Ballard Sprouts will only continue one more year at the current location.  Unless a new location with a greenhouse is found the project will stop in June 2024.  You can help us find a new greenhouse location by letting us know about greenhouses in your neighborhood.  We will provide all the supplies and all the volunteers.  We just need a new location. Please look around and let us know at info@SGGN.org  Thanks.

The sun is out in Seattle, which means that summer produce will soon be on its way! Our single largest collection last summer was a whopping 1,379 pounds, so we could definitely use some more volunteers over the next few months. You can sign up to glean via the link below. Gleaning is a great way to make new friends (volunteers and farmers alike!), support our local food economy, and provide high quality produce to those in need. Thank you to Collins Family Orchards and Spring Rain Farm for donating the beautiful produce seen here.

Contact Olivia to sign up for a shift today.

Give the gift of experiencing our annual Edible Garden tour on Saturday June 24th! Our volunteer garden scouts have been out locating fantastic edible gardens in the Northeast portion of Ballard to share with you. We have 12 gardens so far, featuring mason bees, Ballard High School greenhouse, fruit trees, and chickens confirmed for this year’s tour with more to be added.

This is an excellent way to spend a lovely Summer day and see what your neighbors are growing in their veggie gardens. This year’s tour will also coincide with Pollinator Week which celebrates pollinator health and awareness. Pollinator Week we will be emphasizing the connections between climate and pollinators. As any gardener knows, without our pollinators nothing would grow.

To join the fun get your Edible Garden Tour Tickets or become a member Join Today for free admission.

If you have an amazing edible garden in Northeast Ballard (85th to 65th & 3rd to 15th) and would like to participate in this year’s tour or if you would like to volunteer please Contact Alyssa