Author: Rain Gilman

Please save the date and join us for the 2023 Edible Garden Tour on Saturday June 24, from 10 am – 3 pm. This year’s tour we will be in Northeast Ballard. Sustainable Ballard hopes that our annual Edible Garden Tour will inspire and inform all the budding gardeners out there! This tour features neighbors like you sharing their gardening tips and experience in edible gardening. It’s a wonderful opportunity to meet your neighbors, enjoy a beautiful summer day exploring gardens, and supporting sustainability!

If you would like to volunteer to help with this event there are plenty of opportunities pre-event and day of event. For more information on how you can lend a hand please contact Alyssa by email.

OUR SPONSORS:

The Ballard Tool Library is hosting a Sidewalk Sale from 11am to 1pm Saturday, March 4th. Join us for some great deals! We’ll have steeply discounted garden supplies, hand tools, power tools and more. Come outfit your toolbox, garden shed or craft bin, save some cash while keeping Ballard green! The Tool Library is located at 7549-B 15th Ave.

We can also use your help preparing for the sale. If you would like to volunteer, please contact Mackenzie Kroon, at manager@ballardtoollibrary.org to learn more.

Ballard Food Bank Free Letters Home project has been occurring on Tuesdays from 11am-1pm since last December. We have been providing cards and postage stamps to about 15 or more patrons each time. This week we had a bunch of red hearts for folks to put in their blank cards for Valentines Day. They have been very popular in the past. We can always use donations of stamps and Easter/Spring themed cards are also welcome.  Please drop off donations or mail them to 7713 11th Ave NW. For more info please contact Andrea amfaste@comcast.net

The Bakery Gleaning Team continues to help distribute many many loaves of bread and baked goods from Tall Grass Bakery and Mighty-O donuts to St. Luke’s Edible Hope program. St. Luke’s Edible Hope program feeds a hot meal for anyone and everyone that that comes to them. The Edible Hope program has been an important part of the Ballard community for many many years.  The Bakery Gleaning team has been an active part of Sustainable Ballard for at least 5 years, and there is always room to add more members to the Gleaning Team. Team members generally pick up from either Tall Grass bakery or Mighty-O Donuts on Sundays and Wednesdays, and deliver to St. Lukes’ kitchen on Monday and Thursday mornings. Occasionally there is the need for fill in for a Thursday or Friday pick up from Tall Grass. 

For more information contact project lead Christine

Our friends at Seattle Parks are looking for people to become Seattle Urban Nature Guides. This is a fun program that promotes and fosters appreciation of nature by connecting families & students with their Seattle parklands, and providing educational opportunities for all.

As a Seattle Urban Nature Guide, you will:

• Learn valuable job skills including communication, public speaking, teamwork, and teaching techniques.
• Receive FREE training on environmental education techniques and equity concepts to connect with a wide variety of audiences
• Lead hands on learning experiences in a variety of settings from playgrounds to beaches.

The deadline to apply is February 22nd so don’t wait! Prior to applying please review the Seattle Urban Nature Guide Position Description and the training schedule. Attendance is required at all training events.

Apply here

Contact
Penny Rose
Public Education Program Specialist
(206) 507-9675
penny.rose@seattle.gov

Looking for a way to support Sustainable Ballard? Become a Tool Librarian! This is a great way to get involved with Sustainable Ballard and meet your neighbors. We have over 200 members and over 1000 tools in the library to lend. We’ve created a workbench for folks who need to use tools on the spot and new donations are coming in regularly. Experience with tools isn’t necessary; what’s most important to us is that you’re excited to learn and ready to help our renters.

Ballard Tool Library is an organization created for the community, by the community. We rely on volunteers for everything from spreading the word about us to helping keep our tools clean, organized and in working order. Please contact Mackenzie to learn more! manager@ballardtoollibrary.org.”

Tool Library Manager and Fan of Seattle Weather!

WHY DID YOU JOIN SUSTAINABLE BALLARD?
I joined Sustainable Ballard in the hopes of supporting their mission and vision of inspiring neighbors to take action to live more sustainably, and to get more involved in the community.

HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN A MEMBER OF SUSTAINABLE BALLARD?
Since 2020

WHAT PROJECT(S) ARE YOU CURRENTLY INVOLVED IN?
Ballard Tool Library

WHAT WAS THE FIRST SUSTAINABLE BALLARD EVENT/PROGRAM YOU ATTENDED?
The first Sustainable Ballard program I participated in was the Tool Library.

WHAT DO YOU ENJOY MOST ABOUT BEING A MEMBER OF SUSTAINABLE BALLARD?
The Community! 

SHARE A FUN FACT ABOUT YOURSELF
I was born and raised in the Greater Seattle area, but moved to California in 2007. In 2018 I decided I’d had enough sunshine and moved home. I’ve lived in the Ballard and Phinney neighborhoods ever since. 

The Sustainable Ballard Knitters for Homeless continue to meet – knowing that there will still be chilly nights when the hats and scarves we donate will be very welcome – and that we will need to have a good supply on hand for Fall. Come and join us from 7 – 9 pm at Pour Decision, 8000 – 15th Avenue NW on the 2nd Tuesday of each month. New and experienced knitters and crocheters welcome. Yarn and instructions provided. Food and beverages available. What’s not to like? (And if you want to pick up yarn and/or drop of warmies, contact Jody at 206-718-1529 or via email.

Planning for the 2023 Edible Garden Tour kicks off soon! If you’d like to get involved there are lots of opportunities to help. We typically have monthly planning meetings March-June, with all sorts of work to be done. Opportunities for individuals or a group, indoor or outdoor – from looking for gardens, spreading the word at events, soliciting raffle goods to volunteering on the tour day and more. This year’s tour will be in the north east section of Ballard, with a June date TBD. Contact Alyssa to get involved!

Ballard Farmers Market gleaners collected 18,162 pounds of produce for the Ballard Food Bank in 2022! Our single largest collection was a whopping 1,379 pounds. This was a lot of heavy lifting for our dedicated 32 volunteers who gave a total of 484 volunteer hours to make this happen!

We could always use more gleaning volunteers! The amount of produce we collect each month will continue to increase as we move into spring. In the summer we frequently collect over 1,000 pounds of produce, and having the full roster of 5 volunteers can help to reduce the time it takes to sort the produce.

As gleaning volunteers, we sort all produce donations and store perishable goods in the Ballard Food Bank’s fridge. Though there are days when the fridge is quite full, there are also days when we arrive to a fridge without much produce in it. Seeing the visual impact of our work to provide fresh, healthy, and local produce to our neighbors is what keeps our gleaners going! It is also amazing to see the generosity of our farmers, who have all gone through so much in the past few years.