Author: Rain Gilman

The Ballard Sprouts program is funded by the Seattle Giving Garden Network (SGGN.org). It provides money for seeds, seeding soil, transplanting soil, fertilizer and supplies. SGGN is participating in the National SeedMoney Campaign fundraiser that runs from November 15th to December 15th. The link is not active yet but I will provide in as soon as it is available. Your contributions are much appreciated.

In two years, June 2024, we will lose our greenhouse and we will need a new one in order to continue this project.    If you or any of your neighbors or friends have a greenhouse, with electricity, please let us know at info@sggn.org.    We would like to use the next two growing seasons to transfer our procedures and knowledge so that this program can continue.    In addition we want to duplicate this project in 2-3 other locations in Seattle in order to reach a more diverse community of gardeners. Please ask your family and friends in other parts of the city to let us know about possible greenhouses.

When picking up kids from school, waiting for the Ballard Bridge, or checking your phone in the grocery parking lot, TURN IT OFF! Unnecessary vehicle idling wastes gas, worsens climate change, and harms air quality, affecting kids in particular. Sustainable Ballard has “idle free” cards and posters to share. Help get the word out to neighbors, schools and businesses. Visit https://www.sustainableballard.org/idle-free-ballard/ to learn more. Remember, idling gets you nowhere!

This is an excellent opportunity to learn more about what this organization does to assist with furnishing families and veterans emerging from homelessness. There will be activities, a short program, food, drinks & more. Event location: 2925 South 112th Street in Tukwila (Behind the U-Haul).

Humble Designs has only one mover on staff at the moment, so they’re unable to offer pickups at this time. Sustainable Ballard’s very own Jody Grage is willing to act as a collection point and make deliveries that will fit in a station wagon. If you have any of the above items and/or are willing to assist Jody with drop-off (i.e. have a larger van/truck etc please Contact: Jody Grage

Sustainable Ballard Knitters for the Homeless continues to meet at Pour Decisions, 15th NW and NW 80th, on second Tuesdays. Come join us wherever you are on the knitting spectrum from ready to learn to expert.  In November we’ll have information on “marls” – using a thin yarn with a variety of other yarns to create a unified appearance.   See you on Tuesday 8th November! 

Idle Free Ballard has been tabling at various events this summer, including the Sustainable Ballard festival just a few weeks ago. Join us to help educate folks about the environmental, financial, and health costs of unnecessary vehicle idling. Take green steps to minimize pollution in our local environment.

Especially here in the Pacific Northwest the exhaust from idling vehicles contributes to overall pollution and impacts our migrating salmon. So if you love our local resident Orca pods J, K & L which rely on healthy salmon as their main food source, please consider turning off your car while waiting for draw-bridges, picking up your kids from school etc, or any other time you find yourself idling.

About this event

Do you have clothing items in need of repair, patching, or missing buttons? If so bring your items and let’s mend! We’ll share mending knowledge and tools, and bring new life into our clothes. Please bring any mending items/tools you have – we will have additional mending items/tools available to use!

*Please note: This is a skills-sharing event, not a professional mending service. No previous skills are needed. All are welcome. We’ll see what we can repair, together!

This will be at the PNA located at 6532 Phinney Ave N. Seattle 98103

Questions? Contact Ellie at ellierwhite1@gmail.com

(At the event, we will be accepting donations for Remake, a global advocacy organization fighting for fair pay and climate justice in the clothing industry.)

The gleaning program is an opportunity for volunteers to donate their time to the community by collecting donated food from vendors at the Ballard Farmers Market and bringing it to the Ballard Food Bank. Last year, we collected over 26,000 pounds of food for the Food Bank! If you’re looking for a fun and meaningful way to spend a few hours on Sundays please consider joining the gleaning team.

Each Sunday, we have a lead volunteer who parks their vehicle at the market, and 3-5 additional volunteers who all meet at the Seattle Farmers Market Association (SFMA) info booth before the end of the market. We typically show up ~15 minutes before the end of the market to ensure we can start collecting before the vendors begin packing up their booths. We ask volunteers to meet at the SFMA info booth (located at the intersection of Ballard Ave NW and 22nd Ave NW) at 1:45pm on Sunday. We bring the food to the Ballard Food Bank and sort the food into crates, then store the food in the appropriate locations. The process takes anywhere from 1-2 hours, depending on the quantity of food collected (generally less food during the fall and winter months, and more during the spring and summer).

If this sounds like a volunteering opportunity you are interested in, you can sign up on our Gleaning Spreadsheet. Please enter your contact information on the Volunteer Contact Info tab so the project manager can reach you with updates via email. We have dedicated leads who are experienced gleaners, and we ask that new volunteers sign up as hands. You can also sign up for days to volunteer on the tab labeled 2022. We have enough volunteers to generally have people sign up to help roughly once per month, though you can certainly sign up for more if you wish!

Thank you to all of the members and neighbors who joined us last Saturday at the Ballard VFW for our annual Barter Fair & Holiday party! There were some fantastic handmade/crafted items available for barter and purchase. It was fun to see many familiar faces along with quite a few new friends. Around 75 people attended making this one of our biggest Barter Fairs ever.

It was a beautiful sunny day with lots of activities in the community. So thank you for joining us and making this year’s Bart Fair so successful and fun! The Ballard VFW location was spacious and easy to access. Thank you for having us! If you’re still looking for cool gift ideas consider giving the gift of Sustainable Ballard membership https://sustainableballard.wildapricot.org/join

Festival Sponsors are key to the success of our festival and this year they are bringing it! Just look at all the great opportunities to learn more about these businesses:

Citizen’s Climate Lobby – voter registration
Crown Hill Chiropractic – free posture test
KBFG – broadcasting live from the festival
Pawtopia – free samples of pet gear
Puget Sound Solar – solar-powered race cars
Sealife Response, Rehab and Research – marine mammal artifacts; skulls, pelts, baleen etc.
Town & Country Markets – handing out free shopping bags