@ the FESTIVAL! – Hands-on Harvest

Take a few cranks on the apple press and enjoy the sweet resulting cider. That’s just one of our “hands-on harvesting” activities in the urban farm area at this year’s Sustainable Ballard Festival. We’ll be making cider with the Seattle Tree Fruit Society.

You can also winnow seed with the King County Seed Lending Library. Caitlin Moore will have seed from cilantro, arugula, lettuce, spinach, phacelia and other plants, along with the necessary equipment. Learn how to clean the seed and conserve it for sharing.

Or you could harvest mason bees. Crown Bees will be on hand with lots of mason bee cocoons in sleeves. By removing the cocoons from the sleeves for storage, parasitic mites can be destroyed and more bees will survive the winter. The activity does not include buzzing bees, but you can learn how these gentle bees can greatly benefit early-spring pollination.

Other attractions at the urban farm include a cloche and cold frame display by Cool Season Gardener author Bill Thorness, and live goats courtesy Lacia Lynne Bailey of the Seattle Farm Cooperative.