West Seattle Blog…

‘One person can make a difference’: West Seattle Junction ‘stump dump’ transformed

Maybe while you were in The Junction for Sunday’s Harvest Festival – or some other visit to shop and/or dine – you noticed that newly planted mini-garden on the southwest corner of California/Alaska. You might remember when it was mostly just home to a tree stump:

Here’s the person you can thank for the transformation – Elois Gruenhagen:

The retired West Seattle teacher was featured here last June for her beautification work a bit further north, by Red Cup Espresso, whose co-proprietor Breanna Baillie sent along the photos and also this story of what Elois did and why; here’s our transcription:

‘Downtown West Seattle’ says the sign. Below was a stump used as a dump. Elois Gruenhagen has walked by that stump for 6 years hoping that someone would remove it. This spring, Elois vowed that stump would be gone by fall even if she had to sit on a little chair beside it so someone would notice.

She contacted Susan (Melrose, director of the West Seattle Junction Association). The process had begun. Elois says, “It may take many to accomplish a task, but only one to start it.”

A few weeks ago, a former first-grade student, now grown, told Elois that what he remembers about first grade was that he learned to love plants and gardening so he is teaching his daughter. One person can make a difference.

Take a walk by the corner of Alaska and California where the stump used to be and see the difference.

Thank you Elois, Susan, those who furnished plants, and Great Harvest for providing water when needed.

PLEASE DO NOT USE THIS PLANTING OR ANY OTHER AS AN ASHTRAY OR DUMP. THANK YOU!

And thank YOU, Elois.

P.S. Thanks also to Kerry, who e-mailed us a few days ago wondering if a “guerrilla gardener” was at work and sharing this photo:

We had just begun to investigate when Elois stopped by during the Harvest Festival to mention the project and promised information would be on the way.

Happening now: Little Red Hen Project’s first fundraiser

You still have time to get over to West Seattle Nursery (California/Brandon) and meet the friendly folks working on The Little Red Hen Project - teaching and encouraging backyard farming in eastern West Seattle; they’re raffling off cool items and talking to people about the project, until 4. If you didn’t make it to today’s event – read more about the project and its work at Delridge Community Center by going here.

Tomorrow: The Little Red Hen Project is ready to meet you

Another big event tomorrow – your chance to assist, and find out about, a new program to help turn the Delridge “food desert” into something more like a “food oasis.” Starting at 1 pm at West Seattle Nursery, it’s the first fall fundraiser for The Little Red Hen Project. Jen Dowell explains:

The Little Red Hen Project will provide the underserved Delridge community with a way to grow, maintain, cook, and preserve sustainable back yard food.

We are a new Seattle Tilth fiscally sponsored program located in the heart of the Delridge food desert at the Delridge Community Center. We have begun work at the DCC with the teens program and will continue our progress by encouraging community members to enter our teaching program to learn how to grow their own food. With the support of the Seattle Master Gardeners program, we have access to Seattleites in the Master Gardener program who are completing their volunteer hours by contributing to our need for strong teachers.

This will be going on all Sunday afternoon, so even if you’re going to the Junction Harvest Festival, head a few blocks south afterward. More details on the official Facebook event page for tomorrow’s event.

Happening now: Pumpkin Festival at Lincoln Park P-Patch

The stars of the show, the pumpkins – priced in small, medium, large – were arrayed as if they were the greeters when we stopped by the Lincoln Park P-Patch Pumpkin Festival about an hour ago. The P-Patch isn’t actually at the park – it’s at what was the Lincoln Park Annex before it was renamed Solstice Park, a little bit uphill from the tennis courts on the east side of Fauntleroy Way (look for the festively decorated sign before turning). Right across from the pumpkins, before you get to the plants, bulbs, and bake sale, is this quilt:

$2 gets you a raffle ticket, benefiting the P-Patch Trust. This is all continuing until 1 pm, so get there fast!

Go fly a kite! Festival tomorrow at Seattle Chinese Garden

Continuing to spotlight some of what’s ahead, while also tracking what’s happening today – The Seattle Chinese Garden on Puget Ridge wants to make sure you know about its Kite Festival tomorrow (Saturday, August 10), 2-6 pm:

Come fly a kite at the Garden’s ridge-top site! Bring your own or buy one at the festival for a fun afternoon with family or friends. Activities for all ages include kite flying demonstrations, competitions, and kite painting. Put your own creative stamp on one you paint yourself — materials provided.

The festival also includes music and dance performances and a demonstration of eagle painting by artist George Yiqiao of Luoyang, China. Everyone will find something to enjoy at the festival, including refreshments such as Chinese bakery treats and tea.

The garden is on the north side of the South Seattle Community College (WSB sponsor) campus at 6000 16th SW.

City offering free trees! Get your request in, starting Wednesday

Want free trees for your yard? Starting Wednesday, you can apply for up to four free trees from Seattle reLeaf‘s Trees for Neighborhoods program. The program also provides free watering bags for each tree, plus training on proper planting and care.

The application can be found on the program website starting Wednesday (July 31st), and program managers say the trees go quickly, so you shouldn’t wait to apply. Different species of trees are offered, including both large and small varieties that are well-suited for urban areas. This year’s offerings include Galaxy Magnolia, Emerald Sunshine Elm, Cascara, and mountain hemlock. Find the full list here.

Since 2009, Trees for Neighborhoods has helped Seattleites plant more than 1,000 trees each year. According to Seattle reLeaf, these trees help to absorb storm water, replace carbon dioxide with oxygen, and calm traffic. Learn more about the benefits of trees in urban areas, and how to take care of them, at seattle.gov/trees.

West Seattle Garden Tour tomorrow: Explore 9 special gardens

(Sea holly and bee, photographed for WSB by Nick Adams during 2012 WS Garden Tour)
One of tomorrow’s big events is less than 14 hours away – and you have all day to enjoy it, even interspersed with other Sunday fun: The West Seattle Garden Tour runs from 9 am until 5 pm tomorrow, and your ticket book gets you the locations of, and admission to, the nine featured gardens, plus the noon presentation by Debra Prinzing, “A Year in Flowers” (at The Kenney [WSB sponsor], 7125 Fauntleroy Way SW). In addition to a day of self-guided garden touring and learning, the WSGT also is a fundraiser; net proceeds go to local nonprofits chosen each year, and this year’s half-dozen beneficiaries are listed here. If you don’t already have a ticket book, you’ll need to buy one tomorrow; ticket outlets are listed here – we’re told West Seattle Nursery (California/Brandon) is a good bet, since it’s open at 9 am, which is when the tour gardens open, too.

West Seattle-grown produce: High Point Farm Stand opens July 10th

Just announced by the city today: The P-Patch Community Garden Program’s High Point Market Garden Farm Stand opens July 10th, for weekly Wednesday sales, 4-7 pm, through October 9th. It’s at 32nd Avenue SW and SW Juneau, right next to the small “farm” where the organic produce is grown. Here’s the flyer with additional details.

Ticket sales Tuesday for 2013 West Seattle Garden Tour

The West Seattle Garden Tour is now less than one month away, and ticket sales are days away, starting this Tuesday (June 25th). Each ticket is $18 (children under 12 are free) and includes the noon lecture with author and outdoor-living expert Debra Prinzing. The tour is 9 am to 5 pm on Sunday, July 21st. Here are the ticket locations in our area:

Admiral Metropolitan Market, 2320 42nd SW

Junction True Value, 4747 44th SW

Village Green Perennial Nursery, 10223 26th Ave SW

West Seattle Nursery, 5275 California SW

To the right, you’re seeing the winning art for this year’s WSGT poster, “Blooming Palette,” created by Carrie Schmitt. Carrie receiving her prize check for $500 at Windermere West Seattle during last week’s June West Seattle Art Walk:

Posters will be sold for $10 during the tour, and Carrie’s original piece will be part of a silent auction during the tour on July 21st. The money raised, as well as other tour proceeds, will benefit these organizations.

Followup: First ‘Presto Garden’ harvest, after just one month

One month ago, volunteers organized by Sustainable West Seattle planted a “Presto Garden” to grow food for those in need (WSB coverage here). Today – the first harvest! The photo and update are from SWS’s Stu Hennessey:

The “Presto Garden” was created at a four hour work party a little more than 4 weeks ago as a final to a community forum series presented by Sustainable West Seattle. The garden was built at the Westcrest P-Patch and is a designated food bank garden for the White Center Food Bank. The forum series focused on gardening with a permaculture technique referred to as lasagna gardening. The different layers of the garden foundation were built up from the existing ground and were layered much like compost layering, green brown, green brown. You can see the results.

The first Harvest today 6/20 netted 15 pounds of lettuce and spinach to the White Center Food Bank.

High Point Market Garden: Produce subscriptions available

(High Point Market Garden; WSB photo from July 2011)
Starting next Thursday, a new season of organic produce will be available via the High Point Market Garden – and the easiest way to get your share is to subscribe. Here’s the announcement we received:

The Seattle P-Patch Market Gardens CSA (community-supported agriculture) program is accepting subscribers for its farm-fresh organic produce. Each week subscribers receive up to 15 items of seasonal produce grown at the High Point Seattle Market Garden, a city of Seattle program that helps to establish safe healthy communities and economic opportunity in low-income neighborhoods.

The cost ranges from $15 to $25 a week based on size of the share with prorated shares available.

The pick-up location (in West Seattle), dates, and times:

High Point Market Garden (32nd Avenue SW and SW Juneau Street): Thursdays from 5:00 – 7:00 p.m., June 6th through October 17

Community members can subscribe now by completing and mailing an application or contacting Julie Bryan, P-Patch Coordinator, at 206-257-8257.

Here’s the application form, which includes the mailing address. If you can’t or don’t want to commit to a subscription, the HP Market Garden also offers a weekly farm stand with on-the-spot sales – we’re checking to see when that will open for the season.

Another chance to help plant a West Seattle community garden

If you have passed Highland Park Improvement Club along SW Holden lately, you probably noticed some of the asphalt lot dug up, close to the sidewalk. This is the long-planned HPIC rain garden, close to completion, as part of a partnership with Sustainable Seattle and King County. This Saturday (June 1st), you are invited to join in finishing and planting the new community-designed garden, which will help keep toxic stormwater runoff from making its way into local waterways. The official event announcement adds that it’s a chance for you to get inspired to do something similar:

On that day, HPIC will also be the host to many other ways that you can get involved at home. Join us for the Yards in the Neighborhood Tour:

• Take part in the planting of the rain garden
• Embark on a short, self-guided walking tour to learn about rain gardens and see demonstrations of green infrastructure
• Meet RainWise contractors learn about incentives and reimbursements for installing rain gardens and cisterns
• Visit booths and see demonstrations
• Learn five easy take-home actions to help the Duwamish River!

This is all happening 10 am to 1 pm Saturday at 12th/Holden, free of charge, everybody welcome, no minimum time commitment – stop by for a few minutes or all three hours, help plant if you can (or just cheer everybody on!).

Video: Parade, festival launch West Seattle Bee Garden

The West Seattle Bee Garden is officially launched! As you’ll see in our video, Seattle Police motorcycle officers, the Sounders’ Sound Wave musicians, City Council President Sally Clark were part of the parade bringing the bees to the garden from West Seattle Elementary at midday today – along with lots of kids, from Roxhill Elementary as well as WSES:

(Photos by WSB’s Katie Meyer)
It was all part of a festival celebrating the start of the garden at High Point Commons Park, with a demonstration-beehive enclosure, a pollination garden, and more.

As with all of today’s big events, we have more photos of this one to add here later when this busy day calms down – check back!

ADDED 8:38 PM: As promised, more photos – starting with this one:

Viewing ensued after the beehives arrived in the back of the pickup truck seen at the end of our parade video, above. And then – on to their new home!

Click to read the rest of Video: Parade, festival launch West Seattle Bee Garden…

West Seattle Bee Garden: Final touches before Sunday celebration

Yet more West Seattle volunteers were hard at work today getting the West Seattle Bee Garden ready for its closeup – tomorrow is the West Seattle Bee Festival, including the parade from West Seattle Elementary to bring in the bees that will be living in the structure you see here. We visited two months ago when nothing more than timbers were standing in the Bee Garden’s spot at High Point Commons Park (Lanham/Graham), and now, tomorrow’s the big day, one year after Lauren Englund first went public here with her dream of a demonstration beehive to show people how vital honeybees are to our survival. The festival runs 11 am-3 pm tomorrow, including a picnic and various festivities in addition to the 11:30 am parade – which you can be part of, by the way, as explained here.

Happening now: Selling plants to help pets via Furry Faces

At the time of last year’s Furry Faces Foundation plant sale, F3 leader and plant-raiser Teri Ensley‘s house still had damage to fix from a fire a few months earlier. Now – as the 2013 plant sale begins – Teri is back in her house after rehab and repairs by Ventana Construction (WSB sponsor), work she is so proud of that she’s even incorporated Ventana’s name into the plant sale:

The shelving holding plants on the south side of Teri’s house is dubbed “Ventana Terrace” now, signage and all. Today is the first of four days of the sale – till 4 pm, then again tomorrow 10 am-4 pm, and the weekend of June 1-2, 3809 46th SW. It all started with more than 1,000 plants on “Ventana Terrace” and in the front yard, including herbs, perennials, annuals, vegetables, more – and the F3 “Tag Your Pet” campaign is happening there; read about it all in this WSB Forums post.

Two ways you can make a big difference today

Before we get to the big list of what’s up today, one more reminder of two community projects in which your participation, giving just a little time, can make a big difference – one starting this morning, one this afternoon:

PAINT IT OUT: A new graffiti-fighting effort gets going today and volunteer power is vital. Meet at Youngstown Cultural Arts Center at 10 am. Here’s our preview with more details. (4408 Delridge Way SW)

‘PRESTO GARDEN’: Also previewed here earlier in the week, this Sustainable West Seattle-led project will create a garden growing fresh food for people served by the White Center Food Bank. Today from 1 pm to 5 pm, they would love your help at the planting party for the garden, which is at Westcrest Park. (From the park entrance at 8th and Henderson, head up the road to the right to the parking area; you’ll find the garden in the P-Patch next to the play area at the top of the hill.)

Sustainable West Seattle to debut new garden next weekend, growing food to feed those in need

A day before the West Seattle Bee Garden debuts with a celebration in High Point next Sunday, another new local community garden will debut in Highland Park on Saturday – a section of the new Westcrest Park P-Patch dedicated to growing food for the White Center Food Bank. The “Presto Garden” project is being led by Sustainable West Seattle, incorporating donations from local businesses and organizations listed in this update on the SWS website. Here’s where you come in: Many hands, light work. Be there on Saturday (May 18th) 1-5 pm for the planting party that will help make it happen. Westcrest is at 9000 8th SW (for those not familiar with the park, we’re tracking down specific directions to the planting site, and will add them here).

West Seattle Bee Garden: 1 week till the festival! What’s ahead – and how to help

(Saturday photo courtesy West Seattle Bee Garden)
One year in the making, and one week remaining until the celebration of the new West Seattle Bee Garden, at next Sunday’s WS Bee Festival (May 19th). This weekend, writes Lauren Englund - whose dream, reported here in May 2012, started it all – the beehive enclosure is being finished, and you are welcome at a Sunday work party (starting at 10 am). And after that, it’s festival preparations. From Lauren:

For those who may not know, the High Point Neighborhood Association is hosting the West Seattle Bee Festival next Sunday, May 19th, to celebrate the opening of this space. It will include a picnic and parade! Here are some of the details:

Picnic Time: 11 am to 3 pm
Picnic Location: Commons Park at 31st Ave SW and SW Graham St
Parade Start: 11:30 am
Parade Start Location: West Seattle Elementary – 6760 34th Ave SW
Parade Route: North on 31st Ave SW from the WSE parking lot, across Morgan St, past the Bee Garden and into Commons Park. The total route is 0.5 miles.

Want to join the parade? Fantastic! Everyone is welcome. Set-up will ‘open’ at the West Seattle Elementary parking lot at 10:30 am. There will be face painting and an opportunity to make a flower for the parade. Look for a friendly face carrying a helium ballon for answers to questions. The Sound Wave marching band will be leading the way. Fun!

The picnic! Holy smokes some amazing people want to come hang out!

Click to read the rest of West Seattle Bee Garden: 1 week till the festival! What’s ahead – and how to help…

Followup: Last chance for Arbor Heights-grown tomato plants!

Remember the call for plant pots at Arbor Heights Elementary, for teacher Marcia Ingerslev and her farming first-graders – and the great response? The tomato plants – and some radishes too, we’re told – have been on sale after school this week and you’re welcome today as they sell plants one last time before Ms. Ingerslev has to haul the remainders off to be donated! The parent volunteer who shared the photo says it’s your chance to “be a proud new home to a grown-from-seed tomato plant (or radish) for a donation that goes fully to the farm program.” It’s a short sale window – about 3 pm to 3:30 pm, we’re told – but if you can make it over to Arbor Heights (37th and 104th), the plants await you, at a $2 donation each.

P-Patch fire followup: For those who asked if help’s needed…

No word yet on any breakthrough in Wednesday morning’s arson at Longfellow Creek P-Patch in Westwood. But after a WSB commenter asked whether anything was needed to help the gardeners recover, we sought out an answer – and got it today from Minh Chau Le of the Department of Neighborhoods, who manages the community garden as part of the P-Patch program.

I was very pleasantly surprised to hear of the offers of help and support that came in, first via the posted comments of your readers and then via Lois Maag from DON, who has been fielding communications about the incident. It was so great to see that the types of community caring that we strive to foster within each P-Patch were coming to us from the greater community as well.

As reported by the Seattle Fire Department, the damages amount to around $500. The Longfellow Creek P-Patch, like every P-Patch throughout the city, is very much a community-driven effort. It currently does not have money or supplies readily on hand to replace the items lost. Should you continue to receive inquires from concerned neighbors who wish to help out in some way, please feel free to share this list of items that would be useful to the P-Patch as it begins the gardening season after having suffered the arson:

· 1 sturdy wheel barrow 3 cubic foot capacity or greater
· 1 Hori hori digging tool
· 2 digging shovels
· 2 digging forks
· Gift certificates in any amount to: Home Depot, TrueValue in the Junction, or McLendon’s Hardware.

The arson reward fund mentioned in the sign in our photo, by the way, does not involve public funds (we got a question about that too) – it’s from an insurance-company-supported foundation. If you have any information about who set this fire, call 800-55-ARSON. And if you have questions or other ideas about helping out, reach Chau via the P-Patch Program.

Sustainable West Seattle explores ‘Designing a Perfect Garden’

Story and photos by Keri DeTore
Reporting for West Seattle Blog

Sustainable West Seattle continued its “Successful Gardening with Nature” series Monday night with the second of three installments: “Designing the Perfect Garden.”

A walk-through of the Community Orchard of West Seattle included adding topsoil around existing fruit trees and planting seedlings that have been grown in South Seattle Community College’s greenhouse.

To demonstrate “companion planting” (placing plants that provide beneficial qualities within close proximity of each other) Stu Hennessey and Narcissa Nelson led forum attendees in a planting exercise.

Click to read the rest of Sustainable West Seattle explores ‘Designing a Perfect Garden’…

West Seattle Bee Garden update: Progress, and a new goal

The West Seattle Bee Garden is now five weeks away from its scheduled opening – with, as reported here last month, a parade and picnic to which the entire community is invited. Right now, it’s work party season: the photo above is from a blessing given during the first work party last weekend, at the Bee Garden’s site next to the P-Patch in High Point’s Commons Park. As Bee Garden instigator Lauren Englund noted, “We removed 3500 square feet of sod during the rainiest weekend on record at Sea-Tac since 1948! Woohoo!”

Lauren was planning to follow up on that work party by picking up the Bee Garden’s hives from Daniel Sullivan of Shipwreck Honey and procuring the bees from a beekeeper in Burien.

What’s also been happening is a revision of financial goals. Community donations are still very much appreciated, and what’s been received so far has enabled the project to reduce its fundraising goal – so it’s now a four-digit number instead of five. The IndieGoGo page for the project still shows the old goal rather than the reset $8,000; Lauren says they’re still looking to fund educational signs, beekeeping equipment, two additional locally built beehives with frames, a small solar panel, demonstration supplies, a webcam with wi-fi to place at the hive entrance, and refreshments for volunteers during ongoing work parties. You can help by contributing here; you can sign up for weekend work parties by going here; and you can also be part of the celebration May 19th, 11 am-3 pm – details here.

Followup: Plant pots donated for Arbor Heights’ tomato project

(Photo by WSB co-publisher Patrick Sand)
Yet another great example of generosity: We wrote on Thursday about the call for one-gallon plant-pot donations for the tomato-growing project in which Arbor Heights Elementary teacher Marcia Ingerslev and her students learn, teach, and share – and about an hour ago, that call was answered, big time! Our photo includes some of the donors as well as excited tomato-farming students. (We’ll be adding a few photos from parent volunteers who were there too – THANK YOU!)

‘Spring Into Bed’ to help West Seattle families grow food

Spend this Saturday gardening, to help financially challenged families grow their own food! Seattle Tilth‘s Just Garden Project is hoping for more than 100 volunteers to join the “Spring Into Bed!” work party at more than a dozen backyards and community centers in High Point. The official announcement says this is meant to “empower families to become self-sufficient, grow their own food and make healthier food choices.” Just show up at Neighborhood House’s High Point Center, 6400 Sylvan Way SW, for garden-building 10 am-2 pm and a celebration afterward. RSVP by e-mailing food@justgarden.org – and find out more at springintobed.org.

Sustainable West Seattle digs into natural gardening

Story and photo by Keri DeTore
Reporting for West Seattle Blog

Sustainable West Seattle is taking a new approach to its monthly member meetings by focusing on a particular theme each quarter. Last night kicked off this quarter’s “gardening with nature” theme with a focus on soils.

Due to our region’s glaciated geological history, our soils can be challenging to work in, and often take time, energy and amendments to create an environment where plants can thrive. Stu Hennessey (right) demonstrated the work that has been done at the Community Orchard of West Seattle – site of part of the meeting – to improve the soil, taking it from a compacted lawn to a healthy, nutrient-rich soil supporting edible plants and fruit trees. Much of the resulting produce will be shared with the Delridge Grocery, announced last night as one of three SWS Green Grant Recipients (we reported on the grant recipients here, before last night’s meeting was over).

The healthy soil was created using a method called “layering” which is also known as “lasagna gardening.”

Click to read the rest of Sustainable West Seattle digs into natural gardening…

West Seattle Bee Garden about to buzz into existence – with your help, and then a parade!

(Lauren Englund in photo from May 2012 WSB story)
By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor

When we first introduced you to Lauren Englund in May of last year, she had an idea – saving honey bees through education, by setting up an educational/observational hive – and needed help to make the dream come true.

It’s a dream with an underpinning of urgency – without bees, our lives are at risk.

Now – after community meetings, and a blossoming group of helpers (including Christine Bartels, at left in our photo above with Lauren on the right) – the dream is close to reality, in the form of the West Seattle Bee Garden, set to launch next to the High Point Commons Park P-Patch with a parade this May.

Right now, though, the next stage needs even more help – and that’s where you come in.

Part of it involves crowdfunding, through an IndieGoGo campaign that’s under way, to augment the Department of Neighborhoods matching-fund grant that’s helping fuel the project, as well as rallying volunteers for upcoming work parties.

We talked with Lauren at the Bee Garden site one recent gray, chilly day. The bees’ future home was only timber in the ground, but she painted a bright picture of the pollination garden that will bloom in this area east of the future bee enclosure:

And she rhapsodized about the expected visits from students and community members finding out about bees’ crucial role in our ecosystem.

The framework that’s there now will house the bees’ home as well as observation areas and informational features. They might even have webcams so people can check in online. The entryway to the garden will have a two-sided mosaic.

The stars of the show of course will be the bees themselves, which will come from local beekeepers, will arrive in style, with a community parade. There will be two hives for starters – “local genes, local DNA, no chemicals, no pesticides.”

What the West Seattle Bee Garden needs right now is “dollars, and bodies,” says Lauren – help in the form of work-party participation in April and May, starting April 6th – sign up here – and donations to the IndieGoGo campaign – do that here. You can get in on pavers to be placed in the garden, at a certain donation level, as well as other contribution rewards, as is typical in the crowdfunding world. (Check them out on the right side of the IndieGogo page.)

The High Point Neighborhood Association is sponsoring the picnic and parade that will celebrate the bees’ arrival at 11 am May 19th – with a marching band leading the way! The bees will be marched in, in a sealed container, as part of a festival-like atmosphere – Lauren expects games, arts, crafts, even food trucks all around the park.

The festival is only the beginning – then, the first summer of bee-watching, bee-tending, pollination, and education will begin. Lauren hopes the West Seattle Bee Garden will teach people about pesticides, and how they affect bees (among other beneficial insects) – it’s not as simple as it seems when you grab a product off the shelf at a store. And it’ll be an opportunity for people to learn other things about bees – why they swarm, for example.

Nearby West Seattle Elementary is already involved in the project and other schools are welcome to join, she adds – including being part of the parade.

P.S. Here’s the plant list so far for the pollination garden; Lauren notes that it’s “specific to good pollinators for honey bees,” but they hope to incorporate plants that also are conducive to “butterflies, mason bees, hummingbirds, bumblebees, etc.”

Hellebore (late winter)
Crocus (late winter)
Witch Hazel (late winter)
Iris (spring)
Oregon Grape (spring)
Alpine Strawberry (spring)
Japanese Snowbell Tree (summer)
Chives (summer)
Lupine (summer)
Echinacea (summer)
Bee Balm (summer)
Black Eyed Susan (summer)
Geranium Sanguineum (summer)
Borage (summer)
Asters (late summer)

She hopes that eventually, there will be plants to bloom year-round. But again, it’s time now to jump in and help – work-party signups here, contributions here, and if you have questions or ideas – e-mail westseattlebeegarden@gmail.com, and check the website, which includes a photo gallery, FAQ, and updates.

West Seattle schools: Chief Sealth students visit North Delridge rain gardens

(Photos courtesy Karrie Kohlhaas)
In the months ahead, rain gardens will be part of at least two government-led projects in West Seattle. A private project that’s already in place in North Delridge continues to draw interest – including a school field trip for which Karrie Kohlhaas was the neighborhood liaison today. She shared photos and this report:

This morning, Chief Sealth International High School brought 25 ninth-graders on a tour of the Rain Garden Demonstration Cluster on 25th Ave SW between Brandon and Findlay (10 rain gardens in the front yards of 10 neighbors on 25th).

The students have been learning about storm water and how it impacts the environment and nearby waterways. Students visited Longfellow Creek before walking 25th Avenue to learn about rain gardens for the first time.

I met with students and teachers to explain how a rain garden works and to show them the different types of plants in a rain garden. We talked about why someone might want to plant a rain garden — how it can both absorb excess water in the winter and be a low maintenance landscaping in the summer and most importantly how it filters toxic pollutants before the water makes its way to local waterways like nearby Longfellow Creek.

As expected, some of the students were more interested than others. I told them that this might not be so fascinating right now, but when they have a home one day, they may stop and think about planting a rain garden instead of grass, which is not beneficial to the environment. They are finding out about grass alternatives much earlier than I did. I only discovered rain gardens a couple years ago. I told them they are way ahead of the curve.

Since we installed 10 rain gardens on our block in 2011, we’ve had many visitors. Many gardeners, a local Muslim school, curious West Seattle and Delridge neighbors, and even people who heard about the project on NPR and PBS in other states have made our block part of their visit to Seattle. I’ve enjoyed spreading the word about rain gardens and the benefits to homeowners, the environment, and the community.

If anyone wants to come check out the gardens, they are welcome to walk the block. It’s a great example of neighbors and non-profits working together to improve the community. While here, you can also see the street improvement on our block, where we collaborated with SDOT and Stewardship Partners to augment a drainage solution in the street by adding, yep, more rain gardens as well as native plants in the planting strips up and down the block. This spring will be a great time to come and check it out when everything is blooming and budding.

Here’s a map to the neighborhood.

ADDED SATURDAY: Chief Sealth social-studies teacher Noah Zeichner tells WSB that this was one of 10 “field experiences” taken by ninth-graders on Friday as part of the multidisciplinary WEST Project (Water, Ecology, and Sustainability Team). The destinations also included:

• Renton Water Treatment
• Cedar River Water Shed
• Water 1st
• Seattle Biomed
• Duwamish Boat ride
• Solid Ground
• Rainier Urban Farms and Wetlands
• Urban Gardens with Composting
• Gates Foundation Visitor Center

Local and global water issues continue to be a focus at Sealth, and this year’s World Water Week is coming up – at which time, among many other activities, students will present their projects to students at adjacent Denny International Middle School. More on WWW coming up in another WSB story this weekend – meantime, here’s previous coverage, including a note about this year’s keynote address, to which the community’s invited.