Garden Day at the Community Food Co-op

Garden Day

Saturday, April 14, 11 am to 1pm

Community Food Co-op - Both Stores

Join us for a fun morning and celebrate spring gardening!

WSU Master Gardeners and Common Threads AmeriCorps Food Educators will be on-site at both stores to share advice, answer questions, and host a planting seeds with kids activity. Seeds are being graciously donated by one of our favorite seed suppliers Upraising Seeds.  

We will also be featuring a Garden Day Raffle: Win a Annie’s garden promo kit valued at 90 dollars. Each kit includes a countertop compost bin, box of compostable bags, knee pads, gardening gloves, and a gardening tote with tools.   

And happening at the Cordata store are “Co-op talks” in the roots room, short informational and inspirational presentations, on gardening topics. (Approximately 15 minutes each) These talks feature knowledgeable local gardeners, innovators, designers, and experts in their field.  Attend one session, or join us for the entire series!

Your Delicious Habitat: The Future of Edible Landscaping in Bellingham

11:15–11:30 am with Paul Kearsley, Ecological Designer

Your yard can supplement your diet with fresh greens, herbs, and vegetables for 10 months of the year. This can save money, provide nutritious food, and create habitat for local wildlife. And harvesting these crops is often the only care they need. Learn about a few easy perennial starters and explore these ideas as they expand across entire neighborhoods.

Bokashi Compost: Turn Your Kitchen Waste Into Gardening Gold in Just Weeks

11:30–11:45 am with Nicole and Coulby Styles, Compost Masters

Bokashi is a fermentation process that is perfect for people who create kitchen waste, are short on space to compost, but still want to put their food waste to good use in the garden without much hassle.

Basics of Seed Saving

11:45 am–noon with Krista Rome, Resilient Seeds

Learn important seed-saving concepts from planning to harvest to get you started toward greater self-sufficiency and gardening resilience. Information on dry bean and grain growing in Whatcom County, the easiest doorway to seed saving, will also be available.

Consult with Master Gardeners during a midday break

Noon–12:30 pm

No-till Mulched Gardening: Gardening to Keep your Soil Alive and Healthy

12:30–12:45 pm with Terri Wilde, Garden Educator

In the footsteps of Ruth Stout, Masanobu Fukuoka, and Dr. Elaine Ingham, we will strive to increase soil biology and maintain mycorrhizal nutrient transporting networks by using perennial food systems, plant guilds, and mulching.

Garden Planting Strategies for Self-reliance and Food Storage

12:45–1 pm with Bill Sterling, Community Organizer and Permaculturist

Bill Sterling, a local treasure and inspirational icon of self-sufficiency, will share his 50 years of expertise and experience in the pursuit of self-reliance. Bill encourages each individual to avoid conformity and follow their own instincts and ideas.