Growing our food

We are in a time of extraordinary crisis and challenge. Through this all we need to make sure we all can be nourished, both physically, emotionally and socially.

This website is taking on the challenge of providing information to the South Whidbey community so we can grow food for ourselves, and work towards local food security at a time of future unknowns.

Growing takes time, and it takes work. So let’s start now to prepare the soil, plant the seeds and starts, and nurture the crops.

Gardening is joyful, we can work safely, and time outside lifts the spirits. Let’s grow food for ourselves, our families and our community!

The information in this website will be relevant to gardeners in the Pacific Maritime growing region. We will be updating and adding information as fast as we can. Please email comments and suggestions to cultivatingcommunitywhidbey@gmail.com.

To get you started here is an excellent planting plan, with suggestions for veggies to start indoors, from our local seed company, Deep Harvest Farm.

A resource for Whidbey veggie gardeners

We are rebuilding this site to improve its function as a resource center for successfully growing veggies on Whidbey Island. We are making sure all links are still good, and checking that information is up-to-date. Stay tuned!

Note on the drop down menus under Reference Materials, and also in the right hand column, you can find information about what to do each month, and also growing practices and skills.

You can subscribe in the sign up on the top of the right-hand sidebar.

Feel free to email growinggroceries@whidbey.com with any questions!

Grow the veggies your kids love to eat! 2017

What to do if your child asks you to grow kale! 2016

Helping busy parents and families grow a veggie garden

The students at the South Whidbey Elementary School are loving their fresh-picked veggies from the school farm! Garden nibbles are part of every class, and fresh produce is being delivered to the school lunches and salad bar. And now your child comes home and asks you to grow kale, or another delicious garden vegetable!

Cary Peterson, School Farm Coordinator, will be teaching a class on top tips for growing a simple and successful vegetable garden here on South Whidbey.

Tuesday, April 19th, from 7 – 8:30 pm
SW Elementary School Community Room

Open to all gardeners, not just parents or grandparents!

Come with your questions! Topics included will be preparing your garden soil, protecting from critters, fertilizing and amending, best veggie varieties and times to plant, crop rotation, succession planting and composting.

Donations to the School Farm program are welcome.

Lettuce, kale, brokali, and tomato starts can be pre-ordered for delivery on Earth Day.
$2 each.

Email schoolgardenswhidbey@gmail.com with questions, or call 360-221-6046.

Pruning your Fruit Trees 2015

Sarah Birger will be sharing fruit tree pruning basics on Wednesday, Feb. 25th, from 1 – 3 pm at the Good Cheer Garden Wednesday work party. You can practice your new skills by pruning the Good Cheer fruit trees! Bring your pruning tools, you’ll also learn how to sharpen and care for them. Class is by donation to Good Cheer, but no one turned away for lack of funds.

Come early for lunch if you’d like, or join the garden work party in the morning. This class is weather permitting!

A season of growing! 2014

This season the focus of Growing Groceries has been to help food bank clients at the Good Cheer Food Bank gain skills in growing their own vegetables.

We grew hundreds of starts – lettuce, tomatoes, squash, bok choi, kale, and broccoli – for food bank clients to take home. Garden clinics were held at the Food Bank to answer questions and distribute the starts.

Here Lissa Firor, Produce Manager at the Good Cheer Food Bank, shows off one of the bok choi donated back to the Food Bank by a very successful Growing Groceries gardener!

Beneficial Bugs and Creatures in your Garden 2014

  

Beneficial bugs abound in our gardens and you can create a diverse garden ecosystem to encourage them! You can attract not just pollinating insects, but also the insects that will eat pests. The soil, too, is alive with billions of organisms that help to create a fertile soil.

On Saturday, April 5th, from 10 am – 12 noon learn about the

• amazing web of life in our soil and how to nurture it
• pollinators that are essential for our gardens, and our community
• predators and parasitoids that keep our garden ecosystem from becoming unbalanced
• flowers and herbs we can plant to attract beneficial insects, and when to plant them
• garden practices to help our garden ecosystem become diverse and thrive

    

Presented by Cary Peterson, Community Gardener.

Location: WICEC (Whidbey Island Community Education Center) at the historic Bayview School, 5611 Bayview Road, Bayview Corner, Langley.

Fee: $15, or donation. No one turned away for lack of funds. For more information and to register go to www.wicec.us or call 360-221-5020
PDF info HERE

5611 Bayview Road, Langley, WA
Located in the historic Bayview School at Bayview Corner (next to the Good Cheer Garden)

 @ WICEC

Getting a Start on Your Garden!

  

@ WICEC

A new season is beginning! Do you want to be eating fresh salads and stir fried veggies from your garden in April? Would you like to know what to do now to grow lots of veggies later?

On Saturday, February 22nd, from 9:00 am to 11:00 am learn about this early part of the growing season with

• practical and timely tips on garden planning
• soil preparation
• seed selection 
• growing starts using soil blocks
  

We will also have locally grown seeds available for sale from Deep Harvest Farm and other Whidbey seed suppliers.

The best coir fiber for making your own potting soil will also be available for sale so you can make the “Good Cheer” super simple potting soil.

Presented by Cary Peterson, Good Cheer Gardener.

Location: WICEC (Whidbey Island Community Education Center) at the historic Bayview School, 5611 Bayview Road, Bayview Corner, Langley.

Fee: $15, or donation. No one turned away for lack of funds. For more information and to register go to www.wicec.us or call 360-221-5020

5611 Bayview Road, Langley, WA
Located in the historic Bayview School at Bayview Corner (next to the Good Cheer Garden)

Pruning your fruit tree

Sarah Birger will be sharing fruit tree pruning basics on Wednesday, Feb. 26th, from 1 – 3 pm at the Good Cheer Garden Wednesday work party. You can practice your new skills by pruning the Good Cheer fruit trees! Bring your pruning tools, you’ll also laern how to sharpen and care for them. Class is by donation to Good Cheer, but no one turned away for lack of funds.

Come early for lunch if you’d like, or join the garden work party in the morning. This class is weather permitting!

Three classes at the Good Cheer Harvest Party on Saturday, September 14th

Come join us at our annual Harvest Party and Music Fest!!
2013 Good Cheer Harvest Party and Music Fest.poster.

• Free garden workshops
  11 am:  How does your Garden Grow?
  Learn about end of season crops, cover crops for fertility, getting your garden ready for next year, and general Q & A. Presented by Cary Peterson, Good Cheer Garden Coordinator
        12:30 pm: Composting 101
  Learn about the basics of turning your garden and yard wastes into compost. Presented by Janet Hall, WSU Waste Wise Coordinator.
        2 pm: In-ground Worm bins
  Learn how worms can transform your food scraps into a rich soil amendment. Presented by Cary Peterson.

• Music: Chitsuwo Marimba & Mwoyo Marimba, Steve Showell, Joanne Rouse & Fiddle Friends, Karin Blaine, Quinn Fitzpatrick, Julie Pigott & Buffy Cribbs, Bob Effertz
• Free family activities: Veggie critters, veggie printmaking, tile painting, garden bingo and a blindfold herb and veggie tasting

• Free cooking workshops
  11 am:   Juicing class and tasting
  12 noon: Drying fruits, veggies and raw crackers
  1 pm:  Making fresh soups
  2 pm:  Making fresh pesto

• Plus lots of delicious food from Good Cheer and local chefs, and a big fresh salad from the Good Cheer Garden!

Check out the cool 1949 Ford Tractor and Brush Hog RAFFLE.

We’ll also be raffling off some of our vermicastings.

Come enjoy the garden, all the great activities, and celebrate the harvest!