South Whidbey Tilth · varieties and interesting herbs. The Laughing Cat always dishes up something tasty throughout the market. Café Mam’s excellent organic coffee will be served,

April 2010

South Whidbey TilthServing farmers, gardeners and consumers interested in environmentally sound,

sustainable and socially equitable agricultureVolume 28, Number 4

by Iris (Stevie) Linton

The date of Saturday, May 1, should be highlighted on our calendars! It’s a wonderful day to celebrate

the first Tilth Farmers’ Market of the 2010 season.

Come and join us from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. each Saturday until October 9. The South Whidbey Tilth Sustainability Campus is looking springlike with the now-maturing trees and shrubs putting on a show of blooms.

On this opening May Day market, we will offer an athletic workout at noon as we dance around the traditional May-pole, honoring this remnant of nature worship from ancient times.

Vendors will supply beautiful greens and luscious early veggies for our cus-tomers. Look for plant starts to take home to your gardens, including new varieties and interesting herbs.

The Laughing Cat always dishes up something tasty throughout the market. Café Mam’s excellent organic coffee will be served, along with assorted bev-erages, and whole bean coffee will also be available to take home.

Let’s not forget our talented craft artists and musicians who entertain in

Tilth Farmers’ Market Will Open on May Day, May 1

Nick Fowler photos

Anza Muenchow, at right, helps a young dancer

weave the Maypole pat-tern at last year’s May

Day celebration. Above is the top of the Maypole.

The festive spring event will again open this year’s

Tilth Farmers’ Market on May 1.

Vendors and Tilth members are encour-aged to bring gloves, clothes, trowels, brooms and lawn mowers to the South Whidbey Tilth Farmers’ Market site for a pre-season cleanup and meeting.

The work party is from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, April 17, with a break at 11 a.m. for a vendor meeting

3569 or email [email protected].

Soon the market policy, rules, agreement and the county’s Farm-ers’ Market Food Vendor form will be available on the Tilth website: www.southwhidbeytilth.org.

Vendors Meet To Tidy Market Saturday, April 17and orientation. Bring a lunch or snack to share. There will be hot drinks.

The vendor rules and agreements will be available, and vendors may pay the season space fee. Please remember to bring your Unified Business Identifier (UBI) number with you.

For more information call 360-678-

this pastoral picnic setting.There’s plenty of play space for chil-

dren, young and old. Leashed canines are also welcome.

WHAT IS TILTH? Tilth (tilth) n. [fr OE Tilian = th] a. the quality of cultivated soil, b. the cultivation of wisdom and the spirit.South Whidbey Tilth Association is a nonprofit corporation and a chapter of Washington Tilth Association.

MISSIONWashington Tilth Association is an educational and research association, the purpose of which is to support and promote biologically sound and socially equitable agriculture.South Whidbey Tilth Association, a chapter of Washington Tilth, is a diverse network of people working cooperatively within our organization and in the community. Our commitment is to advocate, study and teach agricultural practices consistent with stewardship of the natural world. We promote and demonstrate principles and practices of sustainable agriculture, as well as cultivate a variety of opportunities for local market gardeners and farmers.

2010 COUNCIL OF TRUSTEESPresident Anza Muenchow 360-579-2890 [email protected]/Funding Edward Hueneke 360-331-5806 [email protected]/Membership Gary Ingram 360-222-3207 [email protected] Stewardship Linda Good 360-221-6439 [email protected] Prescott 360-678-4168 [email protected] Tilth representatives Prescott 360-678-4168 [email protected] Marc Wilson 360-579-2890 [email protected]

PROJECT LEADERSNative Landscape J.C. May 360-331-1004 [email protected] manager Bob Wendt 360-579-5844 [email protected] Community Garden Linda Good 360-221-6439 [email protected] Marc Wilson 360-579-2890 [email protected] Stevie Linton 360-678-3569

Anza Muenchow 360-579-2892 [email protected]

CONTRACT SERVICES

Newsletter editor Joan Soltys 360-730-2207 [email protected] Jeanne Celeste 360-331-6135 [email protected]

MEMBERSHIPSouth Whidbey Tilth membership is $25 annually. Additional people in a household may join for $10 each. The newsletter can be received by e-mail or by USPS mail, one per household. Contact Gary Ingram at 360-222-3207 or [email protected] to update your contact information.

ABOUT THE NEWSLETTERThe South Whidbey Tilth newsletter is a monthly publication of South Whidbey Tilth Association. The primary purpose of this publication is to foster communication, among our membership and friends, with information about our mission and our organization, including meeting minutes and reports on projects. A newsletter subscription is $25. Submissions of letters, articles, book reviews and photos are encouraged. The editorial committee reserves the right to edit for clarity, style and concision. Advertising and opinions in this newsletter are not necessarily the policy of the South Whidbey Tilth Association.

Newsletter committee: A. T. Birmingham-Young, Stevie Linton, Prescott, Joan Soltys, Marc Wilson

ADVERTISING RATES IN THE NEWSLETTERFull page $70, half $40, quarter $22 and eighth $12. Discounts for multiple month commitment – five percent for three months, 10 percent for six months, 15 percent for nine months and 20 percent for 12 months. Classified ads are also available for a dime a word.

HOW TO CONTACT US

Mail to: .......South Whidbey Tilth PO Box 252, Langley WA 98260 Phone: ........360-579-2892 Website: .......www.southwhidbeytilth.org Physical location: ........2812 Thompson Road, off SR 525

THE DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSIONS TO THE MAY ISSUE IS APRIL 15

Tilth Library Moves to a New Home

After years of storing the wonder-ful books and journals about organic food and gardening that

have been donated to South Whidbey Tilth, we have found a new space that will give access to this great store of information.

Check them out from the Transition Whidbey (TW) Community Center at 117 Anthes Avenue, on the corner of 2nd and Anthes in Langley. Hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, but you may want to call ahead at 360-221-0506 to make sure they are open.

Many of the classic “how to” books are there, including early Rodale Press publications. Britt Walker, founding organizer for Transition Whidbey, calls Tilth and Transition Whidbey “a part-nership match made in community and environmental sustainability.”

“We are thrilled to incorporate Tilth’s extensive lending library on en-vironmentally sound and sustainable ag-riculture, food security and much more into the new TW Community Resource Center,” she said.

“Stop by, pull up a chair and check out the books! Big thanks to Marc and Anza for bringing in this collection of books and sharing them with our com-munity.”

The bookshelves were donated by Karin Watson of the Baby Island community.

The market is being managed by volun-teers this year and we especially wel-come people willing to coordinate and recruit volunteers for several aspects of the operation, particularly market setup and cleanup, community produce table and hospitality table.

Can you take a leadership role in any of these areas? Contact Prescott at 360-678-4168 or [email protected].

Musicians are also welcome. To sched-ule a performance, contact Linda Good, 360-221-6439 or [email protected].

Market Helpers Welcome

2 South Whidbey Tilth Newsletter – April 2010

Earth Day Celebration at Bayview Corner

The fourth annual Earth Day Festival will take place at the Bayview Cash Store and Bay-

view Corner from noon to 5 p.m. on Sunday, April 25. Celebrated around the world on and around April 22 every year, Earth Day broadens the base of support for environmental programs and rekindles public commitment and activism through local educational events and activities.

This festival is made possible by the volunteer efforts and talents of doz-ens of members of the South Whidbey community. Artists, educators, activists, farmers, health care professionals and musicians all join together on this day to donate their talents and time.

This year Earth Day features a key-note speech at noon by Joel Connelly, whose topic is “Climate Change: Just Look Around! What we can learn from the Pacific Northwest and our neighbor-ing regions.”

Connelly is a staff columnist for seattlepi.com. He is a former columnist, national correspondent and Washing-

ton, D.C. correspondent for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, and past recipient of the Sierra Club’s David Brower Award and lifetime achievement awards from the Alaska Wilderness Association and Idaho Conservation League.

A community peace photo, with par-ticipants forming a huge human peace sign, will be taken at 12:30 p.m.

“The Monstrous Plastic Happen-ing,” a participatory art project for chil-dren and adults, will take place from 1 to 5 p.m., focusing on plastic pollution in our oceans.

Also during the afternoon, Whidbey Island’s first “Shed Band Rock Festival” will feature Slower Loris, Crissy and KrashZen. Dance to the tunes and even take a test drive on an electric bike.

Hands-on arts and crafts activities will be available for children, along with resource and networking tables with information from local organiza-tions on a wide variety of topics re-lated to green living and environmental

sustainability.All activities take place rain or shine

in and around the grounds of the Bay-view Cash Store and Bayview Commu-nity Hall. Admission is free. A detailed schedule of events will be available at www.goosefoot.org after April 16.

Bayview’s Earth Day Festival is part of “Earth and Ocean Weekend” on South Whidbey. “Welcome the Whales Day” takes place on the Langley waterfront from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, April 24, to celebrate the return to Saratoga Passage of resident grey whales and orcas on their way from Mexico to Canada and Alaska. For more informa-tion visit www.orcanetwork.org or call 360-678-3451.

The Earth Day Celebration is co-sponsored by Goosefoot, South Whidbey Tilth and the South Whidbey Environ-mental Navigation Community, a group of concerned residents, educators, artists and health care practitioners formed in 2006.

An electric car was on display at the 2009 Earth Day Celebration. This year visitors can take a ride on an electric bike.

Visitors at the 2009 Earth Day celebration were photographed as they formed a giant peace sign at Bayview Corner. A community peace photo will again be taken this year, at noon on Saturday, April 25.

South Whidbey Tilth Newsletter – April 2010 3

The next program in the Growing Groceries series is set for 9 a.m. to noon on Saturday, April 10, at

Bayview School in Langley will focus on vegetable planting, soil fertility, pest control and other early spring garden-ing topics.

April weather is still unpredict-able – cool or warm, with lots of rain – great for growing. The day length is increasing towards the solstice, and the soil is finally getting warmer, providing many more possibilities for what can be planted.

Presenters will be Anza Muenchow of Maha Farm and South Whidbey Tilth president, Molly Petersons of Molly’s

The Growing Gets GoingIsland Greens, and Cary Peterson, Growing Groceries Coordinator. They’ll talk about:

• Bugs and slugs and how to deal with pests

• Best veggies to plant in April• Soil amendments as a valuable

component of soil fertility• Top tips, including information

about no-till gardening and soil struc-ture, and more. Bring your questions.

Class fee is $15, with scholar-ships available. For information and registration, call the Whidbey In-stitute at 360-341-1884, or email [email protected].

South Whidbey Tilth is coordinat-ing the community information booths for the Earth Day event at

Bayview Corner, and Prescott is looking for volunteers to help before and on the day of the event.

Before the event a floor plan needs to be drawn of the Bayview Hall and Cash Store to create a map of groups which have registered to participate.

On the day of the event helpers are needed to set up and clean up the halls. Please contact Prescott at [email protected] or call 360-678-4168.

South Whidbey Tilth will also have a table and welcomes volunteers to work that site.

The 2010 Earth Day Celebration is a part of Earth and Ocean Weekend. “Wel-come the Whales” is Saturday, April 24 on the Langley waterfront, coordinated by the Orca Network. Earth Day is from noon to 5 p.m. on Sunday April 25 at Bayview Corner.

Tilth is working with a network of groups called the South Whidbey Environmental Navigation Committee (SWENC). The general clearing house for Earth Day planning is through Mar-ian Myszkowski at 360-321-4232 or [email protected].

Help Needed for Earth Day Information Table

Films Highlight Environmental IssuesTwo short movies will be shown at the South Whidbey Tilth film night Tues-day, April 6, with a potluck at 6:30 p.m. and the movies at 7:30, at the home of Melissa Young and Mark Dworkin.

Big River investigates the environ-mental impact of an acre of corn on the people and places downstream. A Thou-sand Suns tells the story of the Gamo Highlands of the African Rift Valley and the unique world view held by the people of the region.

For more information or driving directions call 360-341-1269. To learn more about the films, see the March 2010 Tilth newsletter.

In Langley, the Clyde Theater will show nature documentaries from the Jackson Hole Wildlife Film Festival ar-chives. The Clyde Goes Wild will offer 14 choices over four days, from Friday, April 16 thrugh Monday, April 19.

A $30 transferable pass buys 10 ad-missions over the weekend for you and/or your family; a $15 pass can be shared for four admissions. For a full schedule and information on how to buy passes in advance, visit www.theclyde.net. (The terms of the contract prevent the theater

from selling any single-show tickets. Admission will be by pass only.)

The films cover a wide range of topics, including the condo-dwelling red-tailed hawk that won the hearts of New Yorkers, power-hungry monkeys and a band of wolves defending their turf in Yellowstone.

A pre-festival of short films for families will be held from 5 to 6 p.m. on Friday, April 16, with admission by do-nation to the Jackson Hole Film Festival: Safari, about life from an insect’s point of view; Extreme Animal Sports Stars about blazingly fast cheetahs, monkey gymnasts and weightlifting dung beetles, and Frog, Chemical, Water, You, about the effects of water pollution.

Another film-watching opportunity is the broadcast of Food, Inc., at 9 p.m Wednesday,April 21 on KCTS-9, public television.

The film features interviews with such experts as Eric Schlosser (Fast Food Nation) and Michael Pollan (The Omnivore’s Dilemma) about what we eat, how it’s produced, who we have become as a nation and where we are going from here.

Tilth Producers of Washington and the Washington State University Small Farms Team will start its series of farm walks on Monday, April 26, at Black Sheep Creamery in Chehalis.

The event will take place from 12:30 to 4 p.m., with paid pre-registration re-quired. Cost is $10 for Tilth Producers members; $15 for others. Get complete details at www.tilthproducers.org or call 206-442-7620.

Farm Walks Begin in April


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Start Summer Vegetable Plants Inside During Aprilby Anza Muenchow

Though the soil is not warm enough in April to start planting warm season crop seeds outside, the

ambitious gardener may be interested in starting these deli-cious summer veg-gies in pots indoors.

We often refer to some of our favorite summer crops as “the three sisters,” namely beans, corn and squash.

These food items were among the first important crops domesticated by ancient Mesoamerican societies. Ac-cording to Iroquois tales, corn, beans, and squash were three inseparable sisters who would only grow and thrive when together.

Thus, interplanting them in the same mounds became a consistent agricul-tural practice among Native American farming societies. It was a sustainable system that maintained a rich diet for the Iroquois people for generations.

For our cool Northwest summers, we can start these seeds indoors in April and plant them out carefully in mid-May to assure a full and bounteous harvest. Beans and squash do not like transplant-ing, so extra care is needed not to dam-age the roots.

Use a well-drained seed starting mix in a 4-inch pot for starting your seeds, sowing two to a pot. Cucumbers (also in the squash family) have smaller seeds and are easier to handle.

Be sure to label the pots because the seedlings of summer and winter squashes may look very similar. The soil temperature should be at least 60 degrees for good germination.

When two true leaves have devel-oped on your seedlings (about five to six weeks) you can begin to harden them off by setting them outside in partial sun during the day and bringing them in at

night for a few days. This will slow their growth and prepare them for moving into your garden beds.

When ready to transplant, water the pots and then tap the seedlings carefully out of their pot, holding the soil in place as much as possible. Then plant them deeply, covering the stem up to the coty-ledons, and water well. Straw mulch can be tucked around the seedlings too. At this point I often use floating row cover over them for extra protection for a week or two depending on the weather.

As for sowing corn indoors, I use four-cell trays in my flats and sow nu-merous trays, planting one seed to a cell. They also want at least 60-degree tem-peratures to germinate. These seedlings are much tougher and can handle being squeezed into a small cell.

Remember that corn must be planted in a large group outdoors because the ears won’t form unless they have lots of wind-blown pollen falling from the tas-sels onto the silks. Plant about eight rows minimally; a whole field is preferred.

Yes, you can start 100 to 200 plants in the trays and set them out in late May. In a rich soil with plenty of water, they will reach knee high by the Fourth of July. Choose a variety that will grow in cool summers, like Seneca Horizon, Bantam or Bodacious.

These will be short stalks and only produce one or two ears per plant. But there is nothing like fresh picked corn on a summer day. We’ll eat it raw right in the garden.

Tomatoes, tomatillos, eggplant and peppers are all in the Solanacea family and they need an especially long grow-ing season in a Northwest garden to produce the delicious fruits we desire. Typically they are started in greenhouses in March and transplanted outside after Mother’s Day in May.

Buy your transplants at local plant sales or neighborhood nurseries that carry the varieties that do well in our cli-mate. Most heirloom varieties are meant

for growing in the midwest or southern states, so choose short season varieties and hope we have another warm, dry autumn to get them all to ripen.

Eggplant is especially difficult to get to set fruit and ripen, but the long and thin Asian types can produce eight to 10 small fruits per plant. That is certainly enough for a good meal. Last summer I had good luck with a small round variety called Opus from the New Dimensions Seed Company.

But really, the tomatillos were the best. They can last into the fall and these grew into very large bushes. I had them on the top of a terraced bed so they hung down but kept well off the ground. Keep an eye on them and pick before they crack. We made the best enchilada sauce from these.

The Tilth community garden has more plots available for organic garden-ers who don’t have a home garden or are being shaded out by the forests. Plenty of sunlight and water available. And lots of other gardeners with whom to share ideas, food and soil amendments. Come by at 10 a.m. on Thursdays in April for an orientation.


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by Anza Muenchow

First, I want to thank all the committee mem-bers who have been

meeting to get the cur-rent Tilth projects off to a good start.

T h e v e n d o r s have successfully gathered in meetings at Frank’s house to plan the opening of the Tilth Farmers’ Market on May 1.

Tilth doesn’t have funds to hire a market manager, and the vendors are finding volun-teers to fill that gap.

President’s Corner

The community garden-ers have also been getting or-ganized. A big thanks to Linda Good for that geat work.

This committee has great plans for growing food and teaching about growing food, as well as demonstrating different types of organic ap-proaches. Expect to see more perennial food crops on the Tilth campus.

The food growing series was full of interested garden-ers. The series came to an end on March 30.

We are excited to have more people who will be practicing organic food pro-duction on the island. Thank you to all the volunteers (in-structors and organizers) who made that course happen.

As I look at what we have

accomplished and what we hope to accomplish this year, I find myself appreciating the founding mothers and fathers of South Whidbey Tilth.

Some have passed away, and some are still active par-ticipants (donors especially) in the original vision of our Tilth.

Lately I am wondering about the South Whidbey Tilth bylaws and how they may need updating to reflect the current needs of our orga-nization.

Call me at 360-579-2890 with your input on Tilth’s current structure or come to monthly council meet-ings (see calendar). I want to reflect the desires of the membership in the directions we pursue.

The Tuesday cooking class series “Food: Back to Basics,” continues this spring at the Deer Lagoon Grange, 5142 Bayview Road, Langley.

• April 13: Growing Sprouts (extreme fast food gardening) with Susan Knapp

• April 27: So You Want To Get a Goat, with Vickie Brown

• May 11: Principles of Bangalore; India Cooking Techniques, with Meena Prochaska

• May 25: TBAThe free classes all start at

7 p.m. and are open to the pub-lic. Email [email protected] for more information.

Cooking Classes at the Grange


Land Trust Launches Ambitious Forest Preservation Campaign by Todd Peterson

They say bold moves make history. After a 25-year legacy of

successfully pioneering the protection of natural places, working farmlands and other significant lands, the Whidbey Camano Land Trust is about to make history once more.

The Land Trust recently purchased an option to buy the largest parcel of forestland under single ownership on Whidbey Island.

The group has until June 10, 2010, to raise the $4.2 million required to purchase and permanently protect the 664 acres of land and has launched a community-wide effort to raise the money.

Local organizations and individuals are joining the cause and announcing their support daily as they race to raise enough money in time.

After the property has been purchased, it will be open for use as a community natural area, with the Land Trust holding a conservation easement. A management plan will then be developed that allows reasonable recre-ation, such as hiking, biking and equestrian use, while tak-ing into account the needs of the forest’s flora and fauna.

“Protecting the 664-acres will allow it to return to a healthy forest that provides wildlife habitat, public rec-reational opportunities, and a place where current and future generations can experi-ence nature,” says Pat Powell, executive director of the Land Trust.

The forest, often referred

to as the Trillium property, has a dramatic and sometimes emotional history.

Located on the south end of Whidbey Island, between Freeland and Greenbank, the forest was owned and periodically logged by tim-ber companies for decades, much to the distress of many islanders. Most recently, the property was subdivided into approximately 124 housing lots and soon after fell into foreclosure.

When forestland is con-verted to residential use, much of the wildlife habitat disappears and never returns. Roads create barriers to wild-life movement and home-owners replace trees and native understory with build-ings, lawns and driveways. Water is then directed to cul-verts and ditches rather than slowly seeping back into the aquifer.

The property is particu-larly important because of its size. The larger the tract, the better able it is to provide habitat for species that need large areas.

If the area is broken into smaller pieces and hous-es are built, habitat will be fragmented and will support less wildlife. This ecological disruption is irreversible. If the property is developed, Whidbey Island will lose a large wildlife habitat and corridor with a rich diversity of species.

The forest includes parts of three watersheds. The largest watershed flows into Mutiny Bay. Two smaller watersheds drain to the west,

one at Bush Point and one that flows through South Whidbey State Park. There are wetlands and small streams distributed throughout the more than one square mile of land, all critical to support the many wildlife species found here.

The site can sustain both human recreation and habitat for wildlife. Narrow trails and quiet recreational use do not disturb small birds and other wildlife in the same way that roads, cars, houses and lawn-mowers do.

There is already a limited network of established roads and trails within the boundar-ies of the property. These can serve as the primary system for trails.

Is the Land Trust worried it might be difficult to raise so much money so quickly,

especially during this current economic climate?

“We are actually encour-aged by the positive response we’re already getting,” says Powell.

“People love this place. One reason we all live here is because we still have forests like this one, surrounded by water and mountains. Be-sides, miracles happen every day, especially on Whidbey Island.”

To contribute or to learn more about how to get in-volved in the campaign, call 360-222-3310 or visit www.savetheforestnow.org.

You may send your dona-tion to the Whidbey Camano Land Trust, Attention: Save the Forest Now, 765 Wonn Road, Barn C-201, Green-bank, WA 98253.

The Small Farms Program of Washington State University (WSU), led by faculty member Marcia R. Ostrom, is the 2010 recipient of the university’s Faculty Diversity Award.

The Small Farms Program was established by a state legislative initiative in 2000 to develop education and pro-grams targeted specifically to the needs of small-scale and underserved farmers. The program’s mission is to work with farmers and communities across Washington to foster profit-able and equitable farming systems.

Small Farms Program Honored


BUSINESS OF SOUTH WHIDBEY TILTH

Land: Anza gave the water report, saying that a sample has been taken and submitted to the lab for results.

Education: Anza reported that the food growing classes have been full and well re-ceived.

Market: Market policy recom-mendations were tabled until after the vendors meet on March 17. Council approval will be solicited by email to approve market changes, since the market opens before the next business meeting.

Membership: Discussion concerning the annual updated roster resulted in agreement that the roster would be provided to members only by email. Members will be able to request a hard copy.

Finance: Edward reviewed the annual budget and balance sheet. Discussion concerning the tax assessment took place.

Anza is developing a proposal for the council to apply for an AmeriCorps grant.

The meeting adjourned at 7:15 pm. The next business meeting will be at 6 p.m. on Thursday, May 13, at Trinity Lutheran Church’s community building. A potluck precedes the meeting at 5:30 p.m.

The next visioning meeting (Tilth Advance) will be April 8 at 6 p.m., preceded by a potluck at 5:30 p.m. This will be a Tilth planning and growth meeting.

All members are welcome and encouraged to participate.

South Whidbey Tilth Business Meeting

Minutes March 11, 2010

The regular business meeting of South Whidbey Tilth was called to order at 6:15 p.m. by Anza Muenchow, President, on Thursday, March 11, 2010, in the Trinity Lutheran Church community building.

Council trustees present were Edward Hueneke, Gary Ingram and Susan Prescott.Other members present were Ginny Kuehn and J.C. May.

Business and Reports

Community garden/farming project: Anza will be managing the farming demo project and be subject to the same contract as Eric Conn had for 2009.

However, the space in the hoop house will be incorporated into the community garden project and will be leased out at $10 a season for about a 10 x 10-foot space. Ginny, Linda and Edward are interested in using the hoop house.

The communi ty garden plots will be discounted for Tilth members ($25) and will cost $30 for the general public.

Earth Day: Tilth is colla-borating with the founders and Goosefoot on an Earth Day celebration April 25. Prescott is soliciting help for this event: coord inat ing app l ica t ions for table spaces and setting up/taking down the tables at Bayview Corner on the day of the event. Watch your email

inbox next month for the 2010 South

Whidbey Tilth membership directory.

If you are a member in good standing and we have your email address it will be sent to you in early April.

If you don’t have an email account or if we don’t have your address we will mail it to you by U.S. Postal Service.

Membership Directory Available in April

Anyone who would rather have a hard copy mailed to them may contact Prescott at 360-678-4168.

The directory is for mem-bers to network with one an-other to share interests and build friendships.

It must not be made available to organizations, businesses or individuals who are not members of this organization.

South Whidbey Tilth is one of a number of lo-cal organizations that

have joined to form Whidbey Econet, a Puget Sound Part-nership grassroots funding vehicle for Whidbey Island.

Whidbey Econet is cur-rently funding promotion and materials for projects that include the Clinton Water Fo-rum (see below) and printing costs for the Whidbey Island Conservation District’s pam-phlet, Living Responsibly in Your Community.

The Whidbey Econet will continue to fund projects that help us all learn to be good stewards of our water.

CLINTON WATER FORUM

The Clinton Water Forum filled the Clinton Community Hall on March 13 with people

South Whidbey Tilth Joins the Whidbey Econet

eager to hear the full story on water. Nancy Snow, from the Collaborative on Health and the Environment, helped frame the importance of the subject with “Water: What’s in it (for us)?”

Anza Muenchow, presi-dent of South Whidbey Tilth, was among the presenters with a talk on using organic food growing methods, in-cluding composting, to help keep poisons out of our wa-ter.

Tilth, along with other environmental organizations, the Island County Health De-partment, Washington State University Island County Extension and others had information available on what we each need to do to preserve our water quality and the difference it makes to our health.


q I/we want to join South Whidbey Tilth. There are ___ people in my household who would like to have voting rights. (Enclose $25 annual dues for a single membership and $10 for each additional person. One newsletter is mailed to each household.)

q I am also a Tilth market vendor. q I wish to be a Tilth market vendor, send me more information.q I/we also want to make a $_______ donation to help with the goals of South Whidbey Tilth, a nonprofit corporation,

EIN # 91-1456495. Contact me about the South Whidbey Tilth Sustaining Fund. q Please keep my/our donation anonymous. q I/we authorize publication of my/our name(s) as a donor.q As donors I/we want to receive the newsletter. (The newsletter is available for donations of $25 or more.)Name(s) ___________________________________________________ Phone _____________________________

Mailing address _________________________________________________________ Zip ____________________

email _____________________________ I want to receive: q email updates q newsletter on line*

Please mail to: South Whidbey Tilth Association, P.O. Box 252, Langley, Washington 98260

Join Us or Renew

*arrives monthly in pdf format which can be opened using Adobe™ Acrobat Reader

Summary of notes taken by Prescott

Join us for a lovely din-ner together and to open up another discussion of

Tilth in 2010 and beyond. The next planning and

growth meeting is at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday, April 8 at the Trinity Lutheran Church community building in Free-land. Bring a potluck dish to share and your own eating utensils; there will be hot beverages available.

The process started on February 22 this year. It began with two questions: What is South Whidbey Tilth? In the next five years what would you like to see on the South Whidbey Tilth Sustainability Campus?

A brief summary follows, and more complete notes will be available at the meeting.

Many people expressed enthusiasm for the Tilth Farm Demonstration Project begun by Eric Conn last season

with the hoop house, com-munity garden and the farm stand, and the land steward committee has begun imple-menting some ideas. It is headed by Linda Good with help from Anza Muenchow, Ginny Kuehn, Marc Wilson and Sherrie Wendt.

Gary Ingram hopes to see animal husbandry included. Karen Epifano is interested in an edible campus. J.C. May plans to continue his steady maintenance of the wilder parts of the campus in the up-lands, patroling for invasive weeds and working with the Native Plant Stewards.

J.C. broached the idea that construction of a learning center is due. Marc, Michael Seraphinoff, Prescott, Gary and Marlene Will want to be involved in raising funds and constructing a learning center to meet educational and ad-ministrative needs.

Several people also ex-pressed the wish that the

campus remain a peaceful place serving many types of people, offering food grow-ing opportunities, alternative energy, music and play. Re-spect for the energy levels of others was noted — matching individual passions with par-ticular projects. Several want to make the campus available to community groups.

Marc, Edward Hueneke and Prescott want to work on the website interactivity by promoting current Tilth projects, developing links to

other community activities, making it easier to join or re-new membership and donate online, and distributing an effective newsletter.

The gathering adjourned after four hours, and Karen and Anza were thanked for or-ganizing the meeting. Karen made available notes and surveys from earlier planning and strategy sessions from as far back as Judith Gorman’s 2000 envisioning workshop and as recently as Lynn Geri’s workshop two years ago.

Visions and Plans for Tilth Advancement

Meet Author of Diet for a Hot PlanetAnna Moore Lappe, author of Diet for a Hot Planet: The Climate Crisis at the End of Your Fork, will talk about her book at an event at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, April 15 at the Tom Douglas’ Palace Ballroom, 2030 5th Avenue, Seattle,

Lappe is the co-author of Grub and Hope’s Edge and is co-host of “The End-less Feast” on PBS. She will

outline a vision of the future in which our food system does more good than harm, with six principles for an earth-friendly diet, fueled by sustainable farming.

Tickets are $35, and in-clude a copy the book, ap-petizers and bites of Theo Chocolate. They are available at www.brownpapertickets.com.



SOUTH WHIDBEY TILTH ASSOCIATIONA NONPROFIT CORPORATION AND A CHAPTER OF WASHINGTON TILTH

POST OFFICE BOX 252LANGLEY WASHINGTON 98260WWW.SOUTHWHIDBEYTILTH.ORG

APRIL

6 Tilth Film Night, 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, home of Mark Dworkin and Melissa Young. Two films. See story on page 4.

7 Visualizing Resilience and Abundance, potluck 5:30 p.m., program 6:30 Wednesday. Transition Whidbey’s Potlucks with a Purpose series. $5; bring eating utensils; www.transitionwhidbey.org

8 Tilth Advance (envisioning), 6 p.m. Thursday, Trinity Lutheran Church community building, Freeland; potluck at 5:30. See story on on page 9.

10 Growing Groceries, 9 a.m.-noon Saturday, Bayview School, Langley. See story on page 4.

11 Tilth Community Garden work party, 11 a.m. Sunday, noon meeting-potluck; 360-221-6439 or [email protected]

13 Food: Back to Basics, 7 p.m. Tuesday, Deer Lagoon Grange. Growing Sprouts - extreme fast food gardening. Free; see story on page 6.

15 Tilth newsletter production for May. Contact Joan Soltys at 360-730-2207 or [email protected].

17 Tilth Market Vendor Meeting,10 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday, Farmers’ Market. See story on page 1.

25 Earth Day Celebration, noon to 5 p.m. Sunday, Bayview Corner. See story on page 3..

27 Food: Back to Basics, 7 p.m. Tuesday, Deer Lagoon Grange. “So You Want To Get a Goat.” Free; see story on page 6.

MAY

1 Opening Day Tilth Farmers’ Market, 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday. See story on page 1.

IN THIS ISSUE

Farmers’Market Opens..............1Tilth Vendor Meeting...................1New Home for Library..................2Earth Day Celebration................3Growing Groceries.....................4Tilth Film Night........................4Gardening Column.....................5President’s Messsage.............6Land Trust Campaign.................7Business Meeting Report........8Whidbey Econet.........................8Tilth Advance.........................9

CALENDAR

8 Plant Sale Fundraiser, 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday, Friends of Friends Medical Support Fund at South Whidbey Tilth Sustainability Campus

11 Food: Back to Basics, 7 p.m. Tuesday, Deer Lagoon Grange. Principles of Bangalore; India cooking techniques. Free; see story on page 6.

13 South Whidbey Tilth Business Meeting, 6 p.m. Thursday, May 13, at Trinity Lutheran Church’s community building. A potluck precedes the meeting at 5:30 p.m.

15 Tilth newsletter production for May. Contact Joan Soltys at 360-730-2207 or [email protected].

26 Tilth Producers Farm Walk, 12:30-4 p.m. Monday, Black Sheep Creamery, Chehalis. See story on page 4.

ONGOING

Tilth Farmers’ Market, 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturdays, May through October 9, Tilth Sustainability Campus.

Kitchen Garden Classes, 10 a.m.-noon Thursdays, Tilth Campus, adjacent to community garden. Demonstrations, hands-on cultivation techniques of organic food growing; Anza Muenchow, 360-579-2890.

Landscaping, propagation and cultivation. Workdays on Thursdays and Sundays; Sherrie Wendt, 360-579-5844; Cleveland Hall, 360-321-1905; J.C. May, 360-331-1004; or [email protected]. To participate in salvage work with native plants call Barbara Kolar, 360-678-4281.

Good Cheer Garden work party, 9-4 Wednesdays, picnic at noon. Check website goodcheergarden.wordpress.com.

South Whidbey Tilth · varieties and interesting herbs. The Laughing Cat always dishes up something tasty throughout the market. Café Mam’s excellent organic coffee will be served,

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