Category Archives: Sustainable Food

Annual Wasatch Plant Sale Scheduled for May 10

SLCgreen note: We received this email from Wasatch Community Gardens, and were so excited that we had to share it with you! Mark your calendars for the 2014 Plant Sale on Saturday, May 10!

Dear Friends,

It’s starting to feel like spring, and that means Wasatch Community Gardens’ Plant Sale is just around the corner! Mark your calendar for Saturday, May 10 and don’t miss this opportunity to buy plants for your whole yard while also supporting your favorite community gardening organization.

We will have a selection of more than sixty beautiful, organic varieties of tomatoes, so you don’t need to worry about us running out.

And tomatoes are just the beginning.We will also have an outstanding variety of perennials, including unique edibles, sun and shade loving varieties, Utah natives, and ornamental grasses.

We will have our famous organic heirloom veggie seedlings and annual flowers for companion planting. And, there will be a huge selection of organic herbs including basil, rosemary, oregano, and more. Last but not least, we will be selling bags of compost.

It’s easy to get an invite to our Friday night pre-sale. Just sign up to volunteer, or consider making a gift of $250 or more to Wasatch Community Gardens in support of our gardening and education programs. This is a great way to ensure that you get the first pick of all of the tomatoes, perennials, and other garden goodies available.

We also have a fantastic line-up of educational workshops and Food Talks in the coming month. And, as always, we have plots available in many of our community gardens.

Already looking forward to my first homegrown, heirloom tomato,

Ashley Patterson
Executive Director

P.S. Are you busy on May 10? Again this year we are offering home delivery of hand selected packages from our team of WCG plant experts. Check out the options to see if one meets your needs and we’ll deliver your order to your porch or driveway on May 10.

Call for Board Members: Green Urban Lunchbox

The Green Urban Lunchbox is looking for board members!

The Green Urban Lunchbox is a small nonprofit organization with the mission of helping people of all income levels gain access to healthy food using resources available in their communities.

The nonprofit is currently made up of numerous programs, including a mobile
greenhouse, an incubator farm, the Back-Farm Program, and a fruit share program.

In addition to the Roles and Responsibilities listed below, the organization is looking to expand to include individuals with expertise in one or more of the following areas:

Accounting and financial management
Food policy
Fundraising and development
Legal
Public relations and marketing

The roles and responsibilities are listed below. Any interested individuals should send a letter of interest and a resume to the Board Chair, Phil Sarnoff, at philsarnoff@gmail.com no later than April 14, 2014.

Board Roles & Responsibilities

Legal and Policy

Enable the continued legal existence of the organization
Adopt, follow, update and administer Green Urban Lunchbox bylaws
Adopt and assume responsibility for Green Urban Lunchbox purposes, governing principles,
functions, activities, and course of action
Assume responsibility for internal policies governing the organization

Planning

Establish long term and short term goals for the Green Urban Lunchbox
Develop a Strategic and Annual Work Plan.
Funding & Financial Management:
Assist in raising sufficient funds to ensure the Green Urban Lunchbox meets its objectives
Develop and approve annual budget and monitor finances.

Advocacy

Understand and publicize the work of the Green Urban Lunchbox in the community
Inspire confidence in the organization and relate our services to the work of other groups
Advocate for public policy, economic development, and other initiatives that advance the
efforts of the Green Urban Lunch Box

Evaluation

Regularly review and evaluate operations and standards of organization performance
Monitor program activities

Personnel

Hire and evaluate the Executive Director
Approve personnel policies
Participate in the recruitment, selection and development of Board of Directors

Time Commitments Anticipated

Board meeting – 2 hours/month
Preparation/follow-up work outside of meetings – 2-4 hours/month

FruitShare’s Guide to Maintaining Your Trees

Salt Lake City’s FruitShare program is growing leaps and bounds! Last year the program collected over 10,000 pounds of fresh local fruit from residential trees and put it into the hands of individuals with low access to healthy produce.

Even though the temperatures are brisk and your trees are bare, now is the time to think about participating in FruitShare in 2014!

Register new trees or volunteer to harvest (& enjoy a share of the bounty!)

Here is a timeline of 2014 FruitShare events and opportunities:

February – March:
Fruit Tree Pruning — If you’re interested in having your tree(s) pruned/trimmed, please send an email by February 15th and you will be added to our trimming list. Please note, we may not be able to get to some trees due to resources and or eligibility. Adding your tree to our list does not guarantee trimming service. We will inform you whether or not you will receive trimming service. A suggested donation of $25 is requested for this service to help cover the cost of providing this service.

March:
Fruit Tree Pruning Workshop — March 29, 2014 from 10 a.m.-1 p.m.
Join Wasatch Community Gardens and Tree Utah for a lesson on fruit tree care. In this hands-on workshop you will learn about how to use your pruning tools. And, you will learn all about pruning and caring for your fruit trees. Attending this workshop or another fruit tree pruning class will make your tree(s) a priority on our harvest list.

May – June:
Thinning — Larger healthier fruit comes from coaxing the tree to put more energy into fewer of them – and therefore pulling off good fruit when they are small. Fruit thinning channels more of a tree’s attention to the fruit that remains. Thinning lessens weight on branches and helps manage pests and diseases that prefer fruit bunched close together. Thin the crop when developing fruits are about an inch in diameter. We need volunteers to help thin fruit trees. If you are interested in volunteering, please send us an email.

June – October:
Harvest time!

New Incubator Farm Launches this Spring

Ponder this:

For every one farmer and rancher under the age of 25, there are five who are 75 or older, according to the Department of Agriculture. If we do not support new and beginning farmers, who will grow our food into the future?

The Green Urban Lunchbox project is starting a new incubator (or community) farm in Layton, Utah this spring. What was once an abandoned orchard will be brought back to life as a place for new farmers to have access to land, water, tools and training.

“This is a great chance for people to get into farming, without all the cost,” says Green Urban Lunchbox founder and director Shawn Peterson. “Our plots will run from $150-500 a year and range in size from 1/8th of an acre to 1 acre.” Continue reading →

Community Garden Open House

Salt Lake City Green, in partnership with Wasatch Community Gardens, will host a community garden open house this Wednesday.

Green City Growers Open House
Wednesday, November 13^th from 6-8 p.m.
First floor of the Salt Lake City & County Building (451 S. State Street)

The public is invited to come and learn about newly identified parcels of City-owned and operated land now available for the development of community gardens. Information about the Green City Growers application process and available resources will also be provided.

Continue reading →

Give Hope, Opportunity & Training to New Farmers

Photo: Shawn Peterson

The Green Urban Lunch Box, a project of the Community Foundation of Utah, is preparing to launch an incubator farm in the spring of 2014.

An incubator farm offers urban farmers access to land on which they can start their own growing operations with guidance from experienced farmers. The Green Urban Lunchbox’s planned incubator farm is located in Layton, UT on an old fruit orchard leased from the Utah Department of Transportation.

Continue reading →

The Challenge of the 100 Mile Meal

Photo by Jeremy via Flickr.

This evening, Salt Lake City Green and Mayor Ralph Becker will host the 100 Mile Meal: Food with a Salt Lake City Story. The meal represents a celebration of Salt Lake City’s local food, farms and economy, while illustrating a commitment to sustainable agriculture.

Did you know the average meal in the United States travels 1,500 miles from the farm to your plate? Food that travels long distances impacts:

Environment. A larger carbon footprint due to fuel consumption and polluting emissions.
Food Security. Limited accountability due to large processing and distribution chains leaves food more vulnerable to contamination.
Nutrition. Fruits and veggies are most nutritious (and delicious!) when they are fresh.
Economy. Local farms mean more local jobs and revenue.

The 100 Mile Meal features seasonal ingredients sourced from farms within 100 miles of Mayor Becker’s office. In this day and age, this was no easy feat.

Continue reading →

Do you have Food $ense?

Food Day is in full swing in Salt Lake City!

Join the Utah State University Extension for two informative Food $ense classes this month:

New Foods, New Ways

Wednesday, October 23 from noon to 1 p.m.
2001 South State Street, South Building (S-1010)

Healthy Sweets

Wednesday, October 30 from 7-8 p.m.
West Jordan Library (8030 S 1825 W)

Walk ins are welcome, or you can register online.

Winter Farmers Market Arrives Nov 9

Although the Downtown Farmers Market is in its final days of the season, another farmers market is on the horizon for Salt Lake City residents.

Salt Lake City Mayor Ralph Becker and the Downtown Alliance recently announced the arrival of a new Winter Farmers Market that will take up residence in the Rio Grande Depot.

Opening day is scheduled for Saturday, November 9. The Winter Farmers Market will take place every other Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. through April 26.

Officials are heralding this as an important step towards a year round market, similar to those seen in Seattle, Portland and Madison, Wisconsin.

Roughly 50 vendors are slated to participate, offering fresh produce, meat, bread, honey, eggs and other items.

Community Gardens are Sprouting!

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LHysILCIYX0&w=640&h=480]

Do you dream of growing your own vegetables? Salt Lake City has some exciting news for you!

Eight City-owned or managed parcels of land have been identified for the development of community gardens.

Interested? Then head over to SLCgreen.com to review the eight available parcels, located in key areas throughout Salt Lake City. There you will also find the Green City Growers Application Packet, with information on the six step application process.

Applications are due by December 15, 2013. So get moving!

[10-18-2013] A special thank you to the Salt Lake Tribune and Deseret News for covering our October 17 event at Cannon Greens Community Garden!