Have you noticed the fruit trees on your street leaning over with abudance, tons of veggies in your garden, the full stands at the farmer's market? These are the tell-tale signs of peak gleaning season!

The Thurston County Food Bank has a Gleaning Program so that more of this locally grown food reaches hungry mouths, and less of it goes to waste. Farmers and gardeners can call the gleaners if they need help harvesting their abundance, and volunteers can help by joining the ranks, receiving weekly email updates and harvest times. Gleaning is a great activity for families and groups, contact us and we can schedule a volunteer day that works for you.

If you have a spare day each week, or even just once this harvest season, we'd love to have you along for a glean! And if you have produce for us to harvest, do your part in eliminating food waste, and give us a call.

Donation hours are Monday-Friday 8:30-4:00 at 220 Thurston Ave NE

To work with the Thurston County Food Bank’s gleaning and gardening efforts:

email gleaning@thurstoncountyfoodbank.org

call Shannon (360) 352-8597 ext. 108

Get weekly updates via Facebook www.facebook.com/thurstoncountygleaners

Happy Harvest Season!

Perennial Vegetables and more From Growing Places Nursery and Terra Commons.

Every Saturday in June and July*
3203 Cooper point road, Olympia**
(North of kaiser rd, across the street from the gas station)

Perennial vegetables are an integral part of many cultural diets around the world, yet have fallen out of favor in most of Europe, and other western influenced cultures. The most common perennial vegetables grown today are asparagus, rhubarb, and artichoke, yet hundreds of other varieties can be grown easily in our climate. Once planted, perennial vegetables will usually thrive for years to come with only minimal effort needed from the gardener to maintain them.

For more information and to see the full list of what will be available visit www.growingplacesnursery.com

10% of all sales benefit Terra Commons to help in spreading the word about Edible Forest Gardens in the Cascadia Bio-region
* While supplies last
** Our retail location is not at our nursery. Retail locations may change, so check back our website for the most current listing.

a slideshow presentation by Marisha Auerbach

Traditions Cafe: 300 5th Ave, Olympia, WA

$10 - $7 sliding scale

In the Maritime Northwest, it is possible to grow all our own produce year-round with limited time to establish a system and limited effort. As petroleum becomes more expensive, this sort of system can provide an example to support our evolution to a more sustainable society. Marisha Auerbach specializes in converting properties from grass to to a perennial forage system. A perennial forage system functions much like a natural ecological system, and yields year round produce with minimal work. These systems are developed to meet the needs of the inhabitants on site. Marisha provides most of her diet and income from her garden and has surplus produce and crafts to give away and trade for other supplies.

This presentation is an invitation for you to visit Marisha's garden through slides and lecture. She will be discussing how you can work towards self-reliance in produce if you have property to work with as well as guerrilla tactics to grow more food and flowers in the greater Olympia area. This lecture offers an opportunity to create cultural change through gardening.

For more information or to register, contact Marisha Auerbach at (360) 273-7117 or queenbee@herbnwisdom.com

Perennial Vegetable Plant Sale
with self seeding annuals, shrubs and trees too

Saturdays May 15th, and May 29th 10am-3pm
3203 Cooper point road, Olympia

Perennial vegetables are an integral part of many cultural diets around the world, particularly in tropical agriculture. Perennial vegetables fell out of favor in most of Europe, and other western influenced cultures, once industrial agriculture gained a foothold. Some of the older temperate varieties include: seakale, mallow, sorrel, and Good King Henry. The most commons perennial vegetables grown today are asparagus, rhubarb, and artichoke, yet hundreds of other varieties can be grown easily in our climate. Once planted, perennial vegetables will usually thrive for years to come with only minimal effort needed from the gardener to maintain them.

Some plants (perennial and annual) that will be available at the sale include: Good King Henry, Artichoke, Borage, Nasturtium, Garlic Chives, Strawberry Spinach (aka "beet-berry"), Asparagus and many more.

To see the full list of what will be available visit www.terracommons.us and click on "Nursery"

For more information email terracommons@gmail.com or call (360) 339-3329

Perennial Vegetable Cultivation  by Dave Sansone   Powerpoint slide show about how to grow rare and tasty perennial vegetables easily and in an environmentally friendly way.   Perennial vegetables are growing in popularity because they are easy to grow and will come back each year. They also tend to be 2-3 times higher in nutrition than farm grown annuals and can be used in sustainable cultivation systems like edible forest gardens.    February 15     7-9 PM     Traditions Café   February 16     6-8 PM     Evergreen State College - Lecture Hall 1   Some plants to be highlighted include:   Good King Henry, Musk Mallow, Salad Burnet, Cow Parsnip, Alexanders, Jerusalem Artichokes, Japanese Parsely, Corn Salad and many more!   Perennial Vegetable Seeds For Sale Both Nights!!   Questions? Contact 360-339-3329 or e-mail terracommons@gmail.com   Co-sponsored by Terra Commons, Evergreen Community Garden, Environmental Resource Center  

Support the Olympia Free Herbal Clinic!

Enjoy live music by June Madrona and other artists over a three-course sit-down dinner featuring cob-oven pizza, locally grown produce and a variety of herbal treats, wild edibles salad, decadent desserts, wine and beverage bar, and raffle/silent auction. Vegan, meat, vegetarian, and gluten-free pizzas and more available!

Saturday, July 12, 5 to 9pm 

Fertile Ground Community Center; 311 9th Ave SE (across from Olympia Timberland Library)

$10 to $20 Donation

Contact: olyfreeherbalclinic@riseup.net

The Olympia Free Herbal Clinic is an umbrella project of Done & Done 501(c)3. We're raising funds to open a free clinic at the Bread & Roses Advocacy Center during the summer of 2008. We hope to have walk-in hours one to two days per week. We'll offer education, personalized health consultations, botanical remedies and other supplies free of charge. We serve to empower anyone and everyone, regardless of financial or other circumstances, to take charge of their own health care.