People got their hands dirty at the Sea Mar Medical Clinic in Lynnwood recently for a healthy and delicious cause: installing a community garden.
The garden is part of Harvest at Home, a program created by the Snohomish Conservation District (SCD) and Verdant Health Commission. It is designed to increase access to edible gardening and fresh produce for South Snohomish County residents, especially for those with financial limitations.
With increasing food costs, rising demand (by up to 36%) at local food banks and funding to these banks and food pantries being threatened under the new administration, food self-sufficiency is turning into less of an ideal and more into an essential choice for many. It makes sense that gardening at home will continue to make its way into the spotlight. As residents explore options for cultivating their own food, vertical gardening — an innovative method of growing plants on vertical structures — proves ideal for people with limited space and those with limited mobility or reach, too.
In response to rising food costs and an increase in demand for food at local food banks, Snohomish Conservation District is partnering with Verdant Health Commission to pilot Harvest at Home, a free program to increase access to food gardening for residents of South Snohomish County.
It’s a rare sunny day in January, and about a dozen people gather on a farm in Snohomish County, Washington. The farmer, Brett Aiello of Reconnecting Roots Farm, wants to suppress the weeds around some newly planted fruit trees without disturbing the soil, and he’s enlisted some help.
The people in the field work together to sheet mulch the patch of land — some lay sections of clean cardboard, others cart wheelbarrows of bark chips across the field, carefully layering the chips onto the old boxes… Boehnlein says they’ve worked extensively with the Snohomish Conservation District. In one instance, the Snohomish Conservation District received a grant to explore agroforestry as a solution to farming wet ground.
The Forest Service announced it will award more than $1.9 million to Bonneville Environmental Foundation to help connect underserved and small acreage landowners to emerging climate markets.
This funded project will expand the foundation’s Carbon Credit Regional Operator Program, which provides local forest restoration partners with tools and training to reach small-acreage forest landowners and support their access to voluntary carbon markets.
As wildfire risks in Western Washington increase, Snohomish County officials are developing a county-wide protection plan.
The county is surveying residents to provide information about the area’s preparedness that will be used to develop the plan. The survey went live in early August and will be available until mid-November. Fire districts, as well as cities, community organizations, the Snohomish Conservation District, the forest service and the state Department of Natural Resources are participating in the planning effort.
The $73.6 million climate resiliency grant builds on more than 20 years of planning work by Ecology and a coalition of public agencies, Tribes, academic institutions and non-profit organizations. Together, they have investigated the steps needed to protect Washington’s coastal communities from climate-related hazards.
On Saturday, the Edmonds Stewards— with assistance from other local environment-focused groups— hosted a native plant giveaway at Edmonds’ Willow Creek Hatchery.
Snohomish Conservation District | 528 91st Ave NE, Lake Stevens, WA 98258 | 425-335-5634