Urban Farm School

I love this time of year! The garden is booming and the first real opportunities to save food for the winter are presenting themselves daily, berries for jam, jelly, syrups, and pie fillings, greens for freezing, cabbage for sauerkraut, broccoli for freezing and cauliflower for pickling and freezing. LOVE IT! The first potatoes are being dug and cured (and roasted on the BBQ) while the greens and herbs continue to make fresh, tender salads.

There is nothing better than the satisfaction of harvesting this time of year for fresh eating but even better is saving food for those dreary winter evenings when July-harvested broccoli livens a rice dish or bright red strawberry tops fresh-baked bread.

July is hopping with classes! We’re introducing our canning primers, an opportunity for people to take a small step towards greater food independence and an answer to that moment when you’re standing in the garden asking yourself “what am I going to do with all this food?” We are happy to provide safety, materials, and how-to education as well as a hands-on class where we will walk you step by step through the canning process and you will take home your work! We provide the jars, rings, lids, and fruit or vegetable for the class, all you do is show up with an apron and an eagerness to learn.

We are also offering our ever-popular “Extending the Harvest” class Thursday, July 16 where we discuss planting and maintenance of food for harvest during the fall and winter. We are pleased to be partnering with Five Star Farms in Battle Ground who have been gracious enough to host this class. And we’ve gone plain batty for bats with a local bat expert to guide us through the wonderful world of bats and their importance for the environment Thursday, July 30. This class will be held at Ridgefield Wildlife Refuge, Carty Unit, so bring your walking shoes and mosquito repellent it will be a great family outing!

We love the summer months and the bounty of the garden and the promise of food in January and February that have the flavor of summer, saved by our own hands from our own soil. Remember, that if you have an over abundance of food that you can’t keep up with the area food banks and pantries always welcome fresh produce!