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May Harvests- By Evan Lewarch, Summer Intern 2015

5/24/2015

2 Comments

 
For my first two weeks my work in the garden was mainly focused on preparing the beds by weeding, adding compost, "finessing" the irrigation system or any number of other important tasks that need to be done before our desired plants even make it into the ground.  This week was my first chance to focus on harvesting the fruits of our labor.
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Later in the day, Brent took Kai and I out to inspect the beehives.  The first hive we inspected had been purchased- so we were able to locate the Queen by a blue dot painted on her back by the supplier.  The other two hives involved a bit of detective work.  After inspecting the comb, we found evidence of recent egg-laying activity in both hives- indicating they both had active Queens.  This was especially great news because both these hives were free additions to the community- the first was a swarm captured near New Earth Song, and the second just showed up in the empty hive one day.  With such a bounty of bees- we might be seeing some honey in the future.
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Tuesday brought more irrigation work, but set the stage for free time on Wednesday to help Susie with harvesting some roses for jam and syrup. You'd have to ask Susie for the specific recipe, but it involved a copious amount of sugar, water, some lemons, and a dash of pectin to get it to the right consistency.  While putting our newly created jam in jars, we had a chance to put some of the stuff fresh on toast. Yum!
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 On Sunday, Helen gave a lovely presentation on seed saving.  We ventured out into the garden and after picking the most desirable plants, we had left a fair few signs fluttering merrily in the breeze. (If you see such a sign, please don't harvest the plant- it's seeds are being saved for future plantings!)
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 On Monday I had the chance to help Helen harvest greens for dinner. Our targets were kale, a few handfuls of lambs quarters, and a rather paltry serving of the lettuce that had survived the weeds and slugs in the southeastern hoop house.
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 On the topic of harvests, the strawberries are popping like popcorn all over Songaia- every day a few more turn a brilliant red and appear to leap out of the foliage.  I also had a chance to tie up some raspberry bushes this week in the southwest part of the keyhole garden.  The path now takes you around freshly planted tomatoes. It should be a great harvest later in the season!
2 Comments

Community Nutrition at Songaia - by Dana Stitts, Dietetic Intern, Summer 2015

5/24/2015

4 Comments

 
As part of my dietetic internship in community nutrition, I’ve enjoyed the opportunity to work in the garden. After all the office and computer work, it’s wonderful to get outside in the lovely spring weather. I don’t have much experience gardening, but hope to start a garden of my own soon, and what better way to learn than helping out at Songaia.
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In addition to my work in the garden, I’ve also had the pleasure to help with Fox in the Forest. With Susie, I’ve learned about foraging and cooking with plants outside our usual scope of fruits and vegetables. This has included souffle, syrup, chai tea, and creamy soup all made from dandelions, as well as a plethora of rose petal jam. Plus, who knew the little yellow flowers from collard greens are so tasty? It’s been great broadening my horizons of harvestable plants.
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Lately more of my focus in the garden has been helping transplant squash and other vegetables. Though it may sound simple, transplanting involves digging up jungles of weeds to prepare beds, followed by digging holes, adding fertilizer and lime, and then finally adding the plant with a nice mound of soil and compost. Following the planting, the plants have had their trials through slugs and sunburns (caused by insufficient “hardening” before the transplant), but I’m sure by the end of the summer we’ll have a magnificent crop to enjoy.
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The last month has been a great experience not just in nutrition, but also gardening, permaculture, and community. Thank you Songaia for having me, and for the many lessons I can take with me for future adventures.

Dana
4 Comments

An Introduction to Me and Songaia, by Kainui Rappaport - Garden Intern Summer 2015

5/17/2015

3 Comments

 
I was raised in Hawaii and I lived in Oregon before coming here to the North Seattle area. I am a student atCascadia College. I am interested in environmental computer and social activism. My hope is that I can learn to live a more sustainable lifeat Songaia.

It’s easy to get isolated from Nature. Many of us live a sedentary lifestyle. Our society is sedentary from school to work. I have taken classes about the environment – which means looking at photos of the environment in a dim lit room. Furthermore, we become an isolated community in our suburbs on busy streets and with steep driveways that are dangerous for kids to play in.


I combat this status quo by hiking, volunteering or working in environment organizations, practicing yoga, and stretching. I have done various activism for protecting the environment and workers rights, yet I don’t completely live a sustainable life. I don’t have land to practice gardening. I am looking into gardening in pots and garden plots.

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Capturing a swarm of honey bees Helen noticed on the driveway.
I said farewell and biked back home. The community had a lasting impact on me. I hope to come back again, whether it be weekly visits or to apply to be an intern. I want to learn more about community housing and permaculture while I contribute my labor and knowledge.

Next week I start school again. I am reflecting on my experience at school and at Songaia. This
spring break I spent considering what kind of life I want to live and how I will be able to contribute to
the environment. My involvement with Songaia will be a big leap forward in living sustainability. I
appreciate all of the mentors in this community who have taught me so much about the gardens.

Peace out,
Kai
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Two large tables holding plants being "hardened off". Adjusting to ultra-violet light before being planted.
I recently found Songaia through a northwest directory of intentional communities. I biked an
hour to get to this place. It was a beautiful area in a great location. On my first day, I had a communal breakfast, toured the community, and volunteered in the gardens, and had lunch. I learned more about the communities passion principle: doing things based on interest. I removed blackberry bushes with two other members, a WOOFing intern one of the members of Songaia. I was invited for a community
lunch. I worked in the afternoon to do further weeding. It was a educational experience for me. 
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Volunteers from the University of Washington, Bothell, planting tomatoes.
3 Comments

Halfway Through May: The Struggle Against Bindweed - By Evan Lewarch, Summer Intern 2015

5/17/2015

3 Comments

 
I started my stay at Songaia just in time for the annual Festival of the Earth.  After a long celebration day, and a dance around the Maypole, the real work started.  

In two weeks I have had a chance to work in the garden a lot, but as time has progressed, I have found my true passion: the destruction of our notorious bindweed.  My first introduction to the stuff was about five minutes after I arrived – I made my way down into the garden and was greeted by Gabriel, one of the other interns.  He pulled up a handful of bindweed and told me that I’d become familiar with the stuff.  

I don’t think we were even trying to weed at the time – but its nefarious roots make their way all throughout the soil and it pops up just about everywhere.  Now I find myself with handfuls of the stuff while I’m working on “finessing” the irrigation system, or planting tomatoes, or shoveling mulch.  It seems to be the mark of many of the “Biogaians” to find oneself plucking idly at the bindweed during a break, or even whilst more intently working on something else. 
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Beginning design work on the rain-water catchment project.
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Pictured is bindweed at work - the purplish stems with green arrowhead shaped leaves are all bindweed.
 In theory, there should be a low maintenance way for the garden to actively fight against an intruder like bindweed.  Unfortunately, the stuff seems to be ridiculously hardy and productive.  The other day I helped clear the rabbit fence on the south side of the garden and found it had tied up and out-competed Himalayan Blackberry, some hardy grasses, a ridiculous amount of Buttercups, and even some of itself.  Everything was wrapped in its tentacles, sometimes it even would span several feet to reach another plant, and other tendrils would wrap around it until there was a green cord of woven strands.  


The longer I stay here, I know I’ll get to work on all sorts of interesting projects, but I also know that the future definitely holds a large amount of bindweed too.
3 Comments

Songaia Experience, by Gabriel de Godoy, 2015 Summer Intern

5/4/2015

2 Comments

 
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My first contact with Songaia was quite curious. I was at a train station on the California coast waiting for an order to arrive by the time I had an interview with Patricia and Douglas. After several times trying to complete the call, that wouldn´t go because of a loud train arriving or the bad connection at the place, we finally could chat a bit and talk about the ideas and goals of each side involved  in this internship. By that time, I already thought that I had screwed my interview and image, but thanks God they accepted me!  

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Helen in the potting shed.
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Weeding with Laura.
When I got here I realized how much I had to learn and live at this place, about things that weren´t really in my plans when I started wwoofing. As an Engineer, I wanted to see big productions and systems, but soon I got amazed by the beauty of living in community. And it has been a wonderful experience! In the course of time I started to understand more about a theme that has been changing my professional perspectives: Permaculture. 
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After several meetings and activities with the Piglets, I could see that there´s no more space for the traditional agriculture in the world and some of the things I´d been studying. 
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Cracking walnuts.
Since then, I´ve been challenging myself on how to apply the knowledge obtained at university, now in ´´smaller´´ scales.
But I´ll be forever thankful to Patricia and Helen to have invested so much time and energy and showed me this art of cultivating vegetables, trees and lives. By the end of this month I´ll be heading to my next stop, but will certainly bring the memories and experience gained here. I hope I´ll be able to come back visit one day and please, don´t let this dream die guys, the world needs more places like this! Thank you so much. See you soon, love, Gabriel.
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Hiking with Rich in the nearby hills.
2 Comments

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