Valley’s bountiful produce gleaned for community food banks

Reducing food waste by increasing the amount of fresh local produce available in food banks and soup kitchens is the mission of Community Harvest, an offshoot of Wenatchee’s nonprofit Community Farm Connection.

Throughout 2013, Community Harvest and Wenatchee Valley College are offering free monthly workshops to kick-start gardening efforts, particularly for those who’ve never tried gardening before. They’ve covered container gardening, beneficial insectsand raised beds. Upcoming workshops focus on shopping farmers’ markets on a budget, pinpointing pest and nutrient problems, saving seeds, canning and more; a complete list is here.

Community Harvest is a gleaning program, said Hannah Hostetter, its coordinator. Hostetter commands armies of volunteers – and she can always use more – who glean produce from farms and orchards that donate their extras to the cause. The Chelan-Douglas Community Action Council steps in to help distribute the fresh fruits, vegetables and greens.

Even backyard farmers can help by designating one row in their gardens for food banks, Hostetter said.  

In 2012, Community Harvest collected more than 8,000 pounds of produce that was redistributed. Already this year, about 2,500 pounds of produce has been gleaned and given.

Hannah Hostetter

Hostetter came to Wenatchee through the national AmeriCorps program and Rotary First Harvest.  Originally from Bozeman, she served as a crew leader for the Montana Conservation Corps. She majored in environmental studies and English literature at Seattle University, and has worked with Seattle Tilth and other volunteer programs.

Those interested in attending the workshops should call Hostetter to RSVP at (509) 509-387-5372 or email gleaning@communityfarmconnection.org. Also call or email  to get involved in volunteering , donating produce or designating a row from your own garden for local food banks. You can find Community Harvest on Facebook.

Community Farm Connection has four other programs:

• The Farmhouse Table produce market at 10 N. Mission St., offering eggs, meats, cheeses, milk, grains and produce.
• Community Supported Agriculture. Customers pre-order boxes of fresh produce supplied by several farms that are delivered to customers’ doorsteps.
• A farm-to-chef program.
• Educational workshops for growers and the public.

Gadgets, gizmos and lots of good stuff for your home and garden await you at the KPQ Home and Garden Show, March 8-10 at the Town Toyota Center.

Chelan PUD staff will be on hand with information on new programs including appliance rebates, refrigerator recycling and duct testing and sealing for manufactured homes. Sign up for our monthly e-newsletter and receive your choice of an LED night light or a compact fluorescent light bulb. Interested in paperless billing? We can help with that, too.

More than 150 exhibitors will set up displays inside and outside the center.  Learn the latest in home construction, decor and — of course — energy savings and green living.

WSU Master Gardeners will be on hand to answer your gardening questions, share about the Xeriscape and Community Education gardens, and diagnose problems you may be having in your backyard. Need a pair of gloves or a Day by Day Resource Guide on what to do in your garden when? You can get both at this year’s show. A schedule of seminars and workshops is available here.

Show hours are Friday, March 8, noon to 7 p.m.; Saturday, March 9, 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.; and Sunday, March 10, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Admission is free.

See you there!

Fill 'er up: Use a bag like this and you can avoid the paper vs. plastic dilemma.

Unbeknownst to me, I took the Bag Challenge at Foodland in Waipouli, Kauai in November. My husband and I were on vacation there for two weeks and became frequent Foodland shoppers, bringing our reusable bags to carry our groceries. We were rewarded with 5 cents off per bag and a reusable Foodland tote, a nice souvenir.

Hawaii is the first state to ban plastic bags, and they were nowhere to be seen at any of the shops we visited. From the big box stores like Wal Mart to the tiniest takeout stands, it was cloth or brown paper. 

Bringing our own bags was an easy habit to get into. So we’ve been wondering: why don’t we see more of that here? Sure, there’s a debate about whether paper or plastic is less harmful to the environment. But how about using neither?

Plastic bags have been banned in Seattle for almost a year now, and the transition seems to have gone smoothly. After just one month KING 5 TV reported the bag ban was “taking hold easier than people expected.”

Seattle Public Utilities offers these tips to consumers which apply anywhere, bag ban or not:

• Keep several reusable bags in the car for trips to the grocery store.
• A small bag, the kind that goes into a little stuff bag, can be carried in your backpack, shoulder bag or purse.
• Reuse or recycle paper bags when you get them or donate clean ones to your neighborhood food bank.
• When you get plastic bags from a store, save them and put newspaper and dry cleaning bags and plastic film packaging in them for recycling.

Most local grocery stores offer plastic bag recycling.

An engaging, interactive look at the paper vs. plastic conflict is on the msnbc website. Hear from representatives of the paper and plastic industries, see the latest trends in reusable bags, and calculate the impact if you change your bag habits.

Related stories
Plastic bag recycling: http://www.plasticbagrecycling.org/00.0/
The case against plastic bags: http://www.allgreenthings.com/store/pc/Paper-vs-Plastic-d9.htm
The case for plastic bags: http://www.justfactsdaily.com/bans-on-plastic-bags-harm-the-environment

A workshop on Landscaping for Low Impact Development (LID) is being offered through Washington State University Chelan County Extension on Wednesday, Oct. 10, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Tree Fruit Research Center, 1100 Western Ave., Wenatchee.

The focus of the program is on soil amendment, plant material selection and maintenance, including the use of pesticides and fertilizers.  

Paula Dinius, urban horticulturist for WSU Chelan County Extension, will present the workshop. By following  natural ecological processes  “we can create diverse, productive, interdependent systems to improve urban landscapes through bioretention for water quality, and manage snow melt and storm water runoff at the source and on the surface,” she said.

The afternoon portion of the program will be held in Riverfront Park.

This is the third in a series of horticultural program offered this year. The fee is $10. A brochure and registration form is here. For more information contact Dinius at (509) 667-6540 or pdinius@wsu.edu.

Equisetum hyemale, or scouring rush horsetail

Noxious or obnoxious — is there a difference?

“ObNoxious Weeds” are the focus of a July 26 workshop presented by WSU Chelan County Extension and sponsored by Chelan County PUD.  The goal of the program is to help landscapers and caretakers identify noxious weeds and decide what to do about them.

Weeds are an ever-present challenge for land stewards, and how they’re managed can have a significant impact on the ecosystem, economics, and aesthetics, said Paula Dinius, urban horticulturist with WSU Chelan County Extension.  Workshop presenters will demonstrate how to develop an integrated weed management plan that considers all factors, she said.

The seminar will be held at the WSU Tree Fruit Research and Extension Center, 1100 N. Western Ave., Wenatchee.

From 9 a.m. to noon, experts will cover weed identification, plant characteristics, and chemical and biological control options. Presenters include Dinius; Julie Sanderson, Chelan County Noxious Weed Control Center; Julie Sauve, pesticide specialist with the Wilbur-Ellis Co.; and Dale Whaley of WSU Chelan County Extension.  After a break for lunch, participants will head for the field to identify weeds and discuss integrated weed management plans.

The program fee is $10. More information is available by contacting Dinius at (509) 667-6540 or pdinius@wsu.edu.