If there is a group of students on the University of Washington campus that knows how to get down and dirty it’s the UW Farm. The UW farm is a student-run organization that is based around creating a knowledgeable and thriving community dedicated to sustainable urban agriculture. They are a community-oriented resource for people who want to learn about building productive and sustainable urban landscapes.
The UW Farm is doing a great job in raising environmental awareness on campus and in the community. The UW farm provides valuable discussions and hands-on awareness of the importance of sustainability and local food systems. They engage in the understanding and practice of sustainable farming and commit to working towards reducing the amount of waste they produce.
The UW Farm’s current projects are selling produce to HFS, HFS’s Cultivate restaurant and the UW medical center as well as the University District Farmer’s Market. The farm produces all varieties of produce depending on the season. You may see beets, carrots, all kinds of lettuce, kale, turnips, parsnips, broccoli, kohlrabi, garlic, tomatoes, sunflowers, peppers, and summer and winter squash growing. They also host pizza bakes once a month to gather the farm community together for food, music and friends. Their biggest effort is put into volunteer resources and gathering people together for work parties at both of their farm sites and putting their hands in the dirt to grow food.
What will one learn at the UW Farm? The UW Farm provides experiential learning in a multitude of in-depth areas, such as mycology, bees, compost, crop planning, farm ecology and chemical free pest prevention. The organization hopes to provide people with a greater understanding of farming as a whole, but also the complexity and beauty of growing one’s own food and the importance of sustainable agriculture.
The UW Farm has been recognized for their hard work. They have won awards including an award from the Campus Sustainability Fund for $80,000 in 2011 and the Husky Green Award in 2010 and an Excellence in Teaching Award to Beth Wheat in 2010. They have been featured in various magazines and newspapers including, the Seattle Times, the Sierra Magazine, Sound Consumer, among others.
If you are interested in joining the UW Farm, check out their website at www.uwfarm.org and click ‘join our list serve’ or like them on Facebook. E-mails are sent out informing the community about upcoming events and ways to get involved. Currently, there are work parties down at the CUH every other Friday from 12:30-2:30pm beginning January 11. They have a calendar on the website that has all of their events, times and locations noted for easy access.
