Page last
edited:
08/30/2010 -
housekeeping/new email added
New Photos of the original COGS site, taken
Monday, 30 August - T. Pitre
By the front gate
Who is this quiet
gardener with the straw-colored braids? I
spoke, but
she was solemn and didn't say a thing. She
turned quickly and returned to her
task of weeding.
Everything nicely marked...carrots, spinach,
bush beans, etc;.
New photos from the
June Robinson Park by J. Burroughs
taken 8/4/2010.
Organic
gardening grows Published on Wed, Jan 13, 2010
by Dana Casey in The Sequim Gazette
Everyone
is aware of the benefits of eating
organically grown food. Artificial
pesticides and herbicides are
formulated to kill and they don't
target only pests and weeds.
Artificial fertilizers also add
chemicals to the soil that leach
into groundwater to pollute it as
well as rivers and oceans. Eating
locally grown organic foods also
benefits the community financially
and cuts down on the pollution of
long-distance transportation of
produce. Sequim Organic Gardeners
takes all this one step further:
Members grow as much of their own
food as possible. They are taking
control of their food on a personal
level. Some of them say they find
the work they do in their gardens to
be a form of aerobic exercise. Three
years in making In order to be an
organic garden, its grower can use
no artificial chemicals. Gardeners
instead use organic fertilizers,
compost, wood chips and organic
pesticides. It takes up to three
years for nonorganic products to
leach from the soil. Then a garden
can be considered organic. Many
times it helps to use raised beds
and amended soil to grow food in the
plot. Pam Larson, who started Sequim
Organic Gardeners five years ago,
also is involved in the Community
Organic Gardens in Sequim. She and
others offer help and encouragement
to those who would like to grow
their own food. They offer classes
for the first year someone grows
foods in the community gardens.
Sequim Organic Gardeners meets once
a month to discuss new techniques
and swap stories about what works in
their gardens and what doesn't. At
the next meeting, they will hear
from Tessa Gowans of Seed Dreams in
Port Townsend, who has heirloom
seeds that are specific for this
area. Anyone interested in joining
the group can contact Karen Westwood
at kwestwood@seanet.com or 683-1882.
Sequim says OK to a second community
garden. Story from PDN, here:
http://www.peninsuladailynews.com/article/20090801/news/308019995 COGS
phase 2, she (Liz Harper) added, "is
part of a larger vision I've always
had, of having a string of organic
gardens all over Sequim."
(8/4)Sequim Gazette:
New Spruce Street
Park greeted warmly
http://tinyurl.com/nshbak
Map to new garden location: <click
here> - arrow points to location
The Garden
in Color and Texture; Close-UP.
(Flash Movie)
The concept of a community garden is that a group of potential
gardeners come together to operate a parcel of land as a garden,
with each person having a small plot (say 10 foot by 10 foot for
starters). Tools, knowledge and work are shared and community
gardens typically build citizenship as well as community spirit.
Friends of the Fields
(FOF) was brought along first, because of
its initial contact with the students, but then also because of the
fact that people who get accustomed to eating good tasting,
wholesome local foods from their own garden were likely to want to
buy that same kind of food from local farmers, thereby increasing
the opportunity and income of our farmers. FOF agreed to serve as an
umbrella non-profit organization, enabling donations to the
community garden to be tax deductible. In addition, FOF will be able
to handle the liability concerns of the garden under its own
insurance program.
The group wanted to locate the garden in the heart of Sequim
because of the desire to be able to serve apartment dwellers and
students, special needs children and the elderly, all of whom might
have some difficulty using a garden at some more remote site. St.
Luke's Episcopal Church on N. 5th Street in Sequim was able to
handle the location question. They owned a parcel of land bordering
on West Fir St. just west of 5th Avenue that they had coincidentally
thought that one day, it might be a garden site. The lot is within a
few blocks of the Boys and Girls Club, Helen Haller Middle school,
and Sequim High School.
It has been named the Community Organic Garden of Sequim or COGS for
short. Having a location is not the same as having a garden. The
advisory committee governing the effort is already starting to work.
If you are willing to help, and/or can donate any needed items,
Please contact Liz Harper at 683-7698 if you would like to help or
to obtain more information. Come grow with us!
Click on the thumbnail,
above, for a very large
panorama of the COGs garden, taken 8-30-2010
[Use view menu item or scroll wheel to
resize large panorama of garden.]
We are star dust.... We
are golden.... And we've got to get
ourselves back to the garden.
Then can I walk beside you
I have come here to lose
the smog
And I feel to be a cog in
something turning
Well maybe it is just the
time of year
Or maybe it's the time of
man
I don't know who l am
But you know life is for
learning.
-Joni Mitchell
A friend recently returned
from Holland. She saw many community
gardens while on holiday there in July.
She believes that every
town has one and has had them for 20+ years.
The gardens are typically a bit bigger than
the original COGS garden. The plots are
pretty large and many have erected small
sheds to house their gardening paraphernalia
Dutch community garden
Twitter UPDATES from Sequim Gardens
Twitter Updates
Saturday
morning, May 15, the trowels were digging
and the wheelbarrow wheels spinning at the
Fir Street Community Organic Garden of
Sequim. Gardeners chatted and helped one
another as the garden enters its second
year.
Sequim Gazette photo by Matthew Nash
LINKS TO OUR FRIENDS, SPONSORS,
ETC. : Businesses and organizations
that support
the Community Organic Garden of
Sequim
This is not just a garden
for the community; its existence is a
function of the generosity of the community.
These businesses and organizations have been
joined by countless individuals who have
donated money and items that helped start
the garden:
Sequim First also provided
us with a grant. This funding went to
getting accessible paths around our elevated
growing beds and the initial cedar paths.
http://sequimfirst.net/
First Federal provided us
with our grant to get accessible paths
throughout the garden , an additional
elevated bed, and filters to eliminate
chlorine from the Garden’s water.
https://www.ourfirstfed.com
McComb Gardens has been an
ongoing provider of organic compost since
the Garden opened.
http://mccombgardens.com
Dave’s Small Tractor
Service has donated the tilling for the
garden and subsequent tractor work on the
accessible path. 683-1179
Thomas
Pitre Associates, Sequim, has provided web
hosting, digital photography and web site
maintenance since this site went on line
last year.
http://sequim-web.net -
http://tpitre.nikola.com
The Community Organic Garden of Sequim is a project of Friends of the Fields, a
Non-Profit 501(c)(3). As such, contributions to COGS are tax deductible to the full extent authorized by law. We would greatly appreciate any help you wish to provide as we get this garden up and running and look to other sites for new, potential gardens.
Please make donations by check payable to Friends of the Fields. In the memo line of your check, cite “COGS”. If you wish to make donations of gardening tools or garden supplies, drop them by the garden, or call our Chairperson, Liz Harper at 683-7698
Julia
Scott writes to mention: ForFarmers.com at:
http://www.forfarmers.com/
ForFarmers.com is a marketplace for buying
and selling various breeds of garden, food,
forestry, wood, trees, nursery, landscape,
fruits, horticulture, flowers, plants,
seeds, crops, vegetables as well as
agricultural jobs and a wide range of
services. Sequim GazetteArticle
about COGS: GazetteArticlebyOden.pdf
Grows on You -
Grows on You is a friendly gardening
community where you can... * ask your gardening questions * store ALL your gardening photos * start a gardening BLOG * get ideas from others' gardens * and much much more...
http://growsonyou.com
Need a photo appearing on this site for
a related publication? Email me, below. Most of the
time, your circumstance or the application will warrant royalty-FREE use. -tp.
All opinions herein are the
responsibility of the web technician (Pitre) and are those of his, alone.
Need a photo appearing on this site for
a related publication? Email me, below. Most of the
time, your circumstance or the application will warrant royalty-FREE use. -tp.
All opinions herein are the
responsibility of the web technician (Pitre) and are those of his, alone.
New Photos of the original COGS site, taken
Monday, 30 August - T. Pitre.jpg)
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