Garden or Graze Organically at Evergreen

OLYMPIA Wash. -- Evergreen's Organic Farm offers several opportunities for community members to get their hands dirty, learn about organic gardening and see sustainable agriculture in action. The farm is open during daylight hours for self-guided tours of the gardens, the bio-diesel reactor and the animals raised on the farm. The Organic Farm is on the south edge of the campus at 2712 Lewis Road. Call 867-6160 in advance to arrange a group tour.

Some of the produce grown on the farm goes to the college cafeteria where you'll find a salad bar so enticing it was featured in the New York Times.

If you love garden-fresh organic produce but don't have room for a back yard garden, the farm has a couple of great solutions for you. For just $20 per season, you can rent a 10' X 10'community garden plot of your own at the farm. Grow all the tomatoes, corn, squash, herbs and whatever you'd like. The farm even throws in the free use of garden tools and access to irrigation water. Sign up in April by calling Jeremy Weiss, Community Garden Coordinator, at 867-6145.

Don't have the time to grow your own? You can buy organic produce grown on Evergreen's farm at two west side locations - the farm itself, open daylight hours Monday through Friday, April through October, or at a produce stand on campus, in front of the library, open Tuesdays, Noon to 3 p.m. and Thursdays, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., April through October.

The farm is currently developing a Community Supported Agriculture program. For $20, participants receive a large box of Organic Farm vegetables, flowers and recipes every week - enough to feed a family of four. So far the CSA has limited availability. To get your name on the list, call Melissa Barker, Organic Farm Manager, at 867-6160.

Produce not used in the cafeteria or sold at the stand is donated to the Olympia Food Bank.

College Invites Visitors to Harvest Festival
The 27th Annual Harvest Festival at The Evergreen State College's Organic Farm is set for 12:30 to 8 p.m. Saturday, October 1. Events include tours of the farm and composting plant, kids' games, purchase of farm produce, storytelling and music. Visitors are asked to park on campus and walk to the farm, located on Lewis Road.

On the Web: www.evergreen.edu/cell/organicfarm.htm