Past Events

Slow Food Greater Olympia will again join the GRuB Kitchen Garden Project by funding and building a garden for a local school, youth program, or senior center.  Consider making a donation via Slow Food (check made out to GRuB) to defray the cost of the garden we build.

When:  Collecting contributions now until Saturday May 11

Where:   Send your check (made payable to “GRuB”) to Celeste Wade, 1307 Gemini St SE, Lacey, WA 98503 (your contribution is tax deductible).

What:  This is the 5th year that our Slow Food chapter has set a goal of building and funding gardens for low-income members of our community through GRuBs Kitchen Garden Project.  This year we need to contribute a minimum of $1,000 which pays for a portion of the wood, garden soil and the seeds and starts provided to the family we will work with.

Families we have worked with in the past tell us that the garden (3 raised beds) has not only supplied their family with a bounty of vegetables leading to a stronger sense of food security.

Want to help with the garden build?  It will take place on the morning of Saturday May 11.  Join the build team by calling or email Celeste atCrosstownFarms@Yahoo.com, 360-339-3627.

This GO Slow Food class introduces students to making fresh egg pasta and learning the techniques of filling it into different shapes.  We will use these fillings for our stuffed pastas: Ricotta/Spinach; Chicken/Prosciutto/Herb; and Sweet Potato/Goat Cheese.  Students will enjoy sampling their work with a Parmesan/Sage sauce and locally produced Cucina Ciancetta Marinara. Wine pairing included.

The instructor, Christine Ciancetta, will share her Italian family techniques for making the most tender and flavorful pasta. Then assistants will work with groups of 2-4 students, step by step, as they learn to make their filled pastas. You will go home with new skills, recipes and extra pasta. 

When: Sunday, April 21 from 2-5 pm
Where: Home of an Olympia Slow Food member and chef
What: Christine Ciancetta, local Italian cooking instructor and Slow Food member will demonstrate pasta making; from mixing the dough, rolling out dough with a hand-crank pasta machine, filling and shaping.

Class Fee: $35 for Slow Food members and $40 for non-members.

Register: by PayPal and RSVP to Paula; OR by sending a check for the class fee made out to GO Slow Food and mailing it to:
Paula Liechty, 6630 Old Olympia Hwy SW, Olympia, WA  98512

Directions to the Event: will be emailed to you upon the receipt of your registration fee.
Questions: email Paula

If you start your own hot weather plants, or you want to learn from those
who do, or you just want to help with a garden, join as we transplant starts
into larger pots for our various Ark of Taste gardens (downtown Olympia, Tumwater Boys and Girls Club and Treacy Kreger’s garden area.)

If you don’t have any plants to share, you can still join the potting party.
We always need plenty of willing hands. If you have small and midsized
pots, please bring them. If you have good compost or a purchased
transplanting mix we can use that also.

What: Transplanting seedlings for the Ark of Taste Gardens.
When: Saturday, April 20 from 2 to 4 pm.
Where: Celeste Wade’s greenhouse at 5320 Lemon Road, Olympia, WA 98506. From South Bay Road turn onto Schinke Road follow it out to 46th. Turn right onto Lemon Road. After about a 1/2 mile look for a small Southwest Builders sign on the right (5324 Lemon Rd NE). At that intersection LEFT & stay in the left hand gravel driveway (there are two side by side roads). Follow back into the woods past the first house to the very end of the road. Look for a greenhouse behind a large shed and opposite the home of the land owners.

Need help getting there – Celeste at is 360-339-3627.

Come drink tea with us, and learn about the history and production of Puer,
an unusual, fascinating, and deliciously aged style of tea produced in
China’s Yunnan Province.

When: April 13 – 3pm to 5:00 p.m.
Where: Eco House at Fertile Ground, 911 Adams St SE, Olympia, WA 98501
What: Puer (or Pu-erh) Tea Tasting, featuring several different categories
and styles. Led by David Galli of PDX Tea
in Portland and Dewey Meyer of Northwest WuWo Tea Association. Includes
special tea food treats.

This session will feature the history and different processing methods for
Pu-erh Tea as well as a tasting. Pu-erh tea is a Chinese tea that has
undergone secondary fermentation. This aging process means the tea can get
better with age. The secondary fermentation may also lead to health
benefits not found in green, Oolong or black teas. The tea does have
caffeine.

Register: via Pay Pal or by calling Helen Dziuba
(503)-312-9543. Fee is $10 for members, $15 for non-members (check made out
to Slow Food Greater Olympia.)

Planning for July 13-14 Kids Day at the Olympia Farmers Market

When: Wed, April 3 at 7 pm
Where: Dixie Havlak’s home
What: For the past several years the Olympia Farmers Market staff have
asked members of the community to add a food and healthy eating focus to
their annual Kid’s Day activities. Dietitian Dixie Havlak has lead this
community effort with help from Slow Food members committed to helping
children learn more about where their food comes from. We invite others to
join us in planning and helping in July.

This year the Kid’s Day activities are both Saturday and Sunday July 13-14.
Email Loretta Seppanen or call 786-9775 for
the street address for the planning meeting and to receive information about
our activities last year when we had just one day for the kid’s
activities.

Get ready for the April 11 visit of author and fermenting expert, Sandor Ellix Katz by participating in a March 24 book discussion of his book, The Art of Fermentation

When: Sunday March 24, 2- 4pm
Where: Member home near Olympia High School (directions provided upon registration)
What: Book discussion to learn more about fermentation in advance of the April 11 presentation in Olympia by the author, regarded as the leading expert in fermentation ranging from pickles, kimchi; to yogurt, soy sauce and salami; and to wine and kombucha. We will share tastes of several fermented food products.

This is a large and detailed book, so participants are asked to focus on just one of the topical chapters (chapters 4 to 12: wine, vegetable, sour tonic, milk, grains/tubers, beer, mold (tempeh), beans/nuts/seeds, and meats/fish/eggs). Participants are also urged to read the two background chapters (chapters 1 and 2.) This is a book you may find yourself using as a reference for many years.

The Art of Fermentation is available at the library; though the hold list is long. It is also at Orca Books and via Amazon for Kindle or hard copy (ranging from $24 to $40).

Registration and cost: $5 for members, $10 for non-members. Please register by March 20. We offer two ways to register and pay for the event.

Send an e-mail to Loretta Seppanen
OR
Purchase via Pay Pal

Join Slow Food members and friends in a visit to the Olympia Coffee Roasting Company. Tucked away on an Olympia side street, it is an emerging star of the coffee world. As a result of attention to detail and quality, the company was named by Roast Magazine as the 2013 Micro Roaster of the Year (given to a roaster who produces fewer than 100,000 pounds of coffee annually).

Co-owner Oliver Stormshak will tell us about the business, which features organic, shade-grown coffee purchased through fair trade principles. During our visit, we will enjoy “affogato.” In this delicious Italian dessert, espresso (regular or decaf) is poured over a bowl of ice cream.

We will be using a room located off of the roasting area, and can accommodate about 20 people. Plan on having a relaxing, convivial experience—perfect for the cold, dark month of February.

When: Sunday, February 10, 2013 3:00 p.m. – 4:30 p.m.
Where: 108 Cherry Street NE Olympia
Cost: $8.00 for Slow Food members, $11.00 for others, paid in advance.

To reserve: Email Emily Ray at emilyrayjimlengenfelder@msn.com. Send your checks payable to GO Slow Food to Emily at 2622 Buker St. SE, Olympia, WA 98501. You can also pay online:

When: Wednesday, January 16 at 7 pm
Where: McLane Grange
What: “Sights, Stories, and Tastes from Terra Madre” presented by Erik Hagan, Sarah Rocker, J. Treacy Kreger based on their October 2012 trip to the international Slow Food event, Terra Madre.

Free and open to the public.

What: Sunday Brunch and Slow Food Annual Meeting.  This is our once a year, all come, best brunch in the county.  Bring your favorite brunch dish to share.  We will provide dishes and tableware for the event.  You’ll get a preview of the 2013 Slow Food events and learn about the history of local food production from historian Drew Crooks.
When: Sunday, January 6, 2013 from 10:30 to 1:30 pm
Where: Gem Clinic Conference Room–3435 Martin Wy E Suite C.  Parking is in the back of the building off the street.
Bring: A potluck item for brunch.

Open to all and no registration required.  No cost, but lots of good food and conversation!

Are you interested in joining the team that plans events and activities for Slow Food members?  Our Board holds evening meetings once a quarter on the 3rd Wednesday of January, April, July, and October.  If you would like to join us, please let us know before the Annual Meeting.  Contact Loretta Seppanen at laurel.lodge@comcast.net or call at 360 786-9775.

When: December 10, noon to 1 pm.
What: Slow Food members Treacy Kreger, Sarah Rocker and Erik Hagan recently returned from Terra Madre 2012, the global Slow Food event bringing together an international network of food producers and representatives of local communities, cooks, academics, and young people to establish a system of good, clean and fair food production, respectful of the environment, communities and the diversity of foods and cultures. At this lunchtime gathering they will share what they learned about the World Food movement and how that will shape their work for a more vibrant local food system. Bring your sack lunch to enjoy while you learn from their experience.
Where: Tumwater Timberland Regional Library 7023 New Market Street, Tumwater, WA 98501-6563.
Cost: Free and open to all. Bring your sack lunch.

When: December 2 – 2 until 4 pm
What: The Art of Brewing and Tasting Taiwanese Oolong Tea. Led by  Taiwanese Tea expert Dewey Meyer, Northwest WuWo Tea Association, and Martha Rosemeyer, The Evergreen State College.  Includes special tea treats like tea eggs and buns with red bean paste.
Register:  Email hostess Helen Dziuba or call her at (503) 312-9543.
Cost: $10 for members, $15 for non-members. Pay online (below) or make arrangements with Helen to send in your check (made out to Slow Food Greater Olympia) to confirm your reservation.

Who doesn’t love fresh pasta, a rustic sauce, and a nice glass of wine!
Now you can learn how to make this staple of Italy in a Slow Food hands on class.

When:  Saturday, November 3 from 2-5pm.
What: Christine Ciancetta, local Italian cooking instructor and Slow Food member will demonstrate pasta making from mixing the dough to shaping with a hand-cranked pasta machine. Assistant instructors will then guide small groups of students through their own pasta making adventure. Students will learn to make fresh egg pasta; fresh herb pasta; and black pepper pasta.  Two sauces will be served–Cucina Ciancetta Tomato Marinara, and Butternut Squash Sauce. Students will enjoy a sample of pasta, the sauces, and a glass of wine.
Where: Home of Treacy Kreger
Class Cost:  $35 for Slow Food members and $40 for non-members.
Register: Class size will be limited, so send your registration in early. Send your email address and a check for the class made out to GO Slow Food to:
Paula Liechty
6630 Old Olympic Hwy SW
Olympia, WA  98512

Directions to the event will be emailed to you upon receipt of your registration fee.
Questions:  email Paula at paulalie@comcast.net.

October 24, 2012 is Food Day, a national celebration of local foods. People around our nation will be cooking meals with as much local food as possible, and sharing it – and the experience with family and friends.

Slow Food members and friends are invited to a 6 pm potluck dinner focused on Northwest Heritage foods that grow well in our region and are available in October. We have selected a menu of heritage foods and are preparing recipes you can follow, though we encourage you to share your heritage food choices and recipes as well. You can choose to attend one of two hosted small potluck gatherings where you will work with your hostess to select the food or beverage item you will bring.

Contact the hostess for the October 24 Food Day potluck you would like to attend. Our hostesses for the evening potluck are:

Karen Bray, 360-357-9158
Pat Hains, hainshouse@hotmail.com, 360-791-8928

Contact the hostess of your choice now as space is limited.  Work with her to decide on the menu item you would like to bring.  She will have information on sources for heritage ingredients.  If you would like to provide local wines for the event, see the suggested pairings listed with the recipes. Pairing suggestions were created especially for our meal by Swing Bar’s wine steward, Stephen Pavletich.

The menu and recipes are located on our website athttp://slowfoodolympia.org/events.html#Food-Day   Most of these recipes can be made ahead in recognition of Wednesday being in the middle of the week.

Here is the basic menu. Items with an asterisk * are on the Ark of Taste. Follow the links for more information about these foods. View the recipes.

Starters: 

 1.  Olympia Oysters* on the half shell.
2. Two heritage garlic dips, served two ways (Inchelium Red* and Spanish Roja.)

Main Courses:

1. Hardy greens - we will offer a recipe for a raw kale salad and cooked green with lots of garlic and olive oil.
2. Winter squash  – Delicata or Red Kuri
3. Ozette Potato* (get these now from Rising River Farm at the Olympia Farmers Market) with chanterelle mushrooms.
4. Rabbit* - an under appreciated healthy meat that grows well in the NW.
5. Marbled Chinook Salmon* with huckleberries (tribal season ends Sept 15 so likely available only as canned or frozen fish)

Dessert:
 Aunt Molly’s Ground Cherry* Pear Rustic Tart

Share your ideas for this dinner when you “like” the new Food Day South Puget Sound page. Like the page and then sign up to join in the fun!

Food Day South Puget Sound

It’s the season for food demonstrations! Check out the recipes for using Cauliflower put together by Susie Mould on August 12; for cucumbers as prepared by Karyn Lindberg August 19; and zucchini as prepared by Liz Douglas August 26.

Where:  Olympia Farmers Market.  This year the demos will be away from the main stage on the east end of the market (near the Master Gardeners shed)
When: Every Sunday at 1 pm, July 15 through the end of September

The Recipes: You can find the recipes for these and previous demonstrations on our website

Our lead for the food demonstrations this year is Treacy Kreger.

What: Chef Treacy and guest Chef Laurie, owner of Dockside Bistro and Wine Bar, will prepare a menu focusing on five counties: Spain, France, Italy, Thailand, and Vietnam. All dishes will be prepared with local products and will feature Slow Food member Celeste Wade’s Crosstown Farm rabbit, Far West Exotic Meat’s Zoe (Yak Angus Beef cross) of Elma, and fresh produce directly from Vern’s Garden and other local farms. Joining them will be Ann and Andy Anderson, winemakers and owners of the award-winning Walter Dacon Winery.

Walter Dacon Wines is dedicated to Rhone and Mediterranean style wines and sources grapes from select vineyard sites in the Yakima and Columbia Valleys of Washington State. Their wines bring home the richness of a centuries-old tradition of vinification. Hand crafted through the unique art of blending, which is the rule in the Rhone, and aged in French and American oak barrels, Walter Dacon wines reveal the underlying fruit blended with gentle, precision use of oak.

Menu
Assorted Spanish Tapas
French Braised Zoe Short Ribs w/New Potato Gratin
Italy Stuffed Squid w/ Fresh Sauce Pomodoro
Thai Curried Rabbit w/Black Rice
Vietnamese Garden Fresh Vegetable Noodle Salad
Seasonal Fresh Fruit Dessert by Slow Food Members

When: Sunday, September 23 from 4:00 to 8:00 pm
Where: At the home of Slow Food member and Chef, J Treacy Kreger

All proceeds go to the Greater Olympia Slow Food chapter. Funds will be used primarily for funding travel expenses for our delegate, Treacy Kreger, to the Slow Food International Congress and Terra Madre event. Terra Madre, which occurs once every two years, brings together farmers, chefs and educators from across the globe in Torino (Turin), Italy in October.

To Register for the dinner, please contact Liz Douglas (360) 878-8097eadouglas@comcast.net or Treacy Kreger (360-)-870-2040jtkao123@gmail.com

Suggested donation $60 for members;. non-members $75.  Become a member and save $15   Limit 24  (Don’t wait to sign up. the August dinner filled up and had space for 36. And it was fabulous!) 

Check out this article on the August Farm to Table dinner.

In case you haven’t yet discovered Slow Food, it is a non-profit organization that was founded in 1989 to counteract fast food and fast life, the disappearance of local food traditions and people’s dwindling interest in the food they eat, where it comes from, how it tastes and how our food choices affect the rest of the world. To do that, Slow Food brings together pleasure and responsibility, and makes them inseparable. Today, it has over 100,000 members in 132 countries.

Slow Food Greater Olympia is participating in the local Focus on Local Food and the national Food Day celebration by hosting several potluck dinners, Wednesday October 24, 2012.

What, When, Where: Come help us plan the menu for our potluck at a meeting Thursday September 13 at 10:30 am at the stage at the Olympia Farmers Market.

Slow Food members Ann Vandeman, Martha Rosemeyer and Loretta Seppanen will be planning a menu based on the great products available in October - summer and winter squash, pumpkins, potatoes, peppers, carrots, beans, beets, greens, radishes, spinach, cabbage, broccoli, garlic, leeks, onions, herbs, honey, shellfish, meats, apples, pears and if fall weather cooperates corn and tomatoes. We will include Ark of Tastefoods that grow well in our area. Meet us at the market or emailLaurel.lodge@comcast.net with your menu ideas if you can’t attend.

Would you like to host one of the potlucks that evening to celebrate local foods? Email Loretta at Laurel.lodge@comcast.net indicating how many people you can host and how they can contact you to sign up for your potluck.

Save the evening of October 24 for a Slow Food potluck to celebrate Food Day. Look for more information in late September regarding location, registration and menu options.

August 24, 5:30 until dusk.
Fred and Katherine Colvin, Greater Olympia Slow Food Member Chef Treacy and guest Chef Will Taylor of Aqua Via restaurant of Olympia have all come together for a local Farm to Table Dinner on the beautiful Colvin Ranch in the Rock Valley just south of Tenino. They will be featuring Colvin grass fed beef, Stoney Plains Organic Farm produce (just down the road a ways) and pairing the food courses with wines from Tenino’s Scatter Creek Winery.  Dessert by Paula Liechty.

Come ride on the wagons and tour the ranch, hearing the story of one of the oldest ranches in Thurston County. Enjoy local wines and appetizers in the fields near the site of the old homestead and then move on to dinner courses under the shade of the old maple trees on the grass near the farm house, watching over the herd of Colvin Beef. Enjoy classic jazz performed by Ray and Associates.*

All proceeds go to Greater Olympia Slow Food to fund the travel for our delegate, Treacy Kreger, to Slow Food International Congress and the biennial Terra Madre event which brings together farmers, chefs, and educators from across the globe in Torino, Italy this October.

To register for the dinner, please contact Liz Douglas (360) 878-8097eadouglas@comcast.net or Treacy Kreger (360) 870-2040jtkao123@gmail.com.

Suggested donation for the dinner is $60 for Slow Food members and $75 for non-members. If you join for $25, you’ll save $15 on the dinner and save on future events!  A good investment.  Join here. (Choose Greater Olympia as your primary local chapter)

*Ray Fujiwara is a jazz trumpet player who had his own band called Ray and Associates in Japan. Yoko is a jazz singer who sang with the Associates. Ray plays standard jazz and became a professional musician on HNK Television in Japan after graduating from high school. When he was with Sharps and Flats, Japan’s premiere jazz band, he played with Diana Ross, Sammy Davis Jr., Nancy Wilson, Vicki Carr, and many, many, others. Ray and Yoko relocated to Washington after the Japan tsunami.

When:  Saturday, July 28 at 6:00 pm
Where: The Hains House Bed and Breakfast; 2525 Beaver Creek Drive SW, Olympia.
What:    Pat Hains will prepare the artisan pizza crusts and bake them in her wood fired oven.  She will also provide dessert.
Cost:    $5 for members, $8 for nonmembers
Bring:  Pizza toppings; salad, veggies, or beverages

Directions: From Olympia, take I-5 south to the Maytown Exit (#95). Turn slight right onto Maytown Road. After 1 mile, turn right onto Gunstone Street SW.  (Gunstone St is just past Taylor St SW.  Maytown is on the left.  If you reach Tilley Rd. S, you’ve gone about 1.6 miles too far.)   Gunstone becomes Beaver Creek after .2 miles.  The B&B is on the right.

When:  Saturday, July 7, any time between 2 and 5 pm
Where: At Karen and George Bray’s Picnic House near the east side portion of Priest Point Park. Look for a private road – 33rd Lane – which is the first road on the right north of Priest Point Park.  The parking area for the event is about a block down that road on the right between two homes.  The Picnic House is behind one of the homes.  Look for the Slow Food banner and signs directing you to the picnic House.  (Electricity and an outhouse, but no refrigeration. More details to come.)
What:   A mix of visiting, education, play and, as always at a Slow Food event, great local food!  The Olympic Mountain Strawberry Rhubarb Sorbet and two kinds of ice cream have been ordered.  Cookies, crisps and pies are planned.  We are counting on you to bring your favorite topping to share (challenge yourself to feature local foods).  Dishware is provided.
Education Option:  Several individuals will share one of the food passions – Ann Vandeman – Balsamic Vinegar; Shannon Ford – Flavor profiles of the heritage chickens, geese, and turkeys she grows at Oly Organics; Christine Ciancetta – herbs from her yard and the recipes for their use.
Kid’s Options:  The picnic House is situated on a large acreage with plenty of room for kids to roam or set up croquet or bocce ball.  Bring your volleyball net and ball if you like.
Cost:  $5 per family. Free if you make and share a homemade ice cream, or make a dessert that begs for a scoop of ice cream.

No RSVP Necessary.

Slow Food Greater Olympia is well on the way to creating new gardens to serve low income families in our area through the GRuB’s Dig Deep effort. You can help in two ways:

Garden build, Sunday May 6, anytime between 11 am and 4 pm: Volunteers will build fencing & lots of beds for the Friendly Grove Head Start (2505 Friendly Grove Road Northeast). If you are interested in helping for a few hours (don’t have to be there the whole time) contact Celeste at  CrosstownFarms@Yahoo.com, or 360-339-3627. Bring gloves, water, hat, sunscreen and be ready to have fun working together to create a brand new Head Start garden. This is our main Slow Food volunteer project for this year, so don’t miss out!

Send your check: Thanks to our members who have generously contributed $350 already to this project! Those $ are matched by funds raised last year. In addition a member has put up additional funding to match the second $500 we raise. You can’t beat that – supporting gardens for local low-income families and having your contribution doubled. Please send a check or money order (made payable to “GRuB”) to Celeste Wade, 1307 Gemini St SE, Lacey, WA 98503 (your contribution is tax deductable).

There will be a season end celebration and potluck on May 19th at the GRuB farmhouse from 11-2.

When:  Saturday, March 24, 4:30 p to 9:00 pm
Where: Thurston County Fairgrounds Expo Center
What:    Farms Forever gala dinner and art auction sponsored by South of the Sound Community Farm Land Trust (SSCFLT).  The event features a local foods menu, artisan pies, a live and silent auction, and live bluegrass music from the Oly Mountain Boys. Doors open at 4:30 pm for the silent auction. Dinner begins at 6:00 pm. The live auction will begin shortly after dinner.

Slow Food Greater Olympia Chair Loretta Seppanen is hosting a table at this fun fund raiser to support our local farm community.  Let Loretta know if you want to join her at the Slow Food table ($40 per ticket) by emailing her atLaurel.Lodge@comcast.net or call 360 786-9775.  You can also get tickets for yourself ($45 individual/$80 couple) at http://farmsforeve.eventbrite.com/

Money raised will help pay the down payment on two properties the South of the Sound Community Farm Land Trust is trying to purchase for eventual long-term lease to local farmers. Many market gardeners rent land and thus are uncertain from year to year which land they can farm. Sustainable land practices require a longer-term approach, but the farmers do not have the capital to buy their own land. The SSCFLT plans to purchase the land and then lease it to farmers on a 99 year lease.

When:  Sunday, May 20, 2012  5:30 to 8:30 pm
Where: Home of Emily Ray:  2622 Buker St. SE, Olympia, WA 98501
What:  WHITE BREAD, A Social History of the Store-Bought Loaf, tells the story of America’s one-hundred-year-long love/hate relationship with the store bought loaf of white bread. It is by Aaron Bobrow-Strain, a Whitman College faculty member, and was released just this March by Beacon Press. (Copies are or will soon be available at the Timberland Library and Orca, as well as through ebooks.)

Bobrow-Strain’s book gives us plenty to consider, including his belief that the debate over what is “good” food touches on deeper issues of class differences, institutional racism, and ethnocentrism.

RSVP: Email Emily Ray, or call 943-6199. Space is limited.

When: Saturday, May 12, 2012  5 PM

Where: Liz Douglas’ house
What: Sheri LaVigne of Seattle’s Calf and Kid cheese shop will lead us through tasting a selection of northwest artisan cheeses along with selected wines, followed by a potluck dinner.  Also, visit and talk by Kelli Estrella of Estrella Family Creamery.
Cost:  $35 for members, $40 for non members
Sign up: Now (Still a few spots left) contact:

Liz Douglas
eadouglas@comcast.net
360 878-8097
Send your check (before the event) payable to Greater Olympia Slow Food to:

Liz Douglas
2725 Hibiscus Court SE
Olympia WA 98513

More Information: Bring a potluck dish and beverage to share. We will enjoy dinner together after the tasting.

Do you grow starts of plants that kids might like to grow?  Let’s support the new gardens at the Boys and Girls Club & Chinook Middle school by sharing our starts with them.  And to make the work easier, let’s do the potting up of our starts together.  Join in even if you have no starts to share by bringing small pots (multiple plant pots (4 and 6), 3 inch, 4 inch pots especially), potting soil or snacks.  No plant experience necessary.

When:    Saturday, May 5, 2pm – 4pm
Where:  1307 Gemini St SE, Lacey
What:    Slow Food Potting Party to pot-up starts for kids to grow in their new gardens. Plan to bring any extra starts that children might enjoy growing this spring or summer. For more information contact Loretta Seppanen at Laurel.lodge@comcast.net or 786-9775.

What: Last year’s gardening ‘hour’ at Meadows Elementary is being expanded to  two, from 10.30am – 12.30pm, with the first hour devoted to working with Paul Johnson’s 4th Grade class, and the next hour working with kids from across the school during their rolling lunch breaks.  We’ll be planting, harvesting, and providing a variety of learning opportunities for the kids.   ’Invitations to the Garden’ will be handed out to the Thurston County Food Bank ‘Backpacks for Kids Program’ when their ‘backpacks’ are distributed.
 This two-hour session in the garden will begin on March 23rd. 

When: Most Fridays through the end of the school year.
The schedule so far is as follows:
March 2nd, March 9th,
March 23rd, March 30th.
April 13th, April 27th.

Clearance Needed:For those of you who volunteered last year, or who have previously been cleared for volunteering in the North Thurston School District, the clearance time is only a day or two.
If you are new to volunteering, it is important to get your application in as soon as possible, as the initial processing is between 1 -2 weeks.  Forms can be downloaded from the North Thurston School District, and then submitted to the administrative offices on College St.

We’d love to see you in the garden this year!

Questions: Contact Ginny Codd - ginnycodd@hotmail.com

Olympia and Tumwater residents are invited to speak out in support of sustainable farming at upcoming meetings (Lacey residents can send emails).

When:  Public Communication time slot at the 7 pm city council meetings:
Tuesday, March 13 – Olympia
Tuesday, March 20 – Tumwater
Where:   City Hall in Olympia and Tumwater
What:  Participants from last month’s forum on the Farm Bill with Dan Imhoff (author of Food Fight: The Citizens Guide to the Next Food and Farm Bill) have agreed to approach our local city councils to ask them to endorse the Seattle Farm Bill Principles (http://seattlefarmbillprinciples.org/seattle-principles/), a set of broad sustainable and locally-focused principles about agriculture designed as perspective for Congress during the rewrite of the Farm Bill.   While federal legislation is not the business of our city councils, this set of principles has been adopted by the National League of Cities because it focuses on support of a local food system.  You are invited to join others and express your support for the city where you live to endorse the Seattle Farm Bill Principles.

This same request was made to the Lacey City Council on Thursday March 8.  If you live in Lacey and want to support the request, connect with your local council member.

When:   Wednesday March 7 at 5:30 pm to 6:30 pm.
Where:  Meet at front door of Thurston County Food Bank, 220 Thurston Avenue Northeast, Olympia,
What:   This is an introduction to the produce area of the Food Bank for those who want to volunteer an hour or more periodically to help patrons quickly gain information about preparing produce available the Food Bank.  Rick Sandler, Slow Food member and Heather Davis, Food Bank Produce Coordinator, will show how participants can share recipe ideas with Food Bank patrons. The group will make plans for volunteering during Food Bank hours: Monday, Wednesday & Friday 11:00-3:00 and the 2nd & 4th Wednesdays of each month from 5:00 pm-7:00 pm.

When:   Monday March 5 at 9:30 to 11 am.
Where:  Large table at Batdorf & Bronson, 516 Capitol Way South, Olympia
What:   Plan for sharing recipes and information about produce at the Olympia Farmers Market.   The group will plan for a variety of fun and educational activities on Kid’s Day (typically in early July) and throughout the summer season.  Whether you like to share recipe ideas, prepare and provide tastes of local produce or do food demonstrations, there is a role for you this summer.  If you cannot attend, but are interested in participating this summer, please contact Joseph (Treacy) Kreger [treacy58@msn.com or 360-870-2040].

Come to hear Daniel Imhoff, The author of “Food Fight”, The citizen’s guide to the next Food and Farm Bill

When:  Wednesday, February 22nd at 7:00 p.m.
Where: Traditions Cafe, 300 5th Avenue SW, Olympia
What:   Daniel and Nina Triffleman from the Northwest Farm Action Group will talk about influencing the Farm Bill and creating a sustainable local food system.

The event is free and sponsored by Sustainable South Sound, Slow Food Greater Olympia, and The Olympia Food Co-op.

You are invited to a planning session related to 2012 sharing of recipes and food demonstrations.

When:   5:30 to 7 pm Thursday January 5
Where:  Olympia home of a planning group member (address provided for those who RSVP)
What:  This is a planning session of the Market Produce Promoters who are a group of Slow Food members and others in the community interested in promoting cooking with local, seasonal produce by offering recipes and food demonstrations.   At this first gathering of 2012 we will review the successes and challenges of our work last year at the Olympia Farmers Market and Thurston County Food Bank and discuss ideas for these same venues and others in the coming year.

More information and to RSVP:  To receive background information and the address for the gathering email Loretta Seppanen atlaurel.lodge@comcast.net