UW Farm*

Just this past Friday, I volunteered some time at the University of Washington Farm weeding and watering the gardens. It was an overcast day with some spots of sunshine peeking out from behind the gray clouds—I was just happy I didn’t get rained on. I met with Keith Possee who got me started with the hose and I was shown where to water. “Everywhere” he said needed a good douse of water if I had the time to do it properly. So with several hours to spare, I got to work.
As I weaved my way through the isles of sweet peas and brand new tomato plants, I jammed to my ipod—dancing from one plant to the other. First I’d lightly soak the earth where the plant had buried it’s roots, then move down the row to let the water sink in. A minute later I’d come back to the plant for one last rinse and by the end of the day I had watered cabbage, chard, kale, spinach, and goose berries just to name a few. After I had finished thoroughly watering the garden I got to weeding the beds near the Burke Gillman Trail. With my mini shovel in hand and a bucket for weeds and grass, I dug around the beds removing unwanted greenery rhythmically still grooving to my music.
I realized after two and a half hours how much work I had done, and simultaneously realized how much fun I had doing it all. I felt like I had contributed to a great cause—a farm in the middle of an urban setting; make that in the middle of an urban college campus—a farm that has, and still is, producing large quantities of great food. It all seems so simple when someone has started it for you. We often wonder why more people don’t start growing their own food, but by the looks of the farm at the UW, it certainly didn’t take just one day to get it started. It took months and months with lots of voluntary help to get to ball rolling and to get the seeds growing. It’s efforts like these that need to start happening on a global scale and I think I want to help contribute to that cause. Gardening has inspired me to one day have my own garden to grow my own food. I remember for years my parents did it—now I realize I took that for granted.
I look forward to gardening again at the UW farm. Thanks to Ann Anagnost for setting up a connection with Keith and the farmers. I’ll be back again this week!
Picture By: http://www.victoriananursery.co.uk/vegetable_seeds_and_plants/