Chicken Scratch

Yup this is me, Larkin

What a great year it has been for volunteers here at Green Angel Gardens.  Most recently two graduates from Chicago helped out with the added bonus of being musically inclined too so we jammed a bit too.  MacKenzie and Austin were a great help and MacKenzie left some great cookies to tide me over.  In future blogs I’ll feature some of the wonderful folks who have helped this year.  Volunteering on local farms helps beyond measure, so if you get the chance or rather make it happen, volunteer on a local farm!  Meanwhile enjoy some of the photos here.

Store

Kalyn from Washington

A couple from England! Bicycling to Mexico from BC!

Hello everyone! It has been awhile since Green Angels has posted in the Chicken Scratch. Its been a little neglected, but that’s because we have been working so hard in the gardens!

Well, we have a new intern in town! Yay! My name is Shelby and I moved here from Eugene, OR and have made a year long commitment to being at Green Angels! A year! It has only been a month or so, but I was put straight to work when I arrived. And boy  there’s a lot of work to do on the farm. We’ve planted tons of fava beans, painted beans, potatoes, squash, kohlrabi, tomatoes, salad mixes, and a whole row of flowers dedicated to insects and BEES! Weeding and watering and planning beds are just some of the things I do around here. I want to have sunflowers anywhere and everywhere

Anyway, the main reason for this post is to let you all know that its not too late to become an intern. We are looking for people who want to learn how to grow food, obviously. Right now, this planet is going through a lot of changes and we are aware that people are going to NEED to know how to grow food and we want to teach those who want to learn. If you are willing to quit your day job (like me!) and come out to Long Beach, WA then we want you to. We are located in a place where you dont really need a car to get around. I own a bike and rely on the bus system, which is surprisingly good for a smallish town. Oh, and it only takes me 10 minutes to get to the beach. It is amazing and a wonderful bike ride.

We own a farm store and we also do CSA every Friday. Thursdays are my favorite days because we get to harvest all sorts of things for the boxes and we have volunteers who come and help out. It’s the highlight of my week. We are trying to always make improvements on our farm store and want to branch out to selling art and things of that nature, so if you’re artistically inclined you can sell your art (or whatever) through the store. We also have been talking about incubating baby chicks, building a big dehydrator, and learning to can food. And there are many more projects to do! We are up for almost anything.

Wwoofers are always welcome! We have rooms and a house/shack/apartment that we are working on as well as tent space galore!

Don’t be afraid to give us a call or shoot us an email.

Alright, thanks for reading and have a happy day

~Shelby

A Whisper 200 went up in 2009! It is the only turbine on the peninsula that sits on an approved 30 foot tower. It currently charges batteries and will soon light lights, run water, etc. We are in a class 4 wind zone so turbines are the best investment for alternative power.

Whisper 200 at Green Angel Gardens

Hello to a new year and new decade!
Sustainable living is now the buzz phrase, we’ve been plodding along here for 5 years moving toward sustainability. Woofers from all over the Earth have helped out and learned much in the process and had lots of fun. Here are some of the volunteers!

Couple from Nova Scotia and Lane from the east coast

Owner of Green Angel

Samantha was one of 6 people we had to let go in November as the landscaping company’s income stopped and it was what was funding the farm operation.
Now, the farm continues with the aide of a strong CSA! We have 30+ members, hooray! We’ve had wwoofers too and a few volunteers from the community. So keep in touch with us and watch us grow!

Here at Green Angel, we start all our wonderful vegetables we grow in seed trays. These are 200 individual cells that I fill with special soil and place a seed in each cell. Then we set them under lights to keep them warm and moist.

 September 30th ( about a week and a half ago) I started 8 different things, like beets, chard, kale, bokchoy, spinach and a variety of different lettuces. They all sprouted and were growing normal untill the beginning of this week. I noticed that there were only stems left of a lot of the little babys. Then I noticed little mice droppings all through out the trays. So I take them out from under the lights, when I came back the next day..more were eaten.

We finally get 4 different traps, set them with peanut butter and leave them out for the night. They were checked the next morning and a couple of them had been set off but no mouse.

The mouse had gone along and ate more of our vegetable starts. So today, Larkin went out and bought some kind of sound machine that they aren’t suppose to like and it keeps them away. I’ll let you know after a couple days. I did more seedtrays so let’s hope so.

Just goes to show, even the most disgustings little creatures know’s where to get the best organic vegetables.

???

Write back later!

So today I have been working a little bit on our Community Supported Agriculture. Our goal is to have 20 members.  We have reached that goal in the past, especially since we have established a drop-off point over in Astoria. 

I have set a personal goal of getting 30 members this time around. So I have made a flyer to hang around to let everyone know that there is a CSA available here on the peninsula. Last night I went and pasted them all over this little town and when I came into work this morning I had already gotten calls from people who saw the flyers and wanted to JOIN! I’m so excited, I think CSA is really a great way for people to learn and understand where their food is coming from. You don’t know who grows those salad greens you by over in Safeway, or where those baby carrots came from. Purchasing produce from local farms lets people get to know the hands that feed them. 

So help support local farms and join a CSA around your area, or if you can visit our farm-store…come by and you can see where YOUR food is coming from. 

www.localharvest.com  will help you find a CSA in your area. 

Me!

Hi, my name is Samantha and I am the full time manager of Green Angel’s Organic Farm. I am turning 18 soon, and having this job has helped me look at our community and generally the world totally different. I am a locavore and really I think this is the best possible way to eat, because eating local produced food you for 1, get to know where your food comes from and even sometimes meet the person who grows it for you and also think about all the trucks that have to drive from all the different locations to bring the industrial stores their produce, and all the food coming from across seas. All the transportation is a waste of fuel, which is kinda a big deal right now, and is producing a whole bunch of Co2 that is going straight into our atmosphere. :( 

I am now planning on going to college and getting a degree in Agriculture/Horticulture to have a Organic farm of my own and to help teach others about growing thier own food and actually how fun and simple it can be!

I will be posting weekly, updating you on our farm, our chickens, just Green Angel Gardens in general.

Fridays, we have volunteer day. From 10 until noon, feel free to come and learn all about organic farming.

stay tuned for more updates.

Welcome to Green Angel Gardening!  We’re just getting our feet wet with this blogging business.  Stay tuned!