Join us for a free mushroom ID workshop, Sunday, July 17, 10 am -- noon at the Mount Rainier Food Forest! Would you like to learn more about the fungus that lives among us? Perhaps even start to identify a few common edible types? Come to our first ever mushroom ID workshop at the food... Continue Reading →
Plant of the Month: Sochan
It's delicious, nutritious, and may already be growing in your yard! by Gabe Popkin A few years ago I got a clump of a plant called cutleaf coneflower from a neighbor. I planted it and it took off. Once it started spreading, I dug up clumps from my own yard and started new patches elsewhere.... Continue Reading →
UPDATE: Mushroom growing workshop / Saturday, May 7, 2022 at New Brooklyn Farm AND Saturday, May 21, 2022 at the Food Forest
UPDATE: Due to the weather forecast, Saturday's workshop has been moved to an indoor location at New Brooklyn Farm, and the outdoor workshop has been moved to 1:00 pm on Saturday May 21. Now you have your choice of workshop days! Come to New Brooklyn Farm on May 7th OR the food forest on May... Continue Reading →
Mushroom growing workshop / Saturday, May 7, 2022
Come to the Mount Rainier food forest on May 7th for a morning of mushroom adventures! A group of local mycophiles will lead a workshop on growing shiitake, oyster and wine cap mushrooms on logs, straw and wood chips. Participants will be able to take a log or inoculated straw home with them. Local mushroom... Continue Reading →
Plant of the Month: Pussytoes
By Kathy Shollenberger. Photos by Kelly Lawhorn, Chesapeake Natives There are many varieties of pussytoes; the one in the Food Forest is Parlin’s pussytoes. It’s in the Food Forest because it provides nectar for pollinators and serves as a host plant for the American Lady and Painted Lady butterflies. It shelters the butterfly’s eggs and... Continue Reading →
Reflections on a year of food foresting
Design by Torie Partridge By Gabe Popkin Photos by Food Forest Collective members I can't remember how it started, the idea of turning a small, underutilized park into a food forest full of edible plants that would be free to the public. I do know where I got the inspiration: from Lincoln Smith, a landscape... Continue Reading →
Work day and celebration / Saturday, May 1, 2021
With the major work of designing and planting the food forest behind us, and with safe outdoor gatherings again possible, we are now pivoting from creating the food forest to using it. In 2021, we will be hosting a series of work days, workshops and plant swaps the first Saturday of each month. The first... Continue Reading →
Make a pumpkin bird feeder
Fall migration is underway, and birds need lots of food to sustain them on their journey. If you don't have a bird feeder in your yard, the National Audubon Society suggests that you make a temporary one out of a small pumpkin. See the link below for instructions: https://www.audubon.org/news/pumpkin-bird-feeder-makes-happy-harvest-birds
Celebrating Success!
On Sunday, September 20, 2020 many of those who have volunteered to water, haul mulch, weed, dig, and plant gathered to celebrate our lovely park. Enjoy these photos, from Mimi McKindley-Ward, Barry Stahl, and Kathy Shollenberger. Our new bamboo bower, constructed by Shivali Shah: Socially distanced picnickers: Musical accompaniment: Admiring the park, enjoying the... Continue Reading →
Monarch Caterpillar on the Milkweed!
You have to look closely. It's almost hidden, but there's a future monarch chomping away on the common milkweed at the Food Forest. If a monarch caterpillar has lots of different types of milkweed to choose from, common milkweed is not its favorite, but luckily, this specimen's not picky.