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Among people everywhere there is increasing concern about the quality and safety of our food as well as concern about harm to the environment from ill-conceived agricultural activity. Tilth's mission is to promote environmentally sound and sustainable agriculture. We are devoted to learning about and promoting ways in which to raise food, ornamentals, other farm crops and farm animals without damage to the environment. Our group, South Whidbey Tilth, is part of the Washington Tilth Association, which is composed of several regional chapters. In The News ... Fall Class Series 
Hot composting with Tom Vincent is Sunday, September 24 at 2:15. Download this schedule of classes to refer to. Study Group Meets this Wednesday, September 20 Gather with fellow gardeners to discuss each month’s work in the garden. The Seattle Tilth Maritime Northwest Garden Guide provides a handy month-to-month to-do list, harvest list, recipes and food preservation ideas, and pests and problems to beware of. Together, we’ll unpack the information and share thoughts and questions on how it applies to our own gardens, getting a chance to learn from each other. The next gathering is Wednesday, September 20 at the Bayview Cash Store lobby (possibly in the old Bayview School classroom across the street) at 7 p.m. Garden Guides are available for $16 which includers tax or plan to borrow one. 
September 24th at Tilth's Farmers' Market Music with Danny Ward, plus the Hot Composting Class after the market Join us every Sunday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. through October 1 for the South Whidbey Tilth Farmers' Market. Late season fruits and vegetables are in. Look for apples, pears, beans, tomatoes, potatoes, squash and so much more. Visitors can expect unique gifts by local artisans as well. Also hot breakfast and lunch items may be purchased from concessionaires to enjoy on picnic tables or to take home; plus organic coffee, tea, hot chocolate and cold beverages to accompany baked goods. Plenty of parking, free WiFi, clean restrooms and children's play area. Danny Ward eases us out of the market season, performing at both the September 24th and the October 1st markets. Danny's smooth sounds on his saxophone are both danceable or for easy listening. SNAP customers welcome. Get double value up to $20. Ask a vendor for a record sheet and bring it to the Laughing Cat in the pavilion for processing. WIC and Senior Farmers Market Nutrition Program coupons are accepted by DoReMi, Maha, Nettle Hollow, Lesedi and Blackberry Moon.
Council of Trustees Next Meeting Is September 21 Join us at our next business meeting on Thursday, September 21 at 6 p.m. at Trinity Lutheran Church's Annex in Freeland. All are welcome to participate and ask questions, contact the President for more information or leave a message at 360-321-0757. 
Cultivating Kids Screening - Wednesday, October 4 @ 2 p.m. Celebrate Whidbey Island Grown Week September 29 to October 8. South Whidbey Tilth is a member and is cohosting this event with the Freeland Library, at the library at 2 p.m. Wednesday, October 4. The film is 22 minutes and made by Melissa Young and Mark Dworkin about South Whidbey School District’s unique children’s gardening program and how the produce gets into school lunches. The hour-long program begins at 2 p.m. After the film will be presentations by the school’s staff, the apprentices who worked in the gardens and the filmmakers. Plan to purchase a copy of the film to inspire other school districts across the nation. Select Cultivating Kids to see a preview of the film.
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Only $160 More Funds Needed for Infrastructure Help us keep the plant propagation and salvage facility infrastructure. We've raised $740 and the South Whidbey Garden Club is helping with $300. See the Garden page. Vounteer hours South Whidbey Tilth depends on its volunteers. Please download a volunteer form as a pdf file. Keep track of your time all year. Mail to South Whidbey Tilth or email to the Treasurer. Our Organization Enjoy the Sustainability Campus The South Whidbey Tilth 11-acre Sustainability Campus provides a unique, leisurely ambience and focus for learning. The campus is open for walking, and you can view our ongoing projects: demonstration field crops, community garden and orchard, forest trail and understory recovery project, native plant salvage beds operated by Native Plant Stewards, the highway vegetation management model, and bluebird nesting boxes established by Coupeville fifth-graders. Dog walkers, please usethe poop bags behind the restroom where the directional signs are. Use the trash can there.
Volunteer Opportunities South Whidbey Tilth has opportunities for you to help with classes, farmers' market, community gardens, facilities maintenance and improvements and forest restoration projects.
Tilth History On August 27, 1977, more than 70 people gathered at Pragtree Farm near Arlington, WA, to develop strategies for the sustainable agriculture movement in the Pacific Northwest. Known as the "Regional Planning Meeting," the gathering established the framework for the Tilth Association.
Recently the Berry Center in Kentucky posted a video of Wendell Berry's July 1, 1974 speech in Spokane. Wendell's insights are as powerful today as they were forty years ago. The full transcript of his speech is available on the Tilth Producers website.
The meeting at Pragtree Farm laid the foundation for organizing local Tilth chapters. The next spring the first chapters were formed in Seattle and in Southwest Washington, followed by Willamette Valley Tilth and Rogue Tilth in Oregon. By the summer of 1982 there were 15 Tilth chapters in California, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington, with an estimated combined membership of 2,000. At the Regional Planning Meeting three years later Anthony Judge's ideas were incorporated into Tilth's strategy of organizing autonomous local chapters empowered to respond to the needs of their communities. Over the past three decades the Tilth movement has ebbed and flowed, with the central organization dissolving into statewide organizations in Oregon and Washington, and local chapters forming and fading away. Because of its decentralized, ecological strategy, however, Tilth has continued to adapt, survive, and thrive. Today Tilth is experiencing a resurgence parallel to the growth of the organic food and farming nationwide. The complete story by one of the founders, Mark Musick is on the Washington Tilth website select History.
All the Tilth organizations celebrated the 40th anniversary at the Tilth Producers Conference in November 2014. Mary Berry, Wendell’s daughter, was a keynote speaker.
See our chapters at: Oregon Tilth www.tilth.org Tilth Alliance www.seattletilth.org Sno-Valley Tilth www.snovalleytilth.org Vashon Island Growers Association www.vigavashon.org
Online newsletters The current newsletter issue is 2017 South Whidbey Tilth Summer News Contents Bringing Agricultural Items to the Fair
Follow links to issues from past years: |
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Soil Biology with Gabe Garms is a course to learn the basics of soil biology and fertility, its relevance to farming and gardening on September 23, from 9 to Noon, cost $25/$15. See details on the 
WiFi Is at Tilth!
...and like us! Please look for both South Whidbey Tilth and South Whidbey Tilth Farmers' Market.
South Whidbey Tilth