Happy March, Gardeners!

There have been some wonderful developments in the works for this year. And all of them are because of our wonderful Sandy Seed Library volunteers.

First, I would like to share that we have a new garden club that will be meeting in the library every 4th Monday, from 6:30 to 8pm. This group will be led by our volunteer Leslie. There has been a lot of expressed interest for a gardening club that meets on a weeknight to accommodate those that have traditional work schedules. I am grateful to Leslie for initiating a way for members of the community to come together face to face.

Second, you might have noticed a new logo on this email. Another one of our fabulous volunteers, Adrienne, helped me with my vision of giving our seed library a branding refresh. There were a few things that we wanted to achieve: we wanted to have our own, unique feel while also tying in with LINCC's recent rebranding as well as with that of the City of Sandy, and at the same time we wanted to honor our past and also celebrate our home within the library. Adrienne came up with this delightful logo design that keeps our original carrot, honoring our founder Susie, and acknowledges our place in the library with the book.

Finally, I have diligently been getting seeds into the cabinet. So far VEG:A-BEANS are out, and by the time you read this I am hoping that all VEG:C-CORN will be there.

Upcoming Events

Tickle Creek Planting Work Party with Clackamas River Basin Council

When: March 2, from 10 to 12pm

Where: Tickle Creek Park (please RSVP through this link)

Sandy Garden Club - Salad Bowl Gardens

When: March 5, from 9:30 to 11:30am

Where: The Sandy Grange (34705 SE Kelso Rd, Sandy, OR 97055)

Estacada Garden Club - Seed Saving with OSU Master Gardener

When: March 13, from 1 to 3pm

Where: Estacada Public Library Community Room (825 NW Wade St, Estacada, OR 97023)

Bee City Event - A Pollinator Panel: How Can You Make a Difference?

An evening of discussion, Q&A, and learning!

When: March 20, from 6 to 7:30pm

Where: Sandy Community & Senior Center (38348 Pioneer Blvd, Sandy)

Sandy Edible Gardening Group - NEW GARDEN CLUB!

Share the highs and lows of edible gardening with your neighbors as we swap tips, timelines, strategies, and resources. This group is open to all -- whether you are just starting out or gardening year-round. Together we'll go from seed to maximizing the bounty of the harvest.

Meets: Fourth Monday of every month (next meeting: March 24th, featuring A Slice of Heaven Farm talking about growing cruciferous vegetables*)

Time: 6:30 - 8:00pm

Location: Hoyt Community Room, Sandy Public Library

*AKA brassicas (cabbage, broccoli, brussels sprouts, etc.)

Adopt-a-Crop

This program is led by the Oak Lodge-based seed library, Seeds for Sharing. It provides us the opportunity to collaborate with other LINCC seed libraries and will guide participants with monthly emails to grow climate-resilient squash or runner beans and create the next generation of locally adapted food and seeds for our communities.

Registration is now through April 15 with this Google Form.

For more information, email: seedsforsharing@gmail.com.

Seeds for Sharing Instagram Page

Bonus Note: Seeds for Sharing has shared seeds with us from their garden. Check out the cabinet for local herbs, flowers, native flowers, and some veggies (including beans, sweet corn, and tomatoes!).

AntFarm Gardening

Carson, whom some of you may have met at Seedy Saturday, will be at the Sandy AntFarm Gardens hosting educational opportunities! He will be teaching on a variety of topics: composting, broadforking, cloning, grafting, plant propagation, and seed saving. Through these teaching moments he hopes to encourage and guide the volunteers along the path to growing more bountiful produce and flowers. Maybe there will be enough seeds to donate back to the Sandy Seed Library! Either way, it sounds like an amazing opportunity to learn by being hands on.

Gardening for Youth Ages 10-15: Mondays from 2 to 4pm

Gardening for Ages 15+: Thursdays from 9am to 12pm

Gardening for All: Saturdays from 11am to 1pm

Where: Sandy AntFarm Gardens next to Tollgate

Adult Take & Make: Merry Mushroom Felt Ornament

Starting March 15th, there will be a felt mushroom adult craft available. If you are not already familiar, we have monthly take & make crafts available for kids (15th of the month), teens (1st of the month), and adults (15th of the month).

With this month being a mushroom, I could not resist sharing with you all. Come and grab yours while supplies last!

What I've Been Reading: Milkweed Lands: An Epic Story of One Plant, Its Nature and Ecology by Eric Lee-Mader

With National Butterfly Day coming up, I wanted to highlight this book. It is a very interesting read with wonderful illustrations about the history of milkweed, the significance and importance of bringing the native varieties back into our habitats, and the botany of the species. The author works for the Xerces Society (the organization that helps us with our Bee City initiative), so they spend some time diving into the different critters and insects, along with the monarchs, that benefit from and depend on this plant.

One of my favorite tidbits I learned is that the white-footed mouse uses the milkweed floss as a blanket in the winter! Which also reminds me that the Milkweed Floss Corporation of America was created to help process milkweed floss and use it as the buoyant life jacket stuffing for the Navy during WWII! Citizens were paid 15 cents per bag of floss. These stories probably stand out to me because I processed milkweed pods from the library garden for the seed library and the floss was so soft and silky that I found myself wondering if anyone used it in textiles.

Xerces Society just put out a report that the Western Monarch population is at a near record low. You can read up on that here: Western Monarch Population Declines to a Near Record Low.

And if you would like information on native milkweed for Oregon, please see their PDF: Native Milkweed - Oregon.

What I've Been Reading Children's Edition: The Vanderbeekers and the Hidden Garden by Karina Yan Glaser

I listened to this book on Libby and absolutely enjoyed how the Vanderbeeker children pooled their resources to create a hidden garden in an abandoned space near their Harlem home. The creation of this garden was done out of love for their sick neighbor who is like family to them and also provided healing for one of their other neighbors who had not been able to leave his apartment in six years. This is a juvenile chapter book with a middle-grade reading level. As always, thank you for being here, Brianna Chase