SFA Events & Updates

The Santiam Food Alliance invites the public to celebrate spring and the strawberry season at the Lebanon Downtown Farmers’ Market on May 30. While the farmers sell strawberries and greens, Santiam Food Alliance volunteers will offer free samples of strawberries and greens in artful combination in salads. Volunteers will also provide each visitor to the booth with a plant start to take home, and Master Gardeners will share gardening advice.

The Lebanon Downtown Farmers’ Market runs every Thursday from 2:00 to 6:00 pm through the growing season at the corner of Grant and Main. For more information about the market, call Belinda at 541-418-2603.

 

GARDENERS INVITED TO SEEDY TUESDAY

On February 26, the Santiam Food Alliance will hold Seedy Tuesday at the Lebanon Public Library. This free program and gardeners’ networking event will begin at 6:30 p.m.

The evening will begin with a presentation by Lisa Almarode, of Fairweather Farm, on starting cool-season crops—cabbages, onions, and carrots, for example–from seed.

The seed swap will begin about 7:00. Everyone with seeds or other plant materials to share will lay them out on tables. Vegetable seeds will be the main emphasis, but gardeners are welcome to bring flower seeds and other kinds, and even well-wrapped tubers and growing plants. The seeds don’t have to be homegrown; they can be extras from commercial packets. All seeds should be identified by species and variety and the year of harvest, if possible.

Novice gardeners and others with no seeds to share are welcome to come and collect seeds anyway. Anyone planning to take home seeds should bring envelopes, tape, and a pen for labeling the envelopes.

During the swap, Oregon State University (OSU) Extension Master Gardeners and members of the Lebanon Garden Club will be on hand to answer questions about planting and saving seeds and other gardening matters. There will be a swap table for seed and plant catalogs as well.

Cosponsoring Seedy Tuesday with the Santiam Food Alliance are the Lebanon Garden Club, OSU Extension Master Gardeners, and the Lebanon Public Library. For more information about the event, visit the Santiam Food Alliance’s Facebook page or contact Linda at lindaziedrich@gmail.com.

GARDENERS WELCOME AT SEEDY TUESDAY
On February 20, the Santiam Food Alliance will hold Seedy Tuesday at the Lebanon
Public Library. This free program and gardeners’ networking event will begin at 6:30
p.m.

The evening will begin with presentations on starting seeds. Trudie Bason, of Timeless Gardens Nursery, will demonstrate how to start seeds in flats or pots. Betty Goergen, an Oregon State Extension Master Gardener, will offer tips on starting seeds directly in the ground.

A seed swap will begin about 7:30. Gardeners with seeds or other plant materials to
share will lay them out on tables. Vegetable seeds will be the main emphasis, but
gardeners are welcome to bring flower seeds and other kinds, and even well-wrapped tubers and growing plants. The seeds don’t have to be homegrown; they can be extras from commercial packets. All seeds should be identified by species and variety and the year of harvest, if possible.

Novice gardeners and others with no seeds to share are welcome to come and collect
seeds anyway. Anyone planning to take home seeds should bring envelopes, tape, and a pen for labeling the envelopes.

During the swap, Oregon State University (OSU) Extension Master Gardeners and
members of the Lebanon Garden Club will be on hand to answer questions about
planting and saving seeds and other gardening matters. There will be a swap table for seed and plant catalogs as well.

.

Click the map below to download a pdf version for printing.

GARDEN TOUR WILL FEATURE FOOD-PRODUCING FRONT YARDS AND COMMUNITY GARDENS

Lebanon’s first Edible Front Yard and Community Garden Tour will take place Saturday, July 15. Sponsored by the Santiam Food Alliance, this free, self-guided tour will run from 10 am to 1 pm.

The tour will include six Lebanon gardens, three of them community gardens and the others residential front yards. The community gardens are at Cascade Ridge apartments, on Reeves Parkway at Fifth St.; at the Lebanon Senior Center; and adjacent to Our Saviour’s Lutheran Church, at 3111 S. Main St. (the garden is to the east, on Wagon Wheel). The home gardens belong to Daniel King, at West Rose and 2nd St.; Colleen Floro, at 472 East Vine; and Linda Ziedrich, at East Ash and Hiatt.

The three home gardens all employ the concept of edible landscaping, which means gardening for beauty as well as for delicious, healthful produce. King, Floro, and Ziedrich mix edibles and ornamentals in compact front yards. All three also make full use of their parking strips, the planting areas between the sidewalk and the street that are often called hellstrips, because of the difficulties they present to gardeners. These gardeners’ curbside gardens, however, might better be called heavenstrips.

The community gardens are at the center of town and at opposite ends. The Cascade Ridge garden provides plots for 16 residents of the complex, and the two long beds at the Senior Center includes plots for 20 seniors. The Garden of Eatin’, next to Our Saviour’s Lutheran Church, is the biggest garden on the tour. It provides a mix of raised and in-ground beds, available for rent by community members for only 20 dollars per year, water, compost, and mulch included.

Visitors can take the tour in any order they like. Maps will be available at the tour sites and can be picked up in advance at the Lebanon Senior Center, the Lebanon Public Library, and Our Saviour’s Lutheran Church (at the church office, open from 9 a.m. to noon Monday through Thursday). At Cascade Ridge, those coming by car should park in an unnumbered space and look for the fenced area at the northeast corner of the complex. The Senior Center also has a parking lot. At the other gardens, plenty of street parking is available, and it’s an easy walk from the Senior Center to each of the home gardens.  Gardeners and volunteers will be available to answer questions at the sites.

The Edible Front Yard and Community Garden Tour is sponsored by the Santiam Food Alliance, with help from the Lebanon Garden Club and the Linn County Master Gardeners.