“Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, and magic and power in it. Begin it now.” – Goethe

The future beating heart of our Agrivillage will be our Common House — the place where we cook, share meals, play, sing, dance, make art, meet, and connect with one another on a daily basis. We gathered this weekend with architect Bryan from @caddiscollaborative to help weave our many dreams for this central space into a single, collective vision that can be designed and built. We discussed everything from how we want to feel in our common living room to what do with muddy boots to where to store half-finished puzzles. How exciting to begin to bring our dreams out of the clounds and onto the ground!

Photo 1: Brian helping us prioritize spaces and uses.

Photo 2: A younger member’s blueprint.

Photo 3: Gathering at the future location of the Common House.

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What Else Is Happening on the Farm

Who says you can’t make maple syrup in Western Washington? It dipped below freezing in January, so Rooted Northwest member Diane gathered maple sap from our grove of maples. Her gallon of sap boiled down to about half a cup of syrup. Sooo good! 🤗

Diane got her start tapping maples by taking a WSU workshop on big-leaf maple tapping last fall. We are also collecting data on each tree as part of a community science project through WSU called Sapsuckers.

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Photos by Rooted NW members.

Our First Food Forest

“The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second-best time is today.” ~ Chinese Proverb

We have planted the first food forest at Rooted Northwest! The Snohomish, Whidbey, and Skagit Conservation Districts recently received a grant to explore agroforestry plantings for wet ground in Western Washington, and we volunteered a soggy three acres in the southeast area of the farm as a demonstration site. The primary focus crops are aronia, pawpaw, hazel, and elderberry, with plenty of supporting plants as well, like rhubarb, lovage, and oregano. After a few years, Rooted NW will inherit the system, and keep the conservation districts informed on what is (and isn’t) working.

Planning, procuring plants, and preparing the site was quite the task, but on a rainy day last month, a dozen community members and a crew of Washington Conservation Corps combined forces to get everything in the ground.

What Else Is Happening on the Farm?

The food forest is just one of the enterprises our Agriculture Circle is coordinating. In October, a group of Rooted NW members helped transplant 1,300 blueberry starts for a future organic blueberry operation covering two acres. A couple of weeks later, Steffi & Don broke ground on their medicinal herb farm, which will include elder, roses, hawthorn, willow, and a field of Blue Camas.

It’s so exciting to see a patchwork of farms taking shape on the land!

Holiday Crafts and Cheer: Wreath-Making
One of the delights of community is sharing skills, so it was with great enthusiasm that we gathered to make wreaths with Susan’s guidance, fueled by delicious hot cider and homemade cranberry-orange rolls.

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Photos by Rooted NW members.

Organizing a birthday party for a 1-year-old is a conundrum for new parents. On one hand, there’s the desire to see your progeny shove a pudgy fistful of cake in their face. On the other hand, there’s inviting people, making said cake plus other food items, engaging in sleep-deprived small talk, and then cleaning up afterward while a small drunken sailor wails at your knees.

At home in Southern California – where Julia and I live with our daughter Maeva – the scale tipped toward convenience and Maeva’s birthday slipped by with nary a frosted face. 

A week later, however, we were going to visit Rooted Northwest for the first time since Maeva’s birth, and, urged by fellow community members, we mustered the cognitive ability to send out a Maeva’s First Birthday invitation that included a time, a date, and a potluck sign up. 

After which we promptly did nothing else about it. 

And yet, like magic, we arrived at the old barn to discover several community members already setting up. Within an hour the potluck table overflowed — and included a sugar-free “smash cake” (as I learned it is called) made by a fellow Rooted parent. Two talented crafters collaborated on a banner for all the community kids to ink their footprints, both as community memento and adorable conversation item. Even the cleanup felt easeful, as many hands pitched in.

Driving away I reflected with great gratitude on the experience: On a practical level, I was thankful that with shared infrastructure and shared space comes a much greater ability and willingness for every guest to pitch in and help.

But on a deeper level, it was clear that our community wants to gather. We weren’t “convincing” a bunch of far-flung friends to trek across town for an event; rather, we were offering a reason to celebrate. The arduously architected experience of a traditional birthday was instead a co-created communion.

Plus, smash cake…

Essay by Jake Laub

“I could never in a hundred summersget tired of this.” ~ Susan Branch

What’s Happening Down on the Farm?  From celebrating the summer solstice, to school visits, to helping Reconnecting Roots Farm set up the very first hoop house on the land, a lot has been happening this summer at Rooted NW! Unlike a greenhouse, a hoop house (also known as a polytunnel) allows crops to be planted directly in the ground. They use only the power of the sun to warm the soil and promote growth. Hoop houses can be used year-round.

Although she couldn’t be there in person, Susan, an out-of-state member, wanted to make a contribution to our annual Summer Solstice celebration.  Susan is a great seamstress and craftsperson, and enjoys creating projects using scrap material.  The fabric for these three beautiful banners were donated by a local upholstery shop where she lives. She created the Rooted NW logo by hand, using rulers and round plates to make the shapes. The tree of life was her own artistic interpretation.

One banner was left intentionally plain so that the solstice celebrants could decorate it themselves. They used block prints created by Yuko – a local member and artist – or designed their own, then added their imprints to the piece. All ages had fun creating this work of art. The three beautiful banners now adorn an old barn wall, adding cheer during work parties and events. Thank you Susan and Yuko!

Education Rooted Style! “Always be on the lookout for the presence of wonder.” ~ E.B. White Seattle’s Bright Water Waldorf School visited Rooted NW for our first official educational event. (We hope our future will include many more!) The 3rd -and 4th-grade kids’ field trip was a day of hands-on learning and experiential engagement with Nature. What an opportunity for building connections with soil, forests, and ecosystems! They started with a little invocation of the directions and simple smudge ceremony after learning about the Stillaguamish people. The day’s activities included a treasure hunt on the land, building shelters from natural materials at hand, and mapmaking and orienteering. Rooted NW member Brett from Reconnecting Roots Farm also taught the kids about planting the season’s corn and sunflower crops.

Of course, romping around on the hay bales (aka giant marshmallows) and exploring the fields and trails completed a day of joy and wonder for all!

Meet a Member  Meet John. Originally from NY’s Catskill Mountains, John hitchhiked out to the Pacific Northwest, turning 20 on the road. It wasn’t long before the area felt like home, but he kept moving nonetheless! Highlights from his adventures include several months each in China, Ireland, and England, plus nearly two years in Bavaria. His wanderlust waned by the time he turned 30, and since then he has been deepening his appreciation for the beings and dynamics of the land and sea so cherished by hundreds of generations of Coast Salish peoples. Union activism, youth services, and managing the water resources program of a local tribe have been some of his eclectic pursuits over the past decades. He’s excited about joining Rooted NW where care and respect for land, water, and all living things is such a central tenet.

Permaculture Dave says:  “Summer is here and the harvest is probably rolling in for all you gardeners. If you’re getting good marks for abundance, that probably means you’ve got more fruits and vegetables than you can eat fresh. Time to get canning! Canning in the house on a hot summer day can be awful, so consider setting up an outdoor kitchen. Outdoor kitchens are great design features for enjoying more time outside and having your food prep happen as close to the garden as possible, especially if you’re a canner. Plus, if you make a mess, it’s way easier to deal with outside than in the house!

The simplest way to plan an outdoor kitchen is to locate it right outside the house from your indoor kitchen so you can share utilities (gas, water, sewer, electric) easily. That won’t always work out, but it’s a good place to start. Alternatively, you could even do a pop-up outdoor kitchen that you just set up for the summer and fall. It doesn’t have to be fancy or expensive to have the experience of hummingbird visits while you’re canning your cherries!”Dave Boehnlein – Rooted NW Memberand Permaculture Author/Educator

New Members & Explorers  Like a good crop, we just keep growing! Since our last newsletter in May, we’ve grown by three new member households — greetings to Morgan, Kris, and Dan & Avital. And a warm welcome to our newest explorers, Tricia & Mike, and Abby & Jacob. Although we are almost full, it’s not too late to get involved. We are  actively seeking farmers. This 30-minute video outlines our agriculture vision and describes how we plan to combine cohousing with community-supported agriculture. Please watch and share! We are also adding folks who are not farmers to an “interest pool” in case spots open in future.

Join us! Want to learn more about how we’re combining co-housing and regenerative agriculture to create a dynamic new community in Arlington, Washington?  Subscribe to this newsletter at rootednw.org. And be sure to check us out on Instagram and Facebook.  Photos by Rooted NW members.

”And into the field I go, to lose my mindand find my soul.” – Anonymous

What’s Happening Down on the Farm?  Operation Pond Liner! Thanks to the Helping Hands Food Bank, we were able to collect the used pond liners from their food forest to use as a natural, effective method to smother tenacious patches of less-desirable plants around the property such as morning glory and reed canary grass. It was heavy, sweaty work, and we were extra grateful to all the volunteers who rolled, lifted, and persevered throughout a long, tiring day. We hope they all got a good long soak in a hot bath when all was said and done — they certainly deserved one!

iNaturalist @ Rooted NW  Rooted NW member Diane has started a project on iNaturalist to gather information on native bees and other wildlife at Rooted NW. How does it work?  Using our phone cameras we will observe and record the wildlife we encounter on the farm using the iNaturalist app. By participating in iNaturalist, we will be contributing to biodiversity science by sharing findings with scientific data repositories like the Global Biodiversity Information Facility. That makes us citizen scientists! One fun aspect of the app is the ability to hold a “bioblitz” event where people try to find as many species as possible!  Watch this space for such an event this summer.

This tree frog was spotted on the land by photographer and Rooted NW member Morgan Keuler.

Meet a Member: Meet Laurie!  Laurie’s vision is to help initiate a Rooted NW non-profit for growing, processing, and donating fresh produce to those in need, as well as supporting Rooted NW’s educational mission to teach sustainability and permaculture.

Laurie at her farmette in Pennsylvania (canine companion Pepe in the wheelbarrow)

“In these uncertain times, many folks struggle to make ends meet.  So, I’d like to support and empower those who are vulnerable by leveraging my farming, CEO, and teaching experiences.  I’m heartened that decades of tending to our apple orchard, making cider, raising chickens, growing food, and, just this year founding Red Sol Farm, are laying the groundwork for offering nourishment and sharing knowledge.”

New Members & Explorers  In April we welcomed Morgan as the 25th member of the Rooted NW family! New explorers David & Emma, Janet & Marsha, and Steffi & Don also joined our bustling team. Great to have you all on board!  We are nearly full and plan to prioritize farmers and move others to an “interest list” for now.

Permaculture Dave says: “Got problems with slugs eating your garden veggies? You can find lots of advice about using sluggo, copper, beer traps, etc. Well, one technique that has worked really well for me it a heavy mulch of lawn clippings. After I plant, I put about 4″ of lawn clippings around my starts as a thick mulch. Over time this grass will dry and form a thatch mat. In addition to retaining soil moisture in the summer and suppressing weeds, I’ve found that slugs don’t seem to like crawling across it. I’m guessing the tiny pieces of grass stick to them and they really have to ramp up slime production to get it off. Note that mulching a bed early in the season before it’s warmed up may keep it cooler later, so this trick is probably best for your cool season crops. Also, avoid piling the mulch too deep or mounding it up around the starts. The fresh lawn clippings can heat up as they start to compost and you wouldn’t want to damage your tender starts. Enjoy the sweet late spring weather!”  Dave Boehnlein – Rooted NW Member and Permaculture Author/Educator

Join us! Want to learn more about how we’re combining co-housing and regenerative agriculture to create a dynamic new community in Arlington, Washington?  Sign up for an info session or subscribe to this newsletter at rootednw.org. And be sure to check us out on Instagram and Facebook.   Photos by Rooted NW members and explorers. Special thanks to Morgan K for the work party shots!

“April, dressed all in its trim, has put a spirit of youth in everything.” ~ William Shakespeare

What’s Happening Down on the Farm?  There’s an exciting new project brewing at Rooted NW! The Snohomish Conservation District asked Rooted NW if we’d like to be part of an experiment to explore growing agroforestry crops in wet areas.  Yes, we would! Beginning this spring, we will work with them to test our soil, plan a site layout, and document the pre-planting site; later this year, we’ll plant species known to prosper in seasonally soggy soils.  We are considering  Aronia berry or ornamental willow as the primary crop, with other species integrated for a polyculture planting.  The SCD will help us maintain and monitor the planting for three years, during which we’ll conduct market research and add to the body of agroforestry knowledge here in Snohomish County. When it’s all said and done, Rooted NW will inherit a great start to a perennial polyculture planting area. A win-win for all!

SCD site visit at Rooted NW, March 2022

What is ‘Agroforestry’? Agroforestry is the deliberate integration of trees and shrubs into farming systems. It can include integrating parkland and wood pasture, hedgerows (common in the UK and Europe, but less widely used in North America), or newer systems like contour planting and silvoarable cropping – a method of growing alleys of productive trees among arable crops.

What are the benefits of agroforestry?enhances farm productivityincreases wildlifeimproves soil healthboosts livestock welfaremanages water flow contributes to climate-change mitigation. Systems can be designed to avoid the potential trade-offs that occur in many modern farming systems between food production and public goods like clean air and water. It’s a benefit for both farming and the environment. Read more here.

Meet a Member Meet Mindy. Mindy is a retired volunteer firefighter/media, animal lover, and motorcycle enthusiast  among many, many other things. While we have members who follow all sorts of diets, Mindy chooses a plant-based diet.

“My household’s decision to eat a plant-based diet comes from a three-fold awareness.  We were introduced to this lifestyle while on a journey to live well with cancer. The documentary THE GAME CHANGERS illuminated the health benefits for humans and the environment.  Combining fasting with a plant-based diet beneficially lowered cancer markers, strengthening our commitment. The awareness that the climate crisis was speeding up thanks in part to methane gas from feedlots and the destruction of rainforest land to further grazing empowered us to take the step to eat-plant based as a small yet radical step. Always a lover of animals, I came to the personal realization that if I could not face the death of an animal whose meat I ate, then I needed to re-examine my choices.  I came to enjoy several Kunekune pigs living in the neighborhood near Rooted NW land who come running like pet dogs.  While I recognize not everyone will share and make this decision, those pigs supported my choice! These factors, along with such wonderful vegan choices now available, strengthen my choice towards health of the planet, my own well-being, and that of the creatures who so delight me.”

Permaculture Dave says: “Include some peas in your spring planting for soil-nurturing benefits! “Not only do peas cover the soil to prevent erosion, but they also boost soil nitrogen levels by drawing nitrogen gas from the air and storing it in the roots. For this reason, peas are often included in cover-crop formulas to act as as green manure, meaning plant-based organic material vs animal waste. “Peas are very easy to grow, but their growing period is limited to cool weather. You can harvest green shoots in just 3 or 4 weeks to add to your salad or stir-fry, or harvest the mature pea pods in a few months for enjoying as nature’s candy from the garden.”  Top tips: – To speed germination, soak seeds in water overnight before planting. – Sow seeds 1 inch deep and about 2 inches apart. Don’t thin. – Plant rows 7 inches apart. Dave Boehnlein – Rooted NW Member and Permaculture Author/Educator

New Members & Explorers  In March we welcomed two new member households, John and Diane! Greetings as well to our two new explorer households, David & Emma and Janet & Marsha.  Although we are almost full, it’s not too late to get involved! We are actively seeking farmers. This 30-minute video outlines our agriculture vision and describes how we plan to combine co-housing with community-supported agriculture. Please watch and share! We are also adding folks who are not farmers to an “interest pool” in case spots open in future.

“In March winter is holding back and spring is pulling forward. Something holds and something pulls inside of us too.” ~Jean Hersey~

What’s Happening Down on the Farm? Our monthly work parties are more than work — they’re party, too! — and a key ingredient for “community (social) glue.” We get together on the land and fix, build, clean, and measure, and, best of all, we do it together. Here we are at the first one of the year, on a surprisingly beautiful day. We cleared blackberries, measured groundwater, fixed holes, built a door, cleared more blackberries, measured the barn for use as a provisional common area, sorted a huge junk-glob into useful and haulable piles, and … cleared blackberries! Then we had a lovely potluck dinner with all sorts of yummy goodness and stood around the fire pit basking in the glow of food, land, and each other.

Meet a Member: Jake Jake’s vision is to start Rooted NW Ferments using farm “seconds” from Rooted NW farmers as well as other local organic sources to feed a CSA-style subscription program that would include jarred vegetables (kimchis, krauts), beverages (kombucha, kvass), and fresh bread (sourdough)!

“Fermented foods are more digestible and nutrient-dense, add value to otherwise non-saleable farm produce, require less refrigeration, and stay viable longer than other prepared foods. Plus, I love making them! It’s like having a science project on your kitchen counter.”

New Members & Explorers New members in February? Yes, indeed! Welcome to the Rooted family, Kim, Chelsey & Adam, and Sonia & Devin. We are so excited to have you on board. And welcome to our newest explorer Jessi as well! We are almost full and plan to prioritize farmers and move others interested in becoming explorers to a waitlist for now.

Permaculture Dave says: “Pruning fruit trees is a near-perfect blend of art and science. This is a great time to learn and practice. If you inherited unkempt fruit trees with your property, you can get started on restoring them now. Just make sure you only remove a max of 25% of the living branches per year (your pruning budget!). That means restoration often takes place over several years.  If you’re not sure where to begin, remember the four D’s: “dead, damaged, diseased, and deranged” (branches that are crossing, rubbing against each other, pointing straight down, etc.). Beyond that, lots of organizations offer pruning classes this time of year. Even YouTube can give you some excellent advice. Happy pruning!” Dave Boehnlein – Rooted NW Member and Permaculture Author/Educator

“You can get excited about the future. The past won’t mind.” ~Hillary DePiano

What’s Happening Down on the Farm? Cold winter days in community are for creativity! Here’s how Yuko from Honeyberry Studios transformed the living room of the mobile home on the property into a “hip hotel lobby” (with the aid of some community helpers of course). Enjoy these before and after shots and the process in between. We can’t wait until we have many more walls to decorate in the future!

What’s to love about being in community? 💙 Colorful decorating is just one of many wonderful things we’re looking forward to at Rooted NW. We asked our members to complete this sentence: What I will love about being in community is… being around others who share my obsession with growing food and living sustainably. having hiking buddies an arm’s length away. sitting around a shared dinner table laughing together. being an auntie to community kiddos and watching them grow and blossom.sharing good food with the larger community in Arlington. cooking up a storm! being around people who challenge my way of thinking with new ideas and concepts. living close to the soil and the opportunity to mutually benefit each other. learning from observing nature. having opportunities to work hard, play hard, and contribute with appreciation and love. having a village of connected folk who know how to communicate in a positive way. the opportunity to work and play together, with common goals and ideals. being able to walk out my door and be in nature a few steps away. starting impromptu cribbage games and spontaneous movie nights! What would you look forward to?

Meet a Member Meet Matthew G. Matthew is an experienced berry farmer with a background in landscape and horticulture. The Blueberry Topping pictured is a product he used to sell when he had his own farm, and that’s his daughter on the label!  Matthew plans to farm a few acres of blueberries at Rooted NW with a group of other members.

“Our plan is to buy several thousand blueberry plants of a few different varieties. These plants will only be a couple of inches tall. We’ll put them in pots and wait several years for them to be big enough to plant out on the land.  Soon after, we can start harvesting. Our long term plan is to pick 10,000-plus pounds per year and market them on the land, in local retail outlets, and on the wholesale market. Depending on how successful we are, we’ll expand, and hopefully branch out to other small fruits.”

New Members & Explorers  We took a pause over the holidays and for much of January, so we have no new members or explorers to report, but we did have a record number of households sign up for our January info session! Things are hopping, and we are almost full. So if you are interested in learning more about our project and the membership process, we have two online Zoom info sessions scheduled in February — one on Tuesday, the 8th from 6-8 PM PST, and one on Saturday, the 19th from 1-3 PM PST. Sign up here.

Permaculture Dave says: “Observation is key to good permaculture design. Interestingly, what we can observe changes throughout the year. It would be a mistake to make plans based on your observations at one point in time. Whether you live in a climate that is snowy, rainy, cold or warm in the winter, it’s a great time to make observations. Here at Rooted NW, we’re cold and rainy in the winter but tend to have only short forays into the sub-freezing range. I’ve been taking time to observe where standing water shows up, how deep our water table is on different parts of the property, and what tracks I can see in the mud. I’m also paying close attention to where the frost settles and melts first and last. This helps me to better understand micro-climates on the property so we have more success when planting time rolls around. What features of your landscape are best observed in the winter?”  Dave Boehnlein – Rooted NW Member and Permaculture Author/Educator

Join us! Want to learn more about how we’re combining co-housing and regenerative agriculture to create a dynamic new community in Arlington, Washington?  Sign up for an info session or subscribe to this newsletter at rootednw.org. And be sure to check us out on Instagram and Facebook.

“All that is gold does not glitter, not all those who wander are lost; the old that is strong does not wither, deep roots are not reached by the frost.”~J.R.R. Tolkien~

What’s Happening Down on the Farm?  Snow — that’s what’s happening! We were blessed with lots of the white stuff after Christmas. It turned our already gorgeous land into a stunning winter wonderland. (And the sledding was pretty good too!)

Looking Back and Looking Ahead  How can we reimagine living together in a way that nurtures and respects all, including the land we inhabit? Buckminster Fuller said, “You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete.” This thinking informs our vision for Rooted NW.  What began as a dream shared by our founding members has turned into a project gaining momentum and members.  Here’s a brief past and future timeline: Dec 2015 We have a vision! 2016-2019 Research phase – visiting cohousing communities and conferences, exploring forms of governance, hiring consultants, drawing up criteria for the land — at least 100 acres,  at least 100’ elevation, no more than 2 hours from Seattle Jan 2021 Committed to 240 glorious acres in Arlington (2019) 5 Member households (Aug 2020)Land purchase (Sept 2020)10 Member households Summer 2021 Dug a well and built a gravel road Dec 2021 20 Member households Summer 2022 Design common house First harvest of crops grown at Rooted NW Fall 2022🤞 Approval of Preliminary Plat 2023 Final design submittal, goal of 28-30 households 2024 Final Plat approval, begin construction, add final 5-7 households 2024/2025 Move-in The efforts of many hands and hearts have put this dream in motion and will continue to encourage it forward. We are so excited to see what develops in 2022 and beyond!

Meet a Member: Meet Brett. Brett is a farmer who loves to grow delicious food for the local community at his current farm, Reconnecting Roots.

“I am excited about moving my farm to Rooted NW this spring. I look forward to growing a diverse array of produce for the local community. I am passionate about creating a local food system where communities have access to sustainably grown, nutritious food and have a direct connection to the farms and the farmers who grow their food. At Rooted NW I would love the opportunity to work with other farmers to develop enterprises that can collaborate to create a truly sustainable, local food system.“

New Members & Explorers Congratulations to Christine, our newest member! We also look forward to getting to know the FIVE new explorer households who signed up in December — Maia and Alex, Diane, Ashley and Morgan, Maizie and Bill, Lou, Sandy, and Kingfisher — welcome! We are almost full!  If you are interested in learning more about our project and availability, we have an online Zoom info session scheduled for Sunday, January 23 from 1:00 – 3:00pm PST. Sign up here.

Permaculture Dave says: “January is the time to take an inventory of leftover seeds and test them for viability. Fold about a dozen seeds inside a damp paper towel and place them inside a plastic bag in a warm place. Keep an eye on them and count how many germinate within the expected time per the seed packet. If the germination rate is less than four, throw out the packet and buy some new seeds!“ Dave Boehnlein – Rooted NW Memberand Permaculture Author/Educator

Join us! Want to learn more about how we’re combining co-housing and regenerative agriculture to create a dynamic new community in Arlington, Washington?  Sign up for an info session or subscribe to this newsletter at rootednw.org. And be sure to check us out on Instagram and Facebook.  Photos by Rooted NW members.

“In seed time learn, in harvest teach, in winter enjoy.”-William Blake-

The Year in Pictures As winter closes in and we prepare to pause for a few weeks over the holidays, we thought we would revisit the year by sharing some favorite photos taken by our members. Enjoy. Be sure to scroll all the way down to see this month’s member profile and read Lisa’s permaculture tip for December!

Meet a Member Meet Yuko! She and her husband Dave moved onto the land in June. Yuko is an artist and currently runs her business – Honeyberry Studios – from their home.

“Walking the land and noticing small and big changes the seasons bring has been a treat. As an artist, the farm has inspired my creative practice quite a bit. Even though we don’t have any livestock yet, I’ve been creating a dream animal farm in my art, and I’m sure there will be more! This adorable holiday duck in the picture is inspired by another Rooted NW member’s ducks .🦆 (Thanks, Carla!)”

New Members & Explorers New members? Yep! Welcome Brett and Sarah! New explorers? Indeed! Great to have you all on board!  Curious about community living?  Join one of our Zoom info sessions to learn more and ask questions. This month we have a session on  Saturday, Dec 11th,  1-3 PM PST, and another scheduled in January on Sunday the 23rd, 1–3 PM PST. Sign up here.

December Permaculture Tip: “December is the time to order or purchase local bulbs, and to get a seed catalog so you can start planning for next year! As well, look up your local spring late frost date and mark it on the calendar. Then count backwards and mark when 8, 6, 4, and 2 weeks before the last frost date are on the same calendar. After you get your seeds, organize them by when they need planting, indoors or out.“ Lisa Miller – Rooted NW Explorer and Owner/Designer at Eco-RestoreEcological Consulting & Design LLCwww.eco-restore.com