Seattle Tilth’s Urban Farm Tour

Seattle Tilth Urban Farm Tour - chickens, permaculture and organic gardening - cultivatedrambler.com

Ya’ll know my love for Seattle Tilth so when their Chicken Coop & Urban Garden Tour was announced, my calendar was marked STAT. The idea behind this event is to have urban farmers open their yards for insight and inspiration for us up and coming farmers. Hosts were available for short tours and Q&A at each location.

Farms were open all over Seattle, but my Mom and I were on a bit of a time crunch so we stayed close to home in the south end. We visited five sites that afternoon and walked away with a ton of great ideas. I’m actually glad we didn’t check them all out as I’ll be able to check out the north end next year for even more inspiration!

Many were true, hardcore urban farmers with goats and chickens galore. All had gardens and edible landscape. Some had interesting permaculture elements while others were more traditional gardens with veggies tucked into the beds. I tended to like the yards that looked half farm and half veggie/flower garden. As much as I love the concept of chickens, but I don’t think we’re quite there yet. They are a big time and money commitment. I do think bees might be in our future though! There are a few companies around town that offer bee hosting where they manage the hives and you just provide the proper environment šŸ™‚

HIGHLIGHTS

Craziest thing we saw: sculptures made out of goat hair!
Easiest idea for incorporation: strawberry plants as borders for flower beds
A pleasant surprise: one yard had a peach tree stuffed to the gills with ripening peaches. I made note to get one planted next year in our yard.
For the kiddos: a tee pee made out of green beans and squash
Made you think: forget rain barrels! cisterns are where it’s at for rain water harvesting and for controlling run-off

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