Still Going Strong in the Garden: Calendula

Love the bright flowers of calendula? Want to learn more about their endless generosity? Watch or listen here to an in-depth podcast from our neighbor in Methow Valley herbalist Rosalie de la Foret. She hosts a conversation on the glories of this intrepid garden ally with Helena del Pesco–independent chef, fermentation teacher, food business consultant and clinical herbalist. Enjoy! And when you’re ready to infuse your own oils, etc., look for dried calendula in our farm shop.

Rod’s House Menu

This week we’re offering Jo Mama’s World Famous Spaghetti, Caesar salad, peanut butter cookies with smoked salt and Nona’s homemade bread. The meal features our own eggs, tomatoes, zucchini, herbs and garlic. Want to sign up to make a dessert for 18? Shoot me an email. We deliver on Tuesdays. Interested in signing up as a meal partner? You can do that here. Just glad that someone is doing it and want to throw in some cash for supplies? Consider becoming our Patron.

Inspiring News & Info You Can Use

Local


Have electronics you want to get rid of? Check out the e-cycle pick-up service offered by Yakima Eco Solutions.

Volunteer opportunities around the valley (Source: The Yakima Herald)

“It’s a challenging time in American higher education right now. But if three women — two Yakama Nation members and one Catholic sister — could stand in the middle of a field and will a university into existence, who’s to say what’s possible when Native communities have access to education on their own terms?” —Dr. Christopher Gilmer
from The Essential University (Source: The EDU Ledger)

WA State

“The Colville Tribes microgrid program is rooted in the principle of energy sovereignty — the right of tribes to produce, deliver and manage energy on their own lands. With the Colville Reservation served by multiple utilities offering varied levels of service, the ability to self-generate electricity provides resiliency and reliability for vulnerable communities and ensures critical services — including healthcare, commerce and housing — remain powered during outages.”
from Washington tribes set to deploy multiple solar-powered microgrids across
 reservation (Source: Solar Power World)

“Washington’s ample apple orchards are especially ripe for agrivoltaics, the study said. Besides generating power, solar panels would shade apples on hot days.”
from WSU report suggests hanging solar panels over apple orchards (Source: Capital
Press)

“It may seem that those two goals – abundant salmon and steelhead runs and affordable, clean energy – are in conflict. They are not. Fisheries and energy experts agree: We can protect and recover our keystone species while also scaling up to meet our rapidly increasing energy demand.

To do so, we need a comprehensive solution that puts a fine focus on the Snake River, the largest tributary of the Columbia River, where four aging and costly dams are blocking 5,500 miles of pristine, cold, freshwater habitat and driving salmon and steelhead to extinction.”
from Josh Mills and Mike Leahy: Clean power and abundant salmon – both are
possible (Source: The Spokesman Review)

“Pronghorn are the fastest mammals in North America and thrive in open grassland and sagebrush steppe. Although native to Washington, they were extirpated by the early 1900s due to unregulated hunting and habitat fragmentation. State reintroduction efforts between 1930 and 1970 repeatedly failed.

More recently, tribal nations took the lead. The Yakama Nation released 99 pronghorn in 2011 and another 99 between 2018 and 2019. The most recent Yakama-WDFW survey counted 337 animals, though hunting remains closed for that population.”
 from Tribal Hunter Makes History With First Pronghorn Harvest on Colville Reservation
(Source: SourceOne)

National & Beyond

“Water is connected through the hydrologic cycle, even the water that’s within us, right? And so seeing the Klamath, which is this beautiful big river with all this water, heal, I think it makes the water in us heal too. We remember what it was like to be on a healthy planet. I think all of us are just starving to get back to that. When we work with nature, when we devote ourselves to these really important causes, when we decide we’re going to be stewards like we were talking about, it creates this internal healing, and it allows us to remember. And it feels really good.”
from ‘It’s a story of hope’: Reflections on undamming the Klamath (Source: High
Country News)


“Using literature is a great way for parents and teachers to introduce social awareness to children, she said.

Critical literacy challenges students to use the power of language to make a difference in their world. By looking at a situation through the eyes of a number of characters, students acquire the ability to consider a variety of perspectives.” –Joyce Herbeck
from Education professor explores social issues in children’s literature (Source:
Bozeman Daily Chronicle)


“This return represents more than the restoration of land — it is the restoration of balance, dignity, and our sacred connection to the places our ancestors once walked. The Franciscan Sisters’ act of generosity and courage stands as an example of what true healing and partnership can look like. We are proud to welcome Marywood home, to ensure it continues to serve future generations of the Lac du Flambeau people.” –John D. Johnson Sr.
from For the first time, Catholic sisters return land to a Tribal nation (Source: The 19th)

“Human rights and the environment are intrinsically intertwined: a clean, healthy and sustainable environment is essential in the enjoyment of our human rights. On 28 July 2022, the United Nations General Assembly declared that everyone on the planet has a right to a healthy environment. This landmark decision is the result of decades of mobilization of various stakeholders. States must now implement their commitments and scale up their efforts. This page aims at listing relevant information, research, data and/or press releases issued by our partners in Geneva and other institutions around the world.”
from Human Rights & The Environment (Source: Geneva Environment Network)

“In the face of this type of stress, Ukrainians have found ways to restore their lost connections with nature either by rebuilding gardens, adapting to new landscapes and/or finding different ways of sustaining their traditions.

Rewilding is offering renewal and recovery for both Ukraine’s people and its environment.”
 from Ukraine’s massive nature project is helping veterans and land recover (Source:
The Conversation)

And a final note:

Alpaca felted soaps are now in the yellow Ehler Road farm stand (aka The Banana Stand).
Pop on by and get a few for gifts! ($8 each. Cash box provided.)

‘Till next week…
Maria