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      • Community Food Co-op, Downtown Store, 1220 North Forest Street at Holly StreetDowntown Store
        1220 North Forest Street at Holly Street
        Bellingham, Washington
        7 am - 9 pm
        360-734-8158
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        315 Westerly Road at Cordata Parkway
        Bellingham, Washington
        7 am - 9 pm
        360-734-8158
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You are here: Home / Archives for garden

Is Your Garden Ready for Spring?

July crops are shown blooming at Uprising Organics.

It may seem chilly in the Pacific Northwest but spring starts next month. Time to prepare your garden! Luckily, the Community Food Co-op has your essential gardening tips and tricks to get you ready.

Getting Ready for Spring

Step 1: Clean your annual flower beds and vegetable beds. This means pulling any dead annual plants, removing dead growth, pulling weeds, and revitalizing your mulch and soil. This is also a great time to edge your garden beds, reducing overgrowth into your garden.

Step 2: Start some Uprising Seeds indoors. Onions in particular do well when started indoors in February and March. A few others that do well indoors are parsley, summer cabbage, tomatoes, and peppers. Indoor planting kits can be found in our produce sections. Our go-to list for  planting times is Uprising Seeds’ Maritime Northwest planting guide.

Step 3: Plant bare-root roses and fruit trees, and finish pruning existing rose bushes and fruit trees. By pruning your plants while they are still dormant, they can focus on creating new, healthy growth once the warm weather arrives.

Step 4: Once you’ve pruned, use a dormant spray on roses and fruit trees. Dormant spray will save you from a bug infestation in mid-spring or even later in the season. This is just one effective way to protect your plants from overwintering pests such as larvae!

Step 5: Harvest cool-season vegetables before they bolt! Keep an eye on the temperature. If we have a sudden rise in heat, your cool-season crops may not make it.

Step 6: Transfer any tubers or corms you’ve stored into pots. It is least disruptive to your plants to transfer them while they are still tubers or corms, before they bloom. Then, you can water them occasionally and wait for them to bloom in the spring.

Step 7: Start dividing your perennials. Before dividing your perennials, ensure the plants are well watered. Then, shake off any excess soil on the roots and pull or cut the plant to divide it. Finally, replant each section. One rule of thumb is to divide your perennials every three years. By dividing your perennials, you’re allowing more space for the plant to grow and to gain nutrients. 

Uprising Seeds packets sit next to fresh produce

Uprising Seeds

Uprising Seeds is a small, family-run, and certified organic seed farm. They produce over 70% of the seeds they sell at their home farm, Uprising Organics, just north of Bellingham. The remainder of their varieties are sourced from family farms in Washington, Oregon, California, and Idaho.

Uprising Seeds’ ideal vision of seed sustainability involves farmers and gardeners as the stewards of the varieties that they depend on. They are committed to strengthening the public commons of seed genetics by working to preserve and improve open-pollinated varieties keeping biodiversity strong through adaptability and resilience. Support this local brand today at the Co-op!

Crops in a field are shown blooming at Uprising Organics.

FLORAL & GARDEN| HOT OFF THE PRESS| PRODUCE| SALES| SUSTAINABILITY| THE CO-OP DIFFERENCE farmers| farming| farms| fresh| garden| gardening| healthy| local| organic| produce| sale| seed| spring| sustainability| sustainable| the co-op difference| the coop difference| vegetables

Meet Your Farmer: Sunseed Farm

by Megan Stilp, Cordata Produce

Locally grown organic garden starts available now at your co-op!

farmer in greenhouse with garden starts

Nick Guilford tending plant starts in Sunseed Farm’s eight greenhouses. After the germination chamber, the small starts move into this warm greenhouse to grow before being hardened off for outdoor planting in the cooler greenhouses.

Nestled in the valley of the south fork of the Nooksack River sits Sunseed Farm. Nick Guilford, proprietor, has been using organic growing methods since starting the business in 1997 and obtained organic certification in 2001. On the farm you’ll find organic garden starts, many destined for sale at the Co-op, growing right alongside the plants that go into Sunseed’s fields for vegetable and herb production.

This makes for less transplant shock, and an earlier, more abundant yield.

Most plant starts sold in our area are chemically raised, which can make for a hard transition into a garden where they aren't being fed a nutrient solution every day. According to Sunseed’s website, “Our organic starts not only come with a longer lasting nutrient base in the pot, but the plants are also in a more natural, nutrient foraging relationship with the soil. This makes for less transplant shock, and an earlier, more abundant yield.” Additionally, over a 20-year career as a market farmer, Nick has selected varieties of crops that have been proven to thrive in our climate. All of these factors can help produce a successful home gardening experience when using starts from Sunseed Farm.

You can find their organic garden starts at both Community Food Co-op locations from about mid-March through the end of our often unpredictable local planting season. You can also find Sunseed Farm at the Saturday Bellingham Farmers Market.

Dedicated to your gardening success, Sunseed’s website is a great resource for the home gardener, with planting tips and schedules, articles on season extension, and even a selection of their favorite gardening tools and books available for purchase.

 

margaret gerard and nick guilford on their farm

Margaret Gerard and Nick Guilford at Sunseed Farm get your garden starts growing with the best soil, optimal growing conditions, and lots of love.

planting chart for veggies herbs and starts
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FLORAL & GARDEN| HOT OFF THE PRESS garden| local| organic| plant starts| produce| whatcom county

25% off Garden Starts and Outdoor Plants

Saturday and Sunday only! Get your garden growing!

RSVP on Facebook for reminders.

Select from flowers, herbs, veggie starts, annuals, perennials, outdoor succulents, and more.
• Most of our offerings are locally grown in Whatcom or Skagit counties.
• We’re proud to carry organic flower, veggie, and herb starts from Sunseed Farm in Acme.
Our vendors include:
Sunseed Farm: organically grown veggie, flower & herb starts - grown in Whatcom County
Thompson's Greenhouse: annuals, perennials & herbs
Dirty Knees Nursery: flower & herb starts
Joe's Gardens, Bellingham: veggie, flower & herb starts

poster for 25% off all garden starts and outdoor plants

garden| plants| sale| starts

Garden Day at Cordata

Join us for a fun morning at the Cordata store and celebrate spring, gardening, and get some tips on enhancing your yard.

Hands-on and educational activities include—

  • seed planting activity for kids with Renel Anderson, president of Biochar Supreme
  • tours of our native, edible, drought-tolerant landscaping with Scott Milam of Beeline Designs
  • Master Gardeners on-site to share advice and answer questions
  • tasty housemade food samples from the Co-op including breakfast sausage, cinnamon rolls, and organic strawberries topped with whipped cream from Twin Brook Creamery
  • specials in our garden center.

garden| samples| tours

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A Co-op employee decorated Mom cakes.

The Perfect Mother’s Day Gift

Delight the mom in your life with a few of our favorite products for Mother’s Day.  Mother’s Day Bouquets   Fresh flowers brighten Mother’s Day and indicate that spring is here. Our tulips and field daffodils are grown locally in Mount Vernon. We have tulips in a variety of lovely colored [...]
Savannah of Flynn Farms harvesting greens.

Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month

Happy Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month! Annually celebrated since 1992, AAPI Heritage Month recognizes the cultural contributions of Asian and Pacific Islander heritage to the United States. AAPI is an umbrella term for cultures from the entire Asian continent and the Pacific Islands of Melanesia, Micronesia, and [...]

Shop in Bulk and Save

Shopping in bulk is a great way to reduce the carbon-footprint (and the cost) of your grocery haul, but your first foray into the bulk section can be intimidating. We want everyone to feel comfortable and capable in all parts of our store, so we've developed a handy guide to [...]

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DOWNTOWN STORE & DELI • map • 360-734-8158 • 7 am – 9 pm
meat and deli counter: 7 am – 7 pm
made-to-order counter: 7 am – 6 pm
salad/hot bar: 7 am – 6 pm

CORDATA STORE & DELI • map • 360-734-8158 • 7 am – 9 pm
meat and deli counter: 7 am – 7 pm
made-to-order counter: 7 am – 6 pm
salad/hot bar: 7 am – 7 pm

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