Bainbridge Island citizens can get more than permits and public records when they stop by city hall this summer. They can leave home with some free vegetables. Some tomatoes and chard, perhaps.
The produce that is growing on the city hall grounds, tucked between ornamental shrubs and trees, has been planted by volunteers, and is available to anyone, free for the taking.
A project of Sound Food, the public produce idea got planted into the minds of a few people who attended an event at Islandwood with Darrin Nordhal, the author of “Public Produce: The New Urban Agriculture.” City of Bainbridge Associate Planner Steve Morse; local farmer Betsey Wittick and Sallie Maron, the founder of Sound Food (which is an initiative of Sustainable Bainbridge), started talking after the meeting about the idea of growing vegetables at city hall. They received support from several city officials, including council members Barry Peters and Debbi Lester and city manager Lee Walton — and within a month, a work party was scheduled and farmers were on board to donate materials, equipment and labor.
“A lot of people came out on a rainy Memorial Day to plant vegetables. They got soaked, weeding beds, preparing space and planting,” said Sound Food volunteer Carolyn Goodwin. “All the vegetables are tucked into the empty spaces, and there were a lot of empty spaces.”
The vegetable garden will be automatically watered because the landscaped areas already have an irrigation system. The city’s wellness committee is overseeing other ongoing maintenance, with Sound Food (www.soundfood.org) volunteers helping.
Goodwin said the produce is not impacting existing landscape. Once it’s harvested, the other plants will look just as they did before. “You can grow shrubs or you can grow food, and why not grow food,” she quoted Nordahl’s philosophy.
“I’ve talked to local farmers who say demand for local food is so high, they can’t grow it fast enough,” she said. “We’re trying to expand the availability.”
One of the farmers who donated labor and materials is Brian McWhorter, owner of Butler Green Farm. He’s been growing organic produce for more than 36 years, and hopes to see public produce grown at city parks, as well as more p-patches. He said the same supporters of the city hall produce are working on a model on how to expand the idea.
He said public produce is not really competing with farmers, but it does help promote locally grown, fresh food. “It turns people on to understanding how much better local food is,” he said. “If you can get people eating local, they’ll buy local.”
Encouraging the use of local and sustainable food was the reason behind the launch of Sound Food. The project also includes a unique program that launched a farmers market right at the ferry terminal on the island.
The Ferry Farm Stand opened at the end of June and will operate every Wednesday from 4:15 p.m. to 6:15 p.m. through Sept. 15. The produce is sold in $5 packages, with 90 percent of the proceeds going to the farmers and the rest used for operating expenses.
The Ferry Farm Stand made its debut in June 2008 and last year, it had more than $10,000 in sales, all of which went to producers. The project garnered national attention and was used as a model for other communities on distributing locally grown food at commuter stations.
“What Sound Food is about, is connecting people with locally produced food,” Goodwin said. “The public produce is one piece, the ferry stands is another.”
