Share the Wealth Organics

Home
United States
Tacoma, WA
Share the Wealth Organics

Share the Wealth Organics is a Community Supported Agriculture, or CSA/urban farm providing fresh, organic produce shares on a weekly basis.
(9)

07/23/2024

And the onion tops are going down...When the majority of your onion tops have flopped it's time to cut back on watering. These onions are telling you that they are pretty much done growing, (not completely, they just slow down) and that now is the time for the curing process. You can start this process while they are in the bed by cutting back on watering. I go from a once every three days watering cycle to once every six days. This way, they can still hang out in the bed and grow some more and start to cure for winter storage. And feel free to harvest as many as you want for fresh eating! And be sure to use the greens! They are delicious as well. And just for size reference these onions are spaced 6" apart and are averaging 1.25 to 1.75 lbs each. Ailsa Craig, my favorite onion ever to grow...and the easiest!! Here's a video on how to cure onions! https://youtu.be/kMYtjz295T8?si=7pGM62odlzwMNTDF

05/13/2024

Planting lots of sweet and hot peppers this week! Peppers are special. They get not only Cedar Grove Compost but chicken compost as well AND Gardener and Bloom Organic Tomato/ Veggie Fertilizer. Turn your bed with both composts. Dig your planting holes. This is a 3' wide bed so I stagger a three, then two planting pattern spaced 12" apart. In an 8' bed you can get 20 plants, and in this 6' bed, 15 plants. Add 1/4 cup of the fertilizer in each hole and mix well. Plant your starts sinking a little deep for strong root growth. Put 3' stakes in for support for later and sprinkle Sluggo around the base of each plant. My favorite sweet pepper is Sweet Banana because it does turn red! Hot pepper favorites are Serranos, cayennes, super chilis, and jalapenos. Enjoy! Peppers are so fun!😊

05/04/2024

I am now planting zucchini (or any summer or winter squash)! First, amend your bed with organic Cedar Grove Compost. You can fit 9 starts in a 4' by 8' bed or 12 starts in a 4' by 10' bed. All the plants are spaced about 2' apart. The last picture is a planting diagram for a 4' by 8' bed and a 4' by 10' bed. My two favorite varieties are both from Territorial Seeds...Emerald Delight and Easypick Gold. Mark your holes then dig them fairly deep. Add 1/3 c. Gardener and Bloom organic Tomato/Veggie Fertilizer and mix well in the hole. Add or subtract soil to get the right planting depth for your starts. It's great to plant them deep so their first set of leaves is just slightly below the soil level. This will help grow a sturdy, well supported plant! Cover over, water, and sprinkle a ring of Organic Sluggo around each start. By planting now you should be harvesting your first zucchini by mid June!

04/25/2024

No more frosty nights ahead here in Central Tacoma, so it's a go for planting tomatoes and tomatillos. Both crops have the same spacing and support. Amend your bed with Cedar Grove Compost. Starts are planted 9" in from the sides of the beds and spaced 2 feet apart. Dig your hole deep and stir in a half cup of Gardener and Bloom Tomato Veggie Fertilizer. Plant your starts deep, burying 1/3 of their height. This will promote strong root growth. Install your supports at the time you plant. My favorite tomato to grow is the Juliet Red Grape! It has great flavor, super high production, and never gets blossom end rot.

04/17/2024

Lettuces can be planted mid March through mid July for summer and fall harvest. I amended my bed with a combination of Cedar Grove and chicken composts. There are 4 rows of lettuces in this 4' wide bed spaced 11" apart. I plant a row of purple orach between the rows of lettuces. These help support the leafy lettuces to keep the leaf material off the soil and also provide you with another green to harvest as you're cutting. Dig your 2 finger furrows just 1/8" deep for the lettuces and lightly sprinkle with seed. I use about 1 gm of seed per 8' of row. My first row of lettuce is 4" in from the side of the bed. Cover over and dig your 2 finger furrow for orach at 9" from the side and 1/2" deep. Sprinkle seed and cover over. Dig your next lettuce furrow at 15", apply seed, and dig your middle orach furrow at 22". Apply seed, cover over. Repeat this process from the other side for 2 more lettuce rows and 1 more orach row. Cover over, lightly tamp with a rake, use netting if you need to protect your bed from cats or squirrels digging, sprinkle with Sluggo and water. Keep damp until seeds germinate. I'll post again when it's time for the first cutting...mid to late May.😊

04/07/2024

Beets can be planted mid March through the end of June for summer and fall harvest. I turn under Cedar Grove Organic Compost first. In a 4 foot wide bed you can plant 6 rows spaced 7 inches apart. Make your two finger furrows a half inch deep. I now space out the seed 1" to 1.5" apart in a triangular pattern in the row. This gives them more grow space before thinning. Cover over, tamp with a rake, and I put up my bamboo stakes and netting to keep critters from digging in the bed. Sprinkle with Sluggo and keep watered evenly until seeds sprout. Once beets are two plus inches tall, thin to 2.5 to three inches apart, and you'll have beautiful beets all season! And here's a bonus...if you leave the netting on as they grow, raising it as they grow taller, you won't have any leaf miner activity in the beet greens. Leaf miner larvae are laid by a flying insect! Go figure, I thought they came from the soil!

04/07/2024

You can direct seed radishes from March into September! First, I amended my bed with Cedar Grove Compost. Next, make your two finger furrows spaced 3" or 4" apart. In a 3' wide bed you can fit 9 to 11 rows. Sprinkle your seed sparingly, cover over and tamp with your rake. To keep animals from digging cover the bed with netting using bamboo stakes and notebook clips. Sprinkle bed with Sluggo and water. As soon as radishes are up thin to 2" apart. Enjoy!

04/04/2024

Time to start your summer and winter squashes indoors under a grow light or in a bright, sunny window! I use Organic Gardener and Bloom Potting Soil. Fill your 4" pots 3/4 of the way and tamp down firmly. Place 2 seeds in each pot, kitty corner to each other, and push them down to your first knuckle or 1". Cover over, water, and place under a grow light with the light resting on the pots. As they germinate you can raise the light. I up pot so that there is 1 zucchini plant per pot, harden off for several days, and then they go outside under a hoop and plastic until they're ready to plant out first part of May. Then I start round 2 under the light with winter squashes mid April.

03/25/2024

Mustards can be planted mid March through early April. You can also plant for a fall/winter crop mid to late August. I amended my bed with a combination of Cedar Grove and chicken composts. There are 5 rows in this 4' wide bed spaced 9" apart. Dig your 2 finger furrows just 1/4" deep and very lightly sprinkle with mustard seed. I used wild garden mustards from Territorial. Cover over, lightly tamp with a rake, use netting if you need to protect your bed from cats or squirrels digging, sprinkle with Sluggo and water. When the plants are 2" tall thin to 8 or 9" apart, and enjoy the baby greens in a salad!

03/22/2024

Today is a great day to fertilize your blueberry plants to promote nice big berry growth! I use organic Gardener and Bloom Rhody and Azalea food. For well established large bushes I sprinkle 3 cups around the root zone. Smaller shrubs get 1.5 to 2 cups, and fairly new plants get 3/4 to 1 cup. Mix the fertilizer into your soil or wood chips with a cultivator and water in thoroughly. Repeat this process late May to early June.

03/12/2024

I am now planting broccoli starts! My personal favorite is "Packman". In a 3' by 8' bed you can fit 10 plants, and in a 4' by 8' bed you can plant 11. The spacing is 18" apart. I amend the bed with organic Cedar Grove compost then add about 1/4 c. Gardener and Bloom organic Tomato and Veggie fertilizer mixed into the planting hole just below the root zone. I finish with a sprinkle of Sluggo around each plant, then I net the bed to keep cats and squirrels from digging out my starts and keep coddling moths from laying their eggs that hatch into the fat green worms that love to devour your plants. In April I plant a periphery of marigolds starts on the outside edges, 2 between each broccoli plant. This helps deter aphids. You'll be able to harvest the first large heads by Mid to late May and then side shoots all season through winter and next spring, weather permitting. Enjoy!!

03/09/2024

Time for some garlic growing maintenance!...For those of you that planted garlic last fall, late September/October, it's time to pull off your straw and topdress with about a quarter inch organic chicken compost. Water it in and you'll harvest nice big pods in mid June through July depending on your variety.

02/28/2024

Time to plant onions! My favorite is the very large sweet onion, "Ailsa Craig.". This is an heirloom variety from England and so easy to grow! Here's a video to show you how. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=yliI5qpZ8mU. And updates since the video was filmed...I now plant periphery onions 1.5" apart, and I pull a hose and water onion starts every other day unless it's raining. This promotes fast root growth!

02/22/2024

Time to plant potatoes! Step 1. Prep your seed potatoes. Step 2. Add compost, turn your bed, and mark your spacing for planting. Update! I now space the side rows 8" in from each side, and I dig the holes 9 to 10" deep. Step 3. Pair your potato halves so that each hole will have 5 to seven eyes. Step 4. Dig your holes, place potato halves in each hole and cover. Questions???? Watch my Envirohouse YouTube How to...https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=BlkxaCmRrb0

12/24/2023

Gifts from the garden! Nothing says "love you," like home grown and hand made!... pumpkin spice bread, celery leaf pesto, a mixed berry pepper jam, and home made horseradish. Happy Holidays everyone!

11/23/2023

This was the email that went out to all my peops yesterday....... Hi Everyone,
Twas the day before Thanksgiving and all through the farm...
It's a time for Thanks Giving...mine, that is...not the traditional one we think of with turkey, dressing, cranberry sauce...
This is my annual Thanks Giving email, so it will be a long one!

First of all, I want to remind you what CSA stands for...community supported agriculture. Community is the key word here! Because without land owners, interns/volunteers, carpenters, and shareholders I could not be producing up to five tons (we don't have an exact harvest yield number yet since Kate is still working on entering all the harvest numbers, but it will be coming soon!) of organic produce on almost 1/5 of an acre...8,000 square feet of growing space. This is an ENORMOUS yield for such a tiny space!!

First THANKS: I want to give a huge shout out to all my volunteers who have been involved with daily harvesting and share prep, replanting of beds, thinning crops... Thank you all so very much!!!... Cheryl, Pam, Qin, Debbie, Kate, Shane, Nancy W., Cara, Paula, Linda, John, Keri, Matt, Cynthia, Hayley, Jennifer, Amy, Marggie, and Pamela We cut, pull, pick, harvest, wash,clean, bundle, weigh, do lots of math, record, sweat, freeze, drip with rain, share stories and knowledge, forge friendships, laugh, AND eat lunch together every day of the week! Thank you one and all for this journey together and for your hours and hours of donated time! I truly could not have survived this season without all of you!!
Second THANKS: I want to say a sincere thank you to all my land owners...Mike and Shelly, Erik, Josh and Yaro, Hazel and Doy, Eric and Ginger, Anneliese, Cindy and Derrick, and Chelsea! They let me use their water and let me (and interns/volunteers) invade their space daily in order to grow food for all of us!
Third THANKS: Many, many thanks go to Emily Rose who, for her third season, provided regular watering for me on share pick up days and extra watering time when I went on my family vacation in August.
Fourth THANKS: Carpenters...Jerry, and Toby. Thank you so much for all your bed building, bed bump ups, fence and bed repairs...the list goes on and on... And now, because of their hard work, we have a permanent work structure! Phase two of the structure will be happening soon...a beautiful green roof full of shade loving plants!
Fifth THANKS: Thank you Anneliese, Cindy and Derrick (neighbors and great friends) for allowing me to use your driveways and back yard space for compost/wood chip deliveries. And thanks, Anneliese, for housing multiple honey bee hives... these bees are so necessary for pollination of my crops! You all are THE best!!
Sixth THANKS: Mike and Desiree Diaz...you guys (and your girls) grow and deliver amazing eggs! Shareholders and other community members love your eggs!!
Seventh THANKS goes to chef Jan Parker...Jan Parker Cookery, who has supported Share the Wealth Organics with her weekly Saturday Market cuisine and other delicious events! And thank you, Jan, for creating a giant batch of delicious, winter squash soup for our volunteer celebration lunches during the final week of the share season!
Eighth THANKS: Many thanks go to John for designing a beautiful work structure for us! And thank you Wynne and John for making multiple trips to McClain's soil for our organic compost!
Ninth THANKS: Thank you, Cara, my social media/photographer expert! It is a pleasure, sitting down at the end of a very long day... seeing pictures and reels that you've posted on Instagram and Facebook...beautiful pictures and videos set to music of the farm/produce growing, volunteers working, honeybee activity... random pictures that I would never think of and don't have the time to take! Your efforts have helped to expand our volunteer and shareholder community!

And speaking of shareholders...the Tenth THANKS goes to all of you! Thank you so very much for supporting my vision of green, organic, sustainable, food production!! You are all lowering our carbon footprint by supporting local, urban agriculture! Your food travels nowhere by truck, just maybe a mile or two from my farm to your fridge! Nice job Everyone!!

I also want to give a special thanks to both Portland Ave. Nursery and Gardensphere! They both have supported our food production all these many years by giving me a discount on plants, seeds, composts, fertilizers... And Gabe, one of the co-owners of Gardensphere and my neighbor two doors down, even delivers! 😀

I really hope that I haven't left anyone out for Thanks Giving! As you can see, it takes a village/community to grow this volume of food, I am thankful for all of you!

I hope you all have a happy and safe holiday season, and I will chat with you in January about 2024! Cheers!!! Sass.

And a special thanks to all of you out in Facebook land who have liked, loved, commented, shared...our posts!

11/19/2023

We do love you so! Sass, you have created something so special and we are all grateful you have and continue to Share the Wealth!!!!! Big LOVE from all of us to you.

11/17/2023

Meet a few of the wonderful 2023 Share the Wealth volunteers this season. Volunteers are essential and make it all possible!

11/16/2023

Our own “goddess” potato 🥔.

11/12/2023

Now is the time! If you haven't already done so, now is the time to prune your raspberries for winter. But what do you cut and what do you keep? Pruning this way works for both July and everbearing varieties. 1. Canes that have lateral branching (that had berries in July) like picture number 2 get cut back to the ground. 2. Canes that just finished bearing fruit in late fall on the tips of the canes (everybearing) get pruned back to just below the fruit or to the height you want for picking. 3. Cut back the new canes that grew this summer (July bearing) to picking height. 4. Restring you wire to catch any straggling canes so they all have support. And 5. cover your raspberry bed with a thick layer of leaves (nature's fertilizer). This will prevent weeds from growing and slowly birm up and feed your berry area. In April I apply a light layer of chicken compost and water it in, and this will give you nice big berries! For watering, I have a 1" soaker hose that makes about 3 passes through this 5' wide bed. Every 2 weeks during the dry season I let it drip for 4 hours and they're happy! 😊

11/06/2023

The season may be over but we still have pictures to share from the last month here at the farm and all the lovely volunteers.

10/23/2023

In Sass’s flock of new hens, one surely is a bit of an overachiever!

10/23/2023

Same veggie but decided it would be both feminine and masculine.

09/19/2023

Just to give an example of how much food is produced at our local organic urban farm. This is a share from today!

08/29/2023

Hayley has the record biggest zucchini here...9.5 pounds!

Address

South 17th Off Cedar
Tacoma, WA
98405

Telephone

+14256699620

Website

http://stworganics.wordpress.com/

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Share the Wealth Organics posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The Business

Send a message to Share the Wealth Organics:

Videos

Final celebration! So grateful for our amazing team of volunteers and look forward to seeing you all next season!!!! #urbanfarming #organic #local #seasonal #community #tacoma #supportsmallbusiness #earthfocus #plantpower #volunteer #sharethewealthorganics #csa

So much abundance of lovely cool weather crops. #urbanfarming #organic #local #seasonal #community #tacoma #supportsmallbusiness #earthfocus #plantpower #volunteer #sharethewealthorganics #csa

We love our volunteers. End of season celebration. #urbanfarming #organic #local #seasonal #community #tacoma #supportsmallbusiness #earthfocus #plantpower #volunteer #sharethewealthorganics #csa

So much happens even in fall at the farm. Our volunteers are busy turning raised beds to amend and prepare for next season. Several vegetables still ready for harvest. A clear, crisp October morning is always a great day at Share the Wealth Organics! #urbanfarming #organic #local #seasonal #community #tacoma #supportsmallbusiness #earthfocus #plantpower #volunteer #sharethewealthorganics #csa

Aways creative, especially when challenges arise. Rain or shine, we keep going! #urbanfarming #organic #local #seasonal #community #tacoma #supportsmallbusiness #earthfocus #plantpower #volunteer #sharethewealthorganics #csa

So much happening even in fall! #urbanfarming #organic #local #seasonal #community #tacoma #supportsmallbusiness #earthfocus #plantpower #volunteer #sharethewealthorganics #csa

Some of the happiest, healthiest and best fed hens in town. #urbanfarming #organic #local #seasonal #community #tacoma #supportsmallbusiness #earthfocus #plantpower #volunteer #sharethewealthorganics #csa

Rain ☔️ or shine ☀️work keeps on keeping on at our local, organic, urban farm. #urbanfarming #organic #local #seasonal #community #tacoma #supportsmallbusiness #earthfocus #plantpower #volunteer #sharethewealthorganics #csa

October still has plenty to keep us busy here at our local, urban farm. #urbanfarming #organic #local #seasonal #community #tacoma #supportsmallbusiness #earthfocus #plantpower #volunteer #sharethewealthorganics #csa

We had a nice celebration for Nancy and another great season with her volunteering for Share the Wealth Organics. Claire was happy having lots of company in her kingdom. We did free Ms. Claire from trapping her nail on her favorite chair. All good at our little urban farm as we wind down another successful year. #urbanfarming #organic #local #seasonal #community #tacoma #supportsmallbusiness #earthfocus #plantpower #volunteer #sharethewealthorganics #csa

Farm life in fall #urbanfarming #organic #local #seasonal #community #tacoma #supportsmallbusiness #earthfocus #plantpower #volunteer #sharethewealthorganics #csa

We are all still working away as seasons change. #fall #urbanfarming #organic #local #seasonal #community #tacoma #supportsmallbusiness #earthfocus #plantpower #volunteer #sharethewealthorganics #csa

Still lots happening here at our local, organic, urban farm. Veteran volunteers, Jennifer and Hayley, harvesting potatoes! Bees buzzing to gather as well getting ready for fall and winter. #urbanfarming #organic #local #seasonal #community #tacoma #supportsmallbusiness #earthfocus #plantpower #volunteer #sharethewealthorganics #csa

Going strong in September. Some new things like our sweetmeat squash and favorites growing well including mustard greens, eggplant, purple orach, and basil. #urbanfarming #organic #local #seasonal #community #tacoma #supportsmallbusiness #earthfocus #plantpower #volunteer #sharethewealthorganics #csa

Baked farm fresh! Now is the start of fall harvests and oh are they delicious. #fall #farmtotable #urbanfarming #organic #local #seasonal #community #tacoma #supportsmallbusiness #earthfocus #plantpower #volunteer #sharethewealthorganics #csa