Sue Gibbs

Who are the people behind the urban farming projects cropping up all over the Puget Sound Region? What inspires them? What foods nurture them?

Urban Farm Hub has launched a weekly spotlight series to celebrate the amazing people who spend their days creating a healthier, more sustainable local food system. This week we’d like to celebrate the community-oriented work of Sue Gibbs.

In addition to being a big fan of potlucks in the garden, Gibbs was one of the key organizers of the Hillman City P-Patch garden and now serves as a Coordinating Committee Member of Sustainable South Seattle. More…

Sandy Pernitz

Who are the people behind the urban farming projects cropping up all over the Puget Sound Region? What inspires them? What foods nurture them?

Urban Farm Hub has launched a weekly spotlight series to celebrate the amazing people who spend their days creating a healthier, more sustainable local food system. This week we’d like to celebrate the community-oriented work of Sandy Pernitz.

In addition to being a lover of garlic and anything fresh, Pernitz has been working with the City of Seattle Department of Neighborhoods P-Patch Community gardening program for the last 15 years. The first five years was spent as a volunteer working to build a community garden in her downtown Seattle neighborhood. The past ten years she’s been a staff person for the P-Patch Community Gardening program as a Community Garden Coordinator. More…

Cathy Tuttle

Who are the people behind the urban farming projects cropping up all over the Puget Sound Region? What inspires them? What foods nurture them?

Urban Farm Hub is launching a weekly spotlight series to celebrate the amazing people who spend their days creating a healthier, more sustainable local food system. Last week we highlighted the work of Gail Savina, organizer of City Fruit. This week we’d like to celebrate the transformational work of Cathy Tuttle. In addition to sharing her garden bounty with friends, Cathy is a master community organizer–jumping back and forth between the very small and the very large scale projects such as Sustainable Wallingford and her work as a board member for Seattle Tilth.

So how did you get involved in the local food movement?

I looked ahead to the days when we’ll need to feed ourselves rather than “be fed”.

What seeds would you slip into your pocket if you were moving to a new land?

Seeds: kale, chard, parsley. I’d also cheat and try to take grape and apple cuttings too! More…

Who are the people behind the urban farming projects cropping up all over the Puget Sound Region? What inspires them? What foods nurture them?

Urban Farm Hub is launching a weekly spotlight series to celebrate the amazing people who spend their days creating a healthier, more sustainable local food system. This week we’d like to celebrate the transformational work of Gail Savina.

Gail Savina, Coordinator of City Fruit

In addition to being a lover of italian food, Savina coordinates City Fruit, a non-profit organization that promotes fruit as a community resource. Prior to this, she coordinated the Community Fruit Tree Harvest for Solid Ground, worked as a communications specialist for King County environmental programs, directed international health and nutrition projects, and recently received a certificate in Environmental Horticulture.

So how did you get involved in the local food movement?

I grew up in Wenatchee, Washington when it was the “Apple Capital of the World” and started working in orchards when I was 12.  After a forty-odd year detour, I’ve come back. It almost hurts–physically–to see fruit fall on the ground and rot, like it does in yards throughout Seattle. I became involved in coordinating the harvest of this fruit, which naturally led to looking at how to improve it’s health and quality. That was the beginning of City Fruit.

If you could change one thing about the food system…

I would put fruit trees on the urban ag radar screen.  There are already thousands of fruit trees in Seattle, producing tons of fruit.  Most of it is wasted. These trees don’t need to be planted, land doesn’t need to be acquired–we just need to steward what we already have. More…