PCC Farmland Trust

• New CD is sweet music to Trust’s ears
• The PCC Farmland Trust is seeking a new executive director
• A new farm to call home
• More Ames Creek pictures
• Remember our local organic farmland this summer
• Many ways to support the Trust

New CD is sweet music to Trust’s ears

You can hear Mike perform with the Seattle-based band Altered States of Funk throughout the summer.

Beginning this month, local musician and PCC member Mike Theiss will donate a portion of the profits from the 2006 sales of his new release “Doityourselfincrimination” (©2006, Vampidemic) to the PCC Farmland Trust.

Mike plays every instrument on the CD, which he describes as “horn-heavy instrumental funk with a jazz vibe.” He also arranged, produced and mixed it.

Mike says endorsing the work of the Trust in such a personal way is due to his belief that “organic foods are important not only for healthy bodies but also for healthy land,” and that “supporting local organic farmers is essential to maintaining our local food supply.”

“The more I learned about the PCC Farmland Trust and its work to save Washington state farmland, the more I wanted to find a way to help,” Mike says. “When I completed my CD, I thought this would be a great way to inform people who may not have heard about the trust’s work and encourage them to support it, too.

The fact that the land saved by the trust is bound to organic farming forever makes its efforts especially worthy of support.” Of course, he also hopes that anyone who buys the CD will enjoy the music!

You can buy the CD for $12 at miketheiss.com.

The PCC Farmland Trust is seeking a new executive director

Responsibilities include:

• Direct all aspects of the PCC Farmland Trust, a separate non-profit 501(c)3 organization dedicated to preserving organic farmland.
• Fundraising, networking with agricultural community, conducting real estate transactions and fiscal management of the trust.
• Administrative functions of the trust. May supervise small staff. This position reports to the PCC Farmland Trust Board of Trustees.

Learn more about the PCC Farmland Trust opening.

A new farm to call home

But the farmers are working together cooperatively to make the most of the opportunities. Fong Cha’s arranged to plow his fields with the help of a tractor from Andrew Stout and will produce herbs and Asian vegetables. Andrew and Michaele Blakely bartered a pig in exchange for tractor work.

Michaele, her husband Joe, and their interns harvested the first crops off the farm earlier this spring: salad mix, turnips, radishes and fresh peas. Soon they’ll be harvesting several varieties of heirloom tomatoes and selling them under their Growing Things label.

Their chickens, pigs and turkeys are settling into their new home, and fences are going up for the cows. Andrew Stout and his crew have 20 acres planted in specialty potatoes, which will be ready for market mid-July. Their peppers, okra, eggplant and summer squash will be coming to market soon.

The first crops at Ames Creek Farm, planted between rows of grass that remain from when the land was pasture. The tilth of the soil will improve over time from applications of organic compost and other organic soil-building practices.

The farmers: Fong Cha, Michaele Blakely and Andrew Stout are working cooperatively to usher in a new era — all organic — at the new farm.

Michaele’s husband, Joe, enjoying a spirited little piglet, who was playing with other piglets rooting up the grass and dirt at Ames Creek Farm.

Hen house at Ames Creek Farm

Michaele Blakely washes her farm-fresh organic produce for local farmers markets and her CSA boxes.

Remember our local organic farmland this summer

With the summer season upon us, we’re outdoors again, enjoying the warmth and getting our hands in the dirt. It is wonderful, but summer typically is a slow season for non-profit fundraising.

The purchase loan on the new Ames Creek Farm remains to be paid down now. The cumulative effort of regular, small donations from individuals allow the trust to keep on protecting organic farmland. The land and farmers thank you.

Many ways to support the Trust

You also can support the PCC Farmland Trust when you buy these items at any PCC:

• PCC Farmland Trust T-shirts and tote bags, made from 100 percent organic cotton
• “In Praise of Fertile Land: An Anthology of Poetry, Parable and Story,” edited by Claudia Mauro
• “Local Vegetarian Cooking: Inspired Recipes Celebrating Northwest Farms,” by Debra Daniels-Zeller
• “Chinook Book,” a book of coupons to sustainable businesses
• PCC deli Vegetable Platter