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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

PEACH Farm – Community Roots Market, Country Fair, Classes and Events

Julie Schaffer Down to Earth NW Correspondent
Last Saturday felt undeniably like Spring, so I acted accordingly…by playing in the dirt on a farm. I pushed my tired ski boots aside, rolled my bike out of the closet where it had been comfortably cocooned for the snowy days of winter, and headed for the Fish Lake Trail. 10.75 flat, paved and sunny miles later, I arrived at PEACH farm, where Spring had blown in with a laundry list of chores and a healthy dose of anxiety and anticipation for its keepers. PEACH, which stands for People for Environmental Action and Community Health, is a community farm with a goal of providing low-income people with access to local, sustainably produced food. Pedaling up the dirt driveway, I saw three volunteers raking straw off the lower field to prepare it for the manure and compost that Chrys Ostrander, Director of Farming Programs, was delivering in tractor-loads. After quickly catching up with Chrys about his winter of “computer work,” fundraising and coalition-building meetings, I sat on the porch with Bryan Brown, PEACH’s AmeriCorps VISTA, to talk about plans for the fast-approaching growing season, and about how the college tennis player from urban Maine found himself living on a farm in Cheney, Wash. Between matches his senior year at Colby College, Bryan became increasingly interested in organic agriculture and how it ties to sustainability. After graduating with a degree in biology, he volunteered on farms in Maine, New Zealand and Chile. Bryan returned from Chile proficient in charades (he doesn’t speak Spanish) and looking for a way to further the organic small-farms movement, but not necessarily just as a farmer. When an internet search revealed an opportunity at PEACH, Bryan applied, was accepted, and last November drove across the country to settle into his farmhouse apartment. Bryan’s primary focus at PEACH is to attract and coordinate volunteers, a resource the farm is entirely dependent upon. With the amount of work there is to be done before planting season, and with he and Chrys being the only full-time farmers, Bryan’s call for volunteers is loud and heartfelt. Luckily, he says, “we’ve found that Spokane is very volunteer rich. Last year, PEACH hosted over 1,000 volunteers.” The volunteer pool ranges from the Ferris High School teacher and Cheney Fire Chief working that morning, to school groups and inmates brought by the Department of Corrections. Wednesdays through Saturdays are open to volunteers, and Bryan encourages people to contact him in advance at bryan@peachlocal.com, or by signing up on the website at www.peachlocal.com. Volunteers, he says, are the key being able to provide food to low-income people at an affordable price. PEACH provides this service through its Community Roots Market, a weekly discounted farmers market located at the Northeast Community Center every Monday starting June 20, from 3:00-5:30 p.m. Food stamp/EBT users get 50 percent off, and WIC vouchers are accepted. While folks are shopping and waiting in line, the WSU extension program “Food $ense” will pass out samples and demonstrate how to easily prepare some of the more foreign looking vegetables. To offset the losses from the discount farmers market, PEACH sells its produce at regular prices to high-income communities in Liberty Lake and the Eagle Ridge development off of the Pullman Highway. The annual Country Fair, held at the farm on April 30, from 11-5, will also help fund the discount market. PEACH invites the public to come out and enjoy live music, farm games, fresh food, organic workshops, and cheese-making classes. Adults get in for $5, but kids and bicyclists are free. As I experienced earlier that morning, the ride on the flat, paved Fish Lake Trail was an easy and enjoyable alternative to driving. And, if you peddle to the Country Fair, your muscles will be adequately warmed-up for tackling Doomsday Hill the next morning. To encourage bicycling, PEACH provides exact directions on its website. In addition to the Fair and regular volunteer opportunities, PEACH is offering multiple gardening, food preparation and family focused classes throughout the season. The Organic Gardening series will cover topics such as no till gardening, composting, crop rotation, green manure, cover crops, season extension, and “making peace with pests and whoopee with weeds,” and food prep courses will provide tips on cheese-making and dehydrating. Kids are invited to spend a morning milking and feeding the goats and chickens. All of these classes can be purchased in advance online or on the day-of, and will help support the Community Roots Market. After spending a few hours hauling cover mulch off of the field with Bryan, the Ferris teacher, his wife and Fire Chief Mike Winters, I quickly realized that my small contribution would hardly dent the preparation needed for planting. Bryan’s anxiety about finding enough volunteers is warranted - I encourage you to contact him about helping, or, if farming’s not your thing but you’re handy with a racquet, he’d be equally grateful to find a worthy tennis partner.