The framework is complete on the shelter, and it is stunning. Jon Romanelli and his team; Barry, David and Jon have created a true piece of architectural art. Each piece of wood has been hand detailed with chamferred edges, mortis, tenoned and dowelled. The roughhewn milling marks are still clear giving added texture  to our locally milled timbers.

We designed the central beam as the backbone of the structure, which allows for an open area in the central area for easy foot traffic during the market day  and the potential for performances with an extended roofline overhanging that area.

The beams supporting the central beam are impressive, and will highly visible as architectural interest. Today we decided to leave the central beam extending beyond the roofline for the potential of using it as art- there are a lot of carvers among us including friends from the Snoqualmie Tribe and a couple of past apprentices of Haida carver Ralph Bennett (like me!). We are chomping at the bit to add some carving detail to this project.

There will be a skylight between every third roof joist providing ambient lighting in the shelter, including the enclosed utility rooms. Our next step is to lay shiplap as the decking for the metal roofing, which will give a nice looking insulated wood ceiling. We are organizing a work party to help lay the roof decking on Wednesday and Thursday January 4 & 5th, starting at 10:00 each day. Come join us in our ‘shelter raising’! See more to come…

Create a Central Place for the Community

A successful public realm is one in which commerce, social interaction, and leisure time activities mix easily in an attractive, pedestrian-friendly, outdoor setting. People are drawn by the simple enjoyment of being there. If that enjoyment is to be felt, the public realm and public spaces must be well designed and programmed.

A well-conceived public realm has the following attributes:

■ It is a compelling central space that people are attracted to for its placement, design, and surrounding uses. The space can be a street, a boulevard, a square, or a combination of all three with other urban design elements.

■ Movement between uses is easy, and sight lines facilitate wayfinding and encourage exploration.

■ Effective programs and events are used to animate the space, and the capacity of the management is adequate to ensure programming for the space.

■ Open spaces are sized and shaped to allow events to be held in them. They provide stage areas and technical support where appropriate.

■ The public realm is open to programs that are significant to the community, such as charity events, holiday events, and civic events. It becomes a true public place, taking on a life of its own. As a part of the community that goes beyond simple commerce or public relations, it ultimately becomes a place with a history. The public realm should allow for the integration of the people, the place, and the larger community.

■ The public realm is inclusive and brings together all the different segments of the community that may wish to visit or use the public spaces.

■ An experience is created and delivered that the market values and that generates premiums for the residences and offices in the town center.

■ The public realm is integrated with adjacent uses that significantly enliven the public space, such as bookstores, libraries, public buildings, cultural facilities.

The big idea is to create a place that is the place to be—to make the place as authentic as possible, a place that will have lasting identity.

Our local farms have some great organic pumpkins in their fields right now, some even have the sweet pie pumpkins. Support local and buy a pumpkin!

Our market farm vendor Oxbow Farm has a farmstand on their farm (on Highway 203 just south of the Novelty Hill roundabout), along with U-Pick Pumpkins each weekend this month so make sure to swing by and stock up!

Pumpkin Pound Cake

• 1 1/2 cups cooked pumpkin
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup honey
• 2/3 cup vegetable oil
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/3 cup wheat flour
• 1/2 cup oats
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/3 cup finely chopped crystallized
ginger
• 1/4 cup chopped walnuts
or pecans (optional)

1. In a mixing bowl, blend the pumpkin, sugar, honey,
oil, and egg thoroughly.

2. Sift together the dry ingredients (except nuts) in a separate bowl.

3. Slowly add to the wet mixture, stirring constantly.

4. Stir the mixture until entire contents are moistened.

5. Fold in the chopped nuts, if desired.

6. Pour into a greased loaf or bundt pan.

7. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 to 55 minutes.

8. Remove from pan. Cool slightly and serve warm.

Early in this project we had hoped to use some of the trees from the Tolt River ‘log jam’, now a legend in our area, after the flood of January 2009. As the project got delayed we soon realized this was not an option. But along the way our new city manager Ken Carter realized that those seedlings which had grown into huge trees had been categorized as ‘hazard trees’ because of their proximity to houses and a disease which was weakening them. We went out and checked them and they looked like good sound trees with plenty of timber for the project. They were primarily Douglas fir trees, which are excellent strong woods for construction, with just enough cedar trees to make our sheathing materials for the roof and utility structure.

Sno Valley Logging came and took the trees out in the winter of 2010/11, and delivered them to Isaacson’s Sawmill, a small, one-man operation located on the Redmond/ Fall City Road. Many people commented on the beautiful timber being milled and stored there.

We had anticipated breaking ground in Spring 2011, so it was a great courtesy for Isaacson’s to store our large load to cure there until now.  Jon Romanelli, our contractor is thrilled with the quality of the wood, it is hard to get access to this high grade of material, and he is confident we have plenty of Douglas fir and red cedar wood to complete this project.

The Sno-Valley Tilth was only able to make this contribution as a result of donations from the Snoqualmie Tribe, so it seemed only fitting to ask for their blessing of the site. The following Tuesday, at market, we invited the Canoe Family over to give us a song. They shared the ‘Daybreak Song’ in recognition of this new beginning in the center of our town. It was a humble yet meaningful start to the construction of what will undoubtedly become a beautiful central gathering place for our town.

On Thursday October 13th, 2011 we finally broke ground on the Tolt Community Shelters Project. Contractor Jon Romanelli, owner of Timbers & Tilth, began by removing the sod layer for the concrete slab which gave an immediate idea of what the project will look like.

And he began to haul over the lumber which has been curing for months at Isaacson’s Sawmill (and who graciously let us store it there while we finalized this project). Erick Torrison has given us use of his enclosed area next to the site which is proving invaluable as a place to stage materials.

The break in the weather was taken as a good sign, we are really hoping to get the concrete poured and most of the site work done before the ground is too wet. After a long struggle to get this project started we are still pinching ourselves that it is happening. Now comes the hard work of actually putting it all together!

We had to take a moment to photograph Jon Romanelli and myself, Heidi Bohan on the first day.

Jon Romanelli and Heidi Bohan celebrating the first day of construction. They have both worked beyond the call of duty to get this project launched.

Our 2nd Annual Pig Roast & Country Auction on September 24th was a great end of summer celebration on the farm for the over 350 people who attended. The greased pole, farm games and hay rides started off the party.

The beer and wine starting flowing, and the pork roast, grilled corn on the cob and roasted corn were served with some great summer salads, a delicious berry cobbler. The Future Farmers of America came down helped serve the food!

The silent auction tent was filled with great items from dozens of local businesses and community members. The silent auction was followed by live auction called by local dairy farmer George Magnochi. We brought in over $8,000 from the auctions, and we are so grateful to our auction donors!

Roasted ‘sun-dried’ tomatoes ready for snacking or storing.

Here’s what I’ve been cooking up and preserving this year in quantity; my favorite… roasted and dried tomatoes. I can use ‘seconds’ from Kittitas, or those that have gone a bit beyond from the garden (if you are so luck y this year). Roasting brings out a whole new set of flavors, sweet and smoky at the same time, delicious to snack on, but better yet added to sauces, pizza’s, pasta’s and used in soups.

Roasting works well for just about any vegetable, try something similar with cauliflower (add some garlic), onions, summer and winter squash, carrots, beets, parsnip and other roots.

Super easy recipe:

• Ripe tomatoes (any variety will work)
• Roasting pan or a cookie sheet with rim (I use both at the same time)
• Olive oil and brush

Preheat oven to 400 degrees (turn down to 350 about half way through). Brush bottom of pan with generous amount of olive oil. Cut tomatoes into thick slices (about ½ thick), crosswise or lengthwise will work, I prefer crosswise, removing the green sepals and stem. Place in one layer on cooking pan, then brush tomatoes lightly with olive oil. Place in oven, if you have a convection oven, turn this on. Cook until the liquid dries out then turn down the heat to about 350 degrees. Cook until the outer tomatoes are blackened and the inner ones look roasted. Rotate pans if your heat is uneven.

Once they are cooked to preference (I like mine pretty burnt on the edges), take out and cool slightly. At this point you can use right away, freeze or dry. I have been drying mine in my ‘Living Foods Dehydrator’ (no loud fan, and made right here in Fall City) and have beautiful jars full of dried tomatoes.  

Tomato Sauce, a Creation Story and other Blogs (By Dea Shipp my daughter)
http://liveeattravel.wordpress.com/2010/09/19/tomato-sauce-a-creation-story/

• 8 ears corn, husked and cleaned
• 2 pounds tomatoes – peeled, seeded, and coarsely chopped
• 1 1/2 cups chopped green bell peppers
• 3/4 cup chopped red bell pepper
• 1/2 cucumber, chopped
• 1 cup chopped onion
• 1 cup white sugar
• 2 cups apple cider vinegar
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 1 teaspoon celery seed
• 1 teaspoon mustard seed

Directions

1. Cut the corn from the cobs. Scrape the cobs with a large spoon to remove remaining juices.
2. In a large saucepan, mix the corn kernels and juice, tomatoes, green bell peppers, red bell peppers, cucumber and onion.
3. In a medium bowl, mix the sugar, apple cider vinegar, salt, celery seed and mustard seed. Pour into the saucepan over vegetable mixture. Bring to a boil, then simmer 1 hour.
4. Transfer the finished relish to sterile jars. Refrigerate until serving.

• 1 bundle kale, swiss chard or beet greens
• 3-4 medium to large beets
• Olive oil (3-4 T.)
• Garlic cloves
• Cherry tomatoes (6-12)
• Balsamic vinegar or other flavorful vinegar
• Optional: honey

Clean and boil the beets until tender (cut the greens off leaving a small stem to help keep the juices in the beet.

Saute chopped greens (kale, etc) with garlic and olive oil.

Cut cooked beets into bite size pieces. When cooled add chopped kale or other greens.

Add sliced cherry tomatoes.

Toss well and serve warm or cold.