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KCD Plant Sale Store Now Open
Be sure to take advantage of early bird pricing and the broadest selection available. This year, we are offering 51 different species, including 19 groundcovers, 20 shrubs, and 12 tree types.
This year’s 7 new offerings include:
- Bleeding Heart (Dicentra formosa)
- Fringecup (Tellima grandiflora)
- Henderson’s Checker-mallow (Sidalcea hendersonii)
- Palmate Coltsfoot (Petasites frigidus var. palmatus)
- Pearly Everlasting (Anaphalis margaritacea)
- Oval-Leaved Blueberry (Vaccinium ovalifolium)
- Bitter Cherry (Prunus virginiana)
Shop early for best selection as many species sell out quickly.
Pickup will be in March 2021 at the Tukwila Community Center.
No walk-up sales will be offered in 2021.
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Josh Monaghan Departs KCD after 24 years
Josh Monaghan steps down after 24 years with KCD. Josh helped grow King Conservation District’s food and farm programs and services while forging vital partnerships and collaborations both within KCD and with numerous outside agencies and non-profits.
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Discovery Farms® Virtual Farm Tour
Join KCD and American Farmland Trust online Saturday, November 14, 2020 from 11:00am to 12:00noon to learn how your manure management practices can retain compost nutrients, keep soils healthy, and protect water quality. This interactive virtual tour of AFT’s South Sound Discovery Farms® project will feature the latest in scientific research on manure management best practices. You’ll learn about cost-saving opportunities and conservation actions from our experts, all from the comfort of your home.
Please join us for this FREE event – we hope to “see” you there!
Don’t miss out on:
- The newest research on farm best management practices in King County
- FREE technical assistance from KCD farm resource planners
- Cost-share opportunities for qualified best management practices
This project is funded through a National Estuary Program grant and coordinated by the Washington State Conservation Commission.
*Photo by Laura James, Beneath the Looking Glass, LLC.
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Rural Farmland and Urban Backyards Connected by May Creek, KCD and Orca Recovery
In 2019, we came together across Washington and the Pacific Coast to restore our home in celebration of Orca Recovery Day. We dug out Himalayan blackberry and replaced them with Douglas fir and Western redcedar trees that will live for hundreds of years while providing shade to keep our waterways cool. This year, Orca Recovery Day celebrations look a little different. We weren’t ready to gather with our community in person, but we’re each finding ways to contribute to a healthy environment for each other, for our crucial salmon population, and for our Puget Sound resident orcas.
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Orca Recovery Day EcoChallenge Shows Actions Taken
#OrcaRecoveryDay was October 17, 2020, but KCD and other organizations hosted an EcoChallenge from October 5 - November 5. It was a great way to take actions to improve our natural environment while being socially and physically distanced during the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Two Chances to Catch Beautify and Care for Your Stream or Lakeside Property Webinars
Learn from restoration experts about managing your yard to support both the environment and your own needs.
Curious about what it takes to return your stream, lake or wetland property to its more natural state? Want to learn ways you can support wildlife, enhance your property’s aesthetic, and reduce maintenance needs? Don’t miss this FREE 1-hour webinar for homeowners living along the water. Learn from restoration experts about managing your yard to support both the environment and your own needs.
Topics:
- Minimizing pollution runoff on your property
- Controlling invasive weeds
- Utilizing native plants for wildlife habitat and erosion control
- Adding value and beauty to your yard naturally
Saturday, November 7, 10:00am to 11:00am and Wednesday, December 2, 6:00pm to 7:00pm
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Spotlight: Delridge to Duwamish
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2020 KCD Regional Food System Grant Program Request for Proposals
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King Conservation District (KCD) is pleased to announce a competitive solicitation process to award Regional Food System Program Grant funds for projects that support the economic and environmental sustainability of working agricultural lands in King County.
Proposals Due by 4pm PT on November 24, 2020. No late submissions will be accepted.
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KCD Recruiting High School Students for Natural Resources Competition
Washington State Envirothon is an environmental and natural resource conservation competition for high school students. Teams of students compete in five natural resource topic areas, engage with diverse environmental issues and learn from natural resource professionals.
 King Conservation District (KCD) is recruiting King County educators and high school students interested in participating in this year’s competition.
If you are interested in learning more or forming an Envirothon team, please contact Rosie McGoldrick at educationip@kingcd.org or 206-379-5258.
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Snoqualmie Valley Preservation Alliance Launches Floodzilla Network
The Snoqualmie Valley Preservation Alliance (SVPA) team has been hard at work all summer preparing to launch the Floodzilla Gauge Network which features gauges integrated into one easy-to-use website. KCD has been proud to support the efforts in the Snoqualmie Valley around dealing with flooding.
Ten SVPA gauges in the lower valley read water levels every fifteen minutes and upload the data real time so valley users, farmers, commuters, and land managers can track floods while they are happening. The website integrates SVPA gauges and USGS gauges into one interface. If you would like to be part of the notification beta testing group, sign in to create an account. You can select which gauges are of interest to you.
The project is made possible Snoqualmie Valley Preservation Alliance, Snoqualmie Valley Watershed Improvement District and a significant grant from King County Flood Control District.
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KCD Election Season Approaches
KCD is seeking individuals to run for Position #2 on KCD's Board of Supervisors.
King Conservation District is led by an all-volunteer, five-member board of supervisors. Three of the members are elected while the other two are appointed by the Washington State Conservation Commission, an agency created to assist and guide conservation district activities in Washington state.
Supervisors serve a three-year term and oversee the operations of KCD. Board members contribute local perspectives on important natural resource management and conservation issues, seek feedback about conservation programs from District residents, set KCD policy, and direct KCD’s work plan and budget.
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CityFruit Seeks Help with Historic Orchard Project in Seattle
Their goal is to identify the oldest fruit trees in Seattle and determine which ones were part of actual orchards. Another aim of this project is to identify heirloom fruit varieties still growing in Seattle, plus to locate old "versions" of more common varieties, both of which could be used to graft new trees to preserve that precise variety. Trees must be within the Seattle city limits, growing on public or private property.
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Webinars: Beautify and Care for Your Stream or Lakeside Property
Saturday, November 7, 10:00am to 11:00am
and
Wednesday, December 2, 6:00pm to 7:00pm
Learn from restoration experts in these helpful webinars about managing your yard to support both the environment and your own needs.
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Discovery Farms® Virtual Farm Tour
Saturday, November 14, 2020, 11:00am to 12:00noon
Join KCD, American Farmland Trust, and Discovery Farms Washington® for a virtual farm tour this November as we visit an on-farm research project. Learn how it measures different treatments of manure storage on a livestock farm in Enumclaw. Registration and details to follow in KCD’s November newsletter social media.
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Salmon SEEson
August through November
More details
Fall is here, and salmon are returning to streams and rivers around Puget Sound to spawn. Watch for these natural beauties at viewing sites near you or tour around the county virtually from home!.
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Master Gardeners Online Plant Clinics: Now - October 17
The Master Gardener Plant Clinic is now online to answer your gardening questions. During your clinic visit, you will be able to share pictures of your plant, pest or disease concerns.
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Online Growing Groceries:
October - May
Learn to grow your own food! Growing Groceries is an integrated series of classes, building on knowledge gained. Each class contains the information needed to get started. Attend on, a few or all and get growing!
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At King Conservation District, we’re all about Better Ground. Better Ground means taking important stewardship actions at home and in our communities to create healthy soil and water, to provide healthy food, and to conserve land, water, forests, wildlife and related natural resources. And you don’t have to go at it alone. You have a partner, your local conservation district.
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