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Appleseed updates Parks Board on school visits, winter growing and community programming
Summary
Appleseed representative Brickle Masters told the Parks board the organization’s Gully Park site provides hands-on garden education and donated produce; Masters said Appleseed reached about 14,000 children in 2024 and had already matched that number by October of the current year.
Brickle Masters, representing Appleseed, told the Parks, Natural Resources and Cultural Affairs Advisory Board that Appleseed’s market garden and orchard at Gully Park host field trips, volunteer hours and community workshops that emphasize nutrition and culinary skills for children.
"We've been there since 2014," Masters said, describing a two-acre market garden, raised beds for accessibility and a newer high tunnel installed this year "so we can increase the amount of food that we're able to grow through the winter." Masters said students who visit harvest produce and take it into a kitchen to learn recipes and basic nutrition.
Masters reported program scale, saying Appleseed reached about 14,000 children in 2024 and that "so far this year, we have already hit that same mark in October." The group also donates produce back to partner schools and holds two free adult gardening workshops each spring, as well as weekly volunteer hours between March and October.
On operations and access, Masters clarified that Appleseed’s kitchen is on the site converted from an existing house at 2648 N Old Wire Road and that a nearby parking lot is owned by private developers and not affiliated with the farm. Masters provided donation and contact information (appleseedsmwa.org) and encouraged board members to join the mailing list for ticket and volunteer notices.
The board thanked Appleseed for the update and noted the organization as an active partner in city parks programming. The presentation closed with members asking about capacity and how the farm’s facilities support school groups and events.
