Chuckanut Center

How did the Chuckanut Center get its start?

The little house that is now home to the Chuckanut Center once a rose garden at the
edge of Fairhaven Park. The house was built in 1914 for the caretaker of that rose
garden, a twin to one at Woodstock Farm, also on Chuckanut Drive. For fifty years the
rose garden was an attraction and center of the Fairhaven community until the
caretaker’s salary became too much for the city budget, and the position was
eliminated. Without a caretaker, the grounds soon fell into disrepair. The house became
a youth hostel in 1990, and the remaining roses were removed in 1998. The youth
hostel, though popular, was too small to be profitable. It closed in 2007.
In 2008 the caretaker’s house and the area that had once been the rose garden were
leased to a nonprofit formed with the purpose of rehabilitating the house and
transforming the former rose garden. That nonprofit, the Center for Local Self-
Reliance, worked with its dedicated volunteers and the local community to restore the
house and rebuild the grounds into an orchard and community garden.

Today, the gardeners, volunteers, and board members of the Center for Local Self-
Reliance, also known as the Chuckanut Center, serve the local and wider Bellingham
community by running a community garden with 17 individual plots, cultivating a victory
garden that grows over 1,000 pounds a year of food for those who need it, and
maintaining the orchard and the common spaces as a haven for plants, pollinators,
birds, and humans. The house serves as a hub for learning and skill sharing, in order to
foster a self-reliant, and sustainable community in Bellingham.

There is so much growing in your garden. How are the plots managed?

Individual gardeners are responsible for their own plots, and all gardeners use organic
and low-till methods. In addition to growing food, we also “grow the soil” which supports
the food web and leaving the earth better than we found it. We make our own compost
through hot piles, static piles, and compost teas. Gardeners range in experience from
first-timers to those with over 50 years of gardening under their belts.

In addition to individual plots, we also maintain a Victory Garden. That area is
communally managed, and the food grown there is donated to charity. Other areas like
the fence line, communal walkways, fruit trees, shrubs, and vines are also cared for collectively. We hold Thursday work parties and gather one Saturday a month during the growing season for a larger community work party and potluck. The general public is welcome to join us for these events, but we do ask that folks pre-register for the Saturday work party (simply email chuckanutcenter@gmail.com). We encourage learning and demonstrate food production with garden features like our Hügelkultur demonstration bed, a community asparagus plot, a greenhouse, and garden beds set aside for youth education.

While each gardener is responsible for their own plot, they also take on shared
responsibilities. The garden is divided into zones, and members help maintain their
assigned zone. We also have squads focused on communications and long-term
planning and upkeep. This community garden is more than just a place to grow food,
and you don’t need to have your own plot to be a part of the fun. Volunteers are always
welcome. The Chuckanut Center is a place where both plants and community thrive.

You have a diverse array of events. How do you plan out what to offer and when?

It’s true that we host diverse events! The process that organizes our offerings is very
simple: people with skills to share contact us through our website to propose events and
find space on our schedule. Hosts need to be able to manage their own promotion and
registration, though the Center promotes events to more than 1,000 subscribers through
our monthly newsletter and on the events page of our website. While growing food and
learning crafts are core to building community resilience, our take on resilience goes
beyond homesteading skills to include sharing cultural pursuits like education, music
and art, healthy communication, safety, and personal well-being. In particular, coming
out of Covid, we recognized that there was a need for healing and wellness offerings
and were pleased to be contacted by a variety of practitioners offering different
wellness-focused experiences and training. Providing varied experiences of music and
art have been a part of the Center from its earliest years. 

Do you have a skill to share, and would you like to host it at the Center?

Please contact us through our website. We’re also actively looking for garden volunteers and orchard stewards, as well as folks who can help with fundraising, and social media and community outreach and
promotion. Our board accepts people without board experience to provide an opportunity for people to grow in service. Your time and talents can make a real difference in cultivating a self-reliant and sustainable.

More information: https://www.chuckanutcenter.org/