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Fall Tasks to Help Your Garden Allies

By Jennifern Falknor, Staff & Board member

I have become quite concerned about the drop in insect populations here. No longer is my windshield splattered with bugs when driving around, even in the country. I don’t see as many butterflies as I used to. My early pollinators like mason bees are absent the last few springs to the point where I have taken to sitting by my blueberry bushes when they bloom, pollinating them with a tiny paintbrush with just a couple bristles in it. It works, but it is time-consuming. Our insect populations are suffering, and they need our help if they are to recover. This coming winter I will order mason bees from a local company and see if that helps. But there is more we can do.

So, I am going to talk about strategies for gardening sustainably, with a focus on helping the beneficials and deterring the pests.

Not all are bad, and some are a mixed bag, like yellow jackets. But yellow jackets have become my good friends. In the garden, they are like little vacuum cleaners, moving up and down each plant, over both sides of the leaves, eating every little pest they find. If you move slowly around them, they won’t bother you. They only sting when you try to swat them or get too close to their nest. The same is true for wasps. In fact, all the tiny creatures are way more scared of you than you are of them. After all, you are a giant monster to them that they would just as soon avoid.

Spiders are your best allies. They are very smart and web weavers are easy to train. When they try to build a web across the garden path, I simply grab their two threads attached on one side of the path and gently move them to the other side, encouraging them to build their web within the row. I only have to do this once, maybe twice (or that might have just been their sister) before they learn to build within the row and not across the path. And they will catch a lot of flies, fruit flies, and other flitting pests. The ones on the ground are always busy catching harmful critters and keeping your soil clean and healthy.

So, how do we attract and support our beneficial insects and other helpful creatures?

Find out how, and read many more articles from our wonderful Co-op community, in the Fall 2026 Table!

Thurston County Food Bank

Spring Table 2026

An Inside Look and Plea for Assistance in These Difficult Times By Ruth Brownstein, Board member

On a rainy Friday I recently made my way over to the Thurston County Food Bank (TCFB) and spoke with a few fine folks there about the work they do and how we as a community can help TCFB remain strong!

It takes a village to run the food bank, and thanks to their amazing team, including Amanda (Development), John (Executive Director) and especially Bernice (Client Services Supervisor) I was able to get a little glimpse inside this amazing operation that fuels so many in our locale.

More than just a food ”pantry,” deep thought goes into how to provide and advocate for those in need. TCFB does operate 2 pantries that are open 5 days a week – (downtown 3 times per week and in Lacey twice per week) with a grocery store model that allows folks to ‘shop with dignity’ for their needs, food, hygiene essentials (via the ‘Other Bank’) and more.

There are also 20 satellite TCFB locations, and as an Evergreen graduate I remember when the ‘on campus’ satellite location was established there and the many students who were grateful that good food was accessible right on campus if and when needed… More

Spring Table 2026

City of Olympia Joins Year of Cooperatives by Maureen Tobin, Staff member

Fall Table 2025

In another exciting step recognizing the importance of cooperatives in our local and global economy, the Olympia City Council unanimously proclaimed 2025 as the Year of Cooperatives, following along with the United Nations Designation. The proclamation, approved during the city council’s special meeting on Monday, Aug. 4, was accepted on behalf of our local cooperatives by John A. McNamara, Co-Director of the Northwest Cooperative Development Center. The proclamation recognizes the cooperative model as a tool for sustainable development, inclusive economic growth and social empowerment, especially for women, people with disabilities, Indigenous peoples and communities of color.

“Cooperatives offer a valuable model for business succession, allowing employees and community members to assume ownership and management, thereby preserving business viability, local jobs, andcommunity values during periods of transition,” the proclamation states. Other important parts of the proclamation support the values of the United Nation’s declaration, including mention of supporting business succession and preserving jobs. It also highlights research showing cooperatives retain workers longer than traditional businesses due to their provision of higher wages, more flexible working hours, better benefits, and greater responsiveness to employee needs and the evolving workplace.

McNamara talked about cooperative stories such as the Blue Heron Bakery, which transitioned to worker and community ownership with support from City of Olympia, the Northwest Cooperative Development Center and Olympia Food Co-op members. The presentation also highlighted the number of credit unions and worker and consumer coops in almost every sector in Olympia. And that The Evergreen State College offers the only certificate in cooperative development in the entire country, further solidifying our community’s role in advancing cooperative education and innovation.

Fall Table 2025

JUNETEENTH: How to Support and Celebrate this Meaningful Holiday by Maggie Jay, Staff member

What is Juneteenth? New Year’s Eve, 1862, was spent waiting for life-changing
news for enslaved people of the United States. The next day, Black people in the
North learned of their freedom.

The Emancipation Proclamation issued by then-President Abraham Lincoln read that
all those who were enslaved, “shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free.”
But in 1862 there was no internet, no radio, no TV, no phones. It took over two years
for the news of freedom to reach those in the westernmost confederate states.

Union soldiers traveled from town to town, giving the life-changing news to the
enslaved and their former oppressors. For 21⁄2 years, the mostly Black soldiers
traveled through the now defeated confederate territory, sharing the Declaration of
Independence, and freeing Black people with the words that rolled off their tongues.

Finally, on June 19th, 1865, the day came that Union soldiers traveled to the last
town. Over 2000 soldiers arrived in Galveston, the southern-most town of Texas to
announce to the enslaved people they were no longer property of another human.

Juneteenth commemorates that day. It is a celebration of freedom. A freedom still
being fought for today. How can I, as an ally, participate in Juneteenth and uplifting the Black community?