Tips, tricks, and a quick peek into the everyday life of the conservation district.
I’ve always struggled to love insects. And I’ll admit, I am judging a book by its cover: their shiny carapaces, their eerie antennae, and their chaotic movements all give me a case of the heebie jeebies. Yet, after reading Farming with Soil Life: A Handbook for Supporting Soil Invertebrates and Soil Health on Farms, I’m finding a new appreciation for these creepy crawlies (and other soil life too!)
Read MoreIn some ways, applying compost is similar to putting money into a savings account or emergency fund— the benefits are longer-term and create resilient soils that respond better to extreme events like drought.
Read MoreBiocultural restoration is the science and practice of restoring ecosystems, including the human and cultural relationships within those ecosystems. It is based on the concept that humans and nature are intimately linked, and that each can have a positive impact on the health of the other.
Read MoreAs a Restoration Ecologist, Paul Cereghino recognizes the enormity of the challenge we’re facing in our region.
“If you think about every river and stream, every wetland, all the forested buffers, it's over 1,000,000 acres of land across the lowland Salish Sea. A lot of this landbase is degraded and needs restoration,” Paul explains.
When Ken Coman first spotted a beaver along the stream on his property outside of Snohomish, his first reaction wasn’t concern, it was curiosity. He started doing some reading about the ecological benefits that beavers provide and decided that his goal wasn’t to get rid of them, but to welcome them instead.
Read MoreSoil is teeming with life. With advances in technology, we, the ever-curious above-ground experimenters, are slowly unearthing how these various tiny creatures interact with each other and their environment. Learning how to manage this complex soil ecosystem can feel daunting, especially in the face of environmental extremes and changes, but many people are having success by focusing on soil health.
Read MoreBountiful Buffers (sometimes referred to as working buffers or harvestable riparian buffers) combine multiple agroforestry practices to create a riparian buffer that achieves ecological benefits while also producing food, medicine, or materials.
Read MoreIf you meet Melissa Correia and Joanna Kenyon from Tangled Thicket Farm, you may discover that they value something that is hard to quantify, but that science is starting to prove is deeply important: connection. Our connection with each other, our community, the natural world, and also the connections that exist between the plants, animals, and fungi within ecosystems.*
Read MoreWet Feet Farming is the application of agroforestry practices to wet, marginal farmland in order to increase production.
Read MoreThe seed of Rooted Northwest started small, with just two families. They envisioned teaming up to buy just enough land where they could raise their kids on a farm and teach permaculture. However, when they found a 240-acre former dairy for sale in Arlington, their plans began to change.
Read MoreSilvopasture is the practice of deliberately integrating trees and grazing livestock on the same land. This typically involves either taking a stand of trees (such as a forest or an orchard) and integrating livestock, or establishing trees on land where livestock are already grazing.
Read MoreWhen Mark Batcheler was growing up in the Midwest, he swore he’d never have a career in farming.
“Everyone I knew had cows or worked on a farm,” Mark said. “As an adolescent, I thought, I’m never going to do that.”
Read MoreTrack paddocks are an excellent way to keep your horses moving and interested when they aren’t on pasture. Track paddocks can also help protect water quality by avoiding overgrazing and compaction of your pastures that may become vulnerable to mud and runoff during the wet season.
Read MoreSince our creation following the Dust Bowl, conservation districts have relied on partnerships with farmers to pioneer new ways of protecting our natural resources—and agroforestry is no exception. For the last several years, Snohomish Conservation District has led the region in agroforestry, working with farmers to integrate perennial trees and shrubs into their agricultural systems. Utilizing land in this way can help diversify income, sequester carbon, and improve productivity, water quality, and wildlife habitat.
Read MoreThe Sustainable Lands Strategy (SLS) coalition initially convened in 2010 to unite individuals and community organizations dedicated to improving the coexistence of farming and fishing in Snohomish County’s floodplain areas. Snohomish Conservation District has been involved in this collaboration since the start.
Read MoreOne of the many benefits of agroforestry—the integration of perennial trees and shrubs into agricultural systems—is its potential to mitigate climate change and increase resilience. Here are a few examples of how…
Read MoreFood forests are designed to mimic a forest ecosystem and are mainly made up of edible and medicinal perennial species, with some annual crops mixed in.
Read MoreIf you visit Niky Schultz’s food forest, you might get the sense she’s planting her own little Garden of Eden, an edible landscape where bees nap in her “Pollinator Paradise” and salamanders swim like little dragons in her pond. It’s hard to believe that she’s spent most of her adult life living in apartments with only enough space for a container garden.
Read MoreThrough an NACD grant, we were able to help underserved areas with their food security through garden installations and other support.
Read MoreReturning to Raising Cane Ranch for the second year yielded a new crop of 28 attendees curious to see alley cropping and other agroforestry practices in action.
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Snohomish Conservation District | 528 91st Ave NE, Lake Stevens, WA 98258 | 425-335-5634
