Practice Highlight: Alley Cropping
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Alley cropping is an agroforestry practice where rows of trees are planted wide enough to create alleys where other crops can be cultivated.
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Crabapples and Camas: Alley Cropping at Northwest Meadowscapes
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Twenty years ago, Eric Lee-Mäder found a strange-looking bottle in a wine shop that would end up changing the course of his life. The French cider inside was unlike anything he’d ever tasted.
“It was much more complex than sweet,” Eric said. “I got a sense of the whole orchard, from the bloom of the apple tree to the fungus growing in the understory.”
Read MoreAgroforestry Challenges (And 3 Reasons Why They’re Worth It)
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Agroforestry can provide major benefits for farms—it also presents unique challenges. Unlike traditional monocultures, agroforestry requires farmers to understand the needs of multiple plants and how they interact with each other. It takes planning, adaptation, and patience to create a successful system. It also isn’t static. Many agroforestry practices incorporate trees that affect shade conditions as they grow. That means crops may need to shift over the years.
So why bother with all the trouble?
Read MoreConservation in Action at “Farm, Fish, and Forest Field Day”
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Last week, we welcomed Snohomish County Council members Nate Nehring and Sam Low, Town of Darrington Mayor Dan Rankin, and Linda Neunzig, Snohomish County Agriculture Coordinator, on behalf of Executive Dave Somers, for a tour of three of our conservation projects throughout Snohomish County.
Read MoreHarvestable Riparian Buffers
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Nick Pate, owner of Raising Cane Ranch in Snohomish, has incorporated several agroforestry practices on his farm. His food forest also serves as a harvestable, multi-functional, or working buffer. The trees and shrubs in the food forest essentially act as a second layer to his native forest riparian buffer, which borders the Snohomish River.
Read MoreRaising Cane Ranch Switched to Solar: Find Out If You Can Too!
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Are you interested in renewable energy for your farm or rural small business? Snohomish and Pierce Conservation Districts have teamed up with Spark Northwest to help farms and rural small businesses apply for grant funds for renewable energy and energy efficient projects through the Rural Energy Development Program.
Read MoreFruit to Nuts: Raising Cane Ranch’s Food Forest
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Tucked towards the back of Raising Cane Ranch, beyond their farm stand and Highland cows, you’ll find a food forest filled with chestnut, walnut, and hazelnut trees, black currants, evergreen huckleberries, and aronia berries.
“It’s one of the most peaceful places on the property,” says farm owner, Nick Pate. “I just love working out there.”
Read MoreCarbon Crushers Series Wraps Up
/During the first winter of the pandemic, our Agriculture Resilience Team brainstormed ways to engage the public when we were unable to physically gather. The result was a Carbon Crushers series of workshops focused on ways to reach “drawdown”—the point when levels of greenhouse gases stop climbing and start to actually decline
Read MoreFall is Here, Sound Horsekeepers
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Fall is officially here. Are you and your horses ready? Now is the time to prepare for the upcoming rainy season here in western Washington. Here are a few tips and tricks to beat the winter weather this year and establish more permanent solutions for next year.
Read MoreAgroforestry Farm Tour Held at Raising Cane Ranch
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Nick Pate of Raising Cane Ranch, in cooperation with Snohomish Conservation District and Washington State University, hosted a group of 33 people at his Snohomish farm the last week of September, to discuss agroforestry opportunities in Western Washington.
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Prioritizing Best Management Practices for Horse Farms
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Whether you board horses, run a training facility, or just have one horse at home, using best management practices can make your operation run smoother and protect your horses. But which ones do you do first? Is there a sequence that’s best? How do you prioritize?
Read MoreAgroforestry Grows in Snohomish County
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With the planting of a “multifunctional riparian forest buffer” the Pilchuck Julia Park is a new home to thousands of beautiful native trees and shrubs as well as hundreds of food producing trees and shrubs for the public to enjoy.
Read MoreHorses Can Smell Spring
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Have you ever been trying to hang your horse’s evening hay and have them step on your foot? Yeah, Whiskey’s done that to me. More than once. And he’s not in a hurry to get off it, either, especially when that means backing away from his hay bag…
Read MorePutting the Plan Before the Horse
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It’s a privilege to be a part of new beginnings, and we’re fortunate to have stories like the Rhinevaults to share with others starting out. Most of the people we work with would say that their farms and livestock ventures are a work in progress, and we’re available to help every step of the way.
Read MoreA Battle of Light and Dark... And Horses
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Have you ever been trying to hang your horse’s evening hay and have them step on your foot? Yeah, Whiskey’s done that to me. More than once. And he’s not in a hurry to get off it, either, especially when that means backing away from his hay bag…
Read MoreGrowing Profitable Farms - 2021 Cultivating Success Class Registration Open
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The business entrepreneurship course of Cultivating Success registration is open! Learn how to farm in a financially sustainable way.
Read MoreOrca Recovery Day During COVID-19 A Success
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“Orcatober” is officially in the books!
COVID-19 has been a disruption for all of us, but it couldn’t get in the way of recovery efforts for our Southern Resident Killer Whales. We were fortunate to be able to celebrate Orca Recovery Day with all who participated in our scavenger hunt, rain barrel sale and Eco Challenge.
Read MoreManure & Pastures- That First Flush
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Fall is quickly approaching, and your horses have been grazing all summer on your nice, lush pastures you’ve been nurturing for a long time now. As the fall and winter rains begin and you will move your horses off the pasture for the winter, I always get questions about what to do with the manure the horses have left behind…
Read MoreGuest Post: Zsofia Pasztor on Our Current Food System's Collapse and How to Help
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Editor’s Note: On Thursday, August 13, we held our annual partnership event virtually and we honored to have Zsofia Pasztor from Farmer Frog join us to discuss her work in the center of this national crisis of food insecurity, and the changed world due to COVID-19. She called us from the farm and, like all of us, had challenges with coverage and clarity in this time of heavy internet and cellular use. Here’s her follow up message to those concerned with what they can do to help. - Kari Quaas, SCD
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