Tips, tricks, and a quick peek into the everyday life of the conservation district.
Imagine that with every heavy rain, as runoff pours into the valleys from the uplands and rivers begin to rise, you had to calculate whether you could get home in time to move your animals to safety. Until recently, this was Michelle Canfield’s reality each winter, with her sheep pastured in the Snohomish floodplain.
Read MoreIf you're a farmer looking to transition to low or no-till practices, the cost of new equipment can be a major hurdle. At Snohomish Conservation District, one of our goals is to help farmers overcome these kinds of challenges.
Read MoreIf you drive eastbound along Hwy 530 to Arlington, you’ll pass Andrew’s Hay and Farm Store, owned and operated by Andrew Albert. Andrew grew up in the area and spent his high school summers practicing farming.
Read MoreIf you’ve driven along Old Snohomish Monroe Road, you may have noticed Canfield Farms, a picturesque sheep farm perched on a steep slope. These acres in the floodplain provide fertile ground for crops and pastures; however, over the past several years they have become more frequently inundated with water during periods of heavy rain.
Read MoreThis position will help develop culturally appropriate outreach to increase awareness and participation in free natural resource programs for Snohomish Latino Farmers. They will help identify linguistic and cultural barriers, ensuring that natural resource conservation programs are accessible to farmers and historically underserved populations. The Cultural Ambassador will work with Snohomish Conservation District staff for 10 - 12 months.
Read MoreThe Snohomish Conservation District (SCD) is excited to launch the Equity in Conservation program. This program is funded through a cooperative agreement with the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS). The Equity in Conservation program will help support our efforts to engage with Latino and Spanish-speaking farmers and agricultural workers in Snohomish County and Camano Island.
Read MoreIndigenous Educator, Lindsey Crofoot, enrolled member of the Tlingit and Haida Tribes of Alaska from the Xutznoowu tribe, Deisheetaan clan and Colville Okanogan descendant, had a direct tie to the land from an early age. However, the many hours she spent in the forest and on the water hunting and fishing with her father didn’t fit the commonly romanticized stereotype. Instead, Lindsey’s experience was emblematic of a painful reality for many Indigenous people.
Read MoreWild, thorny, and reaching, native Gooseberries harken the promise of life in early spring to birds and insects. Commercial Gooseberries offer the same with early clusters of intricate flowers enticing the bees out of hibernation. In summer, translucent lanterns of fruit offer complex flavors in the field and in the kitchen.
Read MoreIn the not too distant past, indigenous people cultivated openings within surrounding forests. They fostered dappled canopies of fruit and nut trees, sun-loving and shade-tolerant shrubs rich with berries, and medicinal and edible plants, roots, and fungi.
Read MoreWhat does six-foot tall rye mean to you? For Vince Caruso of Caruso Farms, it means experimenting with cover crops.
Read MoreThere are nearly 50 species of Bumble Bees in North America, many of which are suffering population declines, but there are actions you can take to help.
Read MoreBow Hill Blueberries co-owner, Ezra Ranz, can list off several benefits of planting a Wet Feet Farming buffer along the slough bordering the farm, but there’s one reason that rises above the rest.
“It’s all for the Bumble Bees,” said Ezra. And he does mean Bumble Bees specifically.
Manure is a constant presence on farms with livestock. Appropriate storage and management of manure allows it to retain the nutrients that make it such an excellent soil amendment. Proper storage also minimizes the risk that those nutrients will end up polluting our local streams, lakes, or well water.
Read MoreI’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.
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Snohomish Conservation District | 528 91st Ave NE, Lake Stevens, WA 98258 | 425-335-5634
