Tips, tricks, and a quick peek into the everyday life of the conservation district.
Humans are viewed as an essential part of the ecosystem and have an important role in maintaining ecological balance. Some aspects of reciprocity are familiar to Western science and fall under the general umbrella of land tending. For example, a gatherer engages in pruning, aerating the soil, assisted species migration, etc. while hunters cull herds to prevent overgrazing.
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 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.
Biocultural 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.
Bountiful 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 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 MoreIn April, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Fisheries awarded $24 million in grants to Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) and local partners to fund transformational restoration in Whidbey Basin.
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 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 MoreIt can be easy to take water for granted in the Northwest, until you see it through the eyes of a farmer like Jake Stewart.
“I wouldn't call us climate refugees,” said Jake. “But we were certainly climate migrants leaving the droughts.”
Jake and his wife, Aja, were farming near Austin, Texas when their well began to run dry.
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
