Tips, tricks, and a quick peek into the everyday life of the conservation district.
Wild, 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.
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.
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Snohomish Conservation District | 528 91st Ave NE, Lake Stevens, WA 98258 | 425-335-5634
