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.
Read MoreCrabapples 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 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 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 MoreWhat Is Forest Farming?
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Today, we often think of forests as places to harvest trees, pass through, or leave untouched for wildlife. But growing and harvesting crops within a forest in a sustainable way doesn't just add the possibility of new income streams.
Read MoreSweet Secrets of Bigleaf Maple
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When you think of our native bigleaf maple (Acer macrophyllum), you might picture a mossy trunk with delicate licorice ferns. You probably don’t think of maple syrup. Particularly, one with a “bold and buttery flavor that has hints of vanilla and molasses.”
But that's how Patrick Shults, Extension Forester for Southwest Washington—along with many others—describe the taste of this specialty syrup.
Farm & Forest: Growing Agroforestry in Puget Sound
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Our resident agroforester Carrie Brausieck has been researching, implementing, and educating on agroforestry in the region for over half a decade, but it’s only been the past two years that agroforestry has become widely noticed.
“We’re the only organization in the state that has an agroforestry program and a person on staff with an agroforestry title,” Carrie said. “Our program is leading the way for this innovative land use within our county and throughout the state.” Read on to learn about the work we've been doing in agroforestry.
Agroforestry and Native Plants
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Imagine three farms, each very different, but all with something in common... Read on to learn about a unique approach to agroforestry that will give you even more reasons to love native plants!
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.
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 MoreRestoring Habitat, Teaching New Generation at Arlington Christian School
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“We’re so dependent on the food chain, how can we become more independent? How can we harken back to yesteryears?” Nuss asked. “[This project] is a great educational experience for our students who live in our techy, X-Box age.”
Read MoreGot Flooding? Agroforestry can help.
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Agroforestry systems can help farmers of any size adapt to these new weather patterns, lessening the negative impacts that they have across the landscape. Integrating more trees into the farming landscape provides cover that can intercept rainfall, increases the amount of rain that filters into soils, and reduces the quantity, speed, and peak flow of runoff.
Read MoreLaunching Agriculture Resilience into Action
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The Plan acts as a resource to help farmers plan for a future with both drier and wetter climates, as well as challenges that come with an ever-increasing population. It advocates for preserving farmland and greenspace that can act as both a buffer and balance to the sprawling suburbs that are quickly sprouting up.
Read MoreCountry Living From Sunrise to Sunset
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2019’s Country Living Expo and Cattlemen’s Winter School is in the books with Dr. Temple Grandin as the special guest. Bonus: Check out our two Facebook Live videos!
Read MoreWorking Buffers Video
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Watch our new Working Buffers video to understand how planting trees and shrubs on your property can make a difference in soil health, water quality and habitat for birds and wildlife.
Read MoreSilvopasture for Small Livestock
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Being fortunate enough to live in the Maritime Pacific Northwest surrounded by the Salish Sea is something that many of us cherish. Our unique marine environment offers habitat to an abundance of marine and terrestrial flora and fauna that support our lifestyles and cultural heritage. However, balancing land use with protecting our natural heritage can be challenging, especially when you own livestock.
Read MoreA Closer Look at Working Buffers
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Forest Farming
Alley Cropping
Silvopasture
Short Rotation Biomass
Benefits of working buffers include:
Combination of economic production with environmental protection
On-farm economic and ecological resilience through diversity
Increases in soil moisture and nutrient cycling
Increases in wildlife and beneficial insect habitat
Creates a more sustainable system
Carbon sequestration
Forested buffers along streams help keep water clean and cool – important for fish, wildlife, and humans, they are the main defense keeping pollution out of our surface waters. Our Working Buffers program allows farmers to widen their forested buffer without losing farmable ground by combining agriculture and trees together. Tree crops such as fruits, nuts, and timber are combined with understory crops such as berries, floral industry greens, mushrooms, and livestock forage.
There are four working buffer techniques that may fit the goals of your farm: forest farming, alley cropping, short rotation biomass, and silvopasture. Where to use and how to manage these alternative farming methods is specific to each site’s conditions and each landowner’s goals. It can be difficult to balance on farm land use between functioning riparian buffers and productive ground. Working buffers provide ways to expand a newly planted or existing buffer to increase its functions while at the same time earning more income for your farm.
Illustrated below is an example of alley cropping. Alley cropping involves planting herbaceous and usually annual crops in the ‘alleys’ between widely spaced rows of trees. Trees are selected for their productivity potential and synergies with crops. Highly productive tree or shrub species can be managed for fruits, nuts, livestock feed, and timber. ‘Alley crops’ in-between rows can produce hay, small grains, vegetables, ground cover fruits, medicinal herbs and even vines such as berries or grapes. Combining these two production methods can help farmers cope with market fluctuations and crop failures by diversifying outputs and increasing yields. Alley cropping can either be a long- or short-term approach to maximizing farm production while establishing additional forest canopy in a streamside buffer area.
Want to see what the other working buffer practices look like or have questions about how to get started on your own property? Visit our Agroforestry program page or fill out a Request Assistance form to receive help.
By Carrie Brausieck, Resource Planner | From Volume 29: Issue 1 of The Nexus
What's Happening with Our Ag Focused Team
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To honor Ag Week, here is a snapshot in time from each of our farm planners on the Snohomish Conservation District staff. There are lots of good projects in the works or in the ground around Snohomish County and Camano Island.
Read More