Practice Highlight: Food Forests
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Food 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 MorePersimmons and Patience
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If 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 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 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.
Country 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 MoreAgForestry Leadership Class 40 Has Launched
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Our own Ryan Williams just began his AgForestry Class 40 in Pullman with a success.
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