FARM TOUR GUIDE

(Sep 14, 2024)

Meeting the Challenges of Climate Change with

Resilience and Sustainability

A good harvest gets more difficult with climate change. Rain in the Pacific Northwest was once gentle and pretty predictable. Starting sometime in October, it continued with short breaks until April. May would have a few hot weeks, then June (Junuary) saw cooler, wetter days until the heat arrived in July. Our farm is close enough to the ocean that the Frazier Valley cold rarely touched us. Temperatures usually got down only into the 20s or high teens for short periods. We’re officially in the 8b planting zone.

That pattern has disappeared. Last year our low was 3 degrees. The cold stayed longer than normal. Rain has come down in torrents instead of a drizzle. When Sumas, Everson and the Vancouver area flooded, we did too. In early May this year, an unusually warm rain triggered a new fungal infection (black leaf spot) that destroyed most of our peach, apricot and pear crop and killed several trees. So much rain fell during the three years in a row of La Niña weather that many times we couldn’t work the soggy soil when it needed to be done.

On the map you will find color coded and numbered “stations” showing what we have done to farm organically, sustainably, and resiliently in the face of climate change. We have worked hard to harness the four elements of Fire, Wind, Water and Earth to harvest the fifth element, Life. This tour tells that story.

MAP BELOW

A Parking. Please follow the directions of the parking attendant.

B Entry gate. Please register at the tent.

C Sales tent. Fruit, vegetables and honey made by bees right on our farm as well as fruit jellies made by Farmette Fresh with our fruit (and some of their own).

FIRE (solar and wood-fed fire) Red dots

1 Greenhouse. Designed for hydroponics/aquaponics. Insulated below and on the knee-walls. Has a 5-ply polycarbonate roof and 3 ply polycarbonate walls, double ply glass on the south side. The water tanks are heated in winter with aquarium heaters, which heat the whole greenhouse. As the summers got hotter, we discovered it needs to be cooled. A swamp cooler will be installed for next year to use when temperatures outside hit the high 70s. Cool water from the well will soak a filter in the swamp cooler, and a fan will blow the cooled air into the greenhouse.

2 18 Kilowatt-hour solar array. Powers the house and farm.

3 Solarium heats the house in winter anytime the sun shines. The house roof is designed to take additional solar panels. A 600 amp power feed to the house is designed for room to add electric vehicle charging and to power the canning kitchen in the naturally heated/cooled full basement. This house is certified as the northernmost Net-Zero energy house in the United States.

4 Biochar kiln. The wood piles are for next year’s burn. A gram of biochar, when powdered, has an area equal to a volleyball court. It helps the soil hold moisture and provides “housing” for bacteria and fungi that feed the plants. Burning with oxygen is confined to the top of the kiln, and quenching the coals so they “explode” makes the product light and filled with spaces. Burning wood this way reduces greenhouse gases 18% more than letting the wood rot or simply burning it.

5 Lean-to greenhouse. An experiment at first, this tiny space became the most productive for the lowest cost. It convinced us to go for number 6, the hoophouse.

6 Hoophouse (high tunnel). 2,000 square feet of grow space naturally heated by the sun. It adds weeks of growth on both ends of the season and has year-round figs espaliered down the center and strawberries planted beneath.

7 Terrace. Sheltered from north winds and sloped to the south, these 24 raised beds dry out first and heat up first among the outdoor growing areas.

WATER (rain water capture and storm water) Blue dots

8 Rainwater capture tanks with pump, filters and UV light treatment. Used in the greenhouse in the deepwater beds and tanks.

9 Two buried curtain drains and the roadside ditch and north swale direct water into this catchment pond. A seasonal stream connects up to the main pond (10).

10 Main pond. Retains water year round. Gathers water from house downspouts, a French drain under the driveway (all the way up to Stein Road). Serves as irrigation backup if needed and serves wildlife and bees with a reliable source of water. The ponds and stream also serve as fire barriers if the surrounding fields and forests catch fire.

11 Swale directs water from the central farm road and upward slope into the fruit orchard and main growing area.

12 Glendon septic system.

WIND (wind sheltering and micro-climate) Aqua dots

13 The orientation of the house, greenhouse and workshop provides wind breaks from northeastern wind. The two ponds also store and release ground heat that affects temperatures in the winter, as do the gravel roads and sidewalks and a large patio. A distinct temperature gradient shown by the frost line can be seen in late winter/early spring. The buildings (including the hoophouse) create surfaces that break up and swirl the wind in winter, which helps prevent frost formation (like the huge fans used in some of the blueberry and raspberry fields nearby).

14 The summer wind, sometimes very gusty, blows from the southwest. The elevated grape lines (two hugelkultur lines explained below) and the nethouse over the blueberries as well as the kiwi lines help break up line storm winds that might damage crops.

EARTH (soil) Brown dots

15 Compost area. The wood enclosure on the other side of the deer fencing holds this year’s composting pile. Last year’s compost is ready for use. We also bring in horse and cow manure (aged and composted) for longer term fertilization. We will be mixing biochar with the compost to improve the soil life and fertility.

16 Wood chips and hog fuel. We cover the compost spread around the trees and bushes with cardboard and/or wood chips. This helps hold in moisture during the summer and breaks down slowly over the year to fertilize.

17 Hugelkultur under the kiwi and strawberries, and then the main fruit orchard. We bury wood in the hugelkultur lines, mainly red alder and other prunings (from healthy trees) and then cover with dirt. This breaks down slowly, adding carbon to the soil and nourishing the roots of the kiwi slowly over several years. The fruit trees are planted in raised rows to provide drier feet for the trees in winter.

18 Hugelkultur under the two table grape lines. We buried all the untreated extra lumber from the house and other building projects here as well as several large trees taken down from the property.

LIFE (wild life and farmed life) Green dots

19 Chicken Palace. Chickens not only produce eggs, they produce poop, some of the richest fertilizer there is.

20 Honey bees. Farmette Fresh (producers of jams, jellies and honey) puts honey bees on our farm to help pollinate our crops and to produce honey. We also are very bee friendly for the many types of local bees that prefer the kiwi-berries and blueberries as well as the borage and other wildflowers.

21 Native plants along the seasonal stream. These slow the stream flow and shade it, plus they direct the deer and other wildlife along a path screened from the house. This path and planting continues to the main pond area (22)

22 Main pond. Filled with frogs and bugs, bounded by native trees and some non-native plants, the main pond protects the house from fire and gives local wildlife access to year-round water.

23 Douglas Fir, planted to offset the carbon produced by farm building and operations. We’re Net Zero for electric power, but have to use diesel for the truck and tractor.

24 Hedgerow. Native plants on the south boundary draw wildlife away from the cultivated areas and provide some wind break from summer winds that can cause damage to the fruit trees and other produce.

25 Hardy Kiwi (kiwi-berries). This line is part of the mix of fruit, herb and native shade trees and plants used in landscaping around the house. The kiwi line also screens the house from the farm.

26 Main outdoor garden and kiwi-berry lines with strawberries planted underneath.

27 Net House. We cover our blueberries with netting to keep the birds out. This prevents bird/human conflict over the berries. Birds can take as much as 25% of the berries from an unprotected space. To the west of the Net House are raspberry and blackberry lines.