Hi, I need help loading and splitting alder firewood, maybe 1 1/2 cords. Wood is mostly in stacks. I can provide truck and tools.
Thanks.
Jan
766-6359
Thanks.
Jan
766-6359
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Goldman Sachs says coal-export terminals are a bad investment By David Roberts
No less an investor than the mighty Warren Buffett has proclaimed that the decline of coal in the U.S. will be gradual but inevitable. Given flat demand for electricity, cheap natural gas, burgeoning renewables, rising efficiency, and future carbon regulations, new coal-fired power plants are bad bet, which is why they aren’t getting built. To save their bacon, U.S. coal mining companies want to export their coal to hungrier markets, mainly Asian markets. OK, mainly China. Demand for coal in China is a crucial justification for the export infrastructure coal companies want to build in the Pacific Northwest — export terminals in Oregon and Washington that would handle coal shipped by train from the Powder River Basin in Wyoming and Montana. (Activists are battling those plans, with some success. Asimilar fight is happening in British Columbia.) But overseas demand for thermal coal — the kind used in power plants — has been overestimated. New investments in thermal coal infrastructure, unless they come online quickly, will miss a rapidly closing window for profitability. In coming years, there won’t be enough demand growth to justify such investments. That’s the explosive conclusion of a report recently issued by analysts at Goldman Sachs. (It’s not public, so I can’t link to it.) The implication for coal-export projects in the Pacific Northwest is clear: They are bum investments. You don’t need to share concerns over climate change to see it. Just economics.  Mike Small on the Power of When Lots of People Do Stuff You may feel as though your efforts, working in your local Transition initiative or doing other community resilience work, is just a drop in the ocean. Yet there is a huge power in it, especially when you look at it from the context of what happens when you add all that stuff up. The Fife Diet in Scotland is one of the most inspiring examples of this. What can we learn from them about The Power of Just Doing Stuff? A few weeks ago, they put out a press release, one that has huge implications. Read more: http://transitionnetwork.org/blogs/rob-hopkins/2013-07/mike-small-power-when-lots-people-do-stuff Eat Local Mount Vernon! A Celebration of Skagit Valley Farm Fresh Produce and Local Dining7/29/2013 
Eat Local Mount Vernon is coming! The City of Mount Vernon, Mount Vernon Chamber of Commerce, Northwest Agriculture Business Center and the Mount Vernon Mayor's Wellness Challenge have joined forces to create a month-long celebration of Skagit Valley farm fresh products and Mount Vernon dining September 1-30, 2013. Twenty-five of Mount Vernon’s best restaurants have joined together to celebrate the wondrous bounty of Skagit Valley. Throughout September, restaurants will have special menu items, including beverages, which feature Skagit Valley products and showcase local farms. Restaurants will be connecting with farms listed in the NABC Network and North Sound Food Hub. If you are a farmer in the Skagit Valley interested in subscribing to the NABC Network or participating in the North Sound Food Hub, please visit NABC's website or contact us in...@agbizcenter.org. Visit Eat Local Mount Vernon for more details about participating restaurants. This will be a great event to show off Skagit Valley's fabulous dining scene and incredible farm fresh products! Lucy Norris Director of Marketing, Northwest Agriculture Business Center Facebook: Northwest Agriculture Business Center Twitter: @NWAgBizCenter Find Farms! www.AgBizCenter.org  Workers confronting Ryan Sakuma on the guest workers he is bringing in and paying $12hr - and the firing of one of the workers. Farm Workers at Sakuma Farm Strike Over Wages and Treatment: Please educate yourself and consider helping. Blogs on the Labor Dispute:
Skagit Valley Herald Articles:
STRIKE COMMITTEE PARTIAL LIST OF GRIEVANCES Sakuma Brothers Farms set a piece rate wage at .30 cents per pound at the beginning of the blueberry harvest, pickers are struggling to make the minimum wage of $9.19 per hour at this rate in an 8 hour period. This violates Washington state minimum wage requirements. Pickers should be made whole, by being paid at least the equivalent of $9.19 an hour for their time picking berries. Some workers only earn $24 to $48 in an 8 hour period and it’s not because they are slow. Sakuma Brothers Farms has introduced electronic scanners in place of paper tickets for documentation of pounds picked which calculates their wages. This new system hampers the picker’s ability to keep track of their production and limits their ability to dispute inaccurate entries. This violates workers’ rights to wage transparency. Pickers should be made whole by returning to paper tickets and the removal of underage youth from checker positions. Pickers want to be treated with human dignity in the workplace and labor camps. Substandard living accommodations, unsanitary facilities, and racialized hostilities violate the migrants’ human rights. Pickers should be made whole, including but not limited to, maintenance and betterment of labor camp by Sakuma Brothers Farms and that labor camp managers cease and desist hostility and harassment as required by law. Pickers have been denied sick leave. This violates workers human rights. Pickers should be made whole, including but not limited to, supervisors cease and desist the practice of knocking on the door of sick workers to force them to work. Indigenous pickers are not treated with respect at Sakuma Brothers Farm. This violates their human dignity and violates state anti-harassment and anti-hostility laws. Workers should be made whole, including but not limited to, the cease and desist of disrespectful and racist language such as “oaxaquita,” “indio,” “estupido,” and the use of stereotypes around inherent “laziness,” “drunkenness,” or “dirtiness” of Triqui and Mixteco farmworkers by Sakuma Brothers Farm executives, administrators, crop management, crew bosses, checkers and co-workers via receiving mandatory sensitivity and undoing racism training, and dismissal following failure to comply. Sakuma Brothers Farms has applied for H2A workers for the blueberry harvest in August. Pickers want to know why the farm had not applied for H2A workers for the strawberry harvest if there was a labor shortage. The pickers claim that there is no labor shortage and that it is unfair that guestworkers are getting paid $12.00 per hour, while they are earning a maximum of $9.19. Please Donate to the Sakuma Farm Workers! You might have read in the Skagit Valley Herald about the Farm Workers’ dispute with Sakuma Farms. Farmworkers stopped work for six days and they went without wages for that period of time. The Farmworkers are back at work now but there will be another 2 weeks before they receive their paychecks. Most workers are getting paid less than minimum wage right now and are struggling just to feed their families. At this time Community to Community (Bellingham-based community group that supports the farmworkers) are asking for contributions of food, sundries and disposable diapers (size 2, 3, or 4). Gift cards to purchase food at Costco or local grocers are much appreciated as well as gift cards for gas or contributions to the strike fund. Durable goods can be delivered directly to Labor Camp 2 at 1302 A Benson Road, Bow, WA 98232. Call Community to Community first to make sure someone can receive the donation: 360-756-2478. (Get onto WA-11 / Chuckanut Dr from I-5 Freeway (Go N), Turn West onto Allen West Rd/Sam Bell Rd [Allen West is between Cook Rd and Field Rd], Continue to follow Allen West Rd, Turn left onto B A Benson Rd, Look for camp, turn into driveway, cross a bridge, verge to the right, look for the only community area that has a shelter) Or call C2C at (360)756-2478 to arrange delivery of in-kind donations. To contribute to the strike fund, access http://foodjustice.org click on the “donate” button to the right of the screen or send a check written out to Community to Community Development labeled “Strike Fund” to 203 W. Holly Street, Ste. 317, Bellingham, WA 98225. The Skagit County Democrats will be a drop off location for donations. The office is open Tues, Wed, Thurs, and Fri from 1 to 5 pm. 300 A First Street, Mount Vernon, WA 98273, (360) 336-1555 staff@skagitdemocrats.org www.skagitdemocrats.org Hello folks,
This is to let you know that I am selling my small herb farm in Whatcom County, and to give some details here. I invite you to contact me for more information and to come by to take a look and talk. I very much prefer to sell this land to folks who understand a stewardship lifestyle and want to use the land productively. I have worked to improve the field/pasture since 1999, and the land should qualify to be certified organic right away. Briefly, this is 10 acres on Bay Road near Birch Bay, including: ~ 5-acre woodlot (and I plant new trees every year) ~ freshly renovated pasture/growing field (about 4 acres) with cross fencing ~ water connections in the field ~ productive fruit orchard ~ permaculture plantings ~ gambrel-style, unique house designed originally as a 36 X 24 barn (and could be returned to that duty), with inside workshop, and passive solar and other attributes that help if electric power goes off ~ greenhouse attached to the house's south side (helps with temperature modulation in all seasons) ~ herb-drying and processing barn/shop (24 X 16) made from posts and lumber milled on site from mature Sitka Spruce and Hemlock winter windthrows ~ brand-new potable water cistern (1500 gallons, above-ground) next to the house that I will leave in place if new buyers wish ~ 2 large gardens, with plenty of other areas available to develop for gardens ~ chicken coop(s) ~ tractor shelter ~ wood shed & covered wood yard ~ tool shed, etc. ~ seasonal drainage swale ending in a small pond ~ excellent potable water supplied by Old Settlers Water Association I am happy to discuss the various aspects and plantings. Please forward this message to anyone you believe may be interested in this farm. Please feel free to contact me for more information and for an appointment to take a little tour. I am sad to part with this little farm that I and my deceased husband created from scratch, but life evolves and we carry on with grace. I would dearly love to see this land transfer to other pairs of strong, understanding hands. Best wishes on your own growing season and your own endeavors. Maryse Sagewynd Sagewynd Herb Farm 360-366-0510360-441-0358 terradan@frontier.com (or) marysesagewynd@gmail.com |
Chuckanut Transition Community
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