So here are a few random things about my watering...

--I don't usually use mulch as it is a hiding place for slugs and voles
--I plant row crops and individual plants such as tomatoes in slight depressions so the water applied is concentrated above the root zone
--I hand water almost exclusively. I pump water from an old well on my property into garbage cans in my garden and hand water from them usually early morning
--I sometimes use porous tubing to water row crops--such as beans, etc
--The type of soil determines how much  water you need---sandy soil need much more water than clay soils. My soil is clay type which holds moisture longer
--Too much water early in plant growth limits root development
--If you use raised beds--they tend to dry out sooner 

~David 

Chris Soler, on his family farm in South Mount Vernon and his homestead in Bow, has been experimenting with cattle breeds and pasture management that are both ecologically healthy and resilient to meet the demands of our changing climate.  Here are pictures of Tiny the Cow and her calf Tina.  Tiny is a Dexter, a small breed that does an excellent job converting grass into meat or dairy.  You can go to this Mother Earth News article to learn more about Dexters.
"They're all  cute and fuzzy, and if the pastures are managed right, they are helping to store carbon in the soil, while counteracting the addition of CO2 into the atmosphere from the burning of fossil fuels." ~Chris Soler

Chuckanut Transition's Spring Newsletter 
​April: May Your Foodprint Walk Lightly on Your Foodshed

​From farm to table and all points in between, a 'foodshed' defines the geographic area any given community uses to produce its food.  A 'foodprint' is the total acreage needed to grow food for one person. Currently, the typical person is dependent on a global foodshed and transportation that averages 1,500 miles from farm to table.(1)  Food represents 21% of the average American's carbon footprint.(2)

Cornell University mapped foodsheds and foodprints to explore New York State's food system potential.  They estimate that most population centers would be able to source the vast majority of their food from a 30 mile radius, and calculating for a moderate meat diet, individuals could depend on as little as 0.6 acres to grow food.  Interestingly, they concluded that the population of New York City is too big and dense to be fed by the surrounding farmland even if the entire state was devoted to feeding just that one city.(3)

Here in the Samish Watershed and surrounding region, we are strengthening and increasing our local reliance on our area's foodshed to gain greater food sovereignty, security and justice, while we regenerate our soils, waters, families, communities, and wild lands.  

This is why Chuckanut Transition has both initiated and amplified energy around: seed, plant and food swaps, Sustainable Samish Garden Tour, classes on gardening and food processing, environmental education, community habitat restoration projects, and increased access to affordable, healthy, local food through the Bow Little Market and its affiliated Skagit Valley Farmers Market Coalition.

Its a Rural Rhythm Revival.  Lets all have some good, healthy hope as we rebuild our agrarian culture here in this beautiful fertile land that we think of as paradise.

1.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foodshed
2.  page 3 of http://www.kohalacenter.org/HISGN/pdf/carbofoodprint.pdf
3.  http://vivo.cornell.edu/display/Mappingfoodshedsandfoodprintstoexplorethepotentialoflocalfoodsystems

~Sarai Stevens
Newsletter Editor

​Here is an interesting video, Cowspiracy, on the damage done by the industrial meat and dairy industry.  It sparked some good dialogue within the group.  Here are some thoughts:

Dear Group,

I haven't taken the time to watch the Cowspiracy movie but instead read the facts behind the movie on the Cowspiracy.com website. I find reading is the quicker than watching talking heads to get info into my head. Many of the numbers of methane and water use by animal agriculture I have seen before. They are probably true. It is the interpretation of  the impacts that I believe are over estimated. They are calculating the impact as if none of the water would be used or methane released to the air if humans were not raising animals. When calculating climate change caused by  methane and CO2 you have look what actually changes...

When using fossil fuels, humans take carbon that has been stored for millions of years and release it into the atmosphere. So you could argue that 100% that is burned contributes to climate change.
With animal agriculture we change who is the top predator in the food chain. If we weren't eating beef off of the plains there would be buffalo eaten by wolves. If we were not growing grain on the plains there would be grass growing there with animals eating it and being eaten by predators. So the cycle of CO2 and methane wouldn't be much different. What does change is when we till ground or cut forests is the possible loss of CO2 stored in the soil. So agriculture practices that cause the movement of Co2 from the soil to the atmosphere adds to global climate change. Draining peat swamps for palm oil plantations or pasture allows the peats carbon to oxidize and go into the air. Tillage practices for crops may lessen the percentage of carbon stored in the biomass in the soil. This goes for tillage for crops for humans or animals. Farming practices that conserve or increase the carbon content of the soil have a neutral or positive impact on CO2 in the atmosphere.  Perennial pastures or no till crops may be net sinks of carbon.  So agriculture can have a role in combating global warming.

The CO2 from additional cropland that loses carbon from the soil should be calculated as the impact of animal agriculture toward global climate change. Past animal raising was a way to utilize plants that humans couldn't eat directly. So waste food, parts of plants we didn't eat and perrenial pasture was fed to animals. Animals were part of the carbon and nitrogen cycle on mixed use farms. My own family had a dairy farm where a 7 year cycle of grass pastures was followed by 2 years of tilled grain crop and then reseeded to grass and clover. So the carbon stayed about the same, accumulating over 7 years of pasture and then some lost when tilled for crops. The manure was spread on the fields to recycle.

Animal raising on feedlots breaks the cycle of manure returning to the cropland. Some is sold as steer manure and put on gardens elsewhere. Some is over concentrated and is leaching into the water.

Farming has huge ecological impacts from coopting plant resources from wildlife to human consumption. Animal agriculture increases the amount of land dedicated to human use.  Farming uses huge amounts of fossil fuel. Over consumption of meat products contribute to health problems. So there are many reasons to cut the amount of meat we eat.
There are many agriculture practices that could be changed to cut the unwanted ecological impacts.
But I don't think  we can attribute all the methane from animal agriculture as having  more impact than fossil fuels on global climate change. And water use that falls as rain is different than water that is pumped from elsewhere when calculating water use changes from agriculture. I believe it is wise to look at actual impacts to decide the best actions to advocate for in the future.
Chris Soler​

Chris,
I did watch the video and agree with you on most points.  The video pushes the conclusion that a vegan diet is necessary for a sustainable earth, but in doing so, stretches its numbers a tad.  The numbers are all there, but when calculating land areas necessary, it always considers meat consumption at the insane level Americans currently pursue.  Buried in the video is a statement that if meat consumption went from large portions each meal to ounces per week, all works out.  Also buried in the video is your point that grazing animals are necessary for conditioning land in sustainable agriculture.  The push toward a vegan diet is the weak point of the movie: it puts a moral impetus which stretches the facts.  Also, because the film maker is a city boy, he explores the supply and consumption differences between city and rural which we talked about last night as the spacing between castles, but does not fully understand the rural side.

Humans have been killing animals and eating meat all through their history so as an unenlightened historian, I cannot agree with the video's seemingly "moral" conclusion.  I do think that the raising of cattle and other browsing animals should correspond to the conditioning of land for sustainable agriculture and that our diets should reflect the decrease in meat and dairy consumption this implies.  The earth cannot sustain its human population on a hunter-gatherer meat quantity diet and far less so on  the current meat with every meal agribusiness maximized profit, earth be damned, model.

Peace and ounces of meat per week from Peace Lane,
Chuck

Hope, love and peace will bring prosperity.

​CT Minutes 4/4/16

Who?  Mike, Sarai, Chuck, Chris S., Rosemary, Trina, Annette, Jamie, Keith

Lead: Jamie

Discussion on first quarterly newsletter for April. Submissions due Monday, April 18th.
Theme:  Foodshed-- area that food comes from.  Right now, it is international for most people. 30 square miles is all we need per person.
Food acreage-- how much land it takes to feed an individual
1.6 acres by average Cornell Study
1.Chuck's essay on plants/pesticides/pollinators
2.SCD -Native Plant Sale Volunteers Needed, Fish Count
3. TFF-  Seventh Gen supper, Events: Skill share, book talk, discussion
4.  Speak up!Speak Out-- 10 year anniversary
5. Cowspiracy
6. Pictures of Tiny Cows
7. Trina would like to address the bee killer pesticide/have summary of Chuck's article and link

Facebook - like Chuckanut Transition on Facebook.  Scott from volunteering w/Garden Tour made Facebook page for the tour.

Film Series:
Jamie is excited about hosting movies and chatting afterwords.  So, he will come up with a list.  He'll talk to Ranger and the Sedro guy and take the ball.

Garden Tour organizing  update
July 31st
Next quarterly newsletter will be July.  Focus will be on Garden tour and drought strategies.  Chuck has been seeing a lot of things about water.  The guy who predicted the housing market collapse has now analyzed the water situation/degradation/privitazation is saying things are getting bad.
Keith brought up the legality of rain water collection.
Annette added that Seattle announced the largest rain collection ever.
Last night an inch of rain dropped.
Mike volunteered to share the story of his new tank.  Chris added that the Dept of Ecology encourages water storage as it helps keep the low stream flow in the summer.

Chris would like to make an edible native species presentation as a part of the garden tour.  Wild edible plant

Plant Swap and Sale-- Vending?, Organizing Skill Share?, Sharing Info
Do we want a tent?  Yes.
Trina-seeds, Sarai-starts,plants, Jenny's tomatoes, Jill, Chris, Annette has seeds,
Chuck wants to share about bugs.  Will put into tent.

Keith told us about how young people are gaining enthusiasm about gardening and he and Anette are passing out seed packets.  He wonders how to further engage younger crowd.
Sarai suggested Skagit Garden Geeks Facebook page as one strategy.

Create skill survey for what people want to learn or perhaps what they may have to teach?
Develop a survey that we use at multiple events.
Rosemary will develop a list.  Chris recommended checking out the Whatcom skill share.  They will pass out survey at Plant Swap and Sale
Chris suggests that seed saving is a skill share that would fit.  He reached out to some resources at Whatcom and Phinney Farm.  Celt Shirra will share from 1 to 3.

Also, a money box will be introduced for events/meetings to hold our small budget -- Keith got cash for the fruit press.

Procession of the Species May 7
CT will march.

Break Free - End of Fossil Fuels Global event/in Anacortes - May 13-15
Xylene plant?

Discussion about merits of local activism ensued.

Transition Teleconference

Keith might bring his Shaam to moderate the meeting.

CT Minutes 3/7/16

Who?  Mike, Sarai, Chuck, Jill, Chris S., Rosemary, Trina

Lead: Sarai

Newsletter?
Sarai wants to figure out why we should not go quarterly for Newsletter.
4 that coincide w/ 4 annual main events.
April - Plant Swap and Sale
July - Garden Tour
October - Food Swap
January - Lighting the Dark
Sarai supports.  Jill supports.  Unanimous support.
Make this for April. Submissions due Monday, April 18th.
Theme:  Foodshed-- area that food comes from.  Right now, it is international for most people. 30 square miles is all we need per person.
Food acreage-- how much land it takes to feed an individual
1.6 acres by average
Also to be included
1.Chuck's essay on plants/pesticides-- he will update it.
2.SCD -Native Plant Sale Volunteers Needed, Fish Count
3. TFF-  Seventh Gen supper, Events: Skill share, book talk, discussion
4.  Speak up!Speak Out-- 10 year anniversary

Facebook - like Chuckanut Transition on Facebook.  Scott from volunteering w/Garden Tour made Facebook page for the tour.

Fall Film Series
--Table CT effort towards actually hosting until Jaime/Christopher return
--Suggest to May that she contact Sedro Wooley
-- Suggest to Wooley that they host movies as part of their Transition efforts
--Rosemary suggests  that we have a movie review corner in the newsletter and just refer ideas to each other that way.
----Trina added that we just suggest movies that are topical (book reviewish) and ask for feedback from readers.

Garden Tour organizing  update - Blanchard Mountain Farm a maybe, Thoughful Food a yes, John Leighton a yes.


Plant Swap and Sale-- Vending?, Organizing Skill Share?, Sharing Info
Trina, Sarai, Jill, Chris, Chuck, Anette will bring stuff to trade.

Do we want to make a skill share a bigger part of the plant sale?  Or do we want to make a skill share as an event on its own?
Jill suggests that we have a skill survey for what people want to learn or perhaps what they may have to teach?  
Develop a survey that we use at multiple events.
Chris suggests that seed saving is a skill share that would fit.  He will reach out to some resources at Whatcom and Phinney Farm.
Chuck wants to share about bugs.

Sue Mitchell of Friday Creek Habitat Stewards update - SCEA is planning series in Sept. on water issues.  Sue contacted a B ham cookbook author on giving a presentation on cooking native plants (do we want to partner on this?)

This opens up the idea, suggests Jill, of having a skill share on identifying edible plants.

Anyone know anybody w/water saving measures to share?

Debriefing LIghting the Dark
Trina loved seeing families involved.  Kids running around.  New people were being introduced, meeting.  
Potluck was good.  The feeling of inclusion was very positive.


Does anyone want to buy a water tank as a group purchase.  Talk to Ranger about the water coop.

Sarai wants to do a mushroom order.

Jill says that mushrooms should be a skill share.

Silver Creek April 6th
Flow Conditions: Medium flow & clear

0 Live Steelhead  2 Steelhead Redds
NOTE: Many juvenile Coho observed in pools and side channels.

Water Temperatures:
Silver Cr. @ Hwy 99 Bridge = 50.6 F @ 10:05 am (Air Temp. 54.4 F @ 10:04 am)
Silver Cr. at upper end of Index = 51.3 F @ 11:10 am
Silver Cr. immediately upstream from Friday Cr. confluence = 52.3 F @ 12:16 pm
Friday Cr. immediately above Silver Cr. confluence = 51.3 F @ 12:15 pm

Silver Creek April 13th
Flow Conditions: Medium-High flow & some color

0 Live Steelhead  0 Steelhead Redds
NOTE: Many juvenile Coho observed in pools and side channels

Water Temperatures:
Silver Cr. @ Hwy 99 Bridge = 49.6 F @ 9:50 am (Air Temp. 49.0 F @ 9:48 am)
Silver Cr. at upper end of Index = 50.2 F @ 10:58 am
Silver Cr. immediately upstream from Friday Cr. confluence = 50.5 F @ 12:12 pm
Friday Cr. immediately above Silver Cr. confluence = 50.4 F @ 12:10 pm

 
Bear Creek April 6th
Flow Conditions: Medium & clear

*1 Live Steelhead  4 Steelhead Redds
NOTE: Many juvenile Coho observed in pools and side channels. Group of Brook Lamprey observed.

Water Temperatures:
Bear Cr. @ Lake Samish Rd. Bridge = 49.5 F (@ 12:53 pm) (Air Temp. = 60.4 F @ 12:52 pm)
Friday Creek immediately upstream from Bear Cr. confluence = 53.2 F (1:24 pm)
SF Bear Cr. = 50.4 F (@ 2:56 pm)
NF Bear Cr. = 51.0 F (@ 3:16 pm)

 
Bear Creek April 13th
Flow Conditions: Medium & some color

0 Live Steelhead  4 Steelhead Redds
NOTE: 3 Brook Lamprey observed holding in a new STHD redd. Many juvenile Coho observed in pools and side channels

Water Temperatures:
Bear Cr. @ Lake Samish Rd. Bridge = 48.6 F @ 12:52 pm (Air Temp. = 52.4 F @ 12:50 pm)
Friday Creek immediately upstream from Bear Cr. confluence = 53.9 F @ 1:19 pm
SF Bear Cr. = 48.9 F @ 2:25 pm
NF Bear Cr. = 49.2 F @ 2:33 pm

 
Thanks, Brady
 
D. Brady Green
8194 Skagit Way
Blaine, WA 98230-9554
Off Ph: 360-738-6496
Cell Ph: 360-201-5528
E-Mail: bgreen5645@aol.com

Skagit Food For Skagit People Update:

Attention Skagit County Farmers!

The Skagit County Food Access Points Map is now listing Farm Stands in the area! If you have a farm stand and would like to be included on the interactive site, please contact tessa.bryant@wsu.edu with your information. This is an awesome tool to increase food access int Skagit County and connect consumers with producers. Take a look!

Here is a link to the map.

​Coho Salmon are also known as Silvers.  As fry they spend three years in slow moving streams, like Silver Creek which flows past the Alger Community Hall.  Then the fry develop into young fish known as smolts.   As smolts, they swim to the ocean where they eat and bulk up for 18 months before journeying back to their origin of birth, lay eggs, die, decompose and feed the forest.

Brady Greene monitors Silver and Bear Creek and takes fish counts.  Here is his latest record keeping for Steelhead.  We post the reports on our Rural Rhythm Revival Blog throughout the year.  It is interesting to track Salmon recovery and the effects of drought and flood on fish populations.

Sarai Stevens, April 2016