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| Spoon Full Farm shows a map of their property by the Yakima River, which borders it. |
Communications
When learning something new, there is no more effective way than getting your hands – or your feet – dirty. That’s where the Washington State University Food Systems and the Tilth Alliance come in.
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| Phoebe Autry, garden manager, talks about no-till gardening |
WSU has been coordinating educational farm walks for over 15
years. The goal is to provide a venue for farmers to learn from one another
about organic, sustainable, and innovative farm and food businesses throughout
the state. While farmers are the primary audience, attendees also include
researchers, agricultural professionals, and even gardeners.
This month’s first farm walk, for example, was a visit to
Spoon Full Farm at Thorp, near Interstate 90 just west of Ellensburg.
Spoon Full Farm is a relatively new diversified farm. They
are transforming land which had been a hay farm for decades. Their motto is
“loyal to soil” and they see themselves primarily as “soil farmers.” They grow
vegetables, fruit, and flowers as well as graze cattle and raise chickens for
eggs. But their guiding principle is to choose farming methods – such as no-till
– which have been shown to improve soil quality and which they hope will grow
better produce.
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| Anna Brown talks about Spoon Full Farm's rotational grazing |
Two dozen attendees walked the 100-acre property to learn
more about how Spoon Full Farm operates, ask questions, and see first-hand the
benefits and challenges that can accompany no-till practices. During the walk,
topics discussed included:
- Dealing with weeds in a no-till garden
- Addressing high winds on the farm
- Rotational intensive grazing of cattle
- Raising chickens for eggs on pasture
WSDA staff members frequently attend the farm walks to
provide resources and ask questions. On this walk, for example, our Regional
Markets team brought the hot-off-the-press new Small Farm and Direct Marketing
Handbook, or the “green book.” The handbook has fact sheets on a wide variety
of topics of interest to new farmers. And our produce safety team provided
feedback about good produce safety practices that were being used on the farm as well on the walk.
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| Mericos Rhodes talks about raising pastured chickens for eggs |
If you missed this farm walk, don’t worry – there are
several more scheduled throughout the summer on a variety of topics:
- July 29 - Lazy R Ranch and LINC Foods – Holistic Management for Grazing Animals and Innovative Distribution Models (WSDA sponsored)
- August 12 - Viva Farms Berry Growers: Innovations in Strawberry, Raspberry and Blackberry Production
- September 9 - Lost Peacock Creamery How Not to Start a Goat Dairy: Lessons Learned & Models for Success from a Veteran, Female Farmer
You can also find booklets from past farm
walks on the Tilth Alliance website. In addition to the WSU Food
Systems/Tilth Alliance farm walks, other agricultural organizations also host these
valuable experiences. Follow WSDA’s Facebook page
and check out our Facebook events
calendar to stay informed when they occur.