Month: September 2023

Cobalt is an issue, so is lithium, copper, nickle, and oil; which are all used to produce our technology, and “green solutions” like electric cars. We’ll all be driving such things in future, but the current and next 20 years of mining the resources necessary for these tools, and all our screens, has continued to exploit foreign lands and people; this continued abuse is inexcusable. I’m compliant, and so are you dear reader. Together, we’re looking away from a painful reality, which signals the end of environmental sense. In an effort to expand clean energy, people and nature, out of sight and mind, are paying the ultimate price for our convenience, and false feel good economy built on sustainability buzzwords. Heavy metals and petroleum (oil) continues to be extracted at faster and faster paces. Like the exponential growth of our ecological collapse, in the form of natural disasters and climate catastrophes, our turn towards electricity gladly helps the immediate onset of hell on earth. If you are wondering what on earth I’m talking about, take a moment to look up Kanshi, DRC. Look closely at this map link and observe the cobalt mines. There are many nearby, and the people who live there are eating, drinking, and breathing in cobalt for you and I to sit here contemplating the world wide web in comfort- plugging in whatever we like for convenience.

In the same way America built its glorious prosperity on the backs of slaves, today we continue to endorse the oppression of others for our own betterment. I’m not sure if this practice has ever not been a part of human survival- that fittest thing? But before I go down a rabbit hole of morality, let’s redirect back to electricity and this new progressive obsession with electrifying, as though plugging in is above drilling oil- because oil still goes into all that lovely plastic used in the manufacturing of all our electrics. Yes, not burning oil is best, but petrochemicals are putting out plenty of CO2 in other forms, and the heavy metal toxins to make our precious renewable batteries far outweighs most current oil production impacts. The video above comes from a larger documentary from a German public broadcasting agency called The Cobalt Challenge- The Dark Side of Energy Transition.

This film is about the cost of battery manufacturing, and global projections of manufacturing and how it impacts The Democratic Republic of Congo and Finland directly. If you don’t have an hour and a half to spare- in a nutshell; human rights abuse, ecological annihilation, and continued corporate denial fed by consumer assurance that green energy is electric cars and techno social equity. Spoiler- it’s not. I’ve known about rare earth mineral abuses since getting my first smart phone about a decade ago, but the growth of extraction and delusions of electrical salvation from combustion has become so prevalent, I feel it bears more scrutiny and some ethic check critical thinking around the future of renewable energy within consumer capitol growth expectation and the costs there of.

Back in 2019, international rights advocacy groups against several major US companies. Another similar suit was dismissed in 2021, because the tech companies did not own the mines, and therefor, were not responsible for the conditions within. Even more recently, in 2023, an activist helping to gather information for studies of the human abuses in the cobalt mines had to flee the country with his family. The circumstances bringing our eager fingers tech and longer lasting batteries for future driving will continue to cost in ways most of us cannot comprehend, making it easier for advertising to sooth our worries with green wash jargon like renewable and carbon neutral. All this wonderful clean technology will take very dirty mines to produce. What is the solution then? Well, we could all start by cutting back on purchasing tech. I’m using a refurbished phone now, and hope to keep doing that. Writing the companies you buy from to find out where they are sourcing their cobalt is useful- but so many cheap batteries from China still end up on American shelves, and those metals are sourced without any oversight. China is currently the worst extraction offender in DRC, and the extraction abuses of Congo stretch back hundreds of years. Colonial depredation is a revolving door in Africa, but the current cobalt trend remains DRC dominate, and that’s the metal our smart tech needs.

Please take heart in knowing a light is starting to shine in on these abuses, and the world is realizing what a cost our energy transitions mean for ecological stability, or do they? Hopefully you and I have learned a little more today reader, because it’s only part of a very complex supply chain of horrors our daily conveniences cost the world in humanity, ecology, and future thriving. Our stock market does not falter over clean water and air, but will continue to crumble as the climate intensity grows. It’s all one big interconnected web of life. The waters that now flow out of Finland and Congo, empty into Oceans and evaporate up into rain clouds, which carry the toxic particulates around the world so we can all enjoy our consumer folly. Tesla is coming for your ground water with Coke and Nestle. BNSF transports industrial waste out of sight throughout the country, yet it’s still being dumped somewhere to leech deep into our aquifers in time. Battery makers in Finland scoff at waste pipes rupturing into the interconnected lakes of no longer pristine wilderness near the Arctic circle. But Biden put a halt on his refuge drilling, for the sake of electric cars? It’s all turning into a fable with dire warnings. So learn a little French and sing with me now to ease our worries and consent.

Red Cedars are capable of great feats in adaption to survive. They are often leaning out, way over the rivers and creeks throughout Western Washington, spreading their branches to lend shade to the waters, keeping the temperatures cool for the fish and other aquatic life. When a landslide occurs, cedars thrown sideways downhill will re-root in whatever position they find themselves in, sending out a new crown lead if things go topsy-tervey. Often, when a tree falls over, it becomes a nurse log for other young vegetation. When left to grow upward and stretch existing branches, the skirt of the tree will bend down to the ground and re-root over time. It’s rare to recognize this action in nature, because most of the red cedars were cut one-hundred years ago, and the younger sapling trees around them- the branches that re-rooted, were cut like any other trees in the stand. You have to find protected areas like old homesteads that became county parks.

The picture above is a wonderful example of branches re-rooting and becoming braces for the existing tree, and establishing more stability and nutrient sharing. The smaller branches go into the ground at the curve of the “J” and with the continued replenishment of topsoil on the original homestead where this tree is located, the branches rooted and became maturing trees, growing much larger from their new rooted bases. For this kind of low branch development to happen, the cedar must also grow in an open area, where light is available all the way to the base of the tree. Mature old-growth forest offers little direct light to the ground, and the usual growth patterns of trees within a woodland look more like the following diagram.

It’s always humbling to think Western Red Cedars would grow for thousands of years if left to do so. The lone field cedars with rooted branches, will need the added support standing alone in a field. I’ve also seen branches at 90 degree angles off a tree near the base in thicker woodlands, perhaps where a patch of sunlight did filter through, and the cedar stretched towards it in desperate competition. Up is always the best direction to grow in a forest, and the outstretched branch turns up to follow the light. Even the candelabra shape of ancient trees shows a continued push ever upwards. I’d also like to point out this tree’s preferred habitat in or near wetlands and in flood planes where open edges of water invite the cedar ample space to extend branches into open sky.

At EEC Forest Stewardship, many of our cedars retain a skirt with j branches arching towards the earth. They set a goal in forest duff creation to raise our topsoil regeneration level until these lowest branches are buried and rooting out. This vision is worthy of generational scope, and will take tons of vegetative input to achieve. Starting with layers of moss, twigs and branches, as well as ground-cover plantings mentioned earlier, we aim to recover lost mulch and debris which a healthy forest needs. It’s a grand plan, and I’m sure we’ll have some great examples later this fall as we work to replant the understory. In the mean time, keep a sharp lookout for rooted branches in your own neighborhood or local park. Many species do this, so take note of forest shape, location, and history.

Washington State is truly one of the most diverse bioregions I’ve ever had the pleasure to call home. It’s why I’ve chosen to live here, especially living that life outside for most of work and play. Usually, that outside time is terrestrial, with a few special trips to the western coast or eastern step desert. EEC Forest Stewardship resides in Western Washington’s temperate rainforests, with coniferous dominate stands and alder/maple on the edges. There is an abundant aquatic mix of freshwater ponds and alpine lakes cascading out of the mountains, feeding salmon streams and rivers spilling into saltwater slews of Puget Sound. If you then go a little bit further west, past another great rainforest and towering Olympic Mountains, you’ll reach another shore and, facing west at the edge of North America, you’ll behold The Pacific Ocean.

This vast waterscape holds many great bounties, including crabs, ,oysters, salmon, and mussels near shore. Going further into open ocean takes some expertise and seasick prevention medication. For a very landlocked human, like myself, it was a real edge experience, but to catch tuna for the larder, you have to go our to sea.

Waves rolled our 29′ sport offshore pilothouse vessel neatly over 8′ swells, though bracing against something was necessary, especially when the boat was moving. This footage was taken at trolling speed in deep water. Closer to shore, conditions were shallow and choppy, but we traveled rapidly over the rough water, and our diligent captain knew when to slow down or change angle of approach on the larger waves. It took 2 hours of relatively fast going from the harbor to tuna fishing grounds. Once out, our crew put the boat on auto pilot, dropped in three trolling rods, and began spotting the horizon for terns, and surfacing albacore on the hunt.

We used live sardines as bait, and hooked them behind the gill up through the side. The tuna wanted live, active prey, so the sardine had to swim fast through the water on the line. Reeling out was one of many arts to this fishing skill- and not jerking the live bait was crucial in keeping the action fresh for the hunting tuna’s taste. As soon as the sardine hit the water, you had to let out line and not pull back on the excited, darting lure. When you had a good swimmer, the reel would wind out quite fast, sometimes overturning, which would tangle the spool. Keeping a light thumb on the reel to steady the outgoing tension just enough to prevent overturn took some time to hone. We were often switching poles too, so your working tackle might change from setup to setup. After an initial tangle, when in our first encounter fish hooked all six poles at once; we used a three pole approach to avoid hangups. It also made things easier for our crew, who had immediate oversight of our operations.

By the end of a full day of fishing, our team had collectively harvest 12 tuna and 2 mackerel. This entire catch was divided up evenly, leaving me with 2 albacore (35lbs of fillet and belly meat), and a fillet of mackerel. It was a worthy day of hunting to fill the larder with more delicious wild food. Though this adventure was rewarding, both in catch and learning, I don’t think I would do it again personally, but would encourage others to invest in a one time experience like no other. Our outfitter was professional and successful in connecting us with a very hard to track species. All Rivers and Saltwater Charters also showed great support and care towards the entire party, including a refreshing absence of man-splaining misogyny a woman might encounter in male dominated activities. Our crew of two were diligent, kind, and incredibly patient throughout the day.

Tracking down tuna and catching them takes a lot of experience. I had no idea what to expect, and learned tuna hit fast and run faster; stopping to feed in a moment, then moving on lighting quick once the captured members of a school become apparent. The albacore are not stupid, in fact, a veteran fish- named that because of it’s smarts, took my line under the boat and rubbed it back and forth on the keel till it snapped. The first mate watched it happen and told me there was nothing I could have done, the fish had been caught before and learned the trick to escape. Even once a fish was on the line, there was no guarantee the hook would stick, you could not set it. If you jerked the line at all, your sardine would become inactive, and if the tuna felt the pull, they would spit out the bait. However, with the element of surprise, and the tuna’s veracious appetite, with a little luck and captain’s coaching, we all landed fish, and experienced the fierce exchange between an ocean legend and human innovation.

My first tuna hunt became my first personally caught tuna rolls, which I had never dreamed of. We also smoked the mackerel, basting the honored fish in locally distilled vodka before lighting it on fire and enjoying a spectacular pyrotechnic show. Gratitude to these delicious fish and the ocean for all the great lessons and abundance. Thanks to the experience and skill shared to catch these amazing wild foods in our home waters, and returning safely to shore with catch and camaraderie.

It’s the late season here at EEC Forest Stewardship, things are drying up and options for our livestock dwindles. We’re almost through August, last year, 2022, we started haying in September. There was smoke thick in the air on some days, though today in 2023, the skies have just cleared, and a light damp rain fell in the night. Just a glaze of humidity on the landscape, but something to bolster what’s left of nature’s bounty.

On a weeding of a kitchen garden, morning glory, dock, purple clover, burdock, and cat’s ear filled the wheelbarrow to feed our tethered ram lamb, fattening up for a client on weeds. But the blackberry flourishes on as solid brows, also offering sweet berries at this time of year, though the wet weather will bring on mildew, so picking becomes a priority. It’s that season- late summer, and fruits ripen as reward for our labors. Peaches finished last week, and now apples fall from the branches, while Asian pear’s snap with the weight of abundant fertility. Some of the fruit will go to our sheep and birds, most comes through the kitchen and into jar or freezer bag for the long term larder. We have been thinking of ways to lay feed down for our stock too. Haying by hand has payed off a little for our goats in the past, but the labor to cut, rake, and put away in the loft has remained more work than reward in fodder. It’s easier to chop and drop, returning the fertility to the soil and creating mulch. We’re also on a mission to vegetate the land in layers, which does not facilitate mass mowing, but does elevate the table on multiple layers for grazing and browsing; while protecting the soil and regenerating it’s fertility with shed mulch- even more affective than the chop and drop, it just takes more time to implement.

The balance of stock and pasture ratio has finally balanced out, after a decade of experimentation and relationship with this modest parcel, our flock stands at eight breeding ewes and one ram overwintered. This number not only fits within the limitations of our land’s current production capacity, it offers the restoration plantings space and time to grow and establish. This back field, pictured above with the herd during a heat event of 102F in Aug 2023, remains green in some areas where the shade of the evergreens cast relief on the animals and soil. There are even a few rushes popping up to signal groundwater near the surface. As we continue to replant this field with trees, more water will stay in the soil. Oaks and other nut bearing trees are a priority, but until they are established as the dominate canopy, less productive species of grass remain the only sustainable cover for the soil.

I’m very encouraged by the resiliency of the back pasture. It’s been grazed three times this summer, and on this third round, I didn’t subdivide a more formal rotational plan to see how it would manage with the flock at large, and things are looking good. Shortly after Labor Day, we’re moving the sheep back into the upper pastures around zone 1 and our major fruit and veg production areas. The sheep will be rotated in a micro managed pasture system to brows down premo pasture like clover and alfalfa, which we’ve held them off till the last legs of grazing time and to put on a little extra fat before winter. I’ll be keeping a close watch on the land as the sheep graze through to make sure both animals and vegetation get the right feed.

How are the plants fed by sheep browsing? Late summer signals plants to finish growth and prepare for dormancy. The length of days shortens as plants send the last of their energy down into the soil. This action is hastened by the shedding of summer’s growth in the form of seed and fruit. Letting the grazing animals eat that bounty helps crop the plant for winter hibernation while encouraging storage of energy in the rooting body. Your root crops are harvested in late fall when all the densest nutrients presides within. If left underground, the plant will rest in hibernation till warmer temperatures and longer days signal another cycle of growing up to the sun.

Even with little rain and hot summer afternoons, the wildflowers have reinvigorated one last time. Our exposed soil, parched dust, still grasps some hydration to brace green forage. Clover, clumping grasses, and blackberry continue to feed our sheep and even give pollinators a much needed helping hand. Soon, rotting fruit and roaming black bears will usher the final harvest and overwintering gardens. The chest freezer is already full, and we have a special meat freezer which is already 1/2 full of roadkill venison and lamb. Luckily we’ll be sending the rest of our fall cull on the hoof and out the door quick, with the herd bound for the barn by the end of October. Gratitude to all the working parts keeping the land healthy and abundant.

Leafhopper Farm is celebrating 10 years of producing food, restoring forest, and sharing the experience through hands on learning and this blog. Personal inward journey on this adventure continues in abundance along with meat, fruit, nuts, herbs, and native habitat. The rewards are also financial- we’re in the black, and have at least covered the costs of annual expenses in grain, hay, and agricultural infrastructure. I earn no personal salary on the land- yet; consulting, and some implementation for clients keeps me busy off the farm, and that job could expand, but I want to be present on the land where I tend and live.

Talking with my King Conservation District CREP steward friend yesterday- some wonderful women are coming to address Reynoutria japonica growing in the creek- we shared recent reflections of working outside, and he commented, “you’re so tuned in”. That’s the money for me folks, tuned in. There’s no venmo or facebook, but the turkey vultures taking care of refuse in a totally organic process, gravity fed water systems with rain catch and cisterns supplement a well on still safe to drink water, flowing creek- spring fed, digging drainage, having an animal die and the heartbreak of loss, hard lessons from tenacious “weeds” (I think of them as teachers), the problem is the solution- and finding that solution moments, that’s the life experience I quest for. Gratitude for all that allows this journey.

There is community, in a small network for friends and some woven business relationship in food and labor trade, as well as design of livestock systems, integrated into restoration, with a focus on long term cooperation between food and forest. Fruit and nut trees mingle with maples and oso berry. Evergreen stands harbor rich layers of temperate rainforest, holding water like a sponge. These intricately woven patterns echo in our relationships with each other. One thing I do struggle with in this web of reliance is our collective refusal to acknowledge we need each other, not just use each other when we want, out of convenience; we need each other to survive, but we’ve disconnected from that obligation on so many levels. Some of it, through deliberate conditioning in our culture, to make us more malleable, then easily manipulated by consumerism. Dollars and cents pay the bills, but does this make sense if the quality of life is void?

The experience of turning outward with my livestock operation, going the more commercial rout, would make more income, but neglect the land restoration, and up the outside inputs. We’re working towards low maintenance edible and medicinal landscape with rich, fertile soil. Goats, pigs, sheep, chickens, and soon we hope, geese- have all contributed to rebuilding fertility. There are maturing understory shrubs rising up from the fields, and more young trees to come. These are worthy investments, and work with stocks that underpin fertility, nutrition, and authentic connection to place and time. It is one way of living, with great cost in time, money, and labor, as well as dollars and cents- land taxes, utilities, transportation, and goods still demand curacy economy. I add dividends in new trees established and number of healthy lambs produced. It’s in balance, and the restoration is expanding.

We’re putting up more hard fence within pastures to create long term healthy forest stands. Ten years of browsing mouths pushed back the blackberry, then some observation, swale building, weeding (intense labor with a mattock), and mapping have given the landscape both face lift and water system enhancement- enough to warrant some deep investment in restoring whole groves. We’ll be experimenting with replanting low hanging branches to stabilize and root new trees. Native ground cover like Arctostaphyloos uva-ursi, carpets of moss and branches, along with seedlings of Douglas fir, red cedar, and western hemlock. We’ll plant bur oaks along the south facing slope where sun traps bake the ground in summer heat. Stay tuned for new forest development at EEC!

Below is a quick map of the property with the 4 major areas and main focus. The northern most landscape of our property has seen the most change since 2013. We’ve built habitat structure for both people and livestock without pouring any foundations. The pond remains through drought and floods, and still has not reached overflow capacity. The way our climate change continues, it may one day be a mere seasonal seep. Our water table has dropped significantly in a few decades. By redirecting, slowing, and sinking heavy rains on our sloping terrain, we replenish the groundwater enough to keep patches of green around the landscape year round. Our long term replanting vision will embrace more oaks and other drought tolerant nut trees in a savanna setting. This adaptation to dryer, hotter summers and colder, wetter winters predicted.

From 2013-2023, there are countless goals met and challenges solved, while other new puzzles and blind spots arise. Where there were once facility limitations, there are now going concerns. Depreciation in physical structure can be quite depressing, but we’ve made good on our 1973 double wide, which is still the main residency, and holding up, though we could use a kitchen remodel. That’s where we look to the future and plan our next, more established long term living space. We will not plan on pouring a new foundation, but have plans to renovate and repurposed space already available on site, while continuing life in the trailer. We’re so grateful for all our habitable spaces on this land, and living space with enough amenities to be in modest comfort.

This land has hosted up to eight residence at once, but currently works best with four to five. Our tenants have access to full kitchen and bath, with common room and outdoor kitchen with fire pit. There are raised beds for private use, and acres of pasture, creek, and woodlands to enjoy. It took a few years to hone in on best co-living practices, rental agreements, and expectations. One of our greatest learning curves was work-trade. Make sure your worker has a skilled trade. There is a clear difference between experienced an inexperienced work, as those not able to offer work in trade are offering work to learn, which has a different set of values. Many eager young folk have not discovered the difference, and it has been a challenge to negotiate fair exchange for unskilled labor.

Our participation in World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms for several years also taught valuable lessons. We had amazing experiences with several international folks who enjoyed seeing a smaller, more holistic model in agricultural restoration. There were also some misunderstandings, in which people who came as WWOOFers used our residence to gain local employment, and leave the farm before finishing their stay. This began happening more frequently, so we had to stop hosting. Instead, EEC Forest Stewardship offers small workshops, personal tours, and occasional seasonal apprenticeships through word of mouth, organizations like Women Owning Woodlands and Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife Hunter Education. There is still so much to learn and share- please join us!

Special thanks to family, the people who love and support my joy and vision. Your lives inspire, and encourage me to live my life with purpose and adventure. This opportunity to buy land and create home, would not have come without you, and the resources; which still flow in such abundance. Time, experience, witnessing, unconditional love, and patience have been humbling gifts indeed. Weaving these memories within our lives together, even when not face to face, has deepened relationship I could not live without. Gratitude, and many more years to come!