Author: EEC Forest Stewardship

There’s been a bit of family time for me in the past month, and it involved getting back on a plane and feeling the great stretch of body and mind through time and space with massive expenditure of fuel and fortune to arrive at cross country destinations. The worthy act of visiting, taking time, and being in the supportive love of kin is priceless. But getting up in the sky has also allowed time to see and comprehend great change across the landscape. Images of polluted atmosphere, degraded soil, and human infrastructure out of balance, reflects a man made world consumed with its self.

Landing in such ecosystems as The Senora Desert or Western Great Plains Grassland offers major departure from Temperate Rainforest ecology. On the day I took off out of Seattle, there was a dusting of snow. I landed in a desert one and a half thousand miles away. Looking down at the landscape of this place, I noted vast green fields of alfalfa on the horizon. Also on that horizon, I could see the canals stretching off into distant mountains. The Central Arizona Project (CAP) has been pumping water out of The Colorado River, and into the dry desert. The finite river resource is currently being used to recharge an overtaxed aquifer in Arizona where cotton and alfalfa, two water demanding crops, have been industrially grown for almost a century.

Water from a river is pumped up hill through a canal, draining the river until it cannot reach the ocean. These are examples of the truly strange times we live in. I’ve already written in other articles about the water restrictions facing small family farms in Southern Arizona, but even with drastic water restriction rules going into effect, the city of Tucson keeps growing, expanding well beyond the limitations of the existing aquifer, adding pressure to an already overtaxed system. The way the canal propaganda sees it, there’s more and more water to be had- but with cuts already enacted on small farming communities, what’s the real agenda for development in Arizona? Not to mention the other southern states, like Utah, who still have more water rights to claim, though development in some towns has halted with the onslaught of worsening drought. There are many studies on The Colorado River to determine long term water forecasts impacted by over consumption of finite resources.

While desert lands are settled and finite hydrology abused, another flight took me to Oklahoma, land of my birth. Much of the family still lives here, and it’s clear to all of us that the ecology is changing fast. Sticking with the water theme- water is life- I reflect on The Ogallala Aquifer and its rapid depletion. Meanwhile, as industrial agriculture drains the aquifer, oil and gas fracking poisons what’s left of the water table and contaminates domestic wells across the state. The famous documentary Gas Land tells a cautionary tale about this devastating practice rampant in a collapsing industry. While visiting family in Western Oklahoma, I again witnessed night time gas flaring from wells eager to pump up oil, which is worth so much on the market today. Though it’s illegal to burn gas as a waste product while drilling, many wells continue to burn, and it’s now obvious when you fly through the state’s atmosphere that gas flaring is compounding the state’s air pollution. I’ve never seen such a grey haze over the state, especially considering the regular winds that push down The Central Plains.

I know the jet I’m flying in is also a great contributor, and it’s navigating this strange modern marvel and recognizing that our family, like so many today, have embraced opportunity across the country and to bring family together, we now fly. This is the largest contribution of annual pollution I’m emitting. The combustion energy madness is woven into a much thicker basket of petrochemical woes- the organic chemistry that is killing us and all other life on earth. Images of this destruction are best viewed from the air.

Flaring and fracking abuse continues without interruption across the industry- and supports getting me to family quickly. It also supports the convenience of my own vehicle, and the ability to drive whenever and wherever I want. But times are changing, and the cost of fuel is at a record high. Will change continue in the petroleum industry, or will the last of our clean drinking water and safe air to breath be a luxury for the powerful few? Right now, in Caddo County Oklahoma, several wells are burning, flaring the glutton of gas on hand to get at the $100 barrel of oil. It’s money over health and safety, done in the darkness, to hid from regulators. From the view up here, we’re heading into some tough times with extreme limitations.

On my way home, I glided over several mountain ranges in the tail end of winter. Snow pack across The Rocky Mountains looked thin in many places. As I flew over more and more brown peaks, I wondered how much longer that snow melt would be feeding cotton fields in Southern Arizona? How much water was left in The Ogallala Aquifer? How much more forest would burn in drought stricken summers? When will this drought bring fires to Western Washington? In time, all these separate places will come together under one great ecological collapse, and we the people will be thrown into chaotic adaptation in our struggle to make do without and restore what’s left.

To enjoy chicken dinner we’ll need- commercial pan, and all the mined industrial components of it, electric light, heat, and cooling- the list of inputs becomes a bear of consumption we can’t back down from or pacify. So what else to measure? How to acknowledge and progress forward in our learning journey? Where to pivot and stride on? What rich discussion to share over a baked wonder of home cooking. It’s winter, and warm meals make damp, cold days less frigid. A hen from our flock graces the pot with onions, spices, and lemons. Reflecting on all the bounty, inputs, and energies that go into our lives is something to crow about- in gratitude. EEC has so much woven into it’s makeup in the first ten years of transition, and the vision of forest future looks lusher every day. The outside inputs which help make this meal, and our greater ambitions realized starts with the food we eat.

The fruit comes from our family “grove” in Arizona when in season, a wonderful input we’re grateful for, especially in winter. Spices enliven a dish in any season, and our local grocery chain COSTCO has some great blends that make seasoning a meal easy. Our gardens do provide green herbs of all kinds, and we supplement with them in our food. EEC cultivates green onions year around, and though they are flavorful, the small fleshy bits are mushy after baking. Large commercial Alliums are a real treat, they grace the larder from local gleaners. The wider community orchestrates a county wide food salvage operation. This logistics organization does incredible work redistributing surplus food in King County. EEC Forest Stewardship is near an end point for one distribution hub. Our farm was asked if we could process some overflow organic material. the commercial food is transported in large produce boxes, EEC gathers and recycles cardboard as mulch. Bruised produce is usually thrown away, but EEC composts the fruit and vegetable scraps, adding good soil to the land. Uncut loaves of organic bread are often refused in redistribution hubs. Most of the fancy organic loaves remain uncut for freshness, look, etc, but many food pantries are large, fast pace prep environments where slicing bread to produce the hundreds of sandwiches that might be made in a day is not a time saver. The bread spillover goes to the sheep and chickens (in modest amounts) with a loaf or two for the larder. This grain input for our birds and sheep is a huge supplement from an outside source. These networks of additional abundance help strengthen the restoration of land, neighborhoods, and greater developed space we humans continue to inhabit.

In recent months, with many shifts on economic scales well beyond EEC Forest Stewardship, there are new restraints forming on outside inputs, which in turn, dictate the level of production at EEC’s farm. The soil, plants, animals, and songs of the birds have not changed, beyond subtle variants of tone in each note. We’ve had a mild winter, so pastures continue the production of modest grazing, but without bales of hay, alfalfa, and straw, we’d have a heck of a mess in hungry animals and mucked up barnyard. The cost of these precious inputs this year, added up to six lambs sold on the hoof. We’ve reached more than that goal in sales this year, but our flock is at a size now that would not be sustainable through another winter of inputs. The land will feed them through this year’s growing season, but the price of hay is soaring, and demand grows while supply dwindles. Our greatest local source for straw and ton hay bales told me next year he’ll not deliver, as his supply is getting bought up by larger commercial investors. My alfalfa source caters to equine demand, which comes at a much higher price. There is no hyper local source for alfalfa, it cannot be grown in the wet climate of Western Washington. Ours comes from an Eastern Washington source which is trucked in over the mountains.

Most alfalfa comes for Southern Arizona (where my family’s citrus comes from too). The Army Core of Engineers put in a great canal to channel The Colorado River to Phoenix and Tucson. Here are pictures from a recent trip I took to see Family. Pumping stations push the water across desert mountains and arid plains. Many PDC classes use the example of this canal and the swale created by its construction, which now fosters a modest forest along the uphill bank. Recently, Arizona began enacting phases on a long term water restriction plan. Small farms of a certain production level have been cut off from use of the canal. These “late comer” water rights were limited. Because of upstream covenants in other states, Arizona agreed to limited access rights. Alfalfa is a thirsty plant to grow, along with citrus and cotton, all grown in a desert with imported water. But back in Washington, on a small hill farm, we’ll keep sourcing alfalfa while we can for our eastern farmers. If this source becomes too expensive, we’ll reduce our herd size and shift to blackberry fodder. At that time, EEC will stop selling meat animals and focus fully on education and reforestation efforts.

Livestock will always play an important role in this lands restoration. Remember, these birds come from hot jungles in Asia. The inputs for birds remains commercially grown at this time, but the reduction of our flock to modest home egg and meat (5-10 animals) would allow us to produce all food for the chickens from our land. Right now, at 30, we sell enough eggs and meat birds to pay for grain. In future, as we develop out Ayam Cemani flock genetics, we will start selling chicks and make a profit. This year’s genetics are all black, moving towards the bird standard we wish to cultivate- adding dual purpose bulk and egg production into these black beauties. As we develop a more standardized breeding flock, we’ll encourage more hens to brood out their own chicks and remove ourselves from that natural process. Why are we mechanically doing it now? Predictability and production rule the roost. We can choose exactly when, where, and how many chicks hatch. That’s turning the birds into a successful product- which in turn supports our economic goals. Shifting resources to maintain stability in basic production is key to keeping things thriving and jiving at EEC. When an input cannot be reproduced on site, the system has to adapt, sometimes utilize outside resources- nothing on this planet acts alone, but most of the wild models keep themselves active and thriving through very localized channels. People have tried to harness these techniques in recent decades of our progress march, but the fantasy of fully self-sustaining still gleams in many eyes.

Should quality of life dictate practice? Yes. To be a profitable chicken farmer, you’re expected to have a flock of at least 500. Those kinds of numbers are ethically impossible to tend in favor of the bird’s quality of life, but it pays the gold for the castle and keep- if it’s you main source of economic gain. Chickens at EEC are a part of the complex whole. We do not rely on any one system alone. Our production of chickens has maintained a flock of 30 birds- give or take a few from season to season, and the birds remain healthy and productive in this environment. We’re now breeding from within a closed flock, for at least a few years, but in the event of any change in our outside inputs, we can grow or shrink the flock to suit upcoming needs- you have to plan ahead, yet be prepared to act in the moment. I don’t loose sleep over these potential changes- most of the time, but these going concerns are important to digest. Inflation has huge impact on larger farm production, but it also hits the small guys first, like those farmers in southern Arizona. Climate change and pandemics put a strain on all supply chains. Food and water dictate all life, and where food chains collapse under human development and environmental change, civilization struggles. Even in our global economy, individuals, and even whole countries of people find themselves in famine stricken lands. Things in The USA are changing more gradually for now, but livestock production is slowing down in 2022.

EEC Forest Stewardship will continue to weave what local resources we can into our cottage industry. The animal operations give back so much in food for us and fertility to the land. Seeing our pastures grow lusher each year, valuing the tropical treats when they arrive, while also navigating ever changing environmental and economical shifts is the spice of life. Networking within the community and knowing your sources helps so much in maintaining close relationship and broader collective vision for the future. This closer look at outside inputs, how they shift farm capacities, and our plans to keep the dance going with enjoyment for all remains a worthy quest in this world. In health and happiness, to all the abundance and learning!

Water is a fundamental survival need for all living things. It’s right up there with fresh air to breath and safe food to eat, but often, it’s thought of as an impediment, especially on the landscape. It’s drained out of mosquito festering swamps, dammed to produce power and retain enough drinking water for heavily populated regions. We pump it up hill and through thousands of miles of desert in the south west for crops and cities, preventing rivers from reaching the ocean. Out of all the features man has most altered, wetlands hold the number one spot, as once they are drained, you have a perfectly flat terrain to develop. Though wetland are a signal of low lying land, prone to flooding, it’s also holding rich bottom land soil for agricultural success. In The Netherlands, most of the country exists because of well built canals and pumping station to remove vast brackish marshlands for huge dairy farms. Today, Afsluitdijk, a 20 mile causeway, has turned an inland sea into a brackish lake, it’s ecology is collapsing. Then, this small European nation on The North sea, who battled ocean and marsh, now flexed monumental hydro-engineering prowess and produced Zuiderzee Works, adding an additional 620 square miles to a country of 16,000.

I’ve spent a little time in The Netherlands, and driven over Afsluitdiijk more than once. I’ve also spent a little time in The Waddenzee, specifically Lauwersmeer National Park, and the fishing port of Lauwersoog. Here, the polder run right up against some of the wildest parts of The Netherlands. For a country about the size of Rhode Island here in USA, this strange development of man and sea is worth taking a look at for examples of wetland abuse and restoration reuse. There is a long history of dismissing and destroying nature for the development (progress) of mankind, and our species is still eager and willing to displace the natural world just a little bit more for personal gain at the cost of whole system health- as in- that fresh drinking water, clean air, and safe to eat food we all need to survive. But even in The Netherlands, where so much alteration of wetland habitat, there is also restoration and wildness. On a more positive note, a purposed example of large scale wetland restoration, Marker Wadden, is something to ponder. It’s a great example of massive human alteration of wetland “rehabilitated“. Though to be sure, humans fall short of nature’s complex evolutionary symphony. Let’s also not forget that Afsluitdijk, a modern wonder of the world, is in need of reinforcing against rising sea level, along with most coastal regions world wide, which are also the most heavily populated.

Vast population success is responsible for most ecological destruction on our planet at this time. When humans embraces settlement, accepted civilization, and cooperated en-mass for thriving, they did leave behind surviving, which seems like a good thing, but we’ve evolved into a sedentary population of compulsive consumers. Granted, agriculture as we know it today was born out of The Industrial Revolution, only about 200 years ago.

How did agriculture lead to the development of civilization?

Farming allowed humans to form permanent settlements and abandon their nomadic ways. Humans shifted from hunting and gathering models to fixed farming villages. As populations increased due to the increased surplus of food, urban areas surfaced. The surplus of food also led to developments that spawned civilization. –What Where Why

But by the colonial era- several thousand years into agricultural evolution and dehumanization, arable land invited settlement, and in the 1800s, a mostly European population explosion and the advent of steam ship Atlantic crossing, followed by steam train westward expansion, compelled millions to grab up what they could. The New World suggested untouched resources and endless tracks of land for ownership. Feudal dominion, characterized by land deeds of private ownership, are still used today. The psychology of domination and subjugation still run deep in western thinking, and until we can transcend this instilled belief, we’ll continue the degradation of our selves, and the natural world. The eventuality is self destruction. But the wetlands! Why is this about the wetlands?

North America was colonized and transformed into the mirror image of Western Europe. Early colonizers saw marshes as impediments, treating them as they did back home by digging canals to drain the water from the surface to make land arable and accessible to all kinds of development. My family lives in one of these marshes on The East Coast. There’s a sign at the head of the road for “The Ministers Wood Lot”. This area was settled in the late 1600 for farming; marshes were drained for salt hay while oak forests were chopped to build infrastructure and heat homes. Early records show European people using the land in much the same way they had for thousands of year elsewhere- to the complete detriment of the regions they migrated from. In the area of Rowley, English colonials settled, the Dutch, from The Netherlands (thought I’d bridge that saga of wetland drama back in) were colonizing New Amsterdam a little further up the coast. What Manhattan Island might have looked like before marshland destruction is hard too comprehend, but this guy comes close. The land these colonists now sewed with stupidity, had been tended by indigenous people for thousands of years in retaliative ecological balance- as in, the populations were not profit driven and did not need to consume for pure financial gain. The original “Americans” were not migrant refugees of mindless consumption, but they would be devoured by a plague of Anglo-European locusts.

Dominion thinking was a product of the desperation created in ecological decimation. This was seen as the best kind of progress for man’s exploitation of the land, and it’s still the mindset of most people buying and developing land today. The complex systems of nature are impossible for us to fully comprehend, but here’s some research on the role wetlands play, and what happens when they are drained away for development. Marshes and wetlands hold an abundance of fresh water, which they also help to filter, clean, and redistribute into groundwater reserves. Wetlands offer incredible ecological habitat, think of The Amazon, what a massive (well, it’s shrinking fast) web of life producing the world’s fresh air and water. It’s decimation is our last gasping breath, yet our own convenience elsewhere is driving the devastation. Right here at home, there are still many wetland ecosystems we could restore and with them, perhaps take advice from the indigenous people who still live and tend what they can in a patchwork of nightmarish bureaucracy of today’s federal system.

Until the 1980s, with the creation of The Environmental Protection Agency, wetlands here in The United States were thought of as impediments to civil progress, a sort of worthless wilderness to be drained and domesticated. European monarchs were thrilled to have their subjects settling in what seemed, in the 1700s, like endless tracks of unclaimed land. Established tribes of millions of people already settled and in close relationship to “The New World” were eradicated through disease, enslavement, African slaves were also imported, and all endured forced religious conversion. If indigenous people did survive into the 1800s, they were moved onto reservations and allotments that would later be consolidated into small track of what was left of wetlands located in only the harshest areas of the terrain. The indigenous people in these regions have watched generations of abuse to the land, and the people, all people. They have begun shouting out the final warnings of what this behavior, this psychological illness we continue to develop will reap.

Water is life, and wetlands keep water clean and available for us and the rest of ecology. Where wetlands are drained, wells dry up and land looses its abundant fertility. The deep soils around the Mississippi River are now in The Gulf of Mexico stewing in “the dead zone” created by the synthetic chemical we now inflict on barren earth to perpetuate vegetative growth. This is utter madness- and we’re still implementing these “methods” around the world. Climate change will tip the scales along all coastal lowlands, eventually flooding the marshes and creating shallow seas once more, but the pollutants in water, especially those being pumped by the fossil fuel leviathan into what’s left of clean drinking water will be our final undoing. Bottled water through energy intense reverse osmosis will only get us so far, and only a wealthy, privileged few will afford these luxuries. Right now, the vast majority of people in The US are drinking contaminated water in some form; if not from your city district, some food product that used contaminated water in making your meal. Water quality is imperative to human survival, and here’s a great theses on the subject if you want more data (skip to “Water Quality” section for summery).

Through this nightmare of human devastation, wetlands persist in cleaning, cultivating, and replenishing our water systems as best they can. They remain targets of industry and development because people are not instilled with a sense of connection to these boggy places, and that’s starting to change, but not as quickly as industry continues to develop. By the time colonial expansion established on The West Cost in the early 1900s, industry had logged, delineated, dammed, channeled, and filled in what they could for access to commercial profit. Today, a west once manipulated to bring water into deserts for orchards, cotton, and dairy farms, is now facing 1200 years of drought and the loss of endless productive energy. We’ve drained the last of our wilderness to suit a few suits and removed any chance in this lifetime for recovery. What are we leaving the future generations? There is not another golden untouched wonder out there to colonize- even interstellar is reserved for the rich, and the “space-scape” is very cold and dark.

Speaking of wetlands, most space launch pads are build on and around wetlands. Even while excitedly watching the launch of the new Webb Space Telescope, I could not help but feel deep sadness for the jungle marsh and its panicked birds circling up from the massive explosion at lift off. Man’s continued assumption that his actions will not create consequences- that matter cuts deep into the misguided subjugation of nature for human advancement. It is in that very destructive pattern that we digress from our higher selves and realized capability in restoring and tending the land we rely on to survive. There are many voices raised in support of knowledgeable advancement through restoration, education, and inclusion. It’s the higher self aspiration we could all be working towards if the mind could possibly let go a few hundred years of disconnect by reconnecting to place. We’re spending so much energy launching ourselves away from Earth now, and this exploration does play a vital role in our inventive nature. The monetary value of our world should not dictate progress, instead, let our care and repair of that world and its living body elicit real success for our species- but not excluding all others.

Next time you have a chance, take a moment to find and know a wetland near you. This could be something as urban as a cement channel with seasonal rain flow, or as wild as The Waddenzee. A challenge for more developed regions, is mapping where wetland used to be, and going from there. Even having the memory of a wetland in your mind helps redraw mindset, bringing you back into a clear picture of what our environment could and should look like. Imagine if we could accept coastal flooding and move ourselves back from the flood zone to accommodate marsh buffers? These actions will be enacted by Mother Nature, but humans could protect urban development form future tidal chaos. It may sound like a financial nightmare of endless challenges, but as sea levels rise, trying to hold back the ocean will become impossible. Where wetlands are still thriving, we can utilize the intact examples to further our understanding of water filtration and restoration. We’re going to need to reinstate a lot of wetlands in our world to support potable water. When the sea levels continue to creep in on the coasts, salinization will happen in the water table. Inland regions where we’re currently fracking away at the crust and pumping chemical poisons into our ground water, will have destroyed what’s left of clean water.

I’d like to bring us back into the big picture- water, and let’s think about drinking water- which includes water in our food crops we also “drink” when swallowing the vegetation and animal flesh full of water. Above you’ll see California, with a focus on southern San Juaquine Valley. It’s one of two major agricultural areas producing the vast majority of food crops you get in nation wide grocery chains like Whole Foods and Cosco. This breadbasket is lined with a toxic necklace of fracking wells. Take time to look closely at satellite maps to fully comprehend how total this devastation of the entire watershed must be. Everything I’ve highlighted in yellow below is a web of fracking wells like the ones above- it’s mind boggling, and even more so when you stretch the map imagery into surrounding western states like Nevada, Utah, and Wyoming, and even New Mexico (to name a few), and find similar mass drilling. Inland aquifers will be no less toxic than salt water on the coasts, and by the time our bureaucracy moves to address the violation, the damage is done. If fracking in our drinking water does not move you, check out Teflon.

We’re moving to replace lead pipes while the water scheduled to flow through them carries the same kind of chemical threats. It’s hard to avoid noting how many private global companies are already well aware of the loss of clean drinking water in the way they are investing in control over public water supplies. The United States has some strict water rights, but then again, free market capitalism makes a lot of water available on the open market. Just ask these local residence in Northern California. Companies like Nestle and Coca-cola are making water a profit margin instead of a fundamental human right. The treatment of land and water now has been shaped by a few centuries of abuse towards the natural world which is now coming back to haunt mankind as a whole, no matter how much buying power can be flexed.

Back in our little town, far from fracking, but close to human development, The Snoqualmie River flexes her own current with flooding. The valley fills up faster these days, because of so much hillside runoff and forest clearing. Industry is backed up to the edge of flooded banks, and plastic bottles litter the river’s edge. Still, strong waters surge forward in a race to The Salish Sea. Sediment clouds the water as wave trains wash over sandy banks and into the farmer’s field. This floodwater is considered unsafe for crops. Our own larger organic farm in The Snoqualmie Valley says:

“Is food grown in a floodplain safe?

Yes. All food for sale in Oxbow’s Farm Stand is WSDA Certified Organic and was not impacted by flooding. We are prohibited by law from selling food that has come into contact with floodwater.”(site)

Why can this organic farm not sell crops exposed to flood waters? Because of pollution runoff from our development sprawl- in a nut shell. NOAA talks more extensively about this problem HERE. Part of the reason EEC is up in the hills- besides the actual flooding, is the build up of toxins in the soil from runoff. We’re up here above that floodplain to reforest the hills, remove polluted up stream activity, and eventually return a much needed sponge to the watershed to hold water and slowly filter it into the streams and rivers below, while replenishing much needed aquifers for safe drinking. Western Washington seems to have gotten the memo on protecting wetlands, better late than never. In the conservation world, wetlands are still seen as barriers, though such boundaries of liquid value make our survival possible, they are setbacks, hindering development- which should be seen as a good thing, yet still dwells in the human psyche as limitations. It is these limitations we humans should embrace to keep ourselves hydrated and alive.

Lambing is in full swing here at EEC Forest Stewardship, and our ewes are doing an amazing job of bringing forth the next generation of healthy Katahdins. I’d like to take a moment to walk us through a typical lambing, and what to look for in a pregnant ewe who is giving birth. I’ll note that our chosen breed- the hair sheep we raise for meat, Katahdin, are excellent mothers and usually need no help in lambing. This is not typical of many sheep breeds, who have been selected for lambing numbers and size, rather than what’s best for the mother- no surprise there. Katahdins typically drop two lambs, and are fully capable of birthing and suckling the babes without any help. Ewes who drop more than two ends with one needing bottle raising, as the two stronger lambs will push the weaker one off the teat, slowly starving it if humans intervention does not occur. At EEC, we breed for twins with small heads, and allow natural weening at five months- no bottle babies.

When ewes are close to giving birth, a lot of changes start happening to signal labor. The vulva swells up and dilates. The tail gets stiff and bent at a strange angle, and the ewe will often start pawing the ground and not eat. She’ll lay down and kick, trying to get the fetus lined up with her canal to make birth easier. Look for these advanced signs to know when it’s time to put your ewe into her own private birthing pen for safety and comfort. Giving the ewe her own place to give birth allows her space without other sheep butting in, and the privacy with her new lambs to get acquainted. This bonding time is especially important with new moms, as they are often traumatized in their first birth and can be afraid of the baby at first. Instincts will kick in fast though, as a new mom’s utters swell up to a painful state which only a suckling lamb can relieve.

The greatest lesson I’ve learned in helping with lambing is to stay out of it. The ewe has a heck of a lot more instinct in this than me, and I’ve never given birth, so I let the pregnant ewe call the shots. She does seem to appreciate my support, and I’m on hand with a dry towel to help get the lamb warm on colder days- though many lambs come at night, so during lambing season, I get a lot less sleep. I can’t imagine farms where someone has thousands of sheep. You’d literally not get any sleep during the lambing season, and since most commercial sheep farms are wool producers with genetic selection for as many lambs as possible, there will be constant need to assist, and even surgery to save lambs and ewes, what a nightmare. In our small flock, each ewe gets personal attention and so far, we’ve had no major complications in lambing- thank you good genetic selection of Katahdins.

If you’re the type of person who worries and has to step in, you’re bound to create more stress on the ewe than she needs. I stay out of the pen and watch from near by, letting the ewe know I’m there with gentle words of support and calming, but I do not get into the birthing pen with her. She’s stressed out enough without me bumbling in. I provide fresh bedding, clean water, and unlimited food for when she’s ready to eat again. Sometimes, you can tell a ewe is about to drop because she stops eating. Hattie’s a well established matron in the flock, and she’s dropped twin girls three years in a a row, making her the herd’s most prolific ewe. I chose to document this lambing as a guide for other sheep enthusiasts- and especially for people seeking a good breed with easy lambing. The hair breeds- and especially Katahdins- are it for low maintenance birthing.

In the 9 years of raising capable mother ewes, we’ve only had two lambs rejected and culled at birth- that speaks to the advantage of having good mothering genetics, which most hair breeds posses. Culled lambs are still put to great use- being a rare delicacy in our culinary celebration of lamb. In both instances, the ewe completely abandoned the lamb shortly after birth- one case was due to low milk output and a very hard winter, the other, which happened in this recorded experience, was due in part to birthing fluid getting into the lambs lungs and stomach during birth, a common cause of lamb mortality. For large industrial lamb productions, tubing the sick lamb can raise survival rate, but can also be extremely invasive to the little animal, also resulting in the need to bottle feed. Mom had already buried this sickly lamb in the bedding and moved on to her surviving lamb within 8 hours of giving birth. The ewe is a veteran mother, and knew way more about what was up with that lamb and why it was not worth keeping.

The surviving twin, poking a hoof into the world far right above, is still doing great weeks later, and bonded with another lam about her age. The first few hours after birth are the most touch and go, but as I’ve already said, the Katahdin excels at this instinct. She’s right there cleaning off the afterbirth, talking to the lamb, and the lamb is talking back. Smell, sight, and sound are all imprinting in these beginning moments that form the bond between ewe and lamb. Sometimes, especially with new moms, the ewe will have a fear reaction to her lamb. This does make a lot of sense- the ewe just went through a very painful experience and the only thing around to have caused it is the new baby lamb. That thing hurts, get away from it! This has only happened a couple of times in my flock, and the answer is to make sure the ewe and lamb are separate in their own space together, then give it a little bit of time. If the mom is still not letting the lamb approach to suckle, tie the ewe to a side of the enclosure with food and water reachable, but so she can’t move around to avoid the lamb. After the lamb suckles, thus reliving the ewe of her swollen utter pain, instinct usually kicks in, and the ewe will let the lamb suckle.

Newborns never look pretty, it’s a violent messy process to give birth- so it seems- and amazes me every time the ewe goes through the pain and struggle, then cleans off the messy lamb while her own blood runs down her back legs. I sometimes come with a warm towel to help clean up, but our Kangal, Gill, does the best cleaning up without wasting a drop of after birth or blood. At first I thought this was a risky thing- the dog licking blood off a sheep, but he’s completely in tune with the whole process, and ewes will actually back up against the fence to let him lick them clean. He’s not only getting a nice snack, he’s also getting a lot of sensory inputs about the ewe, her lamb, and general flock health. The sheep know and trust him, and he sees the flock as his pack. I’ve written about this relationship before, but again, The Kangal has many thousands of years instinct with sheep, and it’s still alive and strong in them today.

Sometimes the ewes get all the placenta and afterbirth cleaned up, sometimes they don’t. Either way, it’s important to locate the afterbirth to make sure it all came out of the ewe or she can get sick and even die. This is rare, so I don’t want to spend much time on it. The ewe will paw and move around after the birth like she’s still giving birth, but that’s here clearing the rest of the afterbirth out of her body. I will pull the gory mess out if she does not eat it, and feed it to Gill. He loves it, and gets more info on the lamb that way too. If it stays in the pen, a smell forms, and bacteria which is not conducive to hygiene. The smell is a huge lure to predator animals, which are very aware of new baby animal arrivals. Especially in barns, where the smells are compounded. We’re diligent about getting bloody towels and bedding out of the lambing pens fast to prevent odorous attractions.

Even when you do everything right, and the ewe is an experienced mamma, failures can occur. These are hard lessons, but sometimes, you have to realize that things are out of your hands. With these twins, the first born never got on her feet. She didn’t suckle, or even talk with mom to start bonding. Look at the difference between these two lambs born only a few minutes apart. The one on the left has it’s head up, found the utter, and has received colostrum. This is imperative for the lamb within it’s first few hours of life. That colostrum is the lamb’s only chance at healthy immune system, working gut, and nutritional jump start. Without it, the lamb will eventually die. You can feed a colostrum supplement, and in large commercial farms, this is done. We could have intubated the lamb and poured the life saving liquid down its little gullet. That still would have only helped, not guaranteed the lamb’s life. I put a heat lamp on the little thing and waited. Within another eight hours mom had buried the sickly lamb and focused on the healthy one. It was hard to accept, yet the ewe knew, and so did I.

I picked up the sickly lamb and gave her a good look over. She was struggling to breath, chilled, and too weak to stand. It was not a quality of life I wanted to extend into more suffering. Killing a baby animal is hard, harder than many other tasks of livestock tending. It’s not something I have to do often, otherwise I would not be able to raise animals. I might one day loose the ability to cull when I need to, and when that day comes, I will retire from livestock farming. I can only imagine what professional slaughterers on the industrial kill floors go through. It’s inhumane for the people as much as the animals, and is not what ethical animal husbandry should look like. This is a very charged topic, so I’ll stick to lambing and reaffirm the responsibility of animal breeders to know when and how to dispatch something if it’s suffering a slow death. After showing gratitude for the lamb’s life, through brief, I slaughtered it. Another half hour of processing and the succulent meat went into the pot to bake. This is the full cycle of life all on one day. The other lamb continues to thrive with her mother and a growing herd of new lambs at EEC Forest Stewardship.

These pictures and video were all taken on February 11th, 2022. That’s right! Here in Western Washington the temperatures can fluctuate greatly as our temperate climate moves towards spring. The bees will take advantage of any days over 50F. When the warm sun hits the hive, bees take time to remove their dead from the hive and young bees make orientation flights to accustom themselves to their surroundings. In the picture above, you can also see one bee entering the hive with pollen. Yes, though it’s still winter, our hazel trees are putting out great catkins full of food for the bees, and they found it. This is also a signal that the hive is producing brood. You bees are hatching and need food. How amazing that these insects are out and pollinating when most other insects and plants lay dormant.

Because there is not enough food for most bees in developed areas, we supplement our bees through the year with liquid sugar water in the warm months and a rich icing of sugar patties in winter. In our fist year of bee keeping, we used 100lbs of white commercial sugar. Why? Read all about sugars and bees here. In a nut shell, organic raw sugar is harder for the bees to digest, and organic cane sugar is too expensive. Also, if the bees eat nothing but sugar, the comb and honey reflects this- being white and sterile instead of yellow and nutritional. Bees still need pollen to live, and yes, there are pollen patties you can buy to supplement your bees, but economically, not a viable long term solution. At EEC Forest Stewardship, one of our restoration agricultural practices is planting perennial pollinator species to diversify our landscape. We also try to make sure the verities are blooming at different times of year with regularity, so the bees have something to eat all the time.

We’ll continue to work with bees at EEC, but also recognize we’re not expecting our production of honey to be a viable income in any way. Unless you’re driving a semi of bees up and down the orchards of North America, you will struggle to make money and most likely loose some. We have bees as indicators of the health of our land and plants. To see them thriving in February is a great sign, and we’re not seeing a mite infestation yet, though inevitably, they will come. This is when bee keeping becomes very toxic. You have to dose the hive with harsh chemicals to remove the mites. If you do not treat with chemicals, eventually, the mites can destroy the colony. Our hive has not been infested yet, and we did do a treatment in the fall, but this spring, unless we see mites in thee hive or on the bees, we’ll hold off on the chemicals. It’s a rough truth facing our human egos- better living through chemistry had turned out to be better poisoning through chemistry.

By observing the bees and understanding their rhythms, we can tune in to what’s going on in our environment. In return, the bees make honey, wax, royal jelly, and pollen, all important natural medicines. When we tend bees, even if we’re not actively supporting a box hive, we’re cultivating rich diversity of pollinator species, clean water, and a thriving environment for all species of life. Bees can thrive almost anywhere there is a pollination source, so even in cities, bees can survive, as long as there’s a flower some where nearby. Rooftop hives are a thing in many cities, but the supplemental food remains the main source of food for the colony. Again, you also have to take in pollutants like vehicle exhaust, acid rain, and other chemical concentrations more predominate in city environments. Still, bees remain an important ally for humanity, and will keep building comb and storing honey a long as they’re alive.

Jellicle Cats come out to-night
              Jellicle Cats come one come all:
              The Jellicle Moon is shining bright—
              Jellicles come to the Jellicle Ball.

Jellicle Cats are black and white,
Jellicle Cats are rather small;
Jellicle Cats are merry and bright,
And pleasant to hear when they caterwaul.
Jellicle Cats have cheerful faces,
Jellicle Cats have bright black eyes;
They like to practise their airs and graces
And wait for the Jellicle Moon to rise.

Jellicle Cats develop slowly,
Jellicle Cats are not too big;
Jellicle Cats are roly-poly,
They know how to dance a gavotte and a jig.
Until the Jellicle Moon appears
They make their toilette and take their repose:
Jellicle Cats wash behind their ears,
Jellicle dry between their toes.

Jellicle Cats are white and black,
Jellicle Cats are of moderate size;
Jellicle Cats jump like a jumping-jack,
Jellicle Cats have moonlit eyes.
They’re quiet enough in the morning hours,
They’re quiet enough in the afternoon,
Reserving their terpsichorean powers
To dance by the light of the Jellicle Moon.

Jellicle Cats are black and white,
Jellicle Cats (as I said) are small;
If it happens to be a stormy night
They will practice a caper or two in the hall.
If it happens the sun is shining bright
You would say they had nothing to do at all:
They are resting and saving themselves to be right
For the Jellicle Moon and the Jellicle Ball.

-Bar”The Song of Jellicle Cats” by T.S. Elliot

Because it was such an iconic scene- cats amongst tires- this ode to the magical barn cats had to happen. Muir, Lucia, and Marrow are all thriving here at EEC Forest Stewardship. We’re lucky to have such savvy cats on hand, for they are fierce enough to hunt rats and rabbits, while cunning enough to avoid owls, coyotes, and bobcats (to name a few threats). Being a successful barn cat in a temperate rainforest with many apex predators is no easy feat, but for the joy of free roaming through a forest landscape, and lounging on the porch in an armchair on a sunny afternoon. They ardently hunt rodents and keep the vermin at bay- leaving our grain room, barn, coop, and house, as well as the other buildings free of nibbling nuisances. Cats also hunt birds, reptiles, bugs, and whatever else peaks their interest in a moment of predatory relish.

To help mitigate the loss of species we cherish, the cats are fed in the morning and not at night- this focuses more of their hunger energy on the nocturnal rodents, while sparing the dawn chorus some of it’s feline frustrations. Most of our resident birds got the cat memo early on, and have been careful to stay away from low hanging branches or shrubs around the house. I’ve not seen much tree hunting- as the towering evergreens are often hosting danger in the form of predator birds large enough to target cats as scrumptious snacks. Lucia came home with a nasty puncture wound we’re sure came from sharp talons. Great Horned Owls are some of the most dangerous cat killers on the wing. All of our feline friends keep a close watch on the sky. When we bring them into the house, they are often transfixed in horror if the ceiling fan is on. “Eyes on the sky kitties, eyes on the sky.”

Our 4th cat, a rescue from the COVID related moving crisis of a friend’s parent, has lived a good life with us for a few years, but has not melded into the rest of the pride with any effort. In fact, he’s apt to terrorize the other cats at will, which has not endeared him to us any more than the other cats. Recently, a friend hit it off with him during a cuddle session on the porch, and seemed to really enjoy his company. We know she would be a great cat mom and have offered him to her in hopes he can become a single familiar where other cats will not be a problem. Though the farm is perfectly capable of hosting 4 cats, and might again some day, our three who make up the main feline family at EEC are more than enough in rodent management. We’ll always have at least two cats if any, because they do better with a buddy, especially learning the ropes of being outside in this environment. I’ll often see two cats curled up together for warmth and safety, which is an important survival technique around here. Stay together and you’ll live longer.

Cats at EEC are first and foremost rodent exterminators, but they are also cuddly foot warmers on extra cold nights, and great snuggle buddies when you want a warm furry friend in your lap or on your shoulder. Our cats are very docile and approachable, which adds charm to the farm. They will usually come out to the cars to meet and escort people to the house as furry ambassadors. The cats will also join us on walks around the property, they love to adventure with human companions, and sometimes hitch a ride back up the hill from the creek if they can. All are good shoulder cats for this reason- we might have our hands full and not be able to carry an animal. However, this “trick” has also led to cats climbing people when it’s least convenient or expected. We’re so grateful for the work and companionship EEC cats offer, and look forward to many more years of cat antics.

Here at EEC Forest Stewardship, we’ve been establishing hedges around the landscape to offer focused transition spaces between the open pastures, and established evergreen dominate forests. These edge spaces are great habitat for species that need the shelter of a forest, yet require more light pouring in from the cleared field. Our native shrubs like hazel are perfect hedge varieties, but work well with other vegetation mixed in so we planted big leaf maple as an experiment. Usually the maples would quickly sprout up over the tops of the young hazel, but we’re pleachering the maple (laying it sideways), along with the hazel to form a horizontal barrier along the forest edge. The planting pictures above was established about five years ago, and it due now for a second layering. Hazel is one of the first species to put out catkins in preparation for spring pollination- and the sexual organs are already hanging from the woody branches with buds bulging from wispy twigs.

Establishing hedgerows takes time, and EEC has been planting and setting these masterful natural fences across the property where they will best suit long term restoration goals. The spot photographed above and below in this article runs along a keyline across a slight slope. This hedge space will catch and slow surface water, as well as hold the soil and prevent erosion. Eventually, the oaks will dominate this spot of land (they are flagged in orange in the picture below). It might be hard to see the organized chaos, but there is a line of hedge planting comprised of hazel and maple, and the oaks are offset about 10 feet from the hedge. Eventually, this whole area will be shaded back in by the larger, more established evergreen forest surrounding this clearing, but perhaps, the oaks will get high enough into the canopy to compete for light. Hazel can survive in the under-story, and the big leaf maple will eventually turn upward and race for the sky.

Evolving edge space into dense, diverse habitat involves planting and replanting to maintain a desired line. Hazel is a natural stool and suckering propagator, so layering the branches over using pleachering, then partially reburying those branches back into the ground, speeds up the establishment of the hedge line. I’ve been experimenting with big leaf maple trees using this method and they are re-rooting in much the same way, with less suckering. I’m eager to extend this style of hedge layering hard wood trees to include other nut verities like chestnut and walnut too. Another great hedge species that’s a prolific is red flowering current. I’ve got a shrub up by the kitchen garden that I regularly re-pot branches from to make new plants. By potting the branches, I keep track of the new plants and can easily cut the main branch to separate the potted shrub from the main bush. The potted branch takes about two seasons to re-root.

Protecting young plantings can be another challenge. Deer, livestock, and people can damage a newly set hedge if not properly fenced off. In the picture above, a neighbor friend has used her round-pen to keep horses and deer out of her nut grove, which also holds a verity of hedge plants around the circumference as a future natural barrier. These young plantings have taken a few years to establish, and you’ll want to figure that into your fence design- the protection will have to hold up for at least three years to protect young plants. If fencing is not your bag, over plant the hedge by 4x the amount of vegetation you’d like to see established and hope for the best. I had great success with this using willow. The faster your plants grow, the sooner your hedge will set.

Here in Western Washington, the abundant rain and mild temperatures invite quick growth in many species- especially hedge row verities. Hazel, maple, and currants are tried and true, and you can mix in some slower growers like oak, though tree verities will become standards which can out compete your hedge in the long run. Oak is not usually a hedge tree, as the tannin from the leaves prevent many other plants from successfully germinating in the soil at the base of the tree. Hemlocks will do that too, and cedar, not all plants play nice together, and when you are working to plant cooperative species in a hedge you want everyone to get along in the sandbox- so to speak.

Above is a pastoral scene at EEC with our Katahdins grazing peacefully with this year’s lambs prancing about. Behind them is our property boundary lined with a high fence to the left, and a well established blackberry hedge to the right. The sheep are not interested in testing that boundary. A person could walk through the blackberry on right, and a sheep might if left on stressed pasture and in need of fresh fodder. But at this time of year, in mid-winter, our pastures are still green, in part thanks to good rotational management of the ground. The slight slope is interrupted by swales along this hillside. That’s the trench you see the lambs bouncing down and back up out of below the ewes. There is also some great leaf litter mulch from the forest of red alder just beyond the hedge and fence. We’re looking east in this video. The fence line runs north/south, allowing good light to reach all the vegetation. If the forest was south of the fence line, the hedge would not get any light, and you’d need to put in a fence instead of a living wall. If you plant a hedge with a young forest to the south, you’ll have a hedge for a while, but eventually, the forest will create a dominate canopy and shade out the understory.

The example above has hedge and fence mixed together, which is a good way to manage gates and drives near a hedge. Hedges near drives and paths should be set back from the throughways to prevent overgrowth clogging the flow of movement. Hedges get bigger as they age, and like to move outwards as well as upwards, so have a good 16′ setback from roads and drives if you can. The fence line above is planted with fruit trees and hedge species along the inside of the hard wire, and that fence will eventually continue all the way along the property line. For now, the blackberry fills the gap nicely, and our stock stays in the field where we want it to. Bramble makes a good hedge, and here, our sheep brows the growth to keep it back from the field, though you might spot a few rouge plants straying into the grasslands. We do still have to use a scythe from time too time to keep the field open. In time, our fruit and nut trees in this area will create canopy to shade out the bramble.

The oldest and most well established hedge at EEC is along our north property line. It’s the towering green wall on right in the dawn light picture above. This hedge is comprised of holly, alder, cherry, and a standard western hemlock. There’s a gaping hole under the hemlock where the shrubs do not grow, so I put all the holly cuttings in that area to form a dead hedge which closes the gap and completed the wall. This hedge is over two stories tall in some places, as it’s never been layered like a traditional hedge. It’s also on my neighbors property, so other than trimming it back off the drive, II have little influence over it’s growth. It’s important to think about how your hedge might impose on neighboring properties- you might not want to select invasive species like holly if you know you neighbor will end up having to defend against its invasion, but this hedge popped up naturally after a fence line was put in. Birds sat along the fence and pooped out the seeds of everything growing there today. The same happens under power lines- take a look next time and see if there’s a hedge under your nearby power-lines. Unless mowed, the spaces that host birds will one day host vast hedgerows.

Hazel, maple, and oaks are also my focus species for future planting here at EEC, because they seem to adapt to the changing climate more readily than many of the evergreen species. I’ve stopped planting hemlock all together, as the established trees on the landscape are starting to die. Drought and relentless summer heat have taken their toll on our temperate rain forests, and after ten years of close observation, the most denigrated species on our land is western hemlock. We’re also not planting many red cedars, who are also very water dependent. Oak are the replacement we’re choosing, though they might still be out competed in the long run by Douglas firs. We’re hoping the deciduous species will offer a little more winter light, while creating mulch with fall shedding and diversity within out future forest. Because people are still living on this land, beneficial species that produce more immediate food sources are relevant to our planning. I love the vision of one day harvesting acorns on this landscape, along with hazel nuts, chestnuts, and endless fruit verities. Yes, you can set your hedge with fruit trees if you like, though your livestock might get most of it.

EEC will continue to slowly bring in the edges, closing up older pastures with new forest while maintaining a diversity of plants which offer food, medicine, material, and resiliency for us and the forest. These transition spaces host abundant wildlife, habitat, and biomass across the landscape for all to enjoy. The other key element to a good transition zone is pollinator species. Fruit and nut trees all need pollination, but ground level flowers are also important. Make sure there’s a good wildflower mix at the foot of every hedge. Foxglove, trailing blackberry, dandelion, and evening primrose are some of my favorites. I sew different wildflower mixes every year- though much of it is lost to the chickens and wild birds who glean the seed. Still, it’s worth broadcasting seed when you can, and it will tell you what the soil condition is by what comes up. You can use your hedge plantings to further condition the soil over time. Plant plant plant, then watch it grow.

There are a few simple breakdown moves in butchering any four legged animal. I’ve worked with deer, sheep, and goat carcasses most often; I’m also familiar with cattle, pigs, and smaller game animal butchering. Today I’m working with a ram carcass. You’re taking one big thing and breaking it down into a lot of smaller yummy feasts all with a sharp knife, some focused cuts, and a lot of good learning.

As you look over the condition of this animal, there are 4 general shapes to keep in mind-

Shoulders- two front legs and shoulders, which lift off the rib cage

Neck and Rib Cage- I find it’s easier to remove the neck off rib-cage once detached from hind end

Loin- usually with a sheep, I keep the section with lion and back-strap as one large package roast for optimal enjoyment of some of the best cuts. With a band saw, you can cut this section into fancy chops if you like.

Butt and Hocks- you’ve got the tail, hips, and largest leg bones all in one package

I highly recommend you hang a carcass before butchering with a chain hoist and gambrel to make life easier. A block and tackle also work fine, you’ll want to move the carcass up and down as you work. I put a table under the carcass to lay out each part as I break it down. All the butchering happens on this table to keep headlining of the meat to a minimal. Wrapping and labeling are completed at another clean table before going into the chest freezer. Remember- space out your wrapped cuts in said freezer to spread out the temperature change. Putting all the room temperature cuts in one area of the freezer will cause a hot spot and a lot more work on the part of your appliance to get the meat down to proper temperature in a timely way. You can butcher a lamb, have it wrapped, and in the freezer in about four hours or less.

The key is making larger cuts and fewer bits. Take the rib- you can use a band saw to cut nice French Crowns, chops, and stakes, or you can create wonderful roasts and some good grids, while also still using the bones if you wish. I like to peel the outer layers of meat off the bone from the brisket up to the backbone, including the back-strap. That whole wing off the rib cage rolls into a nice roast, which can be cut into smaller medallions.

After the wing comes off I go back and cut out any remaining meat from between the ribs and add it to the grinds bag with what fat I can carve off the brisket. The rest of the rib and keel will go into bone stock. In the large picture above, I’m holding the back-strap just removed from the spine. You can use your fingers to separate this choice meat from the bone it’s attached to, thus retaining as much of the intact muscle as possible. So much of butchering is done by feel. The way I’m talking you through this process relates to how many times I’ve taken apart a carcass- there’s a lot of personal approach, there’s nothing industrial about my methods, yet the end result is always a good full larder and wonderful meals through the cold dark winters with great reward for time spent. I encourage anyone applying themselves to home butchering the chance at experiencing their own process, and also looking at different approaches to gain insight and inspiration. The point in sharing my experience here is the hope that you might try this yourself one day- and please contact me if you are interested in a live animal to slaughter and butcher for your home larder.

Shoulders are always challenging- especially a scapula. It’s worth de-boning this section to me, as I get a few good stakes and roasts and stock bones for the pot. The wrapped cuts above include the full loin roast with bone in (far right), two back-strap “wing” wraps (top), and two de-boned shoulder roasts (bottom). After wrapping the first two thirds of the carcass, I’m ready to approach the hind end. The tail is great for beans or stock. If you have a band saw or bone saw, cut the pelvis right down the middle. If you’re like me and prefer detaching legs at the hip and taking pelvis out, do so. I love creating two massive butt roasts off the pelvis. I de-bone the thigh and what I can of the lower leg to make more roasts which I can later cut into thick stakes if I want. the lower leg meat and other trim can go in grinds. All bones go to stock pot. Generally- you unwrap the meat from the bone, the re-wrap the meat into a roast and tie. I’ve got a lot of good kitchen twine on hand, along with plastic shrink wrap, butcher paper (on a large roll), and freezer tape with black permanent marker to label everything.

Discover how easy and satisfying butchering your own meat can be- and having the close connection to your food and the energy it takes to bring this wonderful bounty to your table. It’s been an intricate part of our larder for almost a decade now, and we’re passionate about helping other discover the reward of local food and personal process in feeding yourself, family, and friends. At EEC Forest Stewardship, we raise the lambs, tend the land, and harvest the abundance that comes from cultivating deep relationship with place. We’re working hard at home and locally with friends and neighbors to produce wonderful pasture sheep for meat and small flock development. EEC offers field to freezer instruction and support for local food and slow food enthusiast.

At EEC Forest Stewardship, the evolution of co-housing has traversed many ecosystems, and will continue to develop around the concept of community. What that looks like might surprise many, disappoint some, and be a lesson for most. This land can support 8-10 people comfortably. At present, 5 are in residence. We offer seasonal housing as well, including tent camping, wall tent living, single rooms, and a Mongolian Ger which, in Mongolia, hosts 8 comfortably, but generally, hosts one more adventurous occupant. The main house is divided up a bit to offer tenant common space and full bath on one side of the house, while offering my partner and I a private other half. It is important for me to have my own living space, complete with kitchen, bath, and living room for running a healthy and balanced life working where I live. Though when this experimental living project started almost a decade ago, habitation layout was quite different, and sadly, much too idealistic to succeed in current times.

Communal living means a lot of different things, as I said, but the evolution of EEC began with a common dream, that morphed through a nightmare phase, into growing pains, followed by the balancing out- which we’re still in. After purchasing the property, I lived alone on the land for a month to settle in before inviting friends to come join me in building a permaculture farm housing intentional community. This setup was unbalanced from the start- I was the “owner”, had the majority financial and mechanical responsibility for the land, buildings, and people. Though blessed with some leadership qualities, I quickly became acquainted with founder’s syndrome, then realized my excellent communication skills did not always align with those of my housemates. They were financial contributors, investors, and labor pool for big land projects, but there was a looming power dynamic which would never offer balanced risk and return.

The other major hurdle encountered in the initial housing structure, was a lack of shared vision. Sure, we all talked about our passion for land, growing things, and being together, but the actual task and toil of making such things work meant just that- a lot of work. 20somethings may be hard workers, but they are often not rooted in long term commitment yet. This is certainly true of the white suburban majority living together at EEC. I was 31, fully invested, the only fully invested, this is important to recognize in this particular setup. Below I share a truly group/village model of cooperative living which has equal investment and is the best way to properly found community living, but it’s not the only way, nor is it perfect. Still, take a moment to look at what could be for some. EEC was never meant to be a large scale community living space. I opted for full control and investment, leaving me with a rentier relationship with tenants. This model operated more effectively when you are offering short term living accommodations with a wonderful rotation of people bringing their gifts, but not rooting in. This is the main type of living style which works for what I see as an undeserved population.

So much of life now must be transient. This is the new norm for a growing generation of non-home owners, unmarried, and often seasonally employed. They do not have the capitol to buy in, but can pay month to month for affordable accommodation. Originally I planned the property to house 8 full time farm workers cultivating the land, growing enough food for themselves, with extra to sell, and an additional 2 seasonal spots for summer workers, usually employed in another nearby farm, or at our local wilderness summer camps. There was a lot riding on work trade- people would put in the labor and time needed to establish productive gardens, livestock infrastructure, human infrastructure, landscape, earthworks, and forest stewardship. The list of job opportunities were endless, and some did work, though no one put in as much time as me, because I was responsible for everything in the end.

Delegation is great when you are already working in a collective. EEC is individually owned, and that’s important for financial liability, though community investment in large scale developments would certainly be better for those looking for establishing village. I know that I am not looking for a village, that EEC is ultimately returning to forest, with a small dwelling and/or educational structure. That’s a bit of a change from the working farm with 8 full time community members, but that’s the reality I’ve run into, and it’s ok. Right now, not many people need to farm, work land, and especially work land they don’t own. At the same time, so many people I talk with dream of “the good life” on a piece of property they can grow their own food on. Quaint, but far from the reality.

Without reliance, there is no reason to invest. This is the true economy we operate in, and it’s often confused with community. Teamwork is possible, though limited to a game that lasts a few hours. Living together, sharing risk, investment, failure, and triumph. We have not cultivated a society that seeks this experience. Instead, we’ve turned on screens and tuned out. Maybe because life is very hard to live in when you do not invest in it. What are we invested in? As this language suggests, money, profit, the bottom financial line. That’s just it, the bottom, and we’re scraping an almost empty barrel, forcing scarcity. So why did I not buy into community co-housing? After all, the example in Ithaca started in the 90s. Here in Washington State, there are many housing opportunities where I could have invested in village modeled living. However, I was not seeking a village, I already have Duvall and a greater area of community connections that feed my need for socialization.

I’ve always wanted to grow food, tend land, and root. That was the core of my vision, and folding in housing for others to be connected, but not obligated, is the current working title at EEC Forest Stewardship. I’ve learned that maintaining a more formal rentier relationship helps tend clear boundaries with the people who live here. This seems strait forward, and many of you might be asking why I didn’t just do that to begin with. Well, I had thought I could transcend the issues of ownership by offering generous opportunities and lots of potential. King County is wealthy, there are a lot of good job, economic growth, and progressive civic engagement. This land is unincorporated, meaning camping, wall tents, primitive living, and farming can thrive. We’ve hosted tiny houses, RVs, and home made tent structures. Most of these alternative living situations have gone swimmingly. The location allows rural living within a few miles of town, and a small hop to Seattle. Well, the public transit is coming, to within 20 minutes of our doorstep, if you can drive to the light rail station, but that’s progress.

Recognizing that short term affordable housing was more realistic at present, than a farming cooperative, was an important step. There are not a lot of people looking for hard labor occupation these days, and farming is hard labor, it’s also little financial reward unless you’re industrial, and EEC is not, and never will be. That was never the intention, but agriculture was, still is, and it has been sustaining its self since we established livestock production a decade ago. We’re now hosting a viable Katahdin flock of meat sheep and dual-purpose chickens. The farm operation also includes fruit and nut trees, a number of small kitchen and herb gardens, stream restoration project, forest stewardship project, and participation in The Public Benefit Rating System. We still focus on forest restoration, and work to return the majority of this land to temperate rainforest.

Affordable housing is part of our financial plan for the land and the long term financial stability of our infrastructure. Over time, we’ll gradually deconstruct buildings, taking away structures as they become obsolete, and consolidating form and function while reducing the human footprint across the landscape. We are not building a village of collective housing long term. The City of Duvall is building massive housing developments including apartment complexes, duplexes, and multi-unit town homes. Not much of it is affordable housing, so our modest offer of a few under market rental price rooms is important. We don’t have to charge high rates because the land is bought and paid for, so no interest mortgage specter haunting our investment. We’re also not looking to sell, hence the PBRS participation and forest restoration goal. Our land value has dropped considerable, but that also makes the King County taxes more affordable. Still, the rentals provide financial stability where the farm creates food and fertility on the land its self.

Though tenants have their own kitchen and bath accommodations, we still pass each other on the land and connect in social activities like farm dinners, game nights, and general porch hangout time. There is a sense of community without obligation, and that’s a lot easier to facilitate. In the frist few years of navigating social dynamics in a multi renter household, it was sometimes a struggle to keep facilities clean, maintain communal gathering, and embrace open communication where there was little experience in doing so outside a single family home where usually, a wife/mother figure had maintained things. I found myself opting into a den mother like role to keep the house clean, facilities functioning, and dinner gatherings productive. Once the tenant kitchen, bath house, and hangout spaces were established, I could step back from cleaning up after others, and have some personal space for myself and my partner, who are happy to host seasonal farm dinners without pressure. This is a very successful model for sharing the land and certain facilities, but also maintaining proper boundaries with tenants.

EEC also once hosted WWOOFers. We had great success in hosting international adventurers, but when we hosted students, they often ended up abandoning the farm once they got a real job. The WOOFing situation was merely a stepping stone to getting employment in our region, which can be very lucrative once established. The contract with the farm was not honored beyond the first few months, and our housing has become too valuable to risk on mere work trade agreements. The farm does not offer work trade, but be do offer workshops, consulting, slaughter and butchering classes, forest stewardship support, and general small production system setup strategy. I work with several other local land owners in tending their forests, farms, and land stewardship plans. We have hosted schools, small group farm tours, livestock learning, and rotational grazing demonstrations. The land at EEC continues to host a verity of native plants and forest ecology, restoration farming practices, and we recently wrote a letter of support in regards to mushroom cultivation on small farms.

Though our modern upbringing remains dormant to communal living, there is hope that our instinct to take on shared space and network dwelling will win out in the end. From personal experience in survival training, you want to be with others, not alone. Alone, you’ll end up injured and out of luck, struggling to keep everything afloat- including yourself. I could not happily live and work on the land unless I had others willing to be there as paying renters. In return, I maintain the property and cultivate food. As a collective, most people seek healthy living without undo obligation. This means an exchange of cash for place, rather than expectations of usually unskilled laboring under tepid enthusiasm. There are exceptions, and if you can find skilled labor in trade, you might get a good exchange rate, but in my experience, skilled people already have paying jobs, and usually don’t want to work where they live. Still, change is in the wind.

Since the pandemic, our area has seen a great rise in working from home, especially in the tech industry, which is an apex industry here in Western Washington. People who were cramped up in apartments have come to the edge of suburbia and started looking at quality of life in terms of green space and outdoor enjoyment. Some of the best tenants we’ve hosted have worked for big tech, and some have even walked away from it after settling in at the farm and discovering healthier ways to live with less consumption assumption. Even without giving up on tech, tenants discover that things like composting toilets and a short walk outside to the shower house, even in cold weather, is refreshing and connective. Tent living offers new appreciation to hot water and an enclosed kitchen with electric range top cooking in seconds. Passive learning though the use of grey water from that kitchen demonstrates without a lecture, you can walk outside the tenant kitchen and hand pick a few herbs from the garden to flavor your meal, getting a gentle kiss from the sun as you harvest.

Not all those who rent here care about such luxuries, but they pay to support them, and at least have the experiences at hand if they so choose. We do like to find renters who will appreciate our unique setup, but are also careful to look for a diversity of people to live with, and what people say in an interview can look quite different in practice once they’ve settled in. So, rather than weave a tangled web of great expectations, applicants are judged on a first come first served basis through Craig’s List and word of mouth. Our demographic tends to be 20 and 30s because of facility setup- you have to walk to get places and there are stairs. We’re a working farm, so there are not a lot of sidewalks and well lit avenues (none in fact). Again, we’re not a multi-family housing development, but a main house with surrounding single unit accommodations with some shared facilities. EEC Forest Stewardship rents rooms.

I’d almost reckon it to a boarding house, but I do not clean up or serve meals. I did try that for a year and struggled to distribute food in a timely way and grew quite bitter about constantly washing a pile of dirty dishes in the sink. Tenants did not come to the table at the same time, and even rotating food in the fridge went bad with neglect, as tenants struggled to reheat leftovers or compute meal components, even when they were labeled. In larger communities with food systems build in, there are once or twice a week sit down dinners and a crew of cooks preparing, serving, and cleaning up. In recent years, I’ve noticed a huge drop in use of the kitchen by tenants. It seems less a priority now than ever to cook food. Yes, buying fresh materials to execute a meal in this culture is a privilege. Having the time to do it seems even more the issue today. Though even when I offer fresh, free produce from the garden, few take me up on it. They explain that they can’t cook it in time before it goes bad, or they don’t know how to cook, or prefer microwave only. Eating is not a priority any more.

Well no wonder! Without shared responsibility for the monumental task of prepping three meals a day from scratch is daunting. There are lots of tricks to the trade in large portion prep for multi-day use, some instants like granola and milk, along with occasional take out or quick mix instant foods (our favorite is Annie’s Mac and Cheese). But cooking for an individual is a little empty, and Ii get why so many now opt for single servings, and much of the supermarket world has dialed into single packaging, what a sad nightmare in plastic disposable BS. But I digress, though it’s all pertinent when you step back and look at the divide and conquer strategy now leading consumer culture. Every individual needs their own thing- and hey, from experience in shared living- communal tools for instance- without collective mindset upbringing, which is rare these days, the tools are mishandled, left in the rain, covered in mud till they rust and ruin, then a wooden handle brakes, and someone throws the tool away. Who will pay for a new one?

It is a story like this which turns people off to communal living, and rightly so. We’ll have to make extreme adaptations if necessity ever arises again. Until big changes forces us out of our derisive cocoons, we’re not easily committing ourselves to collective survival. In much the way EEC is a bridge between suburban and wilderness, our collective living remains separated into personal spaces and some shared space when we want it. Still, everyone can retreat behind a door or tent flap, into a personal Shangri-La of their own making, and at this time, especially in a pandemic, that’s not always a bad thing. It’s working at EEC, and allowing social connection on one’s own terms, limited community, because we don’t yet rely on each other in the ways I think it takes to truly cohabit like a tribe. I think that’s the skewed fantasy many think of when communal living comes to mind. Yet the options are endless, and I recommend looking into all kinds of alternative living situations if you are inclined.

Here are some ideas-

Community Roots Housing– urban focused long term housing collectives in Seattle

Modern Housing With Village Virtues– NYT Opinion piece on co-housing

List of cooperative housing near Seattle– lots of local options to look at

PBS spotlight on communal housing– great video on cohousing (including international)

Co-housing Association– great national listing of community housing

Is it Time for America to Bring Back the Boarding House?- article on bringing back Boarding Houses

How Cohousing Can Make Us Happier– Grace Kim TED talk

Common Living– interesting search site for housing

Here in Western Washington, it’s time to think about planting. Yes, it’s only January, but here in the temperate rainforest, things are already budding out and turning back on with the slow lengthening of days. Here at EEC Forest Stewardship, we’ve been transplanting small trees and shrubs since November. As soon as leaves drop, the trees are dormant, and digging up does the least harm. Some of the transplants are natives, and some are cultivars, as EEC is working the human component into the landscape. Though pacific crabapple dominates our fruit tree plantings, there are also many cultivated verities of pear, apple, and various stone fruits.

List of local native plant resources:

King Conservation District Native Bare Root Plant Sale

List of Washington and Oregon Plant Sales

Western Washington Native Plant Resources

Washington Native Plant Society

Plants purchased from bare root sales should spend a few years establishing in a zone 1 area. My kitchen garden offers space with water and good soil for a growing, vulnerable young plant. It’s also a space protected from plant predators like deer or livestock. You can heel-in your plants this way if needed. By taking the time to care for your bare-root, you have a much higher success rate of survival into maturity from initial investment. Buying plants is always expensive, but you can also selectively dig up natives at a neighbor’s house (with permission), or along national forest roads where the young plants (especially trees) will be cut or sprayed to keep the roads open. Note when you do road side collecting, stay within 5 feet of the road’s edge, and know the growth there is likely contaminated by chemical spray in the soil, and vehicle pollution. However, you can also mitigate this in the young plant when transplanting into healthy soil. Plants at a neighbor’s house could also be tainted, so ask about the land’s history before choosing to harvest.

Buying plants through your local conservation district ensurers you’re getting native plants, good genetic specimens, and supporting your local conservation district. It’s a good learning tool for what native plants are easy to establish, which ones are critical for restoration in your area, and expands landowner practices and projects to enhance ecological restoration. Conservation and native plant societies also have advanced knowledge about each species they offer, and will usually take the time to talk through any questions you have about plants. These organizations also offer workshops, land walk though and restoration planning, as well as countless other resources for land stewardship and restoration, usually free, or at a reduced cost. The plant sales offer smaller groupings of plants, so you’re not stuck buying a large number of plantings- more than you have space for. Bare root nurseries usually have minimum number purchasing, especially with trees, and those number range from 25-200.

EEC Forest Stewardship has been participating in multiple native plant sales for years, making smaller number purchases to prevent being overwhelmed by plantings, which become too numerous to manage. We’ve also spent the past decade observing the species which seem to do better in our biome. There are so many variables throughout a given habitat where restoration planting goes on. On this forest landscape, we’re planting less water reliant species like Western Red Cedar and Western Hemlock, opting instead for Garry Oak and Douglas Fir. We’re also importing some non-native species like Crataegus monogyna or Cornus florida. Whatever planting you select, keep in mind, the native species are already best suited to your ecology, overall soil chemistry, and climate. They will most likely cohabit well together, establish, and last as long term habitat in the environment. All my fruit trees will be gone in twenty years, but the surrounding native evergreens like Douglas fir, could go on for hundreds of years as a climax species in Western Washington. The fir will also grow healthy and happy without human support, where as the apple need continued pruning and irrigation to thrive.

Think about your ability to commit to young plantings and what king of long term maintenance you’ll prefer to spend on plants. Make a good plan of where your plantings will go before you purchase them. Keep in mind space and resource demands a plant will need through out its life. A large leaf maple will easily fit into a container garden as a bare root, but after two or three years, it will be twelve feet high and the roots will be pushing to get out of the bed for additional water and soil. There are many types of smaller native plant species that will happily grow in containers, ask your conservation district for more information if needed. Timing is everything- from the moment you pick up your bare root plantings to the moment they go in the ground, you’re loosing plant vitality. Also, each time a plant is replanted, it slows it’s development by about two years. This means a fruiting plant will be hindered in production, and the size of a plant will develop more slowly. When you can direct plant bare root into its forever home, you’re giving it the best chance at success, but if you can’t maintain the watering and predator protection for the first few years, heel-in closer to home.