TILTH PRODUCERS of WASHINGTON and WASHINGTON STATE UNIVERSITY SMALL FARMS TEAM PRESENT

2013 SPRING FARM WALKS
(Summer farm walks will be announced in June)

www.tilthproducers.org
http://smallfarms.wsu.edu
All farm walks run 12:30- 4pm. Sign-in is 12:00-12:30.
Informal Networking bag lunch is 11:45 – 12:30
April 1
Producing Quality, On-Farm Compost Hands on (limit 25 people)
Plum Forest Farm on Vashon Island                                                     
Plum Forest Farm is a small, integrated livestock and diversified fruit and vegetable organic farm on Vashon Island.  Organic wastes from layer hens, Scottish Highland cattle, and vegetable production are managed by farmers Rob Peterson and Joanne Jewell in hot compost piles.  Temperatures are monitored to meet organic certification requirements and good agricultural practices.  Join Rob, Joanne, and WSU-Puyallup compost specialist Andy Bary for a hands-on workshop on producing quality organic compost on a small-scale farm.  Participants will evaluate chemical properties of compost feed stocks and learn how to measure physical properties in the field and mix feed stocks in appropriate ratios for quality, hot, compost. This farm walk will be limited to 25 people for its hands-on component. www.plumforestfarm.com
 
April 22
Agricultural Habitat Restoration: Reconnecting the Vineyard to the Ecosystem
Klickitat Canyon Winery and Meadowlark Vineyards in Lyle, Klickitat County
Robin Dobson and Kathleen Perillo practice ecodynamic farming in their 12-acre vineyard. They practice no-tilling and introduce abundant native flora into the farm and among crop plants so that biodiversity is naturally restored and out-competes harmful pests. Connecting both the natural and agricultural ecosystems promotes vitality, biodiversity, and greater ecological integrity. Learn how they manage the habitat, the harvest and make wine by hand. We will also tour their winery where they use no external inputs and let nature do its work. Wine tasting included.http://www.klickitatcanyonwinery.com/
May 6
From Pasture to Palate
Heron Pond Farms, LLC, located at the base of Tower Mountain in Spokane, WA, is a small, sustainable, family-owned farm providing quality artisan cheeses and heritage pork to local, discerning individuals, markets and restaurants which care where their food comes from and how it tastes.  Heron Pond Farms is dedicated to humanely-raising healthy, happy, hormone free, Dairy Goats and Large Black Hogs in a pasture-based setting that encourages the animals to behave naturally.  Farmer Lorie Arnold will teach the essentials of what goes into creating a Grade A Dairy. See the operation starting from the milking room and ending at the cheese cave. You will also get to meet the goats and pigs that make Heron Pond Farms their home. And of course, taste the cheeses produced here.

May 13
Organic Mushroom Production: From Spores to Delicious Fruiting Bodies.
Cascadia Mushrooms in Bellingham
Farm Owner/operator Alex Winstead welcomes you to Cascadia Mushrooms (Farm) to demonstrate the operation he designed and built from scratch in 2009, located just north of Bellingham. It operates entirely on Green Power, and 90% of its byproducts are recycled. Come learn how Alex grows a wide variety of culinary and medicinal fungi: from substrate prep, spore inoculation, growing, then harvesting the fruiting bodies. Alex markets fresh mushrooms, plugs and growing kits. Come to the farm to experience, first-hand, the fascinating world of mushroom production. http://www.cascadiamushrooms.com

June 3
Farm Mechanics Hands on (limit 25 people)
Pine Stump Farms in Omak, Okanagon County

Pine Stump is a diversified operation in Ponderosa Pine forest that produces hay, cattle, silvopasture, chickens, and goats, as well as value-added products like goat cheese.  To keep any farm going, it is essential to have some ability in repair and maintenance of equipment.  Learn from Albert Roberts how to get a chain saw and other equipment tuned-up, troubleshot and ready to go and then a test run to assess functioning.  Also, we will tour this diversified farm. This farm walk will be limited to 25 people for its hands-on component. http://www.pinestumpfarms.com
June 17
Preserving Agricultural Heritage Through Creative Collaborative Farming
Suyematsu-Bentryn Farms on Bainbridge Island
From Wendell Berry: “A community is the mental and spiritual condition of knowing that the place is shared, and that the people who share the place define and limit the possibilities of each other's lives.”  Bainbridge Island’s Suyematsu-Bentryn Farms, originally farmed by Akio Suyematsu for nearly eighty years, is now a shining example of a community of farmers working collaboratively on public farmland.  The 40-acre property is currently city-owned and managed by the non-profit Friends of the Farms.  It is farmed, collectively and collaboratively, by a group of farmers that not only respect the culture of the place, but cultivate the farmers of the future.  On this farm walk we will tour the farms and learn from farmers, educators, and volunteers about each of the many pieces of this healthy agricultural community.  We will hear about a variety of community efforts taking place on the farms including youth education, Farmers’ Guild, worker-owned winery, farm apprenticeship program, and collaborative farm stand. Lunch will be provided by Friends of the Farms.  http://friendsofthefarms.org/
REGISTRATION & LOGISTICS:
Cost:  $15 for Tilth Producers members, students and interns; $25 for non-members; $5 fee for day-of registration
Register online at www.tilthproducers.org or mail a check with your farm walk choices to:
Tilth Producers
4649 Sunnyside Avenue N #305
Seattle, WA  98103
Visit us at: www.tilthproducers.org or http://smallfarms.wsu.edu
For more information: [email protected] or call 206-632-7506.