Regenerative Agriculture
Orcas Island is blessed with wonderful weather -- cozy, wet winters complemented by dry and temperate summers. These cycles bring both blessings and challenges for us as farmers. Our clay soils are fertile, but saturated with water November-March and then slowly hardened into brick in the heat of summer. Sitting at the top of our small watershed, we calculated over 14 acre feet of water passing through our pastures in one season on its way to the Salish Sea. And soil tests confirmed that our compacted soils had an imbalance of microbial life, with high levels of bacteria and few beneficial fungi or protozoa, which are key to healthy soils and fields.
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Our first step was to spend a year observing these seasonal cycles -- how water enters and sheets off our upper fields, how it moves through heavy use areas, ponds and old agriculture ditches, and where it remains. With support from our local Conservation District, we drafted a farm plan in several phases, built on the following priorities:
1. Introduction of silvopasture and prescribed grazing
2. Increased water retention and water quality
3. Planting of specialty crops under drip irrigation
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Phase I
Fencing and Silvopasture
Work began in 2024 with the installation of nearly 3,000 linear feet of cross fencing in our upper pastures, along with the planting of over 400 native trees, including shore pine, quaking aspen, red alder, big leaf maple, vine maple, garry oak, douglas fir and cedar. These were all installed on-contour, rather than in neat, straight lines, to slow the natural flow of water downhill. As the trees and wild shrubs push roots deeper into the soil and create hedgerows, they will hold more water throughout the year.
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Moreover, by dividing our 18 acres into 6 smaller paddocks, we implemented intensive, rotational grazing with our sheep, using two strands of electrified poly wire to create smaller sections in each paddock that are moved every 3-5 days during the growing season. This prescribed grazing supports a number of regenerative practices. As trees and shrubs grow, they provide increased shade and fodder for the sheep, who in turn manage and fertilize the pastures, providing increased nutrients for the soil. ​​​
Phase II
Waterways and Riparian Planting
Turning to the lower pastures in 2025, we focused on redirecting water away from heavy use areas and through protected waterways and ponds.
We installed 1,000 linear feet of fencing and planted over 900 native trees and shrubs around all waterways and ponds. These plantings include such native trees as birch, big leaf maple, quaking aspen, willow and shore pine, as well as a variety of fruiting and flowering shrubs -- salal, serviceberry, ninebark, red flowering currant, thimbleberry, blue elderberry, osoberry, and wild strawberry,
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Grassed waterways were installed from north to south to move water away from heavy use areas and a new animal shelter constructed to house livestock during inclement weather. Twenty new crops rows were built for planting tea along the northern banks of the pond and fitted with low tunnels through an NRCS EQIP grant.
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What were once two open irrigation ponds surrounded by grass are now poised to be sheltered treasures protected by shade trees, native berries, and shrubs, hopefully reducing water loss during the summer months and supporting a diversity of food and wildlife.
Phase III
Wetlands Enhancement
As we continue to follow the water downhill through our pastures and ponds on its journey to the Salish Sea, we are now entering the final phase. We have dedicated the lowest southwest corner of our property to a wetlands enhancement project with the local Conservation District, which will do three things:
1. Continue our efforts to slow water migration by directing water outflows from our existing ponds to new shallow ponds surrounded by an acre of native trees and shrubs.
2. Create a corridor connecting our wetlands to our neighboring properties all the way west into the Crow Valley Creek.
3. As the Conservation District's first effort of this kind on Orcas, the project serves as a model for other land owners who are passionate about habitat protection and revitalization.​
