Register for a free workshop

Maidenhair fern (Adiantum aleuticum)

Our fall season of workshops is here! We offer free and practical how-to workshops at a variety of locations in collaboration with our community partners. Our workshops cover choosing the right native plants for your yard, natural landscaping techniques that reduce water use and pollution, supporting beneficial insects and pollinators, and putting rainwater to use with a rain garden!

Our workshops are free and open to everyone, but they fill up quickly – register for a workshop today!

View the workshop schedule and register here!

Want to get the latest workshop and event updates? Join our email list, or follow us on Facebook and Twitter.

Introducing new Associate Board Directors, Mike and Carrie

new associate directors Mike Gerel and Carrie Sanneman

We’d like to introduce our two new Associate Board Directors, Carrie Sanneman and Mike Gerel! Both Mike and Carrie come to EMSWCD with extensive backgrounds in conservation, restoration and water quality. Carrie manages the Clean Water program at Willamette Partnership, and Mike is the Director of Programs at Sustainable Northwest. Learn more about Mike, Carrie, and the rest of our Board on our Board page.

We are here to help

Our thoughts are with those that have been affected by the Eagle Creek fire. Once residents are able to return home, they will have questions about managing the burned areas on their properties. We want you to know that we are here to help. We will offer site visits and can identify State, Federal and local resources to assist you. In the meantime, please contact us with any questions you may have.

Please contact Julie DiLeone, our Rural Lands Supervisor, at (503) 935-5360 or julieD@emswcd.org.

Link

Upcoming EMSWCD Board and Committee Meetings

The East Multnomah Soil and Water Conservation District (EMSWCD), serving all of Multnomah County East of the Willamette River, has scheduled Board meetings, a Personnel Commmittee meeting and the Annual Meeting at the District Office (5211 N. Williams Ave, Portland, OR 97217) for the months of September and October 2017.

Visit this page to see a calendar of upcoming meetings.

The Launching of a New Farm

Headwaters Incubator Program’s first graduates, Pete and Claire, enjoying the first season on their new plot of land in Canby, Oregon

Udan Farm, Headwaters Incubator Program’s first graduate

Pete and Claire St. Tulnoynum came to the Headwaters Incubator Program (HIP) in 2015 with a couple of seasons of farming under their belt, some produce management experience, and a good understanding of what makes for healthy soil. Using the Lloyd and Woodlawn Farmers Markets as their primary retail outlets, they were able to establish Udan Farm and transition their business onto leased farmland in just two years.

Participants in HIP are given up to five years to launch their business, but Udan Farm’s experience is essentially how the program is designed to work: a farm enters the program and works to refine production practices, establish markets, build farm networks, make investments, and then leaves for their own site (either leased or owned) to continue growing the operation. Or, as Pete explains, “Headwaters Incubator Program was extremely good for us. We got to experience what it was like to work together as a couple, we gleaned ideas from other farmers, and we were able to get the business running.” Read more →

1 2 3 … 9