Author Archives: Alex

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Broad-leaf Shooting Star

Henderson’s shooting star (Dodecatheon hendersonii)
Dodecatheon hendersonii

This bulb-producing perennial begins in late winter with thick spoon shaped leaves at the base of the plant. Showy flowers appear in early spring on top of a tall 12 in (30 cm) leafless flower stalk. Flowers are inside out with petals magenta to deep lavender to white, with a white strip before the black fertile part. It blooms February to May and is summer deciduous, dying back to the ground after the rains cease.

  • Light Requirements: Full Sun, Part Shade
  • Water Requirements: Moist
  • Ease of Growing: Easy to grow
  • Growth Rate: Moderate
  • Spreads:
  • Wildlife Support: Pollinators, Pest-eating Insects
  • Fire-resistant: No
  • Edible:
  • Mature Height: 1ft
  • Mature Width:6in

Welcome to the new EMSWCD website!

naturescaped yard at EMSWCD

We are happy to announce the launch of the new EMSWCD website!

What’s NEW?

  • a new design and a complete reorganization so it’s easy to find what you’re looking for.  (visit this page for tips on using the new website).
  • Greater accessibility with mobile devices and a wider range of browsers.  (Note: visitors using Internet Explorer 6 or older will encounter some issues).

Other highlights include:

You can read more about all of our programs in the About section, or simply click on any section in the menu to learn more. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact us!

Extended deadline for Headwaters Farm Incubator Program application

We’ve gotten feedback that more time is needed for 2014 Headwaters Farm Incubator applications. If you are one of the individuals who is interested in farming at Headwaters but didn’t have time to apply, you’re in luck!

The Headwaters Incubator Program will be accepting applications until November 15th.

For more information on how to apply or what the program offers, please visit the EMSWCD’s farm incubator page or contact Rowan Steele, Farm Incubator Manager (contact page / 503-935-5355).

Accepting applications for Headwaters Farm Incubator Program until November 1st

corn field at Headwaters

We are accepting applications for the 2014 Farm Incubator Program until 5pm November 1st! All interested applicants, please turn in your application materials by that time, and visit the Incubator Application section of our site if you have any questions about the program, how to apply, or about Headwaters Farm. You can also contact Rowan Steele, our Farm Incubator Manager, through our contact form.

Final Reports and Sauvie Island Center

One of our favorite times in the EMSWCD Grants office are the days that final reports come in.  As much as we’d like to visit every project we fund, the day to day responsibilities of running our grants program keep us in the office most of the time. That is why we are so thrilled to read your project completion reports after your project is over–it is the next best thing to being there, seeing the impact your project had on a habitat, stream, or a child’s education in conservation. Final reports also help us understand if your project was a success–did you meet your stated objectives?  If not, why?  What can other organizations learn from your successes or challenges?

Today, we received a SPACE Grant final report from the Sauvie Island Center.  Our board approved a $1500 SPACE grant in March to help fund 25 students from the Peninsula Community Center to attend a week of Farm Camp.  They are excited to report that 26 kids from North Portland neighborhoods spent the week learning about wildlife and the food web, the role pollinators play in our food supply, and harvesting vegetables to cook and eat for lunch.

While Sauvie Island isn’t within our District’s Boundaries, it is the closest farmland to North Portland.  The Sauvie Island Center is committed to increasing food, farm and environmental literacy in the community by providing hands-on educational field trips for elementary school children.  Often, it is the first opportunity children have to visit a real, working farm so close to the city where they live. Take a look at their video to see more about what they do.

2011 SPACE Grants

Calvary Lutheran Church, $1500 – 8040 SE Woodstock Blvd.
OHB Coalition Watershed Project

Plant/mulch depaved areas of Church parking lot to capture stormwater runoff and create wildlife habitat

City of Troutdale, $1500 – Columbia Park Woods
Earth Day/Arbor Day

Remove invasives and replant with natives

Coalition of Clean Water Festival Partners, $1500 – PCC Sylvania Campus
Children’s Clean Water Festival

Water resource education event

Columbia Slough Watershed Council, $1500 – Whitaker Ponds/Columbia Slough
Slough Restoration & Workforce Reintegration

Provide work experience for JOIN volunteers and opportunity to earn small stipend while being trained in restoration work throughout Columbia Slough

Columbia Slough Watershed Council, $1500 – Conifer Parks Neighborhood Assoc
Fairview Creek Restoration at Conifer Parks

Purchase native trees and shrubs to be planted along downstream half of Fairview Creek running along the eastern edge of Conifer Parks Home Assoc.

Concordia Neighborhood Association, $748 – 4039 NE Alberta Court
Meek Pro Tech High School Tree Stewardship

Engender stewardship of trees and provide training for low-income students in tree maintenance

Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians, $1500 – 12790 SE Stark
Lori Johnson Memorial Garden

Install natives and raingarden

Corbett School District, Corbett High School, $1500 – Corbett (Buck Creek drainage on Larch Mtn – BLM lands)
Buck Creek Long Term Research Plots

Establish 3 permanent study plots and teach students to collect data re: standing trees, downed woody debris, understory veg, lichens, soil, etc.

Duniway Elementary School PTA, $1460.5 – 7700 SE Reed College Place
Kindergarten Shade Tree & Stormwater

Remove pavement and plant 3 trees to shade bldg and playground, and help with stormwater infiltration in an area that pools water.

E2 Foundation, $1500 – 11611 NE Ainsworth Circle
Local, sustainable, organically grown food at Outdoor School

Hire intern to develop a local, sustainable, organically based food plan and menus for students of the Outdoor School

Holy Cross Catholic School, $1500 – 5202 N Bowdoin St.
Holy Cross Rain Garden

Disconnect downspouts and install 4 raingardens

Mill Park Elementary School, $1180 – 1900 SE 117th
Mill Park Elem Outdoor Classroom & Garden

Renovate abandoned courtyard with natives and vegetable garden beds

North Willamette Research and Education Center, $1500 – North Willamette Research & Extension Center
Growing Farms: Successful Whole Farm Mgmt Scholarships

Provide scholarships for District residents to learn about small farm management (6 @ $250/ea.)

Oregon College of Art and Craft, $1500 – PNCA/OCAC & WTR
SEAS: Sustainable Rain Chains

Research and provide design concepts for sustainable rain chains with functional and aesthetic appeal.

Oregon College of Art and Craft, $1000 – PNCA/OCAC & WTR
Splash Blocks for Welcome the Rain event

Provide design concepts for sustainable spalsh blocks to encourage disconnection of downspouts and offer functional and beautiful alternatives to plastic splash blocks

Parkrose United Methodist Church, $1500 – Parkrose Heights Community Garden
Parkrose Heights Community Garden Greenhouse

Install greehouse within Parkrose Heights Community Garden to facilitate educational opportunities for children and a place for gardeners to participate in the garden year-round

PDX 2 Gulf Coast, $1500 – Various East Multnomah County High Schools
PDX 2 Gulf Coast Distribution of BP Oil Spill Education Tools

Distribute/implement curriculum: “Just Below the Surface: Perspectives on the Gulf Coast Oil Spill”. Distribute “Beyond the Spill” documentary on DVD to 20 High Schools

Piedmont Rose Connection, $1500 – N Ainsworth & N Borwick
June Key Delta Community Garden

Develop community garden next to June Key Delta Community Center

Reynolds High School, $1500 – Natural Resources Academy, Troutdale
Native Meadow Establishment

Remove grass and plant natives/create outdoor lab area

Sauvie Island Center, $1500 – Sauvie Island Farms
Farm-based educational field trips

Educate youth about food, farming and the land

St Johns Community Garden, $1500 – 8911 N Leonard St
St Johns Community Garden II

Maintain/expand community garden space feeding low income families in St. Johns area. Help James John Elem. School establish garden space for students

First Steps Towards Sandy River Delta Dam Removal

Sandy River dam removalOn August 15, 2013, the first scoop of a 1930s era dam was removed from the Sandy River Delta, representing a decade of planning to restore the original flow into the Columbia. EMSWCD grants staff attended the ceremony sponsored by the Bonneville Power Administration and the Army Corps of Engineers to witness the first step of many in this complex restoration project. Sandy River Basin Watershed Council, another partner involved in Delta’s restoration,  will begin a multi-year restoration of the Toucan Wing of the Delta with funding from EMSWCD’s Partners in Conservation grant program. Read more about it at in The Gresham Outlook.

 

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