North East washington State

I didn't see anywhere to introduce myself so here goes. We are just outside of spokane now on a 20 ac. place but we will soon move about a 1/4 mile from Canada. We will be offgrid and plan to do some experimenting with different types of growing methods to find what works that far north and sitting at 3,500 FT I frequent the forum over at BWH quite often. And I'm a cregs list junky.

Hi Flatwater and welcome from another on the sunny side of the state!  Sounds like you have quite an adventure ahead of you, keep us posted. 

Not sure what BWH is??

BWH is another conservative forum , It stands for Back Woods Home, they also have a magazine. Stop by for a visit, I go under the name of offgridbob on that site. It has a little bit for every one but if you run on the liberal side it may be a little rough for ya.

North central WA myself, my little patch of paradise is in the Chelan valley, been here 35 years.

Northport area here. Where by the border are you?

Guess I never intro'd myself. I'm in the mountains near Wauconda Pass.

Howdy,  I'd be very interested in hearing about your gardening success.  We're about the same elevation and I presume similar critter issues - deer, bears, ground squirrels...

I haven't had any deer problems, although I do have deer and moose on my property regularly. I have dogs and they bark at the "visitors". I haven't had any issues at all with bear. They are here, they stay clear of the cabin and so far the barn. Have left the goats alone. Again I think that is because of the presence of the dogs. I have squirrels/chipmunks/rabbits which aren't too much of a problem, although I have had chipmunks get into my cabin and woke up one day to find one on the covers on my bed. I have HUGE issues with mice during a couple week period in the spring and same thing in the fall. It seems that there is just this mass influx. I also sometimes have problems with pack rats, but as long as I stay on them, they are ok. I usually just live trap and relocate to a different part of my property. I have a lot of hawks/eagles/owls and coyotes, so they tend to help with rodent control. My biggest issue, which has cost me thousands of dollars in damages as well as several head of goat kids are RAVENS. I'm almost to the point of giving up on trying to control them myself... when I give up, it means that I go to uncle sam for a depredation permit. I've tried really hard to avoid that, but the losses from the ravens have been incredibly disheartening.

As far as gardening... everything has to be totally fenced. Sides and top... otherwise the ravens rip up what I plant. A couple of years ago my mom gave me a bunch of iris starts from her garden. They ripped them out of the ground, then shredded them to bits, I couldn't even re plant. If it's something they don't like to eat, they simply destroy it.

I'm pondering a greenhouse.

We have Columbia Ground Squirrels that tunnel EVERYWHERE.  I've even had them partially fill a hole I had dug for a footing...  They're only active for a few months but those are the growing months.  May set up some hawking perches to see if that will reduce the numbers. 

Deer seem to eat anything they can reach.  The Bears are attracted to anything remotely edible.  I haven't had much of an issue but a neighbor and my Sister's places have both been looted.  A couple of Bear tags solved those problems at least temporarily.  We also have free range cattle about.  They a mighty destructive when they come through.  No bird issues yet.  Turkeys come around but haven't noticed any harm done by them.  Our cat Finneas eats about 3 a month on our place.



He'll take a deer or two a year too.  Biggest Bobcat I've ever seen.  Seems comfortable around the cabin until I go outside.  The previous owners lost a Colt to a cat.  We appear to have a lot on the menu for them on our place.

The Moose mainly work on the Red Birch on our place.  Love those critters.


This year the Bear was mainly interested in the grubs in rotting stumps on my place.

Hi, I'm a newbie to the site and live in Rice (Stevens County) along Lake Roosevelt.  Some call us Upper Columbians (?).  Michael "Skeeter" Pilarski did a pilot 2-day permie workshop at our small farm last year and later, a 3-day herbalist gathering.  He's coming back to do another herbalist gathering on Aug 12-14.  We're hosting the first Inland NW Permaculture Conference in Spokane on Nov 4-6 at the Spokane Falls CC.  Folks from ID, MT are BC coming and good speakers!  One of the speakers is Bob Merrill (aka Straw Man) who taught Hybrid Construction clinics at Lost Valley Education Center, Dexter OR.  Bob lives in Northport and will teach this 3-day hands-on workshop at our farm in Rice.  We're building a sustainable solar greenhouse using reclaimed materials: rammed tires, straw bales, leftover latex paint, lots and lots of rocks, and other recycled materials.  You'll eat well and spend the night in group dorm or tent camp onsite.  After learning the basic principles, you'll be able to build your own affordable structure.  No construction experience required!!  Interested??

maureen wrote:
We're hosting the first Inland NW Permaculture Conference in Spokane on Nov 4-6 at the Spokane Falls CC.  Folks from ID, MT are BC coming and good speakers! 

Hi Maureen,
Can you point me to more details about the Inland NW Permaculture Conference? I love to come!
Sue
La Grande, OR

Hi Sue,
Yes! We're calling it the Inland NW Permaculture Conference (INPC) and it should be a grand gathering of permies from the region.  Speakers, workshops, field trips, vendors, dorming/camping, and good networking Nov 4-6 at the Spokane Falls Community College campus and neighboring Fort Wright Institute.  I'll add you to the list of people who would like to be updated, ok?  Thanks!

maureen wrote:
I'll add you to the list of people who would like to be updated, ok?  Thanks!

yes, please do. I've got it marked on my calender. Can you put me on an email list? subdo2000@yahoo.com
thanks!
Sue

Hi from another nor'east Washington resident,

I love northeast Washington (and north-central Washington).  But heck, I love just about everywhere I go. 

In Steven's county, I have lived near Springdale, two places near Rice, one time in Marcus, and two times in the Onion creek valley. 

In Okanogan County I have lived near Chesaw, near Oroville, outside of Havillah, above Ellisford, two places near Twisp and a bunch of places near Tonasket. I am currently in Tonasket,

In Chelan County I have lived in Manson, outside of Chelan, and near Leavenworth, (near Peshastin).

i hope to bump into the rest of you folks sometime at one of the regional gatherings and swap story, such as the Tonasket Barter Faire or the Inland Northwest Permaculture Conference.

I used to do big tree sales all across north Idaho and north Washington.  I still do a few small ones. Anyone want any trees?

Skeeter

Hey Skeeter, do you have any Paw Paw well adapted to our region?

I have tried paw paw a few times and they always died.  They seem to make it the best parts of the Willamette valley.  Theoretically they can be made to work in zone 5, but I haven't seen any yet.  tasty, yes, and worth more experimentation but I wouldn't sink much money into it.

Michael

I'm just outside Springdale. My farming skills suffer, so I'm looking into being a Solar Farm.

i didnt know where else to put this,soanyway i am so happy i found this site,i live about 8 miles from ford going towards reardan.i am trying to learn all i can about herbs,if anyone here knows someone who has classes to to show what the p-lants in nature look like i would love to know. thanks in advance.