You have to give moles a lot of credit. They aren’t exactly cute, and they don’t appear to be too smart, but they sure do get a lot of work done. And that’s the problem. The more they work the more you have to work. We sold our house last October and it was with no small sense of relief. I’d fought the moles in that yard for almost 15 years. How many generations of moles is that? It was nearly a generation of me. They won, I was moving on.
Over the years I tried a lot of different things. Stomping on the mound of dirt over the tiny hole below in my heavy boots seemed to work the best. Letting the dandelions grow so they’d strangle themselves on the roots didn’t. Gene who owned the place before me left some kind of shotgun shell detonating device behind, but I was never quite brave enough to use it. Maybe if it was a little less rusty. I wasn’t ready to risk my life against a mole, and since they were still there when he sold the place to me I figured it must not have worked anyway. Finally I just gave in to mowing the dirt down and waiting for the grass to grow.
We had looked at the new house several times over the course of the summer and one of the things that stood out was the well kept landscaping and the nice flat lawn. Sure there were dandelions, dandelions come with every property. But there was no sign that there was now or ever had been a mole, and moving onto a piece of land without any moles is truly a blessing.
Then it happened.  Standing in my new kitchen drinking my morning coffee and gazing at my perfect new lawn (except for the dandelions), I saw a terrible thing.  A mole hole, and they seemed to multiply before my very eyes. Within days they had nearly covered one little enclosed section of lawn. Then they spread in an arc completely around the back patio in the back yard. Many right up into the flower beds against the concrete spilling mud onto the surface. One had the audacity to dig right up against my new little shop leaving a pile of mud on my doorstep.
Yes mud, this started three weeks after we moved in last November and it was decidedly wet. Angry I headed out into the rain to go stomping.  I had to wear rubber boots to stomp on the mud, but it just came up in a large muddy clump on the bottom of my sole. That defeats the purpose of pounding the dirt so hard back into their tiny little dirt hole that it plugs their tunnel but good and they won’t bother trying to dig through it again.  And it just made me angrier.
And I was convinced these weren’t new moles, but the same damn moles I’d been fighting for years. How? Obviously they love me. The little beggars hitched a ride. Likely they jumped onto some last minute thing I had to load up and move then jumped off again when I unloaded. That or they climbed up onto the spare tire of my rig and had a nice laugh on the way in. Thanksgiving came with all the parents, lots of talk about moles and lots of advice. But I was ready for explosives.
Then a small voice said, “Live with the moles.” We had a friend over and she has a tender heart for the environment and all the creatures that inhabit it. I was a little agitated as I told her to look out the window, and pointed out that a mud pie would not be the best place for our kids to play together.  Then I explained that the moles had to go, and there’d likely be casualties.
The next day I drove into town to explore my options. My in-laws had suggested a mole trap, but I wasn’t going to wait for them to come to me, I was going after the moles. Besides, where do you take a trapped mole? I had one idea but that just didn’t seem right.  So working down the aisles I found the mole section. I was surprised at the number of ways there are to kill or otherwise eradicate a mole.  Fifteen years. Then something caught my eye.  Spikes that emit a noise that bothers the moles, so they just leave  I liked that, little work and no mole. Better yet, they had solar powered units that you could put in the yard and scare moles forever.
No, my bloodlust wasn’t in any way satisfied, but after pounding two holes for the spikes my moles are gone. And nobody got hurt. My Earth Day solution, I let the moles live, and now they’re living somewhere else. You have to admire how hard they work, I’m sure my neighbors do.

John McKnight has been exploring Whatcom and Skagit counties for over 25 years. He can be e-mailed at john@foothillsgazette.com.

At work in the Acme fields. Courtesy photo

interview by the FOOTHILLS GAZETTE
Crystine Goldberg and Brian Campbell, owners of Uprising Organics, have been growing fresh organic produce on three acres in Acme for several years, and offering local seeds specifically for the Northwest climate. With approximately 40 new seed varieties in this year’s catalogue, the Foothills Gazette caught up with them for an interview about seed growing, farming and more.

Foothills Gazette: How did Uprising Organics get its start and what are your backgrounds in growing/farming?
Uprising Organics: We pretty much got into farming for the money. But really, like lots of people we have always loved our time in the garden growing food. Neither of us grew up on farms or anything, though we’ve both worked on them for many years, but at some point there was a somewhat romanticized notion of “wouldn’t it be great to do this for a living and live the farm ideal.” Even as the romantic ideas collided with a very hard working reality it is still a very deeply satisfying and grounding work.
Our strongest motivation has always been making really good food more widely accessible both through creating an EBT CSA model as well as beginning the seed business. We’re excited about people empowering themselves, growing their own food and discovering all that a single seed holds.
Like Wendell Berry said, “Eating is an agricultural act,” and we feel the same way and extend it into the seed world. What we choose to eat and to plant, whether we choose to see the direct results of poor food distribution and government policy and take some action is up to us.

FG: How did you begin growing seeds? When did you start?
UO: It all began about 10 years ago with dry beans. Seeing the amazing amount of diversity and rich history led us to where we are today.
As Market farmers we’ve also had the unique opportunity to really trial many different varieties and determine what we and our fellow eaters love; what performs and tastes best.
As seed growers we understand the importance of developing a relationship between grower, plants, and place. Seeds are full of stories and memories of place. The longer we have the opportunity to steward plants locally, the better they become adapted to growing here. We hope to play a role in helping to establish and steward a real wealth of locally adapted varieties to pass along to our (collective) kids.

FG: Do you generally offer the same seeds each year or aim for different ones?
UO: We always are trialing new varieties to see how we like them and how they perform in our unique climate, but once we decide we want to offer a seed our goal is to keep offering it. Sometimes we’ll find something similar that is a bit better and we’ll replace it, but there’s nothing worse than falling in love with a variety and no longer being able to get it. It’s happening all the time in the seed trade these days, we are losing such a genetic resource with all the consolidation in the seed business.
We are committed to keeping many of these great varieties growing. For example, I think we might be the only commercial source in the world for “Pokey Joe” Cilantro which was the best tasting in a variety trial last fall at a farm out on the Peninsula. It was just another variety that had been dropped from the trade.
Another example are the “Rockwell” dry beans. Grown near the Coupeville area of central Whidbey Island for well over a century it has not, to our knowledge, ever been commercially offered. Our seed stock came from Willowood Farm in Coupeville and performed wonderfully for this climate. And it is delicious!
We offer new varieties every year with approximately 40 new varieties in this year’s catalogue.

FG: Can you tell us about the seed growing process?
UO: The process for producing seeds really varies from plant to plant. Some like peas and beans are somewhat straight forward, others less so. Some don’t produce their seed until the second year like carrots, kales, and beets. (We thought it was really  sweet that someone last year said they had been cutting open carrots looking for seeds but couldn’t find any).
Part of the appeal of this work is that there’s this secret life that many plants live that many people are unaware of. Like when radishes become a become the size of a softball and sport a three-foot tall bush of seed pods or chard grows a foot over your head. We grow the majority of our seed crops at our leased Acme farm and maintain a couple of other small seed plots in the valley (for genetic isolation). We also have an excellent network of small family farmers in WA, OR, and ID that, thankfully, grow the rest.

FG: Where are your seeds available?
UO: They are available locally at Crossroads Grocery in Maple Falls, Terra Organica in the Public Market, both Bellingham Coops, the Skagit Coop and Christianson’s Nursery in Mt. Vernon. There’s a complete list on our Website of about 20 stores from Eugene, OR north through OR and WA. Our full range of seed offerings including seed Garlic can be found online at uprisingorganics.com.

FG: Does your son work alongside you and how does his presence impact/influence farming and seed production?
UO: There have been child labour laws in place for quite some time now.  But really, a farm seems like just the most perfect place for a child to grow up to us. We don’t live where we farm so it’s a bit different perhaps, but he really finds magic and a sense of wonder in it. He loves to participate for the most part, and sometimes he doesn’t, and those times can be challenging for us all. Honestly, what we do is what he knows and like anything else it’s not perfect and it’s not always easy but there’s always an underlying sense of belonging and identity… these are our words of course and to really understand his world we’re going to need to spend a lot more time down on our knees… the perfect place for farmers.

FG: Are there seeds that are more popular than others? Do you have a favorite?
UO: Lacinato (Black Tuscan) Kale, to our never ending surprise, continues to be our number one seller. As Brian just said out-loud, we sell all kinds of sexy vegetable seeds: watermelon, peas, tomatoes, crazy beautiful flowers, Celeriac (kidding)… Who’d of thought kale had such an underground?
As for our favorites, it’s like picking a favorite child…but Brian thinks that if forced to pick, well, Grandpa Admire’s Lettuce might be a bit more gifted. Crystine is choosing Black Cherry Tomatoes and Siskiyou Sweet Onions and dreaming of the month we can once again make Panzanella salad…And poppies, we love poppies.

I would like to return to a subject that I wrote last year – the ever-popular gardening technique known as square foot gardening. This gardening method basically maximizes the efficient use of space. As a result, one grows more in less space with less watering and weeding time. Sounds great right? You bet! So, with the huge continued interest in home veggie gardening, let’s talk about the basics of square foot gardening.
In his fascinating and now classic book, “Square Foot Gardening,” author Mel Bartholomew, a former efficiency expert/engineer, recalls the story of his discovery of square foot gardening long ago when he helped start a community garden in his town. Later that year he found that many people stopped participating and became disinterested mainly because of all the necessary weeding. Mel set out on his quest to find a more efficient way to garden by questioning everything they had done.
The first thing he noticed is that in their community garden, they planted one crop in long rows with lots of working space between rows. Those wide rows became a haven for weeds, and Mel wondered if there might be a way to garden without roto-tilling and constantly weeding all the path space in a garden – after all one doesn’t plant in the rows.  Furthermore, he found that many families couldn’t keep up with the harvest of an entire row of cabbages or beans, for instance, all maturing at the same time.
Most people plant in rows because that’s what they see farmers do. Farmers plant in rows, because they must use machinery to harvest such large quantities. In smaller backyard gardens you’re likely not harvesting your carrots and tomatoes with a tractor.
Mel also questioned and scrutinized the instruction label on a seed package which typically tells you to thickly seed and thin to a desired spacing. Mel identified the waste with all those seeds tossed out and all. Why not directly plant seeds at the desired spacing?
Having questioned the two common ideas of row planting and seeding/thinning, Mel came up with the idea of directly planting seeds or starts at the desired final spacing in square foot blocks, rather than in rows, and at staggered times during the season.
Mel found that most people could reach in about two feet to weed in their garden. He therefore came up with the idea of organizing the square foot blocks into 4 ft. x 4 ft. beds – because one can reach an entire bed that size – with planks or even grass between beds.
With this gardening method, no tilling is necessary except when you establish your bed – unless you create raised beds. At the desired spacing, you would plant, for instance, one broccoli seeds/starts or 4 lettuce seeds/starts or 16 carrot seeds per square foot. Once the lettuce is harvested, one replaces that square foot block with one bean seed, for instance.
In the end, you spend less money on seeds and less time weeding, because you are only gardening the places where you harvest lies. In newer editions of “Square Foot Gardening,” Mel gives you plans for building 4 ft. x 4 ft. raised beds, seed starting charts, planting schedules for staggered harvests, vertical gardening on trellises, as well as how to make your own soil.  .
For more information, I’ll be giving a detailed overview of the square foot gardening method in a free class, Square Foot Gardening Basics, this Saturday, April 24, at 10 a.m. at Bakerview Nursery, 945 E. Bakerview Rd., Bellingham. I will have copies of the newest, full color edition of Square Foot Gardening available for sale too. See you there!
Chuck McClung is a local botanist and gardening enthusiast, and the owner of Fantastic Gardens where he helps others solve their indoor and outdoor gardening dilemmas. He may be contacted at orchidfruit@hotmail.com.

The Church Mountain landslide
The entire North Fork Nooksack valley between the North Fork Nooksack bridge west of Glacier up to Horseshoe Bend was buried by a monster rock avalanche 2400 years ago. The slide started along the summit ridge of Church Mountain and roared down the valley as far as the bridge about 6 miles down the valley.  The rubble is close to 300 feet thick along the Horseshoe Bend trail. To see the deposit, just look at the lumpy terrain along the Baker Highway just east of the Glacier Public Service Station, or down the highway for a mile or so east of the Warnick Bridge. These hummocks are typical of large landslides. Look up at Church Mountain from the highway bridge at Douglas Fir campground- that is the mountainside that slid into the valley. The cause is unknown for certain, possible a large earthquake. Or, just gravity. Read the story and see a map and photos at http://nwgeology.wordpress.com/the-fieldtrips/the-church-mountain-landslide/.

The Pinus Lake lava flow
Everyone heading up the Baker highway beyond Nooksack Falls can see the steep cliff of lava columns towering across the Nooksack. The lava erupted from a long-eroded volcano around 200,000 years ago somewhere in the headwaters of Wells Creek. That volcano predates Mount Baker’s young shapely cone. The lava flow reached further down the Nooksack when it was fresh, but the top and the far end was eroded by Ice Age glaciers and the river. Directions to get to the top of the lava cliff, and the geologic story, are found at http://nwgeology.wordpress.com/the-fieldtrips/the-pinus-lake-andesite-lava-flow-north-fork-nooksack-river/  This is a short but adventurous geology field trip, requiring only a little cross country travel.

Artist’s Point
The Fire and Ice trail at Heather Meadows is the easiest opportunity Baker foothills dwellers are going to get up close and personal with lava columns. The 300,000-year-old lava flow in Heather Meadows erupted somewhere along Ptarmigan Ridge, west of Table Mountain, and includes the stack of lava flows that make up the well-named Table. Columns rise in cliffs of frozen lava above the Highway between the Salmon Ridge ski lodge and Artists Point. The end of the lava flow surely extended further down the valley, well beyond the lowest surviving outcrops along the highway, but was removed by the giant glaciers of the last Ice Age. The Fire and Ice trail allows you to walk over the surface and to see the 5- to 6- sided columns on the glacially-smoothed eroded lava flow. Hike to the top of Table Mountain to surround yourself in a sea of lava rocks, and to see glacial erratics- rocks carried south from Mount Herman by a glacier that filled the yawning gulf where Bagley Lakes sit now. Visit the field trip at http://nwgeology.wordpress.com/the-fieldtrips/glacial-erratic-field-trips/north-cascades-glacial-erratics/
For more about Dave’s field guides visit his blog at http://nwgeology.wordpress.com]

DEMING – The Mount Baker Horticulture program will be hosting its annual plant sale on Thursday, April 29 through Saturday, May 1s at the Mount Baker High School Greenhouse in Deming. The Plant Sale will be open on Thursday  and Friday from 3-6 p.m. and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Horticulture students will be selling annuals, perennials, herbs, vegetables, and hanging baskets that have been raised over the past three months. All hanging baskets are 12” cedar baskets, which cost $20.00 and include fuchsias, super petunias, ivy geraniums and mixed annual baskets.
Annual and perennial bedding plants range in size from 6-packs to 5” containers and cost from $1.50-$4. Plants include geraniums, petunias, lobelia, impatiens, begonias, dianthus, marigolds and others. Students are also selling several types of vegetable starts including tomatoes, pumpkins and herbs.
All proceeds go back to supporting the Career and Technical Education program at Mount Baker High School.  For additional information or questions contact Tamara Whitcomb at 383-2082 or email twhitcomb@mtbaker.wednet.edu
In other news, the Mt. Baker FFA Floriculture team places first out of 15 teams at the State Floriculture Career Development Event on April 10, 2010 in Spokane, WA at Spokane Community College.
The contest consists of problem solving, plant identification, knowledge test and team activity. High individuals  included Sara Murdock – 5th place, Ashley Quimby – 6th place, Marina Kashubin – 7th place, Irina Tikhonov – 8th place and Hannah Snavely – 22nd.  Sara and Irina are both seniors, Ashley is a junior and Marina and Hannah are both sophomores at Mt. Baker High School.
The Mt. Baker FFA members placed first at four contests they competed in this year including Spokane, Woodland, Arlington and State.  Members will compete at the National FFA Convention in Indianapolis, IN in late October.  Donations to help send these students to Indianapolis are being accepted by mailing donations to the Mt. Baker FFA Boosters at PO Box 162 Deming, WA 98244. FFA Advisor Tamara Whitcomb coached the floriculture team.

Court and Rebecca Andersen at the last day of business for Wake N Bakery at the Glacier Ski Shop location.

by Brita Adkinson
GLACIER – The Wake ‘N Bakery in Glacier had their last day of operation at the Glacier Ski Shop location on Sunday, April 25. Owners Court and Rebecca Andersen plan to move to new premises in Glacier.
When they first opened their coffee shop and bakery six years ago, they served coffee and baked goods from a cart outside the Glacier Ski Shop in Glacier. Eventually, the ski shop built an extension for the coffee shop, however, the premises has no running water. “We get the water from Graham’s Restaurant across the road,” explained Rebecca Andersen. Court Andersen does the baking at the restaurant and then hauls the baked goods and the water from there.
The Andersens appreciate the assistance they have received from Chris Collins, the owner of Graham’s Restaurant, and enjoy providing the baked goods for the restaurant’s needs, however, coffee shop customers have expressed hope that Wake ‘N Bakery will find a space where they can provide indoor seating for their customers.
“We always remain closed during May and June,” said Court Andersen, explaining that business is low at that time because the ski season has ended and the hiking season is yet to begin. In that window of time, the Andersen’s will be looking for their new premises and hope to open their business again in July.
The new location has not yet been announced.

Melious announces District 1 candidacy
BELLINGHAM – Whatcom County Planning Commission Chairwoman Jean Melious recently announced her candidacy for the District 1 Council seat. She is the second candidate to announce for the seat, also sought by Theresa Sygitowicz, of the South Fork Valley. The seat was vacated by Bob Kelly in November 2009, currently filled by Ward Nelson through 2010. Melious, of Bellingham, has served on the Planning Commission since 2007.

Ballots must be postmarked by April 27
COUNTY – The special election regarding the proposed sales tax increase to fund the Whatcom Transportation Authority is on Tuesday, April 27. Voters will decided whether to raise the sales tax in the county by two-tenths of 1 percent, which amounts to an additional two cents on a $10 purchase. Ballots should be returned by mail and postmarked by the date of the special election, or dropped off to the Auditor’s Office at the County Courthouse. Residents can also drop off ballots at local libraries on April 27.

Student film festival seeks submissions
DEMING – Mount Baker High School’s Visual Communications Club is hosting their first annual film festival on Friday, May 14 at the MBHS auditorium. The event will take place from 7-9 p.m. Videos are made by high school students from Whatcom and Skagit counties and prize winners will be chosen by the audience.Admission is $8 and includes refreshments. Any student wishing to submit a video, should contact vizcom_mbhs@hotmail.com.

Girls Go Tech Workshop at WCC
Bellingham – Whatcom Community College is offering middle school and junior high girls to participate in the Girls Go Tech workshop, an interactive approach to learning more about technology-related programs at WCC. Hands on labs, special technology speakers, and solving a mock dog-napping mystery are all part of the event, which utilizes the expertise of Whatcom’s Computer Information Systems, Administration of Justice and Visual Communications programs.The event will be held on Whatcom’s campus on Saturday, May 8 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Parents/guardians are invited to register and attend with their daughter for a $10 fee that covers a t-shirt, lunch for two, and a goodie bag. To register, call Lori Gardner at 383-3190 or lgardner@whatcom.ctc.edu.

Rural Element update to be discussed
COUNTY – The Rural Element Update will be discussed at the County Council’s Planning and Development Committee meeting on Tuesday, April 27 at 2 p.m. in the Council Chambers, 311 Grand Ave, Bellingham. This discussion is a continuation of the March 30 and April 13 meetings. This meeting will focus on options for rural residential areas. For more information, visit www.whatcomcounty.us/council/meetings/council/packet/agenda.pdf

Students organize mock car crash
DEMING – Mount Baker High School students witnessed a mock car crash on April 19, a project organized by leadership students Fred Vollmer and Shayna Boardman. Students gathered in the football stadium where EMT’s, Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office, Washington State Patrol and other agencies enacted their response to a mock car crash. Two cars were used in the mock crash with five students playing their roles in the scene. During the mock event, a helicopter arrived and air lifted one of the victims away and a funeral home picked up a student who is killed.  A driver was then put through drunken driving tests and arrested. The following day, a mock funeral was held, as well as a mock trial before the whole school.

Ski to Sea Equipment Swap on May 1
BELLINGHAM – The 1st Annual Ski to Sea Equipment Swap, in conjunction with the WAKE (Whatcom Association of Kayak Enthusiasts) Annual Demo Days, will be held on Saturday, May 1. The Equipment Swap and Kayak Demos will be held at Bloedel Donovan Park from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, May 1.Sellers may bring their outdoor recreational equipment on Friday, April 30 between 3 -6 p.m. For more information, visit www.skitosea.com.

Restaurants receive food safety awards
COUNTY – The Whatcom County Health Department announced the recipients of the Silver Platter Award for 2009, including a few east county businesses.  The award recognizes excellence in safe food handling and is given to dining establishments that achieve outstanding scores during routine food safety inspections throughout the year. To receive an award, establishments must comply with the Washington State Retail Food Code and consistently achieve excellent scores during food safety inspections conducted throughout the year. Local business winners include Camp Black Mountain, Il Caffe Rifugio, Pioneer Catering – NVHS, and Sudden Valley Coffee Shop.

—compiled by the Foothills Gazette