SOUNDER THE ISLANDS’
Serving Orcas, Lopez and San Juan County
Cancer awareness special – page 10 & 11
WEDNESDAY, October 14, 2015 VOL. 48, NO. 41 75¢ islandssounder.com
The next frontier of agriculture Community farming group starts on Orcas by COLLEEN SMITH ARMSTRONG Editor/Publisher
Colleen Smith Armstrong/Staff Photos
Above: Some of the members of Orcas Community Participatory Agriculture: Front row: Kimberly Worthington, Kelly Rose, Jane Gray, Caitlin Herlihy and Zackarya Leck. Back row: Emmet Woods and Patrick Bennett. Not pictured: Kaj Enderlein, Ken Katz, Serena Burman, Keely Scott, Jacob Brownwood, Niky Rohreke, Nanci Paluzzi, Erica Ekrem, James Ferraris, Victoria and Bathan Shaner. There are currently 10 families in the program. They put in weekly shifts at a community garden and bring home a bag of produce to enjoy. At left: Victoria Shaner and her daughter Cora working in the community participatory garden.
Many have the desire to grow their own food but lack the space or camaraderie to do it. A group of islanders is hoping to change that with the Orcas Community Participatory Agriculture project, a locally based model of agriculture, education and food distribution. The purpose is to empower people to be creators, not just consumers, of the food they eat. “It’s a collaborative dream,” said Patrick Bennett, one of the founders. “Gardening by yourself is limiting. When you bring in more participants, it deepens the possibilities.” Land host Kaj Enderlein had leased a portion of his land on Cadden Lane to farmers in past years, but in early 2014, he and a group of friends – Bennett, Caitlin Herlihy, Ken Katz and a rotating cast of food enthusiasts – decided to try something different with the one acre of fenced garden area. The group created blocks of 25-foot long beds. After initial cover cropping and tractor cultivation, they laid down a sheet mulch – a layered mulching technique using cardboard, composted manure and grass clippings. While it required a great deal of material and labor, by focusing on the soil – the foundation of the project – it saved work down the line. At the end of the 2014 season, the group realized they had accomplished something worth sharing. Herlihy says the time was right for the program to grow, citing the need for land access, co-education, community, and islandgrown food. The group held a series of meetings to flesh out the next steps. In 2015, they invited six more families to the garden, set up a board of directors, became a state non-profit and joined Island Stewards, an organization that works to support groups dedicated to environmental stewardship. The OCPA received start up grants from the Orcas Island Garden Club, the
SEE FARM, PAGE 6
Two running in fire commission race by MEREDITH M. GRIFFITH Sounder contributor
Candidates for the Orcas Island Fire and Rescue commission and the Orcas Island Recreation District commission shared their views last week at a League of Women Voters forum.
Orcas Fire and Rescue Wesley Heinmiller is running against Julie Ann Remington, a long-time fire department volunteer who remembers being one of the department’s first two female volunteers. Heinmiller has past experience as commodore of the Orcas Island Yacht Club, chair of the Deer Harbor Plan Review
Committee, member of the San Juan County Marine Resource Committee and president of the Driftwood Condominium Association. Heinmiller emphasized a desire for the fire commissioners to meet bi-monthly with the fire chief to maintain good communication and support. He said he foresees the biggest challenge facing the department to be the cost recovery program. Remington said communications has been the department’s biggest challenge for the past ten-plus years, citing existing “hit-and-miss radio” communications as inferior to broadband. She believes longtime experience to be the most important trait in
a potential commissioner; while Heinmiller spoke of the ability to read budgets and maintain open lines of communication with the constituency. Queried about making the role transition from volunteer to a more managerial role as commissioner, Remington spoke of her past work in facilitating a meeting to help fire department volunteers voice concerns during a period of turmoil with an outgoing chief. “I’ve been on a lot of calls,” she said, “ and people [in the department] trust me with their lives.” Heinmiller in turn emphasized his experience with fiscal responsibility and his ability to handle budgets. As for their top priorities for
the fire department, both emphasized maintaining and continuing to improve the current high level of service. Heinmiller cited a rising call volume as a challenge to overcome, saying the department has received over 900 calls to date in 2015, a number not reached last year until the end of December. While both candidates noted that the chief is hired by and accountable to the commissioners, Remington was careful to emphasize that the commission “does not interfere with fire operations and programs.” She closed by expressing confidence in the competence of the fire department as a whole, saying, “The level of service will
SEE FORUM, PAGE 6
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