“When it all comes down you’ve got to go back to Mother Earth,” Memphis Slim, 1951.
If you visit the Northeast Washington Farmer’s Market in downtown Colville on Wednesday mornings, you might buy vegetables or seeds from Chrys Ostrander of BZ Farm, officially named the BZ Permaculture Farm Collective based at the Bezaleel Israel Eco-Village. What you get is not just food from another market garden. You get food permaculturally-grown from the Cedar Creek Valley on Deep Lake – Boundary Road near the Canadian border.
Early settlers there would have moved into what is essentially a swamp. A forest of cedar trees and a long wetland fed water into Cedar Lake south of the farm. To farm this land, settlers had to remove the trees and drain the wetland with ditches so grass would grow to feed cattle, the long-time product of the valley. That would have been the first of many transitions the valley went through in the last century.
Under the flat surface of the valley floor is over 14 feet of histosol. “Histosols are soils that are made up of mostly organic materials, such as fallen plant material, and are often called bogs, moors, peats, or mucks.” (nrcs.usda.gov) It is extremely rich topsoil. Water lies under the surface. Rich soil and water are the blessing and curse of the BZ farm. You might be thinking “What could go wrong with that combination? It sounds perfect.” In a lot of ways, it is.
Under the flat surface of the valley floor is over 14 feet of histosol. “Histosols are soils that are made up of mostly organic materials, such as fallen plant material, and are often called bogs, moors, peats, or mucks.” (nrcs.usda.gov) It is extremely rich topsoil. Water lies under the surface. Rich soil and water are the blessing and curse of the BZ farm. You might be thinking “What could go wrong with that combination? It sounds perfect.” In a lot of ways, it is.
Bezaleel Israel bought the farm 35 years ago after looking at around a hundred other pieces of land. Good soil was a priority. Preserving that soil, living off the property and off the grid were also priorities. BZ is a good mechanic, inventor and equipment operator. He soon became interested in Permaculture,” the development of agricultural ecosystems intended to be sustainable and self-sufficient.” (Wikipedia) He could earn enough doing construction and using his equipment to help neighbors to make a living and improve his own property.
One of the many principles of Permaculture is the use of closed loop systems which when speaking about the environment, refers to the ideal where nothing is wasted. BZ developed an extensive water system, roads, housing, utility buildings and garden beds with deep fertile soil. As an inventor and mechanic, the no-waste principle often ended up meaning not letting go of any machinery that could be put to other uses. Over time, it manifested itself as a lot of vehicles and parts lying around, a downside of reusing everything.
Good soil in a wet, cold place also has its downsides. Fungus and mold develop easily. Weeds spring up with the least provocation. Trial and error helped BZ select crops and techniques that overcame those challenges. Keeping the seeds from his crops ensured self-sufficiency, improved the crops themselves and now provides another source of income through on-line seed sales.
Domestic animals help recycle crop and weed residue into even more fertility. Special animals like Ancona ducks and Nubian goats contribute to the biome. Keeping them alive is a challenge in a homestead carved out of the wilderness where coyotes, bobcats, cougars, bears, and wolves prowl the night looking for a meal. Every living thing is locked inside after dark but wild animals are seldom killed. Range cattle are also a threat. The farm needs more fencing.
Using Permaculture principles, thinned trees become fence poles and building material. Mowed grass becomes mulch. Ponds hold water for irrigation and livestock. Compost feeds worms and builds soil diversity. Cover crops preserve nutrients for new plantings to feed on. Besides a community of crops and animals, the farm strives to support a community of people– the other half of permaculture. This style of hands-on farming needs a lot of hands.
The valley that transitioned from swamp to ranchland is now transitioning into retirement homes for senior citizens who raise few if any cattle. In a lot it ways, the state of the valley reflects the state of the world. There is still plenty of work for younger people, but land and housing are not cheap. BZ and Chrys are aging out of intensive labor too. But what they may lack in longevity, they make up many times over in knowledge and experience in this particular place which they are eager to pass on. This combination of a love for the land and a need for more hands lead them to their current mission, finding partners to transition from a single-handed farm to an eco-community.
The idea is to provide a home for themselves and a younger generation while preserving the organic and self-sufficient nature of the farm. They are putting this into practice by transitioning the property into a permaculture community land trust. They both have a lot of experience with communities. Chrys lived for 20 years at Tolstoy Farm near Davenport and Bezaleel Israel got his name as a member of the Love Family, both ‘hippy’ communes with their origins in the sixties’ back-to-the-land movement. Like finding the right crops and the right techniques to make a farm work, finding the right rules and legal framework to make a community healthy for all its members is no easy task. There is potential for a small number of people to move into permanent residency there. Trying it out for oneself and for the group as a whole amounts to an apprenticeship program. The permanent residents will make up the Village Collective of the future. The vision includes working out the details and the broader goals with input from everyone involved. One size does not fit all or fit forever. We are all in transitions of our own. You can learn more about this place at bzfarm.org.