Updates From The Farm
Plant of the Week- March 23
Tall Oregon Grape! Right now, one of the showiest plants in bloom is Tall Oregon Grape, Mahonia aquifolium. Our area is native to 3 species of Mahonia, and Tall Oregon Grape is the most widespread of these. This remarkable evergreen shrub will grow in sun or partial...
Plant of the Week- March 16
Strawberries! Why are we talking about strawberries in March? Because it is the perfect time to to plant! Planting bare root strawberry crowns while they are dormant is easy and economical. And, if you plant day-neutral varieties, you'll get fruit this summer!...
Plant of the Week- March 9
Pieris japonica - Pieris or Japanese Andromeda Pieris is a broadleaf evergreen shrub in the heather family, Ericacaea. This particular species is native to eastern China, Taiwan and Japan, where it grows as an understory in mountain forests. Like many plants in this...
Plant of the Week- March 3
A feature we hope to run through the year- Plant of the Week. We want to introduce you to some interesting plants that are excellent for our Northwest gardens and landscapes. This week: Azara microphylla Boxleaf azara is a broadleaf evergreen that is uncommon in local...
What a winter it has been!
It is now the last week of February, and throughout Whatcom County, we are seeing early plums in bloom, buds on cherries and peaches swelling, and even pears showing signs of waking up. Should we be worried? Here at Cloud Mountain Our greatest fear is that the skies...
Peppers! By Celeste Monke
‘Tis the season. Temperatures are high and the hothouse fruits are fruiting. This furry fellow still has some days to go, but should turn into a spicy 2” beast with a heat level somewhere between Serranos and Cayenne. A furry pepper you ask? Yes. It’s a Rocoto pepper,...
Participatory Pollinators by Eli
My initial idea for an intern project for the year was to keep mason bees in home-made nests and try to overwinter them on the farm. If it was successful the farm could possibly reduce or eliminate the honeybee hives we pay to bring in each spring, thereby...
The Compost Post by Michael Deitering
Here at Cloud Mountain, many hours have been dedicated to discussing how to improve the soils, and what improvement even means. By organic standards, the goal is to “manage plant and animal materials to maintain or improve soil organic matter content in a manner that...
Orchard Groundcover Project, By Janaki Kilgore
As an intern at Cloud Mountain Farm Center I have the privilege to consider the big picture of dynamic food systems, sustainability and community. The focus on long-term well-being of the farm and the watershed it inhabits must consider soil health as the backbone of...
Internship Go!
Our 2014 interns have arrived, and we’re already through the first two weeks of the thirty-five exciting weeks of education! The interns engage in one full day of education each week while doing correlating work on the farm the other four days. In these first few...
An old fruit most people have never tried: Quince
As autumn deepens, we're all enjoying the fall harvest; apples and pears, winter squash, cider and quince... What the heck is quince??? Quince is a very old fruit, closely related to pears. It is native to Southeast Asia, mainly Turkey and Iran, but has been grown...
Intern Projects: Working towards Sustainability, #4
Intern Profile: Chris Henderson Chris broke from an eight-year career as a wind energy engineer in Seattle to come to Cloud Mountain as a full-time farming intern. During his undergraduate years studying engineering at Michigan State University, Chris became active in...