In 2016, 28 CAHNRS undergraduate and graduate students in Crop and Soil Sciences, Horticulture, Agricultural and Food Systems, and Biological Systems Engineering attended the annual Tilth Conference in Wenatchee, Wash. There, they met hundreds of Northwest farmers and producers and learned about sustainable farms and food.
Since then, students have written about their Tilth discoveries and topics of interest in a series of blog posts on the Center for Sustainability and Natural Resources‘ Perspectives on Sustainability blog.
Recent articles by Crystal Allen, Corina Serban, Janel Davisson, Brendon Anthony and Tariq Khalil explored animal power as an alternative to machines; manure use on small farms; building intergenerational connections; farm incubator programs; and other topics.
For Zachary Frederick, doctoral student in Plant Pathology, writing the blog post helped him learn new ways to share information with different audiences.
In his soon-to-be-published blog post, Frederick is writing about the agro-ecology of hedgerows. He explores this ancient form of farming, “using the hedge as a living, tangled barrier against other people, animals, and encroachment from the woods.”
The combination of history and agriculture has always been a side interest, says Frederick.
“In places like Normandy in northern France, hedgerows got so tall and thick a tank needed special modifications on the front to be able to shear through them,” he writes. “The modern practice creates less fortress-like hedges, but they still flower to attract pollinators, serve as a barrier against blowing dust, and house beneficial insects.”
Read their articles here: http://csanr.wsu.edu/category/blog/.