Quarry & how we respond

(CSA Newsletter: Week 22)

Meet this week’s vegetables:

  • Broccoli — If you loved last week’s big share of broccoli, you’ll love this week’s second big share of broccoli. Try it roasted, sautéed, blanched in a pasta salad, every way!
  • Sugar snap peas — Another big bag of sweet edible pod peas!
  • Swiss chard — Giant bunches of beautiful lush green chard. I’ve included a recipe for those who need more chard ideas.
  • Cabbage — This summer cabbage is tender enough to eat in cole slaw but would also be perfectly good in any cooked cabbage recipe.
  • Red butter lettuce
  • Carrots
  • Sweet onion

As you know, this spring and early summer, we’ve had more than just beets and babies on our minds. Unfortunately, we’ve been trying to navigate how to respond to the gravel quarry application on Grand Island.

It’s been an interesting journey. We’ve approached it from several angles — we’ve had some good discussions with representatives from the rock company itself. As a result, they extended the list of conditions that would accompany a change in zoning status and be legally binding for any future quarry operators on the site (addressing things like hours and days of operation, number of trucks on the road, and other useful limits).

We felt somewhat better about a possible quarry after receiving these ‘concessions;’ however, the big concern still lingered … this is the second quarry application on Grand Island in less than ten years. If this quarry is approved, over one-eight of this small agricultural island’s land will have been converted from exclusive farm-use to mineral extraction. What’s stopping a third, fourth or fifth quarry from applying? When does our island stop being a great place to farm and live?

This fear of a slippery slope has kept us fighting. It’s hard to know how useful it is to bring up our concerns, since the Yamhill County Planning Department has twice recommended approval of the application. The cynical side of me can’t help but notice that approval is a much easier choice than denial in this particular scenario. There are a lot of complicated legal reasons why it’s difficult to deny a gravel quarry in the Willamette Valley, but it is possible and should be done when a quarry will have significant negative impacts on surrounding farms — which we believe this quarry will.

We and other farmers and concerned citizens made our case as such at two hearings in front the Yamhill County Planning Commission this spring; and last Thursday their vote gave us hope that we’re being heard — they voted five to two to deny the application.

Their decision to deny the application only creates a recommendation — we still need the Yamhill County Commissioners to hear our case and be similarly sympathetic. That’s the next goal, which we’re preparing for now. This time around, the more voices in opposition, the better.

As Jim Johnson from the Oregon Department of Agriculture pointed out last week to Grand Island residents: “In planning decisions, the squeaky wheel gets the grease.” We hope to be as squeaky as possible over the next few weeks, and we’d like your help. If you care about Grand Island’s farming future, please take a moment to comment and voice your opposition to the quarry application.

You can voice your opposition publicly by writing a letter to the editor of the News-Register. Letters should be 300 words or less and emailed to letters@newsregister.com. Include your full name, address and daytime phone number for verification.

You can also submit written testimony to the Yamhill County Planning Department (525 NE 4th St, McMinnville, OR 97128). If you do so, remember to include the application number: PAZ-01-10/WRG-01-10. This week or next, we’ll be stapling a pre-stamped postcard to the paper newsletter that will allow you to submit your comments easily.

And, of course, if you feel strongly and have time, we’d love for you to testify in person at the Commissioner meeting — even if all you do is stand up and say, “I agree with the Grand Island farmers. I’m a citizen of Yamhill County, and I think this is important.”

… and, while I’m providing updates, I also wanted to make a quick note about how everyone’s fields are faring after the high water event of June. Our employee Jeff and his wife Carri’s crops that went under water for a week ended up surviving amazingly well.
You can still see a line where the high water mark was — the crops that were under water are smaller than those that were not (as far as we can tell, the difference in size is primarily because the crops under water didn’t have an opportunity to grow during that time, so they’re just “behind” the others). Their tomatoes didn’t fare as well, but fortunately they had many that didn’t go under.

We realized last week that we too suffered some damage, even though we didn’t realize it at the time. A section of our winter squash planting is lower and was affected when the ground water came up under it and prevented our newly sown seeds from germinating.

We now have a very large round hole in the middle of the planting that effectively cuts our entire winter squash planting down to less than half the number of plants we intended. Some of those seeds are germinating now, but they’re going to be so far behind the other plants that we’re not sure if they’ll produce mature fruit by the first frost. We’ll just have to wait and see and hope that the unaffected plants produce prolifically this year!

The quote on our Farm Bureau calendar for the month of July is from Will Rogers: “The farmer has to be an optimist or he wouldn’t still be a farmer.” Given what I’ve written about in this week’s newsletter, I suppose that’s an accurate sentiment.

Our farm is very much alive and thriving, in every sense, but it’s also true that we live constantly on a sharp edge of threats to our livelihood — both the daily vagaries of weather and the bigger impacts posed by development pressure and land-use decisions.

Yes, these threats are real, yet I can honestly say that Casey and I go about our daily work joyfully (the vast majority of the time anyway). Once upon a time, a ‘long’ time ago (i.e. 2006), when we started our farm, I viscerally felt the uncertainty of what we were trying to do. Farming for a living seemed like a fool’s goal, especially when we both held multiple degrees and had hirable skills in professions like teaching and scientific research.

However, things have changed since then. We’ve seen our peers struggle to find jobs in the professional world or get laid off from jobs that seemed great just a few years ago. These are different times, and I no longer think that Casey and I are unique in feeling that our livelihood is constantly ‘on the edge.’

In fact, more and more, I think that this feeling is probably the reality of life — during boom times, we just have the excitement of growth and prosperity to buffer us from that reality. There are reasons why people across faiths have traditionally prayed phrases such as “Give us this day our daily bread.”

Casey and I have much to be thankful for in our life and work: our work itself is pleasurable and rewarding; we’ve been able to save money to provide a cushion in case of real crisis; we have a beautiful healthy baby son; and we have a wonderful diverse community of interesting and supportive individuals.

But, of course, our thankfulness for these things is no reason to stop fighting to preserve our home and farm on Grand Island — it is all the more incentive to fight as hard as ever. Our opposition is a prayer of thankfulness.

Enjoy this week’s vegetables!

Your farmers, Katie & Casey Kulla

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