Soil Testing Update

The soil testing lab we use to process soil had some changes this past spring, including the requirement of more soil needed for testing. We need a 1 gallon plastic zipper bag ½ to ¾ full. Its more soil than you think so please double check. Refer to our Soil-testing page for details on the amount needed, as well as the steps to use to properly obtain soil. We’ve had to request several folks return with more soil, so please be sure you are bringing the required amount.

We accept soil on the 1st and 3rd Wednesday of the month from 9:00am to 4:00pm.

With the weather forecast showing dry, sunny conditions for the foreseeable future, the threat of wildfires is increasing in Clallam County. An often over looked threat for wildfire can occur while doing maintenance around your yard, pastures and forestlands. WA Department of Natural Resources has excellent tips to follow to help prevent this risk:

• Work in the mornings or late evenings to avoid the hottest parts of the day, and postpone your work when the weather calls for low humidity or high wind.

• Keep a water hose or bucket or fire extinguisher on hand.

• Use a nylon or plastic weed whacker line instead of metal.

• Be careful not to set a hot tool down on dry grass or leaves.

• Allow power engines to cool before refueling, and make sure the hot exhaust is kept away from dry grasses, weeds, and shrubs - only use such equipment that’s in good repair and has spark arresters installed when applicable.

• Stay home for an hour after finishing your work - this way you’ll be around to notice if anything begins to smolder and smoke.

See the WA Department of Natural Resources website for more information on prevention of wildfires.

Summer’s rising temperatures often coincide with rising outdoor water use and low flows in our rivers. Lawn and landscape water usage needs to be redefined and chosen carefully. Water efficiency at all times of the year is important, but during summertime its critical. The timing of water use can make big differences in water supplies, which directly impact our fish and farmers.

Water early in the morning or evening to help to avoid high evaporation times. This will ensure that most of the water soaks into your plants instead of evaporating. In other words, avoid watering during high sun times of the day.

Discover the beauty of a brown lawn. It’s time to redefine what makes a beautiful lawn. A green lawn requires high maintenance and high water use. Consider letting your lawn turn brown during summer months. Lawns are perennial grasses that can go dormant during the summer. Don’t worry, they will green up again in the fall with cooler weather and moisture.

When it comes to mowing, consider leaving your grass longer by raising the blade on your mower. Longer grass promotes deeper root growth, reduced evaporation, and less weeds. There are so many simple things you can do to reduce summer water use. Many more great summer lawn care tips can be found at Whatcom Water Alliance.

If you have purchased native plants at our plant sale this past March, don’t forget to water them this summer. This is their first year in the ground and you will have to help them as they acclimate to their new home. We suggest watering deeply and less often. When watering you want to make sure the water soaks in and doesn’t just run off. You should soak the plant 2 to 3 times letting the water soak in completely each time to make sure that its watered deep enough to reach the root system.

Mulch your plants! If you haven’t already be sure to mulch your plants, especially your new ones. This will help tremendously by holding moisture at the root system. It also helps prevent runoff when watering. Mulching also helps to build up organic matter in the soil. The benefits of mulching are numerous.

There are many small things that we can do that will create a big impact on water use reductions. If we work together, we can make a big difference for our water resources.

Native Plant Watering – Volunteers Needed

Clallam Conservation District is partnering with Clallam County Noxious Weed Control Board to help ensure a newly established planting of native trees, shrubs and forbs survive these dry conditions. As part of a noxious weed removal project, Clallam County Noxious Weed Control Board planted thousands of native plants to replace noxious weeds with more desirable pollinator species near Deer Park Road. Volunteers are needed to help with weekly watering of the area to ensure the over 35 species of native plants thrive. All supplies for watering will be provided.

• LOCATION: Near the Deer Park Cinema in Port Angeles

• WHEN: Every Thursday from July 21 through September 15, 2022.
  Two shifts available: 9:00AM to noon and/or 1:00-4:00PM
  (volunteers are welcome to sign up for every week, or just one day)

• ADDITIONAL INFO: Registration is required due to limited space. REGISTER HERE.

It’s time to start keeping a close eye out for tansy ragwort (Senecio jacobaea), as it is beginning to bloom. This is a plant you definitely don’t want to let go to seed as it will rapidly spread and get out of control.

Tansy ragwort is a biennial plant, spending its first year of life as a rosette with ruffled dark green leaves, making it hard to identify since it doesn’t flower in this stage of life. During the second year it becomes much more obvious, sending up one or more stems with bright yellow flowers that stand one to four feet tall at maturity. It typically begins blooming in late June or July, and will often bloom all summer long through the early fall.

Tansy ragwort is very invasive, especially in overgrazed pasture settings, and is very TOXIC. It can be lethal to horses and livestock in both pasture settings, and dried in hay, causing irreversible liver damage. The toxic properties are also a threat to humans, as milk from livestock or honey from bees can become contaminated by animals and insects that utilize tansy ragwort plants.

Pulling is a very effective means of control, however wear gloves if doing so as it is also reported to be phototoxic and can cause skin irritation or burns if skin that has had contact with sap is exposed to the sun.

For more information on identification and control, please review Clallam County Noxious Weed Control Board’s fact sheet. Also be sure to follow us on Facebook for weekly posts with alerts on invasive and noxious weeds.

For assistance with pasture management techniques to help control tansy ragwort and other pasture weeds, please contact Clallam Conservation District or visit our Conservation on the Farm page.

Exciting news!!! We recently worked with Washington State University (WSU) to help find a location for an AgWeatherNet station in Port Angeles near Lincoln Park. This station logs weather variables including air temperature, humidity, dew point temperature, soil temperature and moisture, rainfall, wind speed, wind direction, and solar radiation. If you are a farmer or gardener read on for more information on how this data can help advise your irrigation decisions.

The AgWeatherNet program is managed by WSU, and provides access to current and historical weather data from automated weather stations across the state. Access the AgWeatherNet stations in Clallam County at: weather.wsu.edu (we apologize this link isn’t live. For access to WSU’s weather site, it can’t be linked.)

AgWeatherNet data may be accessed and retrieved free of charge at the above link without registering for an account, but access to data for Guest Users is limited to the publicly available tools on the web page. Registered Users who login have the privilege of accessing the entire AgWeatherNet data set through the web based tools that are provided upon login. Users can sign up for advisories and customized weather alerts to help improve production, optimize resource use and reduce environmental impacts.

Registered users also have access to Irrigation Scheduler Mobile, an amazing tool that will help advise when to irrigate based on local weather station data and your irrigation data. And not to worry, while there might not be an AgWeatherNet station in your area yet, we are working with WSU to help them locate a few sites to install weather stations on the western side of Clallam County. We’ll keep you posted as new sites are installed.

Free Clothing Repair Workshop

Missing a button? Belt too big? Elastic no longer fantastic? In effort to reduce waste, join the Forks Clothing Bank & Disaster Relief for a FREE Clothing Repair Workshop to learn how to mend and alter your clothing so you can save money and keep clothing out of the landfill. Bring your damaged or ill-fitting clothing to the workshop and learn how to fix it. Basic tools, including sewing machines, will be available for use, and volunteers will be on hand to help.

• LOCATION: Forks Clothing Bank, 181 Bogachiel Way, Forks, WA

• WHEN: July 27 (Wed) from 1:00PM to 4:00PM

• WHY: Americans throw away an astonishing 80 pounds per person of clothing every year, not only leading to an enormous amount of waste being generated, but also depleting valuable resources during their production and leading to greenhouse gas emissions. Repairing or altering your clothes is an excellent way to help stop this waste generating cycle, save you money, and let you keep wearing your favorite clothes. For more tips on ways you can help reduce the waste generated by discarded clothing and textiles, visit SwagCycle.

• ADDITIONAL INFO: The thrift shop will be open during the event — buying secondhand is almost as good as repair for keeping items out of the landfill!

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