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CapitalPress.com
November 17, 2017
People & Places
Farming with Mother Nature
Dede Boies raises
heritage breeds
organically
For the Capital Press
Western
Innovator
Dede Boies
Hometown: Pescadero
Calif.
Age: 39
Occupation: Owner-farmer,
Root Down Farm
Education: Ursinus Univer-
sity, Collegeville, Pa.
Courtesy of Frederica Armstrong
Dede Boies, of Root Down Farm near Pescadero, Calif., with her livestock guardian dog, Bunny. The
dog guards the farm’s heritage turkeys, chickens, pigs and ducks from predators.
environmental sustainability
standards designed to ensure
animals live in “a state of
physical and psychological
well-being” from the pasture
to the slaughterhouse.
“All the animals have their
unique challenges, but I would
say the Standard Bronze tur-
keys are the hardest to raise,”
she said. “They grow slow-
er and are incredibly curious
animals that really push the
boundaries.” They reach matu-
rity in seven months.
Customers order their birds
online and pick them up at
the farm the weekend before
Thanksgiving, she said.
She also raises New Hamp-
shire, Delaware, Barred Plym-
outh Rock and Red Rang-
er chickens — all heritage
breeds. They eat bugs, grubs,
and grass on the pastures, and
Boies supplements their diet
with organic grain.
“My mission is to humane-
ly raise the healthiest animals
possible while working with-
in the ecosystem to responsi-
bly steward the land,” Boies
said. “The farm focuses on
the strong genetics of heritage
breed livestock to ensure the
animals grow at a normal rate
while thriving outside on pas-
ture.”
Marcy Coburn is exec-
utive director of the Center
for Urban Education about
Sustainable Agriculture, a
nonprofit that is dedicated to
cultivating a sustainable food
system through the operation
of farmers’ markets and ed-
ucational programs. She rec-
ognized Boies’ contributions
to the organization’s farmers
markets, which are three days
a week at the Ferry Plaza on
the Embarcadero in San Fran-
cisco and once a week at Jack
London Square in Oakland.
“Dede Boies and the ranch-
ing she is doing are incredibly
important to the future of agri-
culture in California,” she said.
“Boies is a part of the next
generation of young farmers
who carry the legacy of our
pioneering organic farmers
to care for the land, conserve
natural resources and bring
healthy food to our tables
week after week.”
Boies sells at the CUESA
farmers’ market, Coburn said,
and educates customers “about
her hands-on, and humane, an-
imal livestock operation.”
She also hosts tours and
educational events at her farm.
Boies said business is bus-
tling but there are challenges
to working in California agri-
culture.
“Weather — the intense
dryness last year and a huge
amount of rain earlier this
year” were difficult to deal
with, she said. Also, “farmland
is becoming cost-prohibitive.
Farms have been lost to de-
velopers and parties that can
afford the high prices.
“Predators are a problem
because we live in their back-
yard,” she said. “We have to
find a balance with Mother
Nature and the most humane
way to work in the ecosys-
tem.”
Unique ‘brewery-raising’ at abbey
By BRENNA WIEGAND
For the Capital Press
MT. ANGEL, Ore. — Sat-
urday morning, 100 workers
— the majority of them monks
and seminarians — assembled
near Mount Angel Abbey for a
barn-raising.
Or, more accurately, a
brewery-raising.
They raised the frame of
the abbey’s new Benedictine
Brewery. The job was finished
by 5 p.m.
The
3,000-square-foot
brewery and tap room will be
built almost solely of logs har-
vested on abbey property.
The abbey was established
in 1882 by Swiss monks, who
settled on 300 pastoral acres
atop a butte east of Mt. Angel
in the Willamette Valley.
They built a community
and purchased 600 acres in the
Cascade foothills, where they
planted Douglas fir trees 100
years ago.
“They were 200 feet tall,”
volunteer John Gooley said.
“The first 160 feet there were
no limbs, so we got a lot of
Calendar
Brenna Wiegand/For the Capital Press
Volunteers raise the frame of the Benedictine Brewery on the
Mount Angel Abbey grounds. No nails were used in the construc-
tion of the frame. The brewery is expected to help the monks
achieve self-sufficiency.
clear wood.”
Eight truckloads, to be ex-
act. With others, Gooley began
calling contacts made over a
42-year career with Withers
Lumber. Hull-Oakes Lumber
Co. in Monroe, Ore., milled
the entire order in exchange
for one truckload. Freres Lum-
ber in Lyons transported a full
Sponsored by:
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home page of our website at www.
capitalpress.com and click on “Sub-
mit an Event.” Calendar items can
also be mailed to Capital Press,
1400 Broadway St. NE, Salem, OR
97301 or emailed to newsroom@
capitalpress.com. Write “Calendar”
in the subject line.
Saturday, Nov. 18
Women in Agriculture Confer-
ence. The 2017 conference is a one-
day event held simultaneously in 39
locations. Washington: Bremerton,
Chehalis, Colville, Coupeville, Des
Moines, Elma, Everett, Goldendale,
Mount Vernon, Nespelem, Olympia,
Pasco, Port Angeles, Pullman, Ray-
mond, Republic, Ritzville, Spokane,
Vancouver, Walla Walla, Wenatchee
and Yakima. Idaho: Bonners Ferry,
Caldwell, McCall, Salmon, Sand-
point and Twin Falls. Oregon: La
Grande, Redmond, Roseburg,
Salem and The Dalles. Montana:
Broadus, Great Falls and Missoula.
Alaska: Delta Junction, Fairbanks
and Palmer. Website: www.Wome-
nInAg.wsu.edu
Saturday-Sunday
Nov. 18-19
Thanksgiving “Before & After”
Weekend Festivals. 11 a.m.-5 p.m.
Redhawk Vineyard & Winery, 2995
Michigan City Lane NW, Salem, Ore.
Join us for wine and barrel tasting,
delicious food and our incredible
Established 1928
Board of directors
Mike Forrester
Steve Forrester
Kathryn Brown
Susan Rana
Mike Omeg
Corporate Officer
Heidi Wright
Chief Operating Officer
By JULIA HOLLISTER
PESCADERO, Calif. —
Dede Boies says the road from
growing up on the East Coast
to operating an organic farm
on the California coast was
long and winding.
“After college I wanted to
learn more about growing food
so I signed up for a world-wide
work exchange program,” she
said. “Host farms offered room
and board in exchange for
working on the farm. I learned
about vegetable farming on the
big island of Hawaii, and in
New Zealand I learned about
raising animals.”
Boies began searching the
Bay Area for a farm, prefera-
bly one owned by a nonprofit
educational organization.
Her quest came to fruition
in 2013 with Root Down Farm.
“The 62-acre farm is
owned by the Peninsula Open
Space Trust,” she said. POST
protects and cares for open
space in and around the Sil-
icon Valley south of the Bay
Area. Since it was founded in
1977, the nonprofit has pro-
tected more than 75,000 acres
in three counties.
POST sent out a request for
proposals for new tenants, and
Boies’ proposal was accepted.
“I raise chickens, ducks,
turkeys and pigs,” she said.
The ranch is certified
through Animal Welfare Ap-
proved, a program with rig-
orous animal welfare and
Capital Press
view. We will be serving our popular
tri-tip sandwiches, Betty’s famous
butternut squash soup, homemade
sausage, smoked salmon pate and
cheeses. Meet the winemaker, sam-
ple our current selection of wines
and barrel taste a future release. All
included with $10 tasting fee. Web-
site: redhawkwine.com
Friday-Sunday
Nov. 24-26
Thanksgiving “Before & After”
Weekend Festivals. 11 a.m.-5 p.m.
Redhawk Vineyard & Winery, 2995
Michigan City Lane NW, Salem, Ore.
Join us for wine and barrel tasting,
delicious food and our incredible
view. We will be serving our popular
tri-tip sandwiches, Betty’s famous
butternut squash soup, homemade
sausage, smoked salmon pate and
cheeses. Meet the winemaker, sam-
ple our current selection of wines
and barrel taste a future release. All
included with $10 tasting fee. Web-
site: redhawkwine.com
Tuesday Nov. 28
Developing or Expanding Your
Farm Stand or Agritourism Opera-
tion. 5-8 p.m. OSU Extension, Audi-
torium, SOREC, 569 Hanley Road,
Central Point, Ore. Are you inter-
ested in developing or expanding a
farm stand or agritourism operation?
A 4-class series on the subject be-
gins Nov. 28. Sign up for one class
or all four: Nov. 28 is Understanding
Regulations and Licenses for Farm
semi-load of wood.
Universal Forest Products,
New Energy Works Timber
Frame Homes and others also
became involved.
The timber was harvested,
cut, dried, milled using mor-
tise and tenon joinery, which is
secured with wooden pegs —
an age-old traditional craft —
and prepared for a seamless,
no-hammer, no-saw construc-
tion. This saved the abbey as
much as $100,000.
“It was really awesome,”
Gooley said. “We ended up
with about 26,000 board-feet
of lumber; there were even
logs left over. We cut all of
their siding, too.”
Construction should be
complete in March or April, at
which time Benedictine Brew-
ery will begin hosting guests
and expanding their beer reper-
toire. Until now it has consisted
of Black Habit, a dark beer, and
Saint Benedict, which is pale,
brewed at Seven Brides Brew-
ing in nearby Silverton.
Abbey procurator and brew
master Father Martin Gras-
sel has worked closely with
Abbey Enterprises Manager
Chris Jones on the brewery. It
will be run by Grassel and Fa-
ther Jacob Stronach, an intern
at Seven Brides and Benedic-
tine breweries. Their new cus-
tom-made 5-barrel system has
been waiting in the wings.
Benedictine monks in Eu-
rope have been brewing beer
for more than 1,000 years. In
the Middle Ages they supplied
beer to the locals because the
water was often undrinkable,
and breweries became part of
the character of monasteries.
“There’s a vision form-
ing for what we want here,”
Grassel said. “We hope people
come to our taproom to seek
and enjoy good beer, but we
also want them to experience
something of who we are. …
It’s all for the kingdom of God
and our brewery must be ori-
ented to that.
“Everybody’s got a brand;
everybody’s got a unique
character, and ours has to be
consistent with who we are as
monks,” he said.
Part of that is self-suffi-
ciency through work, and if
they didn’t think the brewery
was going to be profitable they
wouldn’t be doing it, he said.
“We don’t want another
operation you have to raise
money for,” Grassel said. “Li-
braries and schools don’t make
money and we expect the
brewery to help support us —
or at least break even.”
GASES / WELDING / SAFETY / FIRE
www.oxarc.com
Stands and Agritourism Operations.
Dec. 13 is Social Media Training for
Small Farms, Jan. 10 is Accepting
Food Stamps/SNAP/EBT at a Farm
Stand or CSA and Feb. 6 is Starting
a Farm Stand/Agritourism Opera-
tion. Website: http://bit.ly/JacksonS-
mallFarms
Tuesday-Thursday
Nov. 28-30
Montana Grain Growers Associa-
tion Convention and Trade Show. Best
Western Heritage Inn, 1700 Fox Farm
Road, Great Falls, Mont. With nearly
900 in attendance, a dynamic and edu-
cational agenda, and a full trade show
with over 70 exhibitors, the MGGA
Convention is one of Montana’s larg-
est agricultural gatherings. Website:
mgga@mgga.org
Tuesday-Friday
Nov. 28-Dec. 1
Oregon Water Resources Con-
gress Annual Conference. Best
Western Hood River Inn, 1108 E
Marina Drive, Hood River, Ore.
Website: https://owrc.org/
Wednesday-Friday
Nov. 29-Dec. 1
Farm Fair Ag and Tradeshow.
Eastern Oregon Trade and Event
Center, 1705 E. Airport Road, Herm-
iston, Ore. The event is a partner-
ship with the Hermiston Chamber
of Commerce and the Oregon State
University Hermiston Agriculture Re-
20 Northwest Locations
search and Extension Center. Local
and regional agriculture-related busi-
nesses will display their services and
products both inside and outside the
center. Topics and sessions include
the Oregon Bee Project, Pollinator
Workshop, Pesticides, Water, Potato
Production, Organic Session, Cereal
Session and more. Website: herm-
istonchamber.com
Thursday, Nov. 30
Four-Part Farm and Ranch
Succession Workshop 6-8:30 p.m.
Online or Clackamas Community
College Harmony Campus, 7738
SE Harmon Road, Milwaukie, Ore.
Learn from an attorney, an accoun-
tant, an appraiser, a banker, the di-
rector of Oregon State University’s
Austin Family Business Program
and farmers who’ve been through
the process. Receive free one-on-
one succession counseling sessions
between each event. Part three
of four parts. Cost: Free. Website:
http://bit.ly/2elYcPx
Saturday, Dec. 2
NE Washington Haygrowers As-
sociation 2017 annual meeting. 8:30
a.m.-3 p.m. Deer Park Diesel, 4608
Wallbridge Road, Clayton, Wash.
Two pesticide applicator recertifica-
tion credits available. Cost: $20-$30
Sunday-Wednesday
Dec. 3-6
California Farm Bureau Annual
Meeting. Hyatt Regency Orange
1-800-765-9055
County, 11999 Harbor Blvd., Gar-
den Grove. Website: http://www.
cfbf.com/am2017
Monday-Thursday
Dec. 4-7
How to Raise Free-Range
or Pasture Poultry. 9:30 a.m.-4
p.m. University of California-Da-
vis. Prospective, beginner or in-
termediate farmers interested in
raising poultry flocks on pasture
or free-range are invited to attend
poultry workshops. The lessons
will apply to both egg-laying hens
and broilers. UC Agriculture and
Natural Resources, the National
Center for Appropriate Technology
and the Farmer Veteran Coalition
have partnered to provide train-
ing for military veterans who are
embarking on careers in farming,
but all farmers are welcome to the
workshops. Each day will include
90 minutes of networking oppor-
tunities with other beginning farm-
ers. The registration fee is $80 and
includes lunch. Website: http://
ucanr.edu/newpoultryfarmer
Tuesday, Dec. 5
Wheat U. Spokane Conven-
tion Center, 334 W. Spokane Falls
Blvd., Spokane, Wash. Wheat U is
a farmer-focused event that pro-
vides resources to make informed
production decisions. Sponsored
by BASF, Capital Press, High
Country Journal. Website: whea-
tu.com
Capital Press Managers
Joe Beach ..................Editor & Publisher
Elizabeth Yutzie Sell .... Advertising Director
Carl Sampson ................Managing Editor
Jessica Boone ........ Production Manager
Samantha McLaren .... Circulation Manager
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Index
California ...............................11
Idaho ...................................... 9
Markets ............................... 13
Opinion .................................. 6
Oregon ................................ 10
Washington ........................... 8
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