THE SOUTHERN WILLAMETTE VALLEY BEAN AND GRAIN PROJECT
We hear the slogan "eat local" over and over again, but what does it really mean? It's more than just eating fresher food. It's about preserving local food systems. It's about food security and common sense management of the pantry. Here in Oregon's Willamette Valley we have the agricultural potential to feed the valley residents twice over. And yet we grow rye grass and fescue for grass seed and ninety-five percent of what we eat in this fertile valley is imported. With the price of all fossil fuels on the rise, this makes no economic or agricultural sense at all. Harry MacCormack of Sunbow Farm in Corvallis, Oregon has conceived a plan to turn this around.
The Southern Willamette Valley Bean and Grain Project is a step by step strategy to rebuild the local food system by increasing the quantity and diversity of food crops that are grown in the valley, evaluating deficiencies in the food system infrastructure, building buyer/seller relationships for locally grown food, incorporating the culture of community into the fabric of the food system, and compiling resources on organic and sustainable agricultural practices specific to this region. As the name of the project implies, central to the task is stimulating the cultivation and local marketing of organically grown beans and grains to provide a foundation for year-round food resources in the valley.
Bean and Grain Index
- THE SOUTHERN WILLAMETTE VALLEY BEAN AND GRAIN PROJECT (Project Report One: January-June 2008)
- This report describes the work of the Bean and Grain Project during the first half of 2008–background, scheme and scope of project, spring planting.
- THE SOUTHERN WILLAMETTE VALLEY BEAN AND GRAIN PROJECT (Project Report Two: June-November 2008)
- This report summarizes the work of the Bean and Grain Project during the second half of 2008–the growing season, harvest, sales, and the evolution of the Bean and Grain Project organizatonal model.
- LOCAL FOODS PROJECT FINAL REPORT 2008
- This is the Ten Rivers Food Web's final report on the Southern Willamette Valley Bean and Grain Project 2008.
- CROPS AND YIELDS 2008
- This document contains the crop statistics for Bean and Grain Project participants from the 2008 growing season–varieties grown, acreage, yields.
- THE SOUTHERN WILLAMETTE BEAN AND GRAIN (Project Report Three: January 20, 2009)
- This is a report on the Bean and Grain Project's end of year 2008 presentation.
- THE SOUTHERN WILLAMETTE BEAN AND GRAIN (Project Report Four: March, 2009)
- There were two Bean and Grain Project meetings in March for farmers interested in growing beans and grains in 2009. This is a summary of those two meetings.
- SOUTHERN WILLAMETTE VALLEY BEAN AND GRAIN PROJECT WORKING DOCUMENTS
- This document contains summaries from two of the Southern Willamette Valley Bean and Grain Project's formative meetings.
- COMPOST TEA: Promises and Practicalities
- This article about compost tea was originally published in ACRES USA and was written by Elaine Ingham of the Soil Foodweb Lab in Corvallis. Elaine Ingham was one of the primary researchers in the development of the compost tea brewer.
Reports from Sunbow Farm
Harry MacCormack, co-founder of Oregon Tilth and owner of Sunbow Farm in Corvallis, Oregon, provides the vision and inspiration for the Southern Willamette Valley Bean and Grain Project. MacCormack has farmed in the south Willamette Valley for forty years, exploring organic farming techniques, developing standards for organic farm certification, and plain old experimenting in the field with a wide variety of grains, legumes, and edible seed crops. Below are his thoughts and writings on the Bean and Grain Project:
- BEANS, GRAINS, SOIL BIOLOGY, AND COMPOST TEA
- Mud City Press went to up to Sunbow Farm outside Corvallis on January 23, 2009 to interview Harry MacCormack. These are selected portions from that interview.
- PROJECT DESIGN PRINCIPLES
- These are the design principles established by Harry MacCormack in the formative stages of the Bean and Grain Project.
- FINANCIAL SUMMARY 2008
- This is the financial report for beans and grains grown at Sunbow Farm in 2008.
- BEAN,GRAIN,EDIBLE SEED RESEARCH 2008 REPORT
- This report summarizes Harry MacCormack's field notes from 2008, detailing what was planted, seed varieties, nutritional information, processing, and costs.