Podcasts about Willamette

This week host John Kruse chats with Aaron Kindle with the Idaho Wildlife Federation about this year's Chinook salmon runs up the Snake River Roger Phillips with the Idaho Dept. of Fish and Game about where to catch the big fish in the Gem State Lance Fisher with Lance Fisher Fishing talks Willamette and lower Columbia River Fishing this spring and summer www.northwesternoutdoors.com 

On hot summer days, Portlanders flock to the water – thankfully there's a lot of that here. On this week's episode of Peak Northwest, we discuss the many, many swim spot options in and around the city, for people who are looking to dip their toes or take a dip in a cooling river or lake. Joining us to discuss swim spots is local swimmer Hadley Brooks, who for the last several years has embarked on a personal “summer of swimming” project, in which she has found a different place to swim each week of the season. In the process, she has become an expert on local swim spots – as well as the necessary safety precautions to take before getting in the water. Here are some highlights from this week's show: How to stay safe before swimming in free-flowing bodies of water. Why Brooks started her “summer of swimming,” and the rules of her project. Between the Willamette and Columbia rivers, there are a ton of places to swim in Portland. Those looking for wilder places can go just a little farther afield. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

National Cheese Day, Bill Oram's Dad's birthday party and dead bodies in the Willamette all discussed this week.

Neste episódio, Henrique Boaventura recebe Raul Rosa — farmacêutico, bioquímico, cervejeiro caseiro e pesquisador na USP — para um mergulho técnico no universo do lúpulo Comet brasileiro. A conversa aborda desde o cultivo e o uso de fotoperíodo artificial, até os teores elevados de alfa-ácidos, descritores sensoriais como cebola e alho, e os desafios do terroir nacional.Raul compartilha os bastidores da pesquisa que comparou o Comet cultivado no Brasil com amostras dos Estados Unidos (Yakima e Willamette), revela insights sobre métodos estatísticos aplicados, variabilidade entre fazendas, além de apontar os caminhos para o uso estratégico do lúpulo nacional em cervejas de grande escala, como as American Lagers.Se você é produtor, cervejeiro caseiro ou apenas apaixonado por lúpulo, este episódio está imperdível.

But will it be a home run? The Portland Diamond Project has so far struck out on its years-long efforts to bring Major League Baseball to Portland. But now they've got a new site on the South Waterfront, fresh energy from city leaders and a pitch to the Oregon Legislature, not to mention swoon-y renderings of a new stadium along the Willamette. Sports columnist Bill Oram and ECONorthwest economist Mike Wilkerson join Beat Check with The Oregonian to make sense of the numbers behind the proposal, the unknowns (who is behind that ownership group?) and what comes next. Wilkerson, a consultant to the Portland Diamond Project, says building a new stadium downtown could be a game-changer for Portland, the city that he recently and regretfully said was on the verge of a “doom loop” thanks to downward trends in population growth, the commercial real estate market and more. Stay tuned until the end of the episode to hear Oram and Wilkerson make it very clear where their own personal baseball allegiances land. Related coverage: Is a picture worth almost a billion dollars?OHSU responds to South Waterfront ballpark proposalEconomist warns of Portland ‘doom loop' Subscribe to Beat Check anywhere you listen to podcasts to get new episodes each week. You can support local journalism by becoming a subscriber to The Oregonian/OregonLive. Explore more of our podcasts and sign up to get newsletters for the latest news and top stories. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What do some Cooperative Extension studies reveal about trends of agritourism on both a national, and a state-local level?

Fifteen year-olds can be… a lot. It's often when a rebellious streak first emerges, when a kid might start sneaking out, breaking curfew or perhaps,  skipping school and lying about their age to become an interpreter for the American soldiers occupying your hometown in Afghanistan. Or at least that's what being a teenager was like for Nasirullah Safi, who grew up in the Kunar Valley between Afghanistan and Pakistan, a land plagued by constant conflict and war. But guided by the advice of his father and the dreams of his mother, he left Kunar and found his way to another valley: the Willamette. Many Roads to Here is a production of The Immigrant Story.  This episode was produced, edited and hosted by Selene Ross. Audio post-production done by Gregg Palmer. The original interview was conducted by Sankar Raman in the fall of 2023. Many thanks to St. Andrew Lutheran Church in Beaverton, Oregon for the use of their space. This episode is a part of a series exploring the stories and experiences of Asian Americans. It is produced as part of the Oregon Rises Above Hate coalition and made possible by a generous contribution by Anne Naito-Campbell.  To learn more about the Oregon Rises Above Hate Coalition, please visit https://oregonrisesabovehate.com. For more stories, visit theimmigrantstory.org/manyroads, listen live at prp.fm, or stream us wherever you get your podcasts.

In this episode of Bigfoot Society, host Jeremiah Byron talks to Dr. Ariyana Love, an investigative and medical journalist who details her extraordinary encounters with Sasquatch. The interview covers her experiences at the 2024 Sasquatch Summerfest in Oakridge, Oregon, and her telepathic communications with a Sasquatch named JJ. Dr. Love speaks on the Sasquatch's advanced intelligence, their role as protectors, and her near-death experience where JJ intervened. She also touches on her encounters with other mystical beings in the forest and the deep connections with Native American tribes who've had similar sightings and hold Sasquatch in high regard.Resources:Contact Dr. Ariyana Love here: metanutrients@mailfence.comphone number - 928-892-8736Set up a consultation here: https://calendly.com/drariyanaloveThe festival referred to in this interview is Sasquatch Summer Fest.You can get tickets here - https://www.sasquatchsummerfest.comUse code "BFS" to get a 2 day pass for the price of one day.Listen to Bill's side of the account here: https://youtu.be/cwxTP6RgkKM

DEFENDANT: George R.R. Martin EVIDENCE: House of the Dragon Cabernet Sauvignon SCENE OF THE CRIME: Westeros -- Welcome back, my fellow wine aficionados and Westeros wanderers! In today's True Crimes Against Wine, we're popping the cork on a special edition for all you Game of Thrones and House of Dragon fans. Picture this: the lush vineyards of Oregon meet the mystery of the Iron Throne. Are you intrigued yet? We're diving deep into the heart of the Willamette region, dissecting its finest Pinot Noir while musing over what makes this grape the 'heartbreak' of wines. Expect nothing less than a silky, seductive sip with just a whisper of vanilla and a gentle caress of French oak. Sounds like a perfect smooch in a glass, right? Stay tuned as we fumble our way through tasting notes, discuss the athletic prospects of netball (British listeners, isn't this a hoot?), and, oh yes, our vigorous debate on costumed characters from the Seven Kingdoms! Whether you're more of a Stark, Lannister, or Targaryen (or like us, just trying to not spill the wine), there's something in today's episode for every type of fan.

She's a force in the Oregon wine industry and incredibly talented winemaker. Trish interviews Kate Payne Brown - currently winemaker at Ambar Estate and partner at Vinovate Custom Wine. She also has her own label, Dolores Wines. Trish met Kate through the organization, Women in Wine and instantly picked up on the calm, cool wisdom she carries with her. Kate is a triplet, from the East Coast and moved to Salt Lake City as a youngster. She did not care much about wine (she wanted to be an eye doctor, in fact) until she worked at an urban winery in Portland. The rest is truly history from there and she explains her journey to Australia and then back to the Willamette where she thought she'd just work one little harvest. Trish refers to this interview as the chapters of Kate and her book in the wine industry.

Okay sorry this is a week late, it's genuinely not my fault it's Spotify's fault. I spent an insanely long amount of time editing this one (she's complex) just to have Spotify stop working when I went to upload which forced me to take a week long break in frustration. Happens to the best of us! Anyways, we're back with a follow up to the last episode! What is Futel really?? Who is behind the dream survey? How do you actually pronounce Willamette? All this and more will be answered in this episode! Here's some the same likes I posted last episode that you might find interesting: The website for Futel https://www.reddit.com/r/UnresolvedMysteries/comments/ktp4wr/happy_valley_dream_survey/ https://www.oregonlive.com/pacific-northwest-news/2015/04/willamette_valley_survey_wants.html https://www.reddit.com/r/april30th2015/ https://www.reddit.com/r/5September2020/ Also, we are currently on twitter (https://x.com/Figureitoutpod_) and... substack (I lied lol actually I forgot but here's a link) Anyways, should we get back on instagram and TikTok ? Should we make a bluesky? A threads account even? Please let us know where you want to see us and we'll be there!  And finally, I'm still extremely serious about looking for an editor. We cannot pay you yet because we're too shy to monetize maybe one day you will get paid! If you're interested, contact Marlena directly for your best chance of it being seen or you can try to email us at figureitout.pod1@gmail.com

In this episode, host Zach Urness talks about a collection of stories including the start of winter recreation season, the controversial drawdowns at Green Peter Reservoir and some fun winter adventures including skiing, hiking at Silver Falls and celebrating "yurtmas" by touring Christmas lights at the Coast. The podcast features interviews from KLCC in Eugene and considers why a plan to save endangered salmon has become so controversial, while other topics include new waterfall hiking loops at Silver Falls State Park, record setting coho salmon runs and one of the state's most epic Christmas lights displays.

It's Willow Week here at the Slow Flowers Podcast and Alana Karam of Willamette Willows is my guest. Learn about the three distinct categories of willow plants and their markets – including cultivars suitable for basketry and woven garden structures, as well as the many varieties of curly willow and pussy willow loved by floral […] The post Episode 693 – The Wonderful World of Willows with Alana Karam of Willamette Willows appeared first on Slow Flowers Podcast with Debra Prinzing.

Send us a textTrader Joe's Reserve Willamette Pinot Gris 2023-Real Good...Try It!Pinoy Grigio and Pinot Gris are the same grape, Grigio is Italian and Gris is French.The Willamette Valley in Oregon has always produced PInot Griis wines.They are different styles from Pinot Grigio wines.  For more information look to https://cheapwinefinder.com/ and listen to the best value-priced PODCAST!!!Check us out at www.cheapwinefinder.comor email us at podcast@cheapwinefinder.com

Send us a textInscription Willamette Pinot Noir 2022-Wine Enthusiast #1 Wine Under $20The listed 100 value-priced wines that the Inscription was Numero Uno!Do I care what Wine Enthusiast Thinks?Not until I tasted the wines.Were they Right?If drinking this wrong, I don't want to be right! The Inscription, from King Estate, bridges the distance between value-priced and expensive Pinot Noir.For more information check out https://cheapwinefinder.com/ and listen to the best value-priced PODCAST!Check us out at www.cheapwinefinder.comor email us at podcast@cheapwinefinder.com

In this episode, host Zach Urness goes deep on the record coho salmon runs in the Upper Willamette Basin. Urness talks with Chris Kern, the west region manager for the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, about what makes coho unique, why their numbers have been skyrocketing and how anglers can catch them.

It's Oct 2nd as I write. The Oak Island area on Sauvie Island, near Portland Oregon closed to recreational use for the season yesterday. For the coming Fall and Winter, it will serve as a haven for the birds, save for the occasional hunters. Last winter, when I brought my Soundwalk podcast to Substack, I embarked on a series touching down at certain points in the greater area I referred to as the Columbia Lowlands. I'm pleased to say I'm taking us back there, covering some spots that I didn't get to last time through. Lewis and Clark called this area the Wappato Valley, after the edible tuber, Wapato, that the Native Americans harvested here on Sauvie Island. The island was also named Wappato Island, the geographical center of Wappato Valley. (Both the double P spelling and the geographic names didn't really take.) Today, this area is also referred to as the Portland Basin.Oak Island in the early 1800s would have looked pretty similar to what it looks like now—only without pastures—and the name would have made more sense than it does today, because the land mass used to be surrounded by shallow lakes. Today it more resembles a peninsula. Like the lakes of the Columbia Bayou (slough) on north side of Portland, many lakes on Sauvie Island were drained in the early 1900's, and dikes were built, hardening the river bank. Now, as far as I know, the only marker honoring the stewardship of this land by Native Americans is found a few steps into the Oak Island Nature Trail. There you will see wood post with a line drawing of a two people in a canoe with a QR code underneath. Focusing on that QR code with a smartphone will pull up a page, offering the following:Two hundred years ago, Native Americans walked on this very spot. Each year, just before winter, tribes from up and down the Columbia and Willamette rivers gathered on Oak Island for a trading fair which included dancing and festivities.I want to know more about that. I want to imagine what that looked like, what that sounded like. Of the environmental sound, Capt. William Clark leaves only this description on November 5th, 1805, from the vicinity of Sauvie Island:I could not sleep for the noise kept by the Swans, Geese, white & black brant, Ducks etc. on a opposit base, & Sand hill Crane, they were emensely numerous and their noise horrid. Immensely numerous and horrid. Ha! We will hear numerous birds soon enough in our extended soundwalk survey. For now, on our Oak Island Road Soundwalk, we hear just a handful of bugling Sandhill Cranes, small flocks of geese, wintering songbirds, Pacific tree frogs and light rain showers. Anything but horrid to my ears. Dig a little deeper and you'll discover 200 years ago is just the tip of the iceberg. Native Americans lived in various village sites on the island dating back 2500 years; one thousand generations! (Archeological sites upriver near The Dalles increase that time horizon to human occupation of the area going back well over 10,000 years ago). And all they got was a QR code.How do we know Native Americans lived on Sauvie Island so long? Well, less than a mile south of Oak Island is Merrybelle Farm. Several archeological digs occurred here, beginning in 1958. Analyzing the projectile points and found here with others found on the island and throughout the region, Richard Pettigrew points to an estimated timeline of village occupation at the Merrybelle site from 600 BCE to 200 CE. There were 16 known village sites on Sauvie Island. Several have been the subject of formal archeological excavation. Many were picked over by amateur artifact collectors. Some were buried or partially buried under tons of dike soil. One was “sunken”, preserving woven baskets in the mud for up to 700 years. Today there's no physical reminder of the civilization that existed here before Euro-American settlers; no formal mention or marker, save for a recently renamed bridge. Wapato Bridge. It's a start. Scholars believe the Wapato Valley once sustained the highest population density north of Mexico in aboriginal times. Isn't this a story that should be told?In fourth grade we had a “Pioneer Day”. We came to school in costume: bonnets for the girls. Cowboy hats for boys. Did some boys bring toy guns? Did anyone dress up as an Indian? Seems plausible. We rolled out pasta from scratch, cutting broad noodles for chicken noodle soup “like the pioneers did”. We pledged allegiance to the flag every morning. We did not learn we were inhabiting what was once the cradle of the largest Native American population center, in the Portland Basin, in the United States. When I walk around on Sauvie Island, I try to picture the long house villages, and the multitude of dugout canoes. When I went paddleboarding on Sturgeon Lake a month ago my feet sank up to my calves in mud as I clumsily launched my craft. I imagined Wapato growing there, plentifully. I imagined Native Americans loosening the root bulbs with their toes, harvesting them in floating baskets. The land of plenty. People of the river.This soundwalk was recorded on mild December evening last year, on Oak Island Road, adjacent the Wildlife Area. There are half a dozen farm houses on this quiet spur road. It was very relaxing, and nourishing. I totally recommend this to anyone in the area. Like last time, the composition is almost entirely solo performances strung together. Four voices: piano, a clean Wurlitzer electric piano, a modified Wurlitzer electric piano, and a piano with heavy tape effects. All taking turns. It won't always be like this, though. In fact, next week I have a whole new direction I'm excited to unveil! Til then, thanks for reading, for listening, for joining me here.Oak Island Road Soundwalk is available on all streaming platforms (Spotify, Apple, Tidal, Amazon, YouTube…) today, Friday, October 4th. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit chadcrouch.substack.com/subscribe

On this episode, Jules and Drea brave a Chardonnay just in time for spooky season and feature the “Un” Chardonnay from Oregon producer Division Winemaking Co. They learn all about Oregon's Willamette (dammit) Valley, talk about dirt, and imagine their best autumnal lives. Pairings include kale salads, pumpkin spice, and a truly unhinged ambush shewinegans. Cheers, witches.

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit chadcrouch.substack.comAnd now we return to our soundwalk series on quiet spots in the city. This is part two of two. But before we get to that, I'd just like to take a minute to reflect on my journey to get here.On April 29, 2022 I released Chapman Beach Soundwalk. It was both extremely simple and, to me, experimental. It was in a nutshell: a natural soundscape with musical soundtrack. I had no basis to believe that the idea would commercially viable, and to be honest, while it has shown promise, it hasn't really caught on in a big way either. Still, I persuaded myself to keep doing it, as a practice. And so, here we are, two and a half years on, and we've come to soundwalk #50. Let me tell you, it is possible to be both proud and embarrassed at the same time. Proud because, well, fifty! Embarrassed because, well, you know—fifty. A string of 50 non-hits, if you will. At a good clip, too! So, for #50, we are rediscovering Reed Canyon, another “hidden” natural area near downtown Portland, Oregon. Type it into a mapping app, and it won't know where to go. This is because is not a nature park and is not public land. It's on the Reed College campus, and thankfully, the campus welcomes neighbors, near and far, who enjoy walking the trails that wind around the canyon's lake shore and through a wetland environment on its east end. The canyon was formed by Crystal Springs, which erupts from the broad plane of inner SE Portland next to huddle of buildings forming the Reed College Campus. According to a historical overview, surveys indicate Reed Lake is the oldest naturally occurring lake in Portland. That's not saying an awful lot, as Portland topography isn't especially dotted with lakes. It also depends on where you draw the city limits, of course. If anything, the city has filled in most of the lakes it once had, alongside the Willamette and Columbia Rivers. Let's go ahead and name those lakes, and when they were filled in, for posterity. I'd estimate Portland lost more than 75% of its total lake surface area in the last century. Historical Lakes of Portland, Oregon* Guild's Lake c. 1913-1926* Kittridge & Doane Lakes c. 1930* Mud Lake c. 1930* Switzler's Lake & Columbia Slough unnamed lakes c.1930* Ramsey Lake c. 1964* Mock's Bottom c.1980So, being able to walk around a natural lake in Portland anymore is a rare thing! And just to be clear, while the basin is natural, the Reed Lake water level has been maintained by a small dam built in 1929.This walk takes place on a drizzly leap year day—February 29th—of this past year. Winter and Spring are perhaps my favorite seasons here. Waterfowl motor around. Mallards, Buffleheads, Hooded Mergansers, Wigeon, Gadwall, and Canada Geese are all common visitors. Huge flocks of geese sometimes wheel overhead, attracted to the all-you-can-eat lawn buffet the campus provides just over the canyon rim. Songbirds sound so sweet here in this intimate and reverberant canyon, that you can easily forget that there's a city all around you.My composition features almost all solo performances of piano, unplugged Wurlitzer electric piano, a “soft clarinet” synth pad, and a “bottle” synth sound that I think sounds like droplets. Oh, and zither. All performed unrehearsed, warts and all. Why? Well, because, for now, it conveys what I want to convey; some alchemical expression forged in the naïveté—the grasping. Part of me thinks I'll eventually work myself out of a job here. Meaning, my music will become by degrees more spare and quiet and adrift that eventually all the will be left is the natural soundscape.It reminds me of a trope of architecture writers that goes something like, “The design sought to blend seamlessly with the landscape.” It seems like four out off five articles in Dwell magazine used parade that one out. Meanwhile, walls of glass and rectilinear volumes were de rigueur. There's a limit to the blending that can occur with that design language, and it's far from “seamless”.When you boil it down, I think it's pretty common to try and convince other people you are doing something thoughtfully, when really we're all just kind of clunky. Nothing is seamless. So why try and convince? Embrace Your Clunkiness! I say.Anyway, thanks for reading. I hope you can spend some quiet time with Reed Canyon Soundwalk. Or better, head on over there in real life, if you can. It's nice. You'll like it.Reed Canyon Soundwalk is available on all streaming platforms (Spotify, Apple, Tidal, Amazon, YouTube…) Friday, September 20th.

When the steamboat Gazelle reached the dock, the man in charge of its steam boilers leaped ashore and ran like a man being chased by demons. A few seconds later, the Gazelle exploded, killing 20 people. (Canemah, Clackamas County; 1850s) (For text and pictures, see https://offbeatoregon.com/1307c-boiler-explosions-in-willamette-steamboats.html)

This week on the SNL Hall of Fame podcast we welcome back to the show, Kirstin Rajala to discuss and build a case for Beck Bennett.Transcript: Track 2:[0:42] Thank you so much, Doug DeNance. It is a thrill to be back here in the SNL Hall of Fame, bringing to you the SNL Hall of Fame podcast. Once again, we're back for season six. We really hope you enjoyed the draft episode. Now, why don't you come inside? You might notice I'm looking at your feet. Wipe them. Know what I'm saying? So there's that. The SNL Hall of Fame podcast is a weekly affair fair where each episode we take a deep dive into the career of a former cast member, host, musical guest, or writer and add them to the ballot for your consideration.Track 2:[1:20] Once the nominees have been announced, we turn to you, the listener, to vote for the most deserving and help determine who will be enshrined for perpetuity in the hall. And that's how we play the game. It's just that simple. I am so pumped to be working with Matt and Thomas again for another season. We've got a banger of a year. We've got some fantastic, fantastic nominees and some really amazing special guests this season to nominate those nominees and build the case for them. We're also doing something a little different this year. We've got a new sister show that will be released on Thursdays or Fridays. I'm still flirting with that. If you have a preference, whether it's Thursdays or Fridays, send me an email, the SNL hall of fame at gmail.com. That's right. It's a new email address because it's a new year. It's a new season and we need a new email address. So there's that. Now, I will say that the SNL Water Cooler will be a visitation, a revisitation of the week's episode, and it'll also take a look at the episode of SNL, whether or not there are Hall-worthy performances or Hall-of-Shame-worthy performances that we might analyze down the road when we nominate so-and-so.Track 2:[2:47] So there's that. What do you say we wander down the hall and talk to our good friend Matt Ardill? I am going to pivot and make my way down the corridor here. Ah, there he is, leaning against the wall like a slug. Hey, if you got time to lean, you got time to clean, my boy.Track 3:[3:06] Matt, you've been around for four seasons, five seasons at this point. This is the beginning of your fifth season. How are you doing, man? Good, good. I'm happy to be here. And how about you, J.D.? I am pretty much good. I was camping, and I've been eaten alive. My ankles are all itchy, but other than that, I cannot complain. Yeah, but you got some fresh air, got out of the city, so that's always good. That's right.Track 3:[3:33] So what do you got for us this week? Today, I have Beck Bennett. Nice. Five foot eight, born on the best day of the year in Willamette, Illinois. Shares a birthday with luminaries such as Julie Andrews, Jimmy Carter, and myself. Hey. October 1st, 1984, which makes me feel all the more useless because he's 10 years my junior and has achieved so much more than I have. Oh, stop. Stop. Yeah, no, but he grew up a theater kid performing in children's theater at the Children's Theater of Winnetka. And in high school, played Jean Valjean at the New Tierra High School performance of Les Miserables. Yeah. So, now, he did go on to attend University of Southern California and the USC School of Dramatic Arts. Where he met and formed the sketch troupe Good Neighbor with Kyle Mooney, Nick Rutherford, and Dave McCary, all of whom went on to work at SNL.Track 3:[4:39] Now, after joining Good Neighbor, they created a series of sketch comedy shorts on YouTube which uh kind of make the parodies that they did later on in snl all the funnier um but this led to a series of ads where he's the at&t guy uh that uh had him interviewing children in a mock political talk show that's right yeah yeah uh and now that went on to become 84 acting credits seven writing credits eight producing credits four soundtrack credits including possibly the only person who can adequately capture the wonder that is launchpad mcquack on the ducktales reboot um now if anybody could do a live action ducktales that would be him i would love to see uh actually a darkwing duck reboot and bring back beck as launchpad but uh not you can only dream yeah yeah well you know disney plus is going to need to mine that content eventually um but yeah so he went on to marry jesse hodges another actor and they have a child together born march of 2022.Track 3:[6:03] Well, I definitely miss him on SNL. Yeah. He was somebody that became, like really grew into his role, I felt. And I really enjoyed him. And I also enjoy our friend Thomas Senna, who is in the conversation room with Kirsten Rajula right now, getting ready to teach us more about Beck Bennett. Matt, are you ready for that? I am looking forward to it. Well, let's get right to it.Track 4:[7:00] Alright, JD, Matt, thank you so much. Hey guys, welcome to another season of the SNL Hall of Fame podcast. I am joined today by, like, we had to kick off the season of discussions with just, like, an all-timer guest. So we're talking about all-timer nominees. Every week we talk about all-timer, you know, people from SNL history.Track 4:[7:25] I had to kick it off this week with an all-timer guest. So joining me for the first discussion of Season 6 for our first nominee is the one, the only, the lovely world traveler, Kristen Rahula. How's it going, Kirsten? It's great. What an intro. Thank you very much. And I didn't know this was the first. Oh my gosh. It's lovely to see your face and hear your voice. Yes, I've been traveling, and yes, I'm excited to be talking about SNL once again with some of my favorite people, the other super fans. And this episode is going to be great because we are talking about someone truly, truly deserving and who is so much fun to talk about because they are in everything. Yeah, right. Yeah, exactly. Like ubiquitous right there with, of course, Beck Bennett, who's our nominee to kick off season six of the SNL Hall of Fame. Kirsten, so I like to do the plugs at the top of the discussion, the way this is formatted. So do you have anything? What's going on in Kirsten's world lately? Well, for people in the Toronto area, my bestie and I do an event series, and it's intergenerational storytelling, female voices. So if you're in the Toronto area, it's generationwomen.ca. Please come and listen to women of all ages tell beautiful stories. It's a really fun event, and we would love the support.Track 4:[8:54] Yes, that sounds awesome. Yeah, go check that out. Also, listen to Kirsten. You're probably going to be a panelist, I assume, for Saturday Night Network's coverage on Season 50? Heck yeah. Yeah, check us out on the Saturday Night Network, where we also cover all things SNL with an even larger group of superfans. That is also a fun one, so check that out. They have shows multiple times throughout the week. Yeah, yeah. I love hearing Kirsten pop up, whether it's a hot take show or the roundtables. Yeah, I love hearing Kirsten pop up. So check her out on the Saturday Night Network. But today we were chatting about our first nominee for season six. That's the one, the only Mr. Beck Bennett. So a little bit of the CliffsNotes here before we kind of get a dig into Beck's SNL time. When he was a freshman in college, he met Kyle Mooney. They started doing sketch and improv together. It was at USC. They were part of Good Neighbor, along with Nick Rutherford and Dave McCary, Mr. Emma Stone himself, Dave McCary. Beck was in a run of AT&T commercials in which he interviewed children. Do you remember these, Kirsten?Track 4:[10:13] No, because I'm in Canada. I was wondering. That's why I asked. I don't know what kind of TV y'all get up there. They don't have AT&T, so yeah, I wouldn't have seen it. But I'm going to look them up. Okay, yeah, so it was a series of commercials. He sat there. It was like a circle of children. He would ask them different questions, I think pertaining to phone service or something like that. So that's where I knew Beck. So when he got on SNL, I was like, oh, there's that guy from the phone commercials. That's crazy. He does sketch comedy. Okay, let's see what this is about. out uh so yeah yeah you need to go youtube some of those at&t commercials and you'll see beck put on his his commanding voice like like like he liked to do on the show um so he was making a nice career for himself when he got the call so september of 2013 he began his snl tenure along with his good neighbor cohorts along with kyle mooney debuted uh right then too so kirsten like what were any initial impressions you may have had uh of beck bennett when he first kind of got on your radar. What'd you think of him?Track 4:[11:17] He's one of those people, it's a little hard to separate all of the characters he plays with who I imagine he is in real life. I picture him as the kind of failure-to-launch jock at your high school read. But I know he's probably not. He's wonderful, I'm sure, and a very smart, smart man, because clearly someone has got to be intelligent to pull off the kind of nuance and range that he does. But it's fun to think of him as that man-child that he always was, bit of a douche, often befuddled, making the wrong choices. Like you love him but you're like shaking your head so he at the beginning kind of very quickly started to establish himself as like fitting into those slots you saw him play a dumb kind of doofus dad typical middle-aged white guy and he did all of those things with enthusiasm so.Track 4:[12:12] While some people start off kind of awkward and they're trying to tentatively find their way at SNL I wonder if it's because he had Kyle with him yeah that they really jumped into it and their style of comedy pretty easily and quickly yeah they brought in a lot of good like their good neighbor stuff like those SoCal's like inside SoCal was a good neighbor thing uh you're right like he just played this doofus what I like to call in the comedy realm confidently dumb um yes i think that's like was beck's you know that was his forte in a lot of ways just such a confidently dumb guy like stick into his guns but it's like it's just the wrong way to go and yeah so good at that um delving into his highlights like is there a certain role over his eight seasons that you think he kind of did settle into oh gosh yes again the confidently dumb. Like, where his colleagues, like other folks on the show, would go between, you know, playing a bit of a dumb-dumb, but then also.Track 4:[13:22] You know, they could play like a rocket scientist. He was typically, which is funny because I just said he has range and I still think he does, but he typically was in the kind of befuddled, even like a Mitch McConnell, he was kind of blubbering. Right. And so he, yes, he always nailed that. I'm the last one who gets the joke, but I'm going to laugh as confidently as the person who told it. Yeah. He brought that spirit to so many things. It, even when it was him doing the SoCal stuff or, you know, kind of playing teenage or child roles with Kyle, always kind of a bit of a doofus. Yeah, yeah. So he was that he also was able to play like, sometimes kind of more of a straight dad kind of character.Track 4:[14:10] Usually when he played a dad, it was like from some sort of angle, like a downtrodden dad or a dumb dad or something like that. But he, man, he settled so nicely in his eight seasons. Indispensable, in my opinion, toward the end there, I think. Absolutely. Like a real cornerstone of the cast. And a combination of physical comedy, absurdity, but then also subtlety. Like there were really small choices that he made that...Track 4:[14:43] Or what brought those kind of doofus characters to like the way he'd hold his face or kind of you know the intonation certainly kyle was the you know crown wear of intonation and flat affect but he was right there with him so a lot of a lot of subtle things that they did so it's funny because at one point he's playing you know office boss baby and he's you know flinging his limbs around but then he can also just with one kind of slack jaw do something completely different right right Right. Yeah, that office boss, I want to kind of start getting into his actual work. And that baby boss, he debuted that in his first season. I think he might have auditioned with that, it seems like. But it was Mr. Patterson, baby boss. Like, was it the physicality of Beck? Does it totally shine through instantly, Kirsten? A hundred percent. Yeah, he ended up doing that four different times. Sometimes, the creepiest one was with Cameron Diaz because they were actually talking about relations and her giving him a bath in the kitchen sink and that they were going to try and make a baby or they were pregnant. It got a little awkward there. I think they were pregnant. Yeah, a little awkward. Well, I'm not worried. You're going to be a great mother. Come here, you.Track 4:[16:06] You. Could we maybe just do a little toast here? Congratulations. A toast. Oh, look at that. A lemon. Been meaning to try one of these. Cheers. Mm, it's good, it's tart. But I like that they kind of put him back into other situations, you know, in the office and, He nailed it. Anyone who has spent a time around a toddler, baby or toddler, instantly is taken back to the way that they fumble with objects, the way they are amazed by holding something up in front of their face, distracted.Track 4:[16:53] The way they move around, slide downstairs. There is like it's such a studied performance which sounds hilarious to say but if you know you know he nailed that baby he nailed that damn baby character so well and it was such an interesting yeah yeah he's trying to give high fives oh my god the keys to distract him trying the lemon like there are so many little moments and it's such a weird concept but it worked and you know it did I did feel at times if they had, you know, they had like a Josh Hutcherson and they had Cameron Diaz and people that they're not always building a sketch around.Track 4:[17:31] Picking on Josh a bit, but that he would, you know, be the character of and they kind of put those other folks in reaction to him was a great sketch for that to happen. And if you needed to support that type of host. Yeah he always he he had that great timing and he knew how to deliver and he almost played against himself uh as you alluded to where where he would uh as the boss he would speak very like boss like like try to be commanding and he would say things that were commanding but then he would do and say things one second later of course that were baby like so beck got that he was able to shift back and forth between like oh we're so we're so proud we're going to be uh we're expecting we're going be raising a family and then he sees a lemon and it's like oh i've always wanted to try one of these and then let's appreciate how tough it would be like to the duality of those two things.Track 4:[18:26] Acting like a baby, but sounding like a CEO. Yeah. That's just weird and wild. And I don't know that we all are appreciating how darn tough that would be. Yeah, yeah, definitely. I think this was probably the first character, certainly first recurring character that got attention for sure. You could go check out, that's early Beck in like season 39 and on. So that was like the baby boss. um what else uh with Beck kind of like shows what what what we started the show off of in terms of like his role and everything you know what I do notice is a lot of my favorite things about him, were pre-tapes which says nothing negative about any of his non-pre-tapes but I noticed that a lot of things I loved were pre-tapes and I mean this is the era of Vine like it's the era of people documenting things in video format. And I think him and Kyle having come up on kind of written, taped format, like SoCal and all these things, that really was where they were strong. One particular character that is also with Kyle were those sitcom parodies. We saw those in season 39, was a cut actually, with the Andrew Garfield one, Wings. And then we had season 40, We had Bad Boys with Chris Pratt. And then in season 43, we brought it back when it was Beers with Larry David.Track 4:[19:55] These sketches, they appeal to a certain type of person who can appreciate these. I'm one of them. Did you get Full House up in Canada? Yes. Okay, I was just checking. Full House, like a TV show? Yes, yes. You said you never saw it back in AT&T, so I had to check. Well, we just don't have AT&T. Fair. Yes. These sitcom parodies, everything about them, yes, much like those interstitials, like they've just cut to a castle, they'd cut to B-roll of Loch Ness Monster, like the most random silly things, the laugh track, the clap track, like all of these things, even how they would say, let's, let's, I need to talk to you privately. And they'd move one step up to the right. Everything had a moral or a lesson. It was very corny. They were pretty amazing.Track 4:[20:57] What is that sound, and who do I have to pay to make it stop? I'm practicing my clarinet for when my cousin CJ gets here. Oh, yeah. Think he'll be able to take care of our fish when we go on our bike ride tomorrow? I hope so. CJ loves fish. Great. In the meantime, do you mind taking that thing outside? Hey. Hey. Those, I feel like, are something that perhaps they brought to the show that they had tested and played with prior to as an idea. And we saw it a few times. I would take 10 more, by the way. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, the Bears one with Larry David got oddly dark. So that was, yeah, that was really funny. I rewatched the Chris Pratt one, the Bad Boys one as well. All those like Full House, Family Matters kind of tropes, like just using, so it's one of those things where like, So you would watch Full House, right? And then they would do like, it was almost like a three-minute skit. And it would involve like Michelle or somebody sitting at the dining room table just eating a cupcake. And the cupcake was going to be like a parable for a lesson that they were going to serve you in like that three minutes. And it made no sense to the story before or after.Track 4:[22:15] They just nailed it so hard. Like you can tell, I think they probably did, you know, as a comedy team. Before they got to SNL, they'd been working together for six years. So you can tell that that was built up over six years. As somebody who spent a lot of time in Southern California, I'm from New Mexico, but I've spent a lot of time in SoCal. Those inside SoCals were like spot on. Like the intonations with Beck and Kyle and even Jonah Hill when he would come on. Like they just played those SoCal guys perfectly. Ever encountered a SoCal guy like that? I'm familiar with the archetype. Yes. And you're right. They're so studied. They're so studied. And that's probably why we love them as a pair and probably why they get along so well as a comedy duo and friends is that they are – there's so much discipline and rigor to what they do. Like, again, it comes off as really goofy and silly and fun, but they've clearly done their homework. Tonight we're coming to you live from Keith's dad's condo where he's having a nice little kickback.Track 4:[23:19] All right, so for our top story for tonight is Amanda Byrne's little sister Sarah is moving back home, and I heard she still looks good. I'd go with her for sure. Yeah, me too. Or if I get the chance to. Right. All right, so in other news, me, Andy, Pierce, and Scott, we want to start our own clothing line. All right, so now it's time for Meet the Boys. Let's go, yo! Meet the Boys, the boys, meet the boys. The wardrobe, the script.Track 4:[23:47] Their hair their wigs like everything and then you have someone like larry david and then jonah hill as you mentioned in like other you know great comedic talents who clearly appreciate what's happening and want to be a part of it yeah i know when they went to usc i'm.Track 4:[24:03] Sure they came across guys like that and they're like oh yeah this is fodder we got we're we're characters off these guys yep 100 yeah those inside socal again they they gave they kind of snl did the right thing with kyle and beck like they gave them their playground initially immediately from season one and dave directed a lot of those so those he saw the good neighbor influence uh immediately uh in season 39 um they were a package deal yeah yeah they were but i feel like too like it started off that way but i feel like beck really started carving out his niche like at a certain point i forgot that they were a package deal initially like i always knew them like beck and kyle like of course but at a certain point Beck kind of became his own man to me big time he had a broader appeal like Kyle was almost so good at awkward that it probably or possibly prevented him from playing the everyman because he was you know physically he looked at times a bit nerdier he really leaned into it he was letting his hair grow and he had glasses and stuff where Beck Beck physically could be more like your middle-aged dad in the minivan so that potentially made a bit of a difference yeah uh just the.Track 4:[25:19] Amount of roles that he could play i always.Track 4:[25:22] Thought of them as a pair but then realized how close they were after the fact.Track 4:[25:28] So i didn't know them from good neighbor that is all stuff that i discovered after um and even going back to watch videos like even when they sit together on the couch for interviews they're like 12 year old boy best friends.Track 4:[25:41] Like they're all like climbing on each other and pretzeled. And, you know, there's a closeness and a comfort that is really quite lovely. Yeah. And that's a good point about Beck being the one of the two to have more broad appeal. And then he started, I mean, it was fourth season. They started giving him a lot of really important political impressions, too. I mean, they gave him Vladimir Putin. Now, do I think your new president is perfect? Perhaps not, but don't worry. I'll get him there.Track 4:[26:13] Donald, let's talk his friends. You're not off to a great start, man. I thought you'd be better at this. However, I'm glad to see so many people showed up to your inauguration. Oh, wait. That's the women's march. Here is inauguration. Vladimir Putin's such a stone-faced person in real life. Beck had to find the goofiness. That was an out-and-out caricature, which I think was hilarious that Beck just found something, a kernel of a caricature with Putin. Takes his shirt off, wears the gold necklace, rides in on a horse. And he did that nine times. And to me, they were all great. I always loved seeing Beck pop up as Putin. He would kind of have that, like, swaying. Or how did he move as Putin? Just moving his shoulders? Like, try to, yeah, just something about. off people yeah and he would always talk about that like of course i poisoned him what do you mean like yeah yeah but just to physics you have to find something like some sort of kernel from such a stone-faced person like that so so i really appreciated that and that goes to show that that you don't have to look like the person or sound like the person or so to find an angle on an impression right yes i agree now sometimes looking like a mike lindell or mitch mcconnell.Track 4:[27:40] Also helps but he achieved both in those two because he not only was able to achieve somewhat a similar look but captured their ridiculousness you know mike lindell's manicness yeah and mitch Mitch McConnell's like blubbering, I can't even, how do you, he's just blubbering, no chin goof.Track 4:[28:04] And he captured them both in look, but also in impression very well. He did a lot of impressions. If you look on his page, there are a lot. Did he nail all of them? No, but he always felt like he was game. They felt, I think SNL felt that he's going to find that thread and pull it, as you say. So he didn't always need to look like the person because he was going to find something thing to bring it to life yeah it was like steady-handed commitment too like you gotta be committed to to just sit there for a cold open as putin behind a desk and with your shirt off showing your chest hair and showing beck would have some odd physicality where he almost like had bear-like qualities and you didn't always see that uh in him until until he had wore a tight shirt or something and I'm like this guy is kind of like filled out barrel-chested barrel-chested yeah yeah so you have to have commitment to to show on camera that your barrel-chested self I guess yep yep you know for millions of people yeah big deal he also was willing to look the fool.Track 4:[29:12] And there are several people that do that, but he took it to, like, a real potty level.Track 4:[29:21] One of my favorite sketches is undercover office potty. You need to go to the bathroom, but you have a lot of work to do, and it's all the way down the hall. Yep. We've all been there before. Why don't you check your lamp? Huh? Check your lamp. Whoa. Go ahead. head. Do your business. What do you mean? Use it as a toilet. Oh, now I get it. Introducing the undercover office potty. The only toilet that looks like a lamp. So you can go whenever you want and no one has to know. Just open it up and go to town. It'll be our little secret. Thanks undercover office potty. I did good. This is season 43. It was another pre-tape. It's so silly, but it checks the boxes on all of the things that we've just talked about. He's working, he's, you know, your average generic middle management position in an office surrounded by bland cubicles, and he's got to get the report done. And the premise of this is that he's so busy, wouldn't it be great if he didn't have to walk all the way down the hall to the washroom and could just make use of portable toilets disguised as office components, like your plant holder. Or it becomes even crazier and they are comically oversized.Track 4:[30:49] You know, staplers and such. And clearly the room starts to smell and people start to notice, but he's just so committed to it. And it's a great script, a great, great script.Track 4:[31:04] And just like almost with a straight face, like selling this beyond ridiculous premise. Yeah. That's some of my favorite. And it's lamps, by the way, it's lamps. I knew what you meant. Yeah, you knew what I meant. but yes all of a sudden he's surrounded with all sorts of lamps and the the line like well it wasn't me i used the bathroom all the way down the hall and he just his you know again commitment to you know dumb like as you say confidently dumb so stupid of course people are going to notice but he is owning it until the last possible minute when someone starts actually looking at them yeah absolutely season 43 uh episode 16 you can find undercover office his potty go check that out that was a yeah that's a classic beck one um we had talked about, him playing dads and i love like he would tap into different archetypes of the dad and one of them that i loved um that i think was underappreciated i think i think it just sort of some people didn't get it i noticed like with some online reviews i go to one snl a day which great people, they helped me a lot with just looking at their website and research. But the person who covered Boop It on one SNL day, no offense to them, they clearly didn't get the sketch.Track 4:[32:28] And to me, this is a perfect archetype, Kirsten, of like, oh, I'm going to do this. Downtrodden recently divorced dad that's like at at his rock bottom through the form of a child's an ad for a child's toy but don't get one wrong point it maybe next time jenna.Track 4:[32:53] See who can boop it best and be the boop it boss my turn jenna just went i was after her i think I think it's Tyler's turn, Dad. Tyler, your mom just called. She wants you to go home. She wants you at home. She does? Yeah, bye. See ya.Track 4:[33:07] There's the door, bud. Bye, Tyler. Now that I can actually concentrate, I can do it. Concentration's the name of the game. Listen, is anyone truly equipped to handle young children? No, there's no manual. You get them and you figure it out. I mean, I remember with my son and his friends making gingerbread houses and wanting to just scooch them out of the way and do it better myself. So I think we can all feel kind of close to the notion here, which is let me do it. I can't suffer watching you try to do it. And this is taken to comically new heights with this bop it send off, boop it, which if anyone's ever played it or not, it's a gadget with a variety of buttons on it and you have to hit them as quickly as they illuminate or trigger. I forgot that that was a real thing now that you mentioned it.Track 4:[34:23] With, you know, I think he's drinking in the sketch, too, isn't he? He's like really going off the rails. I love how he just kind of takes a little sip and then he starts playing the game again. Like he has this scotch or something. Yeah. He's rude to the kids. He's like sending them out. All of a sudden, all parenting is out the window. The desperation there. Yeah. Again, you know, as we said, he can play part douche, part, you know, fail or thrive, part man-child. Like all of these things. things there is the alchemy of it represented in you know a dad type yeah he's almost he's trying to impress his kids because he probably feels like his kids look at him as this loser so he found something he's like i could impress my kids by doing this and then he gets addicted because you're right like that's the only thing that he had one of my favorites is when his wife played by heidi gardner picks them up and then she's kind of like have they eaten and then he pauses And she's like, and then he stops and he's like, hold on, baby, let's try to let's let's try to work it out. And she's like, oh, like, hey, like, I almost feel sorry for him in a way like I'm sure he's this loser. And she's that has every right not to be with him. But Beck makes him almost like somewhat sympathetic in a way, but you still get that, like. There's a reason why he's divorced. That's, listen, there are people that stay in those relationships and that's why. Right? Yeah.Track 4:[35:47] Oh my gosh. I think a spiritual successor to that was from the following season with that December to Remember fake ad. Yeah, I loved it. And I think this one was actually well-received because we know those commercials. We know everything. thing so I think this one is actually like a well-received fan favorite like yeah Kirsten did you like this one when you saw it I love it and have we not all at some point looked at the screen during a commercial like this and thought that's not how real life happens yeah if my partner went out and bought an expensive car on their own and surprised me with it which is in every romance novel and oh every hallmark like this is a thing right go get an oversized car yes exactly.Track 4:[36:39] They finally someone has said that's not real life and not only is that the case they then really go into the sub-basement of it's not real life and they expose that he hasn't worked the mom is having affairs the neighbor lent him money the neighbor is probably one of the people having the affairs and so then it blows everything up and we get real, real life.Track 4:[37:25] Your father hasn't worked since last March. What? Yeah, COVID has hit a lot of people hard, and I'm no exception. Nathan, you got fired in March 2019. COVID had nothing to do with it. He probably has a weird attraction to his son's girlfriend. And, you know, it's still got the Christmas or holiday sparkle on it, like, you know, every car commercial we've seen at the holidays, where really are you going to buy a car and try and surprise your partner? That is just not fiscally responsible. responsible yeah it's not being a good partner it was very much it's got to have just been made up by car companies like i don't know anyone that really does that it doesn't happen no it doesn't happen unless you're like a jenner right or a celebrity and then you have multiple cars and who cares but that's not real life yeah yeah and yeah i just love how like just yeah confidently stupid and like he's like no it's okay because of the aper do you mean apr like yeah just like And then like he even looks at his son and I love it. Timothy Chalamet was his son. He looks at his son's like, looks like your old man's busted. And he kind of gave this look like, uh, like almost like a childish sort of. Oh, I love it. Cause he, yeah, he goes like, guess your old man got busted. Like, and he makes the credits to make a face like whatever.Track 4:[38:38] Brilliant. Brilliant. It's probably not the first time that he like surprised her with something dumb. Exactly. He thinks he's going to win. Yeah. That's that confidently dumb. He thinks this is going to save everything. I'm not working, whatever, but guess what? We're going to drive in style. She's going to be so happy. And he's, it's just, he's not making good choices once again. Yeah. To be fair in his defense, if I thought that that Lexus only costs $4,000, I would pounce on it too and surprise my wife. Uh, again, dumb, but yeah. Yeah. It's not that much, babe. That, yeah. Cause that's how much cars cost. Yeah. Oh boy. Oh boy. Again, this is going back to high school reunion. You know, you think you've, you've won and you've got the, the catch of the year and it's, he's a bit of a loser. Yeah. Bit of a loser. Yeah, absolutely. Poor Heidi's relationship. Look at her having to sleep with old Mikey Day neighbor.Track 4:[39:32] Yeah what a great sketch i'm gonna pick up on another kyle mooney partnership because why not and that would be the brothers here's some real physical comedy now they're playing tweens teens, uh seems like 11 would be the age yeah i don't know why i honed in on that yeah because they're They're still self-conscious enough to walk around without pants, probably. So they set up, and they've done a few of these. The setup is, you know, where we see a living room, we've got the host as the dad figure, Cecily as the mom, they're entertaining some guests, and they invite their two young sons downstairs to meet the guests. Beck and Kyle come on down wearing t-shirts and tighty-whities, and they're wrestling sling their way down the stairs, mass chaos, pictures are falling off the wall, and they are not listening. They're clearly in their tussle. And so the dad figure, it was both one time Liv Schreiber, if I'm saying that right, and James McAvoy, who plays a new dad, which they make some fun jokes about, and he sprays them inside with a water hose to calm them down.Track 4:[40:47] And they are being the most obnoxious, competitive... Brother rivalry duo possible how's god into y'all tonight it's his fault he's a loser oh i'm a loser well you're an accident dad tell him no.Track 4:[41:05] Wait what oh my god jared don't do this tell him dad no what's he what's he talking about Oh, God. Okay. Yes, Spence. Initially, we weren't planning on having a second. Why are you telling him this?Track 4:[41:30] The guests are appalled and want to leave. The parents are not phased at all. And it's hilarious because we see them get blasted in the face and body with this water sprayer. That's indoors.Track 4:[41:44] Indoors. which they i think um ad makes a comment about yeah and then in the second one they actually bring out the leaf blower and there's some hilarious physical comedy as their faces are being you know blown away by this leaf blower and you know the hey look at the dance look at the dance like this you know if you have a sibling or clearly you've are probably familiar with this anyways that kind of competitive spirit oh yeah where they're trying to one-up each other um is on full display here it's really funny yeah it's spot on if you've ever been around two brothers around the same age let's say nine and eleven or something like that like this is so spot on oddly competitive you're right like when the one with leah schreiber like yeah they were like made up one of them made up a dance like beck's character made up a dance and then kyle's like no that's my dance and then they start fighting like this is the dumbest thing who cares it's like a little but that's how little kids are is this the dance yeah exactly but i've seen little kids in my life around the same age fight like that and you're just sitting there like god the guy this does this does not matter like why are you guys like this yeah it's just little boys this is hyper little boys like it's it's it's perfect you know if we look at a theme here, they really are creating moments out of very everyday scenarios.Track 4:[43:09] You know, where you have someone like a Will Forte who does really absurd stuff, really absurd, or a Bill Hader and all his beautiful character work.Track 4:[43:21] These, you know, Beck and, you know, Kyle as well, but they really excel at the everyday life situation and scenario and dissecting that and finding the funny in it. Yeah, well, as you put it earlier, it feels studied. All these everyday characters feel so studied. It almost feels like Beck and Kyle, I know they met when they were 18, 19, but it almost feels like Beck and Kyle knew each other when they were both like 11 years old and they actually behaved like this. That's how lived in it feels. Absolutely. I don't know, because Weekend Update, I feel, was that when Beck actually went on Weekend Update as a character, which he wasn't like, I don't think he made his bones on Weekend Update, but I think there are some Weekend Update things that he did that I liked. Have you ever met somebody, Kirsten, who's like, sees the world differently? I just see things a little differently.Track 4:[44:22] Beck playing Jules was perfect to me, another perfect archetype that he nailed. Yeah, I think it's because he plays subtlety so well, it doesn't lend well to Weekend Update. So when he does find a character that is bigger and bolder than that, like our friend Jules, who I could see this character being played by like a Fred Armisen also, then he nails it. It was a little bit too like his theater student, right, where playing in this kind of word salad lingo land where they're saying a lot of nothing. You know, like Jules was asked about economics at some point. He doesn't have an answer to that. Come on.Track 4:[45:09] He's not a free-thinking economist. No, he was frustrating. He's one of those people where you wonder, how do you pay your rent? Yeah. He said that his – at one point he said that his dad invented OxyContin. Oh, God. So I think he kind of slipped that in there. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So he's free to explore the ideas that everybody else is afraid to. But we know somebody like that. I live an hour from Santa Fe, New Mexico and in Santa Fe. That's the archetype There's so many people who are just like I'm a free thinker and I'm a new age kind of you know And they have to tell you that and they have to tell you that just tell me are you gonna watch like the red carpet? Oh, I'll watch and scoff Colin fool. Yes. They all ask who are you wearing? What I want to know is who are you being? I Want to tell every actress I see take your clothes off I want to see what's underneath. Yeah, no, you can't do that, man. That's really bad. Really bad. Society wants to paint them like little dolls, but they should be like the dolls I had as a child, whittled from driftwood with very realistic genitalia.Track 4:[46:23] That feels regional, yes, because I can't say that I know too many people like that or that we have too many parts of Canada like that. But as you describe that vibe down in in those areas i can see them being there for sure it feels it also feels kind of california but it feels like those folks have a lot of etsy stores yeah yeah no you're 100 right selling their dream catchers yeah for sure for sure um yeah so so so i think uh you're right like maybe his style wasn't necessarily like totally i'm just gonna going to shine every week on weekend update like i think a heidi probably shines on update more ego does bobby moynihan probably did a little bit uh more shining on update but yeah something like jules i think if you give him the room to breathe a little bit i think i think uh yeah that was that was his highlight to me uh from weekend from weekend update for sure yeah uh is there anything else that popped out to you well well fun this was fun i gotta say like beck underappreciated and and sometimes i don't know if i overuse but it's just like somebody like him i really think because he was on the cast with kate kate sesley 80 he was on the cast with a lot of like big characters on the cat like but i think beck was always just that almost steady presence so it was It was fun to revisit him and be like, wow, he actually did a lot.Track 4:[47:52] He's in so much that I would have needed a lot more time to rewatch. I wouldn't have to just watch whole episodes to catch everything he's in, for sure. There is one more that I... Re-watch. And that's called First Impression. Another pre-tape, Jason Momoa, season 44.Track 4:[48:17] Melissa Villasenor is his girlfriend, and she's going to introduce Beck, her boyfriend, to her parents who are coming to their house for the first time. So we've got Jason Momoa and Heidi as the mom, and he's feeling very nervous. He's got a new shirt on. As she opens the door and turns around to make the intro, he's not there. And we don't understand why until we realize that he's hiding and he uses a really funny child's voice. That's weird. He was here just a second ago. Well, we can't wait to meet him. Michael! Honey! I bet you can't find me! What? Was that him? What did he say? Come find me! I'm hiding! Michael, stop it. Okay, come out here and meet my parents. Where am I? Honey, what's going on? I think he's just nervous. He really wants to impress you. Why would that impress us? Because he hides a lot. No, he's never done this before. Bet you can't find me. Oh, I bet I can.Track 4:[49:23] This ignites something in Jason Momoa's dad character who takes that as a real challenge, and he starts running throughout the house following the sound of Beck's voice in this really silly, hee hee hee, come find me, I'm hiding. I mean, Melissa's confused, Heidi's confused. Dad is right into this, to the point where he's punching through walls and ripping things apart. As it turns out, Beck has taken off his shirt, greased up his upper body, and has tried to jam himself behind the TV entertainment. Shelf and he is stuck so they have to help him yeah but it ends in a really fun way because, he says something very heartfelt about the lengths he's gone to to try to impress the parents which strikes a chord with momoa and they end up you know basically thinking this is all wonderful but it was so strange again taking a very simple moment meeting the parents, and taking it to a completely bizarre place.Track 4:[50:31] I love it. I can just hear his voice in my head. The hee hee, come find me. Like a little kid or a little elf-like. Like an elf, yes. Not even a kid, you're right. It's like a little elf-like being. Yes. Yeah, no, no, that was perfect. Like, yeah, from like dumb dad character to like kind of well-meaning dumb boyfriend who missed the mark kind of thing. Like, yeah, that was perfect. fit and i yeah i just loved how instead yeah of course like the comedy in it i just love just momoa's character instead of being put off by he's like all right i'll play i'll dance, i'm buying into this premise so let's go and then yeah that was just that was just perfect back right there it was great for momoa too and played against character i think he they even made him look like you know dad bod too he's wearing like a sweater or something, right? Yeah, he had a big cardigan. I think they'd given him like a fake kind of dad bod belly. And he was also fantastic in it. Yeah. I mean, he looked like a boring dad who used to be a professional wrestler or something. Yep, yep, yep, yep. Which is maybe this is part of it, right? Like as you say, he was kind of boring and this kind of reminded him of how crazy he was in his youth. And he was like, right into this game, I'm going to find you. And his competitive spirit was...Track 4:[51:49] Triggered yeah that was great season 44 uh first impression that's the momoa episode that was that was great uh one one other one uh that i want to explore and this ties into kind of a theme when i was thinking about beck is his very last episode um the anya taylor joy episode uh season 46 beck had a great night so he did the sketch the very his very last sketch was him.Track 4:[52:14] As Vin Diesel talking about like the movies and just describing all this stuff and the about the movie going experience the sticky floors the eight dollar bottle of water the nachos the hand dryer in the bathroom that's louder than a choo-choo train the second concession stand that's never been open the little boy at the urinal with his pants all the way down the bird that's trapped inside the lobby it's truly incredible that's right i'm talking about the movies but like almost the chef's kiss like the perfect ender to hit to beck's kind of dumb dad archetype was this one picture with dad so a few years ago there was this uh i don't know dumb kind of uh trend of dads posing for picture pictures with their like daughter's uh prom date holding a gun and the the joke the the joke was supposed to be in real life like he he if this guy does anything my daughter i'm going to shoot him so i love that they just played off that who else could they have gotten other than beck to do this kirsten that's just it this is This is the ultimate send-off because he is playing all of the things we've talked about.Track 4:[53:35] The dumb, confidently dumb dad, definitely a bit of a douche idiot, can't make the right decisions, man-child. Like, he ends up shooting himself in the doink. All right, now scooch together and smile. Okay, one, two. Whoa. Oh, my God. What?Track 4:[53:56] I saw it on the internet. It's funny. Chris, I told you that we weren't doing this. Oh, come on. It's funny. Dad, how is it funny? Well, you know, it's like, hey, mister, you better not try anything or I'll shoot you. And people are doing it. It's a thing, you know? It's like, bang! Dad! Stop. Oh, come on. Relax. It's really quite brilliant. It's a great one. And you're right. It kind of summarized all of these things that we've said about him and that, you know, all of the skills that he has and brings to the table. So it was fantastic I also do like that, Andrew and Heidi are basically keep telling him that they're going to have sex that night. Yeah. Yeah. Not to say, would you, will you promise me that you're not gonna have sex tonight? And Andrew's Andrew just like, um, we will, but sure. Yeah. Yeah.Track 4:[54:46] And 80 is playing the wife, right? And she's got the cooler box with just the pieces of him left.Track 4:[54:53] Anya's playing the OR doctor. Yep. Um, yeah, it was hilarious, man. He's great. Such a perfect, yeah, such a perfect send-off. And they didn't have an official send-off, quote-unquote, for Beck. But between this and that Vin Diesel one, like, what a great last episode. And that made me think, like, I think Beck left when he was at his peak. I think he left on a high note. Like, he was trending upward, almost proving himself to be arguably, he and Kate maybe at that time, the two most indispensable people on that cast. And Beck really did leave. I mean, he could have been on the cast even right now and still had a lot to give. So it was interesting to me that he got better, where sometimes you see cast members kind of like peter out toward the end of their tenure. But Kirsten, to me, I don't know if this is something that when I say it that causes a lightbulb moment, but I think he was peaking when he left. I mean, that's when you want to go out usually, isn't it? Yeah.Track 4:[55:55] I wonder what role he'll play in season 50. Yeah, I was curious about that. Do you think, like, is he the type of former cast member that you think will pop up in season 50 or over the years? Like, will people be clamoring for, like, a Beck Bennett, like, we need to see Beck in season 50 kind of guy? He's underrated. I think much like Taron Kalam, he's probably not going to be asked to host, which is a real shame. I don't agree with it. But those two were both very much glue players. Yeah.Track 4:[56:26] Within their respective casts and both underrated they have some serious fans and if you objectively they were fantastic cast members and have great characters great impressions all of the above so they might pop up in season 50 i don't know that they'd be asked to host and i think he would i would love to see it i'd be pleasantly surprised um but i maybe if he had a big movie come out you know like if something else changed in his post snl career that might make a difference it's kind of sad actually yeah i at least want to see him pop up in some capacity um if at the very least beck doing something on the actual celebration uh the actual 50th celebration oh yes in february yes yeah maybe not host i wasn't like maybe setting my sights that high. But he needs to be back and do something. And I think people will remember like, oh yeah, you know who was a great cast member? Beck Bennett. That's right. Yeah, I mean, too, like thinking about his career, it's been three years since Beck has been off the show. Where do you see his career heading? Is he like a leading comedic actor? Is he better as an ensemble? What do you think the entertainment world could have in store for Beck? I do think it's ensemble.Track 4:[57:53] I can see him in one of many ensemble comedies. I think he'll always get slotted into office-type situations. He's just that character at the office, the confidently dumb guy, or a neighbor. I don't know that he's any type of leading character that way. I think he's a little too funny-goofy. Again, this is not a complaint. No, no, not at all. my take on how I perceive that industry working.Track 4:[58:25] Kind of how Kristen, kind of when she first left, she started popping up in those co-worker type roles. So similar to that. There's also, you know, you look at, I think you should leave and potentially popping up on shows like that and some of the more creative shows that clearly have more control, and are doing some really interesting things. Because he does those characters so well, Well, I think he's just got to find that. Maybe him and Kyle are sitting on a pile of scripts right now. Who knows? They could be doing a whole bunch of stuff that we don't know about. And I do know he does a lot of voice work, I believe, right? That makes sense with that booming voice. Yeah, so he does a lot of voice work, which is a really nice way to earn your pay, right? I thought I heard him on a Buffalo Wild Wings commercial recently. Possibly, yeah. Playing this big buffalo. I watch a lot of sports. And so during March Madness, I swear I heard Beck's voice like constantly yeah yeah I think he does a lot of voice work which you know totally respectable way to pay those bills and and remain in that industry so, maybe I think has he been on a show like bad mouth I feel like those are his people oh yeah oh big mouth yeah did I oh you like all bad mouth yeah big mouth big mouth sorry with the Nick Kroll yep yeah it feels like if he hasn't that he should yes yeah no I could I I definitely agree with that, like more of an ensemble, which we always say, that's not a bad thing.Track 4:[59:53] Not everybody can be Will Ferrell, you know, and just be like this leading man. I think that's a really great thing, and I think Beck has a lot to give the comedy world. For one, I'm excited to see what he does moving forward. So, Kirsten, now's the time. We're now talking to SNL fans, SNL Hall of Fame listeners, the water cooler. Cooler why do you think they should hold beck bennett in high regard when they think about the history of snl all right.Track 4:[1:00:25] Reliability in that ensemble cast is huge. That's why he's in so many. You know, consistently being able to play a variety of roles with that type of range. We talked about the absurd and the subtlety and this really beautiful balance he achieved at all the characters that needed to portray those things. He also dipped his toe in political, which is a huge part of the show. He played pretty important political characters. I mean, come on, Putin, Mitch McConnell, even not important ones like Mike Lindell, who are we even calling him in the political realm? He pops up there. Yeah. The physical comedy, you know, it goes right back to season one, episode one and Chevy pratfalling, right? Like physical comedy is a huge part of what is part of SNL's DNA. And then the writing, you know, he had a great comedy writing partner in Kyle. And I'm sure there were others that I'm not aware of that are the actual writers on the show. But, you know, they were writing great content for themselves. They were dabbling in pre-tape. They were doing great sketch work. So I think that versatility cannot be downplayed. And whether he's underrated or not, objectively, he scores on the scorecard very high.Track 4:[1:01:53] And that has to be recognized and appreciated.Track 2:[1:02:08] So there's that. Thank you so much, Kirsten and Thomas. That was a wonderful conversation, and I was riveted by most of it. I really love the sketches that you intercut in there, Thomas. Some really great choices. I love the two boys that live in the house where they get hosed off by their parents. Those are great. Correct me if I'm wrong. Send me an email thesnlhof at gmail.com and tell me if i'm wrong but was beck's last sketch not the vin diesel parody uh impression impression rather um i feel like that was the 10 to 1 i feel like he he went out on a 10 to 1 the guy was really a tour de force and i enjoyed him a lot, Let's take a look now at a sketch that was alluded to in the episode. It's December to Remember with Heidi Gardner and that week's host, Timothy Chalamet. Enjoy.Track 5:[1:03:18] Hey, Matt, I think there might be one more gift for your mom right there. It hasn't been a normal year, so this Christmas, get her something extraordinary during the Lexus December to Remember sales event. Nathan, you didn't. With flexible financing and 0% APR, there's never been a better time to buy or lease a new Lexus. Merry Christmas, baby. Are you kidding me, Nathan? Did you seriously buy a car without asking me? Well, because for Christmas... This is a major purchase. Right, but it was a December to remember. It's a Lexus. We don't have the money for this, Nathan. We don't? No, we don't. Your father doesn't. Your father hasn't worked since last March. What? Yeah, COVID has hit a lot of people hard, and I'm no exception. Nathan, you got fired in March 2019. COVID had nothing to do with it. Hey, pal, I guess your old man's busted. It's beginning to look a lot like savings, so get to your local Lexus dealer today. How much did you spend on this ridiculous car, Nathan? It was only $39.99 to its signing. Four grand. It's not that much, babe. And how much is the monthly payment?Track 5:[1:04:32] The what? Did you think this entire car cost $4,000? Uh-huh. There's a monthly payment! Yeah, but with the 0% APER, I think it's all good. APER? Do you mean APR? I'm pretty sure it's APER. Wow. Just wow. Hey, come on! It's Christmas! This is good! I did a good thing for us! Let's enjoy it! Dad, it's 9 in the morning! So? It's not like I have work later. Come on! Hey!Track 5:[1:04:59] Hey, neighbor! You bought a Lexus? You come to me three weeks ago. Oh, Mike, help me. I need money. I can't buy Christmas gifts for my family. My wife doesn't respect me. I didn't say that. My wife's cheating on me with everyone. Mom, you are? I want to look cool in front of my son's girlfriend? Ew, Dad, is that why you pierced your ear? Uh, no, I've had this forever. I just need five grand to get back on my feet. And then you buy Alexis? Yeah, well, it was beginning to look a lot better. Like savings at my local lexus dealer i want my money back man tomorrow hey kathy, what does that look you know what we're taking this car back to the dealership now i better drive maybe we stop by jenna's on the way over show this cool car your dad got huh shut up give the gift of lexus and definitely talk it over first.Track 2:[1:05:55] That was great that is just so wonderful at being that confident man and then slowly devolving into like a blithering idiot it's it's fun to watch it's really fun to watch and snl of course is fun to watch and that's why we're here each and every week as a tribute to a show that has stood Stood the test of time. 50 years now. Coming up very soon. Are you excited about the SNL movie, Saturday Night?Track 2:[1:06:32] Are you excited about the 50th season? Are you excited about our new show, SNL Hall of Fame Water Cooler? Send me an email. Let me know. And while I'm asking you favors, would you do me one more? And on your way out, as you pass the Weekend Update Exhibit, turn out the lights, because the SNL Hall of Fame is now closed. Thank you.Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/snlhof/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Dan, Janice and Jamie. Janis McDonald and Jamie Peters are here to talk about Winesong! 2024 on California Wine Country with Steve Jaxon and Dan Berger. Winesong! takes place Sept. 6-7, 2024 at the Little River Inn. It is the annual fund raiser for the Mendocino Coast Healthcare Foundation. First, Dan Berger has brought a cellar wine, as he usually does. This is a 2007 St. Supery Sauvignon Blanc. He normally doesn't age this wine so long, but at 17 years it is "yummy" with a little green apple flavor. Usually a SV will age 6 or 7 years.The event this year is at the Little River Inn. It is two days of wine tasting, auctions and music, over the weekend of September 6 and 7. Winesong! Began in 1985 as a small wine tasting in a parking lot and grew year after year. It has always been a benefit for health care on the north coast. Winesong! is a Spectacular Scene Dan Berger has been going to this event for a long time. The wineries that participate are specialized in making very high quality wine. The scenery is also spectacular on the site and all around in the area. Click the logo to visit Davis Bynum Wines. For several years Winesong has been in the botanical garden. That location is being reorganized and they hope to return there as early as next year. There is a strong sense of community at this event. Friends see each other there every year. Everyone enjoys supporting the Mendocino hospital and health care facilities. There are two musical groups. Tenor Madness, a jazz band, plays Friday. On Saturday a rock cover band called the Casper Kings will play hits from the 80s and later. Click the logo to visit our sponsor Rodney Strong for info on the 2024 Summer Concert series. Dan Berger notes that over the last 5 years, Anderson Valley wines have improved tremendously. So have Mendocino wines, generally, in the last decade. The tasting and the music, the food, all on Saturday. But Friday afternoon is the Pinot Noir celebration. It used to be just Anderson Valley Pinot Noirs but since 2015 they have opened it to other regions that make Pinot Noir, like Willamette, the Sonoma Coast and Central Coast. One thing that Dan appreciates about Winesong is that you get a chance to taste excellent wines from producers that you have never heard of before.

In this episode of the Explore Oregon Podcast, host Zach Urness returns to one of the state's great backyard gems — the Willamette Water Trail. Urness highlights his two favorite places to float and camp on the mainstem Willamette, that features surprisingly beautiful scenery, wildlife habitat and camps just a stone's throw from cities such as Eugene, Corvallis and Salem. Then, Urness plays an interview from 2021 with former Willamette Riverkeeper executive director Travis Williams — now with Willamette River Preservation Trust — about the best floats, history and things to know about being on the Willamette.

Get ready for an insightful and engaging episode of the Weinnotes Podcast as we sit down with Tony Rynders, the acclaimed winemaker behind Tendril Wine Cellars in Oregon's Willamette Valley. Join us as Tony shares his journey, experiences, and the philosophy that drives his winemaking approach.In this episode, Tony dives into his diverse background, from his early days working in hospitality in Wisconsin to his transition into winemaking. He shares how his time at Domaine Serene and his work with renowned figures in the wine industry shaped his path and led him to start Tendril Wine Cellars. Tony's story is one of passion, innovation, and a relentless pursuit of excellence.Listeners will be captivated by Tony's reflections on the 2024 vintage, drawing comparisons to previous years and discussing the unique challenges and opportunities each growing season brings. His detailed observations on bud break, flowering, and the critical May weather patterns offer a glimpse into the meticulous planning and adaptation required in winemaking.One of the highlights of the episode is Tony's discussion about whole cluster fermentation. He recounts his initial skepticism and how a pivotal 2011 vintage transformed his perspective, leading to the incorporation of whole cluster techniques in his winemaking. Tony's explanation of the sensory impact of whole cluster fermentation and its influence on wine structure and complexity is both enlightening and inspiring.Tony also shares his innovative approach to creating white Pinot Noir, a wine he has been perfecting since 2004. His description of the process, from the initial idea sparked by a conversation with an Italian winemaker to the meticulous execution, showcases his commitment to pushing boundaries and exploring new possibilities in winemaking.Throughout the episode, Tony emphasizes the importance of community and collaboration in the wine industry. He reflects on the support and camaraderie among winemakers in the Willamette Valley and the role of mentorship in nurturing new talent. His dedication to creating distinct wines for his clients, ensuring each wine has its own unique personality, highlights his integrity and craftsmanship.Tony's passion for sustainability and his commitment to quality are evident in his approach to winemaking. He discusses the significance of barrel aging, the careful selection of oak, and the importance of releasing wines that are ready to enjoy. His philosophy of avoiding the use of new oak in white wines to preserve their purity and ageability offers a refreshing perspective on winemaking practices.Tune in to hear Tony Rynders' full story and gain a deeper appreciation for the artistry and dedication behind Tendril Wine Cellars. This episode is a testament to the power of innovation, the importance of community, and the relentless pursuit of excellence in winemaking. Don't forget to subscribe and join us for this unforgettable conversation!

The Ross Island Lagoon, which sits in the center of the four-island complex known as Ross Island, is a byproduct of decades of mining. In addition to industrial purposes, the lagoon also has a long history of being used recreationally and provides habitat for a variety of vulnerable plant and animal species.In 2015, researchers began to see cyanobacterial blooms in the lagoon. Cyanobacteria is a type of bacteria which can pose a serious threat to the health of animals and people who come into close contact with the water. When present, it gives the water a bright green appearance.Because the lagoon is a warm, stagnant pool, it’s an ideal breeding ground for cyanobacteria. And it’s only getting warmer due to climate change. The tide from the Willamette pulls the cyanobacteria out into the river’s main flow, contaminating the rest of the water. The Oregon Health Authority routinely releases warnings urging against recreational river use during warmer seasons because of this.Since 2017, Oregon State University and the Willamette River group the Human Access Project have been working on reducing these Lagoon blooms. There is work being done by different groups to address the cyanobacterial blooms in the Ross Island Lagoon. Desirée Tullos, professor of Water Resources Engineering at Oregon State University, joins us to share more.

The Willamette River was running high and wild on the morning of Feb. 5, 1890, as Alden and Arthur Graham set out from Oregon City in their sternwheel riverboat for the daily run to Portland. They arrived in Portland in what must have been record time, dodging logs and small floating buildings along the way, and promptly canceled the return trip. It was just too dangerous to even try charging into the teeth of all the fast-moving debris. But after they arrived, they learned that theirs was the only riverboat between Willamette Falls and the Portland bridges — and there were some things floating down the river that could potentially damage or even destroy those bridges. So, back out into the torrent they went, to the rescue. (Oregon City, Clackamas County; 1890s) (For text and pictures, see https://offbeatoregon.com/1912e.steamboat-culture-graham-line.html)

Braga, King, and Ski: :15: Gaming middle school baseball, reminding your parents to avoid scams. 14:50: Oregon baseball's run to the supers, joining a crappy conference, King hating Mexicans, Jeremiah Johnson joining Willamette. 31:23: Horrible WNBA discord, why the US acquired Alaska. 52:00: Top 3 NCAA field logos/sponsors.

Now that summer's nearly here, it's river week on City Cast Portland: We're looking at everything that's special about living next to the Willamette! We're kicking it all off by revisiting a conversation we had last summer with Noa Rubin, a community organizer for the paddle boarding group, SUP PDX. Noa has been kayaking and paddling vessels on the Willamette for more than 13 years. She's sharing tips for the best ways to safely enjoy getting out on the water. This episode first aired on August 3, 2023 Routes discussed in today's episode: George Rogers Park Ross Island Loop Willamette Narrows Willamette Falls Willamette Falls to St. Johns (or from Hawthorne Bridge) Become a member of City Cast Portland today! Get all the details and sign up here.  Who would you like to hear on City Cast Portland? Shoot us an email at portland@citycast.fm, or leave us a voicemail at 503-208-5448. Want more Portland news? Then make sure to sign up for our morning newsletter, Hey Portland, and be sure to follow us on Instagram.  Looking to advertise on City Cast Portland? Check out our options for podcast and newsletter ads at citycast.fm/advertise. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Department of Veterans Affairs Willamette National Cemetery will host a solemn Memorial Day wreath-laying ceremony, accompanied by speeches, and the playing of Taps. https://www.clarkcountytoday.com/news/willamette-national-cemetery-to-hold-memorial-day-ceremony/ #DepartmentOfVeteransAffairs #WillametteNationalCemetery #MemorialDay #WreathLayingCeremony #Speeches #PlayingOfTaps #JaredHoward #WilliamLeady #MargaretAyres #ClarkCountyWa #ClarkCountyNews #ClarkCountyToday

As the head of Willamette Riverkeeper, Travis Williams has worked to protect the river for much of his professional life. The environmental nonprofit’s efforts have been both wide and deep, from helping enforce the Clean Water Act, clearing up trash, restoring habitat, contributing to the Portland Harbor Cleanup, working to protect fish populations and preventing concentrated animal feeding operations, or CAFOs, along waterways in Linn County.   Williams says the nonprofit is strong and does not expect any interruption in the work when he steps away in the coming months to focus on the Willamette River Preservation Trust. It’s a land trust focused on conserving creeks, rivers, floodplains, oak savanna, upland forests and more for the mid to northern Willamette Valley. We sit down with Williams about the health of the Willamette over the last two dozen years, and how his past work relates to his future plans.

Happy Friday! Thanks so much for tuning in for another episode of the Wet Net Podcast. If you haven't yet, please be sure to subscribe to our youtube, and follow/like us on facebook! these episodes can also be found on Spotify, and Apple Podcasts. On this weeks episode, Clayton gets to sit down and chat with Eric Swanson of Eric Swanson Outdoors. Eric was Born and raised in St. Helen's Oregon and has 9 years of experience as a local fishing guide. He's Extremely knowledgeable in fishing on the Columbia and Willamette river systems. Eric and Clayton chat about Lower Main Stem Columbia Springer Season, Current Reports on the Multnomah channel and Willamette river. Also make sure you listen through to find out what's next for Eric this season! Clayton also Reveals who the Winner is for the Giveaway that Includes: - Guided Fishing Trip for 2 (with Chase Martinsen, Home Water Guide Services) - Wild Fin Rod Holder - 2 Bottles of Ultimate Shrimp Cure - ColdWater Strong Bundle * Bleed Bag *Pro Troll Flashers ** Kokanee gang troll *18" Finesse Flasher Bumpers *12" Flasher Bumpers - Fish SOS RPG - Jar of Limited Coon Shrimp Have a Great Weekend and Tight Lines!

Every year at this time, we get together with Peter Dammann, Artistic Director of the Waterfront Blues Festival and ace guitar slinger to find out who's in the festival lineup. He's joining me in the Artichoke Music Café. Next week Lo Steele will be here and coming up guitarist Eddie Martinez and also OMN's National Editor Art Levine will be talking to us from Washington D.C. But now lets turn our attention to the fourth of July and the shores of the Willamette where tens of thousands of fans gather at the Waterfront Blues Festival. Here's Peter Dammann to let you in on who's playing this time around.

It should be no surprise that the historic town at the intersection of the Willamette and Clackamas rivers, where people have been gathering and celebrating since time immemorial, is a great place to spend the day. On this week's episode of Peak Northwest, we go out exploring Oregon City, a perfect day trip close to Portland, especially in the spring and summer when the town is buzzing and blooming with activity. It might be the city's cultural significance and history that's so appealing. Or it could be the good food scene, which always makes a day trip more enjoyable. Maybe it's just the charming Municipal Elevator, which takes pedestrians to the upper part of town. Listen along and then go find out for yourself what makes Oregon City so special. Here are some highlights from this week's show: Jamie explains why Oregon City has drawn him over the years. Coffee, a walk and a ride in the Municipal Elevator. Why the McLoughlin Promenade is the best thing in town. Exploring the many riverside parks in Oregon City and West Linn. Subscribe to Peak Northwest on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify or anywhere you listen to podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today on City Cast Portland, we're talking about a recent report on the health of the Willamette River and our local coastal waters. We also have updates on stories from last week, including Commissioner Rene Gonzalez's backtracking on Mayor Ted Wheeler's updated camping ban, and redemption for a maligned executive producer. Joining host Claudia Meza on our midweek roundup is our very own producer, Giulia Fiaoni. Discussed in Today's Episode: Oregon Could Place Limits on River Trash, Ocean Acidification [OPB] The Portland Spirit Turns 30 Years Old [Willamette Week] Gonzalez's Punitive Camping Ban, Unfinished City Projects in SE, and Changing Public School Funding [City Cast Portland] Gonzalez Pares Back Camping Ban Proposal [Willamette Week]   High-Visibility Crossing at SE 80th and Stark [Montavilla News] Become a member of City Cast Portland today! Get all the details and sign up here.  Who would you like to hear on City Cast Portland? Shoot us an email at portland@citycast.fm, or leave us a voicemail at 503-208-5448. Want more Portland news? Then make sure to sign up for our morning newsletter, Hey Portland, and be sure to follow us on Instagram.  Looking to advertise on City Cast Portland? Check out our options for podcast and newsletter ads at citycast.fm/advertise. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode of the Explore Oregon Podcast, host Zach Urness talks about the rebound of one of Oregon's most iconic fish from near extinction. Urness was interviewed by Think Out Loud host Dave Miller on Oregon Public Broadcasting about why this year's run of winter steelhead in the Upper Willamette Basin was so special. After their population nearly crashing in 2017, the sea-run trout returned their best numbers in two decades this year. The interview was based on a story Urness wrote on the subject titled: "Once in 'extinction vortex,' Willamette winter steelhead post best returns since 2004."

In 2017, fewer than 1,000 winter steelhead returned to the Upper Willamette Basin. That number has exploded to more than 7,600 so far this year. The returns are the highest since 2004. Zach Urness is the outdoors editor for the Statesman Journal and hosts the Explore Oregon podcast. He joins us with more on what’s behind the increase.

Happy Friday! Thanks so much for tuning in for another episode of the Wet Net Podcast. This Episode is coming out just in time, due to the Columbia River closure, people will be focusing their time on other options. One of those options, is the Willamette river system, including the Multnomah Channel. This Week, Clayton sat down with Josiah Darr, of JDarr Guided fishing. Josiah is a lifetime local to Scappoose Oregon, & is extremely successful targeting spring chinook on the Willamette river system, More specifically, the Multnomah Channel. We go over some tips and tricks to help you be more successful targeting these fish on the smaller system. We are restructuring our Coldwater Strong giveaway, keep on eye out for a facebook post on how to win that gear. Tight Lines!

Sellwood neighborhood resident Eli Arnold is running for Portland City Council District 4 (Sellwood, Eastmoreland, West of Willamette). His day job is a Portland Police Officer on the Central City Bike Squad. He and BikePortland founder Jonathan Maus talked about a wide range of issues, including:His experience on the bike squad.Why he started a community garden in his Savannah, GA neighborhood in 2014.How he can be trusted to lead with only Army and police experience.What he thinks about Former City Councilor Jo Ann Hardesty's violence prevention tactics.Policing in Portland and Arnold's ideas for improving it.What he'd do to save lives on our streets.Why I'm skeptical of his candidacy and Portland Police in general.and much more!Links from the episode:Kickstarter for community garden project in 2014"Portland Police officer admits no traffic enforcement messaging was politically motivated" (BikePortland, August 8th, 2023)PPB Central Bike Squad on Instagram"Beloved Portland Police Officer Robert Pickett moves on" (BikePortland, May 10th, 2011)Arnold's campaign websiteEli For Portland InstagramThanks to Brock Dittus of Sprocket Podcast fame for our theme music. And thanks for listening.

Live Nation Entertainment recently obtained an exclusive contract to host live performances at Providence Park, and is now in talks with a local developer for a massive music venue on the Willamette's east bank, with capacity for 3,000 people. Though a waterfront music venue might sound amazing, local music advocates, including venue owners, are worried. Today we're talking with MusicPortland board member Jamie Dunphy about why so many people in the local music scene are saying that Live Nation venues could damage Portland's beloved music scene.  Become a member of City Cast Portland today! Get all the details and sign up here.  Who would you like to hear on City Cast Portland? Shoot us an email at portland@citycast.fm, or leave us a voicemail at 503-208-5448. Want more Portland news? Then make sure to sign up for our morning newsletter, Hey Portland, and be sure to follow us on Instagram.  Looking to advertise on City Cast Portland? Check out our options for podcast and newsletter ads at citycast.fm/advertise. City Cast is seeking a Director of Finance to develop our financial operations, lead finance strategy, and oversee finance and accounting. Get all the details here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Travis Todd is the Winemaker at De La Boue Wines in Willamette Valley, Oregon. Shoutout to Chris Andrew his business partner for putting this together. De La Boue 2022 Syrah from The Pines Vineyard was enjoyed while we Sucio Talked about... Bartending Restaurant Work Making Wine The Willamette Valley Grapes The Multiverse & His First Vintage Raw Food & Wine Talk Only On Sucio Talk #Winemaker #Oregon #Willamettevalley #chefpodcast #podcast #foodpodcast #wine #food&wine #michelin #jbf --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/suciotalk/support

In this episode, host Zach Urness takes listeners to the snowy wonderland of Willamette Pass, a great place to visit during the spring snow season. Even as the days get warmer and longer, there is still lots of snow on Oregon's mountain passes, which makes for a fun recreation season for skiing, snowshoeing and other activities. Urness highlights a rustic lodge to spend the night, wooden shelters hidden in backcountry snow and even hot springs to enjoy about an hour southeast of Eugene.

IN THE SMALL hours of the morning of Aug. 16, 1906, a powerful explosion jolted residents awake near the little town of Willamette, which today is a neighborhood of West Linn. It came from the direction of the nearby Tualatin River. The cause was soon discovered. When the first rays of the morning sun fell on the Oregon Iron and Steel Co.'s diversion dam, located a little over three miles from the river's mouth, a 20-foot-wide hole had been blasted in its center. The river water was still gushing through it. Executives of the Oregon Iron and Steel Co. were outraged. In newspaper interviews the next day, they pledged that the dam would be speedily rebuilt, and for weeks afterward newspapers like the Hillsboro Argus and the Oregon City Enterprise ran advertisements from the company offering a $500 reward for information leading to the arrest of whoever blew it up. They also fanned out around the neighborhood of farmers and residents along the Tualatin River upstream from the dam, making the same offer. But nobody seemed to know anything. Most of the residents wouldn't even admit to having heard the blast. They all knew, of course. Some of them had been in the party that had crept up to the dam in the pre-dawn darkness, set the charge, and touched it off.... (Lake Oswego, Clackamas County; 1900s) (For text and pictures, see https://offbeatoregon.com/24-01.tualatin-dam-dynamited.html)

Daniel and Jermaine go on what is supposed to be a peaceful kayaking trip on the Willamette.Sponsored by: HelmgastMusic by: Atrium Carceri, used with permission from Cryo Chamber.Our Champions of the Red Moon: Martin Heuschober, Simon Cooper, David, Julia, Camilla, Bob de Lange, Cameron, Antxon, Graham Barey and Doug Thomson.Web: https://www.redmoonroleplaying.comiTunes: http://apple.co/2wTNqHxAndroid: http://bit.ly/2vSvwZiYoutube: https://www.youtube.com/RedMoonRoleplayingSpotify: https://spoti.fi/30iFmznRSS: http://www.redmoonroleplaying.com/podcast?format=rssPatreon: https://www.patreon.com/RedMoonRoleplaying

Friday is the 10th Annual Hoopsville Marathon and is a bit of a "half" marathon. The "big show" is scheduled to be on air for at least six hours (it ends up going seven-and-a-half hours). This year's show features coaches, administrators, and others around Division III who give us a sense of the season to date, what's to come, and what else is going on in the Division and sport. We will talk about the ongoing NABC efforts with Coaches vs Cancer and Suits and Sneakers events. We hear from some of our pundits who tackle ever more difficult Top 25 polls. And we have our annual conversation with both national committee chairs. The marathon is also a chance to celebrate the final month of the Division III basketball regular season. And we restart the shows fundraising efforts to help continue our efforts into the future. Guests included (in Part 2): - Nate Davis & BJ Dunne, Gettysburg No. 25 women's and men's coaches - Bill Sall, No. 12 Calvin men's coach - James Cosgrove, No. 4 Trinity (Conn.) men's coach - Don Friday, PSU-Harrisburg men's coach - Peg Swadener, Willamette women's coach Hoopsville is presented by D3hoops.com.

Welcome to the new, expanded format for The Meaningful Marketplace Podcast Shows. Starting with this show, we will be interviewing foodpreneurs from Oregon, Washington, Colorado, Montana, Idaho and Wyoming, thanks to the NW and Rocky Mountain Regional Food Business Center, https://nwrockymountainregionalfoodbusiness.com/ . This regional effort offers an incredibly rich center of information, education and connection to the food industry for mid-size growers, farmers and producers. It's been since episode #81, May of 2021 that we interviewed Jana Jenkins who wears two hats. She is the founder of Oregon Ag, a food distribution company moving mostly local food specialties from producers whose stories and products are unique and interesting. Her other big hat is Sales Director for Oregon Wild Rice, a family-owned producer located in the fertile Willamette Valley of Oregon. We ask Jana, “What's changed?”. Oregon Wild Rice is owned by the Langdon family who has been farming in the area for over a 100 years. For most of those years the family had drained the farmland to grow grass seed. But a few years ago they committed to a new plan to more effectively utilize their heavy clay soil and the abundant Oregon rainfall. In 2016 they chose to boldly plant Oregon Wild Rice. It took four years to expand the rice crop and to learn how to effectively process the high-quality rice for human consumption. Currently, they sell everything they produce locally. Recent numbers are 25,000 bags of wild rice sold last year in approximately 25 stores. Sarah Marshall also highlighted Oregon Wild Rice on a local TV program. As for changes in Jana's Oregon Ag company, distribution is still a challenge. She is enthused however after the recent Fancy Foods Show held in Las Vegas (covered in Episode #140 released last March). The shows provide a plethora of offerings close together and in sections that make exploring for new products efficient and successful. Her greatest surprise was in the international section, where foods from Italy and Spain were particularly fascinating. Both the packaging and the foods themselves had incredible eye appeal and gave consumers new, rich food experiences. What does Jana look for in taking on new products? She loves the story and the passion of the maker behind the product, because it's the story that appeals to the consumer looking for something new. So if you contact her, and she hopes you do, start by simply showing her what you make. If she takes on your product, her favorite stores for placement are Market of Choice, New Seasons, Zupans, Mckay's Market and Ray's Market. Jana also has placed products in quality venues such as Willamette valley Vineyards and Bandon Dunes Golf Resort. Her current client list includes Humblebee Honey, Kickin' Pickles, Portland Salt Company, Nuts on the Run, Wildfire Elixirs, Fields Grassfed Beef, and Franklin and Sons Beverages London, England. Jana is particularly thrilled about Sh'mallow, the first aerosol marshmallow that tops any dessert or beverage. What's Jana's advice to all aspiring foodpreneurs? Take every opportunity you get. And don't stop; no one is doing what you're doing. Tell your story. Contact Oregon Wild Rice, IG: oregonrice.com. Website: oregonrice.com IG: oregonwildrice.com. Contact Jana, LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jana-jenkins-895683186/. Email: Jana@oregon.ag. Our hosts: Twitter - @sarahmasoni and @spicymarshall, Instagram - @masoniandmarshall.

Episode Summary This week on Live Like the World is Dying, Elizabeth talks with Brooke about running a small scale farm, including what goes into feeding over 700 families year-round, the importance of community accessible farm space, how climate change continues to mess things up, and how taking care of the soil really matters. Host Info Brooke can be found on Twitter or Mastodon @ogemakweBrooke. Publisher Info This show is published by Strangers in A Tangled Wilderness. We can be found at www.tangledwilderness.org, or on Twitter @TangledWild and Instagram @Tangled_Wilderness. You can support the show on Patreon at www.patreon.com/strangersinatangledwilderness. Transcript Live Like the World is Dying: Elizabeth on small scale farming **Brooke ** 00:15 Hello, and welcome to Live Like the World is Dying, your podcast for what feels like the end times. I'm your host Brooke Jackson. And today we're going to be talking with Elizabeth Miller, a farmer, about her work in having an organic farm and some really cool stuff that she does that's worth all of us learning how to do a bit of. But before we get into that, we'd like to give a shout out to another one of the podcasts on the Channel Zero Network. So here's a little jingle from one of our friends. Doo doo doo doo, doo doo. [Singing a simple melody] **Brooke ** 01:29 And we're back. So as I mentioned in the intro, I have with me today, Elizabeth Miller, a wonderful lady who owns a farm. And Elizabeth, I'll hand it off to you to tell us a little bit more about yourself. **Elizabeth ** 01:46 Thanks for having me. I'd love to talk about farming and my community. I've been running Minto Island Growers for about 16 years here in South Salem. My husband Chris and I started the farm way back when. We were passionate about environmental science and community food systems when we met in college, and I grew up working on our family farm and it was the kid who always wanted to come back and work with plants. And when Chris and I formed our partnership we were ready to come back here, in 2008, after working at a farm in California and really building a community based organic farm. And I can delve more into what that means to me. But one of our primary works that we do on our farm is centered around our CSA program, which is an acronym for Community Supported Agriculture that's practiced in lots of different ways all over the world, really. Every farm does a little bit differently but you have a subscription based weekly produce box. And we do a main season and a winter season for that. And I can, again, talk more about that if that's of interest. And we have a farm stand where we also do lots of food: woodfired pizza and berry milkshakes and salads, things that we hope reflect all the beautiful abundance and diversity that you can grow and eat here in Oregon. And it's also just a wonderful community hub for families to come and gather and join and connect with nature and really connect with the earth. That's what I firmly believe food can do for us and feed our souls and bodies in all the really most profound ways. We do organic plant starts and we do mint propagation and we used to do native plant work that were projects that I grew up doing, but we don't do any of that anymore. And that's a short summary. And I'll stop talking so we can get into more detail. **Brooke ** 03:46 No worries, thank you. Now listeners, you're listening to this and you may be wondering why we're having a farmer come on and talk and we've definitely talked a lot about gardening, at home gardening, growing your own garden. We've talked a little bit about community gardens. And what intrigues me about what Elizabeth's doing and what I think is useful to us is that she and her farm operate on a fairly small footprint. They grow an incredible diversity of food. And it's a fairly small staff. And when I think about the future and climate change problems that we're having and the number of food chains, food supply insecurities that we have, I'm concerned a lot about how we grow food to feed a community. And I feel like what Elizabeth does with her farm does feed a large community and there may be parts of that that are replicable for the rest of us. So if we find ourselves in a time in which our supply chains have broken down or we can work together to develop a farm, there's a lot of insights from what she does that would help create those kinds of things and replicate them in other places, because she's not a large scale industrial farmer and is not mono-cropping. And really does, like I was saying, a lot on a small footprint with a small staff. So. Elizabeth, would you tell us a little bit more about some of the specifics of the farm like how much land do you farm? How much food do you produce? How many different crops? What's your staff size? Some of those kinds of things to fill in the details of what I was just saying, **Elizabeth ** 05:46 Sure, happy to. We lease about 29 acres. A lot of that encompasses non-production areas where we grow our plant starts and have our washing station and a commercial kitchen that supports the food cart. So in any given season, we are probably cultivating between 8 to 12 acres of land and that also includes lots of fallow fields that are either not in the rotation that year or hopefully are being cover cropped to add more nutrients and organic matter to the soil and to just practice good rotation. And one of the most amazing things about growing in the Pacific Northwest is the huge amount of diversity that you can grow here in this temperate climate, even with climate change. And that's going to stay true even within a climate change context. And I feel like having a diverse...a business model based on a high level of diversity can provide a lot of resilience within, you know, socio-political changes, climate change, context environmental extremes, you know, that.... Even though diversity is challenging, because it means you have to have a greater skill set per crop. And the complexity, the number of successions, and the complexity with the number of crops makes it difficult to run as lean and efficient and profitable of a business, it still provides a lot of resilience and it's really what our business model is based on. So we grow, you know, about 30 to 40 different crops and within that, over 100 different varieties. You know, just with pepper, eggplant, and tomato alone there's probably 30 to 40 varieties there, which is a little bit insane, but it's also incredibly exciting because there's so much diversity out there. And as a farmer, you know, it's just...it keeps...it's just exciting to delve into the world of diversity within varieties. And we do that both for fun, to expose our customers and our eaters and for ourselves to more options and things you don't get in the store. That's one of the fun things about gardening at home or working on or buying from a small farm is just getting access to more interesting varieties. We do that also because there's a lot of great plant breeding that goes on and can--depending on what the breeders are focusing on--there can be more resilience within a variety. That's especially true with the hybrid brassicas. So, you know, we love the seed saving. We love open pollinated varieties and heirloom varieties. But as farmers who rely on growing food for our economic living, we do buy hybrid seeds--nothing GMO, of course, because we're certified organic and we wouldn't do that anyway. But we do see it with certain crops like the hybrid brassicas--like the heading brassicas, like broccoli, cabbages, etc--having options with hybrids is really important for just vigor and yield and consistency. And even with tomatoes, we love growing the beautiful diversity of all the open pollinated heirloom tomatoes but, you know, now that we've been farming for over 16 years, we're seeing diseases we hadn't seen before, especially with the extreme.... Well, we had already seen late blight in our tomatoes, but I'm sure that it would have been.... Our very, very wet spring we had last year, we saw a bigger increase in fungal and bacterial diseases and we've seen resistance to those things in different varieties. So that's been an interesting thing we've observed in the last couple years. So yeah, our CSA model, it's changed a little bit over the years but essentially we do 22 weeks of a main season. And then we do about 7 weeks of a winter season. And our main season is June through the end of October and winter being November through February. And we could easily do a year round CSA in terms of what we're able to grow. It's those bridge months, we call them, from like February March, April, May are challenging but we have farmer friends who are really successfully do a year round CSAs because you can grow so much diversity here, especially if you utilize covered spaces really strategically, like hoop houses or even lower tech stuff like caterpillar tunnels--which are also important in a climate change context, even more so than then they have been in the past. So we do a combination for our CSA program of pack [unsure of spelling] shares, where we decide what goes in those shares. and we do two different share sizes to make it more...give more options to the community. And those get delivered to drop sites still relatively, you know, the farthest.... We used to go to Portland and then we realized at a point that we could fulfill all of our CSA shares here in the community. And so we decided to just deliver into the Salem area, which is so much better for many, many reasons. So the farthest we go out is Kaiser. But many of our drop sites are really pretty close to the farm. A few are five minutes away. Some are 10 minutes away. And that's because we really do cater to our local Salem community. And we are so proud of the relationships we've been able to build with our community over time, which I can talk more about because it's really its own thing to discuss. And then we do a market-style option, which again, different farms define this and do this in different ways. But for us it means setting up our produce at our farm stand two nights a week from four to seven. And we have a combination of fixed and choice items. And so the fixed items allow us to just have a little more reliable crop plan and make sure that we're still getting that good level of diversity out to our customers. People have to try to eat bok choy at least once a year, not five times a year, but once a year. It justifies us growing it too, which is good, you know. You want that diversity. It's good for our bodies. It's good for the soil. It's good in many, many ways. And then they get their choice items which they get to choose amongst. And like we've found that market-style option to just be incredibly popular, both for our customers and for us as a farm. It gives us so much more flexibility. It allows us to.... It justify us growing more specialty crops too because we can pick those really small amounts of like a specialty crop fully and put it out for market-style choice and we know that it'll all get taken and chosen versus like not being sure that that would all get enjoyed in our packed boxes, because we want to make sure that folks are really enjoying their CSAs. One of the big pieces...the most consistent piece of feedback we've gotten over the years, and many other CSA farms we hear this too, is that folks aren't able to fully utilize everything that's in their share. And they're usually joining a CSA because they value that local produce so much. And so trying to find ways to fit different people's needs within the CSA, you know, do the combo and fix and choice and also not...still grow specialty items but not have to grow huge quantities of it, you know. We've really fine tuned our model quite a bit over the years in the options that we've created. And then the winter season's every other week with a bigger break in the winter. And that's a combination of storage crops, but a lot of crops still coming from the field, which is really one of the things I love to talk about when I do tours is talking about just the amount you can still eat fresh from the fields where your nutrient density is still so high because things are fresh. You know, you lose a lot of your nutrients when things are picked and sit on the store shelves or, you know. They can be...not all frozen things are bad, you know. You can capture nutrients with certain types of processing techniques. But if it's not being processed in a certain way and it's just fresh, sitting on the shelf, you can lose a lot of your nutrient density that way. So the winter CSA is a really fun eating because it's still very, very diverse. And a lot of it's still really fresh. And there's some folks that just do that CSA. They might be really avid home gardeners, but they either don't have the scale or the storage capacity but they still want to eat a seasonal diversity and eat local and fresh. And so they'll come to our farm just for the winter CSA which is really neat. Yeah. **Brooke ** 14:13 And you do garden, or excuse me, "garden..." you do farm year round basically. It's not that you're...you're not working throughout those months when there isn't the CSA, right? Your farmers are still quite busy. **Elizabeth ** 14:29 That's very true. And yeah, you had asked to talk about our staff. So we--  **Brooke ** 14:34 Yeah, hold on, let me back up before you get into the numbers just because I want to review. Okay, so you're operating on eight or nine acres a year generally. And you're growing how many different crops, not including sub varieties? **Elizabeth ** 14:48 I'd say 30 to 40. I haven't encountered the actual list in a few years, but it's definitely between 30 and maybe 45.  **Brooke ** 14:58 30 to 45 crops. 8 or 9 acres. You're sort of actively actually farming and yielding stuff from May/June through winter. **Elizabeth ** 15:10 Well, with our covered spaces, honestly, it's almost February now. February or March through.... We had a really big success last year in growing a much greater amount of food fresh from the soil but in the covered spaces with the addition of the caterpillar tunnels. We were harvesting quite a bit starting in early March. **Brooke ** 15:32 You didn't say numbers on the CSA, but I just happen to know that it's about 250 families that sign up that get that weekly produce box through the summer. Plus, you still have a farmstand that people come and buy fresh at. Plus, you have wholesale. Do you know how much food you produce? Like I don't.... You know, I know sometimes I hear about tons of this or that, but....  **Elizabeth ** 15:54 You know, I don't know the statistics and I really should. We keep them all in our harvest spreadsheets for our own record keeping and for Oregon Tilth for the organic certification. And I should know some of those stats because it'd be really.... What I really should know is per acre and by crop, you know, per bed-foot yield. But it's changing. I mean.... I have two really talented.... Shoutout to my two head farmers, my harvest manager, Arabella, and my field manager, Justin, are in their fifth and sixth year of farming on our particular farm, which is important to say because you have to really learn how to farm a particular farm. You can be a talented grower, but knowing a particular farm's soil, experiencing multiple seasons of variations, both in disease, pests, cropping patterns, weather patterns, learning that level, you know, you have to know a lot about many different crops. It's a huge breadth of knowledge that you need. And so you only really get that depth by farming many seasons. So they're just at the peak of their game in their trajectory this year. And so many crops statistics that they have reported have been double or more. I mean, just.... And it was a quote, unquote, "normal year," you know, with no big climate extremes. No, you know, heat dome. No raining for the first three months of spring so that, you know, the soil tilth was so much better than last year, for instance, where we had one of the coldest, wettest springs on record. And we saw the effects on crop health, and especially disease, but just crop health generally because of the tilth of the soil. The roots...the plants just were never as healthy, especially the one-time plantings that you would have to establish in the beginning of the year when we were so pressed to get things in the ground. So this year has just been so incredibly positive and more bountiful than normally even so. It's really turning my head of what's possible growing wise, you know, because there's so much variation within a crop year-to-year. And you know that with a large level of diversity, you're never going to grow each crop perfectly. There's always going to be something that's going to have a challenge or be better than expected or have some unusual circumstance. That's the challenge but also the wonderful curiosity of farming is you're always learning something new because soil systems and ecological systems are so complex. So I should...I'll get some of those steps under my belt for the next time I have a conversation like this.  **Brooke ** 18:39 Well and that diversity, you know, another example of why that diversity is so important is that you're going to have some kind of crop failure or problem going on, right? Okay, so the CSA feeds something like 750 families. So if you had to take a guesstimate with, you know, Saturday markets and farmstand and wholesale, what do you think.... Like how many additional families worth of produce do you suppose that you put out? **Elizabeth ** 19:12 Oh, gosh, I mean, I'd say there's, you know, probably 700 to.... I don't know if we should say 1000 family units that come through the farm. You know, some people come to just have a milkshake with their kids and play on the playground, which is wonderful. My single biggest driving factor in starting the farm was that I wanted to continue a deep, and deeply important to me, and long family tradition of working within natural resources in Oregon. But most importantly, I wanted to keep the soil productive and in agricultural production so that it could be farmed for a few generations because we will need that soil and once.... If you can't afford to keep land in agricultural production and it's developed, you can never really go back from that. And two, was to give people the same opportunity to connect with the land that I had, you know? My family happens to own it. But of course the white people took all the land from the Native Americans and have abused it in many different ways over the years. And thankfully, the family tradition I was raised in, generationally it shifted, of course, because we've learned so much more about how to treat the land well. But there was always a history, like when my family was in timber. And that's where my family got its start was, you know, getting to take advantage, in some sense, of Earth's, you know, capital that it had grown for hundreds of years. And that's given me, in some way, the opportunity to have. But there was always an ethic of conservation and stewardship within my family's relationship to the land or to the natural resource that they were able to have the privilege to get to interact with. And I believe firmly that I'm so passionate about the Earth because I had the opportunity to connect with it. And so many people just don't have the exposure. They don't have the opportunity to either be out in nature or to have a garden. And of course, many people, you know, encounter that and experience it and find inspiration on their own. But it's hard...it can be hard to find that connection and that care for the earth and that perspective if you don't have the opportunity to interact with nature and with the soil. And food is such a fundamental way that we can all do that. And it connects us all. We all have to eat. So I just felt that our farm at Minto needed to be a community farm. People needed access to it. They needed to be able to connect to it and we needed to be able to connect to each other through that mechanism of growing and eating food. So that's always been a driving principle of our farm and our business. **Brooke ** 22:08 Yeah, and I'll say, you know, as an indigenous woman, how proud of you I am and how grateful I am for your ongoing.... You know, and you don't shy away from the awareness of the privilege that you have and where it came from and then the commitment that you have and have had towards land preservation and restoration and the way you take care of this piece of land. Yes, it is a business. But I think you would do things that would help the land and hurt the business because of your priority structure. Not that you would generally have to make that choice. But like if that's...if it came down to a decision between the two, I know that you're always going to take care of the land and make sure that it's healthy and strong and sustainable for generations. And that's really important culturally to me. So I'm, I'm grateful for that and to be a part of it. **Elizabeth ** 23:05 And thank you for that comment. I have so much learning to do. But I am so thankful for my family and especially my father for giving me that opportunity. He's my greatest hero and we share the same passion for plants and for soil and really the idea of stewardship that we just happen to be lucky to be able to have this relationship and that it's, you know, really.... I really wanted to examine what the idea of ownership is.... It's never made sense to me that we have the ability to own land, you know, and so there's so much more soul searching and seeking of...questioning of what that means. But I definitely see it as there's a huge responsibility when you do have the opportunity to try to do the best you can. And I'm thankful that my dad's been able to learn from me too. He still thinks we're crazy with all the amount of work that we put in. But he also understands. He sees how responsive the community has been to it. Because I believed...I knew that the community would come for this because it's just so fundamental. It's so fundamental to our wellness to be connected to the earth and to each other and to do it through food. It's like you can't really argue with it. And I am not.... This is not a discovery I'm making. This discovery has been fundamental to how we've interacted as a species since we've been evolving, you know? So um, yeah, so back.... I didn't really get to talk about the team that that makes it all happen because I-- **Brooke ** 24:53 Yeah, you must have a massive staff to produce this much food and be working this long and year round and so much land that you're doing. It must take an army to get that out, right? **Elizabeth ** 25:06 Yes, I simultaneously feel that it's huge and tiny and huge. And you know, my conception of it, my concept of it, expands and contracts depending on how I'm looking at things. But I just want to say that the people who choose to work on organic...small organic farms--or any farm really--are just some of the best people around there. They're in it because they're passionate about plants and soil and feeding their community. They're not in it because they're trying to make a bunch of money and they're sacrificing. Agriculture is often a lower paid profession. And there are very few farms, unless they're in a nonprofit structure or have figured some things out that I'm really trying to figure out, but there's usually not a benefit package to support, you know, these worker populations. And so it's just, it's a labor of love, the people that choose to do this work, and I am so humbled and proud to work with them every day. So we have a team of year-round managers. That's about four or five. And then we have a seasonal staff that expands quite a bit and quite a bit more so even this year to about between 20 and 30. But that encompasses all the farmstand staff and food cart and our perennial crew. And I haven't yet spoken about the fact that we grow blueberries and strawberries and we also have a neat  tea project. Camellia sinensis is the tea plant and all the types of teas, black, green, oolong, ect... come from that one plant. And my dad has a real innovative approach to plants and agriculture, always has, so he, with a partner, in the late 80s planted tea, and so I've gotten to try to move that project forward. And so we have managers that kind of head each part of that farm. We have a CSA manager. We have a CSA logistics person. We have a field manager. We have a perennial manager. We have a farmstead manager, a food cart manager. And often those folks will take on many other roles too on the farm or have done other.... So, it's a small but mighty team. And since we do farm year round, that core managerial staff is often working in the winter still, which is wonderful but also challenging because they work so hard during the main season that then to continue to work when it gets so much colder and wetter and muddier and everything is hard and you can't necessarily warm up and recharge your body during the day, it's.... I'm at a crossroads with our business where I'm really trying to build longer term sustainability. And we've been doing this for 16 years, so that's quite a long time and some big lessons learned and there's still a lot of resilience needed in our business model to keep going. And our managers are really the heart of the farm. I can't physically do all the work as a mother of two younger kids.  My husband, Chris, now works as a mint breeder and he still is able to work from the farm but for a totally different company. And he really supports my ability to keep farming because the economics are really challenging with small farms. So I'm just trying to think very creatively with the newer perspectives I have of how people can do this work year round, long term, and what they really want to do during the winter. I think it's an incredible niche for other folks that are interested in this as a business model. There are some beet firms that only do winter farming because so many fewer farms there do it and you can do so much. But I'm thinking of different options and different models for our farm, but that's probably a level of detail we don't need to go into today but it's.... Yeah, I'm really looking at our business model from all angles to try to build in long term resilience, just in terms of the model. Yeah.  **Brooke ** 29:24 Well, I might love to have you back sometime and talk about some specific things like winter farming or maybe.... I would love to do a whole thing on potatoes and I don't know if you want to come back for that but.... **Elizabeth ** 29:35 Well, I might stop throwing them so I don't know if you want me to. Not fully. Not fully. But if there's one crop I know we lose money on its potatoes. **Brooke ** 29:47 Wow. Okay, that's really interesting because potatoes are--  **Elizabeth ** 29:49 I'm not sure. My numbers will tell me this year but.... Yeah, we could do a deep dive on potatoes, even later in the episode if we have time, but.... People love potatoes, though. So that's a thing. There's like.... You want to grow what people love and you know they'll use. And they're nutritious. And they store. And they're so versatile in the kitchen. But....  **Brooke ** 30:12 Nutrient dense.  **Elizabeth ** 30:16 Yep. But we've had such a difficult time growing them consistently well. Last year, we doubled our yield from the previous year, and grew them better than we ever had. And then this year, it's kind of back down to, "Ehh?" normal yields. We're like, well, did we learn anything? What were the factors, you know. Sometimes there's trajectories in crops and trends and you're like, okay, I'm steadily getting better at this. I'm learning things that I'm applying to a consistently better outcome. Potatoes are not one of those crops. There just seems to still be so much uncertainty and variation in the end yields. And to me, you know, I like to think about what is really unique about a locally grown vegetable. And often there is something really special, whether it be a variety or the fact that it doesn't store well or it's super delicious, or it's more perishable, or, you know, many, many things. Potatoes, in my mind, unless it's a really interesting variety and it's a new potato, to me, potatoes are almost.... There's not that many distinguishing features that make a fresh, locally grown potato that different in comparison to everything else we grow. To me, it's more of a commodity type thing. Same with onions, but I love growing alliums and I will never stop growing them. But I could deep dive into those specific crops if we wanted to. **Brooke ** 31:43 Yeah, I think I'll save that for probably another one. But that is really interesting to know. And some of our audience members are going to have some strong feelings about not growing potatoes. And I understand that. And we've done episodes around.... Well, I don't know if we did it. I know Margaret, who's one of our other hosts who originally started the podcast, has certainly done a deeper dive on potatoes on one of her other podcasts. Anyway, sorry. If you said it, I guess I missed it, you talked about your management team but then like the harvest staff you have kind of at the height of your season, how many folks do you have?  **Elizabeth ** 32:25 Yeah, I'd say six to eight. I mean, you know, on a...Tuesday is our biggest harvest day, and there's probably, you know, six to eight people out there. Some of the managers come in to do half days, but you know, on a Wednesday, that's the second biggest day of our CSA, we'll have four or five in the morning and then three in the afternoon. So it really...it really varies.  **Brooke ** 32:50 So less than one person per acre? Not that that's how.... That's not a great measure. But, you know, if you're growing eight or nine acres, you have-- **Elizabeth ** 32:59 It's difficult to talk about the stats because you're growing...you have to do.... There's so many steps that go into the full execution of a crop. You know, onions, for instance, your crop planning in November. You're starting the seeds very, very early, actually. We used to do it in February. Now it's March. Because they're relatively slow growing and you have to grow quite a bit. You know, one onion plant is an onion versus a potato plant grows multiple potatoes. Same with a kale plant. You know, so lots and lots of seedlings, many, many flats. And then they are in the greenhouse for a long time. Then they get transplanted out and they grow all season long. They don't get harvested for storage until.... Of course we're taking spring or fresh onions out of the field starting in maybe July, but the bulk of the allium harvest isn't until August/September. And then they're stored all winter. So the labor that's spread across that whole.... You know, it's almost.... I mean, we have onions year round so sometimes an onion will be a seedling or in storage for almost an entire year. So it's difficult to fully, accurately allocate your labor across an acre or crop just because-- **Brooke ** 34:15 Sure. Yeah,  **Elizabeth ** 34:16 You know, but yeah, in peak season from June through September, I would say that there's six to eight people on average that are full time growing those crops. Growing, harvesting, delivering, etc...processing, delivery, ect... **Brooke ** 34:36 And that's what it takes to grow enough food to feed more than 250 families a weekly box of produce, six to eight folks. **Elizabeth ** 34:43 It probably could be quite a bit more. I believe, you know, with better farming techniques and, you know, I don't know if we want to go into no-till philosophy and practices on this episode, but from the learning we've been doing about some of these no-till farms that have been in operation for quite a long time. Singing Frog is one in California that's pointed to a lot because they've been farming for so long. The yields that they're getting per acre, it's almost like double or triple or even quadruple sometimes what even the best, you know, organic producers are saying they're getting. So I believe on our footprint we could be growing a much higher density of food per bed foot or per acre than we even are now, but it's very labor intensive. It's a very.... Which I think is good and challenging economically. But it's good that there is the opportunity for people to grow food for a living as their job. It's extremely enriching and gratifying on many levels. I think the economics are the hardest part. And I believe farmers should be making as much as doctors are making. I mean, maybe, yeah. Ehh, maybe not a specialist surgeon, you know, but you know what I mean? It's a very undervalued profession, especially for the crew position versus a managerial position. It's incredibly important and incredibly difficult. And food prices in our country, and across the world, it's just the way that we perceive food value is challenging. And affordability is incredibly challenging too. But there's just many things that should change in our food system to value, you know, to value food better. Not necessarily that it should cost more money for people, but the way that that work and that product is valued, there's a lot of improvement that could be made in that and you know, we could talk all about government subsidies and policy and all that another time. But I believe there's a lot.... I believe the federal government should be subsidizing small to medium diversified organic farms, not just large scale commodity farms growing GMO soy for a stupid faux green biofuel, you know? I mean, there's just so much wrong with our agricultural policy. But, again, another episode in the making maybe? **Brooke ** 35:06 Yeah, there's so much to get into there. And that's interesting. So you've had 16 years of learning and growing and it's a nonstop process, it sounds like. Partly with just because some crops are fickle and because of climate change. So, I want to rewind for a second all the way back to 16 years ago when you and Chris first started and compare, you know, what your staff size looked like, how much of the land you were farming, what kind of yield you were getting in those first few years as you were learning and developing. **Elizabeth ** 38:04 Again, I don't have those statistics. They're all anecdotal at this point. The big context for when Chris and I started the farm was that we were both more steeped in native plant and restoration work. Chris did, you know, he did Environmental Science at Colorado College and I was on that track as well but switched to more social sciences and music and.... But, you know, that's what I grew up primarily working with on our farm. We had a native plants nursery, and my dad did forestry research. And you can still see some of the cottonwoods, the native and the hybrid cottonwoods on the farm, which are an interesting thing that isn't active really anymore. But you know, those woody perennials and their kind of environmental uses, you know, from both just standard restoration to bio energy and phytoremediation, like toxic metals and wastewater clean up. And Chris and I were really interested in green roofs and urban use of plants, you know, and that.... So when we started the farm, we were passionate about food systems and we started a small CSA. We started with five people, five shares. And LifeSource was actually our first sale of Romaine. I still have the receipt framed. We sold them some romaine. And we're not currently selling to them right now. But we have sold them quite a bit in the past. And Marion Polk Food Share is currently our large wholesale account. But yeah, we started with five members, one who is still an active member of our CSA, which I love. And we actually had a largely Latino crew. Pedro and Maria were husband and wife. Pedro used to work with my dad doing the hybrid poplar harvest. And Maria and her sisters and her nieces were our core crew for quite a long time. And they are amazing people who I miss on the farm. And that's another whole topic, of just agricultural labor and how that's changed so much. But it's interesting to think back to that because that's a very different population of people. And they are such skilled agricultural workers. And I miss so many aspects of that on the farm. And currently most of our worker population are young students. It's a lot of Willamette students, other students, people who are transitioning to other professions, people who are going into horticulture, you know, who are plant and science based people all mostly in their early 20s or 30s. It's.... How to do this work into your 40s, 50s, and 60s, and 70s is a whole nother thing that I'm thinking about quite a bit now as I'm entering my early 40s. But yeah, very different demographics of people who were working on the farm. And Chris and I were doing so many native, woody plant-based projects at that time. We were in mint propagation, and that was both really positive because we were really passionate about that work and it's really interesting work, and Chris had been working at a living roof ecological restoration company down in California before he moved up to Oregon. And it also spreads really, really thin across the farm and across many projects. And it didn't...we didn't have the.... Now, in hindsight, I realize it. Doing too many things just doesn't allow you to really focus in and hone your skills and get your discipline, especially with the economics, in your key project areas. And so we grew our CSA model and the direct-to-farm model really quickly. I think we said, "Yes," to everything. Like "Yes, we'll do the Wednesday farmers market. We'll do the Salem public market, we'll do the Salem Saturday market. We'll do the Tuesday OHSU farmers market and then oh, while we're up at the Tuesday OHSU market, they want to do wholesale for their institutional bid at OHSU, and they need a new CSA farm for all of their drop sites. And I thought, well, what an opportunity. They're one of the largest employers in Oregon there. They have an in-house nutritionist who is incredible, who's still there and still passionate about food systems, and what an amazing opportunity. And it was. I mean, I don't know.... It felt to me at the time it was, but really, it just, I think, spread us too far and wide and thin. And so that's one of the biggest hindsight reflections I have at this point of just.... And I encourage anyone who's interested in this type of farming model is t to make this model successful, to actually not burnout with an injury, to burnout psychologically, like my husband, Chris did, and physically doing this work, to not get into debt, you know, to have a good business plan, and to be disciplined about your numbers, you just have to plan well, and you have to be diligent about your expansion. And I think we just...we had so much enthusiasm and so much demand for our products, so we just grew really fast without really understanding the economics of that growth. And so there was a mid period where our first really.... Tim, who's now a farmer in...he was a Willamette student and now a farmer in New Orleans. And a very wonderful farmer himself, now. He and his partner, Madeline, also a really talented farmer, they're both from Willamette. But Tim was our first kind of longer term staffer who became a manager. And he really.... He and Lindsey, another wonderful Willamette student, they were so gung ho about scaling up our CSA, and also doubling our market sales at the Saturday market, you know. They had these personal professional goals that they brought to the business. And we had never before had the capacity for that kind of growth because we hadn't had folks that were like, you know, quote, unquote, "like" Chris and I, that kind of had that same bird's eye view perspective and were really interested in the business side of things and the strategy and we're kind of doing the business planning with us and really had the capacity to take on that growth. And so they wanted to expand the CSA by like 40 shares one year and they were in their fourth year of farming. They had the capability. They're both incredibly bright and incredibly hardworking. And they were also young. They had that 20 year old energy. It's really something and it's unique, you know?  And so those were some of those mid years of growth, really came from those strategic managerial staffers that really when I look at the peak, the growth spurts that we've had over the business as the business has expanded and also gotten better and more efficient and gained the knowledge and depth, it's because of these...it always has coincided with the peak of these managerial staff that have come into their third and fourth and fifth seasons. And they go in cycles. And they eventually have to cycle through because they want their own farms or they can't physically, they don't physically want to do the work anymore, or, you know, there's a combination of reasons, but it's always a cyclical thing. And that's a pattern that is now known to me, but it also is still a vulnerable pattern. So those are the patterns I've had, yeah, the kind of patterns I've been able to recognize at this point. Yeah.  **Brooke ** 45:49 So if people are doing this model, either for business or, you know, in the context of trying to develop a small farm like this for community support and perhaps a climate collapse situation, knowing that sort of rotation that people will go through and helping make sure that, you know, whoever's.... Even if you're collectively running the farm and everyone sort of equal partners, knowing that there is sort of that learning and burnout cycle to be aware of and, you know, having the members of your community that are doing this together supporting each other and taking some turns with it over time, like that sounds really important. **Elizabeth ** 46:29 And trying to build structurally into the business ways to prevent that burnout. So even this next season that I'm looking towards, where those two key managers are moving on, and we've known that and we've been planning for and they're going to help us transition at the beginning of the next season, thankfully, but we're looking towards, you know, training a new set of managers. The expectation for that new set of managers is going to be completely different. I want every manager to be able to go on vacation during the peak production season for at least like a week or a long weekend, a Friday, Monday, or four or five days. They need that. They need that physical and psychological break. They need that recharge. Everybody needs it, everyone deserves to go on vacation and to not work, especially farmers. And there was never that.... Our previous managerial staff, they're just, that isn't a common expectation on most farms. You're just sort of expected to to work your ass off, excuse me, and you will anyway. So, it's up to the owners, or to the collective leaders, to find ways to build that structure of balance into the structure from the beginning, but this is the advice I would give. Because the work is hard no matter what. It's some of the most challenging work you're going to do no matter what, especially in a climate change context. The extremes are here. They're not predictable. You might have experienced one extreme, but you don't know what the next extreme is going to be like or what it's going to do in your ecological system. So you can't even really plan for it. That's the challenge of farming in a climate change context is these extremes. I'm sure there'll be some similar ones. Perhaps we'll be able to apply lessons learned. But that's been the biggest challenge of experiencing these climate extremes over the last five or six years is that it's been a new extreme each time. And so the learning curve is immense and it's stressful and it's costly and there's so much uncertainty. So that's a challenge. **Brooke ** 48:35 So really quickly then as our last thing on this, before we wrap, you've mentioned some of the climate issues that we've had, and I know I've mentioned these on other episodes of the podcast too, that, you know, for instance, last year, we had a really long, cold wet spring that went well into the first part of the growing season and it really screwed a lot of things up in a lot of different ways. And then two years ago we had some really extreme heat in that summer or a couple times over temperatures that have, you know, record breaking heat temperatures here. And so now we're looking ahead at the world and we know that there will continue to be climate issues and to some degree, you can kind of predict for your own area what's most likely to happen and what's somewhat likely to happen and what's not very likely to happen in terms of your individual climate extremes. Is that something that you actively work into your plans or is it something you deal with as it comes up? You know, how much are you looking ahead and planning for that and practicing for that on your own farm? **Elizabeth ** 49:43 Yeah, I think that we're planning for it to the extent that we can, you know. Like you've said, there is some predictability and now that we have experienced, you know, the heat dome.... The wildfires were so, just almost a completely totally different scenario, because you could hardly be outside safely, you know, but you we had to keep...some crops had to continue to be harvested or else it would make them unharvestable for a period after. You know, farms like ours, you have to continually harvest many crops. And then flooding has been really.... Wet and cold is always something we dealt with, but the extremes of last year were just far and above. And then flooding has been also greater and at times that we had never experienced before. Like we had some really intense flooding in April. I think that was like six years ago now. And so, yeah, ways that we're adapting and planning for that, you know, where we have floods...we have fields that are more flood…that are more.... All of our farm fields are in the floodway, actually. It's a pretty extreme flood plain designation from the Army Corps. But some of our fields are lower and they farm, you know, almost every winter. And so to the extent we can, we plan our rotations so that our winter crops are now, like I mentioned before, we had some crops, some of our first crops of the season in April, flood. So to the extent we can, we try to be cognizant of where that flooding might happen and try to put more vulnerable plantings in higher fields. But that's difficult for us to always do, but we try our best at it. Season extension, you know, through covered spaces is something that farmers have been doing all over the world forever, because it just gives you more flexibility, extends your growing season, and you can control your environment better. Sometimes you have less...you're less prone to pests. Those diseases can be much greater risk. So,you know, we had never had a huge amount of covered spaces. They're expensive to put in. And they're more difficult growing environments. I always like to say that they kind of expose all your weaknesses. And so since we've been spread so thin across so many projects and so much diversity and probably more scale than we should have expanded to too early, we have not always been the greatest hoop house or covered space growers. But our team's really improved in that area in the last few years. And so we've really benefited from partnerships with the NRCS. They administer the organic equip program and they give dollars towards conventional and organic farmers, the organic equip program specifically for organic farmers for many projects like cover cropping, restoration projects, hedgerows, and, most impactful for us, hoop house infrastructure. So all of our hoop houses and our caterpillar tunnels, including two more that we bought that haven't been put up, were all partially funded by the NRCS, which is really, really great use of our tax dollars. We can all at least maybe feel good about that for the use of our tax dollars. Yeah. And so that's.... Those spaces have been really instrumental in our bridge season growing, would you like to call it, especially the early season. Like, we all know Oregon springs can be cold and wet in a normal year and relatively unpredictable, and so because we are building our farm model on a CSA that starts in June, which actually really isn't that early, and people are really ready to eat seasonally from the farm in June. They're coming to us in April and May like, "When does the CSA start?" Like they think it should just all be available. And yeah, certain crops are. But to have the level of diversity and scale in June to feed that many people does take quite a bit of planning and land space. And so having just those extra covered spaces so that we can just fine tune our planting schedule and our planting mix in those early months, has been really key. And then methodologies that were even kind of pre a climate change context but just for better spring farming, like there was a practice that we were following, many farmers are doing, with preparing beds in the fall, tarping with silage tarps, and then that allows you to just pull back those silage tarps in the spring when you have a couple days of dry out. And then you can direct seed and transplant right into those beds, as opposed to having to wait for a one or two week dry window and leaving soil uncovered without a cover crop, which you don't really want to do anyway. So that completely changed our spring growing. And then adding in extra covered spaces this year was what allowed us to have such a wonderful early diversity. And then pushing, being pushed more towards no-till and regenerative practices that are, we feel, can just provide even more resilience in a climate change context, and in any in any context, you know, when you're building up the quality of your soil with the microbiology and organic matter. And from what we've researched and seen, the potential for healthier, happier crops that are produced with less fossil-fuel-based equipment and don't release carbon because of tillage, and just myriad other benefits that we've been seen and been hearing about, we were motivated to start our own no-till experimental plot. And so we had our first crops on that this year and they did well. And the soil--we didn't know how our heavier clay content soil would respond to no-till practices and from what we've read and understood, really the benefits of no-till don't take in massively so until years three to five. It takes a while to do your weed control and for your microbiology to get in there and add all that soil health. It just takes a while for the soils to adjust. Yeah, it's like how to.... How I say this to kids on tours is like, “How do forests feed themselves? How do those big old growth trees get so big? Humans aren't coming in and fertilizing those trees. It's just decomposition and micro organisms and all those amazing nutrient relationships between the micro organisms.” It's like they're just all working in this beautiful, and even more so we know now, because of these really cool scientists that are doing forestry research showing how these forest communities are this huge interconnected network with the root systems and the fungi and bacteria. It's just so much more complex and interconnected than scientists ever even thought. And so it's the same principle applied to annual or perennial farms. So we're only in...this will be year two. But we were already interested in those practices and some folks on our staff, Garabella, had studied that in college at Willamette and was already really passionate about it. We'd been doing some experiments with it, but this was our first year really biting the bullet and saying, okay, this is our no-till plot. And we're really, really enthused by the results and how well the soils responded. It's hard to break that addiction to tillage. I love tillage. I love tractors and PTO shafts and rototillers. But it's also really disruptive. SO it's breaking those habits. Yeah. **Brooke ** 57:11 And I know you can talk about this literally, for the rest of the week, but we should probably wrap it up here for now. It's been really great having you on and I do hope that we can have you again to talk about some more specifics of this and other things so we can continue to learn how to develop some of this in our communities and encourage the farms that are doing it. **Elizabeth ** 57:35 Thank you so much for having me and exposing and educating our community. **Brooke ** 57:40 Absolutely. And, you know, also to the world over because we have listeners internationally as well. And we love you all very much. Elizabeth, is there anything that you want to plug or promote here before we say goodbye? **Elizabeth ** 57:57 Just in relation to our conversation earlier, just really taking many, many steps back and looking at the communities of people that had a relationship to this land for generations before us. And there's an awesome nonprofit here in Salem run by Rose High Bear, and it's called Elderberry Wisdom Farm and they're an indigenous based nonprofit. And I'm not going to get their mission statement right. But they're educating about indigenous plant communities and knowledge bases and practices of those communities in relation to land. And I'm looking forward to learning more from Rose about their work. And obviously, they're working specifically with the elderberry plant but also indigenous youth. And so if you're in the Salem community, check out their work and support them. **Brooke ** 58:47 Wonderful. Okay, thanks so much for that, Elizabeth. We also want to say thanks to all of our listeners who check out our podcasts. If it's something that you are enjoying, please like it, share it, let others know about it. That's how we reach more voices and help more folks. If you want to comment at me about any of this you can find me on Mastodon @ogemakweBrooke. Brook with an E. 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