Sisters ranch hosts land management workshop

Pine Meadow Ranch, School of Ranch, OSU Extension, and High Desert Food & Farm Alliance, is set to host the workshop, “Howdy Do: Practical Land Management,” on Thursday, July 18, from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. Howdy Do workshops turn the model on its head, tapping into community wisdom of farmers, ranchers, hay growers, and gardeners on what works and what doesn’t work in Central Oregon when it comes to making things grow here.

Hosted at the picturesque Pine Meadow Ranch in Sisters, this workshop offers participants a unique opportunity to share what works and what doesn’t when it comes to developing soil, water management, and dealing with fire, pests, and other ranch and farm issues.

“I often learn more from the people I sit next to at workshops than I do from the lecture! Their secrets to growing great tomatoes, how bringing back wetlands improves hay production, and most strikingly, their stories about what doesn’t work. Howdy Dos makes those experiences the star of the show,” said Pam Wavrin, program development manager of Pine Meadow Ranch.

This event emphasizes networking opportunities and focused discussions with community members and experts around topics that the group identifies as most impactful and important. Participants can also look forward to hands-on demonstrations on soil and water from OSU Extension’s Nate Stacey.

“The most impactful programs we run are peer-to-peer and neighbor-to-neighbor. People put into practice what they learn from someone with on-the-ground, in-the-dirt experience, and the battle scars to show for it,” said Andrea Smith of High Desert Food and Farm Alliance.

Registration for “Howdy Do: Practical Land Management” is open. For more information and to secure your spot, visit https://schoolofranch.org/w-howdy-land.

“Central Oregon has a history of rugged individualism and a culture of we’re-all-in-this-together-ism. This first Howdy Do fosters our culture through idea sharing between experienced locals and newcomers, farmers, ranchers, gardeners, everyone trying to do the impossible — make things thrive in our soil,” said Mark Gross, founder and executive director of School of Ranch.