The History of Farming in the Nisqually Delta
This presentation grew out of questions Mike began asking, such as “Who built the twin barns?”, “When were the apple and pear trees planted?”, and “What native plants did the Nisqually eat?”
Eventually, the answers to these questions began to coalesce into a story describing how humans went from living in harmony with nature to trying to subdue and overcome nature, and eventually developing a more harmonious relationship with nature.
Speaker: Mike Farley, Volunteer at Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge Complex
Mike Farley grew up on a farm in Southern Michigan. His father helped Mike and his sisters develop the habit of curiosity about everything around them, and provided them with an extensive encyclopedia to be able to look things up. Out on the farm, Mike learned the skills of working with fruit trees, later going on to work with nursery stock as well. Although he detoured off into a career in the Air Force, he still retained his interest in trees and is responsible for several of the landscape plantings around the City of DuPont. In addition, he still enjoys “hitting the books” when coming across questions such as, “Who planted all those apple trees along the entrance drive?” and “What happened to all of the cows that used to graze down here on the flats?”