From the seed of an idea, a community benefits

March 16, 2017

Casimir Holeski's love for growing things isn't his passion alone, it is shared by everyone in his family; wife Katie, daughter Sopia and twins Gabriel and Isabel are all as avid as he is! Here Gabriel checks out the dill growing amidst the blossoming lilies.

By Mike Weland Editor On his business card, Casimir "Cas" Holeski defines himself as a "Fruit and Nut Enthusiast," and it's a self-bestowed title that didn't come about easily. But it's a good thing it did, as his enthusiasm for all things growing has led him on a one man mission that is starting to change how people in Boundary County look at their food supply in a most fundamental way. Cas, a 1992 graduate of Bonners Ferry High School who lives with his wife and three children on 20 acres up Camp Nine Road, said he started thinking about food and where it comes from about 12 years ago and, like many, decided that a garden was a logical first step to getting a sure supply of good and healthy food. "I'm not a survivalist, but I like good food and I couldn't really afford the good, fresh food I wanted for myself and my family at the grocery store," he said, "and that got me thinking about food security ... what happens if we have a really bad winter and the trucks can't get through to stock the stores? If the electricity goes out, the refrigeration?" His first attempt at gardening was ambitious. Looking at his piece of Boundary County, he saw hills, many of them steep, trees and lots and lots of rocks. In fact, a good bit of ground was sheer granite. He decided that raised beds were the way to go, and he set about building them, which was pretty straight forward and relatively easy. Then, when the waist high boxes were built, he set about filling them with soil with shovel and wheelbarrow and realized that the job was a bit more labor-intensive than he'd anticipated. Unlike most folks, when Cas gets hold of an idea, he has a tendency to pursue it, learning all he can through any source available. He read books, stopped to visit with the owners of gardens he saw and admired to chat and learn how they grew things. He was amazed, he said, to find out how happy and gracious they were to share. He found what he calls an amazing resource, Facebook, and was soon networked with gardening enthusiasts from around the world, as eager to learn and to share their knowledge as he was. What brings a smile; "Posing with a second year grafted heirloom apple. I'm six feet tall and this apple is well above that!" The raised beds soon gave way to more natural "on-ground" beds, the straight, tidy rows of a single crop to an amalgam of plants that grow well together. Instead of toiling to pick out the endless supply of rocks, they are now part of the beds, natural heat sinks that collect the sun's warmth by day and release it slowly through the night. In addition, they provide shelter for a plethora of garden creatures beneficial to the things he grows; worms, the occasional toad and more. A starting orchard of four trees grew into a seemingly haphazard scattering of fruit and nut trees, though each tree is, in fact carefully situated on more marginal ground to form a "sun mirror" that reflects light on the tender annuals and helps protect them from the wind. What started as a hobby was soon a burgeoning career, the addition of a green house became the foundation of the Infinity Matrix Permaculture Nursery, a place where he could propagate for his garden and have enough seed, scions and plants left over to sell. It wasn't all that long before he started looking outside his own garden, spying old derelict fruit trees that seemed to be situated in the middle of nowhere, long untended but still bearing fruit for birds, deer and other wildlife. He began looking up the owners of the lands, both for permission to take a closer look and to gather scions from which to re-propagate the old classics as well as to see if he could learn more about them. "I was fascinated to learn of all the orchards planted here around 100 years ago," he said. "These old trees were once part of some pretty impressive operations, but from what I've learned, a series of bad weather years knocked a lot of them back, and people gave up." When most think of a star, Lady Gaga, Justin Bieber or depending on your age, Frank Sinatra might come first to mind. In 2016, the biggest star in Cas Holeski's world (besides his family), was this awesome Carpathian walnut seedling. Some of the old trees he's found are heirloom cultivars that are now exceedingly rare, and each one that has survived is testimony that they are well suited to grow here and well adapted to this environment. He came to see the need for what he calls a community forest, not a stand or mere collection of trees brought in and planted for the riches they provide, but rather an accounting of the myriad fruit and nut trees already growing here. That led him to launch the Boundary County Orchard Restoration Project to revitalize these wonderful old trees and to ensure that they live on. A one man effort borne from nothing but an idea grew quickly, and now many county landowners, surprised to learn more about some of the old, weathered trees they'd long assumed just grew there are, in fact, the remnants of a wonderful part of county history, as well as a lasting source of nutritious food. "Many of these old trees are reaching the end of their years," Cas said, "but there is still time to save them, to keep the genetic line alive and growing." Another project that arose from his fertile mind and continued excitement is the Boundary County Fruit and Nut Collaborative, a way for local growers to work together to explore and share resources to enable them to take advantage of commercial possibilities individual growers could not afford on their own. Like one successful flower that blossoms in a barren landscape, the seeds of the ideas germinating in Casimir's mind are spreading outward, slowly at first but inexorably. He now gives classes regularly at the Boundary County Extension Office and speaks to anyone interested, and more often than not the ideas reach receptive ears and the seeds of ideas grow and take on a new life of their own. And sometimes, it's happenstance, a mere coincidence, that bears the best fruit. Cas and the twins when they were just sprouts. Grumbling about having to go see a doctor at Boundary Community Hospital one morning not long ago, he happened to spot what looked like an old orchard, now just four old trees, at the base of a hill on an empty lot on the west side of the hospital, and came to learn those trees were what remained of an old homestead on what is now hospital property. "It was a happy accident," he said. He went to hospital public information officer Lauren Kuczka to ask permission to collect scions from the old apple and apricot trees, and they started chatting about having fresh food to serve to patients and residents. In the 1950s, an auxiliary group collected locally grown produce for the hospital, canning what couldn't be served fresh, but more stringent regulations made it harder to do, and the practice died out. Cas learned that there's no reason the hospital can't accept local produce, but if it's preserved, it has to be processed in a certified kitchen ... and it turns out the hospital just happens to have one. Cas and Lauren paid a visit to maintenance supervisor Deanna Galbraith, who gave Cas permission not only to gather scions from the four old trees, but accepted his offer to renovate them, and to bring students to the hospital property to learn pruning and orchard care. Not only that, she liked the idea of a community garden in which to grow produce, fruit and nuts for use by the hospital. They took the idea to hospital CEO Craig Johnson, and he, too, was enthused, and gave the go ahead to the idea. Work is now underway to renovate those four, old and wizened trees, and to plant more trees, likely to include many of the scions collected by Cas over the years. Plans are being developed for a poly-cultural garden that will provide enough fresh fruit, nuts, vegetables and produce to keep the hospital kitchen stocked year-around, with the garden designed to provide freshly picked garden fare for the longest time the growing season will allow. Katie and Casimir Holeski While Cas is the man with the green thumb and the vision, he's the first to admit that he can't bring the idea to fruition on his own; that, in fact, he is just one small part of a much bigger wheel. As with nearly every good idea, it takes the talents of a whole community. "There are amazing things being done right here, from growing to marketing to financing, but the one thing missing is connectivity, bringing people together," Cas said. "We all haves skills, knowledge, interests and ideas -- the key is to bring them all together so we all benefit." Like a seed, a good idea starts small and expand outwards,  "me, my family, my community, my town," as Cas puts it, and in his vision, it's cooperation, not competition, that is essential in nurturing the seed of a good idea into something beneficial of which we can all be proud. "It makes me feel good to grow good, healthy food," he said, "but this is so much more than gardening. There is something in this to which everyone can contribute." Those interested in learning more or who have ideas or help to offer and who are looking for the best way to reach him might not be surprised to know that phones, stamps or even email aren't the surest ways, but that a private message on Facebook through any one of the several Facebook pages he maintains will most quickly get his attention and response. Just log in and look up Infinity Matrix Permaculture Nursery, Boundary County Orchard Restoration Project, or, if all else fails, Casimir Holeski. Don't be surprised that each page you visit will greet you with photos, videos and news of walnuts, apples, the opportunity in a broken branch. He is, after all, a fruit and nut enthusiast.