Chrys Ostrander

Background

About Chrys Ostrander

Chrys Ostrander, born in 1957 and raised in New York, moved to Washington State in 1990 from California where he had been a student, tofu maker and member of an organic produce distributing workers' collective during the 1980's. He settled at Tolstoy Farm in Davenport, WA, the oldest surviving non-religious intentional community in the country. During the 20 years he lived at Tolstoy and later when he managed an educational farm in Cheney, WA, Chrys engaged in organic micro-farming, raised dairy goats, taught organic farming and gardening and became active in sustainable, now regenerative, agriculture advocacy. He co-founded the Tolstoy Farms Community Supported Agriculture project (CSA) and the Tolstoy Farms Marketing Collective that markets and distributes the organic produce grown at Tolstoy through regional stores and restaurants and at the Spokane Farmers' Market. Chrys co-founded the Spokane Farmers’ Market in 1998 which is just finishing its 22nd season. For seven years until 2022, Chrys was Caretaker at a former retreat center known as Heartsong in Tumtum in Eastern Washington State. At Heartsong he managed an sq. ft. polyculture garden and various permaculture plantings. He assisted in crafting and implementing the land’s permaculture design and occasionally mentored seasonal permaculture apprentices. During the 1990s he served on the Boards of Tilth Producers (now Tilth Alliance), Washington’s organic and sustainable farmer association, the Washington State Farmers Market Association, the Spokane MarketPlace (a public market) and the Spokane Farmers’ Market. Chrys served as paid staff and on the Steering Committee for the Washington Sustainable Food and Farming Network, a statewide policy advocacy organization. From 2009 to 2013, Chrys managed a 35-acre educational farm in Cheney, WA. Chrys is a certified permaculture designer and is involved closely with the Inland Northwest Permaculture Guild, Spokane Permaculture and the Friends of the Trees Society supporting information sharing, networking and event coordination. He has served the Spokane Community Gardens Association both on and off the Board since 2005. Chrys is currently President of the Spokane Food Policy Council and convener of the Spokane Farmland Preservation Working Group. Chrys publishes the Inland FoodWise Online journal, a communication conduit for the Inland Northwest Foodshed. He is active in the formation of the Permaculture Conservation Trust, a new land trust organization that is pioneering an innovative approach to farmland preservation.