Whidbey Island Grown E-Newsletter

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January 2010

Feature

Whidbey Island Grown Newsletter, First Edition

Welcome to the first edition of the Whidbey Island Grown brand e-newsletter. Local farms play a major role in creating the rural atmosphere that is enjoyed so much by residents and visitors to the Island. If that atmosphere and the Island’s farm heritage are to be preserved, local farming needs expanded opportunities to stay profitable for current and future generations of farmers. The objective of the brand is to improve farm profitability by increasing awareness of local farms and promoting the products that they produce. This newsletter will be devoted to keeping its readers informed about the local farm community, the products that are produced here on the Island and where to purchase them.

The brand was the result of a community effort by a group of local farmers, residents and farm assistance providers. The brand is more than a logo. It’s a promotional and cooperative advertising program that is open to all members of the community that want to support local farming and increase the availability of quality locally produced products. Membership is now available to agricultural producers, merchants selling locally produced products, sponsors and the community. To find out more about the brand and how to join please visit www.whidbeyislandgrown.org. Or to join now, please call 360-336-3727.

When you see the Whidbey Island Grown logo in the window of merchants or on locally produced products that is your assurance that those products are produced locally and your purchase of those products benefit the local farm community. You can help in this effort by patronizing these businesses and products, encouraging others to become members and becoming a member yourself.

We are excited about this new program to support the Whidbey Island farm community and hope that we can count on your support in helping to preserve the rural character of the island and increasing the quantity and availability of healthy locally produced food.

Local Products for Retail

by Gene Felton,
Owner of the Star Stores in Langley and Bayview
I welcome this effort to increase the variety and availability of locally produced products on Whidbey Island. At Star Stores we have always tried to source products locally where possible. However, we have been hampered in our efforts due to lack of availability of products that either meet our standards or are not in the format that is needed to sell at retail. The Whidbey Island Grown promotional program will assist us in sourcing products that we need and in our efforts to ensure that standards our customers want are in place. Additionally, we have agreed to volunteer our time to work with Whidbey Island Grown members to get their products retail ready.

Star Stores has always been a strong supporter of the farm community on the Island and looks forward to contributing to the success of this program. I encourage other merchants on Whidbey Island to become members of this effort so we can be proactive in maintaining the beauty and quality of life for current and future generations of Islanders.

Whidbey Island Farm Map & Guide

Preparations for the Whidbey Island Farm Map are underway for another season. Founded by Sarah Richards of Lavender Wind Farm, the Map is now managed by the Northwest Agriculture Business Center (NABC). For the past seven years, the Whidbey Island Farm Map has successfully connected consumers and tourists looking for locally grown products to the Whidbey farmers and farmers markets that provide them. Available in visitor centers and the Washington State ferry system, distribution was expanded in 2009 to include the Internet through a printable version available on the NABC website.

The Map is considered by many farms as a primary source of agri-tourism information for Whidbey visitors, and has grown to a 12,500-piece distribution. Whidbey Island farmers, nurseries and farmers markets are invited to reserve space for a business description and marker on a map of Whidbey in this high-profile brochure. Agricultural and related businesses also have the opportunity to show their support while taking advantage of the Map’s popularity by placing a full-color ad. Space is very limited, and is assigned on a first-come, first-served basis.

The 2009 Whidbey Island Farm Map can be viewed by clicking on this link. For more information please contact Sera Hartman at the NABC office: Sera@AgBizCenter.org or 360-336-3727.

Perspectives of a Local Farmer on Whidbey Island

by Vicky Brown
The face of farming is changing. Consumers are demanding more ecologically sound local food sources and in some cases what is old is new again. Good stewardship and practices are valued above production. Traditional farming techniques that place emphasis on protecting the land for centuries to come are important again. On Whidbey Island we are fortunate to have a rural character that is worth preserving and a population that is willing to participate in that preservation, even if it is farming in a garden bed on an in-town parcel. Farming on Whidbey Island doesn’t mean miles upon miles of soybeans and corn as it does in central Wisconsin, where I grew up. The most common agricultural producer on Whidbey Island is 3-7 acres, although we are lucky to have agricultural producers both larger and smaller. Our local farmers vary from those new to farming to those with generations of experience. Whidbey Island is leading the changes in agriculture that people are looking for.

I have recently joined the ranks of farmers on Whidbey Island. My life has changed dramatically from my office days. Now I wake up each morning to a cacophony of animals demanding their breakfast. I milk my goats and sheep and collect the eggs from my hens in exchange for their room and board. Later in the day it is time to clean pens, trim hooves, manage breeding, investigate feed rations and sources, and implement farm improvements that help to protect the resources of this precious island we live on. Evening chores are a repeat of the morning routine. Most nights I fall into bed exhausted, but most days I wake up excited to start it all again. Does this make me crazy? Well, perhaps, but it certainly makes me a farmer.

The pursuit of agriculture is much more poetic in literature than in reality. In reality it is hard work. I have learned more than I ever considered I might need to know, and my knowledge still barely scratches the surface of what I need to learn. I had a career where I managed businesses, accounting, human resources, operations and a staff. I now am a trench digger, midwife, sleuth, trainer, hay slinger, translator, companion, coach, personal chef, nurse, step ladder, microbiologist, laboratory technician, researcher, business manager, public relations specialist and cheese maker, just to list some of my responsibilities as a farmer. This is just the beginning, there is so much more to learn.

Agriculture is a direct link to the community. This community has supported my dream when I felt as though I was trying to scale an insurmountable wall to get the Little Brown Farm off the ground. As much as I have given to this community through volunteerism and stewardship, I have already received many more times that benefit back. This community offers unique and abundant riches to anyone dreaming of getting back to the land. Whether your goal it is to establish a rain garden or raised vegetable bed to help feed your family, or as ambitious as developing a full-fledged agricultural pursuit that could sustain your family financially we are fortunate to have fantastic local resources. Some of the resources I benefited from are: WSU Extension including their Livestock Advisor program, Whidbey Island Conservation District (WICD), Northwest Agriculture Business Center (NABC), and National Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) and their EQIP program. The benefits can be as simple as connections to other farmers and moral support, to education, farm and business planning and financial assistance. We are in jeopardy of losing some of these resources as casualties of the current economy, I hope the community will rally around them the way they have for agriculture on Whidbey Island.

Look for our cheeses in our community this spring at farmers markets, exceptional restaurants, local fine food purveyors and on our farm. We welcome visitors that want to come by and meet the working girls that provide the milk for the fine cheeses. Find the details on www.whidbeyislandgrown.org and www.littlebrownfarm.com . We look forward to serving up some fantastic goat and sheep milk cheeses and serving you.

Greenbank Farm Training Center Announces new CSA Coordinator

Coupeville, WA-- --Maryon Attwood, Project Director for the Greenbank Farm Training Center, announced the final selection for the position of CSA Coordinator. “I take great pleasure in announcing the results of our extensive search for a CSA Coordinator for 2010, made possible from a new $68,000 Farmers Market Promotion grant from the United States Department of Agriculture. We interviewed five excellent candidates for the position and look forward to introducing Sebastian Aguilar to the Whidbey Island agriculture and food communities."

The Search and Interview Committee was made up of Whidbey Islanders Virginia Bloom, Director of the Greenbank Management Group; Linda Bartlett, owner and farmer at the Rosehips CSA; and Maryon Attwood. Sebastian took up his new responsibilities November 23rd, in time to begin interviews of new farmer-trainees for 2010.

Sebastian and his wife Kelly have three children and have managed farms in New Mexico, Wisconsin and Washington State. Sebastian's passions for top-quality produce, healthy soils, biodynamics and social outreach guide his farming practices. Sebastian has hosted apprentices on his farms for the past 10 years and always provided them with a weekly afternoon 'farm school' exploring the concepts behind the practical work. On the Aguilar's farm in Port Townsend, they used minimum tillage, cover cropping, compost, and biodynamic preparations to build and maintain healthy soils. They sold produce through the Port Townsend Food Coop, three farmers markets, and a CSA program as well as grew variety trials for the Organic Seed Alliance.

The Greenbank Farm Training Center, the first of its kind in western Washington, is an innovative community response to what is an alarming reality across our nation: the steady decrease in farmland, a food system dangerously dependent on fossil fuel, and an impersonal food chain that transports food items an average of 1,500 miles from the farm to our dining tables. Having a training facility that offers instruction in diverse crop production of vegetables and fruits to farmer-trainees is important to assure consistent education with optimal success. The Greenbank Farm Training Center at the historic Greenbank Farm will put more acres of land back into food production, create new momentum for an 'eat local' program, increase food production, and delight consumers. Best of all, the center demonstrates innovation in utilizing local resources by developing working relationships between community groups and farmers.

The Training Center will select 8-10 farmer-trainees who will be exposed to a diversified cropping system of fruits and vegetables on almost ten acres of organically certified land using a CSA model. Program funding includes an educational stipend for each farmer-trainee. Selected applicants will begin hands-on training beginning in February or the 2010 growing season. This year housing will be available through the WISH Foundation on Whidbey Island, a program that matches housing to people. Interested applicants are encouraged to apply and to call with questions. For more information, please contact Sebastian Aguilar or Maryon Attwood.

This project is made possible by a grant awarded by the USDA Farmer Market Promotion Grant and matched by the Northwest Agriculture Business Center. It brings together mentor farmers, food activists, agricultural organizations and local officials as a team growing new farmers and more food for direct distribution to consumers. For application materials, visit the NABC website at www.agbizcenter.org, or contact CSA Coordinator Sebastian Aguilar at the Greenbank Training Center Office: 360-222-3171.