Buy Local Food In Kitsap

Abundantly Green Certified Organic Produce couldn’t have found a better name to suit their successful produce business.

It’s named in part after two of the four co-farmers, Brad and Barb Green, but the amazing abundance of tasty, herbicide, chemical and pesticide free produce grown on five acres astounds other farmers as well as those who bought shares for this season’s Community Supported Agriculture (CSA). Abundantly Green sold its produce subscription shares out before the season even began.

For the 92 lucky share-owners who receive fresh produce each week for 20 weeks and discerning produce shoppers at the Poulsbo Farmers Market, every week brings a delectable new surprise. Approximately 40 different types or varieties of produce are offered throughout the season. Among the farm’s specialties is lettuce - eight different types are currently produced. Some have intriguing names such as “green deer tongue” or “flashy trout back”. The latter actually looks like a brook trout under water. Paired with some of the sweet, juicy, tomatoes just now ripening and a little vinaigrette dressing, the flashy trout back creates a succulent symphony of color texture, and taste.

To maximize the enjoyment of CSA share-holders throughout the growing season, Abundantly Green goes out of their way to provide as much variety as possible. If they are a little short of one product and another local certified organic farmer has a surplus, they will sometimes trade products so the customer has the benefit of both farms’ produce.

Abundantly Green started in 2004 with sales to the Poulsbo and Silverdale Farmers Markets and by 2006 the four partners began their first CS with 30 shares. Members may pick their produce up at either the farm or the Poulsbo Farmers Market. The first recorded CSAs in the U.S. were started in Massachusetts and New Hampshire in 1986 – they are still in operation today.

“We went from 30 to more than 90 shares in our CSA in just three years,” says Barb Green.

Though five acres is used for organic farming, the overall acreage is 60 and it goes back four generations in another one of the farm partner’s family. Marilyn Holt took over the farm management from her father in 2000 and inherited the farm in 2001. Holt’s husband, Clifford Wind, is the fourth member of the Abundantly Green partnership.

Holt says her great grand-father, Frederick Walker, bought the property in 1892 from the original homesteaders, Mr. and Mrs. Cooksey. Her father, Maynard Holt bought the property in 1960 where he maintained a Class A dairy until 1972. It’s called the “Holt Ranch” because he raised beef cattle after retiring from dairying. 38 head of naturally raised , hormone, antibiotic and pesticide-free Hereford beef still graze on part of the farm not used to raise crops and beef can still be purchased there today by special arrangement.

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Farmland is no doubt disappearing. The best farmlands go first. Many people have posted to this blog with their opinions, perceptions and experiences about the matter and we have only just scratched the surface.

One of the big questions seems to be that of succession. A lot of farmers in Kitsap believe that there are a large number of landowners whose land has traditionally been under cultivation that are not farming it now or are worried that it cannot be kept under production. I have met some of them personally and know that this is the case. Scot and Peggy Hall are two people in Kitsap working on something they call the Legacy Project. In particular they are trying to save the 160 acre Peterson Dairy Farm in Silverdale from being sold for development.

What is frustrating is that there is evidence that increasing numbers of educated, ambitious young people are seeking opportunities to farm. Washington Tilth Producers is an organization that provides a connection between farmland owners wishing to pass along their farms to farmers and young people seeking to work on the land. I had a phone interview with Diane Dempster recently, a vice president for the organization, and gained some interesting insight into the greater trends affecting farms and farmers throughout Washington State.
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Bill Looney received a request from an interesting company that is looking for dill pollen. Dill pollen? Why would anyone want that? Well, it turns out that dill pollen and pollen from other plants like fennel are experiencing increasing demand from people who are re-discovering their medicinal and culinary uses.

Anyway, Brian Fisher of Pollen Collection and Sales Company got on the phone today and talked about the opportunity for Peninsula farmers. Have a listen to the interview we recorded.

Brian can be reached at 425-466-5631 if your have dill now or want to contract with them to grow for them. It could be a good rotation crop to follow some of your veggie cultivation or other crops rotations.

Their main website is at www.PollenCollectionAndSales.com .

I received this message from the SOUTH OF THE SOUND COMMUNITY FARM LAND TRUST regarding a position they have open for help in their list building and coordinating activities. Maybe you know someone interested:

SOUTH OF THE SOUND COMMUNITY FARM LAND TRUST

PO Box 12118, Olympia, WA 98508

360-866-9424

POSITION AVAILABLE

The South of the Sound Community Farm Land Trust (SSCFLT) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization created to promote a local food and farming community by permanently preserving affordable land for working farms and rural housing. SSCFLT’s work is based on the Community Land Trust (CLT) model. Community Land Trusts acquire titles to land and then negotiate long term (99 year) leases. A farmland CLT provides secure, affordable land tenure for farmers, prevents land speculation, and preserves a local, sustainable agriculture.

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The KCAA Board decided to take a different approach to our monthly meetings. Don’t get me wrong, we have some great meetings with featured speakers like Don Stuart form the American Farmland Trust, video presentations like “King Corn” and “The Real Dirt On Farmer John” and a bunch of other great material. That’s all great but we also know that our members (and those that should be) all have great ideas, insights, questions and answers on how to help the production and consumption of local food in Kitsap.

So, at this last meeting, we tore the rows of chairs apart, formed a circle, and got down to brass tacks asking: “What is the most important question you have about buying local food in Kitsap?” and then “What is the biggest problem facing local food producers in Kitsap?”. In attendance were Nikki Johanson (in between egg delivery runs), Shannon and Travis Harkness, Christine Rolfes, Tom Ness, Diane Fish, Bill Looney, Jade Pope, Monty Mahan, Peggy and Scott Hall and yours truly, Jim Freeman. Bill, Monty and I were the only non-farmers in the group and we got some great questions.

Y\’All Come To Our Meetings

Here is a short list of what folks thought the biggest problems were facing production of local food in Kitsap:

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Last night’s KCAA meeting was a great opportunity for a small number of us to talk about planning upcoming meetings, what we are doing in our lives that related to the farming community, and what is our vision for agriculture.  Jim proposed a very important question, “What do you see as the biggest challenge farmers face right now? ”  There were many good responses and I could agree with most every one of them.  

Here is what one seasoned farmer said, and I concur… (drumroll, please) the biggest challenge local farmers face right now is the lack of mentorship in our county.

There are few seasoned farmers in our county.  There are increasing numbers of us “youngsters” who are feeling a call to come back to the land.  How do the two connect?  How do we, as a group, connect the seasoned and the inexperienced?

You may have noticed on the left side navigation column that we have a link to a page on our site that asks you: “What Is Your Most Important Question?”.

The reason we ask that question is that, really, that’s what this site is all about, asking the most important questions that you have about buying local food in Kitsap and tracking down the answer until we break the logjam and help to bridge the way to more local production and consumption.

I guess maybe I need to move the link to the question page because I was really hoping that more people would take the time to write in their question because, well, it’s important. From time to time we ask the question in different ways and I did receive a question from an anonymous respondent. He or she did not leave their name but for the first answer to my question, “What is your most important question about local food in Kitsap?” was a real zinger. I wish she had written it in the comments on the page.

The person responding to my question asked:

“How can I receive locally grown produce and meat/poultry through my local supermarkets?”

That’s a great question! I am going to spend a lot of my most precious resource, my time, trying to answer that one and post it here in the blog. So, I hope you will consider writing your question so I will have lot’s more great questions to explore with you. Go here right now and write your most important question about buying local food in Kitsap.

Laura Moynihan has a big idea. When she and her husband, Greg, moved here from California they moved to Bremerton because of its affordability and because, well, they liked the place. They liked the trees, the water, the mountains, the feel of the neighborhoods. But one thing was missing…a food co-op.

A food co-op? Doesn’t Bremerton have a bunch a grocery stores. What was the big deal?

Well, Laura and Greg had lived in places where they had thriving foods co-ops and almost without knowing it, the co-op life had become an integral part of their lives. Sure, they liked being able to purchase healthy delicious, food and they liked the benefits that co-op members get like discounted prices and cash rebates but there was a lot more to it than just that. When she and Greg were co-op members, they felt a sense of ownership when they entered the store. And they made a bunch of co-op friends, who shared their sense of ownership. It became a place where they could hang out and be with friends so their trips to the store grew in length and served double duty as a social outing. Pretty much everybody felt that way.

So, in spite of its many charms they felt that Bremerton could use a place like that. A place where you could get good food at good prices, where the shoppers could feel a sense of ownership and where friends could gather together. When Laura began to talk to her new Bremerton friends, she found that the idea struck a chord with them. Some told her, “We’ve been waiting for 25 years for this!”.

So, even though she had never started a co-op before she set out to start one in Bremerton. They’ve had a pretty good start and she has put up a website to chronicle her progress. Laura and I had a conversation recently about her plans and the reasons she has begun this quest. When you listen to it, Laura will relate a few surprising reasons why she thinks Bremerton, Port Orchard or maybe Silverdale would be the best places in the county to found Kitsap’s first food cooperative.

Speak soon.

The Great Peninsula Future Festival will take place on Saturday, August 2 and Sunday August 3 in Port Gamble. The event sponsors include a number of community leading organizations such as the Kitsap Home Builders Association, Wet Apple Media, Sound Publishing, The S’Klallam Tribe and a number of others. That’s good…but there is something even more special about this event.

The Kitsap Community and Agricultural Alliance is a Friend of the Festival and will have a booth at the event with people there to meet and greet. Nikki Johanson of Pheasant Fields Farm will have a market booth with extra special treats from her farm and there should be quite a number of other farmers with offerings over the two day event. Hmmm….local food from local farmers…special treats…but wait, there’s more!

Bill Looney has said that he will be in attendance and happy to speak with anyone who is interested in and might benefit from his 40+ years of farm management consulting. Anyone trying to set up a new farm business or farm related business should take this opportunity to get hundreds and thousands of dollars worth of information for free! Pretty good…but there’s more!

Those of you who have been sitting on the fence waiting for yet another good reason to become a member of the Kitsap Community and Agricultural Alliance will receive a unique bonus for paying your $35.00, one year family membership or renewal at the festival. Yes, that’s right, in addition to all of the fabulous benefits of family membership in the KCAA you will receive in addition the new KCAA Tee Shirt to be unveiled at this event! Be the first in your neighborhood to get your KCAA Tee Shirt and proudly display your membership in the Local Food Community.

Oh, and by the way, membership in the KCAA has its privileges and one of those is the opportunity to join the greeters and party overseers at our Great Peninsula Future Festival event booth. Shannon Harkness, the booth coordinator only has just a few spots open for Saturday and Sunday. You won’t want to miss this one time opportunity to meet all of the friends you haven’t met in the local food community and hang out with Shannon, Nikki and Wild Bill. Contact Shannon right away so you don’t miss out.

See you there!

Farmer Theodore from Olympic Pastured Poultry wanted me to send out a quick message to let you know that he has only 50 heritage turkeys left out of the 100 or so that he is raising for your Thanksgiving Day celebration. In prior years they have always sold out before September so it is a good idea to think ahead if you want to have this special treat for a truly thankful day.

Catch up on the news from the Delta Farm and reserve your pastured heritage turkey today.