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        1220 North Forest Street at Holly Street
        Bellingham, Washington
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        360-734-8158
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        315 Westerly Road at Cordata Parkway
        Bellingham, Washington
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You are here: Home / Archives for community giving

Farm Fund Recipient: Ebb & Flow Herb Farm

Robin Crandall of Ebb and Flow herb farm harvesting echinacea

Watch the video.

In September, we headed out to Ebb & Flow Herb Farm to visit Farm Fund recipient Robin Crandall. Located in the Skagit Valley, Ebb & Flow is just a 30-minute drive from the Community Food Co-op in Downtown Bellingham. Robin grew up in Bellingham but moved to Mount Vernon two years ago to start her farm on an opportune plot of rented land. 

Ebb & Flow has seen success in its fledgling years. Robin has forged relationships with many local herbalists and sells direct to them to make up the bulk of Ebb & Flow's annual sales. Robin also has a small CSA program for the smattering of organic vegetables she grows on the farm.

Robin has roots in western Washington and many connections with small businesses in the area. She'll occasionally provide local restaurants with a batch of veggies or provide herbs to businesses. For example, she sells herbs to Junebug Ferments in Bow to make into yummy probiotic concoctions.

If you're a beer drinker, keep your eyes out for Robin's annual collaboration with Stone's Throw Brewing. Last year's beer was brewed with organic Ebb & Flow chamomile and calendula.

Robin currently sells her dried herbs and veggies to Anacortes Food Co-op. She's excited about the potential of selling to more co-ops in the area if she can ramp up production enough in the coming years.

There's also an Ebb & Flow Etsy store that allows Robin to share her herbal blends with folks far and wide—though that's a small portion of her overall sales.

bulk bags of dried herbs
farmer's dirty hands holding yellow arnica flower
field of fresh holy basil herb

Robin's land boasts two acres of certified organic herbs, veggies, and flowers, along with two greenhouses. Her Farm Fund grant allowed her to build an herb drying shed and install solar panels that bring electricity to her farm. Now, she can plug in fans to speed up the drying process, so she can produce more herbs, more often.

Prior to having the drying shed, Robin was drying all of her herbs in her house. Having a better drying set-up has allowed her to produce a whopping 150 pounds of dried herbs so far this year. That’s about three times the yield she was able to produce last year.

two greenhouses and a farm shed on a sunny day
the inside of an herb drying shed

In general, Ebb & Flow is a one-woman operation, but Robin recieves help from friends here and there. The farming community is strong, and Robin says she feels like she’s found her people since moving south to start the farm.

The farm is still in its early days, and Robin is looking forward to the future. She's excited to continue building relationships and hopes to continue expanding production, so she can provide more local, organic, and healing herbs to her community.

Farm Fund Recipient: Ebb and Flow Herb Farm

FARM FUND| SALES| THE CO-OP DIFFERENCE community giving| ebb and flow| Farm Fund| herb farm| herbs| skagit

Community Shopping Day: Bellingham Girls Rock Camp

Shop today and 2% off our combined sales will be donated to Bellingham Girls Rock Camp! You can also donate at the register any day of the month.

The mission of Bellingham Girls Rock Camp is to educate and inspire youth to be self-empowered collaborative leaders through music education, performance, media literacy, and social justice.

SEED funds will provide financial aid to low-income families who would not otherwise be able to attend Rock Camp, a week-long summer day camp for girls and queer youth ages 8 to 17. Over 50% of campers are supported by financial aid, and about 1/3 of campers receive full-tuition assistance. We hope to provide full financial aid for almost six Whatcom County youth to attend Rock Camp!

bellingham girls rock camp logo picturing an amplified guitar with a winding cord

community giving| community shopping day| seed

Acme Valley Foods

by Laura Steiger, Outreach Team

acme, acme valley foods, cheese, ice cream, granola

Acme Valley Foods makes delicious local treats with an added dash of generous community support—"It's Damn Good"!

cfc_local_logo_cmyk_1We love our local vendors. Working with local businesses keeps more money circulating in our local economy, provides local jobs, and supports the creativity, talent, and entrepreneurial spirit of our local community.

And when a local vendor strongly aligns with our commitment to give back to our community, then that relationship is all the sweeter.

Such is the case with Acme Valley Foods.

Not only do they have a line of delicious, high-quality local products—Acme Super Premium Ice Cream, Acme Farms specialty cheeses, and Chuckanut Crunch Granola—when you purchase products from Acme Valley Foods you are also investing in our local community.

Acme Valley Foods and its affiliates support a number of community and charitable activities.

Their major areas of commitment include end-of-life care, film and performance arts, drug policy reform and smart justice efforts in general, restoration of wolf populations in the Northwest, and increased recognition of the reality and impacts of climate change, as well as practical resilience strategies. Their community partners include Whatcom Land Trust, Conservation Northwest, Law Advocates, Whatcom Dispute Resolution Center, Pickford Film Center, Whatcom Hospice, Western Washington University, and Whatcom Alliance for Health Advancement.

Acme also partnered with us to help raise money for the Co-op Farm Fund at our annual Community Party in August. They donated their delicious ice cream sandwiches (people raved about them and some came back for seconds) and we raised almost $400 to kick-start the “Let it grow” campaign to raise funds for the Farm Fund.

As their ice cream label proudly declares, “It’s Damn Good”!

We agree. Acme Valley Foods' delicious local treats with an added dash of generous community support—“It’s Damn Good”!

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GROCERY acme| acme valley foods| cheese| chuckanut granola| community building| community giving| granola| ice cream| local

Categories

  • BAKERY
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Three Glasses of Mocktails (Raspberry, Peach and Pineapple) standing on the Bar, Horizontal Wallpaper

Learning to Make Mocktails

With fewer people drinking alcohol and dry January around the corner, it’s time to freshen up your mocktail skills! The Community Food Co-op has some recipes, tips, and tricks for even the most novel of mocktail creators.  Mocktails Made from Scratch 1. We’re celebrating citrus season with this grapefruit and [...]
A holiday wreath with some blue and green foliage hangs on a wooden fixture.

Shop Small: A Gift Guide

Support the Co-op on Small Business Saturday and buy some fun items for your holiday gifts. The Co-op has unique items for gifts, stocking stuffers, and for yourself. Supporting the only locally-owned grocery store in Bellingham helps strengthen our community, local food network, and local producers.  We’ve selected some of [...]
Three bottles of wine sit on a table.

Celebrating Red Wine Day with some Co-op Favorites

August 28 is Red Wine Day! There's no better way to celebrate than with a good meal and a gorgeous wine to pair. Not sure where to begin in the vast red wine aisle? We've got you covered. Below are three late-summer recommendations from Tim, our wine expert. We have [...]

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DOWNTOWN STORE & DELI • map • 360-734-8158 • 7 am – 9 pm
meat and deli counter: 7 am – 7 pm
made-to-order counter: 7 am – 6 pm
salad/hot bar: 7 am – 6 pm

CORDATA STORE & DELI • map • 360-734-8158 • 7 am – 9 pm
meat and deli counter: 7 am – 7 pm
made-to-order counter: 7 am – 6 pm
salad/hot bar: 7 am – 7 pm

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