Farm Fund Archives | Page 2 of 3 | Community Food Co-op

Local Vendor: Spring Time Farm

by Meggan Simpson, Downtown Produce

July, 2017

spring time farm nick spring and sarah robinson

Farmers Nick Spring and Sarah Robinson enjoy a quiet moment on their farm in Everson with farm dog Henry.

photo by TwoFish Photography

Here at the Co-op we realize that farming is hard work, seven days a week, and a pretty challenging way to make a living. It is also an integral part of our community and local food system, which is why the Co-op has created programs like the Farm Fund that offer resources to help small farms like Spring Time Farm make their dreams of bringing fresh, nutrient-dense food to their community a reality.

Sarah Robinson and Nick Spring took the next step, with the assistance of a Co-op Farm Fund Next Step grant, and purchased property for their expanding produce and flower farm.

Nick Spring and Sarah Robinson at Spring Time Farm recently received a Next Step Grant—a relatively new Farm Fund program designed to help small farms take the next step and scale up to provide the wholesale market—and we are so happy to help them expand to their very own property. After farming their first four years leasing land, sharing tools, and receiving mentorship from Dusty Williams at Broad Leaf Farm, they are now in the process of moving to their recently purchased 37-acre property where they plan to farm 5 to 7 acres at a time while rotating their crops to ensure soil fertility and health.

Sarah washing lettuce. Look for signs identifying their organic produce and flowers in our stores this summer and support these up-and-coming local farmers.

photo byTwoFish Photography

So where did it all begin for Spring Time Farm? Nick Spring is originally from Portland, Oregon, and was attending Western Washington University in 2012 while running a garden system in town called Bellingham Urban Growers Syndicate (BUGS). You may have seen him bicycling around between classes with rototillers, rakes, and shovels in his trailer, or perhaps you owned one of the 11 plots of land he grew veggies on throughout town. He didn’t grow up farming or gardening but it is in Nick’s genes.

The name Spring Time Farm was the name of the farm Nick’s grandfather ran until he was 90!

Not only was BUGS a transition to reconnecting Nick to his farming heritage and his realization that he wanted to make a career growing food for the community, but BUGS is also how Nick met his amazing and talented partner Sarah Robinson. Sarah grew up in Maryland, went to college in Boston, and spent many years bicycle touring the continent before coming to Bellingham. It was here with the already passionate vegetable-growing Nick that she discovered her love for farming. With the constant and diverse challenges of farming—keeping her mind and body engaged while allowing her to be outside connecting with nature— she was hooked!

Nick with an armfull of giant alliums. The farmers of Spring Time Farm found a natural division of labor with Nick Spring taking the lead on the vegetable side of things and Sarah Robinson using her decidedly green thumb as the lead farmer-florist. Of course, they both frequently work together across all areas of the farm.

photo by Sarah Robinson

Nick and Sarah have been farming together for four years now and the quality and abundance of fruits, veggies, and flowers they bring to the community makes me feel like they have been doing this for so much longer. He is “in charge” of the veggies and she is “in charge” of the flowers, and they have a wonderful employee named Josiah who has been there from the beginning and whose knowledge, hard work, and fresh perspective have been an integral part of their success.

Sarah, Nick, Josiah, and the rest of the crew at Spring Time Farm are always trying new things, looking for new ways to nurture their land and preserve their bodies so they can continue to farm for a very, very long time. And we hope they do!

Nick and Sarah are such a joy to be around, you can see and feel the genuine passion for what they do, and for life in general, shine through in even the smallest interactions with them. You may see them delivering sun-kissed boxes of produce or flowers to either
Co-op store or selling at the Bellingham Farmers Market on Saturdays. Either way, we hope you get a warm and happy feeling when you put something from their local farm into your reusable shopping bag.

nick and sarah jumping for joy during the garlic harvest

Nick and Sarah's enthusiasm for organic farming is contagious. Here they are jumping for joy during the garlic harvest.

photo by Meaghan Flesch

We all benefit from the vibrant local organic farming community in Whatcom County. Maybe you have never grown a vegetable, or just didn’t have time to plant a garden this year, or perhaps all your greens have bolted—don’t fear! Spring Time, Broad Leaf, Terra Verde, Cascadia Mushrooms, Rabbit Fields, Viva Farms, Cedarville, Moondance, Spring Frog, and so many others deliver their
farm-fresh produce to the Co-op to make sure you have delicious and healthful local food to eat.

We know the hard work, dedication to sustainable farming, and connection to nature of these farmers is a large part of what makes the Co-op where you love to shop and Whatcom County such an amazing place to live, eat, and play. Thank you, Hamsters, for supporting your community and all the people who make it go round.

Learn more about the Co-op’s Farm Fund. The fund is supported by donations. You can join your friends and neighbors who support the Farm Fund by donating at any Co-op register or on our website.

Take a closer look at Spring Time Farm.

Next Step Grants Continue to Grow Local Farms

by Jean Rogers, Farm Fund Administrator

March 2017

More than 52 local farms and 18 food and farming organizations have benefited from Farm Fund grants and loans.

Increasing the stable supply of healthy local food for Whatcom County residents is a primary mission of the Community Food Co-op Farm Fund. In 2015, the Co-op Farm Fund, with the support of the Sustainable Whatcom Fund of the Whatcom Community Foundation, created the Next Step Project to offer assistance to farmers making significant investments to increase the amount of local food available to local markets. Next Step grants help growing farms attain a scale that provides economic resiliency without overextending themselves in the process.

The first round of grants was extremely successful and we are excited to announce the next group of recipients. You will recognize some steady Co-op suppliers, along with some wonderful newer farms that we hope will become familiar to you as their products become more available in local markets. Here is a look at our most recent Next Step farms and the projects they hope to accomplish.

Over the course of the growing season, we will follow the progress of the Next Step farms and share their stories. Thanks to all our member-owners and shoppers who have made the Next Step grants possible. When you read these success stories, remember that you were part of making them happen. It takes a community that supports and appreciates the hard work of its farmers to create and sustain a healthy food system. We look forward to enjoying the delicious products from these local farms for years to come.

Learn more about the Farm Fund on our website. Farm Fund donations are accepted at all Co-op registers or by mail.

Misty Meadows Farm

A certified organic pasture-raised poultry farm, rated among the highest in the nation for animal husbandry practices, Misty Meadows is adding another flock of chickens to keep up with the demand for their eggs.

Terra Verde Farm

A family owned and operated organic farm, Terra Verde is purchasing 7 acres of land in addition to 15 acres they currently lease. To manage their expansion the farm is purchasing a “cultimulcher” to eliminate hours of field prep, reduce tillage, and improve soil structure; and a mower to keep fields clean post-harvest to reduce problematic bug pressure.

Osprey Hill Farm

A 15-acre farm in east Whatcom County, Osprey Hill is expanding productivity with a 150 percent increase in pastured poultry production. The farm made building improvements and purchased equipment for the brooding stage of the chicks.

Spring Time Farm

A certified organic vegetable and flower farm entering its fourth year of production, Spring Time recently purchased a 37-acre farm. They will be purchasing a tractor and other equipment to prepare for expanded production, and will use the Next Step grant to make payments on the substantial investments related to the farm expansion.

Alluvial Farm

With 13 years of farm experience, accomplished farmers Katie Pencke and Matthew McDermott are investing in infrastructure to provide local, pasture-raised pork. A double win for this Next Step grant is that Alluvial will be purchasing certified organic feed from local business Scratch & Peck Feed.

Lopez Brothers Farm

Lopex Brothers Farm Feliciano Lopez taking notes on farm

Located in Skagit County, the farm is investing in berry plants to expand the acreage in production over the next three years. Feliciano Lopez’s goal is to increase the yield of locally sourced, sustainably grown berries from farmworker-owned farms for the wholesale market. As part of his commitment to building a healthy local environment for farmworker families, Feliciano participates with Community to Community Development and farmworker union, Familias Unidas por la Justicia.

Sauk Farm

The only grower of organic table grapes and organic honey crisp apples in Western Washington, Sauk Farm is expanding production of fresh apples and value-added products such as juice and dehydrated fruit. To deliver products that are affordable for wholesale markets, the farm is using a Next Step grant to purchase an apple washer, automated fruit slicer, and heat pump dehydrator.

Well Fed Farm

The farm produces certified organic vegetables and pasture-raised livestock on 15 acres in Bow. Having grown steadily over the past eight years, Well Fed Farms is purchasing equipment to expand and increase their vegetable production and lower production costs. The farm recently secured a three-year lease as a stepping stone to their ultimate goal of purchasing land.

Farm Fund Spotlight: Cedarville Farm

by Laura Steiger, Outreach Team

The Cedarville Farm crew harvests and bundles spinach at the certified organic farm located near Deming. After bundling, the spinach will be washed and packed for delivery—perhaps to Cedarville’s 150+ CSA subscribers or to one of the farm’s many wholesale accounts. The final destination may even be the Co-op’s certified organic produce departments..

If you’ve lived in Whatcom County for any length of time, you have likely eaten food grown at Cedarville Farm.

Since 1988, Mike and Kim Finger have been working the loamy soil at their farm along the banks of the Nooksack River just west of Deming, and the Community Food Co-op has been proud to sell their fine produce in our stores since that very first year.

“Mike has been a pure joy to talk to and communicate with through the years. Mike and Kim have twice invited our entire produce team out to tour the farm and see how the things we sell are grown and harvested,” said Dave Sands, Downtown produce manager.

In addition to supplying the Co-op, Mike has several retail and wholesale accounts, participates in the Bellingham Farmers Market, and runs a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program serving 150+ members.

Among Cedarville Farm’s accomplishments is being one of the first of three Whatcom County farms to be certified organic.

Among Cedarville Farm’s accomplishments is being one of the first of three Whatcom County farms to be certified organic (Cedarville is number 36 in the state) and, in 1992, establishing the first CSA program north of Seattle (they still have a few original CSA members).

Mike and his farm crew grow about 40 crops including a variety of salad and cooking greens, alliums (varieties of onion and garlic), vegetables galore, tomatoes, and herbs. They also raise broiler chickens, turkeys, and maintain a flock of pastured hens for eggs.

In April 2015, the Co-op Farm Fund secured a low-interest loan for Cedarville Farm in partnership with Industrial Credit Union (ICU). This is the third of six low-interest loans secured by the Farm Fund in partnership with ICU, building on the Farm Fund’s original revolving loan program. The new program allows farms to take out larger loans up to $12,000, build a credit history with ICU—another local, cooperatively run organization—and helps farms tackle impactful on-farm projects that increase resiliency and build the capacity to provide more local food for the Co-op.

As any home gardener knows, weeds are your nemesis and whatever you can do to get ahead of them saves a lot of work in the long run. The same is true on an organic farm, only on a larger scale.

Cedarville Farm used their Co-op Farm Fund secured loan to combat its weedy nemesis.

Cedarville Farm used their Co-op Farm Fund secured loan to combat its weedy nemesis with the purchase of two pieces of cultivation equipment that will dramatically improve the consistency and efficiency of weed control and free staff for the delicate hand labor that simply can’t be accomplished by machine.

Mike purchased a well-cared-for 1970s International Cub cultivating tractor that was used by the Montana State University Extension Service to seed trial crops in Corvallis, Montana. Did you know there was a Corvallis in Montana? Neither did Mike, and he had originally made arrangements to pick up the tractor at the Corvallis that most of us are familiar with in Oregon, but that’s another story.

The cultivating tractor, which hasn’t been manufactured since the early 1980s, is still popular with farmers for two reasons. 1. Its simple, straightforward design makes it easy to maintain and repair on the farm. 2. It is specifically constructed to provide a direct view to the ground, so farmers can precisely navigate between rows without accidentally taking out any precious crops.

Mike’s other purchase was a propane bed flamer aptly branded “Red Dragon” that annihilates weeds with fire.

He is still on the lookout for one more addition to his weeding arsenal—a tractor-mounted inter-row cultivator.

The Co-op’s Farm Fund is happy to play whatever role we can to help Cedarville Farm grow even more farm-fresh food.

As Dave said, “Mike is very generous with his time and his smiles, and we love Cedarville Farm for that reason, among many.”

Donate to the Co-op’s Farm Fund at any register to join us in growing local, sustainable agriculture and supporting local farmers like Mike Finger of Cedarville Farm.

Co-op’s Farm Fund: Let’s Grow It!

by Laura Ridenour, Farm Fund chair and Co-op Board director

The Farm Fund helps us live our values. Our Community Food Co-op is committed to being a cornerstone of the local food economy, ensuring that our community and region is capable of feeding itself.

A rising consciousness about food has swept our community and the world. GMOs. Climate change. Farmworker rights. Organic and sustainable farming. Pollinator decline. Local resilience and sovereignty. These and many other factors have caused people to look more carefully at the food they eat—where it comes from, how it is grown, and who is growing it.

As a result, people want to buy more local food.

As farmers meet the increased demand for local food, the Community Food Co-op’s Farm Fund has grown from humble beginnings to a nationally-recognized model.

Since 2000, the Farm Fund, with donations from the Co-op operations budget and Co-op member-owners, has circulated over $204,215 for Farm Fund grants and revolving loans benefiting more than 60 farms and food/farming organizations.

The Farm Fund helps us live our values.

Our Community Food Co-op is committed to being a cornerstone of the local food economy, ensuring that our community and region is capable of feeding itself. Collaborating in the development of a vibrant local and regional food production and distribution system is one of the six core goals of our Co-op’s strategic plan.

The Farm Fund, run by a Co-op staff member and a volunteer committee of member-owners connected to the farming community, is a unique and powerful way to meet the needs of beginning and small farm businesses as we collectively work toward these goals.

For example, Whatcom County’s small farmers have reported that the barriers to reduce costs and compete in the wholesale market include two main issues: access to capital for equipment, land, or infrastructure, and a need for resources to navigate the various processes and learning curves related to expansion into new markets. The Farm Fund helps small farms reduce these barriers.

Donating to the Farm Fund gives community members the opportunity to invest in the future of the farms and farmers that provide our food.

Want local food? Support local farms!

Make a donation to the Farm Fund and become a “Farm Fund-er” today. Through the Farm Fund, you have an opportunity to support our local farming community and help to ensure viable small farm businesses are able to thrive. Donate online or at any Co-op register.

And buy local whenever you shop to support local farms and food producers.

Learn More About the Farm Fund

Questions about the Co-op Farm Fund? Email Jean Rogers, Farm Fund administrator, or call her at 360-734-8158, ext. 311. Learn more, watch a video about the Farm Fund, or make a donation at Farm Fund page.

Farm Fund Spotlight: Brittle Barn Farms

by Laura Steiger, Outreach Team, and Hannah Coughlin, Brittle Barn Farms

brittle barn farms, local, farm fund, zack tyler, karl prisk,

Karl Prisk (left), Zack Tyler, and Tarquin, Zack’s trusty Australian Shepherd, take a break from tending their free-range turkey flock at Brittle Barn Farms in Ferndale. The farm prides itself in buying local and used a Farm Fund loan to purchase organic, Non-GMO Project Verified feed from Bellingham’s Scratch & Peck Feeds for their poultry flock.

Zack Tyler of Brittle Barn Farms, a local free-ranged meat producer, has been interested in animal husbandry for as long as he can remember.

Growing up on a half-acre in Arcata, California, with his younger brother and hobby-farm parents, Zack was inspired by his small community of do-it-yourselfers and small farmers. “Every Saturday I got to see farmers and artisans pour into an empty street and make it come alive with their hard work and passions,” said Zack.

His mom makes her living raising fiber animals (llama, sheep, and goats), spinning, and knitting their wool into wares that she’s sold at the Arcata Farmers Market for over 25 years. His dad taught Zack how to slaughter Thanksgiving turkeys when he was six. “My parents taught me to be respectful and compassionate to our animals from the beginning to the end,” said Zack.

After he moved to Bellingham to realize his dream as a small farmer, Brittle Barn Farms was born.

After he moved to Bellingham to realize his dream as a small farmer, Zack and his partner, Hannah, rented a five-acre plot just outside of Bellingham where Brittle Barn Farms was born. They raised meat chickens, egg layers, goats, ducks, geese, turkeys, and Icelandic sheep.

Zack noted, “Neither of us had any capital to start with—no inheritance, no wealthy relatives, and not much combined income.”

Zack works in the classroom with developmentally disabled or at-risk youth, and Hannah works for a local environmental nonprofit, RE Sources for Sustainable Communities.

“We had to start at square one—on a cheap rental with a falling down barn,” said Zack.

They named their farm after that barn to remind them of the virtue of small beginnings.

In 2014, Brittle Barn Farms moved to Cougar Creek Ranch in Ferndale, a 160-acre original homestead owned by the Prisk Family. “Karl [Prisk] and I have been friends for a long time. After he moved to town to farm his grandfather’s land, it was an obvious partnership,” said Zack. They went into business together and grew Brittle Barn Farms, increasing their overall production, and adding cows and hogs to the farm.

In the spring, the Co-op Farm Fund secured a low-interest loan for Brittle Barn Farms in partnership with Industrial Credit Union.

The farm used the loan to purchase organic feed from Scratch & Peck Feeds.

“It’s important to us to operate locally. That includes where we purchase our feed,” said Zack. Purchasing organic, Non-GMO Project Verified feed upfront from Scratch & Peck enables the farm to better control the price and quality of their free-range poultry, while keeping their money circulating in our local economy.

Zack’s dream is to farm full-time. “I love caring for the animals, being connected to the seasons and natural life cycles, and I love producing an important commodity for my community,” he said.

You can purchase Brittle Barn Farms’ chicken at the Cordata store. All their meats are available at both Bellingham Farmers Markets, Carne, and on the farm.

Learn more about Brittle Barn Farms or contact the farm at 360-610-7740 or brittlebarnfarms@gmail.com.

Farm Fund Spotlight: McIntyre Family Farm

by Laura Steiger, Outreach Team

farmers holding baby sheep at mcintyre family farm

Life is never dull on Jena and Matt McIntyre’s family farm where they raise and shear a flock of Icelandic sheep.

With support from a Co-op Farm Fund grant, couple shares equipment and know-how to help revitalize the art of sheep shearing.

In late May, Matt Curtis, Co-op graphic artist and photographer, and I had the good fortune to visit McIntyre Family Farm. We couldn’t have visited at a better time, as the McIntyre’s Icelandic sheep flock had recently finished lambing and we enjoyed the splendor of 20 adorable lambs, some only one-week old, cavorting around the barn, being generally silly and annoying their moms. Oh, we also got to hold a tiny lamb, which was a wonderfully satisfying treat for us city slickers. I’d recommend it, if you ever have the opportunity.

Oh, we also got to hold a tiny lamb.

Since 2013, Matt and Jena McIntyre, now with their young son Elton, live and farm off the scenic North Cascades Highway near Sedro Woolley in a charming farmhouse and chicken coop that date back to 1925. The farm is a diverse enterprise that focuses on pasture-based and grass-fed livestock.

The couple is in the third year of Sustainable Connections farm mentoring program, Food To Bank On, and has also completed a hands-on course at the Washington State Shearing School where they learned the New Zealand method of sheep shearing. If you’ve ever watched any of those televised sheep shearing competitions from New Zealand where people shear a perfect one-piece fleece in an insanely short amount of time (like in a minute!), that is the type of shearing they learned. Google it; it’s amazing!

farmer shearing goat on mcintyre family farm

The breed, valued for its thick dual-coated fleece, is relatively new to the U.S. having been introduced in the 1980s.

goat with full coat shearing process on mcintyre family farm

before
&
after

white, sheered goat on mcintyre family farm

Matt and Jena aren’t breaking any world records, yet, but the knowledge they acquired at the sheep shearing school did inspire them to apply for and receive a Farm Fund grant to purchase mobile shearing equipment so they could share their skills and equipment with other local farmers.

Shearing is somewhat of a lost skill, and small farms are outlaying a fair amount of money to pay professionals, in high-demand, to shear their animals. During our visit Matt and Jena sheared several sheep. Those New Zealanders make it look easy, but up close and in-person, it doesn’t look easy at all.

There is a lot of technique involved (and a lot of back strain)!

The new mobile shearing system, funded by a Farm Fund grant, will help farmers in several ways.

1. It is far more efficient than handheld electric shears, saving time and labor.

2. It can be run from a 12-volt battery making it entirely portable so sheep can be sheared on pasture even if no electricity source is available, which benefits the sheep since they don’t need to be transported for shearing.

3. By avoiding costly professional shearing fees, farmers can add another revenue stream from wool—a value-added product.

After word got out that the McIntyres had both shearing know-how and equipment, fellow farmers initially wanted to simply hire them to shear their animals. But, the couple is confident, that given time, the farming community will realize the benefit of learning how to shear their own animals.

Jena and Matt established their sheep flock in 2015. Of the 20 lambs born in the spring of 2016, all were twins except for two onlies. Matt explained that twins are not only common, but very desirable as the first lamb basically pays for the mom and the second lamb will generate a profit for the farm.

The couple is also establishing a herd of cows, raises pigs and poultry (mostly chickens) for both meat and eggs, and farms vegetables. They carefully care for their 30-acre pasture by constantly rotating their animals and crops, which not only controls parasites and disease but provides the best possible forage for their livestock.

You can find McIntrye Family Farm products at the Saturday Bellingham Farmers Market, and during the summer season they also offer a CSA.

Learn more at mcintyrefamilyfarm.com.

Co-op’s Farm Fund Takes the “Next Step”

by Jean Rogers, Farm Fund Administrator

triple wren farms, farmers, florists, salmon safe, sarah pabody, steve pabody, whatcom

Farmer-florists Sarah and Steve Pabody of Triple Wren Farms are happy recipients of a Next Step grant, along with five other local farms.

Whatcom County’s local, sustainable agriculture is changing. Food hubs, new markets, and an increasingly collaborative approach to growing and providing local food are creating a promising new farmscape. It takes a community to “raise a food system,” and the Community Food Co-op’s Farm Fund is in the thick of the action.

In an impressive fundraising effort, Co-op members and shoppers matched a grant from the Sustainable Whatcom Fund of the Whatcom Community Foundation to support an innovative new venture—the Next Step Project. As a result, the Farm Fund was recently able to direct $25,500 in grants to six local farms scaling up to supply the local wholesale market.

The Next Step Project pairs grants with loans taken out by farmers who are making the leap of significantly growing their farm operations and attaining a scale that is economically resilient and stable—good news for shoppers as well as farmers. Three recipients matched their Next Step grants with low-interest Farm Fund secured loans, offered through the Industrial Credit Union.

Billy Tate of Moondance Farm praised the project, saying: “I’m really so excited about receiving the Next Step grant award. I’ve had an opportunity to farm now into my twelfth year in Whatcom County and starting a farm from scratch is no easy task. It takes constant investment, risk, attention and sacrifice. The last few years I’ve seen a steady change in my farming style where I’ve been able to begin to fine tune my craft and not spend all my time learning how to grow and market but to focus on growing the right mix for the farm and the community. It’s nice to see a funding opportunity aimed at those farms that have weathered the seasons at a time where funding is still so needed.”

Along with Moondance Farm, the first round of Next Step grant recipients include Sage and Sky Farm, Boldly Grown Farm, The Growing Garden, Triple Wren Farms, and Brittle Barn Farms.

Their project descriptions almost leapt off the pages with creative ways to grow delicious food with care for the land, people, animals, and
future generations.

sage and sky farm, whatcom, bellingham, farmers, andrea roper

Andrea Roper of Sage & Sky Farm.

While we sadly don’t have room for all the details, here is a snapshot of what these local growers expect to accomplish with their Next Step grants:

• extending the season for root vegetables and tripling overall production; washing and cooling root crops with a
re-circulating system that will reduce water use

• expanding into culinary and medicinal dried herbs; building WSDA certified
on-site packing and processing facilities

• purchasing a refrigerated truck to serve a rapidly expanding customer base and provide high-quality organic flowers, veggies, and eggs, using zero-waste practices. The truck can also be used by smaller farms

• purchasing harvest equipment to increase vegetable production and offer crops with high nutritional and medicinal value that aren’t currently available for wholesale; adding processing facilities to harvest, store, and deliver more local food

• adding a walk-in cooler to expand livestock production and increase profitability with the ability to break down 90 percent of the farm’s locally grown, organic-fed, wild-ranged chickens into parts

• purchasing a walk-in freezer and pens to nearly double production and sell local, grass fed, hormone- and antibiotic-free chicken in larger quantities for a
lower price

Responses to the Next Step Project have been extremely positive, and it will be exciting to see the advances these farms make over the next few years. Keep your eye out for their products in the Co-op and other local markets. We’ll continue to share stories throughout the growing season.

Farm Fund Committee Chair and Board Director Laura Ridenour expressed the Co-op’s hopes for the Next Step Project, saying, “If we can pilot this impressive economic incentive and opportunity for three years, we will reach many organic and sustainable Whatcom County farmers capable of scaling up their businesses, resulting in greater economic security for farmers and greater food security for us all.”

Donations by the Community Food Co-op, Co-op shoppers, and local organizations allow the Farm Fund to support projects that build the market for local farms, encourage ecological and socially responsible stewardship of farmland, and increase community access to healthy, local food.

Find more information, make a donation, or watch a video about the Farm Fund.

Questions? Email Farm Fund Administrator Jean Rogers or call 360-734-8158, ext. 311.

Next Step Grant Update: Boldly Grown Farm

by Laura Steiger, Outreach Team

farm fund, local, farmers, skagit, whatcom, grant, next step, boldly grown farm, sustainable, organic, crops,

Amy Frye of Boldly Grown Farm working in the field. The farm has successfully filled demand for more local winter produce by growing storage crops like beets, winter squash, and pumpkins.

Photo by Nathan Doyle

Earlier this year, the Co-op Farm Fund, with support from the Sustainable Whatcom Fund of Whatcom Community Foundation, launched the Next Step Project.

The project was able to direct $25,500 in grants to six local farms scaling up to supply the local wholesale market.

One of those farms is Boldly Grown Farm in Skagit Valley.

Boldly Grown Farm is one of 14 farms operating at Viva Farms (a nonprofit small-business farm incubator in Skagit Valley). Its current focus is growing storage crops—winter squash, carrots, beets, cabbage, onions, and more—to extend the availability of local food into the winter months. It also grows flowers for sale and to provide pollinator habitat. In future years, Boldly Grown Farm plans to incorporate grains and pastured poultry, creating a diverse and resilient farm system.

Boldly Grown Farm was founded in 2015 by husband-and-wife team Jacob Slosberg and Amy Frye. Both have personal relationships to farming—Amy grew up next door to her grandparent’s farm in Minnesota and Jacob discovered his love of farming on a tenth grade trip to Costa Rica. The couple met at the Centre for Sustainable Food Systems at the University of British Columbia where Jacob was in charge of managing all the annual vegetables and pasture-raised poultry and Amy was the Director.

Given their complementary skill-sets, they experienced a very strong start in their first year of farming; harvesting 20,000 pounds of food from one acre. There were many hits and one miss along the way—carrots were wildly successful and they couldn’t keep up with demand, while onions got in the ground too late and mostly fizzled out.

The couple had a strong network of friends and family who pitched in to help the startup farm. During the final carrot harvest in mid-December, Amy and Jacob, along with several farmer friends, found themselves working late into the night, calf-deep in mud, taking turns getting stuck and helping pull each other out of the muck. “There may have been a good amount of both cursing and laughing involved. This year, I’m sure, will have its own successes and challenges—it’s a constant learning process. Farming is very humbling in that way.” said Amy.

From the beginning, Jacob and Amy identified a niche market in the demand for extended season local produce.

Don’t we all long for flavorful, local, organic produce in the winter months? This past season they harvested carrots into December and cabbage into January. With other crops like beets and winter squash in storage from earlier in the year, they were providing produce through mid-February before selling out.

For the 2016 growing season, the couple added an additional two acres, which will triple the farm’s production and allow for more diversification and trialing a small amount of hoop-house crops such as heirloom tomatoes, purple globe eggplant, and red peppers. “We are passionate and ambitious! We want to feed a lot of people and ensure that a greater portion of the population has ready access to healthy and sustainably grown produce,” said Amy.

Next Step grant funds will be used to purchase a rinse conveyor

Next Step grant funds will be used to purchase a rinse conveyor that will improve efficiency of washing root crops, such as carrots and beets, and can also be used for hydrocooling crops like broccoli (an important step for storage and shelf life). The conveyor soaks roots before washing so they only need to go through the system once, thereby increasing efficiency and saving labor. The conveyor’s recirculation system will also reduce water use.

Boldly Grown is a perfect example of the farms the Next Step Project was created for—farms that are ready to take the next step to scale up for the wholesale market, but need assistance with a specific input to make the leap.

On Jacob and Amy’s farm it was the purchase of the rinse conveyor; other Next Step farms are using funds to invest in packing and processing facilities, purchase a refrigerated delivery vehicle, and expand crop diversity with new harvest equipment.

The Co-op is thrilled to launch this new program and watch as more local farms take the Next Step to meet demand for even more local, sustainable, organic food.

LEARN MORE at boldlygrownfarm.com and follow Boldly Grown Farm on
Facebook and Instagram.

farm fund, next step, grant, sustainable, organic, local, farmers, farming, skagit, whatcom, next step grant,

Jacob Slosberg of Boldly Grown Farm carefully navigates through crops while using the field cultivator purchased with a Co-op Farm Fund grant.

Farm Fund Grant Update: Viva Farms

by Laura Steiger, Outreach Team

farm fund, local, farms, farmers, viva farms, grant

Amy Frye of Boldly Grown Farm (see back page) prepares her field for planting with Viva Farm’s new field cultivator that was purchased with a Co-op Farm Fund grant. The field cultivator is shared with all 14 farmers working land at Viva Farms, and is more environmentally sustainable and efficient than using a rototiller.

Photo courtesy of Viva Farms.

Started in 2009, Viva Farm’s mission is to launch a new generation of farmers.

In the 2016 grant cycle, the Co-op Farm Fund issued $8,000 in grants to seven inspiring proposals. If you tried your hand at playing the Farm Fund Game in the April Co-op News, you may recall the diversity of the funded projects. They tackled issues related to grazing management in a changing climate, formation of a new tool co-op, purchase and training for a multi-farm portable sheep shearing system, and four more innovative ideas. We are excited to watch these projects come to fruition in the coming year and to share their success stories with you.

One project that is already cultivating positive results is at Viva Farms, a nonprofit, small business farm incubator located in Skagit Valley. Its mission is to support aspiring and limited-resource farmers to overcome barriers to farm ownership by providing bilingual training in holistic and organic farming practices and management, and much needed access to land, infrastructure, equipment, marketing, and capital.

Viva Farms received a Co-op Farm Fund grant to purchase a new field cultivator. The implement was purchased from Farmer’s Equipment Co. in Lynden where the farm received a nonprofit discount, further leveraging its Farm Fund grant. Hooray for local businesses!

Several farmers at Viva have already had great success using the new field cultivator, which prepares soil for planting without the need for rototilling. Rob Smith, Viva Farms operations and incubator director, described the cultivator as “a missing link in our ‘toolkit’ that allows us to work up a field in a more efficient, timely, and sustainable manner.”

Efficient because the field cultivator is much faster to use in the field, and with fewer mechanical parts, it is less likely to break down and requires less maintenance. All these factors result in less downtime in the field, fewer costly repairs, and overall labor savings.

Sustainable because it is gentler on the soil structure, known in farmer lingo as the “tilth.” A rototiller, on the other hand, can create soil compaction or pulverize the soil resulting in hardpan that impairs drainage and plant growth. Also, because rototillers are powered implements, they use more fuel to operate than the cultivator that is simply pulled behind a tractor.

This improvement in efficiency and sustainability allows farmers more time to, well, farm, and will hopefully result in greater productivity and eventually more deliveries of local food to the Co-op’s produce departments. Throughout the growing season Viva, and the 14 independent farmers currently working the land and sharing equipment with Viva, provide certified organic vegetables, herbs, and berries to the Puget Sound Food Hub, which serves many Whatcom County food businesses.

In the same way that the Co-op is committed to the principal of cooperation among cooperatives, the farmers on-site at Viva Farms are building community and learning from each other. Rob said: “Despite working on their own independent operations, the farmers help support each other for success. This all happens across language and cultural barriers—finding out what is shared between all farmers, and all humans, really.”

For the first time, Viva Farms is at 100 percent capacity and will look into expanding in 2017. Rob wants to spread the word about what Viva Farms is accomplishing, and tell people that it wouldn’t be possible without the farmers and a network of community partners.

That network includes every Co-op shopper who has contributed to the Farm Fund and chooses to purchase local produce from the Co-op—Whatcom County’s only community-owned grocery store.

Learn more at vivafarms.org

In Support of Our Local Community

by Adrienne Renz, Outreach Department

the real food show set with frank and beans

Frank and Beans—the colorful characters of The Real Food Show—are played by Jason Quick and Della Plaster (also a co-writer) of the Bellingham Circus Guild. The show utilizes comedy, juggling, and other circus skills to inspire positive change in the attitudes and behavior of elementary school kids.

In alignment with the seventh co-operative principle—Concern for the Community—the Co-op makes community giving part of its annual budget. But when preparing to write about the Co-op’s community giving it was not as easy as pulling up a spreadsheet and writing down a line total, because the intention of Concern for the Community is woven into many of our projects.

Thank you for joining us in supporting local farms, nonprofits, arts, music, and community organizations.

In our recent strategic planning process we clearly heard from you, our community, that local food system development, healthy food access, and community engagement are core issues you would like your Co-op to take action on. With this in mind, I carefully consider each request and opportunity to support our community to ensure we are responsibly stewarding funds to meet these goals.

A few projects that exemplify this are the Farm Fund, The Real Food Show, and Community Shopping Days.

The Farm Fund recently distributed $25,000 in Next Step grants to six farms. The Next Step Project is an innovative new venture of the Community Food Co-op Farm Fund, pairing grants with low-interest loans to support local farmers in expanding their farms to serve the wholesale market. The Next Step Project is designed to help farms reach a financially sustainable scale, and to increase the quantity of organic and sustainably grown food in Whatcom County.

The Real Food Show is entering its third year and offering 10 free shows a year to Whatcom County elementary schools. The shows are a hit and “Frank & Beans” have begun visiting elementary schools in other co-op towns to share the fun of eating real food to fuel a healthy body.

The Member Affairs Committee (MAC), which any Co-op member can join, awards 12 Community Shopping Days annually. July 1 marks the release of our Community Shopping Day applications for 2017 awards. If you know of a worthy organization, encourage them to visit the Co-op website and consider applying to be a CSD recipient.

MAC takes this grant funding selection seriously and reviews, discusses, and votes on each applicant to ensure that we have new organizations represented across diverse areas of our community every year. Applications are due by September 1.

In addition to giving back $103,000 in donations, grants, and sponsorships, the Co-op also offers member-owner use of the community rooms at both of our stores, by donation, for a wide variety of purposes too numerous to detail. The rooms totaled approximately 1,837 hours of community use in 2015.

And what about all of you? In 2015, Co-op member-owners and shoppers not only chose to shop at the Co-op knowing that your purchases benefit the community, but you also generously donated more than $20,261 at the register in support of your community.

Thank you for joining us in supporting local farms, nonprofits, arts, music, and community organizations.

Choosing to spend your valuable food dollars at the Co-op is what makes all of this possible.

Thank you for fostering the Concern for Community principle that is a foundation of our Co-op business and a vibrant and strong piece of the Community Food Co-op.

Sean Humphrey House adult family care home

“I want to thank you for the donation from the CSD partnership! We are thrilled to have been selected to participate this year. It provides such great exposure for Sean Humphrey House. Your kindness means so much to all of us. Every bit of support we receive has a positive impact on the daily lives of our residents. Many thanks again from the residents, volunteer, Board of Directors and staff at SHH. Your thoughtfulness greatly adds to our residents’ lives.”

–Jeanette Campagna, Sean Humphrey House Program Coordinator.

by Meggan Simpson, Downtown Produce

July, 2017

photo by TwoFish Photography

photo byTwoFish Photography

photo by Sarah Robinson

photo by Meaghan Flesch

by Jean Rogers, Farm Fund Administrator

March 2017

Misty Meadows Farm

Terra Verde Farm

Osprey Hill Farm

Spring Time Farm

Alluvial Farm

Lopez Brothers Farm

Sauk Farm

Well Fed Farm

by Laura Steiger, Outreach Team

If you’ve lived in Whatcom County for any length of time, you have likely eaten food grown at Cedarville Farm.

by Laura Ridenour, Farm Fund chair and Co-op Board director

The Farm Fund helps us live our values.

Want local food? Support local farms!

Learn More About the Farm Fund

by Laura Steiger, Outreach Team, and Hannah Coughlin, Brittle Barn Farms

Zack Tyler of Brittle Barn Farms, a local free-ranged meat producer, has been interested in animal husbandry for as long as he can remember.

by Laura Steiger, Outreach Team

before & after

by Jean Rogers, Farm Fund Administrator

by Laura Steiger, Outreach Team

by Laura Steiger, Outreach Team

by Adrienne Renz, Outreach Department

enews-sign-up-image

before
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after