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Amber waves of grain are beautiful, until you can't sell them. Dave Hedlin's barley fields along Chilberg Road – labeled "Spring Malting Barley" on crop signs – will be ripe in about a week, along with several other fields tucked in around La Conner. Unfortunately, Hedlin's barley buyer, Skagit Valley Malting, closed abruptly on Friday, June 16. Hedlin grows about 100 acres of conventional barley and 100 acres of organic a year for Skagit Valley Malting, which turned locally grown barleys int...
La Conner Schools administrator Andy Wheeler has quietly tended to his heavy workload here for the past nine years. But now, as he transitions to retirement, Wheeler will finally be able to toot his own horn. Never one to boast, the soft-spoken Wheeler – an enthusiastic trombonist – is headed next month to the Humboldt State College Brass Chamber Music Workshop in northern California. It's a fitting sendoff for Wheeler, who has been something of a one-man band during his tenure here, han...
Gov. Jay Inslee enjoyed a taste of Skagit Valley on several levels when he toured the Puget Sound Food Hub Cooperative near La Conner last Tuesday. The state's three-term chief executive, who recently announced he would not seek re-election, nonetheless modeled all the ingredients of a campaigner as he spoke with and listened to area farmers and food hub General Manager Andrew Yokom. Inslee repeatedly praised the cleanliness and efficiency of the warehouse site, a former potato shed located...
SKAGIT VALLEY — The Rodale Institute Pacific Northwest Organic Center at Cascadian Farm, the historic property formerly known as Cascadian Home Farm, has opened its fields to the public for u-pick strawberries. A beloved destination for tourists and local residents traveling along Highway 20, the idyllic 90 acre farm is nestled between the Cascade Mountains and the Skagit River. Founded in 1972, the site is the birthplace of the Cascadian Farm brand of grocery products. While the Cascadian Farm brand quickly outgrew the Home Farm, it r...
The Skagit Valley Farmers Market at The Vinery located at Christianson's Nursery is in full swing. Every Sunday from 10 a.m.-2 p.m., everyone, including pets, are welcome to shop local produce, goods and more. The Farmers Market will continue weekly through October....
Skagit County WSU Extension Master Gardeners hosted their annual Welcome Summer Plant Fair May 13. This was the 29th year the Master Gardeners have held the Plant Fair and again, it was a rousing success. Every year on the Saturday before Mother’s Day, the Skagit Fairgrounds in Mount Vernon transforms into a gardener and would be gardeners’ delight. More than 130 certified Master Gardeners and volunteers – plus about 20 family and friends – grew all the plants that were available for purchase, including over 3,000 tomato plants. Our greeter...
During the hectic, fluid and complex process of the 2023 legislative session, I wanted to keep our priorities front and center. I’ve been fighting to help our low-income and working families, support our veterans and military families, protect and preserve our environment, provide our students more opportunities and ensure our rural counties and cities have the resources they need to keep our communities strong. We’ve made significant progress and I wanted to share some successes we’ve had t...
The Skagit Valley’s environment and economy has been shaped over time by changes in our climate and land use. Some of these changes have resulted in devastating impacts to our communities, including floods, heat waves, droughts and wildfires. In 2021, our farmers and farmworkers witnessed one of their driest years with record low rainfall in spring and a vicious heat wave in summer. By late July, the Washington Department of Ecology issued a drought emergency as farmers dealt with dry conditions...
Maybe the 50 or so people attending the Climate Resilience conversation Sunday at the Anacortes Senior Center did not provide $7,500 worth of advice for changing the trajectory Skagit County residents – and everyone – are facing as the climate changes. But facilitator Dave Peterson made that unscientific estimate at the meeting’s end. The University of Washington forestry professor is with the Skagit Climate Science Consortium, scientists working with local people to assess, plan and adapt to climate related impacts. “Where do we go from here?...
Outgoing four-term Mayor Ramon Hayes cited three major challenges La Conner faces in the decade ahead in remarks at the annual Rotary Club merchants and farmers dinner at Maple Hall Monday night. Turns out, the hosts have a time-honored three-word blueprint for meeting those pending multi-million dollar tests. Service above self. That has been their credo since the club was chartered in August 1945. And it reflects the sense of teamwork Hayes says is needed to address pressing water, sewer and...
Upon reading of the sign blight in Conway, I thought I’d go investigate more thoroughly. I went to where the proposed sign is to be put and watched the flight of the trumpeter swans as they left for the night. They don’t usually fly over the gas station, where the sign is proposed to go. They fly south along the hillside ‘til they get high enough to fly across the freeway, with Skagit Bay a couple of miles away! The sign’s only real destination has to be on their already existing 76 sign. The 10’ x 30’ sign will be just under the “76,” on pr...
What is more American than farmers on their farms? They were the first colonizers, clearing the land, putting down roots, both literal and figurative, forging the future out of the sweat of their brow, the force of their will and the strength of their imaginations, planning and plotting an ordered world as much out of their hopes for tomorrow as from steering a plow. Who was right behind farmers, chronicling, championing, challenging and questioning their every move? Some romantics might list journalists, maybe ahead, maybe just after the clerg...
What do you get when you combine one of the most successful food coops in the state donating $100,000 to probably the most successful farm incubator organizations in the nation? A guaranteed and growing food supply to co-op customers and discerning shoppers throughout the Skagit Valley and beyond. On Jan. 26 some 400 co-op members and farmers filled Mount Vernon 's Lincoln Theatre to celebrate the partnership between the Skagit Valley Food Co-op and Viva Farms. The evening started with local...
Washington has a proud history of agricultural leadership. Here in Skagit County, we have one of the largest and most diverse agricultural communities west of the Cascade Mountains. Island County is home to an ecosystem of organic and school district farms, training programs and community supported agriculture. We have a lot to be proud of – and a lot to protect. Agriculture should be home-grown and family owned. Local farmers mean a stronger local food pipeline, more robust local economy and a...
Come celebrate the Skagit Valley Food Co-op’s partnership with Viva Farms at the Lincoln Theatre 6 p.m. Jan. 26 with snacks, prizes, beer and farmers. Learn more about Viva Farms and its incredible work. The Co-op has donated $100,000 to Viva Farms, investing in the future of local food. Not a Co-op member? Join when you come. Source: Skagit Valley Food Co-op...
More than once during a lifetime that spanned nearly a century the late Fred Mesman was referred to as a Renaissance Man – a person with wide interests and expertise in numerous areas. So it was only fitting that Mesman, who died in December at age 98, would be remembered as such during graveside services Saturday afternoon at Pleasant Ridge Cemetery attended by a wide cross-section of the La Conner community. Gathering on a picture-perfect sunlit day – one in which Mesman, an outdoors ent...
Come celebrate the Skagit Valley Food Co-op’s partnership with Viva Farms at the Lincoln Theatre Jan. 26 at 6 p.m. There will be snacks, prizes, beer and local farmers. Learn more about Viva Farms and its incredible work. The Co-op has donated $100,000 to Viva Farms, an investment in the future of local food. Not a Co-op member? Join when you attend or next time you shop at your local food co-op Source: Skagit Valley Food Co-op...
A monumental moment for a monumental year: to kick off the Skagit Valley Food Co-op's 50th anniversary year, we are so proud to announce that the Co-op has donated $100,000 to Viva Farms to support local, organic agriculture and the future of farming in Skagit Valley! The Co-op has been supporting local producers and giving back to community since 1973 and we could not imagine a more powerful way to continue our commitment as we head into the next 50 years than this new partnership with Viva Far...
Normal lasted less than 24 hours last week after La Conner weathered heavy snowfall and thick ice before Christmas that brought the community to a virtual standstill. Winter king tides along with high westerly winds and low barometric pressure contributing to steady rain and rapid melt-off combined to produce flood conditions causing significant damage to more than a dozen homes and businesses in the town's low-lying areas from Sherman Street (south) to State Street (north) and downtown last...
After winning a razor-thin race made closer by late campaign charges that he had embellished his military service and civilian career resumes, it is full steam ahead for U.S. Naval Academy graduate Clyde Shavers as he embarks for Olympia as the 10th Legislative District's newest lawmaker. Shavers said he has already been swamped with work ahead of the Jan. 9 opening of the 2023 legislative session. "These past few weeks," he told the Weekly News recently, "I have been tirelessly working on...
The spot re-zone being requested by Bertlesen Farm LLC on sixty acres north of its winery on Starbird Road is what leads to urban sprawl as urban services are extended to rural land. Both the Growth Management Act and Skagit County’s Comprehensive Plan were created by citizens and planners to stop sprawl. The goal is to not end up as Lynnwood everywhere. Be clear that the zoning request is not “like” the winery to the south – it includes a gas station, general store, campground, farmers market, equipment rental business, dog park, etc. To get...
By Aven Wright-McIntosh “I should be able to do whatever I want on my land to generate revenue and enable me to continue farming,” a farmer commented. An engaged group of two dozen attendees gathered last Thursday evening at Maple Hall to discuss with Skagit County planners the development of agritourism and its impact on farms and farmers. Staff are reviewing what agritourism means to the County’s agricultural community, rural residents and other stakeholders. Agritourism is generally considered to be a commercial enterprise at a worki...
It was a surprise to discover that the Skagit County planning staff is recommending changing the zoning of approximately 70 acres of rural land at the intersection of I-5 and Starbird Road to allow a new gas station, general store, campground, farmers market, equipment rental business and a dog park. Do we really need another gas station on I-5? The I-5 corridor is under tremendous pressure to be developed and paved over. People want to live in Skagit County because it is beautiful, because we have protected our rural areas and our resource...
A long dry season has been a mixed blessing for local farmers. Back in June, when the Skagit Valley was so cold and drenched some fields could not even be planted, Dean Swanson thought we would never hit 80 degrees. “Farmers asked for a warm dry fall to recover from the late start,” he said, “but we forgot to ask for a couple of timely rains.” Fortunately, copious spring rains gave plants a good start. A deep snowpack kept river levels high all summer, making more water available for irrigating corn, pasture and potatoes. Heat helped. While Swa...
