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Fishing and farming don’t have to be mutually exclusive. The Smokehouse Ditch Estuarine Marsh project on Swinomish Reservation, where restoration of critical salmon habitat is planned next to agricultural land the Tribe leases to local farmers, proves that. Near the SR 20 bridge north of La Conner, the site is one of several local estuarine areas – Similk Beach is another – considered for restoration. U.S. Rep. Rick Larsen, D- Everett, visited Sept. 27, where he met with Swinomish and Skagit River System Cooperative leaders for an update on th...
By Anna Ferdinand Forty people gathered on the top floor of Village books to hear local author Jess Gigot read from her new memoir, “A Little Bit of Land” on Thursday, Sept. 15, munching on puff pastry adorned with sauteed lamb raised on her farm, the Sally Best cheese from her sheep, listening to the sounds of local band, Hot Tomatoes. “The book is very relevant in terms of exploring why our regional food and farming knowledge-base is so vital,” said Gigot, who runs Harmony Fields farm with husband Dean Luce. “This is also the story of follow...
Dave Hedlin dined with friends Saturday night. And those friends filled St. Joseph's Center in Mount Vernon, where the La Conner farmer, an ag spokesman and former school board member, was feted at the 24th annual Celebrate Skagit Harvest Dinner and Auction. Hedlin was honored during the four-hour event, a major fundraiser for Skagitonians to Preserve Farmland, the group he and his wife, Serena Campbell, helped found more than three decades ago. The couple was among those families who launched S...
The Skagit Valley Pumpkin Festival Sept. 17 was a success for both host Christianson's Nursery and farmers across the state. From 9 a.m.-4 p.m. visitors attending enjoyed family-friendly carnival games, face painting and tractor rides while the adults enjoyed a Farmstrong Brewing beer garden. Pumpkin festival entries competed to finish among the top ten for the heaviest pumpkins. Two bonus awards included the "Howard Dill Prettiest Pumpkin" and the "Ugliest Pumpkin." Winners received cash...
At 104, greater La Conner resident Joyce Johnson has taken a stand for farmland. Last week she finalized, with Skagit County's Farmland Legacy Program, a conservation easement on her 57-acre property to permanently protect the land for agricultural use. "My brothers and uncle were farmers, but they never owned their land," said the longtime member of the La Conner Civic Garden Club in a county press release. "They would be so happy to know that I own this land. My father would be, too. And now...
On July 18, the Skagit County commissioners approved a six-month moratorium on offsite compensatory mitigation of salmon habitat. “Offsite compensatory mitigation” means habitat restoration projects that mitigate for environmental impacts that are a considerable distance away. The moratorium expresses the commissioners’ concern that Seattle City Light (SCL) may go on a spending spree purchasing land in the lower estuary of the Skagit River. SCL is halfway through the five-year process of renewing its license for its three hydroelectric dams...
Washington’s congressional legislators are stepping in to help Skagit, Snohomish and Whatcom counties blueberry growers challenged by steep Japanese tariffs on frozen berries, a key export market. Recently, Reps. Rick Larsen (D-Everett) and Suzan DelBene (D-Medina) urged U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai and U.S. Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel to work with their Japanese counterparts to ensure equal market access for Washington farmers by eliminating Japan’s damaging frozen blueberry tariffs. While the U.S.-Japan Phase One trade dea...
I had a conversation this week that lingers in my thoughts. It was with one of our popular local young farmers. She and her husband rent their farmland and live in a rented house that is only affordable due to family connections and the generosity of the landowners. She admitted they are vulnerable. If the owner of the land they lease for farming chose to develop or sell, they’re not sure they could afford to continue farming. They’re not in a position to purchase a home of their own because the prices in Skagit Valley have skyrocketed. Eve...
In the ongoing discussion around whether and how to permit agritourism activities, Skagit County residents believe preserving the county’s rural character should be a top priority. In a spring 2022 public survey on options for agritourism, 80% of respondents called this policy goal “very important” or “important.” Other goals identified as important: that agritourism relate to onsite agriculture; that agritourism uses have adequate water, septic and parking infrastructure; and that traffic and p...
Genuine Skagit Valley’s Farmstand Fresh campaign is winning applause from La Conner-area participants. The summer promotion seeks to bring visitors to Skagit farmstands between the tulip and fall harvest seasons. When visitors purchase from 16 participating farmstands, they scan the QR code on display and enter a drawing for gift certificates for GSV member restaurants and private classes with local chefs. All Genuine Skagit Valley programs sustain local farming by promoting awareness of the distinct flavors and crops of valley growers and p...
Having spent decades devoted to feeding the hungry, Virginia Good-Vlahovich found herself on the receiving end of praise at the annual “Leaders Inspiring Leaders” forum at Skagit Regional Airport on Saturday, June 25. The 1975 La Conner High School grad was recipient of a special “Community Champion” award at the two-hour program that also featured remarks from former U.S. Secretary of Defense and Central Intelligence Agency Director Robert Gates, a Big Lake resident who, in retirement, has bee...
A good farming year is easy to recognize, says John Thulen of Pioneer Potatoes. “My ancestors bought a pickup, built a barn or added on to the house,” he said. It’s all in the county register. With record rainfall, late freezes, a cool spring and rising prices for diesel and fertilizer, 2022 looks like a no-pickup, no-addition year. Many fields have been too wet to plant, like four of Jason Vander Kooy’s under the east side of Pleasant Ridge on Bradshaw Road. Water from the Ridge “comes off faster now that the east side of Ridge is getting m...
So, however you slice it, the more diverse the chances to edu-tain these tourists, the better. When tourists come and catch a sustainably raised, collaboratively grown fish, they will learn so much that their bill tips left behind would be a new income stream for the community. Here’s a quick example of a future letter from the local school superintendent to the taxpayers. Dear taxpayer: Here’s some super good news. Our recently implemented fish-based STEAM curricula have paid dividends far beyond our wildest dreams. With the collaboration of...
Driving to work, Rachael Sobczak passes acre after acre of her ingredients. The 12-year La Conner resident is owner of Water Tank Bakery, which opened last June at the Port of Skagit. She crafts sourdough bread, cakes and cookies from 100% locally milled flour made from Northwest grain. A baker for nearly 20 years, 10 of them with the Breadfarm in Edison, Sobczak was selling bread from her home when the COVID-19 pandemic began. Demand snowballed for product, then known as Rachael and Bread....
Fully Contained Communities (FCCs) may have Skagit County residents on edge, but they are not the most significant threat to local farmland. The real villain? Low-density residential land use. According to the American Farmland Trust, 11 million acres of U.S. farmland and ranchland – 2,000 acres a day – were converted to urban and highly developed or low-density residential (LDR) land use between 2001 and 2016. Seven million of those 11 million acres were turned into 5-, 10- and 20-acre farmettes and other low density,...
Cascadia Daily News The Skagit Valley Farm, a system of farm LLCs owned and operated by several farmers in the region, plans to fight a $267,000 penalty for violating water rights during last summer’s drought. The company, which operates on over 3,000 acres in Skagit County, irrigated around 348 acres of vegetable crops in the lower Skagit and Samish watersheds without water rights, according to documents obtained from the state Department of Ecology. Eight farms in the Skagit Valley Farm group will face penalties ranging from $6,000 to $...
Drive the roads surrounding La Conner, and you’ll see, depending on the season, everything from brussels sprouts and fava beans to berries, wheat and barley. You’ll also find half a dozen farm stands and farm stores, at least two wedding venues, and four of the county’s largest “seasonal events:” Tulip Town and Roozengaarde in the spring, the Gordon Skagit and Schuh Farm Stands, U-Pick and traditional autumn activities in the fall. Whether and how to define and develop rules for these “agritour...
Decades ago, each March as the northwest mystic sky started to show the sun through cracks in the clouds, we were tempted to get on our bikes and pedal around the farm roads to see how the daffodils, tulips and irises were progressing. The colors were spectacular. Rows of intense yellow daffodils striped the fields. And later in April the valley’s tulips displayed patchwork quilts of peachy orange sewed to fiery red sewed to deep purple. Our spring bike trips never disappointed. One year, 1...
Eighteen month ago I retired from a 35 year Boeing career and purchased Tillinghast Postal & Business Center. It truly was a dream come true. Ever since I was a young girl, my dad would bring me and my family to La Conner in search of antiques at Nasty Jack’s and other antique stores. I knew one day I would live in La Conner and always dreamed of owning a business. When I made the decision to retire, Tillinghast Postal & Business Center was listed for sale and it was perfect for me. Supply chain was my expertise, so shipping, packaging, i...
The new Island Grown Farmers Cooperative (IGFC) meat processing facility at the Port of Skagit in Burlington is a dream come true for its 80 regional members, including the Mesman Dairy. Still primarily an organic dairy, the Mesman family began raising and selling beef, lamb and pork in 2019. Besides selling meat and eggs at their farm store at Chilberg and Dodge Valley Roads, they also supply meat for several local restaurants and the La Conner School District. IGFC has been their partner all...
When Jens Peder Nielsen came to La Conner from Iowa with the Hulburt family early in the 20th century, land was on his mind. Soon J. P. Nelson, as he began calling himself, was using earnings from his job with the Hulburts to buy small parcels as they became available. Many small parcels became substantial holdings for the Danish farmer. Through the Skagit County Farmland Legacy program, J.P.’s niece Nancy Dunton recently protected 170 acres of his prime farmland from development. “Nobody is...
The expansion of homeless shelter services in Skagit County is on the horizon. Gov. Jay Inslee toured Skagit First Step Center March 7 to hear Mayors Steve Sexton and Jill Boudreau’s pitch for increased funding for homeless services in Skagit County. Skagit First Step Center opened June 14, 2021 and provides temporary 24/7 shelter and care to those struggling with homelessness. There are 45 individual cabins made by Pallet, a rapid-response shelter construction company based out of Everett, W...
Skagit County Commissioner Ron Wesen got the first word and Congressman Rick Larsen the last at the 6th annual Ag Summit hosted by Washington State University Skagit County Extension Feb. 11. The hybrid event, with lunch for those attending in-person, offered updates on everything from the county-sponsored farmland legacy and voluntary stewardship programs to new state rules for agricultural overtime pay. Water was a key topic. Skagit River water use is regulated by the Department of Ecology’s instream flow rule, protecting aquatic species a...
La Conner School District Superintendent Will Nelson was like a student facing a big exam Monday. The administrator, hired last spring and at the helm since July 1, underwent his initial job evaluation during a one-hour executive session at the end of a special, mid-month board meeting. The board announced no action and adjourned immediately when it reconvened on Zoom. But early indications are that all went well. Nelson and board members lavished praise on one another prior to the executive session, making a lengthy review of efforts to set...
More people responded to last week’s editorial, "Farmers, fish, trees, cold water," than any other on this page in four-and-a-half years. Their questions showed that none understood that the bulk of the editorial was intentionally left blank. It is the editor’s fault when the point is not clear or missed entirely. It is good that readers paid attention, wondered, questioned and reached out. Perhaps you get financial or other information, sometimes pages and pages of materials and at the end, typically, pages are marked “this page intentionally...
