by Kathryn Kozowski
The Center for Local Self-Reliance (CLSR) is a Fairhaven-based non-profit organization whose mission is to renovate and revitalize the historic Caretakers House & Gardens at Fairhaven Park and offer the space for community members to practice and teach gardening and food preservation skills.
The group was formed in 2008, when they drafted a proposal
[continue reading...]

by Samantha Schuller
Jane Billinghurst has been a gardener for as long as she can remember: “My father gave me a small area in his vegetable garden to plant. I chose to plant pansies,” she smiled. These days, her home in Anacortes is surrounded by water-wise perennials and deer-resistant natives, with no lawn to speak of.
[continue reading...]

STANWOOD – Presented by the Port Susan Food & Farming Center, Spring Jubilee Farm Tour on May 11-12 is a self-guided tour of nurseries and farms in Silvana, Stanwood and on Camano Island.
The public is invited to meet the community’s food producers, tour their family-owned farms, learn about sustainable growing practices, and taste farm-fresh treats.
“Consumer
[continue reading...]

Plans for new high school project include small farm cooperative
by Brent Cole
Mount Baker High School’s Todd Rightmire, one of a handful of agriculture teachers in Whatcom County, is known for his work in and out of the classroom. Adjusting to changing demands within the school system, Rightmire teaches students about the scientific aspects of agriculture
[continue reading...]

by Jessamyn Tuttle
Long before starting Skagit’s Own Fish Market, Tana Skaugrud and her husband Eric had a personal connection with fishing. Eric worked on a commercial halibut schooner in the Bering Sea for 25 years, while Tana came from a family with several commercial fishermen. “I have a couple aunts and uncles that fish,” she
[continue reading...]

by Jessica Harbert
Mother-daughter duo Cheyenne and Kamea Black are behind Bellingham’s Misfits Bliss Tea. Formerly known as Sip-T Tea Company, the business is now in its fifth year, offering loose leaf teas as well as smoked sugars and salts.
With the rebranding from Sip-T to Misfits Bliss Tea last year, the duo wanted the name to
[continue reading...]

by Jessica Harbert
While speaking in elementary classrooms, young children often ask 18-year-old Abby Lohman, the Washington State Dairy Ambassador, an array of admiring questions, such as where her ball gown is and who is her king. She explains these are not a part of the Dairy Ambassador’s daily life, and instead her time is spent
[continue reading...]

by Jessamyn Tuttle
When Chris and Wayne Osborne moved to the Skagit Valley in 1982, they intended from the start to work with seeds. “We both came from the seed business,” said Chris Osborne.  Wayne’s employer, an iceberg lettuce seed company, wasn’t interested in expanding their business in this region, so they decided to start their
[continue reading...]

by Jessamyn Tuttle
Georgia Johnson has spent most of her life working with food, and she considers her work at the La Conner School District most important. Manager of the district’s food services, she is known as a local leader in transforming school lunches, seeking to balance and prepare healthier meals, and use local ingredients.
Johnson made
[continue reading...]

Tea samples, research at Jan. 12 presentation
by Samantha Schuller
Sakuma Brothers Farms has been growing berries in the Northwest since 1915. Home to acres and acres of strawberries, blueberries, and raspberries, as well as apples, the Burlington farm is also growing tea plants, Camellia sinensis.
The hardy evergreen tea shrub is, just as it sounds, related to
[continue reading...]