2016 Farm Tour

A 12 • Wednesday, September 14, 2016

Port Townsend & Jefferson County Leader

Farm Tour events FRIDAY, SEPT. 16

beverage producers.

5-8 p.m. The Pourhouse in Port Townsend, 2231 Washington St., offers live music and a special menu dedicated to local craft beverage producers.

6-9 p.m. Finnriver Live Music on the Land. Featuring music

by Joy in Mudville, cider and kombucha on tap, and wood-fired pizza. $5 suggested cover, kids free. Finnriver Cider Garden, 124 Center Road, Chimacum.

6-10 p.m. Honky Tonkin’ Pie Party. Featuring Three Chords and the Truth, pie, local beer and wine.

Chimacum Grange, 9572 Rhody Drive. Tickets, $10, at brownpapertickets.com.

SATURDAY, SEPT. 17 9 a.m.-2 p.m. Tomato Taste-off.

Sample fresh tomatoes from local farms and try prepared food featuring in-season tomatoes at Port Townsend Farmers Market.

10 a.m.-4 p.m. FARM TOUR. See farms at tinyurl.com/unstoppablefarmtour.

5-8 p.m. The Pourhouse in Port Townsend, 2231 Washington St., offers live music and a special menu dedicated to local craft

SUNDAY, SEPT. 18 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Bicycle to the Farms. Each rider gets a free water bottle. RSVP to info@ptrecyclery.com.

10 a.m.-4 p.m. FARM TOUR. See farms at tinyurl.com/unstoppablefarmtour.

10 a.m.-2 p.m. Chimacum Farmers Market.

2-6 p.m. Finnriver Live Music on the Land. Free live music, cider and kombucha on tap, and Hama Hama oysters. Finnriver Cider Garden, 124 Center Road, Chimacum.

‘Unstoppable’ force fuels 14th Farm Tour Jefferson County Farm Tour is back for its 14th year with a new twist on an old classic, and with new and returning participants.

The annual self-guided tour, set for 10 a.m.-4 p.m., Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 17-18, draws thousands of local residents and visitors to the vibrant farming region of the Olympic Peninsula for farm tours, live music, educational demonstrations and kids’ activities.

Farms that highlight food, fiber, cider, oysters and more are featured on the tour. The tour is open to the public with a $10 suggested donation per carload.

New this year is a 1950s sci-fi-horror-themed promotional video starring Roger Short; catch it at the Rose Theatre in Port Townsend.

Tour sites include WSU Twin Vista Ranch, One Straw Ranch and Marrowstone Vineyards on Marrowstone Island; Wilderbee Farm, Rosebud Ranch, Onatrue Farm, the Dirt Rich School at Compass Rose Farms and Alpenfire Orchards in Port Townsend; Taylored Fibers in Quilcene (which is hosting a variety of fiber artists and crafts); Sunfield Farm & Waldorf School in Port Hadlock; and SpringRain Farm and Orchard, Finnriver Orchard & Cider Garden, Short’s Family Farm and Organic Seed Alliance in Chimacum.

The weekend celebration of farm and land kicks

off with the Honky Tonkin’ Pie Party set for 6-10 p.m., Friday, Sept. 16 at the Chimacum Grange Hall, 9572 Rhody Drive. The event features the peninsula’s premier honky-tonk band, Three Chords and the Truth, and some of the county’s best pies (to win, buy or eat in a contest) from Farm’s Reach Cafe, Crust Pies, Pane d’Amore, the Chimacum Café and other businesses.

Also available is local beer and wine from Marrowstone Vineyards, Finnriver, Alpenfire, Port Townsend Brewing Co. and Propolis. Danny Milholland of Thunderbull Productions hosts a pie-eating contest, and Sunfield Farm & Waldorf School offers activities for kids.

For more information, see a link with this story on ptleader.com.

The primary goals of the Jefferson County Farm Tour are to educate community about sound agricultural practices in Jefferson County; foster beneficial relationships between community members and local farmers; promote positive impacts of locally grown food, fiber and other farmmade products; and assist local farmers in marketing and publicity.

Linda Taylor enjoys time with the animals at Taylored Fibers farm in Quilcene. Here, Cosmo the Icelandic sheep and Georgie Girl the horse, both old favorites, vie for Taylor’s attention. Not pictured are the flock of sheep also featured during the eighth annual Olympic Peninsula Fiber Farm Tour, Sept. 17-18, staged in conjunction with the Jefferson County Farm Tour. Photo by Viviann Kuehl

Fiber �armers celebrate

Not much land needed for animals who produce fiber

VIVIANN KUEHL CONTRIBUTOR Fibers are all around us: literally, in our clothing, and, figuratively, in our language.

What we take for granted, fiber farmers are celebrating at the eighth annual Olympic Peninsula Fiber Farm Tour, being staged in conjunction with the 14th Jefferson County Farm Tour, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 17-18.

Fiber farms grow animals for their fiber as well as for their meat, milk and companionship. These animals include sheep, goats, llamas, yaks, alpaca and rabbits.

Animals are part of sustainable agriculture and a healthy lifestyle, said Barry Taylor of Taylored Fibers in Quilcene.

“Goats and sheep make great pets,” said Linda Taylor. “Most people don’t think of them as pets, but they become extra sociable when you spend time with them.”

“You don’t

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and felted items created from her flock of Jacob sheep.

Jenny Preston of Snow Creek Leather displays her hand-cut and -tooled leather belts, pet collars, hair clips, mouse pads, bags and perhaps even chaps.

Beth and Kevin Hansen demonstrate their HansenCrafts miniSpinner, a compact, portable electronic spinning wheel.

Hayden Starbuck offers handcrafted jewelry, along with hand-dyed, -woven, -spun and -felted wearables, and hand-dyed yarn and roving.

Debi Breitbach-Glass of the Shepherd’s Fold in Port Angeles, a spinner and weaver specializing in spinning dog fibers, offers custom spinning of your pet’s fibers as well as her own rugs and hats.

Dionne Waltz of Waltz Lumber & Fine Arts in Quilcene is displaying her small, fun, affordable 100 percent wool animals and dolls made from locally sourced fibers.

Nora Shapiro and Ann Norton of Eaglemount Fiber, who are dyers, spinners and weavers, share expertise and products made from their flock of beautiful sheep.

Jeanette Mifsud of Mod Country Home in Dabob offers handcrafted cards, home decor items and soap.

Mary Gese of Red Hawk Meadow in Quilcene knits and spins. Her yarn and creative knitted products are offered for sale.

“We’re helping local fiber people to do value-added work here and not having to get into a lot of shipping,” said Barry Taylor.

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Using extensive experience and experimentation, Barry Taylor makes his own products for sale, as well as custom carding fleeces.

“We have what fiber artists want, in different formats.

We have roving, loose fiber and bats,” said Linda. Her husband starts the process with the animals and works the fiber; she spins wool, knits and generally works with the fibers after Barry has processed them. Together, they understand the entire cycle of fiber arts and are hosting 12 vendors of various local products in 11 tents on the Taylored Fibers farm.

“It’s a big party,” said Linda.

See olypenfiberfarmtour.com.

Patricia Young of Yaks in the Cradle Farm in Quilcene is bringing Turbo, a 6-year-old yak, to the party to allow visitors a chance to see, and feel, a yak up close. Yaks have three types of fiber layers to their coat types: coarse, long outer hair; a downy undercoat next to the skin; and a middle type of fiber between the others.

Judith McKenzie, nationally known fiber artist, author and instructor, is to be available to answer any questions and plans to have dyed and carded batts, dyed wild silks, hand-spun yarns, dyed American wool yarn, dyes, books and CDs for sale.

Jan Gillanders of Jacobs’ Fleece is spinning and selling roving, yarns, and her own unique knitted

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need much space for a couple sheep or a couple goats, and even less for a couple of rabbits,” noted Barry. “There’s a lot of grassland around that can support more animals than are there now.”

And if you want to get into fiber arts, the Taylors can help.

Fiber arts range from the ancient, such as felting, to current trends of whimsical inventions.

Felting is growing in popularity. More people are wanting to do felting, both needle and wet felting, said Barry.

“It’s local, it’s an expanding craft, it’s a very old craft and it’s universal, and it never goes out of style,” he said.

He is demonstrating the fiber-processing abilities of the only carding machine in Jefferson County on Saturday, Sept. 17.

“What the carding machine does is it takes fiber and puts it into a form suitable for spinning or felting,” he explained.

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Port Townsend & Jefferson County Leader

Wednesday, September 14, 2016 • A 13

Farm Tour includes rare Red Poll cattle Stewart. “They loved the pasture. They are able to withstand the weather.

They came from Kansas, so have tolerance for extreme temperatures. They’re very mild dispositions. hardy; we didn’t have any “Before the 1950s, cattle special things for them. were often dual purpose, “There are lots of big and milked on the family herds [of Red Polls] back farm,” noted Frederickson. east, with national shows, “After World War II, things and so this is not a fly-bygot industrialized, and spe- night breed, but they’re just cialized. Now, people are not out in this part of the familiar with Holstein and country for some reason,” Jerseys as milk cows, and said Stewart.

Angus and Hereford for “They’re just a wonderful beef.” animal. The special attriIn all of Washington, butes to those animals are there are only a few people they are so family friendly, raising Red Poll cattle. not aggressive. We had two Twin Vista’s special bulls; even the bulls were herd of 16 was donated by really great. The cows are Joanne and Mike Stewart. great, too, usually with Joanne unassisted Stewart first births, and heard of Red they’re such Polls in a good mothSaveur mag- “These animals ers.

We azine article had a coycome from a time extolling the ote probvirtues of when feedlots lem, and we their meat. lost didn’t exist. They never Intrigued, one calf to she went to are quite efficient the coyotes a high-end because the in utilizing grass restaurant mothers are to sample to produce meat.” so attentive. it, followed And they’re up with the Martin Frederickson a great herd provider of animal.

TWIN VISTA RANCH the restauThey stick rant’s meat, together. and arEven when ranged for delivery of two they were mixed in with cows with calves, a heifer other cattle, they’d stick to and a 9-month-old bull to themselves. her parents’ farm in Mount “They were just a joy, so Vernon in September 2009. funny sometimes,” recalled Their first calf was born in Stewart. “They all knew December 2009. their names: Violet, Anna, “At one time, I had 18, Doll, Lilly, Rosie, Raindrop, 20 over the years,” said Misty, Buttercup, flower

Herd donated to Marrowstone ranch VIVIANN KUEHL THE LEADER A rare breed of cattle is on display during the 14th Jefferson County Farm Tour, courtesy of WSU Twin Vista Ranch on Marrowstone Island.

The Livestock Conservancy lists Red Poll cattle as a threatened breed, meaning that fewer than 5,000 animals exist in the world, and fewer than 1,000 animal births are registered each year, said farmer Martin Frederickson.

“They are a very old and unique genetic stock,” he said. “Most people don’t know about the breed, haven’t even heard of them.”

The breed was developed in England in the early 1800s as a cross between Norfolk, a small, hardy, red and white, horned breed known for high-quality beef; and Suffolk, a red, yellow or brindle polled dairy breed, both no longer in existence.

The resulting breed, consistent in appearance as dark red and polled, was recognized in 1846 as “Norfolk and Suffolk Red Polled cattle”; that name was shortened to Red Poll in about 1880, when they were introduced in America.

The goal of breeding the Red Poll for a dual purpose (milk and beef) was achieved, along with traits of longevity, hardiness and

The Washington State University Twin Vista Ranch on Marrowstone Island is home to a small herd of Red Poll cattle. Learn more about why these cattle are important by checking out the farm during this weekend’s 14th Jefferson County Farm Tour. Courtesy photo

names. Art was the bull, and Curly. He was registered as Thunderstruck, but we called him Curly because he was curly.”

Still, living in Seattle, Stewart couldn’t justify all the time, mileage and expense of keeping the herd after her parents died.

“I really wanted to keep them together,” said Stewart. “We had worked really hard to build up this magnificent little herd. It was more an emotional than an economic decision.”

The Stewarts found a suitable home at Twin Vista, donating the $25,000 herd. The farm property on Marrowstone in 2012 was donated to Washington State University Cooperative Extension, and is used

in research for germplasm maintenance and breeding.

“They were thrilled to get them. I was thrilled to have them there. It just seemed like such a perfect fit,” said Stewart.

The mission of the certified organic farm is to support the local agricultural community.

“They are a very old and unique genetic stock,” said Frederickson of the Red Poll breed. It’s important to maintain genetic diversity to be able to draw on traits that may be important in the future, such as disease resistance, and to support the growing interest in grass-fed beef, he noted.

“These animals come from a time when feedlots didn’t exist. They are quite

efficient in utilizing grass to produce meat,” said Frederickson. “Our goal is to raise them to sell as breeding animals.”

In addition to the Red Poll cattle, there are a number of vegetable trials and seed grow-outs to ensure viable seed, and it’s all on view during the Farm Tour.

“It’s important for people to connect to their food, to get out in the fresh air and enjoy stunningly beautiful animals,” said Frederickson.

Twin Vista Ranch, home of One Straw Ranch, is located at 6456 Flagler Road, Nordland, on Marrowstone Island. It’s open for the Farm Tour from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 17-18.

Spaeth appointed to state Conservation Commission

Sept 17-18

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land conservation, she is a perfect choice for this appointment,” said Richard Tucker, Jefferson Land Trust’s executive director, in a press release. “Collaboration is Sarah’s specialty, and she will bring the great vision and strategic thinking that characterize all her work to this role.”

Spaeth’s accomplishments in conservation include the permanent protection of Jefferson County’s most important and iconic places, such as Tamanowas Rock, the old Brown Dairy, wildlife preserves on the

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Mrs. Eileen Ratchford, celebrated her 80th birthday on August 27th!

Duckabush River, and Chimacum Creek salmon habitat.

“I’m honored to be appointed to the Conservation Commission,” said Spaeth.

“I appreciate this opportunity to be of greater service to the conservation work that means so much to me.

Washington state’s rich natural resources are fundamental to our heritage, economy, communities and resilience for the future, and I am so grateful to be able to contribute even more widely to the important work to conserve them.”

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Eric Harrington, president of the Port Townsend Marine Science Center, which administers the award, cited Spaeth’s “ability to form productive partnerships with other organizations, to engage community members honestly and clearly, and to manage sometimes difficult and complex transactions efficiently and transparently.”

“Sarah has a unique ability to think creatively and work cooperatively to find solutions to complicated issues. With these skills, and her knowledge and experience in voluntary, private

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marine biology from Western Washington University and a graduate degree in coastal zone management from the School of Marine Affairs at the University of Washington, before going on to lead land conservation projects for Jefferson Land Trust, a private nonprofit land conservation organization serving Jefferson County, starting in 1996.

Throughout her tenure with Jefferson Land Trust, Spaeth built a track record of success working with private landowners to preserve their properties on a voluntary basis for wildlife habitat, open space, forestry and agriculture. In 2010, Spaeth was honored with the Eleanor Stopps Environmental Leadership Award.

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representing state agencies, and four members elected by the Washington Association of Sarah Spaeth Conservation Districts.

Members are chosen to represent areas across Washington state, and to bring a broad spectrum of experience in areas such as ranching, farming, law, management, public service, natural resource management and more, according to a press release.

Spaeth brings extensive experience from a career in environmental conservation. She received her undergraduate degree in

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Sarah Spaeth of Port Townsend has been appointed to the Washington State Conservation Commission (SCC) by Gov. Jay Inslee.

The SCC is the coordinating state agency for Washington state’s 45 conservation districts, providing voluntary, incentive-based programs to help private landowners conserve their properties, with a mission “to conserve natural resources on private lands, in collaboration with conservation districts and other partners.” Spaeth fills the spot vacated by Lynn Bahrych, who was appointed by Gov. Gary Locke in 2004.

The commission consists of a 10-member governing board composed of two members appointed by the governor, four members

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