Country Life Special Section • Wednesday, October 9, 2013
Spectacular horsemanship
Gardening • CL2 Dairy • CL2 Berries • CL4
Farmers, school food directors to cross-pollinate on Oct. 22 tour Places to visit: Hopewell Farm, Cloud Mountain, NV Middle School WHATCOM — County farmers and school food service directors get a chance to visit each other’s work sites on an Oct. 22 tour. The “Mobile Farm Workshop,” organized by the Washington State Department of Agriculture, includes visits to local farms, a kitchen skills workshop, and a roundtable discussion to enhance understanding and strengthen the
farm-to-school network in the region. Food service directors from Blaine, Ferndale, Nooksack Valley, Mount Baker, Bellingham, Meridian, Lynden and Lummi schools will visit Hopewell Farm of Everson, which has provided organically grown carrots and broccoli to local schools. Lisa Dykstra, of Hopewell Farm, 3072 Massey Rd., said she’s excited to show the school representatives “where the food actually is coming from” and answer any questions about how it is grown. Workshop participants See Hopewell on CL2
Saturday’s Horse Spectacular at the Northwest Washington Fairgrounds’ horse arena featured showmanshipstyle events in a variety of categories. (Annika Wolters/Lynden Tribune)
DelBene joins in new immigration reform bill House members try to spur action on what Senate started in June WASHINGTON, D.C. — In an effort to move forward on comprehensive immigration reform in the House of Representatives, Congresswoman Suzan DelBene on Oct. 2 co-sponsored new reform legislation. DelBene is making the effort along with Democratic Reps. Joe Garcia of Florida, Judy Chu of California, Jared Polis of Colorado and Steven Horsford of Nevada. “Immigration reform is critical to the people and economy of the 1st Congressional District and Washington state. In order to grow our economy and create jobs, we must take a comprehensive approach to immigration reform. We can’t settle for a piecemeal approach. Our system today has so many moving parts
that if we just tweak policy in one narrow area, it will create unintended consequences in other areas,” said DelBene. “There is tremendous support for comprehensive immigration reform from the business community, farmers, faith leaders, law enforcement and the broader American public because of the positive impact it will have on our country and economy. I urge my colleagues from both sides of the aisle to support this bill,” she said. Called the Border Security, Economic Opportunity and Immigration Modernization Act, DelBene’s bill reflects the bipartisan bill that passed the Senate in June. It also includes provisions to strengthen border security that passed with unanimous, bipartisan support from the House Homeland Security Committee earlier this summer. Specifically, the bill: • Secures borders, protects workers, See Bil on CL2
Hopewell Farm busy in harvest EVERSON — Even with plenty of rain in recent weeks, Hopewell Farm is getting in its harvest of organic vegetables quite well, said production supervisor Domingo Francisco. The farm with acreage around Massey Road south of Everson has 14 workers currently to help handle the busy harvest time, he said. Foods now available are: squash (acorn, delicata and butternut varieties), potatoes (white and red), shallots, onions (red and yellow), pumpkins (pie and Halloween), carrots, beets, broccoli and brussel sprouts. The sweet corn harvest is over. Beside supplying schools, Hopewell Farm markets via a farm stand, phone orders, wholesale and sales to restaurants and retailers, according to the Whatcom Farm and Food Finder guide. Separately, the farm grows burdock for the Flora herbal remedies company of Lynden, said Hopewell’s Wes Dykstra. The Dykstra family also operates a dairy. — Calvin Bratt
Domingo Francisco, production supervisor, shows all of Hopewell Farm’s squash varieties. (Calvin Bratt/Lynden Tribune)
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