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Sakuma Brothers Farms Richard Sakuma, president of Sakuma Brothers Farms, examines tea leaves in his field in Burlington, Wash.
Photo by Daniel Brunell/AWB
A family holds its ground through thick and thin by Danielle Rhéaume
O
n the west side of Interstate 5 in the farmlands of Burlington, a giant red strawberry on a white fence marks the entrance to the Sakuma Brothers Market Stand. Several yards past the sign, there’s a tidy white-and-green ice cream house, a U-pick stand, and the market stand itself. The market stand is usually open from spring through the end of the yearly harvest, but last year they reopened it on Nov. 30 for their firstever holiday market. Outside the market, there were lush Noble firs and wreaths for sale. Inside, the market offered tasty jams and syrups made from the Sakumas’ very own berries, as well as flash-frozen blueberries, strawberries, boysenberries and tayberries that were picked and processed on the surrounding acreage. “We don’t sell anything we don’t grow or make here,” said Tami Sakuma, wife of Farm President Richard Sakuma, as she stood inside the market on opening day. “Even the packaged products that we sell are related to our farm.” The Sakumas’ most recent and ambitious venture—selling tea—is also tied to their farm. On the five acres directly behind the market stand, Richard Sakuma established first-ever tea plantation on the West Coast.
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Ancestry, adversity and remarkable success The Sakuma family business began nearly a century ago when the Sakumas arrived in the United States as Japanese immigrants pursuing the American dream. After settling on Bainbridge Island and clearing their land, the family began farming strawberries, as well as other fruits and vegetables, which were the sole source of income for the Sakumas’ large family of eight boys and two girls. Even though the land on the island was not ideal for growing berries, they were soon successful at selling their produce at the Pike Place Market in Seattle. “Because of their expertise in farming small fruit, they were approached by a Seattle processor, R.D. Bodle, to relocate to the Skagit Valley to farm,” according to the farm’s Web site. The Sakumas responded to Bodle and in 1935, their eldest son moved to Burlington to begin farming their new land. Each summer, the family would come from Bainbridge Island to help with the harvest, and by 1941 four of the eight brothers were living and farming there. Their efforts supported the rest of the family, who were still living on Bainbridge Island.