Cultivating Success Farm Walks

Interested in farming? Not sure how to begin? Do you dream of beginning or expanding your own small farm? The Cultivating Success™ program combines workshop and farmer-based learning experiences to help foster the success of new and existing farms and agri-ventures.

Come learn more about the Cultivating Success program during a Farm Walk this summer. Stroll the farm, learn how the farmers apply concepts taught in the courses, and discover how Cultivating Success can provide the tools necessary to help realize your farm dream.

Our farm walk ventures north to Hazel Blue Acres near Silvana. This uniquely diverse farm originally was a dairy, and like so many others, transitioned over the years to other crops and ventures. Starting in 2008, the current generation planted certified organic blueberries for U-pick and year-round frozen sales. They also raise hazelnuts, hay, haylage, wheat, barley, and silage corn.

Cultivating Success helps participants explore the unique advantages available to the small and mid-size farm. Weekly presentations include local growers, organizations, and university specialists with expertise in direct marketing, value-added processing, production planning, agronomy, livestock production, and more.

Sponsored in a collaborative effort with WSU Snohomish County Extension, Snohomish Conservation District, WSU King County Extension, King Conservation District, and King County, Cultivating Success provides students with the tools necessary to create/develop/expand a sustainable farm operation.

The 2017 Cultivating Success Sustainable Small Farming and Ranching course runs Monday evenings, 5:30-8:30pm, Sept. 18 through Dec. 4. We’ll be using web technology to simulcast between three locations to accommodate folks in North Snohomish County, South King County, and on Vashon Island by utilizing speakers and facilitators in each location.

With limited space and parking at each farm, we ask that you pre-register for these free events at CSFarmWalk.eventbrite.com. For more information on the Farm Walks and the Cultivating Success program, visitsnohomish.wsu.edu/cultivatingsuccess or contact Kate Ryan, kate.ryan@wsu.edu, (425) 357-6024.