SEQUIM — Hand-picked spinach and tears of joy made for an especially hearty lunch at the Sequim Prairie Grange Hall on Wednesday.
The American Farmland Trust based in Washington, D.C., bestowed its 2008 Steward of the Land award on Nash Huber, the son of Illinois farmers who came west 40 years ago to turn 350 Dungeness Valley acres into land that produces fresh, organic food.
This is the first time that the 12-year-old award has been given to a Washington state farmer.
Perhaps more important, Huber, owner of Nash’s Organic Produce, is the first organic grower to receive the prize.
The award included a check for $10,000 handed to him and his wife, Patty McManus-Huber, on Wednesday after a long series of salutes from local and national officials.
Judith Morris, representing Rep. Norm Dicks, D-Belfair, summed up the reason Huber won the award.
“Nash is an inspiration,” Morris said, “to younger farmers, to a whole new generation.”
The more than 150 guests applauded — and as it turned out, they were only getting warmed up.
In his decades of farming the land fed by the Dungeness River, Huber has been unwavering in his determination to stay organic.
He and his workers use a chemical-free pest control program; they nurture crops with locally blended compost.
The farm is certified salmon-safe due to its protection of stream beds and efficient irrigation.
And Huber has worked with the North Olympic Land Trust and Friends of the Fields, two local conservation coalitions, to save hundreds of acres of farmland.
