DUNGENESS — If you harbor any doubts that this corner of the world can grow fresh food year-round, you might want to embark on Saturday’s tour of the Nash’s Organic Produce fields outside Sequim.
PCC Farmland Trust of Seattle and Tilth Producers, a statewide organization promoting sustainable farming, will host the tour from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday.
The event, titled “Farmer 2 Farmer 2 You,” is open to the public as well as to farmers across the Northwest, said Kia Armstrong, Nash’s outreach coordinator and vice president of Tilth Producers.
Tickets to the event include lunch, a seat on the buses that will travel from field to field during the day, and participation in a discussion of sustainable farming Saturday evening.
Adults pay $40 while children’s tickets are $15; patron donor tickets are $80.
Participants should reserve their spaces today or Friday by phoning the PCC Farmland Trust office at 206-547-9855.
During the tour, Nash Huber, who was honored as the American Farmland Trust’s Steward of the Land in 2008, will guide guests among some 400 acres of organically grown crops spread across the Dungeness Valley.
He’ll show how many vegetables flourish here in cool, wet weather, and discuss his use of organic practices over about 40 years.
“We will be touring most of the operation, and exploring firsthand how to farm in the winter and grow grains and seed crops,” Armstrong added.
This outing offers a rare chance to glean wisdom from one of the best farmers in the country, noted Kelly Sanderbeck, spokeswoman for PCC Farmland Trust.
Both she and Armstrong are also encouraging farmers from across the region to come to Dungeness to share information and ideas about their sustainable practices.
The tour is part of a collaborative effort by Nash’s Organic Produce and PCC Farmland Trust to raise awareness of the need to preserve farms in rural areas such as Clallam County, Sanderbeck added.
This county once had 76,000 acres of farmland, according to the local preservation coalition Friends of the Fields (www.FriendsoftheFields.org).
Seventy-five percent of that land has been sold for housing and commercial development.
Sequim and its surrounding valley, where soils are made fertile by the wild Dungeness River, epitomizes the food-versus-population growth issue.
Population growth
Sequim’s population has swelled by more than 30 percent since 2000, and “the uncommonly valuable farmland surrounding the city has been increasing developed and subdivided,” Sanderbeck said.
To cap the day, local farmers gather to share their views on the trends and challenges of the present and future, during a panel discussion at 7:30 p.m. at Nash’s farm store.
Along with PCC Farmland Trust and Tilth Producers, KUOW 94.9 FM and Friends of the Fields are cosponsors of the tour.
For more information, visit www.pccfarmlandtrust.org.
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Sequim-Dungeness Valley Reporter Diane Urbani de la Paz can be reached at 360-681-2391 or at diane.urbani@peninsuladailynews.com.
