Local Calla Lilies in season and ready for sale at the Seattle Wholesale Growers Market

Contributed by NABC Project Manager, Jeff Voltz

The Seattle Wholesale Growers Market celebrated its first anniversary on Wednesday, May 2 at its old fashioned brick historic warehouse building in Seattle’s Georgetown neighborhood.

The producer-owned cooperative of 19 members from Washington, Oregon, and Alaska (yeah, that’s right, Peonies from Alaska!) is open three days a week on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.  Their first year of operations qualified as a very strong success.  “We have had a wonderful big-hearted response from local florists, event planners, and other locally-based floral buyers,” states Diane Szukovathy , co-owner of Jello Mold Farm and President of the cooperative.  ”These folks share a core-vision with our cooperative’s growers and believe in the wholesome beauty and value of local and sustainably grown flowers.”

Approximately 80% of the flowers purchased in the United States are imported into the country, primarily from Columbia as an adjunct to the U.S. “war on drugs.”  In reality this  U.S. government subsidized program of flowers that are produced with lower environmental and worker/labor standards directly competes with local flower production.

“We estimate that our production costs are at least eight times higher than imported flowers, explains Szukovathy.  ”We are a cooperative of local producers working together to seek solutions in order to offer healthy, clean, and extraordinarily beautiful product that is locally grown, produces local jobs, and keeps local farmland in production.”

Joining in the celebration were author Debra Prinzing and photographer David E. Perry, who just released the visually sumptuous and compellingly written book titled “The 50 Mile Bouquet.”  In the book Prinzing and Perry do excellent and collaborative work to help you change your relationship with flowers by urging you to create a relationship with your local flower producers.

Diane Szukovathy, President of Seattle Growers Wholesale Market, and Stacie Sutliff, owner and operator of Blush Custom Floral in the Skagit Valley, are pictured on the cover of "The 50 Mile Bouquet" by author Debra Prinzing and photographer David E. Perry

Flower Child and author Debra Prinzing and photographer David E. Perry, producers of “The 50 Mile Boquet” providing book signing at the event.

Diane Szukovathy, President of Seattle Growers Wholesale Market, presents the cooperative market’s new wholesale bouquet program to floral buyers from PCC Natural Markets.

The best, most beautiful, and physically healthy flowers are being grown throughout a broad season, right here in our region. This fabulous book can be purchased at the Community Food Co-op (Bellingham), PCC Natural Markets’ nine stores throughout the Seattle metro area, and Skagit Valley Food Co-op (Mt. Vernon).

NABC provided technical assistance in the development of the SWGM.  Learn more about the Seattle Wholesale Growers Market (including hours and location) at their new website. You can Also follow them on Facebook.

Last year — the inaugural year of the festival — producers and volunteers poured about 1500 tastes of locally-produced cider, and the festival hopes to double that this year.  The cider-filled launch day will offer live music on their outdoor stage, and there will be a contest for Orcas Island home brewers of ciders and meads who will be competing for “Orcas Best of the Fest.”

Check out these pictures from last year’s event:

In 2011 NABC, in partnership with Washington State University and Northwest Cider Association, received a  Specialty Crop Block Grant from the USDA, giving a boost to the emerging hard cider industry in the region.  The $75,000 grant supports cider research, education and marketing, including WSU trials of cider apple varieties and research on mechanical harvesting and the week-long orchard management and cider production courses NABC offers.

We encourage you to support the Orcas Island Farmers Market, the Cider and Mead Festival, the local producers who will be participating, and the emerging cider industry in Washington by attending this weekend’s event!

In partnership with Local Orbit, a software service designed to streamline sales between local food buyers and sellers, NABC is in the process of developing and piloting four “virtual food hubs” to scale transactions between farmers and institutional and commercial food service. Producers selling through a NABC hub will have access to smart tools to increase efficiency and profitability, including e-commerce, sales & delivery tracking, and inventory management. Buyers get access to the aggregated supply of local food producers, streamlined purchasing, and a direct, traceable supply chain.

Local Orbit and NABC have worked together to conceptualize four pilot “virtual food hubs” for the Puget Sound Food Network this spring. The first two pilots will launch in May and June respectively, and will first serve PSFN members who participate in the Skagit Wholesale Market and the Farm to Table partnership.  The first two pilots include:

• North Sound Wholesale Market. This online store will serve select PSFN member buyers and sellers in North counties of San Juan Island, Whatcom, Skagit and Island. The Coho Cafe at United General Hospital has agreed to serve as the first buyer. Chef Chris Johnson will pilot the site and offer feedback about ease of use for institutional foodservice. NABC staff will continue to identify decentralized aggregation and distribution solutions and will gradually work with producers to invite additional buyers and expand business to business (b2b) commerce in the region.

• Farm to Table Online Store.  This online store was designed to continue the sales relationships formed as a result of PSFN’s involvement in the CPPW grant funded Farm to Table partnership led by City of Seattle Aging and Disability Services. During the new pilot, only participating PSFN member sellers will be invited to list their products for wholesale, and at least four agency partners serving low-income seniors and preschools will be authorized to make purchases during the pilot period.

Local Orbit will be responsible for providing technical support, online transactions and payments.  NABC will continue working “on the ground” to recruit and retain sellers and buyers, communicating to sellers regarding inventory queries, identifying opportunities for aggregation and storage and distribution.   In essence we’re creating and growing b2b relationships between producers and buyers. NABC provides business development services to producers including product development, business planning, access to financing, and marketing and sales assistance.
Get involved!  NABC is currently identifying sellers within PSFN to participate in the two pilots.  Local Orbit is leading a discussion on Tuesday, May 8th at 10:00 a.m to learn about their tools.  If you are a producer member of PSFN and wish to learn about how the Local Orbit pilot sites will function, please contact us and we will send you a link to the online meeting.  We look forward to sharing more about the developing partnership between NABC and Local Orbit. Stay tuned for updates, and for ways you can plug into this emerging marketplace.

Continued from Spring 2012 Newsletter…

Meritage Handcrafted Soups has been a sponsor of PSFN for over a year. Owned by Shannon Moshier, Bruce Rowe, and Jeff Fisher, and based in Redmond, Meritage crafts signature soups by fusing old world cooking traditions with new world technologies.

Company Overview

We formed Meritage Soups because we believe there is a renewed interest in the foodservice industry to search out a company focused exclusively on cooking premier quality soups.  We believe in handcrafted methods, small batches, and in the importance of a product’s quality over that of its quantity. We specialize in excellence.

Meritage is a designation created by Napa Valley, California vintners to define a premier wine created by a blending of three or more grape varieties; the words Merit and Heritage come together to form Meritage.  As in the case of a fine wine, the crafting of a premier quality soup requires an artful blending of superior ingredients to a delicious end. Meritage cooks handcraft our soups with great pride and passion, employing classic culinary techniques.

Our Plant

Our soups are initially crafted in our R&D Presentation Kitchen. Great care is taken to evolve the soup recipe for production without sacrificing quality or flavor. By using smaller kettles and producing in small batches, we are able to maintain the artful preparation of a home kitchen.

Meritage Tuscan Minestrone Soup

Cooking & Ingredients

Classic culinary approaches are the backbone of our craft. Techniques, such as ‘made from scratch’ roux, differentiate our soups from the industry standard.

We support local companies whenever possible.  We use fresh and natural ingredients, gourmet spices, real cheeses, local cream, choice meats and seafood. Fresh vegetables are cut to our own specifications, beans and legumes carefully sorted, and spice blends are created in house to achieve the perfect balance for our recipes. Kosher salt is utilized only when necessary to enhance the natural flavors of our ingredients. We do not include additives or preservatives to our soups.

The end result: handcrafted…nutritious…and delicious soups!

——————-

Sponsors of the Puget Sound Food Network receive added benefits including a complimentary membership to the PSFN, a dedicated account manager, advertising benefits including prominent placement on our website and all e-communications and more. To learn more, or to find out if your business is a good match for PSFN or any other Northwest Agriculture Business Center project sponsorship opportunities, contact Karen Mauden: karen@psfn.org

A few months ago the USDA announced the 2012 Value Added Producer Grant awards. Several farm businesses and organizations in Washington received funding including the Northwest Agriculture Business Center who received $300,000 for Regional Food System Development.

So what does this mean?  It means we remain firmly committed to providing business planning, technical and marketing assistance to producers, regional food hub developments, and producer owned cooperatives in the Puget Sound region.

We’ll also be evolving our wholesale market concept this year to further our impact through marketing, locating distribution, processing and even working with producers and logistical providers to identify efficient decentralized aggregation hubs.  Our new partner, Local Orbit, an Ann Arbor, MI based company is developing four (4) “virtual hub” pilots designed to increase sales transactions between farmers and institutional and commercial food service, including universities, hospitals, restaurants and meal-sites that serve low-income seniors and preschool children in South Seattle/King County and beyond.  With Local Orbit handling sales management systems and online transactions, our staff is more focused on what we do best: creating and growing business relationships between producers and buyers who have an interest in increasing local food procurement across categories.  Our staff is invested in staying abreast of market trends so that producers of all scales can leverage all opportunities for growth and sustainability.

Later this year, NABC will be relaunching the NABC and PSFN websites, migrating off of PSFN’s online marketing tool launched in 2009.  NABC will be integrating its marketing strategies for all projects, including PSFN.

About half of the VAPG grant funding will be to fund overhead costs for Account Management services for dues-paying members including strategic market consulting, sales representation, promotions, technical assistance and value-added product development services.

Ultimately our work helps “level the playing field” for all scales of producers. If farmers have more opportunities to achieve economic sustainability, then farming remains part of our future…not just our history.

While the grant funds cover 50% of PSFN’s existing costs to carry out our mission, we are aggressively seeking corporate sponsors to partner with NABC and join the Puget Sound Food Network.  We will be working to ensure that the Network’s impact will grow rather than retrench and we’re excited to move forward with PLAN A!

In summary, this new USDA funding will be used to:

1. Support value-added marketing for independent producers by providing timely and appropriate technical support.
2. Implement a new on-line transaction system called PSFN powered by Local Orbit that will allow independent producers to initiate product sales directly to regional buyers.
3. Support the creation of new regional food hubs owned and operated by independent producers.
4. Increase the number of institutional meal sites that source value added products direct from local producers.

To learn more, please read our February press release.

• Almost 200 commercial orders and additional CSA subscriptions placed by senior and child care meal programs
• $35K in sales (including culls and seconds) to local farms
• More than 35 meal sites incorporated farm fresh produce into meals- and still growing!
• 12 PSFN member farms participated (and we’re looking for more!)

• Low-minimum commercial delivery: direct from farm for individual meal sites, and through DUCK delivery for Catholic Community Services, which serves a more populous clientele at more dispersed meal sites
• A customized CSA model for childcare for in-home child care operations through the King County Housing Authority and Youth and Family Empowerment Program
• A customized CSA model for city-funded child care centers, wherein child care centers can serve as community drop-points for neighborhood CSA pickup
• And, most recently, we piloted our Good Food Bags program, the first in a series of food aggregation and cooperative purchasing models for communities, and an easily replicable model. Watch this video to learn more!

Now that we have reached the end of the CPPW funding, we are transitioning our Farm to Table project into a more comprehensive outreach program, funded by the Value-Added Producers Grant (VAPG) program.

Through the expanded Farm to Table project, we will maintain existing partnership and purchasing relationships created through under CPPW funding, while reaching out to, and expanding the project among, new groups and institutions serving lower income communities.

To support these existing and emerging relationships, we are in the process of building a Farm to Table Online Store (powered by Local Orbit), which will technologically support the purchasing relationships formed between farmers and meal providers through F2T. Through this online tool, participating farmers can sell produce and goods directly to partner meal-sites that serve meals to low-income seniors and preschool aged children throughout South King County and beyond.  Only existing F2T meal-sites and PSFN approved farms will be able to use the store for transactions. PSFN and Local Orbit staff are currently preparing the private online store for opening in May.

Stay tuned, we look forward to sharing more updates about the Farm to Table continuation activities soon!

Sarah Richards owns the only lavender farm on Whidbey Island.  With views of the Olympic Mountains and the Strait of Juan de Fuca, she has built a popular destination for tourists.  She has also developed a full line of culinary and personal care products which are sold online, at her farm, and by local retailers. This summer, she is opening her first retail store and production facility in Coupeville.  She is a member of the Puget Sound Food Network, a board member of Northwest Agriculture Business Center, and was a founding member of the Whidbey Island Grown brand.  She is also a founding board member of the new United States Lavender Growers Association and will be attending the Sequim International Lavender Conference, April 27-30.

NABC’s Sherrye Wyatt caught up with Sarah earlier this month to find out more about the origins of her “accidental” business, the unique challenges of farming on an island and operating a business out of a historic house, and some of Sarah’s other passions.

How did you get into lavender farming?
This farm was an accident.  We were looking for a place to build a house in 1998 on Whidbey Island, and we found this land which was a part of the old Darst Farm.  I took a shovel to see what kind of soil it had, and it turned out to be this incredibly beautiful, sandy loam.  I recognized it because I had grown up with the same kind of dirt on my mother’s place on Martha’s Vineyard.  We decided to farm it because it had been farmed for over 130 years.  We chose to grow lavender because it had to be a crop that did not require irrigation.  Plus, I had spent a year in France and it smells good, and the lavender surge in Sequim was starting to take off.  Now on this farm we grow seven different kinds of lavender and have five acres in production.  In the nursery we grow even more varieties for people to plant in their gardens.

Is lavender hard to grow?
We are certified organic which makes it more difficult because we can’t put any chemicals on the weeds.  Weeds are a problem when you have a perennial crop.  They can invade the rows. We do as much tractor work as we can, but the rest is done with hand tools.  All the lavender is harvested by hand.  We don’t have enough acreage to warrant buying harvesting equipment, at least not yet.  My plan is to paint the prairie purple! There are no other lavender farms on Whidbey and I would like to get more acreage under production.  The way things keep growing we won’t have enough lavender to meet demand.  Right now we need more lavender than we can produce.

What is the secret to your success?
The secret has been to grow very slowly.  For the first few years we weren’t even on the map. Every year we learned more.  Eventually, I surrounded myself with people who knew more than I did. My background is not in farming.  I am a multi career person with 10 years as a mental health therapist.  One of the key people here now is Younes Mou Mou.  He is from Morocco and approached me two years ago because he wanted to learn about farming.  He started as a weeder and I just recently promoted him to farm manager. He is fabulous.  We have a good team and I’m getting everyone in place to grow the business.

Part of the process of creating essential oils at Lavender Wind Farm

What can visitors see at the farm?
We are open to the public year round, but mid-June through August is when the lavender is at its best.  We have purple alert at www.LavenderWindFarm.com with a scale from 1-10. The last weekend of July we annually hold the “Artists’ Invasion” where dozens of artists set up for two days to create and sell their work.  In the summer while we are harvesting, we are also doing the distilling of essential oils.  This is the primary activity people like to watch.  It is a processing of the crop and it makes it into a value added product. Essential oils are the biggest deal about lavender, all the rest is just window dressing.  The essential oil is where it is at.  We make our value added products like sachets and dried lavender bunches, bulk lavender for other people to use for crafting, culinary lavender, herb  blends and  various food products.  We make baking mixes, jams, jellies, ice cream and  personal care products including lotions, soaps, shampoo and candles.  We manage our own gift shop at the farm, an online store which is getting a new shopping cart.  Soon we’ll have a new shop in Coupeville.

Some of Sarah’s value added products:

Why are you opening a shop in Coupeville?
The new place is a combination of a manufacturing facility and retail outlet.  We will also be doing all of our shipping from there for internet sales. We will have a dehydrator and dry filling machine.   Previously we haven’t had an official manufacturing place to make all of our personal care products and lavender crafts, and we’ve rented a commercial kitchen to produce our food products.  So we are going to get this all packed into one place and staff it appropriately. Plus our community needs a commercial kitchen with packing capacity, and I am talking with other Whidbey Island Grown farmers.  We are interacting with farmers in new ways.

How will this help your business and how do you promote yourself?
Now we are able to ramp up sales.  I have just hired a full time sales manager who is focused on wholesale and retail sales. Her first step is getting introduced to our existing accounts, which are mostly on Whidbey Island.  We are getting the word out through three chambers of commerce we belong to, plus we distribute brochures through Certified Folder on the ferries, the cruise ship terminal, at the Boeing tour, and other places.  Also, we’re on the NABC Whidbey Island Map and we’re heavily into social media.  We’ve always had our farm on the Whidbey Island Farm Tour.  However, this year the new commercial kitchen will be on the tour instead.  People don’t know what it takes to get preserved foods from the farm to the store.  Our products and this new facility give us a chance to educate the public about what licensing is involved and what kinds of equipment it takes.  We can show them what that process really looks like.

Are their considerations when putting a business in a historic house?
It’s as if buying the house has helped formulate the vision for my business.  The house is a cottage, and suddenly I realized we are a true cottage industry.  The house was built in 1916 and I found these old photos where there is nothing else on the block but this one house. I am so excited about it. The vibe is a sympathetic one, in terms of changing the use of the house from residential to a business.  We’re making the transition in a way that fits the rhythm of things as opposed to something drastically different.  The store will open by June.  We have already started the inside demolition. We are taking great efforts to make the house serviceable, while keeping things historically accurate.

A local artist paints the landscape at Lavender Wind Farm

What are your other passions?
I’m on the board of Whidbey Air, the local internet only radio station. Also, through AAUW, I just created and awarded a new arts scholarship in memory of an artistic high school friend who died. It is named the Dale M. Fischer Scholarship and is for a high school student who will study art.  The arts are very important.  I was an Art and French major in college and it has been part of my life forever.

How do the arts influence you now?
The arts are important to any small business, even farmers.  You have to be conscious of how things look, especially if you are doing agri-tourism. When you are designing marketing materials like a brochure or website, you need to understand the emotional appeal of visual design.  In my case, it matters how the fields are laid out.  Sure it matters what is best for the plant so it grows properly, but it also matters how it all visually plays out. Just as there are different rules for paints and how you use them, there are different rules for plants.  I am using plants, buildings, rocks, and gardens as paints. My farm is my canvas, and plants are my paints.

One of the Evergreen CSA's growers, Tristan Klesick of Klesick Family Farm, during the program launch at Providence Hospital's Earth Day event April 18th

Continued from Spring 2012 Newsletter

NABC launched a new Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program last week for staff members of Providence Hospital in Everett at the hospital’s Earth Day Celebration April 18th and 19th.

In a CSA program, consumers directly support local farms by pre-paying through subscription for shares of the seasonal harvest, giving farmers “seed money” to plan production around demand, while giving consumer access to fresh local produce.

Known as the Evergreen 2nd Party CSA, this pilot project departs from the traditional model in that there will be several farms taking part, with produce boxed and delivered by one of the growers (Klesick Family Farm), providing a wider diversity of produce to the subscriber than the typical single-farm program.

Providence employees subscribing to the Evergreen 2nd Party CSA will pick up their harvest shares at a drop off point just one block away from the Providence Colby Campus.  NABC partnered with the Volunteers of America Food Bank down the street to provide a secure space for storage and distribution.  Subscribers will have the opportunity to support the food bank by purchasing one or more additional boxes of produce through the CSA webpage, to be delivered during the harvest season.  Any produce not claimed by the end of pick-up day will also be donated to the food bank.

The Evergreen CSA is modeled after the successful Nooksack Valley Farmers’ Cooperative launched last year by NABC at Peacehealth/ St Joseph Hospital in Bellingham, and is expected to bring a similar positive impact to Snohomish County.  Discussing the project’s value, Project Manager and Snohomish County resident Sera Hartman said,

It’s exciting to think about what this means to the region.  Local small-scale and family farms will benefit from increased sales and the security of pre-selling their production, the consumer benefits by receiving highest-quality, fresh produce which encourages healthy eating habits, the community through the reinvestment of local dollars into the local economy, and the environment from a reduction in the transportation miles and carbon emissions required to bring food from farm to table.  Our collaboration with Volunteers of America Food Bank expands the benefits even further, beyond the subscribers and growers. It’s a good thing for the whole community.

We couldn’t agree more. We look forward to sharing more updates as the project develops.

In 2011 NABC, in partnership with Washington State University and Northwest Cider Association, received a  Specialty Crop Block Grant from the USDA, giving a boost to the emerging hard cider industry in the region.  The grant has been used to support cider research, education and marketing, including the various cider courses NABC offers: Orchard Management: Cider Fruit Production; and Cider Making: Principles and Practice (including two parts — An Understanding of Cider & Perry; and Practical production of Cider & Perry). Through this course, NABC also offers a gateway for amateur cider makers to earn a NACM Certification from the National Association of Cider Makers.

Registration is currently open for the following classes and courses:

Orchard Management classes with Gary Moulton • June 23rd and July 28th.
This course will discuss the basics of tree fruit production, with a focus on cider and dessert varieties. Topics will include rootstock, nutrient management, pest management, irrigation, orchard layout planting, pruning, and harvest techniques.

Cider Making Principles and Practice PART 1 ONLY – An Understanding of Cider & Perry with Peter Mitchell • June 25 & 26 OR July 23 & 24
This course will provide students with a broad understanding of cider & perry, the cider industry, and the principles & practices of cider production.

Save the date for Advanced Cider & Perry Production with Peter Mitchell on December 10 – 14, 2012
This course will provide an in-depth understanding of cider microbiology, chemistry, sensory evaluation and technology.  Product development, marketing, and operating a successful cider business will also be addressed.

For more information or to register, visit our website or contact Carolyn Goodrich: carolyn.goodrich@agbizcenter.org or 360-336-3727

Click here to see photos of our June 2010 cider courses

A press release about the cider project was distributed by WSU Communications and enjoyed robust press coverage, including the WSU newsletter On Solid Ground, Capital Press, The Missoulian, Seattle Times and more. NABC’s Executive Director David Bauermeister even coordinated an appearance on KCPQ Q13 local television news on March 13.  Sharing the television spotlight was Jonathan Roozen representing WSU and Sharon Campbell of Tieton Cider Works representing the Northwest Cider Association. Their joint appearance highlighted cider research, production, availability and a growing market for cider in the northwest. Here’s a toast to good cider press!

Here are more recent articles about Washington’s burgeoning hard cider industry:

Cider makers tout fruit ciders at wine event | Seattle Times | April 1, 2012
Federal grants reach specialty crops | Capital Press | January 5, 2012
Tasting Notes: Washington’s Hard Ciders | Seattle Magazine | September 2010

Check out this video about the cider production process, created by WSU with support from NABC.

PSFN Members John and Marijke Postema, owners of Marshland Orchards, Flower World, and Maltby Produce Market in Snohomish, WA, also operate a 700-acre farm in Belize. They bought the property about five years ago as a pre-retirement project, and have been developing the land and the business during Washington’s off-season. While on vacation, PSFN’s Emma Brewster was fortunate to catch up with John and Marijke and tour the gorgeous property. One this was for certain… we weren’t in Washington anymore….

I arrived at Freshwater Creek Farms, just outside of Hopkins Village, Belize, via motorcycle in the golden heat of the late afternoon. The mile-long driveway, flanked by citrus trees and palms, leads to the beautiful, expansive property which rolls from sea level up into the first forested foothills leading to the Belizean highlands.

They let me hop in the bed of their truck and generously toured me around the property:

The oranges grown on the property and in Belize in general are for the European market. While the oranges are green-rinded, they’re ripe, sweet, and juicy on the inside. Europeans don’t mind the green peel, but it doesn’t fly with consumers in the U.S. Because the US juice market is dominated by Florida and California oranges, Freshwater Creek’s oranges are exported to the European grocery and juice market.

Recently, the Asian citrus psyllid has taken a toll on citrus groves all over Mexico, Belize, and parts of the Southern US. Per national mandate, Marijke and John will have to rip out thousands of citrus trees on their property and start anew in an effort to control the outbreak.  While this is a huge setback for the farm, they have established one of the first certified nurseries in the country — an entirely enclosed and tightly controlled incubator for new citrus plants. Employees may only enter the nursery in the early morning hours before the psyllids are out so that they don’t introduce any of the pests to the new plants by coming and going.  Having this nursery ensures that the setback caused by pests will be as short as possible, especially compared to competitors.

While oranges are off the table for now, Freshwater also grows pineapple onsite. Fresh fruit can’t be exported from Belize to the US, so John and Marijke plan on investing in a wood-burning fruit dryer. This will help them productively use un-marketable scraps of wood from their saw mill on-site, and will enable them to create a value-added product for the U.S. market. Who knows, maybe you’ll see dried pineapple for sale at Maltby Produce Markets soon!

In the meantime, Freshwater is producing ornamental plants for the local and export market.  It’s quite and experience to recognize these plants from hotel lobbies and office buildings, then see them in both their natural habitat in the jungles of Belize, and also under cultivation on the farm in preparation for export.

Teak production is a mid-term project of the farm. These sinewy trees grow relatively quickly, shooting up twelve feet in a year! They’ll need to fill out a bit, and will be ready for export in a few years. They can be sold young, as whole trucks to be used for construction posts, or can be milled into lumber for building and furniture at a more developed state.  John and Marijke make sure the plants are strong by letting them grow to human height, then cutting the trunks down to about 12-24” and letting the trucks regrow. This strengthens the root system and channels growth into a strong trunk instead of new offshoots and leaves.

The farm, its outbuildings, and ultimately John and Marijke’s on-farm residence (still under construction) is largely hydro- and solar-powered. John demonstrated how the small hydro system operates, spinning small turbines which connect directly to overhead power lines. They’re in the process of building a larger dam and hydro pool which will generate more electricity for the farm, keeping them off the grid.

With all that’s going on at the farm, there’s serious potential for it to become a tourist destination for eco-conscious travelers. With the completion of the fruit dryer, tourists who visit the farm would have a product to take home, while fresh fruits and plants are not transportable internationally. I sure enjoyed visiting! If you ever find yourself in Belize, be sure to check it out!

For more pictures of Emma’s tour of Freshwater Creek Farms, check out our Facebook album

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