The Wednesday Market is downtown Kirkland at the beautiful marina park.  The location is fantastic and while we had a few days of rain and some slow sales, we are very pleased to be there. 

This is our first year at the farmer’s market and we have found the experience to be fantastic.  The farmer’s in our network have been giving us positive feedback and we are developing a steady clientele.  We have high hopes for this market season. 

We are currently featuring 6 farmers at the Okanogan Harvest stand:  Bluebird Grain Farms, Heart of the Highlands, Oberg Brother’s Beef, Pine Stump Farms, Sutton Farm, and Walking Water Ranch.

We will be featuring each farmer in the ‘meet the farmer’ page of this blog.  We will be adding more as the season progresses to please check back in to meet those new farmers.  Remember you may reach each farmer to put in special orders at any time then have your product delivered to you at the Kirkland or Renton (starting in June) farmer’s market’s for your convenient pick up.

We’ll see you at the market.

Washington state has a vibrant and booming agricultural community.  These farmers are working hard to provide high quality and healthy food for the consumers.  There are several ways for farm products to get to the consumer. 

1. The farmer sells the good on the commodities market – ie, sales yards, conglomerates, contract processors etc. 
2. The farmer sells direct to the consumer – ie, farmer’s market, Internet, CSA etc.
3. The farmer sells to a wholesale business - ie, restaurant, grocery store, distributor or broker
4. The farmer joins a co-op or a non-profit broker/distributor

Let’s explore these:

Commodities market:  Here the farmer will most likely sell all the produce he grows.  The price is usually relatively low and the farmer in not in control of the selling price nor does he always know the price before he takes his good to the sale yard.  Transportation cost and logistics is almost always carried by the farmer.  It is not in the farmer’s best interest to put a lot of time or money into his product – it often will not raise the value of his goods.  Number 1 problem – not enough money for the farmer

Direct to customer: Here the farmer takes a big risk.  He will have to make lots of little sales to sell out of all his produce.  The price is usually relatively high and the farmer is in control of the selling price so can adjust to the demands of the market.  The farmer is required to transport the goods to the market or consumer – often at great expense and time.  It is in the farmer’s best interest to invest time and money into his product since he will often see a return on his investment.  Number 1 problem – time and expense getting to the market

Wholesaler: Here the farmer has a lower risk than direct to consumer – he will make several big contracts rather than many small sales.  The farmer can negotiate an agreeable wholesale market value – though it is often considerably less than the price he would get selling direct to the consumer.  Transportation is typically covered by the wholesaler or the cost is shared between the wholesaler and the farmer.  The farmer saves time and expense in not having to deliver his good or carry the overhead of large trucks.  Market adjustments are slow as the communication lines between farmer and consumer are unreliable.  Farmer is less likely to invest extra time and effort into his product unless the investment is somehow made evident by the wholesaler.  Number 1 problem – lack of communication between the farmer and the consumer

Co-operatives: In a large co-op the farmer will likely be able to sell all of his produce but will have little say in regards to the running of the co-op.  In a small co-op the farmer may not sell all of his produce but will have a greater say in regards to the running of the co-op.  Often the price is determined by the co-op with a mutual agreement from the farmer members.  Transportation is covered by the co-op, though often member farmers share the cost equally.  The farmer saves time in sharing the transportation and marketing.  Market adjustments are laborious and require member agreement.  Communication lines depend on the individual co-ops and how they are set up.  Number 1 problem – laborious decision making and market adjustments – growth is difficult.

How to deal with all this and find the best route for farmers to sell their goods in today’s economy and still be able to make a sustainable living for their families.  Often farmers are among the hungriest people, many are on food stamps and other social programs.  If we want Washington to maintain it’s farming community there has to be some changes is the way we look at this problem.  Combine the best of all the marketing options and attempt to eliminate the worst problems.  We need to step back from our traditional way of looking at farms and re-invent ourselves if we are to survive.

The Chef’s Collaborative Regional Food Infrastructure Project in the Summer of 2008 did a great job of analyzing to problem and looking for some meaningful solutions.

Okanogan Harvest was created to address some of these issues.  We want to help farmers be more profitable and increase the viability of farming as a sustainable business.  Towards that goal we have created the concept of a farmer re-sale network.  Due to the elaborate agriculture regulatory system it was more feasible for Okanogan Harvest to function as a Wholesale/Distributor business model.  All of the farmers we spoke to were quite adverse to the co-op model.  We really like the idea of a true cooperative, however we know that in the business world it is often impossible for a large number of people to all agree on the same things.  As a co-op we would be limited in the number of farms we could work with and how we could work with them.  As a new and dynamic business we chose not to travel that road.

As a re-sale network we are more flexible and able to make quick adjustments and changes without the need of a meeting or a board decision.  All the farmers in our network agree to the founding principles of Okanogan Harvest: to get high quality and healthy farm products to the customer at a reasonable and sustainable price.  Towards this end, the main goal of Okanogan Harvest is to achieve a point of saturation for each farmer.  Find that magic number, that would allow the farmer to make a living without striping the land and satisfy a certain group of customers.  Once that has been achieved for a particular farmer, then we are no longer sell their products.  We simply become their delivery service. 

Until that day comes – come support our farmer network and visit us at the Kirkland Wednesday Market

coming to Renton in June

April 18th – Agriculture & Recycling

• 10-11:00 am Master Gardeners – Presentation on Native Plants
• 11-12:00 noon Soil Analysis – Information on Soil Deficiencies, Testing and Composting
• 12-1:00 pm Lunch Break – A light lunch will be available
• 1-1:30 pm Okanogan Producers Co-op – Finding and Buying Our Food Locally
• 1:30- 2:15 pm PermaCulture – Information and Reference Library Resource Availability
• 2:15-2:14 pm Rails to Trails – Program Information for Okanogan County
• 3-5:00 pm Recycling in Okanogan County – Speakers on Recycling Center Start Up.  Join the conversation and network to help form a recycling center in north Okanogan County.  The Story of Stuff, a 20 minute film + Question and Answer session.

April 19th – Eco Housing Tour

• 10:00 am Eco Housing Tour – Meet at the Community Cultural Center and bring a sack lunch.  Come enjoy this tour representing sustainable home living, recycled efficiency, passive solar, sod roofing, straw bale construction, etc.

Saturday, April 18 – Bring your e-waste to recycle – tvs, computers, monitors, laptops…

We’ll see you there.

Joe is brain storming some ways to better the fuel efficiency.  The next step is all the registration and insurance work, though that’s too boring to mention here in any detail.  Joe will work on purchasing and setting up a refrigeration/freezer unit and power supply.  He has some ideas that will use very little power.  He would have to write about that as it is all greek to me.  I’ve been working on creating a company logo and I finally came up with a draft that met with approval. 

With this new rig, we will be able to start delivering products for our distribution clients right away.  The truck will also be used to tranport all the farmer’s market goods and stand once market season opens. 

From our farming practices to our storage facilities to our delivery vehicles, we will make efforts to keep our dependency on gas and electricity from the grid to a minimum.  Now this sounds like a religion more than a business statement – I know.  However, if we utilize the energy that we can produce, we keep our overhead costs down.  If we don’t have to rely on gas we keep our delivery costs down. 

These practices would not be feasible but for the many skills and talents we have at our disposal.  Our community is full of people who live off the grid and have been doing so for many years.  We have tapped into that knowledge and we believe that this business model will not only be good for our community’s ecology but will also be profitable.  As we move forward with these goals I will attempt to keep everyone informed.

The age old tale of the farmer carting goods into the city.  Ok, now we all know that the cart and horse won’t work so what is the modern day solution.  Do we really want all those farmers traveling the roads and belching out gas fumes?  The distribution companies are unable to develop a relationship with the customer.  Co-ops are great, but so often they leave the littlest farmers behind or require to much of them.

Okanogan Harvest has been struggling with developing a route for goods to reach the urban consumers and satisfy the requirements and standards of the UDSA and other governing bodies. 

Development of such systems are imperative for the future of the local foods market.  If there is an existing model or advice out there in the vastness of this virtual world, we would be eternally grateful.  We are working to save the viability of the small family farm.  Lets keep these hard working people on the farms and support them in their efforts to feed us.

I was recently invited to join a group of women to pick Saskatoon Berries.  When I first moved out to the valley I was struck by a wild bush with a sweet flower that reminded me of a small Magnolia.  I have heard the name several times and always failed to remember it.  I now have a lovely memory that has embedded the name in my head.  It is locally called a Service Berry or June Berry, a more common name in Canada and among Chefs is the Saskatoon.

I was to meet the ladies at a lake in an area of the mountains that I was not familiar with.  I arrived late as I got lost several times.  The fact that there are two lakes with the same name in the area didn’t help me much.  My boys and I arrived in time for lunch.  With the older girls watching the children swim and fish in the lake, the women were free to resume picking.  I was way behind as they had already been picking before I got there, however I am sure I would still have ended up with the least amount of berries as they were so much faster than my inexpert hands.

I was taken back to a simpler time when women routinely gathered together in work parties to put up food for the winter.  We stood around the trees laughing and joking, talking about how we would all be considered too skinny if we were really fighting for food as people did hundreds of years ago.  I was excited to be included in plans to go berry picking again.  Such  knowledge is being lost and I am thrilled to learn all I can.  Then with bulging buckets and sweaty necks we all jumped in the lake for a cooling reprieve.  A magical day ending with the children asking when we can go again.

In the city it is too distant a thought to depend on the jarred food that a family manages to put up to avoid starvation.  However, it is not impossible to be snowed in for extended periods of time here in the mountains and those fruits and vegetables solve a lot of problems.  Thankfully it would be a rare occasion for such a thing to happen here on our farm.  It is the thought of the 20 mile trip to the grocery store and ever higher gas and food prices that drives me to store up all the fruits and vegetables that I can manage.

Ok, now I’ve got all these berries that I have never eaten before.  Now what do I do with them.  I searched the Internet for ideas and found a wonderful website chalk full of ideas… www.albertafruit.com  I was thrilled with the find and can’t wait to try some recipes.  Send me your ideas and check back to see what I come up with.

The first meeting resulted in an agreement regarding the name of the group, a few actionable items that we wished to focus on as well as a commitment to work to develop the group and strive towards a sustainable alliance.

The first two issues the group has chosen to tackle are safe walking paths to schools and fresh fruits and vegetables in the schools.  Several of the towns in our communities have already addressed these issues, however we would like see this accomplished in all the communities of Northern Okanogan County.

Contact me for more information on this group, if you would like to join or if you wish to support our efforts.

Today I received a notice of the continuation of the ‘Green Okanogan’ series. 

Starting with a youth art club focusing on connecting with others, learning about how arts can educate, unite communities, and share important messages such as compassion and ecology with others.  – First meeting will be Friday, June 20, 2008 at 5:00pm at the Community Cultural Center (CCC) downtown Tonasket, WA.

Followed by an evening of discussion to educate and organize toward action.  Friday, June 20, 2008 at 7:30pm at the CCC.

A follow up of the Green Architecture tour with a Farm Walk at Twin Tail Farm open house.  Garden Walks, Solar Greenhouse, Solar Energy, Water Conservation, Forest Stewardship, Wildlife Habitat, Fire Safety.  Bring your camera, notebook and hiking boots.  Saturday, June 21, 2008 at 10:00am to 4:00pm.  Information available at the CCC.

A free ‘Altered Art’ workshop rounds out the June events.  A hands-on recycling creativity day.  Bring small everyday objects and containers from your home and office.  Saturday, June 28, 2008 at 10:00am to 3:00 pm at the CCC.

A recycling evening discussion is planned for July, 2008- information available at the CCC.