Back in the Silurian epoch, when I was growing up, it seemed like every kid had an uncle or an aunt or a cousin who lived on a farm. We would visit them in the summers and thereby learn some of the facts of life, like the fact that food doesn’t originate, fully packaged, in grocery stores.
The family farm has been in sharp decline for several decades now and a lot of children are missing out on a rather important part of their education: where food comes from. That lack, along with a desire to directly market their products, has led some farmers to explore a relatively new concept called agritourism. Several Whatcom County farms are pioneering this new territory.
Brian Holmquist’s great great grandfather homesteaded a farm situated right on the Canadian border west of Sumas. For much of its history, the 150 acre spread was a dairy farm. A grove of hazelnut trees was planted 76 years ago and that turned out to be the crop of the future. There have been three more plantings since then, in 1970, 1980 and 1991.
“The original orchard was just part of a commercial operation that included dairy and strawberries,” Holmquist said. “Ninety five percent of the US crop of hazelnuts is grown in Oregon and the rest in this state. We’re the only commercial orchard in Whatcom County.”
Many hazelnut growers do it as a hobby.
“Fewer than one percent do all the things that we do – harvest, shell, process, package and market,” Holmquist said. “That makes us a lot more self reliant. Lots of guys are going out of business, but our sales are increasing every year.”
As much as 80 percent of the US crop gets exported to Europe.
“We’re doing well enough we don’t have to export yet,” Holmquist said. “US growers have to belong to the Hazelnut Marketing Board, one of several groups around the world.”
Holmquist Hazelnut Orchards is evenly split between wholesale and retail.
“We’re pretty much at our capacity as far as retail is concerned,” Holmquist said. “There’s still room to expand wholesale into grocery stores, restaurants and specialty shops. Some use our nuts as ingredients or as part of gift baskets. We’re in a lot of catalogues.”
It all starts with the planting of a two to three year old sapling.
“Some varieties mature in seven years, some take as long as fifteen,” Holmquist. “For example, our 1991 planting is still not mature. It takes about 20 years to get maximum production out of some trees.”
Holmquist grows specialty hazelnuts, aimed at higher end markets where the nuts are eaten on their own, not as just flavorings.
“The main variety we grow is called DuChilly,” Holmquist said. “That variety is why we’re in business. We grow nine varieties and market three, all of which have different shapes and flavors.”
Holmquist once conducted a blind taste test involving generic hazelnuts and the DuChilly. All but one or two of 75 people involved judged the DuChilly to be better tasting.
“End users for the DuChilly nuts are usually specialty shops,” he said. “Even our generic nuts are of better quality than most. That’s the kind you’ll get in most grocery stores. We’re one of the very few places you can get DuChillys. That gives us marketing uniqueness. Most growers don’t have the ability to market.”
There are some serious hazards to nut farming.
“Our number one challenge is the eastern filbert blight,” Holmquist said. “It can kill trees in five years if left untreated. We’re fighting it and it has run a lot of Oregon growers out of business. There’s no known cure for the fungus. All we can do is control it with pruning and fungicide.”
Growing and processing is costly and challenging.
“We’re really salespeople doing farming as a hobby,” Holmquist said. “There’s about 90 days intense effort in the orchards, four to five months in processing, but sales is year round.”
After harvesting, the nuts are washed and cleaned. Then they are dried to prevent formation of mold. There is then a sizing process after which the nuts are resorted and cleaned again. Stage one ends with marketable nuts in the shell.
Stage two is the shelling plant where the nuts are sized, sorted and cleaned yet again before heading to market.
Specialty products are then created in the farm kitchen, which is stage three.
“We gain a little by doing our own processing, shelling and kitchen work,” Holmquist said. “You have to have all three to make the business work. We couldn’t make it just on growing.”
Shelf life of the nuts depends on the variety and type of processing.
“Some processors vacuum pack,” Holmquist said. “We use humidity controlled refrigeration, which we feel is the best. Shelled raw nuts have a shelf life up to one and a half years. DuChillys will keep two years under refrigeration.”
The kitchen produces 20 different products.
“Our specialty is hazelnut oil and flour,” Holmquist said. “We do nuts roasted, salted, candy coated, chocolate covered, any way you can think of. Our best seller, though, is the unflavored dry roasted. That’s because of the quality of the nut.”
Brian’s father and brother are partners with him in the business, which is starting to work the tourism angle.
“We have tour busses come in by appointment,” Holmquist said. “It’s a nice way to work because we know when they’re coming and can work our schedules around it. We give them a tour of the orchards while Dad entertains them with storytelling.”
The Holmquist farm is open to tours from May through September.
“Those bus tours bring people from all over the country,” Holmquist said. “They go home and do a lot of word of mouth advertising for us. We’re not exactly on the main route and have no dedicated hours for the gift shop. We’re still debating how to handle that. It may have more value than we’re placing on it.”
Holmquist sees a lot of repeat customers from as far away as Seattle.
“Some of our regulars are like family,” he said. “We’re a friendly bunch and like direct sales. A lot of people want to support family farms. They’ll pay a little extra to support us directly and we appreciate that.”
He sees some potential in joint marketing.
“We belong to the Convention and Visitors Bureau and are on a local list of farms open for tours,” Holmquist said. “It’s not too organized at this point, but if group marketing can help us or our industry, we’re on board. We want to be here 100 years from now. That’s why you’ll see something from our farm all over Washington and the US.”
Part of the education process involves showing what’s behind the image.
“People see us as a prosperous farm family,” Holmquist said. “They don’t see the enormous overhead and long hours. Many of our employees make more than the partners do and they’re always paid first. A lot of the profits go back into the business. We’re busting butt to support our families.”
Employment at Holmquist Hazelnut Orchards swings from a low of two in the winter to as many as eighteen in the summer. It averages out to about six people year round.
“This is a crappy job market,” Holmquist said. “We wish we could do it all ourselves. It’s almost impossible to get employees who will do farm work. The worst part is the paperwork. There must be 50 government employees for every farmer. If you have employees, farming takes a backseat to paperwork.”
Holmquist doesn’t spend a lot on advertising.
“Our product speaks for itself,” he said. “We’ve had stories in the New York and Los Angeles newspapers.”
There’s not a lot of competition.
“If we had to start over, it wouldn’t be hazelnuts,” Holmquist said. “Almost all of the equipment is very specialized. We had to adapt machines designed for potatoes or raspberries and basically rebuild them from scratch. John Deere doesn’t make hazelnut equipment.”
One of the places Holmquist hazelnuts end up is at Samson Estates Winery on Van Dyk Road west of Everson. Yes, they make what has to be the world’s only hazelnut wine, a dessert beverage called Oro.
Rob Dhaliwal and his father farm 200 acres of raspberries and 30 acres of blueberries. Brother Dhar helps with the farming and sister Niki works in the tasting room.
“A lot of our fruit is contracted,” Rob Dhaliwal said. “It’s a volatile market and we wanted to take a different approach. Our specialty, obviously, is berry wines and we actually use less than half the crop.”
Right after graduating with a degree in horticulture from Washington State University, Dhaliwal started researching the winery business. He apprenticed himself to a maker of fruit wines from British Columbia.
“I’m head winemaker now, but I still consult with him occasionally,” he said.
In addition to Niki, the winery employs a couple part time workers. The farm hires 50 to 60 people during harvest and keeps four to five on year round.
“June 8 will be our second anniversary and sales are increasing steadily,” Dhaliwal said. “Tasting room traffic is up. We’re working with other groups, hotels, the CVB.”
Raspberry wine is their bestseller.
“Tourists like local products,” Dhaliwal said.
Making berry wines is different from making grape wines.
“Grapes you can only harvest once a year when they have the right sugar and acid content,” Dhaliwal said. “Berries don’t produce as much sugar, so we have to add some to meet our fermentation target of 11 percent alcohol. Dessert wines are fortified to 16 to 18 percent using neutral grape spirits.”
Wineries, naturally enough, were the first to encourage what is now called agritourism.
“There’s a certain type of crowd that wineries attract and we’re doing more to appeal to them,” Dhaliwal said. “We’re holding three concerts this summer and are planning on some grape stomps to get people out to the farm. Eventually, we will create a park like setting that will lend itself to weddings and picnics.”
More people than you might think come to the winery because they grew up on farms and want to recapture that feeling.
“We take it for granted,” Dhaliwal said. “But if we go away for a few weeks, we find ourselves missing the peace and quiet of the countryside.”
He agrees that education is an important function.
“People really want to know, to see where food comes from,” Dhaliwal said. “If you get into large scale farming with machinery, your liability increases tremendously. Agritourism is more of a family farm niche. It’s our first step into the value added marketplace. If you’re starting a business, increase your budget by 20 percent.”
They are adding more products as they go, including some highly addictive infused dried red raspberries and truffles by Chocolate Necessities. Thoroughly committed to buying locally, the winery uses Marionberries from McPhail’s and the shop stocks cheeses from Appel Farms.
Samson Estates has won several awards even though it is a relatively new winery.
“Some wines have won multiple awards,” Dhaliwal said. “It all depends on the judges’ taste. When we win at several competitions, it’s a good feeling.”
In addition to berry wines (Raspberry, Black Currant and Blackberry), Samson Estates imports grapes from Eastern Washington to produce Merlot, Cabernet, Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc and Riesling. Dessert wines include Cassis (Black Currant), Framboise (Raspberry), Marion berry and the aforementioned hazelnut.
Two farms located just a mile apart on Northwest Drive are already exploring joint efforts to attract tourists to their area. Boxx Berry Farm is widely known for its U-pick opportunities and for supplying local grocery stores in season. Like many of the growers in the area, they moved here from Missouri.
“We used to grow commercial raspberries and strawberries and ship them to the cannery,” said Roger Boxx. “There were quite a few growers at the time and the prices were like a roller coaster. We moved into selling off the farm so we’d have some money at the end of the day.”
Charlene Boxx is matriarch of the family.
“We started out with just a shed by the road, but most of our berries were still going to the cannery,” she said. “There wasn’t much profit in it. We had to choose to grow into a large farm with berries picked by machine or get into the fresh market. We chose to stay small. If you don’t have a market for your product, you’d better not plant.”
The farm northeast of Ferndale consists of 90 acres distributed among two brothers and one sister. They also rent 23 more acres.
“I work the farm and my brother is our computer person,” Roger said. “We’ll only have one or two employees during the winter, but there will be 20 pickers and 20 other staff during high season. We used to hire mostly kids during the summer, but ended up doing a lot of babysitting. Now we hire mostly migrant workers. They’re all business. With a perishable product, you have to have dedicated people.”
For about three months, everyone works seven days a week.
“Crops won’t wait,” Roger said. “The migrants are hard workers, but it would be easier if I could speak Spanish. I try to hire someone who can interpret.”
High school and college students work in the shop.
“Kids are kids and we expect a lot,” Roger said. “Some are good, some are amazed at what they don’t know. The work ethic also comes into play. Kids don’t have as much time anymore. They’re doing sports and camps in the summer. Most of our kids are good ones. At least they are willing to have a job. A lot of our kids went on to success in business.”
If the kids don’t do well at one task, there are lots of others where they might do better.
“We give them a whirl and don’t have to let too many go,” Roger said. “We try to let them know what it’s all about. Temporaries are difficult. It would be easier if we could keep them year round. There’s a new group every year and you have to start all over again.”
Boxx doesn’t do too much marketing outside the area.
“We had a Web site, but couldn’t keep up with it,” Roger said. “We have a unique situation. When we put out the sign, we sell all our berries the first day. Word of mouth gets around and we’re busy. Lots of people who are new to the area don’t understand the difference in our berries and those from California. We do a lot of educating.”
There’s something about the ripening of strawberries that signals the beginning of summer.
“We love to entertain families,” Charlene said. “There’s a picnic area. We offer wagon rides and a tour of the farm. There’s a big park in the back. We get tour buses once in a while, many from retirement homes.”
They have sold berries in stores from here to Seattle, but have cut back from 20 stores to the four local Haggens.
“We’re more farm focused that store focused,” Roger said. “We like Haggen because they buy lots of our product and are loyal. But we don’t always have enough berries to fill the grocery store demand.”
Boxx Berry Farm also grows corn and flowers for Haggen.
“We grow a lot of pickling cucumbers, garlic, onions and carrots for Joe’s Garden,” Boxx said. “The Westons are regular customers.”
Charlene Boxx talks about her family’s approach.
“Not many farmers can sell like we do,” she said. “There may not be much room in the market for a lot. If you’re not born into it, you couldn’t get started. It would overwhelm you. My husband is retired and still works eight or nine hours a day. I think people are going in the direction of agritourism. A group called Farm Friends puts out a map showing where visitors are welcome on farms.”
They’re doing some joint advertising with Appel Dairy Farm just up the road.
“Together, we can draw more people out this way, since we’re just a mile apart,” Roger said. “People can come pick berries, then go get some cheese at Appel.
When you leave the parking lot at Boxx Berry Farms, signs point the way to the nearby dairy farm. Jack Appel came from Holland in his early 20s having learned how to make Gouda cheese in the old country. He imported cheese making equipment from his native land and began making Gouda for family and friends.
A German man asked him to make a cheese called Quark. Appel agreed, invested in equipment and imported the starter culture for Quark 22 years ago. That really got things rolling. Today, Jack’s son John and his brother Rich run the operation.
“Quark was our first major commercial product,” John said. “We were the first in the US to make it commercially. About that time, my brother and I, along with our wives, started taking over. First we bought the cows, then the machinery, and finally the cheese manufacturing facility.”
The brothers started producing an East Indian cheese called Paneer.
“The East Indians use it as a meat substitute,” Appel said. “It’s utilized much like tofu, only it’s a dairy product. Once again, someone approached us and asked us to make a specialty product.”
With agritourism in mind, the family imported larger equipment three and a half years ago and opened the retail shop.
“Before we had the retail shop, we would sell cheese out of the plant on the honor system,” Appel said. “You have to crawl before you can run.”
They welcome tour groups, from pre-school to seniors.
“That’s a great form of advertising for us,” Appel said. “It’s important to get kids out on the farm. They just don’t have that connection today to know how food is produced.”
The family is putting on a Summer Cheese Fest June 18 and 19. It will include a hay maze, a petting zoo, wagon rides, giveaways, drawings, games, a scavenger hunt, and lots of free cheese samples.
Of course, there are always free samples at the retail shop. They can keep regular hours at the shop because opening the door to the retail shop sets off a buzzer in the plant, bringing someone to wait on the customer.
“Boxx Berry Farm draws a lot of people out this way,” Appel said. “We appreciate working with them. The more people we can get to come out the street, the better. They put up signs in their parking lot and have our samples in their store.”
While they make Dutch style cheeses, they don’t limit themselves to that market.
“We have some flavored Gouda, like jalapeño, that’s not very Dutch,” Appel said. “We also make cheddar and are starting a new line of feta made from cows’ milk.”
Appel Farms spreads across 100 acres and they rent 70 more. The dairy herd now numbers 250. Rich runs the dairy and John runs the cheese operation.
“We hire out most of the field work,” Appel said. “There are three full time employees on the dairy side. The cheese operation has four full time and three part time employees. We have no problem getting good people through our church and community connections. These aren’t high wage jobs, but they’re better than average. We keep our employees by giving them flexibility and a good working environment.”
The fact that it’s a year round business doesn’t hurt. Appel agrees with other farmers that finding a market is a bigger challenge than making a quality product.
“We’re looking for more balance between wholesale and retail,” he said. “We are doing three farmers markets in the Seattle area and one in Bellingham. It’s not hugely profitable, but it helps get the word out. We’re now in 500 grocery stores in five states. Quark is distributed nationally and Paneer goes mostly to Seattle.”
Taste in cheese varies a lot, so Appel Farms offers sharp and mild varieties.
“Try as much as you like,” Appel said. “Those sample trays sell our cheese.”
Geographically speaking, Taylor Shellfish Farm isn’t in Whatcom County. Try telling that to manager Irene Fadden on a sunny weekend when half the county turns out for a cruise down Chuckanut Drive and picks up some oysters along the way.
The Taylor family, now in its fourth generation of shell fishers, is headquartered in Shelton and has been farming the Sound since 1890. The first Pacific oyster seed came to Samish Bay in 1921, imported from Japan. Small and tasty Olympias are the only oysters native to the Sound.
The Samish Bay farm was originally owned by the Steele family, who built the oyster scow Clara Ann in 1944. She’s still harvesting oysters today.
“Pollution in the Sound killed off a lot of native shellfish over the years,” Fadden said. “The imported Pacific oyster is now the most common species on the West Coast. In addition to Pacifics, Japanese Kumamotos and the East Coast Virginicas do well here. Ian Steele wrote a definitive book called The Imperial Oyster, founded the Pacific Coast Shellfish Growers Association and was instrumental increasing awareness of water quality.”
An unofficial motto of area shellfish growers is “Everybody lives upstream from us.” Rapidly increasing population in the Puget Sound area is putting pressure on their ability to keep water clean enough for shellfish.
“Oysters from this farm used to go out on the interurban train that ran right next door,” Fadden said. “Now, most are trucked to the Taylor processing facility in Shelton before being shipped nationally and internationally. We also serve lots of local markets and restaurants.”
The Taylor operations include a hatchery on Hood Canal and one in Kona, Hawaii, in addition to half a dozen farms around the Sound.
“We’re the largest producer of manila clams and one of the largest oyster producers in the world,” Fadden said. “We’ve just started a black pearl farm in Fiji and you can buy jewelry made from them at our retail shop.”
Taylor also retails and wholesales mussels, scallops, Dungeness crab, shrimp and geoducks.
“Pacific oysters take on different flavors depending on the location where they are raised,” Fadden said. “Usually they are named for the bay in which they are farmed.”
Shellfish raised in Samish Bay are so prized by restaurants that some come to buy twice a week. Taylor Shellfish Farms doesn’t deliver.
“It’s really a beautiful spot and a different kind of farming,” Fadden said. “Our location on Chuckanut gives us an advantage for tourism.”
The farm hosts two major events per year.
“The Festival of Family Farms involves 16 operations in Skagit County and is held first week in October,” Fadden said. “Last year, we started the annual Samish Bay Bivalve Bash, which will happen on July 31 this year. In addition to wonderful food, there is a 250 yard Low Tide Mud Run, a shell castle contest, games, contests, prizes and live eelgrass music. It’s a benefit for community clean water awareness programs.”
Both festivals drew well over 500 people last year. Fadden estimates that the farm hosts at least 12,000 people in a year.
“People come from all over Washington, Idaho, British Columbia,” she said. “One of our advantages is that we can ship overnight to their front door.”
Taylor Shellfish Farm belongs to the Chuckanut Drive Merchants Association, which also does some joint marketing.
“It’s fun to work together and promote each other,” Fadden said.
The farm conducts an annual sale of seed that attracts waterfront property owners from far and wide.
“A lot of our commercial product goes to China, Hong Kong, Spain and Italy,” Fadden said. “China and Japan pay $12 a pound for our geoduck.”
Taylor targets much of its retail advertising to tourist magazines that will be out in the summer months.
“We love having senior tours and school kids,” Fadden said. “It’s important to educate them about water quality issues and how to make a difference.”
Fadden emphasizes the importance of shellfish growers.
“We are good stewards of the environment,” she said. “One oyster can filter 60 gallons of water a day. That promotes clean water. Help us keep it that way.”
Agritourism may be in its infancy, but farmers in this area are rapidly warming to the idea. It’s one more factor that may help save an endangered species: the family farm.