The other day, I was driving through our valley and noticing the diversity of crops and farms. Our valley in the lower Stillaguamish hasn’t changed much since the 40s. We are, relatively, newcomers to this section of the river, having arrived in 2003, which is longer than any other place we have lived. When we found this farm, we were super excited and got to work restoring an 1892 built farmhouse and building our legacy of farming.
Surrounded by several generations of farmers, we moved into the “old Martin place” and started the process of learning how to farm this ground. We knew the ground had potential, we studied the soil maps and talked to farmers who had farmed it and gleaned stories about when to work it and when not to, and most importantly how it floods!
The reason we were able to buy this farm is because the Stillaguamish River frequently overruns its usual meandering path and covers the whole valley. Oh my, what a shock to actually experience the power of the Stillaguamish River. But it is the Stillaguamish River’s propensity to flood that has actually preserved farmland or else I wouldn’t be writing this newsletter.
But isn’t this the crux of the issue, we have a farm because the river demands us to share the land, otherwise it would look like a city! It is more though—our farmland is a community resource. No farmland means no food and no food means no people. We, as community, have a personal and collective interest in preserving our farmland. More than food is produced on our farmland. There are other creatures that have their homes and lifestyles preserved because of the river and the farmland. I believe we need to switch from chemical farming and GMO farming to organic type farming. It will be better for our health and the health of our world.
From the beginning of civilization, farms and cities have coexisted in proximity and community. The Klesick Family Farm and you represent the future of farming and the future of good nutrient-rich food for future generations. Organic farmers and organic consumers are providing sanity to a system that is bankrupt, where farmers act more like miners robbing our soils of the nutrients we need to live.
Your weekly support of home delivery service impacts the future. Essentially, consumers of organic food today are preserving the healthy farmland for tomorrow (with the help of the Stillaguamish River, of course).
And maybe, just maybe someone will look at my farm in a 100 years from now and pick up the soil and look at its tilth and smell its life and want to farm the “old Klesick place” and continue to feed their neighbors nutrient-rich food.
My goal is to raise nutrient-rich food and one day leave this farm more fertile and more friendly to all those who call this place home.
Farming “the Old Martin Place” with an eye towards the future,
