Today I have interviewed one of the local farmers, Julie, of the Red Barn Organic Farm in the Enumclaw area. I was curious to find out how a person got their beginnings in the Farmers' Market venture and what about it kept calling them back every year.
Julie told me that while living in the Auburn area about 11 years ago, and commuting to her bookkeeper job in Seattle, she had a backyard garden which she really enjoyed tending in the evenings and on the weekends. During her workweek she would sometimes go down to the Pike Place Market to shop, and started chatting more and more with the vendors during her visits. One day she asked one of the merchants if he ever purchased from other farmers; and when he told her yes, he did, her adventure began. Her backyard garden grew to be a quarter acre, and each week she was selling two or so cases of greens, such as kale and chard, to the vendor at the market. She kept that up for about three or four years and then started working from home as a bookkeeper and no longer had to spend her time commuting every day.
This also meant she had more time for her garden, or, by then, her small farm, which had by that time increased in size to an acre; and rather than selling her produce to someone else, she started selling her vegetables herself at Farmers' Markets. She and her husband moved to the Enumclaw area about four years ago and she now has three to four acres planted in about 60 different types of vegetables. Julie does most all the farm labor herself, with some summer help from local teens. She says she "just loves growing veggies and all the flavors they can produce that we have forgotten about"; and you can hear the joy in her voice when she speaks of her farm. She likes the personal interaction she has with her customers at the markets, and so limits herself to the number she participates in rather than hiring others to take her produce to market for her. She's the one who has tilled the fields and planted the seeds, looked after her crops as they have grown and then harvested them at just the right time. She's the one who can answer your questions with all the knowledge of the product from start to finish. That is something you just can't find at the grocery store.
The Red Barn Organic Farm is just that, a certified organic farm that meets all the criteria set forth for certification by the Washington State Department of Agriculture. You can find Julie and her abundant variety of produce at the Puyallup Farmers' Market on Saturdays and the Ballard Farmers' Market on Sundays starting in May.
Julie told me that while living in the Auburn area about 11 years ago, and commuting to her bookkeeper job in Seattle, she had a backyard garden which she really enjoyed tending in the evenings and on the weekends. During her workweek she would sometimes go down to the Pike Place Market to shop, and started chatting more and more with the vendors during her visits. One day she asked one of the merchants if he ever purchased from other farmers; and when he told her yes, he did, her adventure began. Her backyard garden grew to be a quarter acre, and each week she was selling two or so cases of greens, such as kale and chard, to the vendor at the market. She kept that up for about three or four years and then started working from home as a bookkeeper and no longer had to spend her time commuting every day.
This also meant she had more time for her garden, or, by then, her small farm, which had by that time increased in size to an acre; and rather than selling her produce to someone else, she started selling her vegetables herself at Farmers' Markets. She and her husband moved to the Enumclaw area about four years ago and she now has three to four acres planted in about 60 different types of vegetables. Julie does most all the farm labor herself, with some summer help from local teens. She says she "just loves growing veggies and all the flavors they can produce that we have forgotten about"; and you can hear the joy in her voice when she speaks of her farm. She likes the personal interaction she has with her customers at the markets, and so limits herself to the number she participates in rather than hiring others to take her produce to market for her. She's the one who has tilled the fields and planted the seeds, looked after her crops as they have grown and then harvested them at just the right time. She's the one who can answer your questions with all the knowledge of the product from start to finish. That is something you just can't find at the grocery store.
The Red Barn Organic Farm is just that, a certified organic farm that meets all the criteria set forth for certification by the Washington State Department of Agriculture. You can find Julie and her abundant variety of produce at the Puyallup Farmers' Market on Saturdays and the Ballard Farmers' Market on Sundays starting in May.
One reader asked if Julie sold produce directly from her farm. The answer is no, she prefers to sell only at the markets as she is so busy taking care of the farm at other times and can't take away from that.
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