Farming nature’s way

Open Gate Farm, located on Russell Road on Camano, offers naturally grown local produce. Recently certified by FMNP, they now accept certain food coupons. PHOTO BY JEREMIAH O “Dear Friends,” begin the newsletters from Open Gate Farm, and the people who go there know that sentiment is genuine. The idyllic Camano Island setting is steeped in nature’s friendliness.

So are Jon Edwards and his wife, Elaine, who found the property 10 years ago. Looking for “that place,” the easy-going couple spent six months visiting “every town from Blaine to Battleground,” Edwards said.

“The deal was, she had to approve the house, I had to approve the dirt,” he added, looking over the top of his glasses.

On Dec. 31, 1999, the last day of the millennium, the Edwards walked onto two acres on Russell Road.

House, check. Dirt, check.

One acre of the property is wooded, but the other has been dedicated to produce and poultry. Patiently and with a tender hand, Edwards cultivates the earth in an effort to bring forth a bounty for the small roadside stand where locals have been finding fresh fruits, vegetables and eggs for six years.

Not merely fresh, either: The Edwards’ small farm is certified naturally grown.

“It’s organic, without government intervention,” he joked.

All jests aside, only 800 farms across the U.S. are certified naturally grown, and the organization’s requirements are strict.

“Every year I have to inspect someone else’s farm, and every year two other farmers inspect mine,” Edwards said. “It’s very aggressive.”

“Food safety is a major concern,” he added. “It’s critical to how we handle things around here.”

The two major food-born illnesses, E. coli and salmonella, can be killed by temperature or time, Edwards explained.

The bacteria, which can be present in manure, will die after three days at temperatures above 131 degrees, or after 90 days outside the digestive tract.

“We do both,” Edwards said. Edwards gets his manure from Dettling Dairy, in Stanwood, and stores it in a huge box. During the composting process, when the manure turns to soil, it sustains temperatures of more than 150 degrees for several days. After four or five months, Edwards has “beautiful soil,” which he then uses for planting.

“There has never been a reported case of food-born illness coming from produce grown on a small farm,” he said. “The best chance of keeping your family safe is to eat local food.”

Recently, the Edwards’ small farm got a giant boost in its ability to help people feed their families fresh, healthy and local produce. Now certified by Washington State Department of Health’s Farmer’s Market Nutrition Program (FMNP), the Open Gate Farm can accept WIC (Women Infant Children) and Senior FMNP coupons at the stand.

Edwards, who was a medical social worker long ago, said young families and people with low or fixed incomes often have a hard time getting healthy food, which can be expensive. The two programs, though, qualify these people for $20-$40 worth of coupons per month, to be used at certified farmers markets. The goal is ensuring access to healthy, local food.

The county’s public health department can set families up with WIC coupons, Edwards said, and staff at the senior center can help folks qualify for Senior FMNP coupons.

Edwards said the certification has really opened the door to educate and interact with people from the community.

“We get to talk with people about how to fix healthy food for their families,” Edwards said. “It’s a tremendous opportunity — one of the really exciting, life-changing things we get to help people with.”

When people buy the Edwards’ produce, they’re buying more than fresh food, though. Often, they’re buying a piece of the Edwards’ history.

“We have lots of heirloom plants,” Edwards said, referring to plants whose genealogy can be traced to a “parent” plant.

He pointed to a row of peonies.

“Grandpa Mac started those in Michigan, in 1943,” he said. “Got some of Grandpa Mac’s rhubarb, too.”

Grandpa MacIntyre, it turns out, in addition to being responsible for the peonies and rhubarb, took a vital role in staining Edwards’ hands and heart with the land. Farming was a family affair, and Edwards learned at the side of a master whose presence still trembles in his grandson’s foliage.

“The grapes are granddaughters of Grandpa Mac’s,” he said, nodding in the vines’ direction. “I got the cuttings from my mom, whose cuttings were from grandpa’s.”

The “pie plant,” sweeterthan normal rhubarb, came from Edwards’ dad. It was started from seed in Iowa.

And so it goes, on down the garden rows. The canasta was grown from seeds brought home from Italy, and is one of the 15 varieties of lettuce the Edwards grow.

“Lettuce is really our signature crop,” Edwards said, bending to inspect several heads.

The leaves range from lustrous green to soft red to vibrant purple, their delicate vitality springing from rich, dark soil. One variety, from France, translates as “the marvel of the four seasons,” or simply “four seasons,” Edwards explained.

Slugs and snails, which would munch lettuce every chance they got, are kept in check, not with pesticides, but by the 20 chickens and nine ducks, each with a name, that roam the property.

The chickens and ducks in turn lay eggs, some of which are sold at the stand. Edwards smiled a bit guiltily about this, though.

“We eat most the chicken eggs ourselves,” he said.

A small nursery of perennials, annuals and edible plants splashes colors around the property, and a few fruitbearing trees — peaches, apples, and red and black currants — round out the small farm. A colony of bees takes care of the pollination and keeps things moving as nature intended.

Edwards said he seeks knowledge from the natural world, a practice that’s becoming known as permaculture, short for permanent agriculture.

Basically, Edwards explained, perma-culture is the practice of borrowing farming techniques from the rhythms of nature, letting things grow as they ought, leaning on the ancient underlying order that keeps the world spinning on its axis, seasons changing, the moon cycling and flowers blooming.

“Look at these trees,” Edwards said, pointing to conifers towering over the uncleared portion of his land. “No one waters them and the aquifer is 200 feet under the ground, yet they grow 100 feet tall.”

In Edwards’ mind, learning from nature’s amazing ability to conserve water would be incredibly beneficial to farmers, and to mankind.

When Edwards starts pointing out the obvious, one can’t help but realize humanity still has a lot to learn. Maybe it starts with the lowly plants, and dirty hands.

Open Gate Farm is part of Harvest Jubilee, and will be open for tours during the festival on Sept. 25. The farm and produce stand are located at 269 Russell Road, open Thursday through Saturday, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., and most holidays. For more information, visit www.theopengatefarm. com or call 387-4449.