7th annual Harvest Celebration Farm Tour draws more than 5,000 King County residents

2005 Archived News

Farmers around King County opened up their farms and fields to host more than 5,000 county residents at the 7th Annual Harvest Celebration Farm Tour, presented by Washington State University King County Extension, Oct. 1.

Event coordinators with the King County's Harvest Celebration Farm Tour said they were pleased with this year's turnout at the 26 farms and seven historical agricultural sites.

"We were concerned about the rain, but it didn't seem to matter," said Hannah Cavendish-Palmer, event coordinator for WSU King County Extension. "We are delighted that so many King County residents were touched by our message about the importance of supporting local farms."

Each year the Harvest Celebration Farm Tour helps to support King County's farms and to educate the public about local food system by introducing residents to local farmers and their produce. The event also encourages attendees to draw the link between locally grown food and nutrition.

As the Harvest Celebration Farm Tour grows each year, exciting new facets of the event develop. This year, King County Executive Ron Sims and author Michael Ableman visited The South 47 Farm in Redmond. The Vashon Forest Stewards took the opportunity to show the public the inner workings of their cooperative wood mill, while 3 Boys Alpacas in Renton and Alpacas of Fair Meadows in Auburn held demonstrations on the many uses of composted livestock manure.

Several cooking demonstrations by renowned chefs from the Seattle area also took place, including Jerry Traunfeld of the Herbfarm Restaurant, Brian Scheehser of the Sorrento Hotel, and Scott Samuel of the Seattle Culinary Academy. These chefs demonstrated how cooking with local produce is an easy and delicious way to support local farmers.

The 7th annual King County Harvest Celebration Farm tour was presented by WSU King County Extension with support from the King County Department of Natural Resources and Parks, King County Office of Business Relations and Economic Development, PCC Natural Markets, 4Culture, Full Circle Farm and the Cascade Harvest Coalition.