Agritourism and the Kitsap Farm Tour
Did you know Kitsap is home to a group of farmers who are working together to promote Agritourism? The Kitsap Agritourism Coalition (KAC), hosted by a fantastic member of the WSU Extension small farms program, meets monthly to talk about ways to connect Kitsap residents with their local farms. There are farmers from across the county, Kingston to Bainbridge to Ollala and Port Orchard. They are all small farms that grow food or flowers or animals and each one has a component that brings the public to the farm. Once a month, at the end of a long workday, we meet at one of the farms. We potluck the dinner and spend a few hours sharing experiences, discussing the protection of farmland and how to engage the community in the fun and importance of these small farms. It’s an incredible grassroots group. And this summer we put together an awesome event.
On the 2nd Sunday in August, KAC held the First Annual Kitsap Farm Tour. Eight farms across the county were open to the public. We were excited and nervous as we planned the event. Few of us had even been to a farm tour but we knew we wanted to show our Kitsap neighbors what we had going on next door. So we got a team together and made it happen. Eight farms chose to participate this year so we posted to social media, hung fliers around town, asked for volunteers and planned our activities. And people showed up!
At Farm Kitchen we saw more than 300 people come through. The day was hot and still, people of all ages came out. We had family friendly activities including carrot harvesting and hunting for gnomes in the shady cedar grove. We had seven volunteers out in the fields to show people around and share what we do here. We loved showing visitors our flower fields, ag field and our wedding and event venue. We had Chris with his Wokcraft ramen out front and folks bought lunch and ate under the pavilion. Chase, who grows flowers at Farm Kitchen for her business, Beverly Blooms, had the cutest Build a Bouquet stand. I was mostly at the welcome booth, and got to hear how much fun people had at all the farms they visited. I have to say, the goats at Smithshyre were the big winner. And despite the sun and the long day, it seems everyone was really engaged and excited to see the love that goes into these small farms. And that is definitely what it was all about.