Molly and Eric are on the road!

A collection of observation, experience, and creativity based on or inspired by the trip we've embarked on. Seeking out and utilizing time with conversant individuals and relevant organizations we hope to turn our attention toward realistic attempts at bridging the gap between city & farm.

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Where are those city & farm bloggers now?


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12 September 2011

Seattle and its Environs

From BC we made our way to Seattle to catch up with some old friends.  On the way we stopped at a two farms in the Mt. Vernon area.  A good ole Gun Lake friend hooked us up with New Earth Farm where Nick and Victoria showed us around and told us a little bit about the farm.  They are growing organic produce for local sale, providing advocacy and support for marginalized families, and promoting sustainable, organic agriculture and healthy lifestyles.  They partner with the Mt. Vernon Christian School to lease land where their farming operation takes place.


We also made a stop at Ralph's Greenhouse where Tim showed us around the farm.  This was a very different experience for us.  Ralph's is a commercial farm growing 12 crops on 250 acres.  They have up to 60 people working for them during the busy season and have a very efficient system.  For all our Colorado friends - if you buy organic leeks at Whole Foods they probably came from this farm!  They are also one of the biggest leek growers for Annie's Organic Foods.  Tim gave us a great tour and while we failed a few of his quizes - never seen a recently cut potato field - we did guess right on the leek flower.  It was really neat to see a larger scale organic farm in action.  Also didn't hurt that it was in a beautiful setting.


We made our way to Seattle where Eric and Carrie were nice enough to put us up in their lovely Queen Anne apartment.  Two days later and their place was loaded up and headed to Portland in a U-Haul.  In the time between it was great to catch up with Eric and finally meet Carrie.  They seem to be living the good life and have several really good spots within a close bike ride from their place.  Close bike rides are something that Eric scoffs at.  He decided to take a 50 mile ride across the greater Seattle area to catch up with his old college buddy Joe.  (From Queen Anne, around the north side of Lake Washington, over to Joe's office in Redmond, through Bellevue down to Mercer Island for dinner with Joe and Erin and their boys, back into the city, through Capitol Hill, and back "home", surprisingly with no saddle soreness.)


For more pics click HERE
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1 comment:

  1. EmilySeptember 15, 2011 at 7:43 AM

    Hey Molly! I dig reading your blog. Ralph's Greenhouse is the farm where I worked for a summer in 1999...the owner, Ray DeVries, is an old friend of my dad's and we grew up knowing him well while we lived in MV as kids. Anyway, crazy you were there. Love reading about your travels and living vicariously ;)

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