Successful farmers to offer tips to aspiring farmers

The King County Agriculture Commission on March 8 will hold a panel discussion with local farmers who are successfully operating small farms in the region.

The King County Agriculture Commission on March 8 will hold  a panel discussion with local farmers who are successfully operating small farms in the region.

Small farms, market gardens and urban farms make a big impact on jobs, local food security and sustainability in King County, according to a county press release.

The commission meets 4-7 p.m. on March 8, at the Watershed Science Center at the Issaquah Fish Hatchery, 125 W. Sunset Way, Issaquah. The panel discussion will begin at 5:30 p.m.

“I want to show aspiring new farmers that they can get started now with intensive specialty crops in creative ways right in the city,” said panelist Nicole Capizzi of Amaranth Urban Farm in south Seattle.

Capizzi will be joined by Siri Erickson-Brown of Local Roots Farm, and Matt Tregoning of Sol to Seed Farm, who are new farmers in the Snoqualmie Valley. Each operates successful farms and sells at farmers markets and to subscribers through Community Supported Agriculture.

Joining the panel discussion will be long-time Agriculture Commissioner Michaele Blakely of Growing Things Farm. Farming since 1989, Blakely’s current operation sits on 30 acres of preserved farmland where Growing Things Farm raises poultry and livestock, along with growing a wide variety of produce.

More information about the meeting is available by calling Claire Dyckman, 206-296-1926, or claire.dyckman@kingcounty.gov.

The King County Agriculture Commission is a group of volunteer citizen agricultural experts who advise the County on policy and regulatory issues, farmland preservation and strategies to keep agriculture viable.