Spend the day vegging out, while making sure every island child gets to eat well.
The second annual Vegissimo! garden tour is from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. today in support of Whidbey Island Nourishes.
Nine small farms and vegetable gardens will be open for this self-guided tour that culminates in a party and feast at Fox Hollow Farm in Langley, owned by Shirley and Alf Collins.
Owners of each garden will be on hand during the day to talk about gardening, explain planting strategies and give advice about equipment selections.
Mary Fisher, Whidbey Island Nourishes organizer, said the tour this year has some of the best gardeners on the island.
“Anyone who seriously wants to grow and learn about veggies will want to go to all of these amazing gardens,” Fisher said.
“There is something to pick up from each person’s techniques, both successes and failures. It’s all part of any kind of gardening,” she said.
Each of the garden stops also will offer light meals, garden supplies and gifts for sale and all proceeds will benefit WIN’s programs.
The gardens on the tour include John DeWit’s in Clinton, where he has planted innovative variations on raised beds. He’ll talk about composting and special (secret) tools for growing food.
Also in Clinton is the Red Door Farm of Dyanne Sheldon, Jean Singer and Anita DeGive. These farmers will talk about making careful additions to an established farm, and increasing the range of one’s gardening skills and productivity.
Art-Isle Farm and Studio in the Maxwelton Valley in Clinton is owned by artists and garden gurus Richard Davis and Zia Gipson. This husband-and-wife team will talk about goat manure, growing mounds with solar-warmed chicken-manure tea, and rotational gardening aimed at producing vegetables as long as possible without a heated greenhouse.
Quail’s Run Farm, also in Clinton, is owned by Loren and Patty Imes. These farmers will present the ins-and-outs of sustainable gardening with a careful list of heirloom and open-pollinated vegetables. The Imeses are regular vendors at the Bayview Farmers Market and raise cattle for market.
Also on hand will be crop researcher Larry Godsey, an expert in fallow-season crops and grain growing, and beekeeper Todd Peterson. Both will spend the day at Quail’s Run Farm to discuss how their specialties fit into small-farming operations.
At Live Edge Farm in Clinton, tour goers will find farmers Rio Rayne, Alvaro Lobon-Vega and Jack Adams. Customers flock to Live Edge’s roadside sales and its Bayview Farmers Market booth, where they sell a wide variety of organic crops grown with biodynamic and biointensive methods.
Tourists can also visit the Good Cheer Food Bank garden in Bayview, manned by gardener extraordinaire Carey Peterson. An adjunct to the Good Cheer Food Bank, the 44 raised beds of this garden produce three vegetable crops per year using seven methods of composting.
Le Jardin de Deux Amis is in Langley and owned by Stephanie and Paul Neis. They’ll show off hand-built plant-training structures and systems designed for optimal solar gain.
Talking Circle Farm in Langley is run by Marti Murphy and other group members. This garden is a 20-acre co-op that has emerged as a mixture of personal projects, bolstered by joint planning and farming. Get a load of the chicken tunnel at Talking Circle.
Finally, the event’s party place is at Fox Hollow Farm in Langley, where the Collinses will tell everyone all about becoming farmers. Eight raised beds on this European-style farm produce enough vegetables to supply distinct mealtime preferences, while the chickens score the trimmings.
Not only will gardeners give tourists great tips to take home, but ticket holders will be satisfied to know that their participation means more children will have access to good food because of it.
Whidbey Island Nourishes’ main purpose is to feed healthy food to children in need on South Whidbey. In its four years of operation, the program has had great success through its all-volunteer operation that provides a sack lunch at no cost to anyone desiring a meal, especially children. More than 25 percent of the students in school from K-12 need help with consistent nourishment. WIN also provides this help on non-school days throughout the year.
Each lunch includes a meat-and-cheese or vegetarian sandwich, fresh fruit, carrot and celery sticks, yogurt, string cheese, a pasta or rice salad and sometimes a treat. All of the food is prepared with care by volunteers at the Good Cheer Food Bank kitchen in Bayview.
All of the organization’s funding comes from the members of the community in the form of financial support and in-kind donations of ingredients.
Tickets are $15 for just the tour, with no charge for children younger than 18. Tickets to both the tour and evening party are $35 and include hobnobbing with the gardeners, gourmet grazing, garden luminaries and entertainment from 5 to 7 p.m. at Fox Hollow Farm. A patron package is also available for $100.
Tickets for this celebration of backyard agriculture are available at Cultus Bay Nursery in Clinton, Bayview Farm & Garden, Catherine DeWitt Framing and Whidbey Vision Care in Freeland, Moonraker Books in Langley and online — click here.
Most of the gardens have limited parking; carpooling is recommended.
Call Trisha at 360-730-2749 for more information.
