Touring farm to farm

There was mud, blue sky and tractor rides; it was everything a farm festival should be. The sunshine-filled day was lit with vivid fall colors and the river was alive with spawning salmon.

The 2015 Sky Valley Farm Festival took place on Saturday, Oct. 3, on lower Fern Bluff Road near Sultan. Coordinated by Sky Valley Chamber of Commerce volunteer Elizabeth Emmons, executive director Debbie Copple and the Snohomish County Dairy Women, the Sky Valley Farm Festival was the result of collaboration between several local farms.

The farm festival gives families an inside look at where their food comes from and showcases the Sky Valley's agricultural community. Guests are invited every year to park once, and then ride from farm to farm on tractor-pulled wagons.

This year's participants were Mott's Fresh Fruit, Groeneveld's Dairy Farm, Johannsen's Farm, Rivers End Ranch and Scottish Thistle Farm, all welcoming guests and presenting information about farming.-á

Festival-goers came from all over the Puget Sound region to explore the farms.

"This truly was the best farm festival ever,GÇ¥ Emmons said. "I know we say that every year, but this year was special. The crowds were strong all day. We welcomed visitors from the Sky Valley, but the majority of our guests came from Seattle, Everett, Lake Stevens and beyond.GÇ¥

Mott's Fresh Fruit featured live cooking demonstrations by local chefs Gordon MacDonald and Mimi Stockmann, who transformed just-picked produce into hot food. Guests were able to try free samples and purchase snacks.-á -á

Groeneveld's Dairy Farm featured the popular "Moo-tel,GÇ¥ a structure that helps socialize young dairy calves by allowing them to live side-by-side in open-paneled pens. Groeneveld's typically highlights a newborn calf during the fall celebration, but this year a calf was actually born during the festival. Guests who arrived early enough were able to see a Jersey cow give birth and watch the baby cow take its first steps.

The newborn critter clumsily lurched around its mom, searching desperately for a food source. The tiny cow was alert and curious as folks gathered near its pen. Baby calves are on their feet and hungry within one hour of being born.

Johannsen's Farm featured hot food, an eating area and face-painting by Sultan High School cheerleaders raising money for Sky Valley's Relay for Life American Cancer Society fundraiser.

Scottish Thistle Farm owners Tiffany and Jody Kerr made a guest appearance at Rivers End Ranch, showing off a couple of their goats. Jody and Tiffany are restoration farmers who have been rehabilitating the property along U.S. 2 , between upper and lower Fern Bluff Road. The two are using a farming technique known as H++gelkultur to restore the land.

Rivers End Ranch owner Jerry Labish spent the day greeting guests and giving riverside tours of his property on a tractor-pulled wagon. Labish and his wife, Stacy, have lived at Rivers End Ranch since 1989 and still operate the working beef farm. He serves on the Snohomish County Agricultural Advisory Board and is president of the Snohomish County Cattlemen's Association.-á

Labish raises cattle in what is known as a cow-calf operation, which means he maintains a permanent herd of calf-birthing cows. The calves remain on the ranch for two years before being sold as locker beef, which is beef that is sold by the half or quarter. The cows are grass-fed and grain-finished, meaning they are switched to a grain diet before being butchered to improve the taste.

"They are grain-finished for the last couple months,GÇ¥ Labish said. "So I can marble the meat and make sure that they taste good.GÇ¥

Driving through the farm, Labish pointed out areas of his farm, such as the hayfield where he creates cattle feed called baleage. The process involves mowing the grass and allowing it to dry until it's about 50 percent moisturized. It's then processed into round bales and shrink-wrapped, which allows an anaerobic process to occur where oxygen is removed from the bale.

"If it's done right, it makes a fantastic feed in the winter,GÇ¥ Labish said.

Jerry and Stacy Labish enjoy supporting 4-H, and will allow their calves to be shown in local fairs by 4-H members. A 4-H participant interested in learning how to work with a calf and prepare for showing can do so at Rivers End Ranch.

As the tour approached the river, Labish gave a brief overview of the recent Lower Skykomish River Restoration Project, a large-scale project by Snohomish County in partnership with several other agencies. The goal of the project is to enhance in-stream fish habitat, restore shoreline areas and rehabilitate 370-feet of riverbank, and has been ongoing for several years.

He brought guests to a side channel of the Skykomish River that was teeming with spawning salmon.

During the tour, Labish said he loves operating a small family farm, heartily advocating for the profession. The average age of a farmer right now is more than 60 years old, he said, so it's important to get the younger generation more involved in family farms.

"Farming is a lifestyle, and if you love it, it doesn't matter if you make any money or not,GÇ¥ Labish said. "It's just a fantastic way of life and a fantastic way to raise your kids and grandkids.GÇ¥-á

In addition to riverside tours, guests at the ranch spent time horseback riding, launching apples at large targets using jumbo slingshots, learning to use a lasso and doing arts and crafts with Sultan Boys & Girls Club staff. The barn at Rivers End Ranch was built in 1925, and kids were allowed to spin and twirl on a rope-swing in the upper hayloft.

Labish's grandson, Russell Wiita, spent the day helping his grandparents welcome their guests. It was Jerry who gave the 21-one-year-old Sultan City Council candidate his first glimpse into the world of politics, during a trip to Olympia when Wiita was in the seventh grade. Wiita helped greet visitors and guided those wanting to try their hand at the new apple-launcher.

"I must have launched at least 100 apples today,GÇ¥ Wiita said.

Emmons credited the event's success to the participating farmers, who go out of their way to welcome guests every year.

"I am profoundly grateful to our participating farmers,GÇ¥ Emmons said. "They work hard prepping their property, and then are the ultimate hosts during the event. Our volunteers, demonstrators and tractor drivers give their time, cheerfully, and the result is an educational, inclusive and wholesome experience for everybody.GÇ¥

For more information about the Sky Valley Farm Festival, visit www.facebook.com/Sky-Valley-Farm-Festival-205750319439335/timeline/