More Snohomish County farms turn to tourism to stay alive

One by one, the dairies disappeared.

The cows were sold, the land was developed. And the farmers’ sons and daughters moved to the suburbs that pushed their way north from Seattle.

That was north Snohomish County two decades ago. Now, a small group of farmers are staging a resurgence, hoping to preserve farmland close to Washington’s urban core and rejuvenate the county’s love affair with agriculture.

They aren’t angling for a rebirth of the dairy industry; most come from dairy-farm backgrounds and can easily list the reasons why hundreds of farms were shuttered in the last few decades.

They just want people to come spend the day in Arlington — drive north on I-5 about 30 or 40 miles. They want them to pull off Highway 530, get out of their cars and walk down rows of green vegetables. Pick strawberries, smell lavender. Maybe pet a horse or a friendly goat named Oreo.

“We’re trying to get people from the city. So many people don’t remember Grandpa’s farm,” said Connie Foster, the proprietor of Foster’s Produce and Corn Maze in Arlington. (She and her husband are the proud owners of Oreo and two other goats.)

The Fosters, along with five other farming families in Arlington and Marysville, are marketing the “Red Rooster Route” for the first time this year, hoping to share their visitor base and draw new tourists north from King County. They provide the map and details of how the trip will play out; guests bring plenty of time and some spending money.

The route is the latest sign that Snohomish County agritourism — the now-standard term for farms open to the public — is growing up, getting organized.

Just look at what happened on the two miles of Highway 530 between I-5 and downtown Arlington. When the Fosters converted their half-century-old family dairy farm into a produce market and agritainment destination one decade ago, they were surrounded by traditional farms. Then five years ago, a u-pick vegetable garden and Garden Treasures nursery opened up down the road. And last year, the Biringer berry farm started drawing guests across the highway.

Those three farms, along with Lavender Hills in Marysville, the Bryant Blueberry Farm &Nursery and Ninety Farms (both in Arlington), form the Red Rooster Route.

They’re starting small, but in time, they want to develop the route to include other farms that are moving away from conventional farming.

“If they want to keep their farms, agritourism and agritainment is what’s happening,” Connie Foster said.

City people like it

The Biringers were in the agritourism business long before the term was coined.

Mike Biringer is a second-generation farmer, and he and his wife Dianna opened their Everett fields to the public thirty years ago.

They’ve weathered floods, freezes and market slumps, and Dianna Biringer says they can weather economic recession, too.

Last year, the Biringers opened their second farm across the street from the Fosters.

“Last year, with the gas prices, people didn’t want to drive up,” Dianna Biringer said

She has a Midwest quality about her: blond hair, blue jeans and a knack for navigating bumpy farm terrain on four wheels. Late last week, she paused while touring the berry fields to point out that the strawberry plants were moving from bloom to berry.

A few berries were starting to form, green and hard — and late, because of the cold winter. Soon, thousands of visitors will traipse through the fields with cardboard boxes.

They might pause on their way out to buy a jar of honey, but the Biringers try to limit the frills.

“We don’t get too fancy, but it seems like the city people love it,” Dianna Biringer said.

Agritourism was gaining popularity in Snohomish County for the first part of this decade, but the recession hit some farms hard, said county tourism director Amy Spain.

The tourism bureau produces a farm-trail map every spring, and fewer farms were open to the public this year than in 2008, Spain said.

“Some farms have gone out of business or closed, other farms have made the decision not to be open to the public,” she said.

Those that remain are getting more savvy to marketing, and many are developing hands-on “experiential” activities for visitors.

‘My son’s generation’

Organized agritourism has a strong precedent in the Northwest, maybe most prominently in the Hood River region near Portland, Ore., where a band of fruit farmers developed and marketed the “Fruit Loop” almost two decades ago.

Farming in Hood River was declining in 1992, when the Fruit Loop opened for its first season with just a handful of farms. Now, the tourism route has nearly 40 participants and is billed as one of Oregon’s most popular attractions.

The Red Rooster farmers are aiming for a small-scale farming revolution, similar to what happened in King County’s Snoqualmie Valley near Carnation and Monroe in the 1990s.

“We started small, with six people,” said Mike McCrorie, who owns Lavender Hills Farm with his wife Carol. “What we want to do is welcome new members if they physically grow things.”

The group has nonprofit status and is applying for tourism-related grants to help with advertising.

The idea of preserving that land for farming was what spurred Mark and Patricia Lovejoy to buy an old dairy farm in Arlington’s Island Crossing five years ago. Now, Garden Treasures’ nursery and u-pick fields are open eight or nine months out of the year, a small-scale sustainable farm that utilizes the old dairy’s barn, milk parlor, even its manure reservoir.

Mark Lovejoy grew up in Arlington on a more conventional farm and watched the dairy industry fail. Many of his childhood friends moved on to lives that don’t revolve around soil and harvest cycles — but those lives weren’t for him.

“Most of the famers’ kids starting to do different things because their parents lost their business or lost their farms in the milk industry,” he said. “I really wanted to give back, help keep this farmland around. Because it might not be so important for my generation to have this farmland, but I think my son’s generation is going to need to have this farmland here in Island Crossing.”

Dante, the Lovejoys’ 3-year-old son, has never known a home besides the farm. His favorite toys include a small shovel and hoe.

Talk to us

More in Local News

Logo for news use featuring Whidbey Island in Island County, Washington. 220118
Head-on crash on south Whidbey Island hospitalizes 3 people

Alcohol or drugs were involved, per the Washington State Patrol. Two victims are Lake Forest Park teens.

Marysville
Marysville man dies after motorcycle crash on Ingraham Boulevard

The man, 58, was heading east when he lost control in the single-vehicle crash, according to police.

Builders work on the Four Corners Apartments on Beverly Lane near Evergreen and 79th Place SE on Wednesday, March 1, 2023 in Everett, Washington. DevCo, the real estate company building the affordable housing, is receiving a $1 million grant from the city of Everett. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
As Washington rents go up, up, up, the air gets thin for tenants

Hal Zack’s rent has tripled, and he’s scared he’ll be homeless soon. How did we get here? And what is the state doing now?

People walk down through a row of trees planted in remembrance of those lost in the Oso Mudslide on Tuesday, March 22, 2022 in Oso, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Oso mudslide 9th year memorial set for Wednesday

The public is invited to attend this year’s remembrance ceremony at the site of the slide that killed 43 people in 2014.

An Everett police officer and deputies with the Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office were involved in an officer-involved shooting on Saturday, March 11, 2023, at the 800 block of 91st Pl SW in Everett. (Everett Police Department)
Officers identified in fatal shooting of Everett man

Everett police officer Blake Wintch had seven years of service, while Snohomish County Deputy Myles Bittinger had nine years.

Richard Rotter listens to witness questioning in his trial at the Snohomish County Courthouse in Everett, Washington on Monday, March 20, 2023. (Annie Barker / The Herald)
‘It is going to be grim’: Trial begins in Everett officer’s slaying

After days of jury selection, 15 people were empaneled to decide if Richard Rotter is guilty of aggravated first-degree murder.

Everett Memorial Stadium and Funko Field on Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2020 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Drive to build new AquaSox ballpark gets $7.4M boost from state

The proposed Senate capital budget contains critical seed money for the city-led project likely to get matched by the House.

Judge Bruce Weiss speaks to the attorneys during jury selection at the Snohomish County Courthouse on Tuesday, March 14, 2023 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Dozens dismissed as jury is pared in Richard Rotter trial

The process came to a halt Friday when an unidentified man told some potential jurors to give “the chair” to Dan Rocha’s alleged killer.

Left to right, Saharah Mendoza, Cielo Mendoza and Octavio Mendoza, reunite in Everett, Washington on Friday, March 17, 2023. The USS Barry arrived to its new homeport at Everett Naval Station, previously from Yokosuka, Japan. The crew is led by Commanding Officer, Cmdr. Grant Bryan. (Annie Barker / The Herald)
USS Barry sails in to new home, Naval Station Everett

Three-hundred sailors arrived Friday in Everett after the destroyer’s six-year deployment in Japan.

Most Read