Harvest Celebrations are a time to honor, celebrate and share in the bounty of local agriculture. Throughout the months of September and October, local agricultural groups throughout Washington work with farmers and other community members to host a wide variety of fun and educational events.

The primary goals behind these yearly events are to encourage people to reconnect to the land and the seasons, and to understand the benefits of having local farms and of eating locally grown food. As farmer/writer Wendell Barry says, "healthy community includes an acquaintance and connection between urban and rural people and the loyalty of people in cities and towns to locally-grown food."

The events are also a time for people to experience some of the fun that can be had down on the farm. Activities include farm tours, harvest markets, educational displays, chef demonstrations, corn and hay mazes, pumpkin patches, hay rides, food, music and lots of fun.

In 2009, over 100 farms, ranches, shellfish farms, farmers markets, and food and farm businesses in 12 Western Washington counties welcomed visitors for tours, food, music and fun. Approximately 29,000 visitors participated in last year's events. Attendance at this regional extravaganza has grown steadily since it started in 1999, when 9,000 visitors took part.

This September and October, make a special effort to visit local farmers near you. Find out what is truly good about local food and farms, and the benefits of having these resources in our communities. There is no better place to learn about local agriculture than at the farm.

Special thanks to Washington State University's Small Farms Team for all their hard work in making Harvest Celebration Day a great success each year!

For information on local Harvest Celebration events near you contact:

Cascade Foothills Farmland Association
Marcia Green
Telephone: 509-548-6784

Clallam County
WSU Clallam County Extension
Telephone: 360-417-2279

Friends of the Fields
Telephone: 360-681-8636

100-Mile Harvest Dinner
Friends of the Fields will celebrate its 11th Anniversary and the Harvest Season with its signature event, the 100-Mile Harvest Dinner on September 26th. Enjoy a delicious gourmet meal prepared by local chefs to celebrate preservation of the beautiful and productive 60-acre Finn Hill Farm! This fabulous dinner features ingredients raised on local farms, foraged from the foothills, wild-caught in the ocean, baked by local bakers and enjoyed by our community. The evening includes live music and a Silent Auction. The festivities begin at 5:30 p.m. at the Sunland Country Club in Sequim. Tickets can be purchased on-line at www.friendsofthefields.org

Harvest Celebration & Farm Tours
Join friends and family October 2nd, 10am - 4pm, for the 14th Annual Clallam County Harvest Celebration and Farm Tour. $10 per carload gets you into all the farms on the tour where you will enjoy many activities, exhibits, displays, farm animals and tours of beautiful local farms. Afterwards, come on down to Nash's for a community potluck at 6pm and foot-stompin' barn dance at 7:30pm. Proceeds benefitting Friends of the Fields in their efforts to preserve local farmland and support sustainable, local farming.

Clark County
WSU Clark County Extension
Doug Stienbarger
Telephone: 360-397-6060

The 12th Annual Harvest Farm Tour will be held September 18th, 10am - 3pm.  Celebrate the diversity and bounty of Clark County farms and learn more about the important contributions local farms make to our communities, economies and the environment.

Farms on the tour: Compass Rose Alpaca Farm, Northwest Organic Farm, Creative Outlet Farm, Half Moon Farm, Scented Acres, Storytree Farm, Bi-Zi Farms, Kunze Farms, Livingston Mountain Alpacas and Linda's Dahlias.

This fun, free event includes tours, educational classes, fermentation and pickling demonstrations, food, music and so much more!

Grays Harbor County
WSU Grays Harbor County Extension
Don Tapio
Telephone: 360-482-2934

Hop on the bus and join the fun on Saturday, September 25th, for the 11th Annual Grays Harbor County Harvest Celebration.  This year's tour showcases unique specialty forest product, cranberry, shellfish and livestock operations. Buses run at 8am, 9am and 1pm.  Sorry, no private cars. 

Farms on the tour: Cottonwood Ranch, Thompson's Cranberry Farm, Specialty Forest Products, the fish hatchery at Humptulips and Lytle Sea Foods. 

Cost $5/person or $10 per family.  Reservations required.  For more information or to register, visit www.graysharbor.org or email angela@graysharbor.org.

Island County
Whidbey Island Farm Tour
Whidbey Island Conservation District
Telephone: 360-678-4708
WSU Island County Extension
Telephone: 360-240-5558

Jefferson County
WSU Jefferson County Extension
Katherine Baril
Telephone: 360-379-5610

The 8th Annual WSU Farm Tour 'A Celebration of Local Food!' will be held September 19th from 10am to 6pm. Visit 18 local farms to see and taste the best of Jefferson County.

Farms on the tour: Collinwood Farm, Finnriver Farm, Myserty Bay Farm, Elk Meadow Nursery, Old Tarboo Farm, Jacob's Fleece, Red Dog Farm, Serendipity Farm, Whiskey Hill Farm, Compass Rose Farm, Taylored Fibers, Ananda Hills Farm, Bishop Dairy, Short's Family Farm, Sunfield Farm, Wild Harvest Farm and Creamery, Wildfire Cidery and Valley View Farm.

Port Townsend Farmers Market Harvest Dinner
The 5th Annual Harvest Dinner, the culinary event of the season, will be held October 3rd from 4-7pm at the NW Maritime Center. You will be treated to music, wine and hors d'eurves on the deck and patio before heading upstairs for the entrees and a short presentation on local food and farming.  Dessert and ciders cap off the evening back on the patio.  Tickets are $65 for returning members and $95 for new members.  For more information call 360-379-9098.

King County
WSU King County Extension
Telephone:

The fun doesn't end on this year's Harvest Celebration Farm Tour. Join family and friends September 26th, 10am - 4:30pm, as you travel, tour and taste your way around 27 of the county's most vibrant farms. From Duvall to Auburn, Vashon to Enumclaw, you will meet local farmers, see for yourself where and how local food is grown, and learn about the many ways local farms enhance our environment, economy and communities. $10 donation requested.

Farms on the tour:

Kitsap County
Trust for Working Landscapes
Madeline Reeves

Come to the Johnson Farm on Bainbridge Island to celebrate the 9th Annual Harvest Fair, September 27th, 11am - 6pm.

Farmers from local Kitsap County Farms including Butler Greens Farm, Laughing Crow Farm, and Johnson Farm will be represented at the event. Bring your own apples and learn to make Apple Cider! Meet our local farmers, see a demonstration garden, talk with local master gardeners and chefs using seasonal, locally grown ingredients, watch Walter Gallager in his famous sheep shearing demonstration! Come snuggle with the 4-H Petting Zoo! Sample Bainbridge Island and Perennial Vineyards wines and Hales Ales. What a relaxing way to support the cause…..Take a Tractor or Horse Drawn Wagon Ride! Ride the Hay Land-Slide, young'ins only please….Enter the Biggest Zucchini Contest with $100 prize (enter by 3pm….). Pie contest, New- Three Grand Prize Categories: sweet, savory, best overall youth !! Many other awards given (enter by 1pm….) Or simply take in Seven Hours of sumptuous local music, sitting on a hay bale…

There will be a shuttle to and from the Johnson Farm from the Bainbridge Ferry Terminal beginning at 11 AM with a last drop off time of 6 PM back at the ferry for the 6:20 ferry to Seattle.

Kitsap Community Food Co-op
Cynthia Mora
360-509-2119

2nd Annual Fall Fair, Rodstol Lane Farm, October 3rd, 10am - 3pm
Enjoy live music, pony rides, cider press demonstrations, pumpkin carving, kids activities, vendors, animals and more fun for the whole family! Cost: $5 per car with proceeds benefiting the Kitsap Community Food Co-op.

Mason County
WSU Mason County Extension
Kirsten Workman
Telephone: 360-427-9436

Okanogan County
Partnership for a Sustainable Methow
Dana Visalli
Telephone: 509-997-1050

2009 Community Harvest Dinner, October 17

The Annual Community Harvest Dinner will be held at the Winthrop Barn. Fun begins at 5:30pm with a no host social hour followed at 6:30 pm with a buffet-style dinner catered by Cameron Green and provided by local farmers. Tickets: $10 adult and $5 children available at the Mazama Store, Almquist Pottery, North Cascades Gear Heads, Methow Cycle and Sport, Confluence Gallery, Blue Star Coffee Roasters, Daily Buisness - Twist, and the Carlton Store.

Pierce County
WSU Pierce County Extension
Carrie Sikorski
Telephone: 253-798-3276

Pierce County celebrates the harvest October 3rd with the 11th Annual HarvestFEST Farm Tour from 10am - 4pm. This self-guided tour will deepen your appreciation for the diversity of local farms in Pierce County.

The tour includes 18 farms from Longbranch at the outermost tip of the Key Peninsula, to the town of Roy, where the Wilcox Farm is celebrating their 100th year of commercial egg production. HarvestFest visitors will get a taste of farm operations and lifestyles that represent the diversity of farms in the south sound - from the foothills of Mount Rainier to the vicinity of Tacoma. Some of the highlights of this year's tour include: Nisqually tribal dancers performing at the Wilcox Farm at noon, several vineyards, two with wineries offering tastings, the northwest's official Giant Pumpkin Weigh-Off at the Scholz Farm in Orting, and Tahoma Farms operating at Orting Valley Farms, a 100 year-old dairy transitioning into organic farming under a conservation easement overseen by PCC Farmland Trust.

Farms are also offering sheep herding demonstrations, draft horse demonstrations, cheese tasting, cob building, a pumpkin sling-shot, u-pick pumpkins, fall nursery plants, and farm tours led by owners. HarvestFest is a unique opportunity to meet today's farmers, learn about sustainable farming and how our food is grown, pick up your fall pumpkins and explore the rural backroads. The HarvestFest tour guide is being distributed in many locations, and can also be downloaded from the web site above.

After a full day of picking pumpkins, scavenger hunt, apple cider and homemade tamales, don't miss the BBQ Dinner and Barn Dance at Tahoma Farms. Featuring burgers from Thundering Hooves and Tahoma Farms' own certified organic veggies. Dance to live music from the Sidrailers and Blackberry Bushes! Tickets $25 at Brown Paper Tickets or $30 day of. Music starts at 4pm, dinner at 5pm.

Farms on the tour: Terry's Berries, Spooner Farms, Scholz Farm, Mother Earth Farm, Tahoma Farms, L'Arche Farm and Gardens, Bea's Flowers, Calico Cat Farm, Morgan Creek Farm, Gentle Giant Meadows Ranch, Barefoot Boys Farm, Cape E Heritage Farm, Trillium Creek Winery, Creviston Valley Farms, Kaukiki Farm, Lacamas Community Center, Wilcox Family Farms, Stringtown Lavender Farm, and Mountain Meadow Lavender Farm.

Seattle Tilth
Liza Burke
Telephone: 206-633-0451 ext 103

Join in the fun September 12th from 10am - 5pm behind the Good Shepherd Center in Wallingford. This year's theme - Celebrate Local Food - will bring you together with others interested in sustainability, food and gardening, families, neighbors and fun seekers.

Enjoy gardening classes, chickens, goats and bees, compost demonstrations, Seattle's original organic farmers market, plants and sustainable goods, workshops, community orgnaizations, delicious food, live music and more fun than you can stand!

Skagit County
Skagit Valley Farm Tour
Telephone: 360-421-4729

11th Annual Skagit Valley Festival of Farms, October 3rd and 4th, 10am-4pm. 13 farms to visit, delicious farm-fresh treats, lots of kids' activities, and much more! Feeling adventurous? Join the Skagit Valley Farm Pedal October 4th, 10am-2pm LaConner Flats. Choose to ride 18 or 35 miles.

Farms on the tour: Taylor Shellfish Farm, Golden Glen Creamery, Sakuma Brothers Farm and Market Stand, Sakuma Brothers Processing Plant, Double O Ranch, Martiny Suffolks, Hedlin Family Farm, LaConner Flats, Gorden Skagit Farms, Cascadian Farm, Alpaca Partners, Hemlock Highlands Ranch, Eagel Haven Winery/Perkins Valley Orchard.

Snohomish County
Snohomish Festival of Pumpkins

The month of October is the time to hit the fields in Snohomish County! Litterally. This year's festivities kick off October 3rd witht the infamous 'pumpkin hurl' - Medieval trebuchets throwing 8 pound pumpkins over 1,866 feet. The month is filled with all sorts of special events, family days, pumpkin patches, corn mazes and more. Halloween showcases haunted fields of screams.

Participating farms: Bob's Corn and Pumpkin Patch, Carleton Farm, Craven Farm, Stocker Farms and Festival Field, and The Farm at Swans Trail.

Sky Valley Fall Farm Festival
Roxanne Hussman
Telephone: 360-793-1996

Farming Yesterday and Today
Connie Foster

Harvest Jubilee
Stacy Johnson
Telephone: 360-629-0562

Family fun for all ages September 19th from 8am-10am. Discover the agricultural richness of the northwest corner of Snohomish County and Camano Island where you can visit 24 family farms, the people friendly, the food fantastic, and where you'll find an abundance of activities for all ages. Be sure to pick up a passport for kids to win a prize. Enjoy exhibits, demonstrations, animals, hayrids, produce, pumpkins, music and more!

Farms on the tour: Christianson Farm Stand, Collinswood Farm, Freshly Doug Vegetables, Genesis Alpacas, Jordan Nursery, Keeping it Green Nursery, Kissin' Coussens Alpaca Farm, Klesick Family Farm, Mossyback Farms, Open Gate Farm, Orchard's Nursery, Out-on-a-Limb Orchards/Camano Island Lavendar Farm, People Helping Horses, Pioneer Farms, Quiet Ligth Candles, Silvana Crossing, Simple Produce, Soggy Bottom Plants & Gifts, Sunrise Holly Farm, Timeless Florals, Utopia Alpacas, Wild Rose Hollow Alpacas, Wild Song Nursery, and William's Pioneer Pumpkin Patch.

Burlington Harvest Festival & Pumpkin Pitch

Join in the fun September 26th, 11am - 3pm, at Skagit River Park in Burlington. Here's your chance to see pumpkins fly through the air at distances of over 1000 feet. Started in 2001, this festival has the distinction of being the first "pumpkin hurling" event on the West coast. For kids, their very own "Fun Zone" with zucchini car races, face and pumpkin painting and games with prizes and goodies.

Stevens County
WSU Stevens County Extension
Terry Swagerty
Telephone: 509-684-2588

Wahkiakum County
WSU Wahkiakum County Extension
Carrie Kennedy
Telephone: 360-795-3278

Whatcom County
Whatcom Farm Friends
Cheryl DeHaan
Telephone: 360-354-1337

Lynden FFA Corn Maze
Telephone: 360-354-4401

September 4th - September 27th.
Fridays, 6pm - 10pm
Saturdays, 2pm - 10pm
Sundays, 2pm - 6pm
Flashlight maze after dusk on Friday and Saturday nights.

Sustainable Connections
Amber Dawn Hallet
Telephone: 360-647-7093 ext 103

Whatcom County Farm Tour 2009, September 12th, 10am - 6pm

It's harvest season and Whatcom farms are exploding with abundance. What better way to experience the bounty of our precious farmland than to spend a day tasting local flavors, wandering fields and orchards, practicing your cider pressing skills, and hearing the stories of the hardworking folks who put food on our tables? Featuring 10 fun, fascinating and delicious stops! Choose your favorite few or be ambitious and hit them all. Explore Whatcom County through this FREE, family-friendly self-guided Farm Tour!

Farms on the tour: Bellingham Farmers Market, Boxx Berry Farms, Silver Springs Creamery, Bellewood Acres, Cloud Mountain Farm, Edelweiss Dairy w/Organic Valley, Heritage Lane Farms, Grace Harbor Farms, Common Threads Farm and Joe's Garden.