Farmers put it all on display

The fourth annual Whidbey Farm Tour will be held Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 3 and 4, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

The fourth annual Whidbey Farm Tour will be held Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 3 and 4, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

It is a free, self-guided tour of 20 working farms on the island featuring locally grown food and products. There are farms with horses, sheep and other livestock and shellfish, alpacas and fiber, gardens and produce. Some of the highlights: Children’s activities at Hummingbird Farm (bats), Forget-Me-Not (corn maze), M Bar C as well as other farms; wagon tours pulled by two huge black Percherons on farm at A Knot in Thyme; u-pick pumpkins, squash, onion and sweet corn at Case Farm; candle making at Chocolate Flower Farm; alpacas, fiber spinning, weaving and felting demonstrations at Sunshine Alpaca and Island Bliss Alpaca; CSA Training Center at Greenbank Farm – certified organic mixed vegetables and herbs; “Plant a Row for the Hungry” at Hummingbird Farm and The Good Cheer Garden benefiting the Food Bank; and lots more.

Reservations for a tour of the Penn Cove Mussel operation can be made by calling WSU Extension. Visit www.WhidbeyFarmTour.com for the map and driving directions.

On Saturday night, Oct. 3, join the crowd at 6 p.m. for a Whidbey Farm Tour Dinner at Mukilteo Coffee Roasters “in the woods” on Crawford Road near Langley. Chef Jess will prepare a harvest dinner using organic Whidbey grown produce and meats. Entertainment will be provided by the Rural Characters. Tickets for this evening are $40 and should be purchased in advance at the café at Mukilteo Coffee Roasters, 360-321-5270.

Whidbey Rose, created by artist Stacey Neumiller, is this year’s farm tour image and will be auctioned at the Whidbey Farm Tour Dinner along with baskets filled with Whidbey’s finest products and local wines.

Proceeds from the auction go to benefit the 2010 farm tour. For questions, call Whidbey Island Conservation District, 678-4708, or WSU Extension, 240-5558.