Library to host Whidbey farming history program

Visit the Oak Harbor Library from 4-5 p.m. on Sept. 18.

By Allyson Ballard • September 12, 2025 1:30 am
Photo courtesy of ICHS 2023.045.001. Pictured here is a threshing scene from 1890 at the Izett Farm, which once stood on the land where Naval Air Station Whidbey is currently located.
Photo courtesy of ICHS 2023.045.001. Pictured here is a threshing scene from 1890 at the Izett Farm, which once stood on the land where Naval Air Station Whidbey is currently located.

Make hay while the sun shines learning about Whidbey’s farming history from the best.

Visit the Oak Harbor Library from 4-5 p.m. on Sept. 18 to learn about the island’s agricultural roots with the latest installment of the Whidbey Wonders program, “History of Farming on Whidbey,” as part of Eat Local Month.

Dalva Church, executive director of the Island County Historical Museum, is looking forward to imparting wisdom on the topic at the event.

“This is my second year speaking for the Whidbey Wonders Series, and it’s so exciting to experience the deep interest that people have in local history,” she said in an email.

As explained by a press release, farming is the “backbone” of Whidbey Island, and Church plans to discuss what life was like for early farmers, farming’s evolution and Coast Salish farming practices.

Discussing the latter is particularly of interest for Church.

“I always love talking about the agricultural practices of the Coast Salish peoples who lived here,” Church said. “Many people think that the Lower Skagit and Snohomish people who lived here for thousands of years just practiced hunting and gathering, but they were very intentional about their practices in caring for the land.”

Continuing to educate on Whidbey’s agricultural history is especially important because, as Church explained, it undeniably shaped life on the island today.

“Agriculture still is a huge part of the community life, the economy and the landscape of Whidbey,” she added. “Most people don’t know this, but Whidbey set some crop records for the entire U.S.A. in the early 1900s and is a major supplier of cabbage seed to the world.”