Blanchard Mountain Farm

#GSVMemberMonday Feature

Blanchard Mountain Farm is a WSDA certified organic farm just off Chuckanut Drive in the peaceful and idyllic Samish Flats of Bow, Washington. Since 2016, farmers Linda Versage and Walter Brodie have grown beautiful flowers and delicious produce for both retail and wholesale markets.

A perennial favorite destination on our Farmstand Fresh program, the farm specializes in Italian greens and produce, similar to the kinds that Linda grew up eating, thanks to her Italian grandparents.  Chicories, lettuces, brassicas, root crops, nightshades, cucumbers and squashes can be found during the growing season at the farmstand. Specialties are tomatoes, with 15 or more varieties and eggplant with 4 varieties available throughout the growing season. Linda says that some of their loyal customers travel as far as Whidbey Island, Arlington, Bellingham and Anacortes just to get their tomatoes, eggplant and basil that they are most known for. 

As stewards of the farm’s ecosystem, Linda, Walter and the team at the farm continuously improve the farm’s biodiversity by adding Pacific Northwest native hedgerows to attract pollinators and beneficial insects and use cover crops, rotations and compost to improve the soil. They have high tunnels to protect their heat loving plants and to extend the growing season. 

As you can imagine, farming is indeed a lot of work and Linda and Walter are grateful for some pretty talented team members that help them at the farm. Their 2023 seasonal Farm Assistant is Eleanor Jones. Eleanor is working 4 days/week from April 1 through the end of October and assists with all the produce production. She is also the main tomato caretaker, doing daily pruning and training of the tomatoes and harvesting. She is a quick learner and great problem solver and Linda and Walter love having her positive energy on the farm.

Jessie Homan has helped at the farm for the past 3 seasons, 1-2 days/week. Jessie is known as the “Jill of All Trades” and has helped with maintenance of the farm’s native hedgerows, landscape beds around their outbuildings, flower, herb and tomato production, assistance with harvesting and drying flowers and hauled in much of the winter squash and tomato crops in past seasons. Sadly, next week is her last week as she is moving back to her home state of Colorado to return to school. Linda and Walter will deeply miss her help and camaraderie on the farm. We at GSV wish Jessie the best of luck in her future endeavors!

Linda and Walter feel that farming is as much about community as it is about growing food so they also offer farm experiences on their 20 acres through the established Farm Stand, a one bedroom Guest House for the perfect getaway, a classroom and occasional events and educational offerings. This season they are offering monthly classes in partnership with Garden Mentors®. The next class at the farm is scheduled for August 5th. Details can be found on our website calendar.

Walter was a school nurse in public schools for over 20 years. Linda was an environmental, science and garden educator; teaching all ages. She has expertise in native plants and is also a current Master Gardener. With previous backgrounds in K-12 education, Linda and Walter say they are happy to partner with schools, after-school or summer youth groups to receive student field trips. Their expertise and passion lies in making classroom connections to the real world.

Organically grown flowers are available for pre-order in fresh bouquets in summer and as long-lasting dried bouquets to be enjoyed during the winter months. Fresh summertime offerings include Calandula, Nasturtium, Snapdragon, Lovage Buds, Gomphrena, Love in a Mist, Statice, Snapdragon, Strawflower, Sunflower, Zinnia, and Celosia. Dried flower bouquets often include Celosia, Gomphrena, Love in a Mist, Statice, Strawflower, Yarrow, and Poppy Pods. Linda lovingly creates the floral bouquets herself and is happy to take pre-orders via the farm’s website.

In addition, the farm’s unique floral and herb offerings are featured in seasonal cocktails at nearby Terramar Brewstillery.

We recently asked Linda and Walter what their favorite #SkagitGrown crop was. Here’s what Linda said:

“Walter and I both chose Radicchio as our favorite Skagit crop; especially Chioggia and Treviso! I grew up eating bitter greens and love them. To me Radicchio is my go-to vegetable when we bring some in from our field or buy it from other growers. I love that I can eat it raw, grill it or sauté it on it’s own or in combo with protein or other vegetables. Walter’s enjoyment of it has grown over time. He pushed himself to eat it because he knew bitter greens were good for him. Now he too simply loves Radicchio and noted that the stems on some can actually be sweet. Our favorite way of eating Radicchio is crisp with a simple dressing…a little olive oil and lemon juice, perhaps with some red onion and sprinkled with sunflower seeds or pine nuts and some hard cheese.”

As a founding member of the Genuine Skagit Valley program, we’re grateful for the unwavering support that Linda, Walter, and the team at Blanchard Mountain Farm have given us. We’re thrilled to feature them as this week’s #GSVMemberMonday Feature and we’re REALLY excited to try out some of that #SkagitGrown Cantaloupe later this summer. Thank you for all that you do for us, Blanchard Mountain Farm!