Located in the northwest section of San Juan Island just up the hill from Snug Harbor, is Mitchell Bay Farm, owned and operated by Bruce & Colleen Howe-Gregory. The farm has been in continuous use since the late 1800’s when Peter Kirk, (the city of Kirkland is named after him!) a rich English industrialist who owned most of the west side of San Juan Island, hired a family to sharecrop his farmlands. A house was built in 1900 and occupied by the Botsford family that managed and farmed the surrounding farmlands for Mr. Kirk. The same house still stands today, and after modern upgrades is the headquarters for Mitchell Bay Farm. Colleen has been on the farm since 1972 when as a young college student at WWU, she took the summer off to come farm-sit. Eventually, she and her then-husband offered to buy the farm.
Colleen and Bruce raise and market two varieties of Kiwifruit, (Hayward fuzzy and Anna hardy), seven varieties of Asian pears, and several apple varieties. They manage Honeybees for pollination and honey. Cane berries, filberts and various other vegetable food crops round out their crops grown for the family food system. They also run a flock of Black face Dorper X Suffolk ewes and lambs that are grass-fed seasonally and sold to a local customer base. Their orchard is set up for rotational grazing. Colleen and Bruce are founding members of IGFC (Island Grown Farmers Cooperative) and use the co-op’s processing services for their lamb.
MBF lamb is sold direct to a customer list – many customers have been purchasing for over 25 years! (there is currently a waiting list). But you can find a limited amount of their lamb sausage available at the SJI Food Co-op and the Orcas Food Co-op in the fall. Those same co-ops are also outlets for their kiwifruit and Asian pears. They also sell at Blossom Grocery on Lopez Island, the Skagit Food Co-op, and the San Juan Islands Food Hub.
Farm management is based upon Holistic Management and organic practices. Their main soil type is Sucia Loamy Sand with Roche Rocky Outcrop on the east side of the farm that supports Garry oak habitat. Soil health is the most important aspect of their farm management, which is monitored and adjusted as needed with both farm-produced compost, but also other organic inputs for forage and crop health.
MBF is a diverse, non-certified organic operation; 21 acres in total. 12 acres are permanent pasture, 5 in mixed Madrona / Douglas fir, 2 under irrigation, a one-acre pond and 10 acres nearby, leased for forage production and haylage harvesting from other landowners. The farm was certified organic from 2003-2013 for the fruit crops but dropped the certification when WSDA raised certification rates. However nothing has changed with their organic production.
Colleen and Bruce said “Our hope is to continue to farm while our health can support the work and the rewards we find in doing the work season after season.”
