(Agrarian Cultural Resource and Education Society)
P.O. Box 337, Bothell WA 98041
Financial support from:
PCC Natural Markets Membership Community Grant
Picture yourself one day
atop Lake Washington's Northshore
amid 80 acres of pasture
at the old Magnolia Dairy...
You might notice a kid wearing a whimsical hat...
That hat might be made in an on-farm
felting class...
That felted wool might come from sheep sheared during a farmers' workshop...
That flock might be tended by an apprentice preparing for a burgeoning small farm economy...
That apprentice might now be grilling a
"slow food" burger made of healthy, grass-fed "glad cow" beef...
And everyone might be tapping their toes to live music at a barn dance during a
Magnolia Dairy ACRES seasonal festival...
***
All this is possible, but our first "row to hoe" is to buy the farm!
(Agrarian Cultural Resource and Education Society)
We are
a nonprofit coummunity-based organization founded to acquire and operate an
urban demonstration farm providing
*
An authentic working farm experience for school-age youth;
*
A vocational program preparing future farmers for ecologically-sustainable, biodynamic agriculture;
*
A cultural resource promoting heritage and agrarian values for community members
of all ages.
***
When we speak of agrarian values, we look not only back to our rural heritage, but even more we look forward to building a renewed set of values recognized by urban folk as necessary for a sustainable future.
"Agrarian Culture for Urban Folk"
Coming soon to a city near you:
a Farm!
Magnolia Dairy is an 80-acre farm situated between Bothell and Kenmore in the Westhill neighborhood at NE 180th and 88th NE.
The Gualtieri family began their dairy on Seattle's Magnolia Bluff back in 1907. As the city expanded, they eventually moved to the current location in 1939. Neighbors came regularly for dairy products until 1986, when the herd was sold to the Federal dairy-buyout program and the development rights were sold to King County. Thankfully, the farm has been preserved for agricultural use since 1986 under covenant of the King County Farmland Preservation Program.
The opportunity now to acquire this uniquely-situated property as a community-based urban demonstration farm could be lost, if the farm is sold to private interests. But the idea of a community farm in such an urban setting is igniting people's imaginations!
In addition to the previous purchase of development rights, King County has now appropriated a further $500,000 toward our acquisition of the Magnolia Dairy!
With your help, we can raise the rest!
Please pitch in!
Donate! Volunteer! Spread the word!
Magnolia Dairy would be ideal for a city-friendly, aesthetically-beautiful, grass-based dairy demonstration project like AFT's Cove Mountain Farm (grassfarmer.com). We want the public to see farmers as land stewards. Biodynamic agriculture, strong in Europe for decades now, is arguably the crown-jewel of the eco-farming movement.
We imagine our tractors serviced in local high school auto shop. Sustainable agriculture students from local colleges would enhance their horticultural programs with humane animal husbandry courses. Farmers' would gather for workshops. We would house apprentices and give urban Wannabe Farmers a chance to get their hands in the earth.
We want school kids to relate first-hand to farming as a real and viable endeavor on an active working farm. They would come for curriculum-based programs throughout the school year, as well as after school and summers. Work with animals holds a special attraction and value for youth.
We envision regular seasonal festivals with music and dancing. We would offer heritage workshops and agrarian cultural activities for community participation by all ages. We want to manage an open space that opens hearts!
07/14/01
"People better wake up. City people have no idea what's going on down on the farm."
These words of an Indiana farmer close a recent news story about the plight of rural America. One analyst has already declared "The End of Agriculture in the American Portfolio." As fewer of our relatives now farm, we may be loosing all awareness of the loss of the Family Farm, of the loss not only of a way of making a living, but even of this way of living itself.
But when you think of agriculture, don't think only of the Midwest. Surrounding our urban areas closer to home, there is a vital sector of our farm economy driven by growing consumer desire for food safety and security and by concern for ecologically-sustainable farming practices. Some of our most fertile and economically-productive farmland is found just where metropolitan areas tend to arise.
Yet urban sprawl is eroding these critical farmlands and driving land prices out of reach for those who want to farm them. The King County Farmland Preservation Program has already saved 12,800 acres from loss to urban development.
With the efforts of many farm interest groups and agencies, there has been a resurgence in the small farm economy in our area, especially for organic produce.
The Magnolia Dairy ACRES project gives city people an opportunity to "wake up." We can go a long way, here close to home, toward efforts to bring about not only healthy food and healthy land and wildlife, but more livable communities, rural and urban, as well!
Farmers Markets are appearing in more and more neighborhoods. A new way of linking consumers with their farmers has seen steady growth as people join together in direct economic relationship with Community-Supported Agriculture.
Now the next step is "Agriculture-Supported Community!"
Starting when they're young, children need to see that their work can feed others. Young adults can learn valuable "life skills" even if they never do become farming entrepreneurs. And if city folk learn to honor the farmers who grow their food, we'll someday have a sustainable farm economy. We could create what could become a nationally-recognized beacon for a renewal of the sustaining cultural values of agrarian life for city folk!
Show your support. Become a member. Help make this uniquely-situated farm a working community resource.
Magnolia Dairy ACRES - 