South Whidbey Tilth

Among people everywhere there is increasing concern about the quality and safety of our food as well as concern about harm to the environment from ill-conceived agricultural activity. Tilth's mission is to promote environmentally sound and sustainable agriculture. We are devoted to learning about and promoting ways in which to raise food, ornamentals, other farm crops and farm animals without damage to the environment.

In The News ...

In response to our Spring Fund Raising letter, Nancy Nordhoff has presented us with the gift of a matching challenge donation of $15,000 to pay off South Whidbey Tilth’s mortgage. What a great challenge this is for a great goal — a chance for South Whidbey Tilth to own its land outright. We are launching our campaign to raise $15,000 in the next year. It will be fun, and it can be done.

The symbol for our matching fundraising campaign is a tomato; here is why. In the 1930s there were several tomato cultivars sold under the name “Mortgage Lifter,” as they were so prolific that they helped several small farmers pay off the mortgage on their land. Let us all work together on our “Mortgage Lifter” fundraiser so that we can gather in the ultimate harvest–true ownership of the South Whidbey Tilth land. Email the fundraising committee for more details or select to donate now.

Market hours are back to 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. every Sunday. We'll be open through October 11. If air quality is above 200 the market may be cancelled. Look for an update on Facebook. Look for the signs on SR 525 and Thompson Road (2812 Thompson Road, Langley 98260). We will be following all safety protocols, such as the following:

a cap of 50 shoppers in the market area at once;
6’ physical distancing;
information table at the entrance with extra face cverings, general information, SNAP processing and FMNP tokens;
a checkout cashier under the blue canopy to handle cash, checks or credit card payments; find fair trade Café Mam coffee beans in bulk for sale too;
a "No Touch" policy – point and the vendor will pass you your items,
you may bring your own shopping bags but please don’t rest it on any surface

concessions may be consumed at designated tables or get food to-go ,
please wear a mask when you come and limit the number of shoppers per household,
the children’s play areas are closed at this time.

Arts and crafts are back. Check out Trippy Whidbey's tie-dye wares, Badeah's cards and jewelry, Susan's unique flower frogs and more, Kirstin's herbal soaps and, from Whidbey Wax Works, beeswax candles.

Organic produce abounds from the Community Produce booth, Maha Farm, Blackberry Moon and Silva Family Farms. New flower vendor, Lone Creek Farm, will dazzle your senses. Old School Market (OSM) Farm is back with fresh mushrooms and greens. Gardeners with extra produce may sell through the Community Produce booth. Contact coordinator FRed.

OSM Eats serves hot foods as takeout or to eat on site including organic pizzas, curry and rice, sweet goods and more. Get Leah's fresh sour dough bread too. Delicious Old Crow Pie is back. Welcome to Sweet Luxery Cookies. Fair-Trade organic Café Mam coffee by the cup is also served. Customers may eat at specified tables (no more than 5 to a table).

SNAP customers receive double value with Market Match currency! Seniors, Women, infant and Children (WIC) get their Farmers Market Nutrition Program coupons matched up to $10 per visit.

There are still opportunities to spend time outdoors and help Tilth! There is much outdoor work to be done around the campus at this time of year, and we welcome you to come work independently or in small, informal groups, if you are feeling well and would like to get out of the house and spend time in a peaceful setting. Please contact the land steward, Ida, for a list of tasks that can be completed independently on the beautiful Tilth campus.

The Farmer’s Shadow is a monthly drop-in educational event sponsored by South Whidbey Tilth and Slow Food Whidbey Island. Participants share and learn from each other , guided by Anza Muenchow of Maha Farm. The class is conducted on Zoom. For details contact the education committee.

The 2020 members of the governing council of trustees are President Gary Ingram, Secretary Janet Richards, Finance chair Edward Hueneke, Membership, Community Relations and Development chair Andréa Linton, Education committee chair Anza Muenchow and Market committee chair Prescott. The next regular business meeting is Thursday, October 15, 2020, at 6 p.m. conducted virtually using the Zoom application. Members are welcome to connect and participate. Questions? Contact the President or Secretary for information or leave a message at 360-321-0757.

Find us on ...and like us! Please look for both South Whidbey Tilth and South Whidbey Tilth Farmers' Market.

South Whidbey Tilth depends on its volunteers. Please download a volunteer form as a pdf file. Keep track of your time all year. Mail to South Whidbey Tilth or email to the Treasurer.

Our Organization

Enjoy the Sustainability Campus

The South Whidbey Tilth 11-acre Sustainability Campus is at 2812 Thompson Road, Langley, WA 98260 and provides a unique, leisurely ambience and focus for learning. The campus is open for walking, and you can view our ongoing projects: demonstration field crops, community garden and orchard, forest trail and understory recovery project, native plant salvage beds operated by Native Plant Stewards, the highway vegetation management model, and bluebird nesting boxes established by Coupeville fifth-graders. Dog walkers, please use the poop bags in the recycling area by the restrooms. Use the trash can there.

Volunteer Opportunities

South Whidbey Tilth has opportunities for you to help with classes, farmers' market, community gardens, facilities maintenance and improvements and forest restoration projects.

Tilth History

On August 27, 1977, more than 70 people gathered at Pragtree Farm near Arlington, WA, to develop strategies for the sustainable agriculture movement in the Pacific Northwest. Known as the "Regional Planning Meeting," the gathering established the framework for the Tilth Association.

Recently the Berry Center in Kentucky posted a video of Wendell Berry's July 1, 1974 speech in Spokane. Wendell's insights are as powerful today as they were forty years ago. The full transcript of his speech is available on the Tilth Producers website.

The meeting at Pragtree Farm laid the foundation for organizing local Tilth chapters. The next spring the first chapters were formed in Seattle and in Southwest Washington, followed by Willamette Valley Tilth and Rogue Tilth in Oregon. By the summer of 1982 there were 15 Tilth chapters in California, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington, with an estimated combined membership of 2,000. At the Regional Planning Meeting three years later Anthony Judge's ideas were incorporated into Tilth's strategy of organizing autonomous local chapters empowered to respond to the needs of their communities. Over the past three decades the Tilth movement has ebbed and flowed, with the central organization dissolving into statewide organizations in Oregon and Washington, and local chapters forming and fading away. Because of its decentralized, ecological strategy, however, Tilth has continued to adapt, survive, and thrive. Today Tilth is experiencing a resurgence parallel to the growth of the organic food and farming nationwide. The complete story by one of the founders, Mark Musick is on the Washington Tilth website select History.

All the Tilth organizations celebrated the 40th anniversary at the Tilth Producers Conference in November 2014. Mary Berry, Wendell’s daughter, was a keynote speaker.

See our chapters at:

Oregon Tilth www.tilth.org

Tilth Alliance www.tilthalliance.org

Sno-Valley Tilth www.snovalleytilth.org

Vashon Island Growers Association www.vigavashon.org

Online newsletters

2020 South Whidbey Tilth Summer Newsletter

Contents