(33) stories found containing 'hedlin farms'
Sorted by date Results 1 - 25 of 33
Soroptimists honor Hallie Walls for April
La Conner High School senior Hallie Walls has been selected as the Soroptimist International of La Conner Honored Student for the month of April. It's easy to see why when you look at all the...
By 
John Roozen gets award at SPF annual auction-dinner
You may not know John Roozen – but you probably know his truck. On any given day, a red F250 Power Stroke diesel truck from the late 1990s may pass you on Calhoun or McLean roads – or may be par...
Bye bye, barley?
Amber waves of grain are beautiful, until you can't sell them. Dave Hedlin's barley fields along Chilberg Road – labeled "Spring Malting Barley" on crop signs – will be ripe in about a week, alo...
County hears from area farmers on agritourism
By Aven Wright-McIntosh “I should be able to do whatever I want on my land to generate revenue and enable me to continue farming,” a farmer commented. An engaged group of two dozen attendees gathered last Thursday evening at Maple Hall to dis...
Town code changes may include review of CUP applications
The La Conner municipal code did not receive a complete facelift upon Town Planning Commission review at Maple Hall last Tuesday. But there are a few new wrinkles for the town council to consider. Perhaps the most significant development during the...
La Conner residents win ribbons at county fair
After a vigorous week at the Skagit County fair, two leaders with La Conner roots are taking it easy. As 4H dairy supervisor for the whole fair, Chelsy Mesman of Mesman Farms helped 18 young people...
Wet weather and high costs bogging down area farmers
A good farming year is easy to recognize, says John Thulen of Pioneer Potatoes. “My ancestors bought a pickup, built a barn or added on to the house,” he said. It’s all in the county register. With record rainfall, late freezes, a cool spring and r...
Farmland Legacy Program fends off residential development threats
Fully Contained Communities (FCCs) may have Skagit County residents on edge, but they are not the most significant threat to local farmland. The real villain? Low-density residential land use. According to the American Farmland Trust, 11 million...
Growing agrotourism in Skagit County requires planning and nurturing
Drive the roads surrounding La Conner, and you’ll see, depending on the season, everything from brussels sprouts and fava beans to berries, wheat and barley. You’ll also find half a dozen farm sta...
Farmers faced with farmland tree planting as way to save salmon
For farmers evaluating Governor Inslee’s Salmon Recovery bill, the devil is in the details. Details like what exactly constitutes a Riparian Management Zone and whether the riparian buffers proposed in the now withdrawn HB 1838 will not just target s...
Make festival of visiting family farms this weekend
Three greater La Conner family farms will participate in the Skagit Festival of Family Farms this weekend: Roozengaarde, Schuh Farms and Gordon Skagit Farms. Longtime participant Hedlin Family Farms...
Heat hurts some farmer harvests
For three or four days, Dean Swanson could hear the corn grow. The corn he planted Saturday, June 26 was up four days later. Stalks that was already a foot tall doubled in a week. “It was fun to w...
Save Hedlin Play Field
Based on the many comments by neighbors and friends, opposition to developing the Hedlin Play Field is abundantly clear. Additionally, comments at the June 22 town council meeting identified critical issues that are problematic and need to be...
Residents to Town: Honor Hedlin’s covenant for park
Parking has always been a thorny issue in La Conner, most notably on First Street parallel to the town’s popular historic waterfront. Now it figures in yet another flap, this time over joint use easements the Town signed with Landed Gentry the day t...
Why was the Hedlin ballfield property sold so quickly?
I have let down my dear friend Elizabeth Hedlin. She was the most generous and kind-hearted woman I have met in my lifetime. She passed those and other virtues to her descendants who still live and work here in La Conner. They are the kind of folk...
Skagit Ag Summit looks at growth, water, mental health
“In 1960, all the people in Washington (state) could fit into King County today. That’s how much we’ve grown.” Director of Skagit County Planning and Development Services Hal Hart was address...
Public hearing for pitching Hedlin’s Ballfield rezoning
For decades it has been the scene of local youth sports, most notably as a hub for little league baseball. But now Hedlin’s Ballfield is in line for a changeup. The nearly two-acre site – roughly 80,000 square feet – is the subject of a...
PPE, PPP prevent COVID-19, financial problems for local farms
La Conner-area farmers used Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and other measures to keep COVID-19 out of their workforce. Many also embraced the U.S. government’s Paycheck Protection Program (...
U.S. Rep. Larsen makes House calls on local farmers
With Congress on summer recess, U.S. Rep. Rick Larsen (D-Everett) took a field trip to the La Conner area last Tuesday. Make that field trips. Larsen made stops at the Hedlin’s Family Farm stand n...
USDA grant opens doors for Food Hub, area farmers
A new grant from the US Department of Agriculture will equip the Puget Sound Food Hub on Best Road to increase food security for families in northwest Washington. The Food Hub’s 80 member-producers will also benefit. Using funds from the USDA Coronav...
Fresh produce, increased safety available at local farm stands
“Thank you for wearing a mask.” That’s how Nicole Garcia-Swanson greeted La Connerite Sandi Davidson when she purchased berries at the Swanson Family Farm on Monday. Affirming positive behavior is just one new habit adopted by La Conner-area farm...
Skagit farmers plant, plan in face of uncertain COVID climate
Will restaurants and breweries open again? What about schools? The export market? While farmers are still grappling with big questions triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown, “we have to g...
Farmers, farmworkers handle COVID-19
You can work from home, shop from home, and call friends from home. But you can’t farm from home. That’s why La Conner area farmers and farmworkers are adopting new habits as they comply with new rules from the Washington State Department of Lab...
Democrats picnic, proselytize at Pioneer Park
Legislative District 10 Democrats from Island, Snohomish and Skagit counties came to La Conner’s Pioneer Park Saturday, holding a salmon lunch fundraiser to buy metaphorical political bricks to e...
Food Hub links farms, expands customer sales
Almost on cue, farmer Harley Soltes brought his van of blueberry products to the Puget Sound Food Hub Cooperative on Best Road Thursday afternoon. Soltes knows the value of cooperation and made time t...
