Skagit Valley Tulip Festival

Skagit Valley tulips

April brings us the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival. I photographed these beautiful Golden Apeldoorn tulips just around the corner from Dunbar Gardens. This field is located next to McLean Road and has been designated Field 26 on the Roozengaarde “bloom map“. Washington Bulb Company is the largest bulb grower in the US and these tulips are part of their farm production. They have this bloom map on their website that you can check to see the locations of the fields, whether they are in bloom, and which bulb varieties are growing there. This lovely field has Golden Apeldoorn and Elite tulips just beginning to bloom, so it should be a traffic stopper the next couple of weeks.

big clouds over Skagit Valley tulipsThis year above average temperatures have the tulips blooming on the early side. The tulip festival is designated as the month of April, but visitors have already started coming and the early part of the month will be the best part of the”show”. Yesterday we were treated to these impressive clouds over the valley as well. (Click on photo for larger view.)

Skagit Valley tulips

The tulip fields have packed soil roads that are used by the  farm equipment and workers. As long as you stay on these wide paths you can go into the fields and take a few photos. I like to ride the bike down the road and into the field  with my camera. There is a local business Tulip Country Bike Tours that offers bike tours of the flower fields, display gardens, and refreshments and is customized to the weather and field bloom as well as the preference of the group.  They usually ride past Dunbar Gardens on their way back to the home base. It’s enjoyable to meet the variety of people from many places who stop in on one of the bike tours. The smiles on their faces are recommendation enough for taking a bike tour instead of hassling with a car on our country roads.

Dunbar Gardens sign

Hopefully when you visit the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival you might run across one of our signs pointing the way to another roadside attraction! We don’t offer any frills or thrills, but we have this nice selection of willow baskets to check out.

Katherine Lewis willow baskets

Our small farm is admittedly pretty rustic, and I think many visitors that wander down our driveway are surprised at the quality of the willow baskets that they find in our barn. There are few willow basketmakers around let alone one as accomplished as Katherine Lewis. It is enjoyable to explain how we grow the basketry willows, and show folks the freshly harvested bundles.

basketry willows at Dunbar Gardens

Of course, our baskets are available any time of year. We don’t mind if the tulips are the headline act for Spring visitors to our beautiful valley. We figure they will be back to get a taste of the wonderful fruits and vegetables also grown in the valley, take in the Festival of Family Farms in October, or maybe a visit to nearby La Conner to take in the Museum of Northwest Art and eat at our favorite Skagit restaurant Nell Thorn. Stop by, we’re around!

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Skagit eat local week

sweet peppers at the DG farmstand

sweet peppers at the DG farmstand

Skagit Valley “Eat Local Week” is September 14-20. This event is sponsored by the local Slow Food group, and as they say “happens mostly at the end of your fork.” The idea is to encourage people to support the local food economy by visiting farmstands, farmers markets, and local restaurants featuring our valley’s growers and food producers. The week ends with community picnics in five locations.

greenbeans

It’s a good week to have this celebration in our area as the summer and fall harvest seasons start to overlap. We have summer foods like tomatoes and beans along with the autumn harvest of apples and squash. You can always check out what we have at our farm stand on our website. If you’re dining out in our area, we recommend the restaurant we have been selling to for several years – Nell Thorn Restaurant & Pub in nearby La Conner. Check out an earlier post I wrote about them. Their order this week included Sungold tomatoes, cannellini beans, green beans, baby artichokes, eggplant, peppers, sweet corn, zucchini, cauliflower, broccoli, chard, pears, Burgundy apples, and herbs.

apples

apples in willow baskets

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Celebrate Skagit Art

Katherine Lewis willow basket

Katherine Lewis willow basket

Celebrate Skagit Art is an annual art show sponsored by Skagitonians to Preserve Farmland and coordinated by Skagit Artists Together. It is a great opportunity to appreciate the work of local artists who are inspired by the working landscapes of the Skagit Valley.  Part of the art sales will benefit the group’s work to protect agricultural lands here. The show is generously hosted by the La Conner Seaside Gallery. The artists opening reception is Saturday, July 18 from 6:30 – 8:30pm.

Katherine is submitting the basket in the photo which she has named “Furrow”. This basket is a tray 38 inches long by 11 inches wide. It has a rectangular frame base with scallomed on stakes and double French randing for the weaving. It  is woven with Skagit grown willow ,of course!  Unlike most of the artists participating, Katherine is not only inspired by but has been directly involved with agriculture for 27 years, 15 of them in the Skagit Valley.

The show opens the same weekend as the annual Skagit Artists Together Studio Tour. Katherine and Dunbar Gardens will be on the tour again this year Saturday & Sunday, July 18 & 19, 10am-6pm. More about this event closer to the dates.

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Tulips

Skagit Valley tulips

Skagit Valley tulips

Tulips are what attract visitors to the Skagit Valley every April, and sometimes into May like this year. The tulip fields have generally reached full bloom. This week is the last one to appreciate the stunning view of large blocks of various colors. Don’t forget to stop by Dunbar Gardens!

rows of pink tulips

rows of pink tulips

tulip fields with Mount Baker in the distance

tulip fields with Mount Baker in the distance

workers culling the fields for disease and rogues

workers culling the fields for disease and rogues

open!

open!

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