---------------> Sorry, we're no longer taking applications <---------------------------------

Where we are now:

WestWind Farm is located 12 miles from Port Angeles, Washington, at the foot of the Olympic Mountains and across from Victoria, Canada.  Our small organic produce farm (not certified organic) has been operating for 10 years on 55 acres of forest, creek and farmland (about 8 acres). We are ready to retire but want to continue to live on the property while turning the farming operation over to younger, experienced farmers in need of land and infrastructure. The potential for increasing the profits and creating a sustainable lifestyle are great because we have well-built extensive dry storage and root storage capabilities, and perennials like asparagus beds and fruit orchards.  A brand new "chicken house/tractor" has not even housed the chickens yet. Our current farm interns are helping us install field fencing around about 5 acres since the electric fencing has not been adequate to keep out the deer. During 2012, we plan to eat and sell the remaining 2011 crops at our weekly Port Angeles year-round farmers market.  We would like to begin a dialogue with those who have a passion to farm in the Pacific Northwest. The details of a transition to younger farmers would depend on negotiation that considers the needs and wants of both parties and creates a mutually beneficial arrangement.  Experienced organic farmers are welcome to respond with details about your experience, age range, financial considerations, family make-up, references and other pertinent details.  We expect the process of finding the right farmers to take a year or more.  We are not in a hurry but hope to begin the conversations with those who qualify; we welcome questions from serious experienced farmers looking for new challenges.  Finally, please read below this message to get a sense of our philosophical approach, and the framework within which we farmed. 

-Peter & Jane Vanderhoof

Where we were:

WestWind Farm is a dream becoming true, established at the turn of the century in 2000, the same year we were married. Our vision for our 56 acres of forest, fields, and Salt Creek is to establish a viable, sustainable ecosystem where we move toward growing more and more of our own food and being a working asset for increasing the local agricultural knowledge base. Our farm is located west of Port Angeles on Salt Creek south of Highway 112. Please find more pictures at our online photo gallery: http://picasaweb.google.com/westwindorganic

What we do:
     Strive to live sustainably and reduce our ecological footprint
     Grow, market, and enjoy organic food
     Improve our riparian and forest environments

We grow a wide variety of fruits and vegetables including: asparagus, artichokes, apples, cherries, blackberries, broccoli, corn, cabbage, beans, peas, strawberries, potatoes, purple and orange carrots, beets, chard, parsnips, celery, leeks, onions, shallots, and are trialing exotic varieties such as sea berries, edible rowan berries and yuzu ichandrin to replace the food and taste value of traditional citrus. We hope to have some fruit to sample in the next year or two.

About 10 acres of the farm are being cultivated.  The soils are being developed to provide more room for crop rotations. Our growing practices on 10 acres of fields and orchards are as follows: phasing out of animal/fish based fertilizers and improving soil structure and soil life communities by planting cover crops as a 'green' manure. We use no herbicides, organic or otherwise. The only pesticide we use is for slugs, and it is iron phosphate, a natural mineral. We are still using diesel powered equipment, but most weeding is done by hand. We use drip irrigation because it uses water efficiently. For various reasons, including cost, we have not chosen to certify as organic, though we believe we meet or exceed requirements for certification except for managing the certification process itself.

Salt Creek runs south to north essentially bisecting the farm. The riparian zone is well treed and provides good spawning and rearing habitat for the native coho, steelhead and cutthroat that are at risk along the Straits of Juan de Fuca. Salmon habitat on WestWind Farm's portion of Salt Creek has improved in the nearly 10 years Jane and Peter have owned the land thanks to Peter's diligence and knowledge of habitat restoration.

Our farm offers a year round apprenticeship for learning about food production and distribution, which amounts to room and board in exchange for about 35 hours of work. Bonus and stipend possible after two months or negotiable DOE. Farm related tasks could include cleaning eggs, weeding fields, watering, harvesting, market preparation, seeding trays, fencing, and working on soil improvement.