The 22nd annual Jefferson County Farm Tour has recruited more than 20 local farms to be represented during visitors’ self-guided tours of 15 farming locations during the weekend of Sept. 14-15.

Megan Claflin, manager of the farm tour for The Production Alliance, credited the 2002 start of the yearly event to Washington State University’s Jefferson County Extension Office teaming up with local farms in ways that would set precedents.

“Remember, back then, you didn’t really have ‘Buy Local’ and ‘Eat Local First’ campaigns like we see now,” Claflin said. “This farm tour served as an important step toward raising awareness about what local farmers raise and grow here, and how important it is to our economy.”

Even as the farm tour has expanded its participation and attendance over more than two decades, Claflin emphasized that the event remains true to its mission, which includes promoting the history and heritage of Jefferson County’s farmlands and farming families.

At the same time, Claflin proudly touted the partners that the farm tour has gained, from the local farmers’ markets and food banks to the Food Co-op, the Chimacum Corner Farmstand and the Jefferson Land Trust. All of it helps connect consumers to local agriculture providers, thereby bolstering economic opportunities within the county.

Claflin noted the The Production Alliance became one of those partners in 2019, which she attributed to TPA specializing in conducting such events.

“The WSU Extension Office did an amazing job with the Jefferson County Farm Tour,” Claflin said. “They’re strong and capable, but this is one event out of the year, so TPA agreed to help handle it.”

Claflin conceded the timing of the handoff would prove tumultuous in retrospect, since the onset of COVID saw the farm tour converted to a virtual event in 2020, and a “hybrid” event in 2021, before resuming as a “fully in-person” in 2022.

Claflin reported that participating stops recorded at least 1,800 attendees over the course of last year’s farm tour weekend. With the farm tour running from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 14, and Sunday, Sept. 15, this year, she expects it could top more than 2,000 attendees.

Claflin explained that not every farm, or farming-related organization, within the county can accommodate the farm tour’s influx of visiting members of the public, so for those who wish to participate, even if they don’t have the parking or other public accommodations to welcome visitors, they can still stage information booths hosted at other farms’ locations.

“Some of the farms that started out as stops along the farm tour are now more focused on wholesale production, which limits their ability to serve as tour locations,” Claflin said.

Claflin listed “Eat Local First” among the organizations represented by on-site booths, and while attendees can start the farm tour at any of its locations, she identified the Chimacum Corner Farmstand as the central hub of this year’s event, complete with personnel there to help answer any questions.

Claflin estimated that this year’s Jefferson County Farm Tour extends as far south as Compass Rose Farms in Port Townsend, and the White Lotus Farm & Inn in Port Ludlow. Accordingly, she advised farm tour attendees to pay attention to which farms are open on which days, since three of the locations are only open that Saturday and another three only on Sunday.

“Last year, attendees averaged 30-45 minutes per farm visit, and visited four to five farms per day,” Claflin said. “Although the farm tour is free, we’re asking for suggested donations of $10 per carload. We want to encourage carpooling, and all those proceeds go right back into the farm tour.”

Claflin clarified that pets are not allowed on the tours, to preserve the farms’ biosecurity and the safety of livestock. Service animals are allowed if they are trained to perform tasks directly related to their handlers’ disabilities and are under the control of those handlers at all times.

While there are additional farm locations to host other organizations’ booths, Claflin pointed out that Natembea Northwest is home to the Heartwood Nursery, the Mollayo and Soft Step farms, and the Hedgerow.

“What’s really been neat about the more recent farm tours has been seeing the next generation of local farmers find their footing, whether those farms have been passed down to them through their families, or they’ve acquired those farms from their former owners,” Cladlin said.

The event website is getonthefarm.org.