Become a Farmer with Viva Farms’ Practicum in Sustainable Agriculture

from Viva Farms

Who keeps you, your family, your neighborhood well fed? Could it be you? Lucky for us, in Skagit County, we know who does: farmworkers, agronomists, tractor mechanics, seed scientists, grocery buyers, farmers market staff, the bees…

Living in an agricultural area of the Magic Skagit, we naturally witness our food system more than most people in the U.S. do. As cities grow in population, the gap in our understanding of food widens. As you consider who, not what, keeps you well fed, how does that sit with you? At Viva Farms, a local nonprofit farm business training program and incubator farm, operating near the Port of Skagit and in Woodinville (King County), it’s unsettling.

We are focused on growing the next generation of farmers because we believe in a just and resilient food system where farming is a financially viable livelihood. Many farmers describe the occupation of farming as more than a job—more like a lifestyle, a livelihood, a calling, a serious responsibility and an honor.

Does the soil call to you?

In many ways, Viva Farms is in the business of keeping Skagit (and beyond) well fed. Our mission is to empower aspiring and limited-resource farmers by providing bilingual (Spanish-English) training in holistic organic farming practices, as well as access to land, infrastructure, equipment, marketing, capital—and community.

Right now, applications are open to join our program via an 8-month, land-based course where participants apply knowledge and practice techniques of sustainable agricultural production on a certified organic parcel.

The Practicum in Sustainable Agriculture, the course that starts in April, trains students to launch a farm business. Are you interested in feeding your community? If so, we encourage you to learn more and apply. From there, you might just launch your farm, join the incubator full of 30+ other farms, harvest your first crops, and sell them into our community-supported agriculture box or to the Skagit Valley Food Co-op.

Or, you might identify that some in your community are in need and sell to Skagit Gleaners like Mizpa Farm and Josh Farms did last summer, or volunteer to cook as Mejia Romero Farm did at Tri-Parish Food Bank this fall, or create no-questions-asked, free-to-all extra veggie boxes like Dear Table Farm offered at the farmers market during the SNAP benefits disruption.

We are working at Viva Farms to make the dream of farm ownership—growing food, maintaining the soil, living with the land, creating homes for the bees—available to all.

Happy New Year to all! Tours of Viva Farms will begin again come June! We look forward to seeing you.

Ready to feed your Skagit neighbors organic, nutritious fruits and vegetables? Come try your hand at farming by applying to the Practicum in Sustainable Agriculture course.

Learn more at vivafarms.org or call 360.969.7191 x 804