FEMALE FARMERS

Story and photos by Isabel Lay and Merrideth McDowell

Helen Solem and employee Chrissy Hoefgen work in the field at Sumas River Farm. The farm lies on a modest 2 acres, yet it produces copious amounts of fresh produce, berries, and even edible flowers. Their crops spread to the Bellingham Farmers Market, Haggen, and local restaurants.

Solem, the owner of Sumas River Farm, started her farm in 2007 and made her first sale at the Bellingham Farmers Market in 2008. Solem is in her 11th year of farming and she currently employs two other women on her farm, Hoefgen and Savanna Pasco.

Solem pieces apart an onion flower, an edible flower that is popular among her customers. Sumas River Farm is Solem’s third time trying to start a successful farm but she’s encouraged by the strong farming community in Whatcom County and the female-owned farming model. “This model is something that has real potential,” said Solem. Women only makeup 20 percent of total farmers in Washington state as of 2012, making the number of women farmers 7,519 statewide. However, this is changing. Sixty percent of farmers under 35, as surveyed by the National Young Farmers Coalition, were women.

Sumas River Farm sells produce at the Bellingham Farmers Market every Saturday. Being a women-run farm, both Solem and Hoefgen feel the experience is unique. “Being just with women is totally different from my experiences being with women and men, there is a little bit more relaxed outlook on it,” said Hoefgen, “We know that we can do things and maybe we think about it harder.”

Hoefgen tends to a fig tree on the farm. “There are, especially in organic farming, a lot of women who are taking initiative and are starting their own farms, and they’re able to do what the males are able to do, at the same or better” said Hoefgen. “Especially in this small farming community there’s a lot of really great support, a lot of young people that are excited to farm, and don’t care what gender you are.” Hoefgen has worked as a farmer for five seasons and intends to continue indefinitely.

Roslyn McNicholl is the owner of Rabbit Fields Farm in Skagit Valley, Washington. McNicholl began farming when she was 20 and launched Rabbit Fields Farm as a Fairhaven senior project at Western Washington University. Originally, the project was expected to last one year, the farm is now in its 12th year.

McNicholl harvests Spring radishes in her fields. “In Whatcom, Skagit County, and northwest Washington, I think people are definitely not only willing to support as a female and farming but go out of their way and want to support just a little bit of diversity in the industry,” McNicholl said.

Among many other varieties of produce, McNicholl grows spinach which is starting to sprout. She has seen a trend in women getting back into farming. “I think that there are more and more female-run farms, more women just involved in agriculture in general. I think over the last just 10 to 15 years there’s been a little bit of change in mentality and interest brought back to women. They’re inspired, they want to go try and start a farm on their own,” said McNicholl.

McNicholl also sells her greens at the Bellingham Farmers Market, a basket of peas sits at her stand. “Over time women used to farm, women used be the field’s hands, and that’s changed dramatically over the years. And I think at least in this area we are starting to see a slight comeback of females involved in agriculture,” said McNicholl. She recognizes the empowerment in female-run farms, believing gender equality to be of utmost importance.

McNicholl greets regulars at the market on Saturday, June 1, 2019. As for advice for young female farmers just starting out, McNicholl said, “Make sure when you wake up in the morning you love what you do and when you go to bed at night, if you love it as much as you loved it when you woke up in the morning, then it’s good for you. If that keeps happening, then keep going.”

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