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News... Saluting Nash Huber

To those who enjoy Nash Huber's delicious organic vegetables, fruits and pork, it comes as no surprise that the Sequim farmer would receive a prestigious national award for farming. But American Farmland Trust's (AFT) Steward of the Land award is about more than just the agricultural enterprise. It's about commitment to farmland and environmental preservation and to farming sustainably.

Nash Huber grew up on a family farm in central Illinois. In 1968, after a brief career in chemistry, he left his home state and traveled west. "I went as far away from the Midwest as I could and still stay in the continental U.S. But when I arrived in the Sequim-Dungeness Valley, I knew it was a special place and I had to farm here."

A decade later, Nash started his own organic produce business and was one of the first Washington farmers to receive organic certification. He sold his produce at local farmers markets and wholesale to the Puget Sound region. Over the next 30 years, the business grew to the point where Nash and his wife Patty could purchase 10 acres of their own and build a packing shed. Today Nash and his crew of energetic young farmers-in-training cultivate almost 400 acres. About half that land is protected by conservation easements through the North Olympic Land Trust and PCC Farmland Trust.

Over the years, the farm has attracted young people, some of whom have stayed and made organic farming their life's work. They are the farmers of the future, learning the craft and art of organic agriculture the way farmers have learned it over centuries-by working with a master farmer. Today they do the planting, cultivation, and harvesting, as well as the promotion and marketing.

Nash's Organic Produce works hard to protect the surrounding environment. It protects water quality by planting buffers near creeks, rivers and wetlands, and the farm is certified "salmon safe." There are fields where grains are left unharvested to provide food and shelter for waterfowl and migratory birds, such as geese, swans, and raptors. The farm is chemical-free and uses compost, manures and cover crops to maintain the fertile Dungeness soils.

In 2000, Nash Huber helped to found Friends of the Fields in an effort to save our rapidly disappearing local farmland. He was active in the campaign to pass Proposition 1 in 2005, the buyer's excise tax to protect farmland. He is on the board of the Soil Conservation District, and works closely with citizen and government groups on water issues. In 2007, he was the recipient of the Vim Wright "Farming in the Environment" award.

Friends of the Fields extends its congratulations to Nash for receiving AFT's Steward of the Land Award for 2008.  But Nash would be the first to tell you, none of it would be possible were it not for the unique and irreplaceable land of the Sequim-Dungeness Valley. "The farmland here is unique: prime, rich soils, a climate that allows for a year-round growing season, excellent markets close by, a good water supply, and a great community of dedicated farmers. This is farmland worth saving."

 AFT Press Release.  (Posted: June 3, 2008).