Round Tuit farms is just over three acres on Whidbey Island, located in Puget Sound. The farm began as a dream in self sufficiency.  We haven't come close to that goal yet, but find that we have a lot of extras.  At first we shared with the neighbors but still had left overs. Now we sell our abundance at the local farmers market.

The vegetable garden produces peas, carrots, onions, green beans, asparagus, potatoes, squash, spinach, lettuce and radishes at various times during the spring, summer and fall. All in different quantities and times. We started the original garden with a 40'X 16' weed infested area.  Our gardens now have raised beds and have expanded to include a 36' hoop house for those hard to get tomatoes, peppers and herbs here in the Pacific North West.   Our tomatoes and peppers made up the winning salsa in a local competition. 

Cold frames are the latest addition to the plant family here at Round Tuit Farms.  The hoop house is quite large and a bit of a chore to weed.  We thought we try cold frames on the south side of the metal garage for some of the hot weather plants.  We are also planning on putting in a few in the hoop house for a year round gardening experiment. Three are up and planted so far with two more planned by the fall.

Our flower beds are just over 70' and always seem to be out growing their spaces.  After adding on several other flower beds around the house we began to sell the hardy plants that were leaving the confines of the beds. I've got to stop expanding those things!                          
We raise a variety of chickens for eggs. Although penned up at night for their safety, these birds have free run of the yard during the day.  Being able to eat weed seeds, grass and bugs creates eggs that are nutritionally better for you. I am slowly turning the flock into buckeyes and some aracanus. There are a few brown leghorns because the kids liked them. The different colored eggs are a big hit with the kids when we sell them.

Our ducks are raised in a separate pen and spend a bit more time roaming than the chickens.  (Ducks lay early and I don't have to hunt for their eggs all over the yard when they are let out early.)  They too eat bugs and weeds but most importantly to those of us in the Pacific North West, they love slugs.  We added a pair of Muscovy ducks to the group last year and they did very well. We like duck meat and the drakes are about 8lbs when dressed out. The hens are great mothers and they are a quiet breed. I've slowly found homes for the other ducks.                        

We raise and breed Narragansett turkeys. These birds have just come back from near extinction. Although a slow grower, even the white meat is tender.  They are quite happy to be housed with the chickens and they roam the yard as well.  We didn't fare too well last year in getting any poults so last year I ordered 5 new birds. I only got 1 new hen out of the bunch. I am hoping to get some fertile eggs for the incubator this year. Otherwise we just keep turkeys not really breed them!

For our meat birds this year we are getting the Freedom Birds again. They take an extra month to mature but were a sturdier breed. We grew them out with the laying hens and butchered after 3 months. These birds had less health issues and stronger joints.  They were able to wander the yard with the other birds even after they got bigger. All around they were a better bird for our small farm. 

Our Berkshire hogs are chosen for their dark meat and tenderness. We start them on a concrete slab and quickly move them to a large area to root around. (Which they quickly turn to mud.)  We buy local feed without any added hormones or medication.  This year we will be raising five hogs. They will be pure bred Berkshire hogs. Last year there were some issues with the  breeder's boar (He wasn't producing.) but they got that all worked out and we are thrilled to have our Berkshires back. 

Several years ago we added several bee hives to the premises. Depending on the year it has been as many as four hives and as low as one. This year we are holding steady at three.  Of course it's still early in the season and you just never know with these guys. We are members of the Skagit Valley Bee Keepers Club and participating in their local queen rearing project this summer. This project is being done in partnership with Sue Colby a leading expert in the apiary field. We are very excited to see where this all leads. After four years we are still learning and welcome anyone who has questions or just wants to take a look. We sell the honey and sometimes have bees wax candles available.

We are always trying something new so please give us a call to see what's growing this year.